Brady Hits Me Again

Last week I finished up my posts highlighting a large flat rate priority box full of Cardinals that Brady from St. Louis Cardinals Cardboard sent me around Thanksgiving.  It was the largest amount of cards I have ever received at one time.  While it was a time consuming venture, I had a lot of fun sorting the cards and finding out a lot about 1950s and 1960s cards. 

About the second week in December I received another box from Brady.  This one was about a 300-400 count box, but once again stuffed full of Cardinals.  This one did not take me near as long to go through, but it was just as fun.

This box had a large stack of McGwire base cards.  I think he must of had 2 or 3 cards in every set from 1998-2002.  The 1998 Topps Gold Label Class 1 is my favorite, but the 2001 Leaf Limited is a close second. 

Albert Pujols was also well represented.  I was glad to cross off the 2004 Topps card with Ichiro from my wantlist.  I have a habit of overlooking multi player cards on my checklists. 

There was also a nice handful of inserts of both former Cardinals first basemen.  I love the cartoon look of the 2002 Fleer Tradition Heads Up McGwire.  Look at the size of that bat.

There was a huge stack of minis from 2013-2015.  The Jay and Motte cards have the Allen & Ginter back.  The regular Slaughter is my favorite of this bunch.  I am a sucker for retro uniforms.

This is a good start to a 2014 Ginter mini set.  I received 2 Shelby Millers, the regular and the A&G back.  A lot of pitchers here to go along with the Man.

I am not sure why Topps feels the need to include minis in Allen & Ginter and Gypsy Queen.  I guess they can produce more cards without changing the photos.  The Ozzie Smith is my favorite of these 2014 cards.  If you look closely you can see the lack of batting gloves.

Matt Carpenter has been called a throwback player for his lack of batting gloves.  I have read he uses super glue to keep his hands together during the long season.  Gloves make more sense to me.  These 3 minis are from 2015. 

The big hits from the box include these 2 autos.  Jordan Swagerty was a reliever who looked to be on the fast track to the Cardinals bullpen before Tommy John surgery in 2014.  The Cardinals released him in early 2015.  I am uncertain if he signed with another team or is out of baseball now.   Marco Gonzales is a former first round pick who had his own TJ surgery last year.  I hope he can come back and at least be a serviceable reliever this year.  He is still young and left handed so he should be able to stick somewhere if the Cardinals let him go.  I see Piscotty making his first All Star team in the near future.  Soon he will overtake Matt Carpenter as the Cardinals best position player.

Thanks again to Brady for some wonderful Card.  I hope I can start to repay him this month.

The Snow is Finished Here

If you have followed the weather in the East the last few days, you know it has snowed a lot out there.  It did snow about 3 inches here on Thursday, but it did not change much in my daily routine.  All schools ran on a normal schedule.  My job in the concrete business was slow on Friday, but that happens this time of year.  My house did receive another dusting of snow on Saturday.

I received a trade package from a Bench member that finished my 2016 Topps Holiday team set.  I almost had to look twice to see the snow on the Martinez card. 

These 2013 Topps Update Wal Mart blue cards remind me of how cold it has been.  The temp has been below 20 degrees for 4 straight days.  Of course it is going to be 50 degrees later this week for 2 or 3 days.  Got to love the winter weather in Illinois.

Panini has done well the last few years with sets that highlight retired players.  The 2012 Cooperstown set notes the year each player was elected to the Hall of Fame.  It would look a little better if the year was not separated at the top, but they are still nice cards.

I was surprised I did not have this 2016 Topps Ozzie insert.  I do not do a good job of keeping track of inserts that I need.  Maybe that should be a goal for 2017.

Rounding out the trade package is this 2016 Bowman Platinum Top Prospects Alex Reyes card.  He should be a front runner for 2016 Rookie of the Year.  The Cardinals must have had a close watch on his innings count in 2016.  He is still classified as a rookie by 4 innings.  If he limit his walks, he should be a solid starter.

 

Did You Know Today is a National Holiday?

My son can home from school yesterday with a folder he received in class that was full of birthday wishes.  His birthday is not until July 7th, so I asked him to explain why he was celebrating.  I was informed anyone who has a birthday during summer break gets to celebrate their 1/2 birthday.  In my son's case, he is 8 and 1/2 today. 

This got me thinking of all the  so called holidays that are made up to celebrate something.  I am sure you have heard of Boss's Day or Secretaries Day.  Most card collectors have heard of National Card Trading Day, although I am not for sure if it is always celebrated on a formal date.  There is another holiday celebrated today that some collectors may also be interested in:  National Bobblehead Day.  Not one to miss a celebration, I thought I would show off a few of mine.

