Everybody say 'Oh Toodles'

The Irritation of an Incomplete Page

This is not the post I had planned for today, but I ran across this in a binder while looking for a different binder which I still haven't found yet, so it's either this or nothing today so deal with it. Here's a set of Mickey Mantle reprints.

Yes, I know. Mickey Mantle is the 21st century equivalent of those advertisement cards for the Topps Puffy Letter Sweatshirt. Damn things are everywhere and you can't get rid of them, not even with poison, fire or nuclear force. This set is from 1996. Back then reprint cards were uncommon and Mantle cards were actually sought after. Especially original Topps cards that you weren't ever going to be able to afford. Reprints (and these have original backs, not the lame write-up that today's reprints have) of The Mick were fricken' sweet 15 years ago. So look and enjoy, I'm going somewhere with this.

I got the whole dam set EXCEPT the 1959 card. Pulled all of these suckers out of packs too. No trades, no purchases from card stores or eBay, all packs. Granted, they were cheap Wal-mart mini packs that cost 50 cents initially and maybe a dime or a quarter when they went on clearance, but all packs. Hear me kiddos:

IT IS INCREDIBLY HARD TO BUILD A SET USING PACKS ONLY

So now I've got a set missing just one card. However, necessity is the mother of shenanigans:

Good 'ol Finest! Close enough.

(seriously though, if anyone has that damn '59 I've got doubles or triples of about half the set. I'll hook you up)

Group Break results - Jeremy

Jeremy runs the blog No One's Going To Read This Blog, but no one reads it, so you wouldn't know who that was if I posted 'Group Break Results - No One's Going To Read This Blog', so I'll just call him Jeremy. If you lazy sods would read his blog I wouldn't have to go through all of this!

Jeremy was the first person to buy into the group break and the first to pay. I've got payments from three-fifths of the people in the break. As he stated in the comments, Slack Owl is not one of them. Eh, he's good for it. Besides, he's probably holding back for my recent Russell Martin taunting anyway. Jeremy grabbed the coveted Mickey Mantle card because a Mantle in a Topps product is probably the scarcest commodity on the planet. Here's the harbinger of doom:

Actually, the Yankees/Mantle combo was one of the more successful ones in the break. Here's the rest of the Yankees:

Chrome Mark Tei$eira

BoChro Capn' Cheezburger

Platinum Derek The Underpaid

Jeremy also gets the Pirates, Cardinals, Reds and  Rockies from the break. The Pirates and Rockies got....

BUPKIS

If you're following at home, The Dodgers, Pirates and Rockies got shut out so far. The Reds made out a little better.

Drew Stubbs BoChro rookie and a prospect card of Dan Buttle. Cardinals weren't too shabby either:

John Jay Chrome rookie and a BoChro refractor of Matt Holliday. Very nice-a. Jeremy sent a bunch of Braves and stuff with his payment so I attacked his wantlists. Cards are in the mail, buddy! Up next: Someone who likes 2/5ths of the NL East.

Yankees from the Dollar Box

I still have some neet stuff left over from the Atlanta Sports Cards run to show off. They have a pretty cool row of dollar boxes there with a good mix of new and old, base and inserts. I've even found autographs in the dollar box before! I like scrounging through for oldies, which means poring though the "original 16" teams. Red Sox are good for oldies. So are the Phillies. I guess the Cubs are too, but I'll try the Cards or Dodgers or Indians first, thankyouverymuch. However, there is no dollar box oldies team like the New York Mickyficking Yankees.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I HATE the New York Yankees. A-Fraud, Cap'n Cheezburger and Tei$eira can all take a flying leap into the Hudson wearing cement bathing suits for all I care and I'm glad the Halos finally took one in the series yesterday. However, the Old York Yankees I love. The cut off point is somewhere around Mattingly but I can't pinpoint it exactly. '20s? '30's? Hells yes! '60s? '70s? Alllll Riiiiiight! '50s? NIRVANA! So I scrounged the dollar Yankee box looking for one old card and found three.

1964 Topps Young Aces

This is the Holy Grail of Infamous Pitcher cards. Al Downing? He gave up a certain home run that is somewhat well known. Jim Bouton? Well, if a baseball fan don't know Jim Bouton, then Dayf's gonna do some shoutin'. This also a pretty good demarcation line between the great Yankee Teams of the '50s and early '60s and the Bllleeeaaaargghhh Yankee teams of the late '60s and early '70s.

1969 Topps Mickey Mantle Checkist

If you have a chance... to get a vintage Mickey Mantle card... ANY vintage Mickey Mantle card... for a BUCK... YOU FREAKING DO IT.

Anyone else who wants to "just do it" ASC had two or three more of these in various stages of mouse nibblings in that box as well. Get to 'em!

