It's time to break a few eggs....

at the last trade night, the shop owner, who knows I'm one of the rare set collectors, handed me a goodie bag. In it were partial sets of Humpty Dumpty cards.
You heard me. Humpty Dumpty.
These were small cards, individually wrapped, and placed in bags of Humpty Dumpty potato chips during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
All of these cards are still wrapped in their little cellophane envelopes, but my scanner wishes that to remain a secret.
Most of the bigger names were missing from these partial sets, but a few were left for the showing.

A Nolan Ryan I didn't have before.... and an awesome Brave, Steve Avery.

It can't be the '90's without Ken Griffey Jr.

A George Brett sighting...

The backs are fairly simple. Three years of stats. Did you know Dave frapped and lanced droite style?

to see the size, I'll show you a Mark Scheiffle card next to an uber rare inverted version of Pudge Rodriguez. I believe these rare inverted versions came about 1:876075782 bags.

Why show Pudge next to a hockey card? Because there were some of the hockey version as well...
This, Bruin fans, is the Little Ball of Hate. Not that sham punk 4th line imposter on your team.

The backs are simlar to their baseball counterparts, except they are not numbered. The checklist lists them by team alphabetical team name.

Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccccccccccccccc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brett Hull, before the "C".

According to research, there are no Montreal Canadiens in the set. Shayne Corson, a former Hab, is listed as an Oiler since he was traded their the season before.

Uhhh....... what? No mention of this card anywhere online. So either there were unannounced variations (besides inverted) or someone screwed up. The checklist also lists players from the Minnesota North Stars, but the pictures depict Dallas Stars sweaters....

All told I received 15 of the 26 hockey players in Series 2, and 22 of the 50 baseball players, with duplicates of Mark Grace, Robin Ventura, and Benito Santiago.

Who knows if I'll ever finish these ones....

Cardboard swapping - Vintage style.

The other day I mentioned this post would be Dodger style, now I say it's vintage style. Which is it? Glad you asked. It's vintage style, featuring cards from two different Dodger bloggers. I know there's like 47 different Dodger bloggers out there now... but today we'll focus on just two.
First we have cards from g.c.r.l. He sent me a large stack of cards off of my Topps Braves wantlists from 1994-99, as well as a smattering of current faves. As a nice surprise, he also included two cards from long ago. I won't subject you to scans of 1995 Terrell Wade rookies. But I will show you these:
1975 colourful goodness

and look! Not a mark on it. How does a card like this ever survive? Someone must  have just pack pulled it a week ago or something.....

gcrl also included this beauty.

From 1957. This is technically a Team Card, not a Team Checklist as there is no checklist on the back.
Thanks for hitting up the wantlists Jim! I'll have a return volley your way soon....

Those of you who read night owl's blog, may have seen a post he did upon the completion of his 1971 Topps set. I was able to help him out and send him the last card he needed, #630 Roberto Clemente.

In return, owl sent me some random Braves, including a perfectly round Chipper Jones, as well as some older cardboard.

1962 Mack Jones.

Mack was coming off his rookie year, so I guess that's why he got the painted/airbrush/photoshop treatment. But Mack was damn happy to be there!
Then a few '71's to cap things off.
#306 Jim Nash

#359 Ron Reed, rocking the warm up jacket under the jersey look as he casually winds up to pitch while surrounded by chain link fence on all sides.

#374 Clete Boyer. Clete looks like he's batting while standing on the backstretch at Talledega in front of the catch fence.

#494 Braves rookies Garr and Kester. Ralph Garr played 13 seasons in the bigs including 8 with Atlanta. Rick Kester pitched 40 2/3 innings over parts of 3 seasons with a 0-0 record and a 5.98 ERA.

#587 Sonny Jackson. Sonny rocks the eyewear on the front, but plays it cool and casual on the back. You'll have to take my word for it.

#605 Orlando Cepeda. Orlando is winding down his career here. Next year he begins a four team, four year road to retirement. The Braves trade him to Oakland for Denny McLain.

