New Year, New Stuff (From Joe Shlabotnik)

OK, so technically this padded envelope from Joe S came near the end of 2018 but I really didn't get to process it until January 1. So I'm calling this my first 2019 trade package. Joe had peeked over at my 1976 and 1975 Topps wantlists and the cards he sent put a healthy dent in said lists.

First of all, let's talk about the '76 Traded cards. When I bought the starter lot that launched me into the chase for the '76 set I didn't give those extra 44 cards much thought. I've seen them through the years but in 1976 I wasn't actively collecting anything (except maybe hangovers, overdraft notices, and failed relationships). It wasn't until Joe asked me which ones I had that I looked closer and figured "44 cards, why not?"

Back to the envelope...Joe filled part of the Traded set void and along with those he included base set needs for 1976 and 1975 which is another current project. I only scanned some representative examples. I was anxious to get them all into the binders. Damn, mid-70s Topps cards sure were colorful!

And sometimes fantastic. Like this one:

Between the wonderful 'fro, the terrible airbrush job and the punny 'headline' this baby is one remarkable piece of cardboard!

Red, pink, orange, green, blue. Rick Waits' card touches all the color bases.

This Jim Sundberg card was a dupe but it was also an upgrade! When I made my frequent trips to Arlington to see the Rangers (and usually the Orioles) two things were sure to happen... Jim Sundberg would be the catcher and huge dark storm clouds would pass over or near Arlington Stadium. Never failed.

I put this Luis Tiant card in the post because I like it.

It wouldn't be a Shlabotnik gift pack if it didn't contain off-the-beaten-track Orioles cards, both old and new. Like this Leaf Eddie Murray.

Or this Chrome Brian Roberts which my scanner choked on. Funny thing about Roberts. His career fits very neatly into my time away from baseball. I'm still amazed that the Orioles had a guy that once led the league in stolen bases.

Here's an Eric Davis card with one of those peel-y plastic sheets on it. I look at pulling them off as being akin to removing the label from mattresses. You know it's OK but something lurks in the back of your mind whispering 'Nooooo!'

Joe dropped a few Texans on me as well. One reason I'm hurrying through these is that I'm busy doing stuff I'd normally be taking care of tomorrow when I'll be at the Texans-Colts playoff game.

Keshawn Martin will go into my fantasy player binder since my old one of him uses a training camp pic with him wearing "00". I hate those.

Modern Brooks Robinson cards. I wonder what Hall of Famer has the most cards in modern sets. Ruth? Jackie Robinson? Mantle? I'm sure Brooksie is fairly high on the list.

I scanned this Rodrigo Lopez because I like the Fleer logo. I'm normally in favor of simple card designs but the auto under the name doesn't work.

Insert Ripken above. Jaunty cap angle Ripken below.

This Fleer set might be the only 1990s set I'd ever consider putting in a binder. It's very Stadium Club-ish. Joe included most of the Orioles team set in the envelope. If nothing else I might just finish that. Here's Moose.

Tony Tarasco looking badass.

When I did my Spring Training tour a few years ago Tarasco was coaching with the Nationals. My goal was to get him to sign a ball with an inscription reading "I had it all the way!". (Bonus points for getting the reference) When I was able to meet him after one of the games in Viera he had a lot of family and friends around so I settled for just a quick hello and a signed ball.

Raffy Palmeiro. I always think of my first visit to Camden Yards when I see him on an Orioles card. His suspension was big news since it occurred the day prior to my arrival. Sweet card though.

Finally, Joe included this Manny Machado Commemorative Players Weekend patch. It's thick and weighty. I dig the caps the Orioles wore for that season's Players' Weekend. Do these come inserted in regular packs? I've never gotten a 'thick' card like this from a pack that I recall. I suppose that's not surprising given how few packs I buy.

I know what the logo represents but whenever I see it I think of this:

Did I read this morning that Machado has a big offer from the White Sox? He's turned into a villain now but I'm still hoping he signs with an AL team so I can get to the ballpark and see him once or twice a year. Villian status be damned.

Anyway, that's just a portion of the cards I got from Joe. It's like the second or third one he's sent without a return from me. I need to do something about that. Oh, and I failed to mention earlier... his blog is among the best of the best. I mean that. I doubt anyone reading this is unaware but here is the link to The Shlabotnik Report. Did I spell that right? ;-)

Shiny (and more) Part Two

Not long after Night Owl's shiny contribution to my modern card collection arrived I received a similar gift from Jeff who authors 2x3 Heroes, another favorite blog of mine.

Like Greg's cards these will end up in a few different places..... my Orioles current favorites binder (and yes, I realize how silly that sounds given the current crew), my fantasy baseball binder (or the baseball 'live' box I keep of guys I may need for my fantasy binder)...or my O's Stars binder i.e: Murray, Brooks, etc.

