FOLLOWUP TO DEEP THOUGHTS

I SAID I'D GO BACK AND RESCUE SOME OF THOSE CARDS I LEFT BEHIND IN THAT DOLLAR BOX POST AND I DONE DOOD IT. I ONLY RESCUED THREE OF THEM THOUGH. AND PICKED UP THREE OTHERS I MISSED THE LAST TIME. HERE'S SIX DOLLAR BOX CARDS AND A FEW MORE REGRETS 

RESCUED: 1996 PACIFIC PRISM RAMON MARTINEZ LANZADORES DE BOLA DURA

AKA FLAME THROWERS. I HOPE YOU APPRECIATE THE PHOTO BECAUSE IT IS PURE HELL TRYING TO GET THE CARD BACK INTO A PENNY SLEEVE WITH ALL THOSE LITTLE POINTS AT THE END OF THE FLAMES. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS CARD IS FLAMING AMAZEBALLS. IT'S GOT A UNIQUE DESIGN, INTRICATE DIE CUTTING AND SOME REALLY NEAT GOLD FOIL STAMPING AS PART OF THE DESIGN. THESE WERE A ONE IN 73 PACK INSERT SO WERE FAIRLY DIFFICULT TO PULL. ALTHOUGH WHEN A DIE CUT CARD IS INSERTED INTO A TWO CARD PACK, YOU CHANCES OF PULLING ONE INCREASE GREATLY IF YOU'RE THE FIRST PERSON TO GET THEIR HANDS ON THE BOX

THE 1996 PRISM SET IS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY ONE TO GET AWAY FROM THE DAZZLING HOLOFOIL PATTERN USED IN THE OTHER PRISM SETS AND PREVIOUS INSERTS, USING AN ODD FOIL PATTERN INSTEAD. IT'S ALSO THE FIRST ONE TO HAVE INSERTS, THIS ONE AND TWO OTHERS WITH HEAVY HEAVY FOIL ALL OVER THEM. THOSE PRISM SETS WERE BRUTAL TO COLLECT, 144 CARDS AT ONE CARD PER PACK PLUS A LOGO FILLER CARD FOR OVER TWO BUCKS A SWING IF YOU COULD EVEN FIND THEM. IT'S FUN TO FIND THEM OUT IN THE WILD BUT YOU MAY BE LOOKING FOR A WHILE

NEW FIND: 1999 STADIUM CLUB JEFF BAGWELL TRIUMVIRATE LUMINOUS

TOPPS GOT THEIR LUNCH EATEN BY JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER MANUFACTURER OUT THERE IN THE 90S BUT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE THEY DID SOMETHING WILD LIKE THIS. TRIUMVERATE WERE A TRULY WEIRD INSERT IN 1998 AND 1999 STADIUM CLUB. EACH 'CARD' WAS THREE DIFFERENT CARDS THAT WERE DIE CUT WITHIN AN INCH OF THEIR LIVES THAT FIT TOGETHER LIKE PUZZLE PIECES. IN ADDITION THERE WERE THREE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF EACH CARD: LUMINOUS IS BASICALLY CHROME, LUMINESCENT IS A REFRACTOR, AND ILLUMINATOR IS ACETATE. THERE'S ALSO FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL VERSIONS IF YOU WANT TO TRY TO CHASE YET ANOTHER SCARCE MICHAEL JORDAN INSERT. TOPPS TRIED TO RESURRECT THE CONCEPT FOR STADIUM CLUB IN 2014 AND 2022 BUT THE DIE CUTTING WAS MINIMAL AND THE CARDS ARE LAME

THESE CARDS AREN'T TERRIBLY SCARCE, THERE'S MAYBE A COUPLE THOUSAND OF EACH ACROSS ALL RARITY VERSIONS, BUT THEY'RE STILL A NICE SURPRISE WHEN THEY POP UP. THERE ARE FOUR DIFFERENT DIE-CUT DESIGNS, ONE FOR EACH SERIES IN 98-99. WITH CAREFUL PLANNING YOU CAN GET A TYPE CARD OF EACH DESIGN AND RARITY TO COMPLETE FOUR DIFFERENT PUZZLES. I PULLED A FEW OF THESE BACK IN THE DAY AND WHILE IT'S A GREAT CONCEPT, ACTUALLY PUTTING THE PUZZLE TOGETHER IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT WITHOUT FEELING LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO DESTROY THE  CARDS. MY PERSONAL RANKINGS ON THE DESIGNS ARE:

