A little Trade Bait

As I mentioned yesterday, I went to my local card show over the weekend.  Frank Moiger does a great job of putting together an eclectic bunch of vendors -- some from other states, some local -- who often bring great cards to sell.

In my flurry of purchases were a few cards/items which are already on their way to other bloggers.  But, there were five cards that I bought or had thrown in by the guys behind the table that need some homes.  Please comment below AND email me if you are interested in any of these five cards.

1.  2014 Bowman Chrome Refractor of Yoenis Cespedes, SN87/500

2.  1993 Hostess Baseball Frank Thomas, Card #13

CLAIMED

3.  2014 Bowman 1989 Bowman Is Back Chrome Insert of Kyle Crick

4.  2014 Bowman 1989 Bowman Is Back Insert of Tony Gwynn

CLAIMED

5.  2014 Topps Finest Insert "Finest Vintage" of Tony Gwynn

CLAIMED

Also, from my card show trips last month, I still have two of those "Starting Lineup Talking Baseball" team sets remaining: the Dodgers and the Cardinals.

Here's the checklist for the Dodgers:

Here's the checklist for the Cardinals:

Finally, I still have this Topps Pristine of Mike Scott that came my way from Mike's second-cousin Matthew Scott:

So, if you are interested in any of these cards, please send me an e-mail and tell me what you want and, also, please send me your address.

Finally, I am going to be out of town for work this weekend, so please be patient if I do not respond immediately.  I am going to program some posts ahead of time so the blog won't go silent, though.

Another Envelope By Which to Remember the Astrodome

Not long after I wrote about the first envelope that Bru from Remember the Astrodome sent me, I got another one from him.  

Since I just got back from my local card show (and learning that the guy who runs the show has read my blog) and I have some work to do to get through the items I purchased, this post highlighting this second envelope is going to be a bit briefer than most of my posts have been lately. And yes, that means that there will be "Card Show Vintage" coming up soon here. 

But this post: It's a "Thank you, Bru!" and showing off the cards post.  

Bru packaged up three types of cards.  First, there were the early 1990s cards that I needed for the team collection:

The less said about the Franklin Stubbs years, the better. Next, I'm glad Leaf's photographer was able to take that photo of Willie Randolph on a day where it appears about 3 people made it to the game (against the Tigers, from what the uniform looks like).

And finally, look -- it's Cecil Fielder presaging his estranged son's years in Milwaukee while holding a geriatric Jim Gantner on first base!  Seriously, Gantner looks stiff and frail on all of his cards from the early 1990s, and this card is no different.  Also, is it my eyesight starting to fail me, or does it look like the umpire in the background is wearing a Brewers blue T-shirt?

Okay, on to the next cards Bru sent -- 2015 Opening Day:

 

The big draw here for me is the "Hit the Dirt" insert of Carlos Gomez. Topps Opening Day is frankly just another parallel to me -- sort of like Chrome is as well.  It's basically a way to use the same card design for three sets (that all of us buy) and not have to pay the graphic designers anything additional.   I mean, I'll add them to my player collections and my team collection, but it doesn't mean I have to like that it happens.

Finally, there was one "card" that stood alone:

It's sticker Scooter! I really like the design for the stickers this year -- it's clean without being boring and the use of the little arch at the bottom to hold up the logo keeps the design interesting as well.  This photo of Gennett is pretty good as well.  This is my first 2015 Topps Sticker also.

Bru, thanks again for yet another mailer from you. 

Trading with Trader Cracks

As a team collector with many, many player collections, one of my biggest frustrations is trying to put together accurate checklists.  For major releases in years past for Topps, I used to rely almost entirely on sight -- my memory is generally pretty good about recognizing cards of the past that I don't have.  

For the post-1981 major releases and oddballs released before about 1995, a combination of Trading Card Database and the 2011 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards usually gets me the information I need.  I think the publisher has stopped trying to update this book for recent cards and continues only to publish the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards for cards before 1981.  

For cards from 1995 through 2000 -- which is as far as I have gotten so far -- it's been more of a combination of Trading Card Database mixed in with BaseballCardPedia.com.  I have found that the early years of parallels and inserts on TradingCardDB tend to be very hit-or-miss, with everything classified as inserts and little information regarding which cards in the inserts or which parallels were more limited in the numbers of cards printed or which were serial numbered. That's where BaseballCardPedia comes in.

