Trades Still Coming In

This year is still off to hot start with the trades still flying. I'm sure that this is due to the quaranteen, and no sports going on, especially baseball right now. What other forms of entertainment do we have to pass this time. How exciting is it waiting for the mailman everyday to see whats come in the mail. I, for one, am loving it!

 

First off, a two-card PWE from Baseball Every Night. Griffin Canning is just getting back to throwing after some elboy soreness set him back. I was looking forward to seeing him do well in this, his second season, if we ever get it going.

Cards on Cards sent a nice selection including a couple of Angels Utz cards. Love the design of these (as well as the Tops of the Class cards). I never bothered to check my local grocers for Utz chips, so I'm glad to get these. I'll need to track down a second of the Pujols Topps Now card since I'm collecting the set as well.

Another PWE came from My Life in the Sports Card Hobby. The Pujols Starquest is actually a Cardinals card, but thats okay. I set any Pujols cards aside as a potential future PC. The Justin Upton card isnt identified as an Angels card either, so he won't go with the team set. Again that's okay, because I also like to set aside Team USA cards for future autograph endeavors.

Frankie also gifted-back this 1998 Pinnacle Tony Gwynn. Apparently I had sent him a bunch of these several years ago. This will probably go into a future giveaway post. Boy, I have a lot of ideas for the "future".

1965 Topps #13

Blown away by this Charlie Long card sent by A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts. In my world, these are tough cards to come by when trying to complete the early Patriots team sets. Super stoked to get this.

Good trades folks! I'm still trying to keep it going.

Ran Some Errands, Found Some Stuff

Been working from home since mid-March, and I haven't gotten out much. I decided I needed to get out of the house, partly because I needed to mail some stuff, and partly because I hadn't been on any "quests" in a while. Quests to find some baseball cards, model kits, or interesting books to read, that is.

After hitting the PO to mail some trades, I hit up Dollar Tree, then Target to see what baseball cards they had. I wasn't impressed so I got nothing. I hate going to Walmart, and even striking out at Dollar Tree and Target wasn't enough to convince me to go, so I hit up Half Price Books to see what new reading material I could find. Nothing.

Next stop was Hobby Lobby since I had a gift card a daughter had given me for my birthday back in March, and I knew exactly what I wanted:

1977 was probably the LAST time I built a van model, and it was awesome. I'm excited to build this one in all of its glorious 70's colors.

After Hobby Lobby I stopped by a local thrift store. It's a very small one and the several times I've been there I have never found anything. I almost passed it up, but today, the store was beconning me.

I found this Bobby Bragan book. I already have this particular book, and my copy is signed by Bragan. Bragan played for the Dodgers and Phillies in the 40's, then went on to manage and coach several other Major League teams through the 60's. He was a very successful Minor League coach here in Fort Worth and was a local legend in the area, so I see this book often. I figured I'd check to see if it was signed.

Yep. Not only by Bragan (to Larry), but by the co-author Jeff Guinn. It's also signed by another local legend, Carroll Beringer, who played in the Dodgers system for the Fort Worth Cats, and who also was a coach for the LA Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Not bad for a buck!

That's a much better copy than the one I already had:

To Dr. Charles Wade (not me!).

So if anyone wants this copy signed soley by Bragan, just cover the shipping and it's yours.

After the book store, I checked out my local antique mall and found some dollar packs of cards, just for the fun of ripping some old foil.

I'll be posting the results to A Pack To Be Named Later

I also found this at the antique mall:

You see a lot of Nolan Ryan and Texas Rangers stuff around here obviously.

I hate pins, but I love pin cards. They're so unique, usually elongated, and they have that perforated tab you're supposed to rip off. This one was issued in 1993, most likely being a giveaway at the ballpark.

It's not one I had, so I picked it up for $5 to put in my Ryan binder. The pin I'll probably toss in the trash.

Don't Call Me Figgy

I was sorting a big stack of Angels recently aquired through trades, sorting by year. And then I came across this Garret Anderson card:

2002 Topps Pristine

I flipped it to find the year, and that's when I saw it:

Can you see the error?

Thats a picture of Chone Figgins.

THIS is Garret Anderson, without a doubt.