This is the first bobblehead I ever received.  It was a Cardinals stadium give away in 2002 to celebrate Albert Pujols winning the Rookie of the Year in 2001.  I believe this was the third year the Cardinals gave away bobbleheads at games.  During the first few years, they would give away 2 per year to the first 20,000 fans of any age.  Now they have 4-5 bobblehead days each year for 25,000 fans 16 years and older.

This Bob Gibson was a Busch Stadium give away in 2004.  It was the first retired player the Cardinals featured on a SGA bobblehead. 

Minor league teams also give away their fair share of bobbleheads.  The Springfield Cardinals gave away 2,500 of these Matt Adams bobbleheads in 2012 to celebrate his 2011 Texas League Player of the Year award.  I drove almost 6 hours to attend the game to receive this and snag some in person autos.  I have a very understanding wife who is also a baseball fan.

I have a very soft spot for the members of the 1985 Cardinals.  Ozzie Smith was a big part of that club.  This was a SGA bobblehead in 2013 to celebrate Smith winning 13 Gold Gloves from 1980-1992.  It is hard to see but all the gloves are dates.  Hard to beat the vintage baby blue uniform.

I showed this one before, but it is a dual bobblehead of Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright celebrating the last out of the 2006 World Series.  It was given away in June 2016, but I bought it at a card show.  I am eager to see what this year's dual bobblehead of Matt Carpenter and Carlos Martinez will look like.  My guess it will have something to do with Martinez throwing a cup of water on Carpenter after he hits a home run. 

I have 22 full sized bobbleheads, and another 10 mini bobbleheads.  I need to get another shelf or cabinet to display them.  11 of them are shown in my blog's title bar.  I have another shelf with 7 of them, while the last 4 and all the minis are still in boxes.  I guess that is a good problem to have.

I Spent $8 on a Milt Thompson Card

You be reading the title of this post and be thinking who is Milt Thompson and why would someone who is not related to him spend $8 for his baseball card. Thompson was drafted in the 1979 second round by the Braves and go on to play in the Majors from 1984-1996.  He was more of a pitch hitter/fourth outfielder type of player, but during the late 80s and early 90s he was somewhat of a regular for the Phillies and Cardinals.  He played for the Cardinals from 1989-1992 on some very bad teams, thus the increase in playing time. 

Just like every other player during that time period, Thompson had plenty of cards being overproduced by the 5 major companies.  Leaf entered into the mix in 1990 with a brand that was somewhat of a premium.

 Wow, look how sweet is that.  But did I really spend $8 for this card?  Of course not.  I spent $8 for this card.

This is a 2012 Leaf Memories Gold Buyback card numbered 3/5.  A nicer card than the first one, but still really $8 ?  Lets turn the card over.

In case you do not recognize him, that is Ray Lankford pictured on the back.  The same Ray Lankford I player collect.  I know this may seem like a stretch for a player card or it may even be considered a cameo, but both Becket and Trading Card Database list it as a Lankford card so I had no problem overpaying for it.  This was the 3rd Lankford I crossed off my wanlist in 2016 when it arrived last week from EBAY.  I think I will set my 2017 goal to the same number of new Lankford cards this year unless he happens to be in a new release.  I would be shocked if that happens since he had an autograph in 2012 Topps Archives, but I can always dream.   

Two for Tuesday EBAY win

December was a busy month card wise for me.  In addition to the 2 boxes Brady sent, a few trades, and a Secret Santa package I also managed to win a handful of EBAY auctions. 

I won the auction for these 2 autos for $6.  If I can find a nice licensed Cardinals auto for less than $5 delivered I usually jump on it.  I already have a Hazelbaker auto from 2016 Chrome, but Carlson is new to me.  Carlson was the 33rd pick in last year's draft.  He is an 18 year old switch hitting outfielder who may develop some power as he grows older.  H will most likely play rookie ball this year.  Best wishes to Hazelbaker as he tries to crack the Diamondbacks outfield rotation in 2017. 

Finishing Up with the 50s

I feel bad it has taken me a little over a month to go through the priority box that Brady from St. Louis Cardinals Cardboard sent around Thanksgiving.  All the extra events with the holiday season seemed to cut my hobby time in half, but now that the calendar has turned to January things should get somewhat back to normal for a few weeks.  My daughter starts her basketball and volleyball seasons by the end of the month, so spare time may become a very precious commodity.  At any rate, this post will finish up the highlights of Brady's generosity by showing off the cards from the 1950s.