#1 - 1998 SERIES 1 STITCHING DESIGN

#2 - 1999 SERIES 2 BASEBALL DIAMOND DESIGN

#3 - 1998 SERIES 1 GLOVE DESIGN

#4 - 1999 SERIES 2 BLOCKS DESIGN

STILL LEFT BEHIND: ALL THOSE NON-DIE CUT EARLY 90S UPPER DECK INSERTS I NEED. I STILL FEEL LIKE THOSE SHOULD BE PRICED AT LIKE A QUARTER

RESCUED: 1998-99 FLEER ULTRA ALLEN IVERSON UNSTOPPABLE

I WAS VERY COMPELLED TO RESCUE A 1:36 PACKS LATE NINETIES BASKETBALL INSERT OF A HALL OF FAMER. ESPECIALLY ONE THAT I DON'T ALREADY HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF. IT'S JUST SOOOO DAMN UGLY. THIS IS THE FRONT DESIGN WHICH LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN USED AS THE BOX FOR A FLEER METAL SET, NOT A SCARCE INSERT. THERE'S MORE GIMMICKS THOUGH, THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CARD IS ACTUALLY A FLAP YOU CAN FOLD OVER TO SEE AN ACTUAL FULL SIZED PICTURE OF THE PLAYER. IT LOOKS REALLY GOOD! BUT TO SEE IT YOU HAVE TO FOLD A FOIL CARD IN HALF AND I DO NOT HAVE THE NERVER TO DO SUCH A THING YET. WHICH IS RIDICULOUS, BECAUSE THE CARD IS UGLY AND IT WILL NEVER SELL FOR MORE THAN ABOUT 5-10 BUCKS BUT I'VE BEEN TRAINED SINCE THE EARLY 90S TO NOT MANGLE RARE, EXPENSIVE CARDS BECAUSE I WILL REGRET IT FOREVER. I'M SUCH A DOOFUS. FOLD THE CARD, IDIOT! BUT I HAVE NOT. HERE'S A RODMAN CARD ON COMC WHERE YOU CAN SEE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. SO MUCH BETTER, RIGHT?! THE PLAYER BUSTING THROUGH THE METAL BASKETBALL LOOKS GREAT. MAYBE ONE DAY I WILL NOT BE A COWARD

HERE'S THE BACK. FOR THE RECORD THE BACK IS NOT NEARLY AS GOOD THE MIDDLE, BUT IT'S SOMETHING. PRETTY TYPICAL FLEER INSERT BACK, REALLY. REHASH OF THE FRONT, SMALL PICTURE OF THE PLAYER, CARD NUMBER IN A RANDOM LOCATION. IT'S FINE

NEW FIND: 2020 PANINI CONTENDERS DRAFT PICKS ANTHONY EDWARDS 2020 DRAFT CLASS

SO FAR MY PICKS HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT SCARCE 90S INSERTS FROM POPULAR SETS WORTH LIKE 5 BUCKS THAT LOOK COOL AND ARE A BIT OF A BARGAIN. THIS CARD IS NEW, NOT COOL AT ALL, FROM A SET THAT COLLECTORS ACTIVELY HATE AND COULD PROBABLY BE FOUND CHEAPER IF I LOOKED A LITTLE BIT. IT'S GOT AN UGLY PANINI DESIGN TOO! I HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR THIS, I LIKE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA CARDS, THIS IS A UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA CARD, SO I HAD TO GET THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA CARD. THERE ARE ALSO WAY LESS BASKETBALL BULLDOG CARDS AND THIS IS ONE OF AN ACTUAL GOOD PLAYER. SHAME ABOUT BEING STUCK IN MINNESOTA, BUT HE PLAYS GOOD

