Too Many Hobbies

Fuji's homework assignment for this week is to show off your other non-sport related hobbies. Asking me this to do this is kinda like asking Shawn Kemp to show off all his children. Over the past 40 years I've managed to get interested in a whole lot of things. A lot were sports related, especially gaming so I'll skip the video and board games and magazines and fantasy sports and et cetera and keep it to just the stuff that impacted my life that had nothing to do with sports. I literally have 15 minutes to write this up after scanning and photoing all this stuff today so I'm just gonna jump to it and pray that the formatting doesn't break again. 

I pretty much learned to read from Peanuts Fawcett Paperbacks. I've accumulated a bookshelf full in my travels. This one here is one I had when I was a wee lad. It was chewed by my asshole dog who is probably responsible for my current racism toward canines. I also went through a period where I would circle my favorite letter in my books. This book was brought to you by the letter 'R'.

At some point I got my hands on my uncle's old Mad Magazines from the early '70s and started reading them too. I must admit that my political views were heavily influenced by Mad Magazine. Sadly, most of those magazines were lost in a Great Purge of my bedroom, but I still have this one that I picked up in the '80s. This is one of my all time favorite MAD covers. 

I was INSANE over Star Wars when I was about 8 or 9. I forced my parents to let me watch BattleStar Galactica because it kinda looked like Star Wars. My favorite cartoon for a while was G-Force because 7-Zark-7 looked a bit like R2D2. Again, many figures were lost, but I still have Han and a bounty hunter to go along with my new(er) Han and a bounty hunter. 

In 1983 I went berzerk over baseball cards. To try to steer me into something more sensible, my mother gave me her old coin collection. It worked for a few years, but by '86 I was lost to cardboard again. I still  really love old coins though. My cat was actually named after this coin here. 

Stamps. For a brief and crazy period I became obsessed with stamps. I am generally ashamed of and regret this wild behavior today. There is one quirky habit I still have today thanks to stamps. When I get a letter with an actual stamp on it, I instinctively rip off the stamp and save it. You know, because it's so valuable. Here's a stamp of a guava that looks vaguely filthy.

Here is a book cover that is genuinely filthy. This book cover is pretty par for the course for the '70s though. I love love loved to read as a kid and picked up all sorts of crazy sci-fi and horror stuff. I picked this one out to show off on this post not for the cover but because this is genuinely a really good dystopian type sci-fi novel that no one has probably ever heard of. It's about the future (natch) where people get their brains put in jars and then they work out all their problems while existing only as a brain and then they reach Enlightenment and their brain gets put into an actual person and they live out their days in a peaceful utopia but the everyone feels sorry for the first person who was ever jarbrained because he is still a fucking mess after all these years so they let him have a body anyway and HIJINKS ENSUE! Lotta great old crappy books out there if you look!

I also love space, especially the space shuttle. I snagged this shuttle mission token on one of my many trips to the Kennedy Center or the Space Museum in Huntsville. The combo of coins + space was too much to resist.

Comics! I love comics. Not the spandex superhero type though. I liked the House of Mystery type horror comics and space comics and funny comics when I was a kid. When I hit High School I picked up a ton of cheap independent comics at the local comic shop. Most were oddball stuff but I managed to pick up quite a lot of Fantagraphics comics cheap including Love and Rockets, Peter Bagge's Hate and this #1 Lloyd Llewellyn by Daniel Clowes. This may very well be the greatest comic book cover of all time. There is probably a 50-50 shot I break down and do a comics Tumbler in the next calendar year. 

Can't forget the music! Ever since I got an Eddy Grant and a Men At Work cassette tape at K-Mart in 1982 I've been in love with music. I have boxes of cassettes, piles of CDs, folders full of MP3s and a couple of crates of LPs. Here is the most ridiculous and offensive album I own: a Bootleg of the Beatles in Hamburg entitled The Beatles vs the Third Reich. According to the back the audience responses to the Beatles' songs include "Seig Heil" "Your Papers, Please" and my favorite, "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Penis". 