 I mentioned in yesterday's post that most of the cards I received from the 1960s were in good condition or better.  I cannot say the same about these 2 1950 Bowman cards, but they are over 65 years old.  The corners and centering are good, but it looks like someone folded the cards in half.  Both still great cards anyway and are now the oldest cards in my collection.  The cards are 2 inches wide by 2.5 inches tall.

1951 Bowman cards were also 2 inches wide, but the height changed to 3 inches.  You may be wondering when the Cardinals had Browns on their uniform.  Technically this is not a Cardinals card.  The Browns played in St. Louis from 1902-1953 before moving to Baltimore and becoming the Orioles.

I wonder if this 1952 Bowman makes me a Hank Afrt player collector.  Most likely not, but check out the offer on the back of the card.

For $1.50 and 5 wrappers you could get a cap of your favorite team.  What a deal.

Bowman changed the size of cards again in 1954.  The cards were now 2.5 inches wide by 3.75 inches tall.  A storage nightmare because they do not fit in a top loader or 9 pocket sheet.

Rounding out the Bowman part of the package are these 2 from 1955.  If you find Jerry somewhere, tell him I have his Vic Raschi card. 

My first Topps cards from the 50s are these 2 1955 cards.  Rip's real name was Eldon John.  I would go by Rip also.  Topps followed Bowman's lead by making the cards 2.5x3.75 inches. 

 

1957 Topps cards measure the same as cards today, 2.5x3.5 inches.  Pretty simple design with the white border.  I am not for sure if there is a reason why one card has the first name in yellow and the other 2 are in white.  Maybe I will have to look that up on a rainy day.

1958 Topps more than made up for the lack of color in 1957.  The red back drop and green team name plates remind of a certain holiday we just had.  Green and black or orange and black not so much.

Rounding out the decade are these 1959 Topps.  You may noticed I scanned 2 cards of Chuck Essegian and Billy Harrell.  A look at the backs will show why.

From what I have read, some of the cards have a gray back version.  I guess that is better than the gimmicks Topps has used in the past few years like sparkles or pie in the face.  At least it is easier to spot.

Wow that took a long time to cover.  So much so that Brady sent another box in the meantime .  This one was a 300 or 400 count box.  It did not take nearly as long to go through.  My debt is getting bigger and bigger though.

Ringing in 2017 with some 1960s Cards from Brady

I hope everyone one had a safe and fun filled New Year's Eve.  Mine was rather quite.  My wife came down with the flu on Thursday evening, so I have not really done much outside of the house the last few days.  Last night the kids and I rented movies, made homemade pizza, and made it to 10:00 before we all crashed in the basement.  Yes we are a wild bunch.

On the bright side, being stuck in the house has given me a chance to get my card room in order.  I have 2 different EBAY wins to blog about, but I really need to finish up the recap of Brady's priority box that I received around Thanksgiving.  Only 2 more posts and I should have it done.  The big delay in not finishing is most of the cards I need to highlight are from the 1950s and 1960s.  I have not collected many cards before 1970, so I had to take some time to figure out what year the cards were from.  The good news is all cards have been identified.  Let's take a look at the 1960s.

 I like the looks of 1960 Topps with the player action shot on the left.  I am not a fan of the player's name being in different colors.

1961 Topps was a much simpler design.  My favorite of this group is the Ernie Broglio.  Cub fans may remember him as the player traded for Lou Brock.  I think that worked out well for one side.

These are not 1987 Topps wood grain borders, but rather 1962.  Quite a few recognizable names here with some members of the 1964 World Series team like Javier, Washburn, and Keane.

That is a great looking 1963 Topps card of future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson.  This is my third copy of this card, but this one is by far in the best condition.  Very few of the cards Brady sent were completely beaten up.  I bet he has some very nice vintage cards since he sent the ones that were less than perfect.

 I guess green was the in color in 1964.  I would have much rather preferred red, but these are not too bad.

Topps used red in 1965 for the pennant name plate.  Nice design, but very few action shots.  The Ken Boyer is a Topps Embossed card.

1966 brought a yellow name plate with red letters.  Makes me think of McDonalds. 

1967 Topps was about as plain as 1961, except Cards in highlighted in baby blue.  Not a big fan of this, but I do like the signature on the card.

1968 Topps was not quite as McDonaldish (is that a word?) as 1966.  I guess it was a combination of the wood grain 1962 Topps and 1966 Topps name plate.  McCarver does have some good stories to tell about catching for Bob Gibson, but overall I am not a fan of his announcing.

1969 Topps finished out the decade with more yellow and red.  We have seen the team name in white, green, baby blue, red, and now yellow.  Red would be more color of choice.

It was fun and educational going through all these cards.  I now have close to 80 cards from the 1960s thanks to Brady, with most of them being in good or better condition.  Last up will be the 1950s.