We can start off with that Zach Britton card up top. I'm disappointed but not surprised that the scan doesn't really convey what it looks like in hand. It's sepia(?) or something and all chromified. I'm sure there is an actual name for it. I'll just say it's unique enough to boot the Britton I have now in my fantasy binder. EDIT: I pulled this back out to look it over and I see it's a 'chrome refractor'. As is one of the next pair. 

Above and below are two different Trey Mancini chrome cards. I confess to not knowing (or having forgotten) if Topps Chrome is a seperate set or a variation of the base set or what. But there are so many around that I'm guessing it's a stand-alone set. Either way Topps does crazy things with the coloring on these.

Hey, it's Manny Macado, Oriol Dodgers star! Somewhere along the line the number of Dodgers followers has surpassed the number of Brewers fans in my Twitter feed. (Getting all the Brewers tweets was odd in the first place but that's for another time.)

This Machado is a different sort of Chrome card. I swear I don't know how contemporary card collectors keep this stuff straight. The little shield indicates it's the 30th anniversary of the '87 design. Scanners just never give the full picture on these. Pun intended.

Jeff included a couple of Gypsy Queens, both destined for my newly re-organized stars binders.  Adam Jones' decision to nix a trade to the Phils and remain onboard the sinking ship that is the Orioles franchise shows either amazing loyalty or increadible stupidity. And Adam Jones isn't stupid. As I said about Machado recently...I hope AJ gets a ring before he hangs 'em up. And that's gonna take him moving on sooner rather than later.

Topps loves to use the same picture over and over but with Eddie Murray I'm fine with this one.

Big League Adam Jones. Other than my wishing that Topps had used the 'happy bird' logo on the Orioles I think this set a A-OK.

BL Manny wearing the MLB money grab Players Weekend uni. Dopey concept but it makes for a nice card in this case.

Oh Dylan. I get the feeling Bundy will head off to another team and pull a 'Jake Arrieta' by winning a zillion games and a Cy Young.

I got trey Mancinis in this package. ::groan::

Mini AJ. This may be the only card I already had but seening how disorganized my minis are there's just no telling. Organizing my minis is way down on my hobby to-do list.

And finally a Topps regular Brian Matusz. His best days came before I was back into baseball.And they didn't last long. Here's an odd fact from Wikipedia: "Despite the fact he only appeared in one game for the Cubs during their 2016 World Series season, he was given a World Series ring."

ANOTHER EDIT: I went back and pulled this one out again because I remembered wondering about it when I scanned it. It had a different 'feel' to it, not quite as glossy as most Topps base cards. And it felt thicker I think. Anyway it's numbered 81/91. And it has a foil Topps logo which I think is not on all their cards from 2016. That's all I know.

Big tip of the cap to Jeff for these babies. Nice adds for me and a bit of an education as a bonus!

Shiny Things....Part One

I've received two packages of shiny (and otherwise) Orioles cards in as many weeks. Blogger generosity makes me feel like the happy face guy that Night Owl added to his note accompanying these chrome-afied. Birds. 

He was being cute with his reference to these babies being 'right up my alley' but the fact is that I always have a place for modern cards, especially Orioles.  Even with the sad state the franchise is in at the moment the Birds are still mine. 'For better or worse' as they say.  And speaking of worse....

..Chris Davis. He's hitting .174 as I type this which is a step up from the .140 range he was in for a long time. And his fancy stathead numbers are no better. That is too bad because I like Davis a lot. He seems to be a good guy, does a lot in the community. The team is stuck with a long-term deal with him so I can only hope he turns it around at some point.

I don't know what this 90s Pinnacle is other than what it claims to be...a 'sample. But it sure shouts 'I'm a 90s baseball card!' doesn't it?

Every player should wear their pants like Tim Beckham. I'd prefer stirrups and black shoes but I'm an old fart. This card went immediately into my fantasy team binder. I love having variety in that thing.

Stefan Crichton pitched in eight games for the Orioles in 2017, got absolutely annihilated in almost all of them, and was traded to the Dbacks this year who released him. Got himself a die-cut card though.

Another card of Crush. This thing looks almost 3D. The photo comes from a Friday game as that's when the Birds wear those jerseys.

Dylan Bundy..perpetual prospective staff ace. His results in 2018...not good. But man, that card!

Mark Trumbo has had his moments with Baltimore. Not this year though. Opening Day is a Topps set I just don't understand. I sure like that card though. It's going to replace the one of Trumbo that currently sits in my FB binder.

And Greg included some non-shiny cards. The best of which is this Heritage Ripken. Once someone pointed out the 'off center' names on these it became one of those 'I can't unsee it' things. I don't understand how Topps could screw up something so simple. Nevermind, I do understand...they don't really give a shit.

But having said that this is a really nice card. I make no secret of my affection for the '59 design. (and no apologies, either).

And for a 'back of the card' guy like me, this is pretty sweet.

Oh, Manny...

Bundy again. This one goes in the FB binder. I owned him for about 2 starts.