Now, I'll agree that Figgins could maybe pass as a little brother to Anderson, but by the time this card was produced, Anderson was a well established Major Leaguer and Figgins was just coming up.

So, sorry Topps, no excuses.

I looked around and couldn't find this listed as an error or variation anywhere.

Should I point this out to anyone else?

You're A Miscut, But I Still Love You

1980 Topps Chris Speier #319

Found this beautiful miscut while digging through my 1980 Topps cards. I'm surprised that I had never found it before.

The back is even better. I love miscuts so this is definitely a keeper.

Freed From His Plastic Cell

Some of you are about to say that I've committed a crime. You'll say that I've crossed a sacred line and that I deserve severe punishment, or at least banishment from the community. Some of you may want to divert your eyes, and read no further. Some of you may cry.

I'm about to bust this 1999 Kenner Cooperstown Collection Nolan Ryan.

First off, I did not actually pay the $19.99 sticker price, I actually got it for 50% off the sticker price. This was back around 2002 if I recall correctly. And nowadays these can be had for about the same price I paid for it.

I had zillions (or so it seems) of Starting Lineups, but space, loss of interest, donations, and timely profit have just about completely wiped out my collection. I think I have 3 pieces left: a 1994 JT Snow that I got autographed with my son when he was about 7, a 1995 Alex Rodriguez rookie piece (anyone interested?), and this Nolan Ryan.

I'm not interested in hanging it on a wall, but I like the figure and I especially like the card, so I'm busting it. But no worries, I'll do it respectfully.

See, that wasn't so bad. I'm not one of those guys that shreds the cardboard in two as the pieces inside go flying across the room. I actually used a razor blade to carefully pop the clear plastic off the cardboard backing, and slowly slid the figure (not doll) and card out.

He looks good standing on my red hutch.

Again, this is what I really wanted, a unique, sweet looking Nolan Ryan card to add to my collection. It's interesting that until I freed this card I never really considered it "part of my collection".

Everyone okay?

Have you ever busted something still mint in it's packaging when most people would have kept it intact?

Been Listia-ing Again

It had been over a year since I had been on Listia, buying or selling, but at the start of this year I revisited it and found that there's still some pretty cool stuff to be had. And I have lots of pretty cool stuff to sell, so it all works out. Here's what I've won the last several months.

1993 Spectrum Nolan Ryan 10 Promotional

This is the first item I won. This Nolan Ryan 10 set comes in various forms: Base, Gold Signature, Promotional, Career Records Promotional, Gold Signature Career Records Promotional. Sheesh.

1995 Classic 5 Sport #115

1967 Topps #454b (no left ear)

Checklist variation. The "a" version shows Marichal's left ear.

1968 Topps #454a (neck chain shows)

Another variation. Version "b" has Robinson's face cropped a little tighter, so you don't see the chain around his neck.

1964 Topps #517b (correct numbering on back)

The other version has the numbers all screwed up on the back.

2007 Topps Moments and Milestones

I just lost out on a second lot of these numbered cards, I got out bid, would have liked to have had them.

1985 Donruss Action All-Stars #39

I won this card, but the seller accidentally sent this one:

1993 Upper Deck Jackson Heroes Jumbo #7, 04969/10000

He said to just keep it, but I needed this anyhow, so I arranged to get him the credits for it too, since he was so cool about it.

One Page of Paul Foytack

This series will highlight "one page" at a time from my binder of correspondence and autographs from former Angels and Patriots.

I wrote Paul Foytack twice: the first time I didn't have a card for him to sign, but he graciously wrote me a nice letter. The second time I was able to include a couple cards as well as a few questions.

Paul Foytack RHP Los Angeles Angels 1963-1964

First time correspondence received prior to 2005.

Second correspondence received August, 2010.

Foytack was already in his 10th season when he was traded by the Detroit Tigers with Frank Kostro to the Angels for George Thomas and cash in June 1963. He went 5-5 with 3.71 ERA for the Angels the rest of that season. But after a rocky start to 1964 he was released by the Angels, played out the year in the minors, and spend part of 1965 playing in Japan finishing out his career.

