A Big Smile!

I know I haven't been posting a lot lately, or even minimally. I have no excuse, except for Life. Sometimes it intervenes.

I have, however, continued to trade and even buy and sell a few cards. Recently, I came upon a card I just had to have. Have you ever come across one of those? You know the card. A player you collect. Maybe your team. Something so incredible that money was no object, or at least you were willing to pay a little more than you normally would.

Well, I had to have this card:

I don't know about you, but it certainly made me smile.

Not only is it a Thome autograph, which I would gladly take, but it is one of the most unique patches, aside from the Cubs' bear rump, I have ever seen. How much more perfect could this card be?!!? Not only is it a larger size patch, but it is a well-designed card with a well-placed sticker auto that is not simply stuck onto the front, but embedded in the card. This one is going right into the PC.

The Kindness of Strangers

Isn't is great that people who I've never met, who don't know me from Adam, would be willing to send me gifts in the mail, with only an email and a secret handshake to seal it? We are a brotherhood (and sisterhood) of like-minded goofballs who play with kids' cards and try to outdo each other to see who can supply everyone else with cards that will elate, surprise, and otherwise bring joy to that person. Like I said before, I get more of a kick out of helping someone else finish a set than I do from opening a pack of cards.

Greg the Night Owl and Duane from Ohio (no blog yet) have both been very generous in helping me to achieve a few goals.

Duane sent me some '897 Donruss, which is slowly but surely starting to come to a close. One of the interesting things about this set, besides supplying the background for the Stale Gum blog, is that it is the anti-Topps in terms of a meritocratic system of assigning card numbers. In fact, they assign checklists to the most valuable real estate in that set: the 100's. 

  

One card he sent in particular takes me back to the 70's, when fireballing flamethrowers prowled the mounds of the American League, including Nolan Ryan and his teammate Frank Tanana. Together, they made one of the great one-two punches in power pitchers since Spahn & Sain. I did know that Tanana played for the Tigers, but what I didn't know was that he was a Ranger before he was a Tiger. Despite having an ERA under 3.25 in two of his three full seasons with the Rangers, who was only 22-24 those two years. 

The Night Owl is a team man, his team being the Dodgers, and as such, he is always prepared to ship cards from your team to you. All you have to do is ask, nicely, and send him some Dodgers. Here is what I got in the mail from him:

  

Some 2009 Stadium Club. Gotta love a Grady card, and Fausto and Masa are nice additions, too.Now that I see it in person, it is nicer than I expected, but for the price, you can get five times as many Upper Deck base, with photography and card stock just as good if not better than TSC.

But better yet, he sent these two also:

 

A 2006 Victor Martinez Turkey Red, and a 2009 Upper Deck Aaron Laffey Inkredible. WOW! I don't deserve such good friends. OK, maybe I do. But this was above and beyond. 

Thanks, Duane and Greg.

Sports cards and the Economy

There is an interesting interview transcribed on the website Cardscape. It deals with the economy and how it affects the card-collecting hobby. There is one passage that was particularly interesting to me, especially in light of my previous post.

"But while most collectors love to sit around and talk about the “value” of their collection, it's generally something that will never come into fruition. Most likely they'll never sell. If they do sell, they'll probably never realize that full value for their collection even in a good economy. So to most collectors I'd say focus on what you enjoy about collecting. Put less of an emphasis on the exact dollar amount of a card and more emphasis on the happiness you get from opening a pack, completing a set, interacting with the collecting community online or at shows, etc."

Very interesting points, and one I am taking to heart at this very moment. In response to the comments about my 1987 Donruss All-Stars Pop-Up cards, and after reading this article, I have opened the package! If it happens to be less valuable to someone else because I opened it, then so be it. It is more interesting to me and Joshua to see the cards.

Let's start with the "small" cards. Here we have Roberto Clemente's right ankle and shin. Puzzle pieces numbers 49, 50 and 51. An interesting side note: I have mentioned here that I was mentoring a student last school year in 6th grade. He attended Roberto Clemente School #8. No joke.

Next up is Dave Winfield popping up in the Astrodome. You would think that, since he is on the Yankees in this card, that he would "pop-up" in Yankee Stadium. I guess they are sticking with that All-Star theme, and, by gosh, that's where they are! The only thing it says on the back is "AMERICAN LEAGUE - DAVE WINFIELD - STARTER - RIGHT FIELD" under the Houston Astros 1986 All-Star Game logo.

Finally, the Big Three! Starting with the least significant of them, Brook Jacoby. He was 0 for 1in the '86 All-Star Game, and it was his first nomination, having earned his way onto the team "after a shoulder injury forced George Brett of the Royals to scratch from the team."

Next is James Rice of the Boston Red Sox, a near- and probably-should-be Hall-of-Famer. This was his 8th selection, and he was batting .320 at the time. The most interesting stat on the back, besides only hitting .200 in his eight All-Star games, is that he led the league in '78, while hitting .315, in HR's (46), RBI's (139) and triples (15)! Triples! Does anyone think Bonds would ever lead the league in triples, much less run out a double? What about Fielder or Howard? No way. Just goes to show you how good he really was. He is definitely a HOFer!

Lastly, a HOFer: Ryne Sandberg. At this point, he was only 1 for 8 in his three consecutive All-Star appearances, but had already made his name when he became only the third person in Major League history to hit at least 25 home runs and steal at least 50 bases. Again, Bonds probably took "stolen base" out of his vocabulary years ago (or the steroids depleted that part of his brain), and Fielder may have stolen one or two, but only with a lotta heart and a LOTTA luck!

So-so box break...

Another successful box break of 2005 Donruss Absolute Memorabilia at Sports Cards Uncensored, but the "hits" were very average, compared to what they could have been. One HOFer (Carter), two future HOFer (Torre, Henderson) and a six-swatch Twins card. Eh.

I bought two slots of two teams each, and for my part, I am getting two Blue Jays Quads, a Marlins Duo, and a Rays Aubrey Huff. Eh.

But I do appreciate the opportunity for participating. Again, "Thanks, Gellman."