BIGGUNS #3 - O-POSTER-CHEE

THE LAST OF THE THREE BIGGUNS I GOT OUT OF THE ODDBALL BOX AT DUCK'S DUGOUT. 

1982 O-PEE-CHEE POSTER DAVE STIEB

I NEVER OPENED AN ACTUAL O-PEE-CHEE PACK OTHER THAN THE SUPER OVERPRINTED PREMIER PACKS UNTIL THE 21ST CENTURY AND I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER EVEN SEEN A 1982 O-PEE-CHEE-PACK. I WAS DELIGHTED TO FIND A BUNCH OF THE POSTER INSERTS FROM 82 IN A DOLLAR BOX AND KNEW I HAD TO GET ONE. OTHER THAN THE BIG THREE EXPOS CARTER, DAWSON AND RAINES, STIEB IS PROBABLY THE BEST PLAYER ON THE CHECKLIST. I KNOW I'VE POSTED ABOUT THIS BEFORE AND I'LL PROBABLY DO IT EVERY TIME I MENTION DAVE FROM NOW ON, BUT IF YOU HAVE FOUR HOURS TO KILL YOU CAN WASTE IT IN WAY WORSE WAYS THAN WATCHING SECRET BASE'S THE STORY OF DAVE STIEB DOCUMENTARY. IF YOU ALWAYS FELT THAT DAVE STIEB WAS REALLY GOOD BUT NEVER QUITE UNDERSTOOD WHY HE WAS SO GOOD, THIS EXPLAINS IT. THE POSTER ITSELF LOOKS GREAT, NICE BIG PHOTO AND A SIMPLE FUN DESIGN. LIKE WITH ALL CANADA-EXCLISIVE SETS I'M NOW TEMPTED TO FIND A MATCHING EXPO TO GO WITH IT. STEVE ROGERS, PERHAPS? THERE'S ALSO A COUPLE OF FUTURE BRAVES RELIEVERS IN THE SET IN JUAN BERENGUER AND JEFF REARDON. ARGH I CAN'T BE COLLECTING ANOTHER ODDBALL SET, I NEED TO LEARN TO BE HAPPY WITH TYPE CARDS

October Card Show - '70 Posters

The amazing kickass dollar box of doom wasn't at the card show this time, but I think the guy who had that table was there as I saw some similar stuff on one of the tables. There was a dollar box of random non-card stuff and I snagged a few things out of there. There were two plastic holders full of 1970 Topps poster inserts, one baseball and one football. I got one poster from each folder.

Here's Frank Howard from the 1970 Topps baseball poster set. There are so many things to like about this card. Awesome '70s graphics and fonts. Defunct team. Howard's glasses. Baseball cap under battting helmet. The home run trot that looks like me running for a bus. The thing is too big to fit on a scanner too. Truth be told I might already have this one. If I do I might trade it off or maybe just stick it up on the wall. I had an idea for Thorzul's Nightmares on Cardboard that involved this design, but the NO TOPPS edict kiboshed it. Maybe next year.

The 1970 Topps Football posters were not photos but artwork. The whole set looks absolutely amazing but it has never been on my radar since there are no Falcons in the set. This one of Ram great Deacon Jones had to come home with me for its sheer awesomeness.

I've seen this poster several times online and in price guides but it was a bit of a shock to see it in person in a dollar box. I was on the fence about getting anything out of the box before I saw this and I ended up getting a small pile out of it. The hapless Jet running for his life while Deacon zeroes in for the kill is great. I might have to pick up a few more of these. I regret not snagging the lot of them now. I guess you could say I have the Deacon Blues.

Something neat while you're waiting for the Ginter onslaught

I already got scooped by a Dimwit and a Nacho on posting the first Ginter box. Probably a couple other bloggers too. And every case breaking card forum on the planet. While I am peeved that in today's high pressure blogging world I am no longer the first to do anything, now I can settle down and relax while I dissect my own box. AND DISSECT I SHALL.

It takes time to rip and scan and copy and crop and upload and type and edit and jape and mock and denigrate and outright libel a new product though, so you'll probably be seeing my first box break post sometime tomorrow morning. In the meantime, here's a nifty little item I got at the local card shop (LCS sounds too much like a bureaucratic agency)(or a disease) whilst I spent twice as much money on a box of new product as a 1953 Yogi Berra card would have cost at the last vintage show.

This is some kind of redemption program I think? I honestly can't be arsed to look it up right now. Some kind of crossover between Topps and the MLB Channel's Prime 9 series. The poster looks neat at any rate.  If the middle of the poster looks odd, it's because I had to scan each half because the thing is too big for my scanner and MSPaint the two halves back together. Clicky to get biggy.

I'm going back tomorrow to pick up a couple of things so I might snag another one just to cut out the cards and pretend I'm an elite collector with all the cool cards. Gotta like Hank right in the middle. I don't see no Bonds out in left field!

This is why you always curve the bill of your cap

This poster was the giveaway at last weekend's Gwinnett Braves game. This is as much as I could fit on my scanner. I was able to fit in Tommy Hanson (first guy on the top row) but sadly the manager and a trainer got cut out. There's a lot of other guys who made the big league roster on this poster including Brandon Jones, Gregor Blanco, Reid Gorecki, Boone Logan, Manny Acosta, Barbaro Canizaro, Brooks Conrad and Kris Medlen.

Poor, poor Kris Medlen.

You're telling me there wasn't a second take of the photo? Kris could have gotten away with that expression. He does look genuinely excited to be there. Maybe he got called up to the bigs that morning. But the hat..... you can't get away with that hat. Not with that look on your face. Right next to Kris is Wes Timmons with a bill that is almost as level straight as Medlen's cap, but he's able to kinda pull it off. Not Kris. Poor, poor Kris.

And before you say that I'm being unfair to Kris, when a seven year old boy looks at a poster, gets a big smile on his face and says "Hey daddy, look at this guy" then it isn't me. It's that cap. Always curve the bill of your cap!