Childhood Fave...

Almighty Fuji asks...

Who were your childhood favorites (players)? Do you collect their cards & memorabilia? If so, what's your favorite item (of your favorite childhood player) in your collection?

And I answer.  I had a ton of favorites.  But one stands out: Dwight Gooden.

Dwight was amazing.  He was young, dynamic, had the fastball from hell and man, were his stats out of sight!  I was a little stat geek.  If you know me now, picture me exactly the same, 2 feet shorter with pieces of paper with stats on them coming out of my ears.  I could tell you most players stats in season up to the day.  I spent hours on the box scores in the daily newspaper (that's like mlb.com or baseball-reference.com for those of you who are less than 25).

So Gooden's 24-4 record and 1.53 ERA in 1985, or his rookie record 276 K's really floated my boat.

His subsequent drop-off, both personally and professionally, has dimmed the sheer awesomeness over the years, but I still like, and even somewhat collect, Doc.  I have all the cards from his playing career that I want except one.

Yeah, that 1984 Fleer Update set is brutal ain't it?

Oh, and to answer the last of Fuji's questions, here is my favorite Doc Gooden item in my collection:

 It isn't much, but it is mine.

Inching closer...

Another one bites the dust!  I'm getting so close to this set.

Still need 3(Chris Webber),6(Anfernee Hardaway),7(Juwan Howard)

Some for trade, some for keeps!

Welcome to my monthly card show post.  Here is where I say the same old thing I always say after a show.  Here it is:  Blah blah, really fun, blah, whatta deal, more text here, found some keepers, you can't have them, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and some trade bait, come and get it, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!

On to the pics! Here are some modern cards of vintage stars that I quite like!  At first I thought I'd keep all of these, but if a Dodger lover wants the Pennant Agression die cuts, I'd be willing to let them go.  The 'When it was a game' cards catch my eye for some reason.  I like them a lot.  I thought about going for the whole 50 card insert set, but that just made me tired.  Maybe I'll just be happy with what I have.  They don't fit in my collection exactly, but I keep lots of cards just because I like their look.  These were quarters, by the way.

These were part of a stack of cards I grabbed for $20.  That was the bulk of my money for the show, but I'd seen these on lots of blogs and they seem in demand, so I grabbed em!  They still have the protective film over them, so they might look a little bubbly, but they are in good condition.  They are really thick too!  Let me know if you want any of these and we can get a trade started.

This was also in the $20 stack.  I have not done an Astros trade in a while and this is the 'die-cut' version of this card which Beckett has with a $20 price tag.  All that means to me is that someone might want it!  Speak up!

A bunch of the rest of the $20 pile was these:

I have seen these featured on a couple of other blogs lately and they not only look cool, but they are serial #d.  Anywhere from /35 to /60.  Very cool!  I especially like the Murphy and Clemente.  All are up for trade. (I kept a couple duplicates!)


These little on-card beauties were in a .50 box!  I'll take that aaaaaaaaall day!  The Hrbek has a slight ding on a corner, but I don't care.  Fifty cents!

And lastly, the one card I was happiest to walk away with:

This leaves me only 1 (technically 2) cards short of the whole 69 Topps Deckle set, #11.  I say technically, because there is the regular #11, Hoyt Wilhelm and a short printed alternate #11, Jim Wynn.  I need both.  How weird is it that I need 2 different #11's to finish a set?  Obviously, if you have either of those, please let me know so I can put this vintage mutha to bed!

Oh, and blah blah!

The Fuji Challenge

Oh Fooj!  You drew me in...

As if you hadn't already seen it everywhere else, the Great Fuji has asked the question:

What is your favorite vintage card and/or 90's insert card in your collection? Why? How did you acquire it?

And I couldn't resist figuring it out for myself.  So after an hour of looking through my collection, here are the answers!  I couldn't stop at vintage or 90's insert, so I chose one of each.

Vintage

Oh yeah!  Growing up, I was fascinated with Willie and Hank.  I read multiple biographies of both of them.  I never thought I'd own a card of either of them except the K-Mart series.

So now that I'm a 'rich' adult, I jumped at the chance to get a cheap copy of this card with both of my childhood heroes on it.  In fact, I like it so much that it's one of the few cards I have 2 copies of!  Neither is in very good shape, but I love them anyway.

90's Insert

This is both sides of a 1998 Finest 'Mystery Finest 1' Mark McGwire refractor #M10.  There are no less than 7 different McGwires in the mystery finest sets for this year, but this is the only one with 2 BigMacs on it.

I love this card because it is rare-ish, valuable and most of all, a DOUBLE-SIDED REFRACTOR!  Hehe, that's cool.  It also looks better in person than in the scan, so there!  I got this at a card show in Seattle about a year ago for a steal.