A Car And A Card

When I posted recently about the model kits I had built in the last 18 months or so, I left one out. Since I'm a completest I wanted to show it to you, but with a sports card theme, since this is my sports card blog and I don't have a blog for my models.

I finished this Monogram '29 Ford Roadster Pickup kit for an Instagram build-off last year. I modified it with period wheels and a Chevy hood.

I tried to pick out a baseball card that matched the color of the kit, obviously my first thought was of the Pirates. I also remembered that '87 Donruss was a black-bordered set. And I wanted a card with a player wearing mostly black but with some obvious yellow. This Junior Ortiz card fit all the criteria.

So there you have it, A Car And A Card.

Hey, maybe I'll make this a regular topic!

Trade Catch Up

PWE's were a'flyin' the first quarter of this year! Off to a great start. I want to give a shout-out to those I've traded with, but this will be a quick hit because I need to get caught up in a big way.

Cards As I See Them (GCRL)

Jim hit up my want lists because I need every one of these. As you can tell Jim is a Dodgers collector, these probably came from his dupes box I'm sure. I just need one more to finish that World Series ticket sweepstakes set.

Baseball Card Breakdown

It has probably been over a year since I received my last Mike Napoli in a trade. Glad to see his face again and on a nice numbered 026/150. That Erstad is even tougher at 06/55 and possibly my lowest numbered ever.

Gavin also threw in a couple customs. The Reggie is cool because its stamped DRAFT on the front, and CONFIDENTIAL on the back! Love it!

 The Diamond King

Another numbered Erstad and a really nice 14/25 Orange Chrome parallel.

I actually got two envelopes from Kevin, the second had these Fleer Logo Sticker variations I needed.

 Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary

2011 Bowman Sterling Prospects Autograph BSP-CCR

Brian parted with this nice auto card of big CJ Cron; I wish he would have been able to stick with the Angels.

Wax Pack Wonders

Word is already out about the new blog in town, and it looks like Jeff has some of those old stamps to use up. Glad he did on me.

All PC needs.

And Salmon needs.

Most of you threw these away, but I collect them. And believe it or not, there are tons of variations in a lot of these. So glad to have them.

Thanks everyone!

I Had The Nomo's Sushi Platter, And I Was Not Disappointed

Guess who I heard from?

Michael of Nomo's Sushi Platter reached out to me asking about my autographed cards for sale, and mentioning that he's downsizing and needed to off-load a bunch of Angels. I said I'd take them, but not before I said "Hey! How are you Man?" (its been 5 years since he last posted).

Downsizing sounded like an understatement, because then he said he was only collecting Nomo, Mondesi, Piazza, Ethier and Kemp. I don't think that means he's dumping everything but those 5 guys, but that's a pretty focused collection.

Well, I got a box of cards in the mail last week:

Wasn't expecting that!

That's an off-loading of Angels for sure.

I picked out some of my faves.

2004 SPx SPXciting Rookies  Jersey/Autograph #201, 723/799

2005 Zenith Z-Bats ZB-34

2008 UD Timeline Autographs #101

2009 TriStar Projections Autographs #146

Just the other I was reliving via Youtube, the steamrolling cheap-shot Wilson took at the plate from that jack-wad Mark Teixiera in 2010. Can't stand the guy.

The Finley has to be an IP, because I'm pretty sure he NEVER signs through the mail. Gary Matthews is hit and miss TTM. Glad to have these both.

2002 UD 40 Man Gargantuan Gear Jersey G-AS

2005 Donruss Throwback Threads Bat #212, 219/250

Tim Salmon 5-years apart and exactly the same swing.

2003 Fleer Platinum Heart of the Order #7

Gets my vote for a creepy card, look at Troy Glaus.

Also bothers me that the batting order is Erstad, Glaus, Anderson, but the photos are Glaus, Anderson, Erstad. Fleer has them batting out of order!

2012 Topps Gold #597

Ah, one of my favorite Angels cards, and favorite of Hank Conger.

Just look at that. It's awesome.

Great hearing from you Michael, thanks for thinking of me.

You'll probably be receiving just about every Nomo, Mondesi, Piazza, Ethier and Kemp I own. 

I need to downsize too!