1950 Bowman

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET A 1950 BOWMAN CARD FOR A BUCK?? Ok, so the corners are rounder than a mint 1951 Topps card and it's got a double cross crease going right through the dude's face, but 1950! Bowman! So who is this guy?

Fred Sanford

The "G" stands for "Gamer". Or "goat" perhaps, as the Yankee pitcher was mercilessly booed by Yankee fans who expected more from the righty after that $100,000 trade mentioned on the card back. Did you know Redd Foxx's real last name was Sanford? Did you also know that both Fred and Redd's first name was also John? Now ya do!

2009 Topps Series Two Hobby Packs - Jackie vs. Mickey

I picked up a couple of hobby packs of Topps series 2 last week and instead of just doing a boring ol' pack rip post I thought I'd battle them to the DEATH. A rematch of the 1955 World Series, perhaps. Jackie vs. Mickey. I'll compare the cards one at a time so I can milk 10 posts out of $4 worth of cards. Here's the first card from each pack:

Jackie Robinson pack card 1:
ADAM LAROCHE

Card front: I love this photo of Adam fielding at first. He's a damn good fielding first baseman and the photo is pretty slick. Topps has really stepped up a lot of the photography for this set.

Card back: Two stats pop out at me. First, Adam's career OPS is broken down by month up on the top of the card. His March/April OPS is an abysmal .605, but a smoking .989 in July. It's about time to pick Adam up for your fantasy team. Also if Adam hits 20 homers this season he'll tie Dick Stewart and Kevin Young with his third consecutive 20 homer season at first base. He's already got seven, so as long as he stays healthy (and isn't the next Pirate salary dump) he should hit twenty easily.

Mickey Mantle pack card 1:
JUAN RIVERA

Card front: I guess Juan's warming up in the on deck circle since he has a bat, but I don't see him wearing a helmet. I don't see the circle either for that matter. I'm not sure what the heck he's doing actually. The background is more interesting than Juan is on this card. I'd rather know what's up with yellow shirt guy, lady wearing a Yankee jersey and bald guy with no sleeves than Juan.

Card back: I'm struck by how much time Juan has missed. He hasn't played close to a full season since 2006 and has only topped 120 games twice. It looks like he's healthy this year though so maybe he can get back to the 20 dingers and .300 average he had in 2006. Topps goes with the 6 degrees of Mickey Mantle on the top of hs card and it's nice to see George Hendrick among the players.

VERDICT:

Adam LaRoche is the better card and it's not close. The picture is better, the stats are better and Adam is simply the better player. Who would you rather have, a good defensive first baseman who consitently hits 20+ homers or a toolsy outfielder who can't seem to stay on the field? I'll take Adam. Plus, if Adam didn't win Captain Canuck would hitchhike down from Calgary to Atlanta just to punch me in the face.

Jackie Robinson 1, Mickey Mantle 0

Maybe he meant it as a suggestion

Apparently Mickey Mantle was pretty liberal about the inscriptions he would sign on baseballs. Let's just say it's the Billy Ripken of autographed baseballs. Yogi's one of my favorite players, but I still find this to be hilarious. I'd love to know the story behind how this ball got signed that way. The Mantle family bought it back from the dealer who was selling it, so you don't have to worry about seeing a very special 1/1 cut auto in this year's Sweet Spot.

Hat tip to Shysterball.

Grand Cards enjoys the ball too!

I Like This Card

Yeah, this is what the Mick's rookie card should look like. None of that '52 Topps junk that Sy Berger dumped in the ocean. A nice '51 game card. This is fake though, a promo for a 2007 Topps Mantle factory set. The set cost 60 bucks but I picked this up for a buck and a half. I'm tempted to take a pair of nail clippers to the corners to make them round like the originals, but maybe that wouldn't be the best idea. I also should have checked to see if they had the Ted Williams '51 retro card too, that was the other promo in the factory set. There was an official game used "whatever Topps could find in Mickey's closet" relic in the set too, but I'm not interested in that. Well, the plaid relic would be kind of neat, but it's really not necessary. One of these days I'd like to be able to afford an original '51 set, both red and blue backs. I'd like to win a set at a live auction, all graded PSA8 or better. That way I could take some pliers, crack 'em all out of their shells and challenge someone to a game with my brand new decks of game cards right there in the auction hall. I get to be the blue backs!

Inspired by the 78 Topps Blog

MANTLE

DAVINCI

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WAGNER

REMBRANDT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PAGE

PICASSO

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Masterpieces, each and every one.

(more masterpieces here)

Trade from David Part 2

Part one of this trade was posted on the 13th. Yes, I'm way behind in everything. Let's knock out the second package from David in that video mailer, shall we? It's actually better than the first one.

2008 Topps Shea Stadium

I don't know what this is from, but it rules. There's no card number on the back so I'm honestly stumped. Paging JayBee... You are wanted at the white courtesy phone...