#668 Gary Neibauer. I think this is a High Number!!! (not needed capital letters, but I don't care) Gary pitched in 75 games with a 4-8 record and a 4.78 ERA over his 5 year career. Nowadays, that line is of your least used pitcher during the season.

Thank you gentlemen! These are much appreciated and wanted.

Cardboard Ketchup

Like everything else, I'm waaay behind in posting some trade/gift packages. Some have evn been put away already. Whoops. But, I'll rectify some of that today, and hit some more up tomorrow. I'm not the one who scans every card.... it would take forever, and you would fall asleep at the keyboard. So I'll hit the highlights and move on. A huge thank you to all who have sent me cards over the last month or so.... During my last contest, participants had the opportunity to send over some cards in an attempt to bribe me, win bonus points.
dawgbones sent over a small stack of baseball flavoured cards... topped with Mr Teheran and his cherry border. Is this one of those Target things I keep hearing about but have never seen until now?

Also included were a couple of cards off of my wantlists.... Chippah!

and a card of my Dirty Dozen most wanted list located off to the right. I'm glad someone reads that thing.... it's slowly diminishing. Time to replenish.

Casey from Drop the Gloves sent me a surprise hockey package, but tucked in the middle was this amazing card.

Chipper is so damn good, he can hit homeruns early in the morning, while facing the wrong way and standing in Section 17, Row 21 behind the dugout.
Yeah. He's that good.
The Angels in Order also sent over a 'potential start to a trade' package that had a card in it I've been passively chasing for over 20 years.

the no-numbered Joe Montana Heroes header card from the inaugural UD Football offering. I loved this set when it came out and bought a tonne of it. Now it's finally complete.

Of course very, very late in the year they came out with a high number series that had Joe Namath heroes cards......... Now I can begin to collect those. Anyone have any to spare?

all of the rest from Angels was hockey related, save for this odd shaped card. 1993 UD 600 Home Run Club.

How would you like to have those as your 3-4-5 hitters????? Of course, the Bambino would be peeved at not making his contract bonuses, having hit 60 home runs and only collecting 64 RBI's.

The last package I'll feature today from P.A.T.P. had a lot of fun items in it. Like stickers!

Everyone knows how I like stickers.
It also had blue bordered cards in it.
Active NL RBI leaders? Yeah, it's Chipper.

Active NL Home Run leaders? Yeah, it's Chipper. (The least Topps could do was put Andruw in a Bravos uni)

Speaking of home runs.... one of the most discussed photos from the 2012 Topps set, Huddy in his trot.....

and J-Hey in his, rounding third....

Craig has had enough of this home run talk. Strike three... game over.

Again, are these from Wally world? I know Topps does blue borders in it's Opening Day set... does the regular set do this, or do I have my first WalMart cards?

Let's end up with more fun.... mini's! Or as Owl says..... MINI'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it's a new Topps rule that all Heyward cards must feauture that damn red jersey.

to end off, I go to my closer.

As Bill Paxton says..."Game over man! Game Over!

up tomorrow, a special Dodger edition.

Cardboard quality over quantity...

not too far back I decided, conciously or subconciously, to veer away from my normal buying habits at card shows. Oh sure, I still pick up cards that aren't on my lists, (always bring your lists kids!) and I tend to buy too many cards with other people in mind.(that's my greedy alter ego talking) But I wanted to try and 'upgrade' my player collections. At every show, pick up at least one high end card, instead of just dozens of cards from the dollar box.
So at the last two card shows, I have done just that. I'll show a baseball related one here, and later a hockey item on my other blog, Just A Bit Offside.

From this year's Topps Tribute, Mr Tommy Hanson.

Tommy is smiling because he's about to strike out the side with one pitch. This shiny beauty set me back $15. That may not be high end for some of you.... but for someone like me who spends their time scrounging through quarter boxes... it's high end.

Nice to have you home Tommy.... now if I could only touch it......

They tried naming a street after Tommy Hanson in Atlanta, but they had to change it because nobody crosses Tommy Hanson and lives.

Free Baseball Cards????

You mean they just gave them away???

All a kid had to do in 1978 was eat junkfood* and they gave you free baseball cards???

Where's my time machine???

