Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Rollin' on 73's

Playing with my cards as an adult usually leads to me doing everything but actually "playing" with them. Or at least play with them how I would have as a child.

Currently my card-"playing" is basically updating spreadsheets, writing some blog posts, listing my want/trade lists, and occasionally pulling something cool from packs or from an envelope from a blogger. Sort of the adult version of playing. Pretty fun in a boring grown up way.

I look over the card before relegating it to it's home, be it binder or box. Mostly I don't play with cards these days. My trading is done online. My selling and purchasing is done mostly online. I do like to buy random stuff at the hobby shops and Walmart and Target but my face to face interaction with other collectors is basically nil.

When the weather started to get warmer this spring I wanted to change all that and take my cards out for a little spin. I took my "good box" of cards with the random relics, inserts and of course my new (to me) 1973 cards that I got from ebay and the flea market.

Turned out to be a bad idea.



I found this card while weed eating a few months after the rains and tornadoes had passed through Norman.



I remember some of the cards blowing away, but I thought I had retrieved all of them.

Kind of sad, but I got another Cardenas in another lot later so I'm good. Just kind of funny that I've already got a casualty this early in my quest to collect the 1973 set.

In addition to the other current stuff out there, I'm working on finishing the 1980 and 1973 sets.

The 1980 set was my favorite when I was a kid and 1973 is my birth year. I thought it'd be fun to try and collect those two sets as a reprieve from all the chrome and auto relic cards that are found in the newer sets. Not to mention the insert intensive sets of the past few months. A&G and Topps series two comes to mind.

What originally drew me to the set was all the cool action shots.








Not only really cool horizontal action shots like the three above, but also cool vertical shots.





They also look good as photos without the borders and logos.





I like horizontal and I like tight shots. I wanted to play around with this shot and turn a vertical card into a horizontal shot. The newspaper and photo editors out there will probably not like my creativity with the cropping, but it looks good to me.

I probably cropped this one a little too tight.

Here is the original for reference.


Obviously a vertical shot so I didn't have a lot to work with. I probably should have left in a little more glove, but I really wanted to highlight his expression. It's a great candid shot. This out performs the wacky "Photo Day" card in last years updates and highlights.


Here is Oklahoma's own Lindy McDaniel as a Yankee. He spent most of his career with the Cardinals, but by this time he was in the Yankee system.

He's doing the tried and true fake windup pose in his card.



A strong chin, pointy little noise. He reminds me of someone....




Can you see the resemblance? A little Quagmire-esque.

This post is all over the place, but I'm too tired to do a more thorough post on the 1973 set.

Let me know what you think of the '73 set. Oh yeah and as for the title. When I first starting writing this I had come across a Weird Al video that I thought was funny. I thought it related to the dirt that I found on the backs of these cards.

I was originally looking for the song "Riding Dirty", but found this one instead.



I can sort of see me as the "white and nerdy" guy hangin' wit my cards in the backyard. Just being white and nerdy. Mowing the yard and seeing my crumpled up card in the dirt. Rollin' on '73's. Getting durty wit the '73's. I'm actually too white for this song. I'm so white, I'm actually translucent. You get the picture.

Thanks for reading.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Another Vintage Saturday

Well it's time for another installment of Retro/Vintage Saturday. I've done about 3 or 4 of these the past year and I'm going to wow you with another exciting blog post about my purchases. Whoo Hoo! I didn't have a chance to check out the flea market today, but I went over the fake card shop to get some supplies and random packs.

I'm never prepared to see box toppers on sale at this store. I should be used to it by now as I've seen (and bought)some box toppers on one other occasion. I really wish they would have these available more often.


I picked up two 2008 Heritage High Numbers box toppers.


One an ad panel. Not really vintage more like retro vintage or faux vintage.

... and the other a 1959 Buyback card. Hence the Vintage in the post title.

Okay first the ad panel.



Pretty nice. I think I actually have owned or currently own these three cards. Now I have the uncut versions.


In fact, I think I have about 2 or three copies of the Clete Thomas card. Would have rather opened something with some players that I collect, but still cool.

Now for the buyback card.

A little worn, but still nice and firm. Not a flimsy piece of cardboard.

A little bit smudged, but that's okay. I've been slowly brainwashed by Topps to think that faux smudge cards ala Turkey Red, 206 and A&G are acceptable so I guess real vintage smudging is okay.

As you can tell from the cartoon he was a "Yankee Killer". He beat them 6 straight times in 1954 and 1955. According to his wikipedia article 1958 was his last year.




The front shows a pretty close up head shot though. Actually an extreme head shot.