I DO LIKE THE BACK DESIGN WHERE THEY JUST SAID SCREW IT, GIGANTIC FONT AND CALLED IT A DAY. THERE ARE LIKE A HUNDRED OTHER CARDS I COULD'VE PICKED UP THAT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER THAN THIS ONE, BUT TO MY KNOWLEDGE I HAVE NO OTHER ANTHONY EDWARDS CARDS AND THAT COLOR SWAP PACKERS LOGO MAKES ME HAPPY

STILL LEFT BEHIND: I WAS WRONG ABOUT THE WEIRD E-X INSERT LAST TIME, IT WAS ACTUALLY A TONY BATTIE CARD, NOT SHANE BATTIER. MAH BAD. I'LL PROBABLY REGRET PASSING ON IT ONE DAY SINCE IT'S SUCH AN ODDBALL. I ALSO PASSED ON ALL THOSE HAWKS ROOKIES LIKE HUNTER AND OKONGWU. IT'S STILL UP IN THE AIR IF ANY OF THEM WILL BE LEFT ON THE TEAM IF THE HAWKS HIT THE TRADE MARKET, PLUS I CAN DEFINITELY GET THOSE CHEAPER ONLINE

RESCUED: 1997 SKYBOX E-X 2000 HIDEO NOMO

MAYBE THE BEST SET OF THE 90S. JUST LOOK AT IT. A GIGANTIC PHOTO TAKING UP THE WHOLE CARD ON TOP OF A SHINY HOLOFOIL BORDER FRAMING A WINDOW OF PEACEFUL FLUFFY CLOUDS. I KINDA THINK CARDS PEAKED RIGHT HERE. I BARELY HAVE A QUARTER OF THE SET AND NOW I HAVE SLIGHTLY MORE THAN A QUARTER OF THE SET. IF I SNEAK IN MY BASKETBALL AND FOOTBALL VERSIONS INTO THE PILE. I NEVER BOUGHT ANY PACKS OF THEIS STUFF BECAUSE I WAS ALL 'EW, THAT'S TOO MUCH MONEY FOR NOT ENOUGH CARDS' BUT I'D TRADE A WHOLE BOX OF THE CHEAP JUNK I DID PICK UP FOR A FEW OF THESE NOW

SINCE EX-2000 IS ESSENTIALLY AN ACETATE SET PRINTED ON CARDBOARD, THERE'S NOT A WHOLE LOT YOU CAN DO WITH THE BACK BUT THIS DOES IT WELL ENOUGH. I NEED TO TRACK DOWN A PILE OF THESE SO I CAN PUT THEM IN PAGES WITHOUT HALF OF THEM BEING COMPLETELY EMPTY. I'M ONLY HALF KIDDING ABOUT FRANKENSETTING THIS WITH FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL CARDS. I MIGHT DO IT IF THE OTHER SPORTS WEREN'T EVEN HARDER TO FIND. I WISH THE 90S SETS I WANTED TO COMPLETE WEREN'T THE ONES EVERYONE ELSE IS HARDING, WHY CAN'T I GET OBSESSED WITH A COLLECTOR'S CHOICE SET FOR ONCE

NEW FIND: 2022 PANINI CHRONICLES PHOENIX RONALD ACUÑA JR.

I LOVE ACUÑA AND I LOVE CHRONICLES SO THIS  WAS A PRETTY EASY CHOICE FOR ME ONCE I FOUND IT. THE ACTUAL OFFICIAL  BRAVES BOX UP AT THE FRONT OF THE STORE ACUÑA CARDS WERE LIKE FIVE BUCKS A THROW SO THIS WAS A FORTUNATE FIND. I'M HONESTLY A LITTLE NERVOUS THAT RONALD MIGHT REPLACE ONE OF THE CURRENT HOBBY DARLINGS THAT THE WHALES LOVE AND CAUSE PRICES TO GO NUTSO WITH THE SEASON HE'S HAVING. I'M GLAD I'VE BEEN ABLE TO PICK UP SOME CHEAPOS WHILE I CAN. PHOENIX IS A B-TIER CHRONICLES PRODUCT BUT IT'S NICE ENOUGH AND THE SHADES LOOK COOL

