BIg City Topps GIVEAWAY

As most of you are aware, I am a lawyer. I make my living on the fine print. Whether it is reading boilerplate language in contracts that is boilerplate only until it is not or being "that guy" and reading all the documents when we closed on our house, I literally have to read the fine print.

What does that mean though? 

To me, reading the fine print is something I do from time to time to see the ridiculous disclaimers that other lawyers have written. It's a professional courtesy, I suppose.



Kind of like that old joke about sharks and professional courtesy.

Anyway, I don't know how many people were interested in the topic I raised on Saturday in my "Big City Topps" post and commented solely because the topic was interesting and how many people read the fine print below the video of "Big City Nights" by the Scorpions.  

 

For those of you who need glasses, it says, "This is also a contest post -- I'll put everyone who answers into a randomizer and send something special for your collecting interests your way to the winner."

So, yeah, forgive the poor grammar. That sentence should probably be taken outside and shot. But, I promised a contest, and a contest winner is what comes after a contest.

I had 21 comments that came from 15 different people. While some posts simply provided the blog-comment version of "Amen," others came through with very thought provoking posts. One of the more interesting comments came from Night Owl, who basically said, "well, if your team gets good enough, you'll get plenty of cards." 

Actually, he said something that I took a little personally -- though not in a "you just pissed me off" personally kind of way. He said, "[t]he noisiest and spendiest collectors get the most attention because their wallet shoulds the loudest. And you know who aren't noisy or spendy? Rays and Marlins fans. And, apparently, maybe Brewers fans, according to what you're seeing from Topps." He also said that Milwaukee simply needs to be a better team for Topps to take interest

I take umbrage with those points on two levels. First, I worry that I'm too shrill sometimes ... especially on Twitter. I'll go on rants -- often influenced by Topps's selections for the Topps Now cards that I'm dying to drop my $10 a card on but which Topps pretty much says, "shut up--you don't matter" to Brewers fans. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Sooz's husband blocked me because I'm so obnoxious about that.

I can't think of any other reason why, because, for the life of me, I don't think I've ever interacted with the guy.

The other point comes from 2012. The Brewers were coming off getting to the National League Championship Series after winning the NL Central. Topps, as always, printed thousands of cards -- 95,067 to be exact. Of those, 6675 were in the "main" sets, according to Beckett. Again, a reminder that the average team should have 3.3% of the cards issued to be "equivalent." That would be about 220 cards for the average team.

And the numbers were? The AL East champion Yankees got 388 cards, the World Series runners-up Texas Rangers had 272, the nowhere near the playoffs but 2010 & 2012 World Series champ Giants had 260, the 2011 World Series champion Cardinals 259, the NL East champion Phillies 258, and the 3d place in the AL East Red Sox 257.

The NL Central Champion Brewers that year had 222 cards -- just above the 73-89 Rockies at 217 and the AL Wild Card Rays at 213. The lowest numbers? The Houston Astros -- in the midst of their dire years that led to Alex Bregman, etc. being drafted and just before their switch to the AL -- had just 108 -- 2 more cards than they had losses the previous year. The Padres had 123, and the Chicago teams were tied at 157 apiece. So, yes, being a better team helped get more cards.

And yet, those numbers still don't look right, and just because the Astros were bad doesn't mean that their fans didn't deserve cards of their team in the main sets.

I'm not saying Night Owl is wrong by any stretch of the imagination. I just think that excess -- and the cards that go with winning -- should be pushed more into inserts and less into main sets.

Oh, and one more point raised by Brett Alan (welcome, by the way!): in 1979 and according to Beckett by searching for "1979 Topps," Topps made a total of 761 cards for the entire year. Topps is credited with making 38 Yankees cards that year. They made only 26 cards for one team only (and that was the fewest overall that they made). Guess which team got only 26 cards?

Yes, it was the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Okay, y'all didn't come here for more ranting or numbers -- at least I don't think so -- so here's the randomized list of the commenters. I randomized it 7 times because I like 7.



JayP -- please shoot me an email with your address so I can send something your way. I know I have it around here somewhere, but help me out and make it easy.

Thank you to everyone of you who read that post and especially to those who took the time to comment. I enjoyed reading everyone's responses and thinking about the other points that you raised.

Imploding Want Lists: Incoming Cards from "Remember the Astrodome"

My headline is misleading. The Astrodome has not been imploded -- just some ramps that were added in 1989 to ease internal traffic in the concourses and to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The "Eighth Wonder of the World" opened to great fanfare in 1965 -- a symbol that man could build buildings which would allow baseball to be played in the syrupy humid, regularly raining, and stultifying hot climate that is Houston, Texas, by creating an indoor stadium that is air conditioned, dehumidified (somewhat), and, eventually, employed fake grass (since real grass would not grow in the Dome).  