*NO WAY in heck would my mom have ever bought those for me anyways... but I can dream...

A Winner is You!!! (but then again, probably not)

The contest is over! Long live the contest! Ok, ok... getting right to it, the far and away winner was Morgan. Congats Morgan! Those topless photos* she sent the other night put her right over the top.

The rest of you came in the first place non-winning position or worse. Congrats for that!

1  Morgan                      27 points.
2  Kazi                           20 points
    Dave H.                     20 points
    Play at the Plate         20 points
5  bamlinden                  19 points
    Adam E.                     19 points
7  Greg Zakwin              18 points
    dawgbones                 18 points
9  Cardhobbyist             17 points
10 Jafronius                   14 points
11 BASEBALL DAD    12 points
     nightowl                    12 points
13 Jeff Wilk                   11 points
     The Angels In Order 11 points
15 The High-Five Man  10 points
      Hackenbush              10 points
17 Fuji                             9 points
18 LV                              8 points
     arpsmith                     8 points
     DHoff                         8 points
21 jaybarkerfan               7 points
22 Fan of Reds                6 points
23 Mariner1                    5 points
24 The Dimwit               4 points
25 1967'ers                     3 points
     Don Wicked Ortega  3 points
     daddyohoho               3 points
     F&S Baseball Cards  3 points
29 Superduperman99     2 points
     Nick                           2 points
     Josh D.                       2 points
     The Dutch Card Guy 2 points
33 reoddai                       1 point
     The Diamond King    1 point
35 cynicalbuddha            0 points
     commishbob               0 points
     Cool Breeze               0 points
     Matt F.                       0 points
39 Jason                         -2 points
     Napkin Doon            -2 points
41 Dodgerbobble           -4 points
     (...Joe)                       -4 points


Since 42 people decided to take part in a contest where I never once stated there would be a winner, or even a prize..... I decided to have a couple of other non-losers as well.
To make it fair for everyone, I put your name in the online hat if you participated at least once in the contest. (i.e. got bonus points for something other than something I made up. Comments, pictures, etc...)
Top two get a prize of somesort....

     
Fan of Reds and dawgbones! Congrats to you.

I have Morgan's and Red's addresses, but I don't think I have dawgbones.... but just in case you've all moved, all three of you had best send me your addy just to confirm.

and Morgan, keep those pics* coming.




* I hope you all realize I'm kidding. At least, as far as you'll ever know.

Opening Day contest Bonus Packs

Can you believe it? The last pack posting of this infernal thing. We are on to the bonus round. There are no bonuses, just a few late entries and I didn't have enough packs. So I improvised. Instead of 2011 Topps Opening Day, which I couldn't find any more of, we'll raid the .50 cent bin at the cardshop and use 2006 Topps Opening Day.

with GUM!!!!!!!

Yummy gum.

Today's contestants are, (and for my sanity, we're doing all 6 of them in one post), Dodgerbobble, cynicalbuddha, Fan of Reds, Adam E., Jafronius, and commishbob.

Bonus pack 1

Dodgerbobble
Jon Garland - the blue foil doesn't really scan well, but it's bright blue. Believe me. 0 pts
Fausto Carmona - not the real Fausto Carmona though. 0 pts
Russ Adams - he won a Topps rookie Cup and disappeared forever. 0 pts
Mickey Mantle - again, a dead guy in an Opening Day set? -2 pts
Mariano Rivera - whammy! -2 pts
B.J. Ryan - B.J. retired too soon. 0 pts

PACK TOTAL : -4 pts  BONUS TOTAL : 0 pts

Bonus pack 2

cynicalbuddha
Joe Saunders - squint into my eyes..... you are getting sleepy.... 0 pts
Craig Breslow - how many uni combinations do the Pads have, anyways? 0 pts
Roy Oswalt - that looks more like he's tossing it to the umpire... 0 pts
Morgan Ensberg - snap that elbow! yeah! 0 pts
Khalil Greene - double Padre Pack! 0 pts
Roy Halladay - enjoying the green green grasses of Dunedin. 0 pts