2007 Turkey Red John Smoltz jersey

Dang, these cards are sweeeeet. I have no idea when the Braves ever wore black jerseys, but it's best not to think too hard about such things. Card collecting is more fun when you maintain the suspension of disbelief.

A Mess O' Mickey Mantles

Four of 'em from the Turkey Red Set. I think one of them is even a short print, but I'm too lazy to check.

2008 Moments & Milestones Greg Maddux

I still like this set. I'm glad it's dying a horrible death in 2009, but it was fun while it lasted.

2007 Topps Frenchy McLowOPS

Ok internet detectives!!! Game. In Turner Field. 2006 most likely, maybe 2005. Francoeur in Right Field. Braves scored 1 in the fifth, opponent scored at least 1 in the 7th. WHAT GAME IS THIS PHOTO FROM???

2008 Chipper Jones 50th Anniversary Star Rookie

I'm looking forward to seeing this design again in 2008 Heritage.

2006 Opening Day Chipper Jones Funny Photos

I didn't know this card even existed... My Chipper collection just went up by 1.

The rest:

2008 Topps Bobby Cox
2007 Turkey Red Chipper Jones
2008 Artifacts Jeff Francoeur
2008 Spectrum John Smoltz
2008 UD First Edition Kevin Millwood
2008 UD First Edition Greg Maddux
2008 UD First Edition Tom Glavine

Excellent stuff, David... let's trade again sometime.

Generic Ebay Insanity Post

Mario at Wax Heaven reports that 2008 Bowman is getting some big sales already. I wouldn't be shocked if the buyer of the LaPorta auto card was Merkle923 or another such Topps operative trying to build buzz on the new product, but hey, I'm cynical. Actually I'm just frustrated because the shop still has my car and I can't go get the first '08 Bowman pack to rip on A Pack A Day. I don't even like the stuff, but I MUST BE FIRST. Yeah, I'm kind of obsessive about that. I need a hobby or something. Oh wait.

This post isn't about '08 Bowman though. This is about an eBay auction Mario snuck into his post. Let me show you a couple of cards.

This here is a T206 card of Sherry Magee, an underrated hitter from the deadball era. He was a very good hitter for Philadelphia and some claim he should be considered for the Hall of Fame. This particular card is one of the Big Four T206 cards as it has the very rare "Magie" spelling variation. The error was apparently caught early in production and very few are now known to exist. Possibly no more than 150 copies are available for collectors of this legendary set.

This card is a 2005 Superfractor autograph of Ryan Braun. Ryan is a great young hitter who won the Rookie of the year award last year. Braun has been rewarded by the Brewers with an 8-year contract, the richest in club history. There is only one of this exact card in existence by design, however there are hundreds of Braun autographed cards from the same set available, just without the 1/1 stamp and funky shiny squares. The 2005 Bowman Chrome set is not considered particularly historically significant or groundbreaking.

If you act now though, one or both of these cards can be yours through the magic of eBay. So how much would you pay for these cardboard (or in Ryan's case, foil and assorted polymers) beauties? Fifty dollars? Eighty Dollars?? ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS??? Well if you act now, you can get both of these cards for only $19.95 plus shipping and handling! And if you call in the next twenty minutes we'll double your order FREE! That's right, TWO Sherry Magie error cards and TWO Ryan Braun 1/1 Superfractors! But that's not all! You also get the Ronco turnip twaddler ABSOLUTELY FRE- um, wait, no. They are $12,500. Each. But you get free shipping! The free shipping is important because to afford either of them I'd have to sell both my cars, steal the neighhbors' cars and pawn them to a chop shop, then maybe sell a kidney or two. No cars means I can't pick it up and it might be hard to walk after the surgery.

But which one to buy? One of the top five cards from the greatest set of all time or the hot rookie card that was made artificially scarce? To be honest I wouldn't buy either. If I'm going to sell my organs on the black market for cards, you can bet your sweet bippy I'm going for the gusto. That's right, it's Mickey my little bitches! These high dollar cards are nothing but staus symbols anyway and if I'm going to have a status symbol I want a '52 Mantle. That way I can go to the mall and wave it in the faces of all those dorks decked out in bling trying to look cool. Who's the cool one now?!? Ok, so the T206 Wagner would be the ultimate status symbol, but I'd have to sell at least one organ from every reader of this blog to afford one of those and I'm not quite ready to commit mass murder for one card just yet. I know, I'm a disgrace to our recklessly consumerist hobby, but we all have to put limits on our collecting.