Dutch Cards

Most of you know Jeroen over at The Dutch Card Guy.  If you don't yet, check his stuff out, you won't be disappointed.  Well, not his stuff, that just sounds weird.  His posts.  And his cards.  Yeah, that's better.

Anyway.

He made a post where he had a low numbered Diamond King I needed, I commented and we hashed out a quick trade!

Now Jeroen said right up front, that he doesn't like just sending one card.  Postage being what it is, you get much more bang for the buck sending a few more cards. I couldn't agree more!!  So I shot him some stuff off his want lists and he sent me...some really sweet stuff!! Check out a sampling below.

Not one, but 3 low numbered Diamond Kings!  The Shawn Green was the original trade starter, but the others are awesome too.  Especially the Carew #/100!  I love finding nice Carew's I don't already have.

He sent a couple of refractors for my project and a numbered Pudge.  I have really been liking nice looking Pudge's since he retired.

And of course, the biggie, a Wade Boggs jersey card!!  Boggsie has always been a favorite of mine and this is a nice card of his.

Thanks a bunch Jeroen!

Featured Diamond Kings set of the month - May

Welcome to yet another series inspired by my blog goals for this year!  Every month, I will feature a Diamond Kings set in depth.  Gotta stay true to my roots!

If you've been following this series, you have probably noticed that the 'in depth' part has been dwindling.  This one might be the shortest yet!  I plan on changing that starting with the next installment, so keep me honest if I don't!

Still in catch up mode on this series, but I'm getting closer!  In April, I went with the 1992 Diamond Kings.  This month we look at the 1998 Diamond Kings Inserts.

I only have 5 cards from this 20 card set and they are pictured below.

I REALLY like these cards!  They have a glossy finish which makes the marbled border look great.  The artwork is fantastic and brings each players person to life.  Pudge's wide eyes, always aware, Randy's intensity and Cal's love of the game.

I also think of this set as the 'crazy eyes' set because the artist seems to really like using the players eyes as a focal point.

These cards are serial numbered /10000.  The first 500 of each player has a rougher finish and are considered the 'Canvas' parallel to the main set.

This is one of the DK sets I'd most like to complete, so if you have any of them that aren't pictured above, let me know and we can trade!!!

Previous months:
January
February
March 
April

Fabulous Ebay Pickup

I was recently reading one of Napkin Doon's Checklist Chipaway posts where he is trying to get the 2003 Diamond Kings Master set.  It's a serious undertaking!  There are something like 7000 insert sets in 2003 Diamond Kings (a slight exaggeration) and most of them are not cheap.

Mr. N. Doon wrote one piece where he completed the 2003 Diamond Kings 'DK Evolution' insert set.  I had picked up the Derek Jeter from this set at a card show but had never seen another card from it.  So, inspired by the Napkin Man, I went on an Ebay hunt!

I looked at completed listings and roughed out a guess on how much it would cost me to put the set together.  My rough estimate was $72 not counting shipping!  So I put that on the back burner, but I left an Ebay search active and sending me e-mails, and...



Up popped a listing for the complete set!!!  Here it is:

And the best part is it was only about $18 shipped!  Less than $1 a card.  Score!!!!  And I owe it all to Doonie.

The many faces of Gorman

Gorman Thomas played from 1973-86 for 3 different teams, mostly the Brewers.

Gorman Thomas hit 268 home runs with a high of 45 in 1979 which led the league.

Gorman Thomas struck out almost once per game played and had a lifetime batting average of .225.

Gorman Thomas was an All-Star in the strike shortened 1981 season.

Gorman Thomas hit under .200 in 5 of his 13 seasons.

Gorman Thomas was a badmamajama!

Them was the facts.  Here comes the speculation!

Gorman Thomas was afflicted with a lack of facial muscles.  Here is some proof:

Coulda been Bell's Palsy.  Coulda been nerve damage.  Coulda been his overly heavy chin dragging the rest of his face down.  Whatever the reason, 'Never Smilin' Gorman is one of my personal favorites.  Here are some more Gorman Facts and pics.  Enjoy!

Career Highlights:

Played 13 years in Major League Baseball as an outfielder, shortstop and designated hitter...Twice led the American League in home runs (1979 and 1982)...From 1978 to 1982, he hit more runs than anyone in baseball...Five times during his career he hit over 32 home runs in a season...Played on the American League champion Milwaukee Brewers in 1982...Was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year in 1985 (he hit .215 that year!)...Two-time American League All-Star...Originally planned to attend Florida State on a football scholarship but was drafted as a shortstop by the Seattle Pilots as their #1 pick in the June, 1969 draft...Named one of South Carolina's Athletes of the Century by Sports Illustrated...Elected to the South Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Celebrity Golf Accomplishments:
Winner of the 2004 Celebrity Champions Classic (with partner Al Del Greco)
Secured four top-20 finishes out of seven starts during 2003 season
Claimed his second career hole-in-one (and a $50,000 check from Maxfli) on the 16th hole of the 1999 CPT National Pro-Am Championship in Harbor Springs, Mich.