The Dome was a trendsetter.  Within 15 years, circular multipurpose domes popped up in Detroit, New Orleans, Seattle, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis.  The Dome was also the first to feature an animated scoreboard -- a feature which sounds quaint in today's "largest HD screen on the face of the planet" systems such as the one in Jacksonville's EverBank Field.

This year -- specifically, April 9 -- marks the 50th anniversary of the Astrodome's opening. Despite being closed for building code violations in 2008 by the City of Houston, no one knows quite what to do with the building. 

Voters in Houston in 2013 turned down a bond referendum that would have provided money enough to turn the Astrodome into a multipurpose entertainment facility. Yet, neither implosion nor demolition appear to be in the cards, as even that option would cost a significant amount of money.  Noted land use think-tank The Urban Land Institute yesterday released its report that made several recommendations regarding the Astrodome's future.  It does not sound much different than previous recommendations, which means it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to implement.  

Still, it's worth saving in many people's eyes. Indeed, the National Trust for Historic Preservation added the Astrodome to its 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list in 2013.  Rest assured, something will be done with the Dome soon -- the adjacent "NRG Stadium," the corporate-sponsored home of the Houston Texans that sits right next door to the Astrodome, is scheduled to host the 51st Super Bowl in 2017.  The City of Houston does not want a derelict hulk next door.  

But what will be done?  What should be done?

In the spirit of revitalization -- and to end what might be my most labored introduction to a trade post ever -- I received a great bunch of cards from Bru, the man responsible for putting me on the National Trust for Historic Preservation website, for his excellent blog, Remember the Astrodome.  Nearly a month ago now, I received an incredible package of cards from Bru with the following note:

Houston's loss of a card shop turned into a MAJOR gain for me.  How major?  Let's start with the recent cards -- which, to be fair, were certainly the lesser lights in this package.

The Segura is just a regular Topps Heritage card -- one I did not have, of course, but just a base card.  The Lohse is the Blue serial numbered Opening Day Parallel from last year. Again, another card I did not have. 

I've told on myself sometimes in the past that, as a little kid in the late 1970s, my cards were toys and not "save the card good condition money money money value worth something some day" as cards became later.  So, a lot of my cards from as late as 1982 had some wear and tear that necessitates some upgrades.

So, Bru helped there too.  A couple of 1982 Donruss cards to help upgrade a Hall of Famer and add the Brewers' first Diamond King to my team collection:

Gorman was all about those homers.  And, let's be fair -- in 1982, Dick Perez still had his fastball in terms of his drawing ability.  He scribbled those suckers out as time passed, and the players started looking more like the Panini Triple Play stickers from 2012 than like themselves.  But 1982 -- even though it was just the start -- were some of the best.

Bru also upgraded a ton of 1979 cards for me:

Not a bad haul at-- wait, there's more?

Oh yes, there is more.  A second year card of Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.  At some point in the near future, I am going to feel the need to look into the incessant position shifting that the Brewers seem to enjoy putting their best players through, but note for now that Molitor came up as a shortstop.

Bru also sent a card from 1975 that I needed to complete my team set from Topps Regular Sized from that year:

Where's that kid who drew the beards on the rookie pitchers to fix this card?  There's all kinds of weird going on here.  Gorman Thomas being clean shaven.  Gorman Thomas wearing #44 -- and yes, he wore it just before Hank Aaron joined the team.  Thomas then switched to #3 -- visible on his 1977 card -- before switching to his later trademark #20.  

In many trade packages either the 1979 Molitor or the 1975 Thomas would be the piece de resistance.  But not when we are talking about remembering an iconic building such as the Astrodome.  Oh no. 

Remember, Paul Molitor came up as a Shortstop.  So did Alan Trammell and the very aptly named Mickey Klutts and the for-once toothpick-less U.L. Washington.  

When I laid eyes on this card -- the last one I needed for my 1978 Topps Brewers team set -- I was blown away. The card I have in my Molitor PC is the same one I have had since 1978, and it was always a cherished card because of that fact.  From the earliest date that I had real 9-pocket sheets -- sideloaders, in fact -- that Molitor card was always in the sheets.  

And now, thanks to Bru, I have two.

Bru, thank you for the great package of cards and for the excuse to dig into things like urban preservation issues!