2007 Target Mickey Mantle sets

Target is once again selling Topps factory sets with bonus Mickey Mantle relic cards this year. Beckett has a nice little write up on them with a picture of the '53 relic card. I saw a few at Target this morning and there is not only a 1953 and 1956 version of the relic cards, but a 1957 reprint relic card as well. The sets are retailing for $59.95 and contain one factory set, the Mantle relic (which is visible on the front so you can see what you're getting) and two 1951 style cards of Mantle and Ted Williams. The '51 reprints look really sweet, although you can't properly see the Ted Williams card from the box. The relics aren't game used jerseys or anything, they actually look like rejects from Goodwill from when someone cleaned out Mickey's closet. There was an assortment of pretty much all the colors listed in the article at the store I went to including a really loud lime green and some funky plaid. I was sorely tempted by last year's set with the '52 relic card, but I ultimately passed. I'm glad I did now, I'd want to get the complete set of them if I already had the '52 and I'm not shelling out 180 bucks for three more Topps sets that I already spent a long time building. That being said, if I stumble across a '53 version with that swingin' plaid I'll probably succumb to temptation.

Actually, nevermind the factory set. Don't outbid me you vultures! Bid on these instead!

Seven Number Sevens for 7/7/07

Woohoo! A nifty date! To honor this convergence of sevens, here are 7 cards of greats with a connection to lucky number 7.


We'll start off with the obvious. No matter what Sports Illustrated says, Mickey IS #7. Period. Anyone remember this card from Pacific? I was at a card show in the late 80's where these cards were being hawked and the Mick's card was being sold for 25 dollars. 25! For a brand new card from a retro set! And it wasn't just one dealer either, anyone who had one of these was selling it for 25 bucks. I made the right decision and opted to buy a box of 88-89 Fleer Basketball cards instead. Of course I became stupid real quick and sold off all the Scottie Pippen Rookies because I hated the Bulls. Whoops. I still managed to pick up the 25 dollar Mantle later on in a Yankees oddball eBay lot so it turned out all right in the long run.


What, you thought a Falcon fan was going to choose John Elway? Really? Really? Nope, not gonna happen. Denver would still be a football town even if they never had Elway. Without the trade for Vick, the Los Angeles Falcons could have easily been a reality. I don't care what anyone thinks of him as a QB, I've witnessed him win (sometimes singlehandedly) a hell of a lot more games then he's lost. I still pull out my tape of the playoff game versus the Rams to pick me up when I'm feeling down. Go ahead, post your best Ron Mexico/water bottle/dog fighting jokes in the comment section, I'm used to it by now.


Joe Mauer can flat out hit. Jake, not so much. Still, the card is cool and Joe by himself is probably better then both O'Brien brothers.


The Atlanta Hawks are the poster child for bad General Managers. The Dominique for Danny Manning trade completely derailed the entire franchise. Billy Knight's 'take a forward every year' draft strategy has kept them in mediocrity. But the moment the team began its tradition of horrific front office decisions was with the trade of Pistol Pete. The Hawks moved up in the 1970 draft specifically to take the LSU star, but got disillisioned with his flashy play and shipped him off to the the expansion New Orleans Jazz after only four seasons. In exchange for a superstar off his best season, the Hawks got Dean Meminger, Bob Kauffman, and four draft picks. Blech. To add insult to injury, one of the draft picks was used on David Thompson, who immediately bolted to the ABA rather than play for Atlanta. Can you blame him?


Yoda! Y-O-D-A Yoda. You guys thought I was just a baseball card geek, but I am actually a well-rounded geek quite familiar with Star Wars lore. This card from an oddball Return of the Jedi card game has a big green 7 on it, so it works for my purposes. I lost the game instructions so I have no clue what the 7 actually means though. Maybe the game is actually a sabacc deck? At any rate, Yoda is much more interesting than Elyhek Rue, pilot of Red 7 at the Battle of Yavin so the Jedi master makes the list. Hey, I told you I was a geek...


Love him or hate him, #7 for the Chicago Blackhawks is a hell of a defenseman. And if you play me in EA NHL '94, be prepared to have Cheli absolutely kick your ass.


Samuel Huntington?? Jeez, I'm resorting to some extreme measures to keep Elway off this list aren't I? Au contraire, mon frere... Samuel was the 7th President of the Continental Congress of the United States. He may not have the Q-rating of John Hancock, but the Connecticut statesman was one of the most respected delegates and helped lead the nation through some dark days of the Revolutionary War. This is serious business folks, one crucial defeat on the battlefied for the patriots at this time and ol' Sammy's ass could have ended up in front of a Tory firing squad. Things worked out though and now he has his own trading card. So why did I choose the 7th president of the Continental Congress and not just opt for the 7th President of the United States? Well, I'm part Cherokee, so let's just say that I'm a bigger fan of Elway than I am of Andrew.

Now if you'll excuse me, I only have 1 year, one month and one day to buy up as many Yogi cards as I can, so I better get busy.