MY CURRENT OBSESSION WITH CHRONICLES IS STRANGE EVEN TO ME, BUT I HAVE LEARNED THAT THE TWO CHRONICLES THINGS I ACTUALLY LIKE ARE CHEAP SINGLE CARDS, PREFERABLY OF PLAYERS I LIKE (OR AT LEAST HAVE HEARD OF) AND THE SEVEN DOLLAR RACK PACKS. I SAW SOME BLASTERS AND WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINKING CHARGING 25 BUCKS FOR 20 CARDS?? THERE'S EVEN SOME 15 DOLLAR 30 CARD RACK PACKS, WHO IS BUYING THE RIPOFF BLASTERS. THE 2022-23 NBA SET  IS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED AND I'M GOING TO HAVE TO USE SOME RESTRAINT AND JUST LIMIT MYSELF TO A SINGLE PACK. THE CARDS I REALLY WANT ARE ALL TRAE AND EVERYONE HATES HIM RIGHT NOW SO I'D PROBABLY BE BETTER OFF PICKING THEM UP INDIVIDUALLY. I WONDER IF THOSE PACKS WILL LINGER FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS LIKE THE DRAFT PACKS HAVE. I WISH THE BASEBALL PACKS WOULD DO THE SAME

STILL LEFT BEHIND: THERE WAS A CRAPLOAD OF RECENT STADIUM CLUB BRAVES CARDS IN THE BOX AND THE AUSTIN RILEY CARD OF HIM CELEBRATING AND POPPING CHAMPAIGNE HURT TO PASS UP. I ALSO FOUND A DIFFERENT ACUÑA CARD FROM CHROME UPDATE BUT I LIKE CHRONICLES BETTER. I ALSO ALSO FOUND ANOTHER E-X 2000 CARD, THIS TIME OF NOMAR GARCIAPARRA. YEP, I NEED IT. UGH, MAYBE I NEED TO GO HIT THE DOLLAR BOX ON MY LUNCH BREAK

SO WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? FIRST, I AM UPPING MY DOLLAR BOX LIMIT TO 6 CARDS. EVERY TIME I TRY TO KEEP IT TO FIVE BUCKS I FIND SIX CARDS. NOW I WILL FIND SEVEN CARDS I CAN'T PASS UP INSTEAD. HOORAY! MORE CARDS! I'M ALSO NOTICING THAT WITH THE TIGHT LIMITS I'M MOSTLY GOING FOR THE NICEST CARDS THAT FIT A SET OR PLAYER COLLECTION MIXED IN WITH SOME NICE SHINY INSERTS THAT DAZZLE MY EYES. THAT'S ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD FOCUS, AT LEAST FOR ME. WE AREN'T DONE WITH THE DOLLAR BOXES EITHER, BUT THAT'S ANOTHER POST

IF I LOSE MY MIND AND BUILD A TRIUMVIRATE FRANKENCARD OR FOLD ANY INSERTS YOU ALL WILL BE THE FIRST TO KNOW

Bad Wax is giving away the ugliest Tom Glavine card in the history of forever

And you can win it! Just go to his site and explain why you want it. While you're there stay a while, browse around, check out the archives. There's a whole lotta good stuff on that site. I would enter the contest but I'm finding it hard to get past the fact that:

• Glavine's a Met
• Die cut number jersey openings are awkward
• The outfield wall design is ugly as sin
• The yellow and green combination reminds me of phlegm
• The New York Mets
• There are three different fonts on that card
• One of the fonts has Bs that look like As
• The jersey doesn't fit in the die cut window
• Spooky ghost Glavine on the right side of the card
• AAAAH METS

Somebody out there could love that card though, so click on that link and express your true feelings for that hideous card. Ugly cards need love too!

Defending Goudey

I'm not going to do the pack rip tonight. I don't have enough time to do it properly for one. But mainly because I need to set the record straight on this set. I've read a bunch of the early reviews of this set and so far they are not what you'd call positive. I want to make something perfectly clear.

The 2009 Upper Deck Goudey set is NOT ugly.

No, I'm being serious. '09 Goudey is not ugly. Let me explain. This is the very first '09 Goudey card I got out of the pack I got today.