In the '90s, Magic: the Gathering hit and I eventually got caught up in all the CCG stuff thanks to Decipher's Star Wars game. This was probably the first CCG guide I ever got, mainly just for the free Star Wars cards. I now have a pile of them I have no idea what to do with. 

Fast forward to present day and now I like ponies. Lord knows what the hell my basement is going to look like if I live another 40 years....

Archives swap

What, you expected Ginter? Aaaaaaaah screw Ginter. I don't have the scratch for a hobby box and my blaster was a complete waste of time. I just picked up the Braves team set and a bunch of inserts anyway.

Instead, I've got a bunch of Archives cards received from Tom In Peoria. I don't know why I call him Tom In Peoria every time I mention him, I just do. If he moves to Bloomington I'm kinda screwed. But anyway, we're both working on the Archives set so I sent him some stuff, and he sent me some stuff. Included in the package was a bunch of base cards I needed but as we all know base cards are meaningless. Topps has worked very hard attempting to train us to believe this and I think we should all acknowledge their efforts. Instead I shall show off the sick mojo hitz I received.

Here's a 2012 Topps Archives short print of Terry Pendleton and an original 1992 Terry Pendleton card. QUICK! Which is the original card???

THREE

TWO

ONE

ZERO!!!!!

Gooooood night... a ding ding ding ding ding. Did ya guess? I didn't until I looked at the back and have at least 20 of these '92 Pendletons lying around. This either means that Topps did a crack job of mimicking the original designs or my memory is starting to go.

Here's a '58 Combo Card of Mike Schmidt and Roy Halladay. I traded a '58 Combo of Ryne Sandberg and Starlin Castro for this one. Why would I want a Phailies card in my collection? Because I'm a fan of Mike Schmidt and there are no Braves to be found in Archives insert sets. Well, no. Actually there is a Deckle Edge Orlando Cepeda card. That's it. I guess no one out there wanted a Hank Aaron/Chipper Jones combo. OH WAIT EVERYONE IN THE UNIVERSE WANTS THAT. Thanks, Topps.

Here's a cloth card of Reggie Jackson. If there's one insert set I kinda want to collect it's this one. These look (and feel) really sharp. Reggie got in a bit of hot water last week over some comments about certain Hall of Very Good players and A-Roid. I think the Steinbrenner kids even revoked his executive washroom privileges so now Reggie has to piss in the troughs at Yankee stadium like the rest of the peasants. So Reggie said some mean things and now everyone is mad at him. Here's the thing I don't understand:

REGGIE'S AN ASSHOLE.

HE'S ALWAYS BEEN AN ASSHOLE.

THAT'S WHY WE LOVE HIM.

Seriously, the guy's been a jerk his entire life. He hit three home runs in a World Series game for the New York Yankees. He's earned the right to be a complete jerk! Baseball needs villains and he's on the level of The Joker as far as top-tier villains go. Cesar Romero + Jack Nicholson + Heath Ledger = Reggie Jackson levels of coolness. So he said something rude, THAT WHAT HE DO. It's like getting pissed off at Gilbert Gottfried for making an offensive joke. That's his special niche in the universe, what's he supposed to do? I still love ya, Reggie. You stay Reggie. The world needs more Reggie.

Ok, here's the jewel of the lot:

Big Frank Howard autograph. I love random autographs of vintage stars and this is a nice addition to the collection. Frank is one of those awesome underrated '60s stars that no one seems to talk about anymore. Frank was good for mashing monster home runs back in the day. He won the Rookie of the Year award with the Dodgers but had some of his best years with the Senators. I actually have a 1970 Topps Frank Howard pinup up on my wall right now. I picked it up in a card show last year for a buck, but I accidentally tore it. So I decided, what the heck? and pinned the thing right up through the wall like nature intended. Nice to have a sig of Hondo in my collection now. Thanks Tom!

