BIGGUNS #1 - STATS ON THE BACK

I HAVE LITERALLY THREE SHOEBOXES* FULL OF ODDBALL GIANT SIZED CARDS I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH AND AM TOO LAZY TO TRACK DOWN PROPER SIZED PAGES SO I CAN BINDER THEM ALL. THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY SWEET STUFF IN THERE TOO, I FEEL BAD FOR NEGLECTING THEM THE WAY I HAVE. I RECENTLY WENT THROUGH ONE OF THE BOXES TO CHECK OUT MY COOL STUFF AND GOT THE IDEA TO TAKE SOME PICTURES OF THE COOLEST ONES TO SHOW OFF ON HERE AND GIVE YOU A LITTLE BREAK FROM ALL THE GOOFY STUFF I'VE BOUGHT ON COMC. THIS TOOK LONG ENOUGH THAT I HAD NO LONGER HAD TIME TO SORT TAND PUT THEM AWAY. WIN-WIN! NOW I HAVE AN ENTIRE FOLDER FULL OF COOL OLD STUFF SO OF COURSE I'M GOING TO SHOW OFF SOMETHING I JUST BOUGHT FIRST

1962 EXHIBIT LEW BURDETTE STATS ON THE BACK

EXHIBIT SUPPLY COMPANY CARDS ARE ONE OF THE BETTER KNOWN VINTAGE ODDBALLS OUT THERE. THEY WERE PRINTED FROM THE 20S TO THE 60S, ARE POSTCARD SIZED, AND ARE COMMON ENOUGH TO BE EASY TO FIND AND WEIRD ENOUGH TO BE CHEAP COMPARED TO CONTEMPORARY BASEBALL CARDS. THEY WERE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH VENDING MACHINES AND COULD BE FOUND WITH ALL KINDS OF SUBJECTS INCLUDING MOVIE STARS, BOXERS AND CELEBRITIES. THERE'S A TON OF ODD VARIATIONS (MEMORIALIZED IN THIS RIDICULOUS EARLY 00S'S LEAF INSERT). BEFORE THE AGE OF THE INTERNET IT WAS SUPER HARD TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YEAR OR SERIES ANY INDIVIDUAL CARD WAS AND SINCE THERE WERE NO COPYRIGHT YEARS, CARD NUMBERS OR EVEN TEXT ON THE BACK. THEY WERE BARELY BASEBALL CARDS AND MORE LIKE POST CARDS, ESPECIALLY WHEN SOME CARDS LITERALLY SAID POST CARD ON THE BACK. ONE SERIES WAS DIFFERENT THOUGH AND HAD STATS ON THE BACK. I HAD WANTED ONE OF THESE CARDS SINCE I FIRST LEARNED ABOUT THEM WHEN I WAS A KID, BUT THOSE WERE SCARCE AND COULD COST SEVERAL DOLLARS. I COULD BUY A WHOLE PILE OF VINTAGE COMMONS FROM THE 60S FOR THAT KIND OF MONEY SO I ALWAYS PASSED. THEN I FOUND THIS ONE AT DUCK'S DUGOUT FOR LIKE FOUR BUCKS. FOUR BUCKS IN 2023 IS WAY DIFFERENT THAN FOUR BUCKS IN 1988. PLUS IT'S A BRAVE! LET'S LOOK AT DEM STATS

WHEN THEY SAY STATS ON THE BACK, THEY MEANT IT. THIS IS A WHOLE EXCEL SPREADSHEET WORTH OF STATS INCLUDING MINOR LEAGUE TEAMS. KANSAS CITY AND SAN FRANCISCO MINOR LEAGUE TEAMS, GOTTA LOVE THE 50S. THIS CARD HAS STATS UP TO 1961, BUT THERE'S A 1963 VERSION WITH 1962 STATS. THERE'S ALSO ANOTHER VARIATION WHERE THE STATS ARE IN BLACK INK INSTEAD OF RED. IT'S ACTUALLY KIND OF NEAT HOW MANY DIFFERENT VARIATIONS THERE ARE OF THESE CARDS SINCE THEY WERE CHEAP POSTCARD SOUVENIERS INSTEAD OF AN ACTUAL TRADING CARD SET. BAD FOR SET BUILDING COMPLETIONISTS BUT GREAT FOR WEIRDOS WHO LOVE HAVING A TYPE CARD OF EVERYTHING. I BET YOU CAN GUESS WHICH CAMP I'M FALLING INTO LATELY, HUH. UNLIKE THE REST OF THOSE POOR CARDS SHOVED BACK INTO THE SHOEBOX, THIS ONE DID ACTUALLY MAKE ITS WAY INTO MY ODDBALL BRAVES BINDER. MAN, I COULD DO POSTS JUST ON THAT BINDER FOR MONTHS, BUT MAYBE I SHOULD FINISH UP ALL THE ONES IN MY DRAFT FOLDER FIRST

* ONE OF THE BOXES IS ACTUALLY FROM AN ODDBALL ELECTRONIC DEVICE BUT SHOEBOXES IS EASIER TO SAY. ODDBALLS IN AN ODDBALL BOX IS VERY APPROPRIATE

Random Current Brave #6

After getting skunked by Ubaldo yesterday it's time to keep it simple and go with Chippah.

In 2004 Donruss hopelessly ruined their Leaf brand with a truckload of shenanigans. This card was shenaniganish, but was one of the cooler things from that set. This black & white card is an updated version of the Exhibit cards that were sold out of vending machines from 1921 to 1963. The Exhibits were postcard sized and had various backs including some that actually had a postcard back. While there are many different variations and over 23 different sets, the Exhibits cards are a fairly cheap and common way to pick up some good vintage cards. Leaf paid tribute to this set with this insert set. Unfortunately, Donruss put almost as many variations in the set as the original Exhibit company...

Here's the back. As you can see there are stats on the back. This pays tribute to the Statistic Back Exhibit cards from 1962-63. The 'checklist code' even states 1962-63. Neat, huh? The card is even numbered to 63 for 1963. Here's where it gets complicated: There are different variations of this card for each type of Exhibit card, all numbered to the year of the originals' issue. I can't find a checklist for '04 Leaf to detail every different kind,but there was a bunch of 'em all numbered to 63 or less. This was part of Donruss' go-to gimmick in the '00s: created a boatload of extremely low numbered parallels to create the illusion of scarcity. While the gimmick sucks, I like the retro cards and choose to ignore their unsavory nature. To further complicate things, the retail version of Leaf (which is a story in itself) had unnumbered version of these cards with blue ink on the front instead of black. So if you see one of these things remember that it's not as rare as it seems, but it's pretty cool anyway if you're into retro stuff. .