Curtis Granderson. Great player, the card itself is kind of... odd. The design looks almost the same as last year's set just without the Jeter/Griffey stripe and the figures in the background. The picture is sort of, well, bad, and has the fuzzed out fake painting quality on it that works ok on some cards and is horrifying on others. There's a weird outline around the photo. Overall, the whole thing looks bland. No, not just bland, flat out ugly. BUT... check out two originals from the 1933 Goudey set:

Now, what do we see here? Same exact puke green background. Same red band across the bottom just with different ad pitches. Same style of low detail painting used for the photo. Same thick black line around the picture. See what I'm getting at? Let's look at one more.

Oh my Lord, look at the mug on that guy. Now compare that to the Dave Concepcion Horror that is more or less universally hated by fellow bloggers. Both are pretty freaky unsettling. You see, this is not a bug, this is a feature. The 1933 Goudey set is supposed to look like that. In fact I'd go as far as to say that

The 1933 Goudey set is Ugly as Sin.

I'm sure there are a couple of people out there reading that whose mind just got blown. Mr. Vintage here thinks an old set is ugly?? A classic set like 1933 Goudey? Ugly??? Dayf thinks the very first modern card set is ugly??? How can this be?

The '33 Goudey set is just ugly, folks. It's not the set's fault. This was 1933, the country was in the middle of a deep depression so money was tight and printing technology was light years behind what it is now. These cards were trying to sell bubble gum. They didn't really have to look good. They just had to be somewhat recognizable and in color. That right there put them head and shoulders above most of the competition. Still, to today's eyes, they're kind of ugly.

I remember when I first had the revelation that '33 Goudey was ugly. I was looking through my vintage stuff and I came across #124 Earl Whitehill. That was one of the very first Goudey cards I ever got and I just liked it because it was old and a Goudey. Then one day I really looked at it. The card is awful. Bland picture, bland background, bland design. Just awful, especially compared to sets like T206 and 1953 Topps. But it's 1933 Goudey so who cares?

Now don't get me wrong, some of the individual cards in the set are absolute classics. No Babe Ruth card released in his lifetime can ever be considered less than fantabulously gorgeous. But take some time and look over the whole set. There's some good looking cards and a whole lotta bland. Check out Dick Bartell, Dib Williams and Joe Moore (fielding) for some real horrorshow cards.

Now, I've established that '33 Goudey is ugly. But what about 2009 Goudey? It's ugly too right? No, it's simply a very faithful retro set that happens to be based on an ugly set. It's not '09 Goudey that is ugly, but the original '33 set that it takes its design from. As far as a retro set goes, it's a pitch perfect replica of the original. But the '07 and '08 sets actually looked really good, why doesn't this set look as good as them? Because the '07 and '08 sets got their designs from the 1934-36 Diamond Stars set and the 1934 Goudey set, respectively. And both of those designs are superior to the '33 Goudey design.

So if you still think the 2009 Upper deck set looks ugly and you hate it and refuse to buy it forever, that's fine. It is pretty weak looking especially when compared to the past few Goudey and Heritage sets. Just understand that there's a reason behind the ugly, and Upper Deck actually got the ugliness right on this one.

Where in the world is Upper Deck?

Butt ugly Topps Opening Day is live, making 4 different products out for Eisner's crew, but Upper Deck has still only released... Upper Deck. What exactly are they waiting for? Are they hoping Topps uses up its allotted number of sets for the year by pushing out ugly crap like Opening Day and Bowman, while they lurk in the weeds waiting to have the market all to themselves so they can release their own ugly crap? There are hushed rumors of Fleer in the air, but I think UD drowned that company in the tub finally. I could be wrong though and I'd rather see a nice pack of Fleer on the market than that nightmare Opening Day set. It's just too dang red. And it's not good 1990 Donruss red, it's 1992 Triple Play 'make your eyes bleed' red. I'm a Georgia Bulldog fan and even we wear black every once in a while. Yecch. Too much red. And I still don't know what the heck a flapper card is. Topps killed off Bowman Heritage but kept this? Every day I'm one day closer to being a Vintage-only collector.