Trivial Pursuits: Trade with Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits

I have mentioned before here that I play trivia on a website called Learned League that is known for having a bunch of very smart trivia players on it. The LL website has normal leagues complete with promotion and relegation among levels ranging from E up to A that run for a six-week period. After the six-week regular ends, the next six weeks are populated by special competitions called mini leagues that run for three-week periods.  

This fall, two of the three mini leagues were totally in my wheelhouse of trivia.  The first was college football.  I did not do as well as I would have liked, finishing fourth in my group despite having the second-most correct answers in the group. Still, it was great fun and totally enjoyable.  If you'd like to try your hand at the questions, go here and click through the questions on the right hand side.

The second one has been just as enjoyable -- perhaps more so for me. It is '80s Music. As anyone who has read my blog knows, I love music and often use music for topics to write about with the cards I get. Add in the fact that I graduated high school in 1990 and pretty much listened more to music than any other activity available to me during the 1980s, and you would guess that I am doing pretty well on the questions.

So, I thought I'd combine the trivia from the Mini League with the cards that I received recently from Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits, the excellent Allen & Ginter-focused blog owned and operated by Matt Stupienski. If you have any questions about any of the Ginter insert sets, Matt is the man to ask.  He's also the man when it comes to sending me some great cards...setting a high bar for me for my return package.  What did he send?

I'm glad you asked.  But first, answer this question, from match day 1:

What song, which sat atop both Swedish and German charts on this day in 1987, had a video directed by Simon West (Con Air), which featured (as a bartender!) Clive Clarke, famed member of Top of the Pops' dance troupe, Zoo? Click here.

I promise, that is the only time I won't put up the video here.

Everyone back?  Good.

That was a cruel way to start out our trivia game.  It was not cruel of Matt, however, to send me a couple of great cards from this year's 10th anniversary Allen & Ginter online special set:

Topps sold this set online only -- a move which I didn't even notice until the boxes had sold out. The black A&G cards look very sharp to me -- I love the black borders and the black background makes the art look a ton better than the white background, which seems to bleach out the color.  So, putting the cards online and selling them there only like these A&G X cards are like the bastard child of Topps minis and Turkey Red was just annoying.  

Sort of like getting Rickrolled on your first trivia question with "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Question 2: 

In November 1987, a cover of a Tommy James and the Shondells song was replaced at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 by a cover of a different Tommy James and the Shondells song.Name both cover artists, whose versions were later lampooned on Weird Al Yankovic's Even Worse (as "I Think I'm a Clone Now" and "Alimony", respectively). Two answers required.

Here's the Weird Al video for "I think I'm a Clone Now".

It's a fitting song for these mini parallels:

From here on in my collecting life, I'm going to start humming that song whenever I start hitting this mini parallels. We have 2011 well represented, along with one each from 2010 and 2012.  All of these were needed for the various player collections.

Your answers from above? The artists were Tiffany for her cover of "I Think We're Alone Now" and Billy Idol for his cover of Mony Mony:

Next Question:

What R.E.M. song, which featured a wah-wah-pedal guitar solo and two modulations, did singer Michael Stipe refer to as a "fruitloop song" while guitarist Peter Buck called it "the stupidest song we've ever written"? (It quickly became the band's biggest hit of the 1980s.)

Accompanying the question was this photo:

Being someone who spent three-plus years of my life in Athens and loving every minute of being in that city even today, I had to get this one right.

Criticizing parallels as overdone is a common thread for me, to be fair. In large part, it's because Topps overdoes the parallels.  But many times, those cards end up looking pretty good.  This is especially true of some of the Gold parallels:

Perhaps it is because I bought a case of the 2013 Topps Series 2 and broke it last year, but that Segura card looks about 800 times better than its white bordered base card equivalent. On the other hand, the Braun Bowman does not look at all better than its black bordered base card equivalent.  

So, which song did Michael Stipe call the "Fruitloop song"?

There are several live concert versions of this song available on YouTube, which raises the question: if they hate the song so damn much, why do they still play it live?

Now face North!

Two more questions.  Here's the second to last one:

Pictured here are stills from the videos for all four singles from what 1989 album?

What could possible go with this nostalgia fest? How about a couple of inserts from the 2008 Topps insert set called Trading Card History?