It sort of reminds me of this old Buddy Bell card that I picked out of my parents attic last summer. This was one of the cards that I never got around to posting.


A little too close for comfort for me. Also technically more of a full profile pic rather than a slight 3/4 shot in the Nixon card, but close enough for my brain to make a quick connection. At least Buddy is smiling in his card; Willard looks confused or disoriented on his.

Not a lot of cards to show off this Saturday. Wish I could've pulled in a big haul o' vintage to show off, but not this weekend. The real shop is closed tomorrow. Maybe I'll make a surprise visit during the week and look for something cool. I'll have to hold off the urge to buy random packs of Ginter and look for something less Gintery.


Thanks for reading. If any of these cards are something that you can't live without let me know. They're up for trade if anybody is interested.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Gint-A-Cuffs Video Box Break Part Four

Alright, here we are with the fourth and final installment of my first 2010 Allen and Ginter video box break.

I shot this one outside so the audio is a little messed up. I tried editing some of it for time constraints. I didn't want it to go to long. It's only about 5 minutes though.






Here is the breakdown of the last 6 packs out of the box.

Pack Nineteen

Code AD card
B. Allen
Y. Molina
Eric Young Jr.
Iwamura SP +2
Parthenon BB mini +3
Escobar TDIH +1 Point

6 Points

Pack Twenty
Maybin
Teasley Negro League + 2 Points
Jenks
M Cabrera
D. DeJesus
Asbrubal Cabrera SP +2 Points
NA5 Cow (Nepal) + 2 Points
TDIH Matt Holiday Favorite Player + 5 Points

11 Points


Pack Twenty One
R. Harden
Cap. Nemo
A. Pettitte -1 Yankee
S. Baker
Jose Reyes Favorite Team + 1 Point
Chone Figgins SP + 2 Points
NA20 Lion Belgium +2Points
TDIH Uggla +1 Point

5 Points

Pack Twenty Two
Isaac Newton
Nick Jacoby Code Breaker +1 point
J. Willingham
Wolf
B.J. Upton
AGHS9 Jimmy Rollins Sketch card + 3 Points
Juan Pierre A&G back + 2 Point
TDIH Jorge Posada 0 point

6 Points

Pack Twenty Three
Vlad
Zach Duke
Peavy
J. Upton
Milton Bradley -1 Point
Papelbon SP +2 Points
NA8 Chihuahua Mexico +2 Points
TDIH Broxton +1

4 Points


Pack Twenty Four
Wandy Rodriguez
Carl Crawford Favorite Player + 2 Points
Thome
Riveria -1 point Yankee
Nelson Cruz Jersey Relic + 8 Points
Austin Jackson SP mini + 3 Points
TDIH Josh Beckett + 1 Point

13 Points

Box Total = 175 Points plus whatever the Saltiest Sailors is worth. Not too bad. I haven't seen an official leader board yet, so who knows who is in the lead.

Thanks for reading/watching.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Gint-A-Cuffs Video Box break Part Three

Alright. Here is my next installment of my Gint-A-Cuffs Box Break. I had some issues with the file size so I split it up into two parts. I didn't realize how dark it was so the cards aren't really in the light much, but I did add more scans and stuff to make it more interesting. I should have the last and final installment up this week.







Here is the pack break down.

Pack Eleven
D. Span
Randy Oitker
M. Reynolds
Ruben Tejada Favorite Team +1
Zambrano -1 Point
Jose Lopez
Monsters of the Mesozoic MM24 +3 Points
TDIH Josh Hamilton +1

4 Points


Pack Twelve
Matt Carson
Regis
A. McCutchen
Delmon Young
Aaron Hill
Jason Kubel
Lords of Olympus LO13 +3 Points
TDIH Morneau +1 Point

4 Points

Pack Thirteen
E. Santana
Wawra
D. McCutchen
Jason Bay Favorite Team +1
Blanks
Buchholtz
Monsters of the Mesozoic MM19 +3 Points
TDIH Markakis Fav Player +3

7 Points

Pack Fourteen
Francisco Rod Favorite Team +1 Point
Bradt
Gentry
Brantley
Runzler
Hanson
Lords of Olympus LO10 +3 Points
TDIH Aramis Ramirez +1


5 Points

Pack Fifteen
Sig Hansen
Area 51 +1 Point
Victorino
McCann
Pujols
Cantu
The Worlds Wordsmiths WGWS8 +4
TDIH Peavy +1

6 Points


Pack Sixteen
Millwood
Gutenberg + 1 Point
LaPorta
Swisher -1 (Yankee)
Tyson Ross
Brad Penny SP +2
Zach Duke mini
TDIH Tulowitzki +1 Point

3 Points

Pack Seventeen
Code Ad
Snider
Gary Stewart
Kanekoa Texeira
Heyward Fav Player +2
Chamberlain (Yankees) -1
Myers SP +2
Carrasco BB mini +3
TDIH Gallardo +1

6 Points

Pack Eighteen
Kennelly
Quentin
Soriano
Garrett Jones
Mark Reynolds Bat Relic +8
Manzella A&G mini + 2 Points
TDIH Derrek Lee +1 Point

11 Points

130 points

Not too bad. I'm hoping that I can do better on the last 6 packs of cards.