But, when I first got back into the hobby and started trying to figure out what was what in the 2014 Topps blasters I bought, the first website I went to was Cardboard Connection.  For more recent releases, I have found that their layout on parallels and inserts -- especially now that they have added team names with player names on their release checklists -- is the most user friendly for my uses.  I'm also a bit biased in their favor because, in November of last year, Cardboard Connection included a link to my post called "The Ghosts of First Rounds Past" when I highlighted what players the Brewers might have selected instead of either Rickie Weeks in 2003 or Ben Sheets in 1999.

The guy responsible for much of the heavy lifting at Cardboard Connection (and the guy responsible for posting that link in November) is Ryan Cracknell. By that, I mean he posted 7 different stories on April 10 alone.  Ryan also tweets fairly regularly (most of you follow him, I'm sure, but if not, you should) and he also has two different blogs -- one here on Blogspot highlighting his set-building needs and one with its own domain of TraderCracks.com.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that he had a ton of 2013 Topps Series 2 needs. After my case break last year, I have about 6 of every card from that set in hand (hey, if you need something from that set, please email me!).  So, I reached out to Ryan on Twitter and asked him to e-mail me his address.  I sent him the cards, and he was kind enough to send cards back.  

Now, Ryan is from Nanaimo, British Columbia (it says so on his Twitter profile).  I've never been to Nanaimo, but I have been to Vancouver.  I know -- they aren't even close to one another and, indeed, the only ways to get between the two appears to be taking a ferry. So, my apologies to Ryan upfront for going with the big city people know rather than his city, but I wanted an excuse to post my own travel ratings for Vancouver -- with pictures and cards!

Prettiest sights in Vancouver:

If you go to Vancouver, please, go to Stanley Park. The sheer size of this park is incredible -- 400 hectares. When people think of rainforests, they immediately think tropical.  But, Stanley Park and Vancouver prove that a temperate rainforest can be just a spellbinding sight to see. Just imagine what that "stump" must have looked like as a tree...

To me, this "Robbed in Center" insert from 2015 Topps is an appropriate start and match for this gorgeous tree.  The majesty of the home run being stolen -- and Gomez's incredible ability to do it almost regularly -- mesh well with the trees of Stanley Park.

Added Culture in the Park: The Totem Poles

These totem poles are replicas of the originals, which are located in the climate-controlled comfort of a museum.  They are impressive and cool, but they are just a replica...

...which reminds me of the multiple parallels that Topps put out last year.  This is a gold parallel of Ryan Braun, serial numbered to 2014, of course.  It's just a replica of the real base card.

The Strange and Difficult to Explain

I'm not quite sure what would differentiate Afro-Canadian food.  Is it Ethiopian style but using salmon a bunch? Is it a weird melange of Egyptian, Moroccan, South African, and Gambian food with poutine on the side?

It's like trying to figure out what "game used memorabilia" has been inserted in this Tyler Thornburg auto/relic from Bowman Platinum.  It looks like some weird undershirt or something.

Throwbacks in History

John "Gassy Jack" Deighton was from Hull, England, and an entire portion of Vancouver along the north coast of downtown is called "Gastown" because of him.  According to Wikipedia and according to local lore, he got his nickname because of his storytelling and because he never stopped talking.  

Considering he appears to be standing on a makeshift beer keg, I'm thinking the nickname came from another gas. But, in the name of being talkative and on a throwback-style card...

...we have Carlos Gomez, who genuinely enjoys playing the game of baseball and, at times, has trouble closing his mouth.

Serenity 

Right in the middle of Vancouver is the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, which in 2011 was named by National Geographic as the best city garden in the world.  It was the first Chinese "scholars" garden built outside of China, and it is, of course, located in Vancouver's Chinatown.  It is a small garden, but I spent at least a good hour just chilling out in the gardens.

With superlatives like that and the historic first tied to the garden, I think putting up the two cards that Ryan sent to me of the first player enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Milwaukee Brewer is appropriate.

Hop on a Water Taxi

In my Peoria post, I mentioned how I am a sucker when it comes to getting on boats or ferries. In Vancouver, I took a water taxi to the Granville Island Market.  

I'm also always going to take the opportunity to get parallels and inserts and Brewers autographs.  Despite complaints from time to time about the number of parallels, I still collect these.