Yes, that's it.

I couldn't imagine either Ryan Braun or Prince Fielder listening to the album that is the subject of this question. Braun's more of a hip-hop guy -- his Miami roots showing, I'd guess...his at-bat music last year was one of two song: "Dreams and Nightmares" by Meek Mill and "A Dream" by Jay Z.  

Fielder has broader tastes -- using "Moments in Love" by Art of Noise, "Man of the Year" by Schoolboy Q, "Down for My Niggaz" by C-Murder featuring Snoop Dogg and Magic, and "Requiem: Lacrimosa" by notorious gangster rapper Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

But neither of them are repping "Deadbeat Club," or "Channel Z" or "Roam" or "Love Shack" from the B-52s big hit in 1989, Cosmic Thing.  I love "Deadbeat Club" because it name checks a few great Athens places like the since-departed Allen's and its 25-cent beers. "Love Shack" brings up the Atlanta Highway too.  Basically, it's one big paean to Athens. 

Final question

Five-word phrases regarding Milli Vanilli:

• "Girl You Know It's True"
• [What telephonically themed Billboard chart-topper?]
• "Blame It on the Rain"
• Best New Artist Grammy rescission
• Fraud-related lawsuits by the dozens

Let's be clear. I don't equate this fantastic card with the frauds that were Milli Vanilli. But this card goes with a great story about Milli Vanilli:

This 2015 Allen & Ginter card has the 10th Anniversary Issue foil on it. It didn't make a big first impression on me until I turned the card over...and lo and behold, there it was -- the card is serial numbered as #4 of 10 total.  That is awesome.

Okay, now Milli Vanilli.  I told my story in the past about buying the "you sing the hits of Milli Vanilli."  I really remember "Blame it on the Rain" because we sang it with thick hick accents. I also remember "Girl You Know It's True" because we sang the bass lines repetitively during the song.  But, we also sang the song that the question sought:

Matt, thank you very much for the great cards. I just hope I haven't besmirched your good name by including a Milli Vanilli reference here!

eBay Wins III: You Sing the Hits

I was a freshman in college when the world learned that Milli Vanilli did not actually sing their own songs on their album.  The big reveal (from a Latino MTV show) came live on stage when their CD skipped in mid-song:

The fact that this ruined their careers back in 1990 must come as a shock to people who are fans of people like 50 Cent, Shakira, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, etc....well, just watch the video:

Anyway, I was in college in 1990 and lived down the street from a large Tower Records store.  Remember record stores?  They had a large section of karaoke tapes that would give you the backing vocals and music and you could sing songs from your favorite artist.  We found this tape and bought it -- after all, since Milli Vanilli didn't sing those songs, someone should.

Now, of course, you just go to YouTube and find this:

That's a very long introduction to get to my eBay buys that were higher end hits, and thank you for getting this far and suffering through this tortured attempt at being clever.  Maybe it brought back some good memories for you though.

All that said, here's the really good stuff from eBay in the past month or so:

1.  2001 Fleer EX Wall of Fame Game Used Stadium Wall Relic Robin Yount

This purports to be part of the outfield wall from the game in which Robin Yount had his 3000th hit in September of 1992.  That's possible, I suppose, since Milwaukee County Stadium was torn down after the 2000 season and, knowing cheap bastard Bud Selig, he probably did not replace the outfield wall during that entire time if he could help it.

I got it for $4.26 and, as far as I know, none of my money from the secondary market goes to that penurious SOB who ran the Brewers into the ground to prove the point that small market teams couldn't compete. Bud was right, you know -- small market teams who have idiots in the front office cannot compete.

2.  2007 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts Triple Game Used Jersey LM-RY1 Serial Number 36/99

This card accompanied the Dyn-O-Mite 1978 cards from a couple of days ago from the Robin Yount collector whom I now stalk on eBay.  I got everything from him shipped for $5 combined, so let's call this one an even $13.50 price tag -- more than I would have liked, but it's not like I'm seeing these up for sale that often.

3.  2007 Sweet Spot Classic Robin Yount Ball Leather Signature 74/75

My scan of this didn't turn out very well, so let's go with the photo from the auction.  I like this card and got it cheaper than the similar card that WFBookman put up in the Yount auction that followed a couple of weeks after this one.  That may or may not have been because I bid up the second one.  Okay, it was.