Thanks for reading/watching.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Gint-A-Cuffs Video Box Break Part Two

Okay I've mumbled my way through part two of my box break.




I moved the camera a little closer and their are a few scans of cards. I really need to work on the enunciation thing.


Here's the pack scoring.

Pack 5
Avery Jenkins
Chris Tillman
Beltran Favorite team +1 point
Mike Leake
David Price
Daric Barton SP +2
Nick Johnson A&G mini 2 - 1 Yankee = 1 point
TDIH Miguel Tejada +1

5 Points

Pack 6
Troy Glaus SP +2
V. Martinez
Cain
Longoria +1
Billingsley
Robert Scott Negro Leaguer + 2
WSS4 Worlds Saltiest Sailors + ??
TDIH Oritz +1 FP +1 = 2

7 Points (so far)


Pack 7
Hoard &Rory
F. Gutierrez
Uggla
Haren
Chipper Jones
Jered Weaver SP +2
Chris Young BB mini +3
Code AD Card
TDIH Butler +1

6 Points


Pack 8
B. Webb
Tom Knapp
Billy Butler
Pierzynski -1
Ethier
Gomez SP +2
Willingham A&G mini +2
TDIH Shields +1

4 Points

Pack 9
Cameron
Parthenon
H. Ramirez FP +1
Ryan Zimmerman
Josh Beckett
Kuroda SP +2
Da Vinci mini
TDIH Sabathia +1 -1=0

3 Points


Pack 10
Lucy
Wade Davis
Brian Roberts
Verlander
Youkilis FP +1
Pena SP +2
Matt Holliday Mini MY Favorite Player +5
Code Ad Card
TDIH Adam Jones +1 FP +1 = 2

10 Points

84 points so far after almost half the box. This isn't looking good. I'm still waiting on some rulings for two of the cards that I pulled so maybe that'll bump up some more points.

I guess 84 points aren't too bad. I'm comparing it to last year when the high scores were in the 300's. I'm not sure if anybody has really run away with it yet.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Ginta-A-Cuffs Video Break part 1

Since I have been blogging for a little over a year now, I thought I'd break out the video camera and do a video box break. Or in this case a partial box break. This covers the box topper and packs 1-4.



A few things I noticed about this video once I previewed it:

A: I didn't realize that I had Shrute hair.
B: Lose some weight.
C: Enunciate or subtitle the video so that people can understand me.
D: Possibly hold the cards in front of the lens a little longer.

Despite those short comings, the video is some what entertaining. Not much going on, but maybe next time I can make it better.




Here is my scoring for the packs so far:

Cabinet Card
Jacoby Ellsbury +8 points


PACK ONE:
Anthony Gatto
Ian Desmond
Kurt Suzuki
Jimmy Rollins
Adam Lind
Josh Hamilton
Teixeira Celestial mini Yankee -1 point
I think these are the code cards so for now I'm calling it +2-1=1 point
Manny TDIH +1

2 points


PACK TWO:
LaRoche
Ichiro
Pedroia Favorite Player +2
Romero
Felix Hernandez
Carl Crawford Sketch card and Favorite Player +5
DeJesus A&G mini +2
Francisco Rodriguez TDIH Favorite Team and TDIH +2
11 points

PACK THREE:
Da Vinci
W. Venable
J.D. Drew
Headley
Mejia Favorite Team: +1 Point
Young Favorite Player: +2
SSS9 Pizarro +4
Utley TDIH Favorite Player and TDIH:+3

10 points


PACK FOUR:
Wright Favorite Team and Favorite Player +3
Manny Ramirez
Cano Yankee -1 point
E. Jackson
Uehara Auto mini +5 Points
Hudson mini
TDIH A. Ramirez +1

8 points


I think that makes 39 points so far.

Thanks for watching/reading. If you have any critiques let me know.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Coolio Cards Contest.

Theirs a cool contest over at: Coolio Cards.

He's giving away a box of 2010 Allen and Ginter to the lucky winner. Go check it out!