This was his best shot at a smile.  He pulled a groin and developed diabetes while trying this!

Current-ish Gorman!

Refractor Bidding Game

OK, it's time for a little game.  Below are 20 cards featuring Alex Rodriguez in the uniform of the Texas Rangers.  I have had most of these cards for several years.  I figured someone would want them, but I have never found a taker.  Not that I have tried really hard.  I have tons of cards like these that I mean to trade someday, but never get around to it.

Which leads to this game.  As most of you know, I am collecting refractors in bulk this year.  I am easily on pace for my goals, but have really slowed in my progress the last few months.  So I am offering these A-Rod's, all 20, to whoever pledges the most refractors in trade.  So leave your bid in the comments and may the biggest A-Rod fan win!  If the highest bid is only 1 refractor, that will win, so don't be shy!  Baseball, Basketball and Football refractors are accepted.

My son has been watching me scan and type this up and he volunteered to look up all 20 cards in an old Beckett.  According to him (he is 13, so I trust him) the cards have a total book value of $39.75.

I'll leave the bidding open until Saturday June 9th at noon Pacific time.

Comment away!

Collection Additions

Ebay and combined shipping are conspiring to further flatten my already pancake thin wallet.  But my collection is getting fatter!

Here's what I got recently.

The Helton jersey is dirty, the Brady is #d /1000, the Aldridge is /99 and the Thomas is /50.  Also, today is my birthday and the family will probably give me some presents this afternoon.  I have been back collecting for 6 years now and have never received any sports cards for my birthday.  I guess we will see if the streak continues!!

Featured Diamond Kings set of the month - April

Welcome to yet another in a series inspired by my blog goals for this year!  Every month, I will feature a Diamond Kings set in depth.  Gotta stay true to my roots!

OK, I know its not even close to April(see title if that confuses you).  Consider this catch up(with more to come)!  In March, I went with the 2004 Diamond Kings full set.  This month I am going back to the old school insert sets.  In fact, these are the first DK cards to be released as inserts rather than a part of the base set!  I give you... The 1992 Diamond Kings!

My faves on this page: Clark (looks like a playground badass), Franco (great batting stance), Thomas (pure and clean, classic Thomas)  The Bell is awesome too. 

In addition to taking them out of the base set, Donruss decided to enhance the Diamond kings line a bit.  These are the first DK's to be glossy rather than regular finish, a trend that would continue, more or less, for the rest of the Diamond Kings run.  I apologize for cutting off a few of these, but my scanner isn't quite big enough for a full sheet.

My faves on this page:Bagwell (good color, young and innocent), Kruk (just how I remember him), Gooden (oh my, Doc was such a beast!  And this card shows his intimidating side)

Donruss also added silver foil around the DK logo and the player name.  Foil was so huge back in the day!

My faves on this page:Langston (nice action shot), Johnson (nice portrait), Martinez (underrated, plus I love Expos uni's)

The checklist features an 'at work' shot of DK overlord Dick Perez.  Nice touch.

Overall, this new format (inserts and oh so fancy) was a hit.  So much in fact, that Donruss used the almost exact same format the next year.  Even now, I have to look on the back to tell if a card is a 92 or 93 Diamond King.

Previous months:
January
February
March

May Fractor Report

If you read this blog at all the last 5 months, you know I'm collecting refractors this year.  Any refractors!!  This is a catch up since I didn't report last month.  Bad blogger!  Again, these months were my worst month so far, but the numbers did go up, so that's better than nothing!

Here is the monthly progress report for May!

As of May 31st, I have the following:
484 - Baseball Refractors
24 - Football Refractors
48 - Basketball Refractors

556 total Refractors!  That's 72 added over the last 2 months.

More math...

I have 55.6% of my goal of 1000 Refractors
I have been accumulating refractors at a pace of  3.71/day (down from 5.32/day for the 1st 3 months of the year)
I am on pace for 1353(!?!?) Refractors

OK, so another terrible two months, but I'm still on pace for a HUUUUGE year, so no biggie.

Huge thanks to all who have helped me along so far.  I apologize to any who helped.  I wish I could give you credit, but I was really bad!  I'll do better in the credit department next month!

And as always, let me know if you have refractors to trade!