Junk Wax from Stale Gum

Chris at Stale Gum recently busted some wax boxes that he bought at the flea market, which he affectionately called the Jersey Shore Junkwaxapalooza. He was pulling so many Indians that I emailed him about how much I liked the Tribe cards he was pulling from the four boxes of wax. Totally Certified, Select and Aficionado. No E-X, though, unfortunately.

Not only did he send over the Indians cards from those boxes, but a horde of other cards, including Bowman, Bowman's Best and Attax. A couple of Omar's, a few Thome's, a Grady, some Albert and Sandy and Kenny, and even a Winfield. Thanks so much for the "junk," Chris!

My favorite of the cards Chris sent are easily the Pinnacle Totally Certified. These are the Platinum Red versions, and are numbered to 3999! A numbered card used to be something special in the mid-90's, but if a card with that number showed up in your pack today, you probably would throw it in with the commons.

Easily my least favorite are the Aficionado by Pinnacle. Who's bright idea was this? Speckled refractor profile image of the player's face?!?! It is awful. Wood nameplate over a sepia-toned image? I bet this is the guy who came up with Sterling!

The Bowman is pretty nice, but the colors just don't work for me. The checkerboard background is not the best, although it does hide imperfections very well, and the red "Bowman" was a mistake. I am pleasantly surprised by the Select, though. These are very nice cards, good colors, nice photography. My only beef is the one year of statistics on the back, though the cool B&W photos are a nice substitute.

You can see what I mean about the photography on these cards. Very nice. And, as promised, the Dave Winfield while on the Indians. Ah, those were the days, when the Indians were buyers instead of sellers come mid-summer and pennant race time.

Lastly, a few Bowman's Best of Bartolo Colon and Carlos Baerga. Two great players from the 90's who ate their way out of town. But it was quite a decade for the Indians.

Thanks, Chris.

My Virtual Review of 2009 Upper Deck

This is a "virtual" review since I have not purchased any box, pack, blaster or card of the '09 set. In fact, after seeing several videos of box breaks, I have absolutely no desire, whatsoever, to open anything, ever, from this product. Yeah, yeah, the photography may be much better than Topps, but the design is very stock UD, the relics look average and the inserts are gawd-awful. The only card that I may want from this is the Inkredible autos. At least those look half-decent.

What is Upper Deck thinking? Could they come out with a more boring product? Oh, yeah, the First Edition version of this. What junk. I wouldn't even pay the $1.59 per pack in the Target Power Packs resale box.

At least the '09 Topps is halfway interesting, and even though most people HATE the short-print variations, they make things interesting. The inserts in Topps are much, much, much better, and those commemorative patches, despite being manufactured and not game-used, have some "WOW!" factor to them.

I watched Stale Gum's Chris Harris' video that he did from The Backstop, opening a box of this landfill material, and I was not impressed with the product at all. Chris, as usual, is very knowledgeable about the players and product, and was spot-on regarding the lousy inserts, commenting that he was not happy that he received as many hockey players in the 20th Anniversary subset as he did baseball players, and waxing incredulous at the stupidity of the "alien" and "Indian players" Historic Firsts cards.

Even Sooz of A Cardboard Problem made a guest appearance. Nice to put faces to the names. And if you haven't read her blog, go check it out. It's fantasticly informative, and a great read, despite her near-stalker infatuation with Albert Pujols!

One more comment: The Doc, whoever he is, may be very well-informed about baseball cards, but he really needs some work on his geography. Tuiasasopo is not "Somalian." He is "Samoan." Big difference.

Trade Updates

I've been remiss in not updating my For Trade list, and I haven't been keeping up with posting what everyone is generous enough to send me. So here is part of the solution.

Jeff Wolfe at Card Junkie sent me quite a few cards that I still need for the '87 Donruss that I am collecting, including these:

   

This is quite an amazing set of stars, even though the rookie class is meager. However, the cards I can find from this set are usually in great condition, and the design is really nice. I like this set so much that I can understand why Chris Harris used it for the background of his blog, Stale Gum.