1596, 1596, 1595

THE RETURN OF THE SON OF FRANKENSET LIVES PART 3

As of right now I am STILL on the fence on whether I am going to get a hobby box of Ginter. I can probably get more cards by buying blasters or racks. I'd honestly rather get cards to build a set instead of paying extra for a lottery ticket to get some MOJO with improbably odds. But that would mean missing out on reviewing the hobby box packaging though, including the checklist and box topper. I'm conflicted.

I do know that I have acquired through nefarious means a small handful of packs. I've somehow gotten three relics so far too. Through loose packs at a Wal-Mart that was pretty obviously searched. I don't even know, man. I have enough minis though to start adding to my FrankenSet! Sadly none of them so far filled in holes in the collection so each contender has to knock out an existing card in order to make it in. Let's go through the first batch and see who makes the cut!

349 Danny Espinoza

First mini of 2012. Every time I see Danny's name I hear Peter Lorre discussing Mr. Spinalzo with Johnny in Arsenic and Old Lace. Throw Danny in the window seat! Does Espinoza make the FrankenSet?

NO.

I'd say there's a good 5-10% of the binder that cannot get replaced by any means and a Rubik's Cube champ is one of 'em.

155 Edinson Volquez A&G Back

Volquez is a Padre? When'd that happen, the Latos trade? I'm a bad baseball fan. Still in third place in my fantasy league though, even with updating my roster once every three weeks. Volquez has a good shot to get in with those dreads. Does he?

NO.

Black border Ben Sheets blocks his path. Ben is Brave now so he stays in the binder.

103 Alexi Ogando

Some Rangers dude! Relief pitcher I guess. In the set?

NO.

Stabbed in the back by Niccolo. Never go in against a Florentine when the FrankenSet is on the line.

20 Miguel Montero

Oh look, someone who is actually good. Will he be the first in the set?

LOLNOPE

It'll take more than an above average catcher to bounce Vladdy from the set.

77 Chris Young

Oh good, another Diamondback. This one's hitting .207! Blah blah set in?

YES.

Wait, what? Oh, there are three other 2009 cards on that page including Justin Verlander. Time for some variety in the set.

183 Darwin Barney Black? border

Does it seem that the black border cards have less and less black on them every year? Darwin Barney might get in just because of his name.

Eeyup.

Tommy Manzella was the only auto I pulled from 2010 National Chicle. That's enough cards of a guy who isn't in the league anymore for me.

286 Neil Walker A&G back

I see your Schwartz is as big as mine! Bat boner is going to be really hard to keep from poking its way into this set. In? Or out? Or in and out repeatedly?

Ok, I should just delete the blog right now.

Oui.

Pat the Bat gets screwed by Pirate boner.

289 Brandon Phillips Black border

Black border card of one of the best second basemen in the league. How can this not get in?

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE

Card #289 in my set is locked in with Black Border Milky Way. This card couldn't even get bumped by 2007 Torii Hunter. Ok last one, thank goodness.

297 Justin Morneau A&G back

Horizontal Ginter cards are crap, but Morneau's a decent player at least. In?

MARK IT ZERO, SMOKEY 

Black border bowler ain't going nowhere.

Just because you are a character does not mean you have character

Fuji's homework assignment for this week is to show off cards with 'character'. Anyone who had followed this blog for more than 10 minutes knows my collection is chock full of character. I got more characters than Game of Thrones. By throwing a meatball like this right in my wheel house I'm wondering if there's some Ian Kinsler 'breaking the wrong way' All Star shenanigans going on with this contest. I'll take an infield hit if it helps me in my quest for a Kitteh card.

Actually this question is pretty darn tough for me since a large chunk of my vintage collection is full of character by design. This Duke Snider is one of the signature posts of this blog. As is my pride and joy, my 1956 Topps Hank Aaron card that is bent and torn and has a hole punched through Hank's eye that you can see over in the sidebar in my Saul Bass inspired logo. So how can I pick out one card out of a collection chock full of Tiptons? Answer: I won't! Since there's no quality in this post I may as well go quantity. Here's a lucky 13 cards that look like they got whacked with an Ugly Stick.

