2023 COMC BINGE - PART 2 STAR WARS WONDER

 THE FIRST CARD I PICKED UP COMPLETED A SET, THE SECOND ONE COMPLETED A PAGE. YOU KNOW WHO IT IS, IT'S MAH BOI PETER CUSHING

1977 WONDER BREAD STAR WARS GRAND MOFF TARKIN

I WAS TOO CHEAP TO BUY THIS ONE IN 2022 AND WENT WITH A TOPPS BASE CARD INSTEAD BUT IT GNAWED AT ME ALL YEAR LONG. THE WONDER BREAD SET IS WAY MORE SCARCE THAN THE TOPPS VERSION AND IS ALMOST ALWAYS BEAT TO HELL BECAUSE A LOAF OF BREAD IS LOUSY PACKAGING FOR A TRADING CARD BUT THANKFULLY THEY'RE JUST COMMON ENOUGH THAT THEY AREN'T STUPID EXPENSIVE. AND SINCE STAR WARS FANS ARE HEATHENS WHO DON'T RESPECT HAMMER HORROR, THE CUSHING CARDS ARE USUALLY VERY CHEAP! THIS ONE ONLY SET ME BACK $1.15 AND IS IN VERY NICE SHAPE CONCIDERING. THE WONDER BREAD SET IS ONLY 16 CARDS WHICH IS SMALL ENOUGH TO MAKE ONE WONDER ABOUT BUILDING THE SET BUT THE BIG NAMES CAN COST A FEW BUCKS ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T WANT A COPY THAT LOOKED LIKE IT GOT CRUMPLED UP AND USED FOR WASTEPAPER BASKETBALL PRACTICE

THE SET IS VERY BASIC WITH AN EXTREMELY SIMPLE FRONT DESIGN AND THE BAREST OF BARE BONES BACK BUT IT REALLY ADDS TO THE CHARM IN MY OPINION. WONDER BREAD PUT OUT QUITE A FEW TRADING CARD PROMOS IN THE 70S. BESIDES THE THREE NFL SETS FROM 1974-1976, THEY ALSO INSERTED WACKY PACKAGES IN 1973, DISNEY, HANNA-BARBERA AND LOONEY TUNES/DC COMICS CARDS IN 1974, CRAZY CARS AND PENNANTS IN 1976, AND TWO OTHER SCI-FI TIE INS WITH CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND IN 1977 AND BATTLESTAR GALACTICA IN 1978. THANKFULLY THE CLOSE ENCOUNTERS AND BATTLESTAR SETS ARE 24 AND A WHOPPING 36 CARDS RESPECTIVELY TO DETER ME FROM THINKING ABOUT BUILDING THOSE SETS. I NEED TO FINISH MY TOPPS SETS OF THOSE FIRST! WONDER BREAD HAD A SURPRISINGLY ROBUST LINEUP OF CARDS IN THE 70S ALL WHILE HAVING A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR

MY MONSTER CARD BINDER HOLDS ALL MY PETER CUSHING CARDS AND THE TARKIN PAGE HAD ONE POCKET OPEN WHICH IS WHY I WAS SO DESPERATE FOR THIS ONE. BEHOLD THE NOW COMPLETED PAGE:

I HAD NEVER TAKEN THE TIME TO GET A DEFINITIVE LIST OF VINTAGE STAR WARS PETER CUSHING CARDS SO I HOPPED ON TCDB AND VIEWED THE STAR WARS GALLERY AND PICKED OUT EVERY CARD I COULD FIND WITH PETER ON IT AND CAME UP WITH THIS:

1977 TOPPS
8 - Grand Moff Tarkin
60 - Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
64 - Governor of Imperial Outlands
149 - The evil Grand Moff Tarkin 
169 - Meeting at the Death Star! 
181 - Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin 
222 - "Evacuate? In our moment of triumph"
229 - Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing)
234 - Envisioning the Rebel's destruction
1977 TOPPS STICKERS
8 - Grand Moff Tarkin 
28 - Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
1977 WONDER BREAD
6 - Grand Moff Tarkin

I JUST CUT AND PASTED ALL THAT, I'M NOT TYPING IT AGAIN. ACCORDING TO THIS, I'M MISSING TWO BASE CARDS AND ONE STICKER. THIS WOULD MESS UP MY PERFECT PAGE SO I'M NOT TOO TORN UP ABOUT IT. THERE'S ALSO A BUNCH OF WEIRD VINTAGE ODDBALLS BUT THOSE ARE ALL REALLY EXPENSIVE SO I'LL BE MISSING THOSE AT THE MOMENT. I'M HAPPY WITH THE COMPLETE PAGE NOW AND WHEN I BUY MORE TARKINS THIS THANKSGIVING I'LL FIGURE OUT THE PAGE LOGISTICS AT THAT TIME

BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 64: THE RETURN OF PETER CUSHING, KINDA