Let's do two more Yount wins, and then move on.

4.  1990 Star blank back Promo card

This was a promo for the set that Star put out in 1990 to celebrate the MVP winners from the previous year -- Robin Yount and Kevin Mitchell.  Now, all I need are the actual Yount cards from that set...

5.  1977 O-Pee-Chee Robin Yount

I have been chasing a lot of O-Pee-Chee Brewers stuff lately -- especially Yount OPC.  I love the fact that they are printed on bright, white stock, which makes the yellow stripes on Yount's adidas spikes really pop off the card so much better than it does on the gray cardboard Topps cards.  To be fair, the OPC are a bit frailer feeling than the Topps so finding them in good condition can be tough.

6.  I wish I Had Earned this Certificate

Those who can, do.  Those who can't, well, they buy other people's experiences on eBay.  On the date that Robin Yount got his 3000th major league hit, I can tell you that I had just finished with my collegiate marching band practice about an hour earlier than the game started.

I was living in a building on campus at college called Morgan -- everyone at my school lived on campus unless they obtained special permission to live off campus.  It was the big, bad city of Nashville, after all, so you wouldn't want mommy's and daddy's precious little girl getting accosted in the streets by some wannabe country singer or something.

Anyway, since I was back at school, there was no way that I could have been in Milwaukee to see this game.  But, at least I got a certificate from someone who was there.

THE NON-YOUNT STUFF

2014 Topps Museum Collection Canvas Collection Original of Ryan Braun

A couple of weeks ago, Colbey from Cardboard Collections interviewed James-Michael Smith a/k/a The Discipline Dojo about JM's work as a sketch artist for Topps's Museum Collection.  As part of the compensation paid for the sketch work, Topps gave JM a few sketch cards back.  Since he's not a baseball fan, he put them up on eBay.

Now, one of his sketches was of Ryan Braun.  Not only was the sketch of a Brewer, but, as it turns out, J.M. Smith is a fellow Georgia Bulldog -- having studied art at UGA.  He's a really good artist, definitely -- check out his Facebook page to see some of his work.

So, I had to buy that Braun card.  Thankfully, I got it for $61, which may be the cheapest of the cards that JM sold.

Here it is:

Did I mention it is a One of One signed by the artist?  It's a one-of-one signed by the artist.

A complete 1975/1976 set of SSPC Baseball Cards

This one kind of surprised me for the lack of interest in the set.  It may have had to do with the fact that the seller mistakenly called the set "SPPC" instead of SSPC, so all the normal searches for it might not have picked it up.  His mistake may have been my gain, I suppose -- I got a set which, other than the cards being slightly curved, has as sharp of corners as any 2014 Topps card straight out of the pack and at a cost of about $37.50 shipped.  I know Beckett would say that's about right, but this set is just awesome.  A quick grab of cards gave me these four gems:

George Brett appearing as if he had just been chased to get the photo taken.

The Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky

Gary Carter is ready for his closeup.

Woody Fryman has joined the grounds crew.

In any case, whether that's a good price, bad price, or the right price, this set rocks.

Ryan Braun Justifiable Preview Magenta Printing Plate

It's my first printing plate.  So, I'm glad that Beckett certified this one.

2013 Topps Triple Threads Jean Segura Gold Jersey Patch Autographed, serial Number 9 of 9.

A sticker autograph is a downer to a lot of people.  I get that.  Sure, Topps might have about 5000 of those babies waiting in a filing cabinet somewhere to affix to a Jean Segura card in 2017.  I'm not sure I care.  I like this card, and considering it is #9 of 9 -- and that Segura wears #9, after all -- I'm a big fan of this purchase at a penny under $30.  It's a lot of money for someone who allows himself to be the tee for Ryan Braun's batting practice, but it's a great card.

2014 Topps Museum Collection Momentous Materials Jean Segura Serial Numbered 11/35

I would have rather gotten this when I cracked my Museum Collection box than the 3rd different serial numbered Chad Billingsley item I've gotten, but at least Billingsley will be on the way on Monday to a collector who will hug him and squeeze him and call him George.

Thanks for reading, George.