PACK TOTAL : 0 pts  BONUS TOTAL : 0 pts

Bonus pack 3

Fan of Reds
Andruw Jones - 27 Gold Gloves! +2 pts
Paul McAnulty - I have no idea who this is. 0 pts
Carlos Delgado - a Met! Boo! -1 pt
Adam Dunn - Favourite team! +2 pts
Shannon Stewart - Troll posts a better Shannon Stewart. 0 pts
Darrell Rasner - a National! Double Boo! -1 pt

PACK TOTAL : 2 pts   BONUS TOTAL : 4 pts

Bonus pack 4

Adam E.
Garrett Atkins - too bad that wasn't a pizza ad. 0 pts
Chuck James - a Brave!!  +2 pts
Charlton Jimerson - who? 0 pts
Travis Hafner - Tribe or No Tribe.... Tribe!  0 pts
Hank Blalock - two hands! 0 pts
Brad Penny - he needs bigger pants. 0 pts

PACK TOTAL : +2 pts   BONUS TOTAL : 12 pts

Bonus pack 5

Jafronius
Albert Pujols - goes to a league with weaker pitching and forgets how to hit. Classic. 0 pts
Walter Young - Walter is now playing right guard for the Ravens. 0 pts
John Koronka - Favourite team! +2 pts
Andy Pettitte - he even looks old in this picture. 0 pts
Ryan Garko - a catcher running. Seriously? 0 pts
Paul Lo Duca - a catcher in full gear, +2 pts, but he's a Met, -1 pt  Total +1 pt

PACK TOTAL : 3 pts   BONUS TOTAL : 8 pts

Bonus pack 6

commishbob
Rafael Furcal - I think Raffy is trying to hit Bonds in the head. 0 pts
Barry Bonds - posing in front of his fans. 0 pts
Derek Jeter - a stinkin' Yankee. -2 pts
Jeff Francis - purple pinstripes. Yikes. 0 pts
Curt Schilling - man does he look old. 0 pts
Dan Johnson - why wear the shades if you don't flip them down???? 0 pts

PACK TOTAL : -2 pts   BONUS TOTAL : 0 pts

The final packs are up! You have until Thursday afternoonish to get any last bonus points. Then I'll post the final results.

Opening Day Pack War Contest #32-36...

The end is so near I can almost taste it. Both of this contest and this substitute 'all in one' piece of crap I'm using for my scans. It's going out the window. Literally. Soon.
But, I'll struggle on as I know you are all dying to find out the conclusion of this. Those of you who are still alive that is....
1967'ers, Fuji, Dutch Card Guy, and the Wicked One

Pack 33

1967'ers
Ranger's Captain - what the hell is that thing? A camel? Is that where Joe Camel ended up? +2 pts
Ben Zobrist - now that's keeping your eye on the ball. 0 pts
Jimmy Rollins - ack. a Phillie. -1 pt
David Price - he's so fast he's a constant blur ... +2 pts
Prince Fielder - Fat Bastard himself. 0 pts
Logan Morrison - show this Fish the Door. -1 pt
Delmon Young - pretty uninspiring. 0 pts

PACK TOTAL : 2 pts   BONUS TOTAL : 1 pt

Pack 34

Fuji
Manny Ramirez - the worst dreadlocks in baseball  -1 pt
Yonder Alonso - Yonder? Really? Yonder? 0 pts
Andy Pettitte - the pitching depth in baseball is so craptastic, that this guy at 57 years old is a viable option. NOoooooo... we don't need contraction. Not at all. +2 pts for an insert, -2 pts for a Yankee.
Bobby Abreu - he's not still playing, is he? 0 pts
Rafael Furcal - probably Owl's favourite card of Raffy, doubling up a Giant. 0 pts
Nelson Cruz - all Cruz's should be named Jose. 0 pts
Derek Jeter - the old giveth and taketh away. +2 pts, and -2 pts  0 pts total