And speaking of which, Chris sent me a variety pack of cards that I need for several of my sets, including a couple of Fleer Stickers, a green-framed '07 UD Masterpiece, some regular, A&G-back and black border '08 A&G minis, some 70's cards:

    

and an auto! Awesome 1/1 auto mojo...WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT IS THAT!

Is that a STICKER AUTO? And a CUT SIG?!!?!  #@$*^(@$*)@%&)^!@) 

I thought I was getting an on-card auto! Damn Stale Gum repack box!

Last, but certainly not least, I have left these on my desk for several weeks now. My apologies to Mark at Stats On the Back for delaying. He sent me a bunch of 1974 cards from my Wantlist, and put another big dent in it! Buddy Bell is one of my all-time favorite players. He was one of the first Indians I can remember, along with Frank Duffy, and I loved to watch him play the hot corner with deft and grace. I was heartbroken the day that he was traded for Toby Harrah, even though I came to like him as well. But Buddy was THE GUY. And the son and father of major leaguers, too! How's that for bloodlines! Thanks, Mark.

  

And thanks to Chris and Jeff, too.

Rants and Raves

Congratulations to Dave at Fielder's Choice for his Rays coming through to go to the World Series. I know how he feels (see Indians, Cleveland, 1995-1997) and how he could have felt had they lost the last three games of the series (see Indians, Cleveland, 2007). The Rays are a fun team to watch, and they are sincerely having a good time just playing the game. The Rays remind me of a sandlot team that wins the neighborhood championship, and the Sox are beginning to look like the Yankees: a Big Business with lots of bluster and seriousness, with very little enjoyment from succeeding as if it were just another day at the office. This may not be the most interesting World Series for the rest of America, but for purists who enjoy watching the game played for fun, it will be great.

Congratulations to Mario and Chris on extracting a sweet deal from Upper Deck. I have no problem with either one getting "free" product. They excel at their avocation, and deserve credit and props for giving us honesty, information, controversy and a bit of comedy along the way. Mario, don't give it ALL away. Keep a card or two for all the hard work you've done to get to this point. And Chris, don't be so modest and apologetic about it! (The "Joke" sign is lit.)

Sour apples to Jose Canseco (sorry, Mario) for being a big ol' crybaby. Maybe he did something good, unintentionally, by writing the book "Juiced" and its silly little sequel, but now he is whining that no one will play tiddlywinks with him anymore, so he is apologizing for writing all those nasty little things about everyone. Does he really think that anyone is willing to forgive him for tarnishing reputations, sullying the game and bringing shame on himself and baseball for taking drugs in the name of performance? He may not have been the first, nor will he be the last, to try to game the system, but he is certainly one of the three or four most infamous, and almost certainly one of the original over-juiced neanderthals to ever stick a needle in his posterior. The need to excel, whether self-directed or externally influenced, has permeated our athletics subculture and tacitly authorized anyone to use performance-enhancing drugs in order to be "The Best." Too many kids and young adults are now either dead or damaged from using PEDs, and much of it can be attributed to Mr. Canseco.

Open Letter to Kellen Winslow: SHUT THE F- UP! Us Browns fans are sick of all your crap that you have pulled, and the team has stuck by you through that stupid motorcycle stunt and the broken leg. Maybe they didn't sit by your bedside and pat your hand and say "Everything will be alright, my wittle angel!" but maybe they expect you to be grown up and take responsibility. I say "TRADE HIM" while his value is still moderately high. Heiden is a much better team player, and as the Giants game showed, he is more valuable than Winslow will ever be.

Open Letter to the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Clinic: You better find out NOW what is going on that six Browns have contracted staph infections in the past few years. This is not normal, especially not for healthy, athletic people. It appears to be a staph cluster, or maybe the new carpeting in the headquarters is a breeding ground. Fix it. NOW!