IT WAS REALLY LATE IN THE GAME, I WAS ALMOST OUT OF MONEY AND I STARTED MAKING SOME REALLY WEIRD PICKUPS. THIS ONE WAS INSPIRED BY A TWEET I SAW. APPROPRIATE, SINCE IT'S A BIRD

1939 OGDEN'S BRITISH BIRDS AND THEIR EGGS SKYLARK

ALL RIGHTY THEN. THIS IS A BIRD. THIS BIRD LAID AN EGG. GOOD LORD LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT EGG. THAT BIRD WENT THROUGH A ROUGH TIME. THE BIRD LOOKS HAPPY ABOUT IT THOUGH. MAYBE THERE'S SOME FORESHORTENING GOING ON HERE AND THE EGG IS ACTUALLY MORE BIRD-SIZE APPROPRIATE. CAN YOU TELL I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT THIS CARD

THIS IS ANOTHER OGDEN'S BRITISH TOBACCO CARD. IT'S A LITTLE BEAT UP AT THE TOP  BUT IT'S OVERALL IS PRETTY GOOD SHAPE. SKYLARK IS A POPULAR SONG BIRD AND ALSO A JAZZ SONG SUNG BY ELLA FITZGERALD AND ARETHA FRANKLIN. IT EATS BUGS AND WORMS AND CRAWLY THINGS. IT'S A PERFECTLY CROMULENT BIRD. SO WHY THE HELL AM I WRITING A WHOLE-ASS POST ABOUT THIS RANDOM-ASS BIRD. I LIKE BIRDS, AND SPEND A LOT OF TIME LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW AT THE CARDINALS AND JAYS FLITTING ABOUT ON THE TREES IN MY BACK YARD. MAYBE SOME SKYLARKS? MY EXPERTISE IN BIRDWATCHING CONSISTS OF SEEING SOMETHING FLYING AROUND, POINTING AT IT AND SAYING 'BIRD!'. AND THERE'S TONS OF OLD TOBACCO CARDS WITH BIRDS AS SUBJECTS AND BETTER YET, THEY'RE CHEAP! NO ONE CARES ABOUT WHICH SET HAS THE TURTLE DOVE'S ROOKIE CARD, A BIRD CARD IS A BIRD CARD. BUY WHY THIS PARTICULAR LARGE EGGY BIRD? 

IN BETWEEN COMC SEARCHED I WAS HOPPING ON AND OFF TWITTER BACK WHEN IT MERELY SUCKED AND WASN'T A FULL BLOWN DISASTER YET. I FOLLOW A BUNCH OF CLASSIC HORROR THEMED ACCOUNTS AND MY BOI PETER CUSHING IS A FREQUENT SUBJECT. IN ADDITION TO BEING A CLASSIC HORROR ICON, PETER CUSHING IS A BIG FUCKING NERD WHO LOVES TO COLLECT THINGS AND PLAY WITH TOYS. IF HE WAS AROUND TODAY HE'D TOTALLY BE INTO WARHAMMER. THIS PICTURE OF HIM SHOWING OFF SOME BIRD FIGURINES POPPED UP IN MY TIMELINE AND I NOTICED THE TOBACCO CARDS IN THE BACKGROUND AND FREAKED OUT. I WANTED A PETER CUSHING BIRD CARD. I COULD NOT TELL A DAMN THING ABOUT THOSE CARDS FROM THAT PHOTO SO I HAD TO GO INTO CSI MODE. ENHANCE!

I ZOOMED AS MUCH AS I COULD AND YES, THEY WERE TOBACCO CARDS, AND YES, THEY WERE BIRDS. AND THERE WAS ALSO A ROUND EGGY LOOKING THING ON THE CARD. NO CHANCE AT SEEING ANY TEXT BUT 'TRADING CARD SET WITH BIRDS AND EGGS' WAS A GOOD START. HONESTLY THE EGGS PROBABLY SAVED ME BECAUSE THERE ARE TONS OF SETS WITH JUST BIRDS BUT EGGS ARE A BIT MORE RARE. AFTER SOME DIGGING I FOUND SOME AUCTION LISTINGS FOR OLD TOBACCO SETS AND FOUND THIS IMAGE OF A PAGE OF OGDEN'S BRITISH BIRDS AND THEIR EGGS CARDS FOR SALE. COMPARE THE CIRCLED CARDS WITH THE RAVEN AND RAZORBILL AT THE TOP LEFT