PACK TOTAL : -1 pt   BONUS TOTAL : 10 pts

Pack 35

The Dutch Card Guy
He lives next to Edwin van der Sar +1 pt
Zack Greinke - boring. 0 pts
Roy Halladay - an ex-Blue Jay! But now a Phillie -1 pt
Jered Weaver - I always think he's Jeff. 0 pts
Joey Bats - +2 pts for the insert
Buster Posey - whatever happened to that nice big rookie cup Topps had? 0 pts
Brandon Phillips - didn't he used to be thinner? 0 pts
Chad Billingsly - maybe Brandon has been hanging out with Chad. 0 pts

PACK TOTAL : 1 pt  BONUS TOTAL : 1 pt
Pack 36

The Wicked One
he says "any pizza is great pizza" Truer words have never been spoken. I want that on a plaque. +1 pt
Jeremy Hellickson - meh. 0 pts
Phil Hughes - I bet the Yanks wish it was Phil Humber. -2 pts
John Danks - I saw the Sox wearing red pinstripes the other night. Awesome. 0 pts
Tim Lincecum - insert +2 pts
Dan Uggla - A Brave! +2 pts his favourite Brave! +2 pts total +4 pts
Brett Gardner - and a Yankee ruins it for everyone. - 2 pts
Matt Cain - the Giants paid a lot of money for this pack. 0 pts

PACK TOTAL : 2 pts  BONUS TOTAL : 1 pt


After the initial round, but before the bonus round, we have....


1. reoddai : Pack pts 0 Bonus pts 1 =1
2. daddyohoho : Pack pts 0 Bonus Pts 3 =3
3. LV : Pack pts -2 Bonus Pts 9 = 7
4. F&S Baseball Cards : Pack pts 1 Bonus pts 2 =3
5. arpsmith : Pack pts 3 Bonus pts 5 =8
6. Greg Zakwin : Pack pts 4 Bonus pts 12 = 16
7. Mariner1 : Pack pts 3 Bonus pts 2 =5
8. Superduperman99 : Pack pts 2 Bonus pts 0 =2
9. Jeff Wilk : Pack pts 4 Bonus pts 7 = 11
10. The Dimwit : Pack pts 3 Bonus pts 1 = 4
11. jaybarkerfan : Pack pts 4 Bonus pts 3 = 7
12. dawgbones : Pack pts 3 Bonus pts 13 = 16
13. Jason : Pack pts -2 Bonus pts 0 = -2
14. The Angels In Order : Pack pts 1 Bonus pts 9 = 10
15. Cool Breeze : Pack pts -1 Bonus pts 1 = 0
16. Dhoff : Pack pts 3 Bonus pts 5 = 8
17. Napkin Doon : Pack pts -2 pts Bonus pts 0 = -2
18. Nick : Pack pts 2 Bonus pts 0 = 2
19. Kazi : Pack pts 6 Bonus pts 12 = 18
20. Josh D. : Pack pts 2 Bonus pts 0 = 2
21. Matt F. : Pack pts 0 Bonus pts 0 = 0
22. bamlinden : Pack pts 5 Bonus pts 12 = 17
23. (...Joe) : Pack pts -4 Bonus pts 0 = -4
24. High-Five Man : Pack pts 4 Bonus pts 6 = 10
25. The Diamond King : Pack pts 1 Bonus pts 0 = 1
26. Dave H. : Pack pts 8 Bonus pts 10 = 18
27. BASEBALL DAD : Pack pts 5 Bonus pts 7 = 12
28. Play At The Plate : Pack pts 6 Bonus pts 12 = 18
29. Morgan : Pack pts 10 Bonus pts 15 = 25
30. night owl : Pack pts 4 Bonus pts 6 = 10
31. Cardhobbyist : Pack pts 6 Bonus pts  11 = 17
32. Hackenbush : Pack pts 4 Bonus pts 6 = 10
33. 1967ers : Pack pts 2  Bonus pts 1 = 3
34. Fuji : Pack pts -1  Bonus pts 10  = 9
35. The Dutch Card Guy : Pack pts 1  Bonus pts 1 = 2
36. Don WickedOrtega : Pack pts 2  Bonus pts 1  = 3

Bonus Participants

37. Jafronius : Bonus pts 8
38. Adam E. : Bonus pts 11
39. Dodgerbobble
40. cynicalbuddha
41. FanOfReds : Bonus pts 3
42. Commishbob