And Crush. I think Night Owl wanted him out of the house before the bad karma affected the Dodgers.

And finally.....miniiiis!!!!! I've determined that I will place every mini card I own in the plastic sheets I have for them. Otherwise they have a tendency to fall out of card stacks and end up on the floor under my desk joining the old penny sleeves and Fig Newton crumbs that already occupy that space. Can't have that. .

Thanks for the stack Greg. Much appreciated.

The next group, to be blogged soon, bears a striking resemblance to this one but has no overlap. Getting those scanned today I hope.

The Dark Side

Yes, that is indeed a Topps Now card of Manny Machado of the Dodgers. I'm not so foolish to spend full price on a TN card...I think $10 is a bit steep for them. But after my first one I found that bulk purchasers have them on eBay at a discount. I think I have about five TNs.

This one comes from a month or so ago when Machado got his 1000th big league hit. It was really my first look at him not in orange and black and it is weird. At this point in my life I no longer worry much about stuff that I can't control or that doesn't affect my family. So a baseball trade, even of a favorite player, just ain't that big a deal.

Having said that....my interest in the baseball races is well...minimal with the Orioles being a non-factor. But as of this a.m., it appears the Dodgers are in the hunt in their division and/or a WC slot. I would really like to see Manny get a ring.

I'm not going to stay up late to wait for west coast scores or go buy a Dodgers cap but when push comes to shove I hope the blue guys can pull out an NL pennant. At that point, I'll do what I usually do when I watch teams that are not 'mine'. I'll let my gut tell me who to root for. I suspect that unless it's the Astros again repping the AL I'd cheer for the Dodgers in a WS if they got that far. Not as loud as Night Owl certainly but cheer for them I will.

Obviously not much to the back of these things. Topps has quite the racket going.... find a pic, slap a few sentences on the back and charge $10.

We Interrupt This Dusty Card Blog.....

....to bring you a picture of modern cards!

Found myself in a San Antonio WalMart this weekend. Was buying a jacket (I need to check weather reports before traveling) and cleaning supplies (working on in-laws rental property). I figured a card purchase would be a nice break from the drudgery. This particular WalMart had a very small card section tucked in next to the cigarette case register. There weren't even the boxes of Yu-Gi-Oh stuff and weird brand 2016 football draft pick card packs I find at Houston big boxes.

They did have twenty-card hanging packs of Heritage so I made my first retail purchase of 2018 cards. This stuff is very old news to everyone so I will just post this pic of a few of the cards on the desk at the Hyatt.

As you can see it was a Manny Machado hot pack and I got another Oriole so it wasn't a wasted $5. And I got lots of guys with beards. I don't understand the connection between Lou Brock and the Miami guy but then again I haven't read the back. I'm guessing it has something to do with stolen bases.

I got one guy I needed for my fantasy baseball binder. All things considered, I got my money's worth. But have no fear..I'll soon be back to posting cards that smell like my grandmother's winter coat closet in Brooklyn.

Orioles Topps Now '17 Season edition

Back in February I got the Topps email advertising their 'Road To Opening Day' sets. I'm sure most everyone reading this is on Topps' mailing list and got that email as well. I dismissed it immediately because I wasn't in the mood to spend $49 for the set. But then I noticed something odd.

The 'autographed' version, which was selling for at least $99 or more for each team was priced at $49 for the Orioles. I figured either a) it was a mistake or b) Topps didn't think much of the Orioles. But either way it was enough for me to go ahead and bite. I was guessing that if Topps caught the error they would give me a choice to buy at the real price or cancel. But nothing ever came of it. 

That is until I got this email:

Dear Customer, 

We are writing to notify you that there will be a delay in shipping out your Topps Now Orioles Opening Day Autographed set. We do expect these sets to ship in the next few weeks. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your patience

Sincerely,
The Topps Now Team 

Wasn't sure what to make of that but the set showed up on Monday. And sure enough it had an autographed card:

I guess that's autographed. 'Scribbled on' might be more accurate but it was pretty much a bonus so I won't complain. And hey, it is Manny Machado.

I'll post the whole set here without a lot of comments. These are really and truly beautiful cards. Scans don't dur them justice. I'm the first to criticize Topps for many things...yes, Topps Now is geared towards 'big market' temas, it's pretty expensive on a single card basis, etc. But credit where credit is due: they make these things very attractive.

And the unsigned Machado card was included.

One last thing. The signed Machado came in it's own Topps Now cardboard sleeve and was wrapped separately. When I opened it I saw this:

It took me half an hour to get the card out of the case. Why? Because I had no idea magnetic cases were a thing. I thought it was some sort of new screw down holder and the metal deal was a weird safety mechanism. I even tried an Allen wrench on it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  If you look close you can see I scratched the case and even damaged it at the top near the tab or whatever it is. Live and learn.

Looking back I'm glad I only shelled out $49 on this set. At that price I think it's worthwhile. But not $99. Not for a guy who doesn't really collect signed cards.