Just Stunning 

Probably my favorite sunset view in all of my travels is this one, from the balcony of my hotel room in Vancouver.  The brilliant shades of yellow, red, and orange, the foothills of the mountains, and the water -- and the fact that I took this photo at about 9:30 PM -- all combined to make a favorite.

And, of the cards Ryan sent, this Jean Segura was my favorite.  The reasonably small serial number, the blue on-card autograph, and the fact that this photo is different from most of the other Segura photos Topps has used make this the best of the lot.

Thank you, Ryan, for the excellent cards that you sent, and thank you for the hard work you do with Cardboard Connection.  Both are greatly appreciated.

40 Years Ago

I meant to post this yesterday but utterly forgot in the morass of watching following the Brewers as they dropped their third straight game to start the season...

One of my favorite items of baseball memorabilia that I own is my Milwaukee Braves pennant from the mid-1950s.  It was my mom's pennant when she was a kid, and it became mine as the one who loves baseball far more than either of my two brothers.

When you talk about the Milwaukee Braves, the three guys whose names come up most are Ed Mathews, Warren Spahn, and, of course, Henry Aaron.  Personally, I don't collect Aaron as a PC for two reasons.  First, I have enough to chase with Yount, Molitor, Mathews, Spahn, etc. Second -- and more to the point -- I really associate Hank Aaron with the Atlanta Braves and not the Milwaukee Braves.  

Nearly 10 years ago, in the office building where I worked at the time, they allowed a sports memorabilia guy to set up during the week prior to Father's Day.  He had a ton of different items -- college and pro football, basketball, and baseball mainly.  Two items caught my eye. One of them was a Brett Favre autographed photo with mocked-up ticket stubs from the two mid-1990s Super Bowls, and then, this other one:

In case you can't tell, that is a Hank Aaron-autographed timelapse photo from his 715th home run -- taken forty years ago yesterday.

Here's the description on the bottom:

Aaron is a major figure here in Atlanta. He owns a BMW dealership on the south side of town, and he still serves in an ambassadorial role for the Braves.  He will be honored tomorrow night at the Braves game for the 40th anniversary of the Ruth-breaker.

In my eyes, he is still the Home Run King:

And that call by Milo Hamilton is still the best. Even if Vin Scully called it (below), Milo owned it.

The cards will return another day.

Don't Have a Breakdown

Sometimes, you know your car isn't running right.  You can feel something is wrong, or you can smell a strange smell, or you hear a knock that just doesn't sound right.  The Federal Trade Commission has a list of information to consider when you are looking for a good mechanic.  

Once you find a good mechanic, though, they try to keep you coming back -- often through mailed and e-mailed reminders that your car is due for service.  

I did not, however, expect to get my service reminder from a Goodyear in Oregon inside of a bubble mailer.

This, clearly, is no ordinary service visit.

What do you think, Mr. Braun?

Oh, you think that's funny, do you? 

Hey, wait a minute, that's not my car, Ryan.  I think that one belongs to someone else. Who's damn car is this?

Morgan? I mean, didn't you leave with that Tony Plush alter ego a couple of years ago?  I thought you took all that other junk with you too.

Oh, come on -- get rid of Kevin Barker's car.

Didn't realize you were here, Barker. 

Wait...dadgum it, I didn't tell anyone they could park here.  Who's car is that?

Wait.  Don't tell me.  That's GOT to be Burnitz's car.

Of course it is.  Hey, this is kind of fun trying to figure out what car each guy drives...

For some reason, this could only belong to one former Brewer pitcher:

Here's a car model I've never seen before...what the heck is a Venirauto?

Oh, you say it's Venezuelan? Then it has to be this guy's car, and he seems none too happy about being outed with owning it:

One more....a safe reliant automobile:

Which could only belong to a man of the 1980s...

This auto repair reminder was brought to me by Baseball Card Breakdown. Gavin often uses offbeat and unusual items as inserts to protect the cards that he sends out in trades, and this time I got his auto service center reminder that he needs to get his oil checked.

Gavin participated in the Nachos Grande Heritage case break and got the Brewers as one of his teams.  He was kind enough to send those cards my way -- including one of all the high numbered Brewers of Braun (above), Jonathan Lucroy, and Carlos Gomez (below) and two of all the rest of the Brewers.

He also threw in some other Brewers, as you saw above -- the crowning card of which is that Bill Wegman autographed 1989 Bowman.

Gavin, thank you very much for the great group of cards you sent to me.

And please, go get your oil changed.