Here's a T206 card of Hall of Famer Ed Walsh. Do you have a T206 Hall of Famer in your collection? It's pure luck I have this one as I bought it when I was 13 out of a pile of old junky T206 cards for a buck a pop. I had no idea who any of these people were and basically picked all the cards I though looked cool. Basically all these cards were a) stapled to an album b) left out in the sun to fade and then c) thrown into a swamp that was flooding. I didn't care, I just wanted old cards. I'd buy those for a dollar!

Don't remember the ACC designation for this one but it's an old strip card of Hall of Famer Red Faber. This was an eBay pickup if I recall correctly. The kid that first owned this card obviously did not own scissors. Rrrrrrrip! That's the most efficient way to separate strip cards!

Walter somebody here (I forgot to write down the name and left the card in my scanner) played in the Cuban league and earned himself a spot in this Cuban league set. The card is paper thin and 70 year old paper very often ends up with rips.

Here's an old Brave from the 1940 Play Ball set. It looks like Rabbit got shot by Elmer Fudd with a shotgun. I got this card in a large package from a reader many years ago. He requested I keep the Braves I wanted and give/trade away the rest. I'm still trying to get rid of all those cards.

The Babe! Greatest Ever! On a Kellogg's card! 3D! Plastic cards don't hold up well a lot of times.

While this looks like a 1933 Goudey card with red marker on the borders, it isn't. It's actually one-fourth of a 1935 Goudey 4-in-1 card. The kid who owned this card did have scissors.

More Goudey. Here's a specimen from the 1938 set. My first and thus far, still only card I have from that set. Yeah, this one looks rough. Round corners, creases everywhere, paper loss. Typical old low grade card. But see the chunk of paper missing on the cap? That happened when I got the card in the mail and accidentally got the card stuck to the team bag it was in while unpacking it. It was not the first time I'd done that and probably won't be the last.

Here's an old one! This card is from the 1886 Allen & Ginter Natives in Costume set. You might recognize the bottom design from the 2010 Allen & Ginter set. According to the auction listing when I bought it, this card and many others were actually nailed to a chest by the seller's grandmother or aunt or something. I've seen plenty of thumbtack holes in cards, not so many nail holes.

I probably showed this one off before but Pinky Hargrave with full Van Dyke and his Goudey bottom trimmed off is too good not to mention again.

Whoops, yes I did show it off before. Too bad, you'll see it again and like it.

OH GOD WHAT IS THAT HORROR. Here's another original Allen & Ginter card. Many of these cards were pasted into albums way back in the day. Not so many of them were pasted into the Necronomicon with glue produced by boiling down the corpses of unbaptized babies under the light of a full moon. Just so you know, the front is as pretty as the back is ugly.

This one might be my favorite of the bunch. Someone decided to 'blind' this umpire card by punching holes through the poor man's eyes. Unfortunely the dude MISSED. This is a super tough 1955 Bowman high series card too of course. That kid couldn't possibly have tried to blind a low number card noooo.

So on this one I was rushing and cut off the scan AND forgot to rotate the photo. Trust me, none of that would help on this one. See that pink square in the middle? That is the death mask of a stick of vintage 1952 gum. This gum refused to go gently into that good night and did the chewing gum equivalent of Chernobyl. The thing completely melted down and infused its sugary glop right into the card itself. The whole card is bumpy and crusty and stiff and utterly disgusting.

I'll bookend this post of cards in horrible condition with another T206. When I bought the Ed Walsh I got a whole mess of T206 cards from the same pile over the course of a few trips to the card shop. out of all those I got this was the lone Boston Brave or Beaneater or Rustler or whatever they were called in 1909. This was actually one of the better ones I got. No paper loss, the color is decent where it isn't all faded to hell, there's a spot of something on his cheek but it kinda looks like a Cindy Crawford mole, all in all not bad for a hundred year old card. What's that? The gigantic vertical crease going right down the center of the card? Oh yeah I kinda did that. I was scanning the card a while back, accidentally dropped the scanner lid on top of it and bent it right in two. Yep, I'm a clumsy moron! Good thing I'm not a stickler about condition, eh?

1596, 1595, 1595