THE BLOBS IN THE PETER CUSHING PHOTO WERE CLOSE ENOUGH TO THESE CARDS FOR ME. TIME TO HUNT MYSELF AN EGG. LUCKILY COMC HAD SOME CARDS FROM THIS SET AND THIS SKYLARK LOOKED SORTA LIKE THAT THIRD CARD ON THE BOTTOM ROW SO I DECIDED THAT THIS WAS PETER CUSHING'S ACTUAL CARD FROM THIS PICTURE (THE TOP WAS DAMAGED IN A PARTICULARLY FIERCE BATTLE OF HIS TOY SOLDIERS) AND SNAPPED IT UP. YOU CAN'T PROVE HE DIDN'T OWN IT SO AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED HE DID. MY OWN PETER CUSHING HOLY RELIC! IF YOU WANT YOUR OWN TRY TO HUNT DOWN THAT FIRST ONE ON THE BOTTOM ROW, IT LOOKS TERRIBLY MISCUT AND YOU'D HAVE A BETTER ARGUMENT THAN I HAVE THAT IS WAS REALLY HIS. SADLY NOT EVEN A YEAR LATER, TWITTER IS A GHOST TOWN HAUNTED BY BIGOTS AND BOTS AND GOOGLE IS ALL IN ON AI SO SEARCH RESULTS ARE MISERABLE AND HAVING A COOL LITTLE SCAVENGER HUNT LIKE THIS IS GOING TO BE MUCH HARDER NOW. OH WELL. IF YOU NEED A BLUE SKY INVITE LET ME KNOW, THE BASEBALL CARD FOLKS ON THERE HAVE A LARGE PILE OF EM READY TO HAND OUT 

BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 41: BLUE

I HAVE LIKE TWO SERIES ONE STAR WARS CARDS WHICH IS LUDICROUS FOR A SERIES THAT WAS THAT SUCCESSFUL. I MAY NEVER COMPLETE IT BUT I CAN DEFINITELY SNAG MY FAVORITE GUY FOR CHEAPS 

1977 TOPPS STAR WARS SERIES ONE GRAND MOFF TARKIN

I DIDN'T KNOW WHO THE HELL PETER CUSHING WAS WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID BUT I KNEW DARTH VADER WAS A TOTAL BAD ASS AND TARKIN WAS HIS BOSS. ONE DISAPPOINTED LOOK FROM TARKIN AND VADER WOULD STOP WHATEVER MURDERS HE WAS CURRENTLY ENGAGED IN. ALL THOSE IMPERIAL OFFICERS FROM THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK AND RETURN OF THE JEDI REALLY WISHED TARKIN HAD HOPPED IN THAT ESCAPE SHIP WHEN HE HAD THE CHANCE. GRAND MOFF IS SUCH A WONDERFULLY GOOFY TITLE FOR THE GOVERNOR OF A SPACE SECTOR. MY KID BRAIN FIGURED IT WAS A COMBINATION OF BIG MAHOFF, PHILADELPHIA SLANG FOR A BIG SHOT, AND GRAND POOBAH, THE LEADER OF THE WATER BUFFALO LODGE FROM THE FLINTSTONES. TARKIN WOULD LOOK GREAT IN ONE OF THOSE WATER BUFFALO HATS. I ABSOLUTELY DO KNOW WHO PETER CUSHING IS NOW THOUGH, BUT TRADING CARDS OF PETER IN ROLES OTHER THAN A MOFF ARE REALLY HARD TO FIND. LUCKILY STARS WARS CARDS ARE ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE SO I'VE GOT A NICE LITTLE TARKIN COLLECTION NOW, INCLUDING THIS ONE, THE FIRST TARKIN CARD FROM THE FIRST STAR WARS SET

NO BIO ON TARKIN OR CUSHING ON THE BACK OF THIS CARD, WE GET THE CORNER OF A SPACESHIP PUZZLE INSTEAD. I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CARDS TO COME CLOSE TO COMPLETING A STAR WARS PUZZLE UNFORTUNATELY SO NO COOL PICS LIKE THE WRESLING POST. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THERE WAS A PUZZLE IN A SET? SURELY NOT THAT TRIPLE PLAY SET, SOMEONE TELL FANATICS TO DUMP THE SUPER SHORT PRINTED BASE CARDS IN BIG LEAGUE AND REPLACE THEM WITH PUZZLES. WHILE PICKING UP THE FIRST TARKIN IN THE PREMIER STAR WARS SET FOR FIFTY CENTS SOUNDS LIKE A NO BRAINER, I HAD TO MAKE SOME HARD CHOICES ON MY CUSHING PICKUP. I REALLY WANT A 1977 WONDER BREAD TARKIN CARD BUT CARDS FROM THAT SET HAVE GOTTEN VERY SPENDY LATELY. THERE WAS ALSO A REALLY NICE LOOKING 1977 DESIGN BLACK BORDERED CARD FROM ONE OF TOPPS' ONLINE EXCLUSIVE SETS AVAILABLE FOR CHEAPS THAT I THOUGHT ABOUT HARD BUT ULTIMATELY I HAD TO GO WITH THE ORIGINAL. THERE ARE NINE TARKIN CARDS IN THE ORIGINAL SERIES AND THIS ONE GETS ME UP TO SEVEN. SADLY THERE ARE NO RED BORDERED CARDS (THE O-PEE-CHEE VERSION HAS SOME ORANGE BORDERED CARDS) SO I CAN'T GET AN ORIGINAL SERIES TARKIN RAINBOW GOING. THANK GOD FOR ALL THE HERITAGE AND ONLINE SETS WITH THEIR MULTI-COLORED PARALLELS! I'LL GET ME A ROYGBIV PAGE OF TARKINS YET!