play ball! (double take)

Here are the other two cards I picked up yesterday. These are also from 1941, but come from the Play Ball set. Both in good shape, both are Indians and both are players I've never heard of. On the back it tells me to "Also ask for BLONY Super Bubble Gum, the sweet that lasts longer."

double-play double take

Ahh, I'm such the sucker when it comes to vintage stuff. I really am. I have a binder with nothing but history in it. It has 8 to 9 cards representing every year of Topps since 1952 (the 8s are for '52 to '56). I have a couple pages, however, that go before these Topps cards that hold all my pre-Topps stuff, with the exception of the T-206 cards, they get special holders. The above two cards have been just added to these said pages. These cards hail from 1941, from a set called Double-Play. I am not exact on who made these, but I am researching the subject. These represent my first DP cards, and could be my last, as I really don't see them often. I got them from the local shop, he had bought them off a guy who held on to them for years. I also got two 1941 Play Balls too, but those are for another post. These two Hall Of Famers deserve to be first. My only "real" Mel Ott and Johnny Mize cards (no, 2010 Topps inserts don't count), and is actually Mize's Extended Rookie (whatever that means). These cards are in pretty good shape for being almost 70 years old. Mize is great with just a little corner wear, but Ott has two small creases, plus a little worse corner wear. I am definitely not complaining though due to the price being friggin' amazing. A great addition to the pre-Topps section indeed.

you never know...

Sometimes while browsing on eBay, you come across a seller who has a card you like. You check out their other items and on occasion, you'll find something a bit....different than what you were looking for. This is one such instance. While searching for some Mark Teixeira relics for the wife (she really wasn't a baseball fan until we went to New York last weekend and then decided that her favorite player is now him), I came across a 2003 Leaf Certified Materials relic. It was definitely cheap enough to warrant the purchase (buy-it-now for $1), so I decided to check out his other items, and I ran across this:

Its a 1910 Mecca Cigarettes T218 Champion Athletes and Prize Fighter Series. I had no idea who he was, so I checked him out on Wikipedia. He won three Olympic gold medals in 1904, and a silver in 1908. Originally the seller had it at $9.99 buy-it-now, but I didn't bite. Good thing too because once it ended he put it back up but with the new price of $4.99. Then I bit. It arrived today, a new tobacco card for the collection. I like checking out what sellers have to offer, because you just never know what you may come across...

quickie

Not much here, so here are a couple of Bowmans I just picked up:

recent trades-update

I didn't get a chance to explain why the four cards I chose from each of those trades were significant. I was busy earlier when I originally posted and I wasn't sure if I would have the time tonight to go over it, but I do now, so I will. On with the cards!

Here we have some of Ryan's former cards. I always enjoy getting Blue Jays minis, be it from packs or trades. When I posted that busting of the Upper Deck X blaster I got at discount from Wal-Mart, I mentioned that I liked the X-Ponential inserts, and the Wells is no different. The Bowman Shawn Green is probably one of the 'loudest' cards I've gotten in a while. IT is from the mid-90s so it makes sense. As for the silver signed Molitor, I collected the Collector's Choice set back when it came out. I would rush down to the locally run convenience store, grab a few packs and scurry home to open them up. I always loved getting the silver sig. cards in those packs, and this is a good recollection of my youth (there were actually two more in the box with Molitor too).

Here are the ones from Kerry. I started collecting Griffey a few months back, and its always fun to get one of him in a White Sox uniform, due to him not being there for long. I don't have many Jays Cansecos, so those are always good. I have never seen Leaf 1996, so I felt I had to show it. Finally, the Hentgen card looks like a bad (good?) acid trip, and definitely look straight out of the mid-90s (which it is).

So there you have it. The explanations for the above cards, which I definitely wanted to do, and should have initially, but time did not allow for it as I said. Again, a big thanks to Ryan and Kerry for the great Jays additions!

recent trades

Occasionally I send out cards for some of you, those of you I have addresses and cards for that is. Today I received two packages in return, both filled with Jays goodness!

These are some of my favorites from Kerry, over at Cards on Cards:


These are the highlights that came from Ryan over at "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog:

Both were awesome surprises, and both had many many Jays I didn't have. That 3200 count box is sure filling up fast, and its all thanks to all of you (and some shows too, but mostly you guys)! A huge thanks to both Kerry and Ryan and I'll keep a sharp eye out for your favorite respective teams for some future packages!

topps chrome

I can't decide if I am going to fully collect the 2010 Topps Chrome set. Seems almost impossible, as you only get 4 cards per pack, for like, 5 bucks, and one maybe two of those cards are inserts. I'm a big fan of the 2010 design, and initially wanted to collect all baseball sets that have it, but I may not do Chrome. We'll see.

1954 topps

Is anyone collecting or just have a bunch of 1954 Topps? I was picking cards up at the last show I went to and ended up with these two duplicates. I would be willing to trade them off for other '54s if you have any that I don't. Doesn't matter what or what condition (as long as its not torn or missing parts or something) really as long as it is something I don't have. Send me a comment or message to let me know.

its not alan hale but...

Cameron over at Reds and More... recently decided and posted up that he would like to send out team lots of all the teams he didn't care about (ie; anyone who is not a Red). I jumped at the chance to get his Jays stuff, and sent him over some Reds in return. What he sent over was fantastic to say the least. Some autos, inserts and a ton of cards I didn't have. It was the following card though, that really caught my attention:

The skipper himself! His 1989 Topps Traded card, signed by the man himself. I asked Cameron where he had obtained it and he said that he had gotten it during Spring Training in either 1990 or 1991. Incredible that he has held onto it that long. I find it to be really great because I have very little stuff that I had back in 1990. Its one of my new favorites, and I don't plan on it going anywhere any time soon. A HUGE thanks to Cameron for the great card! Check out his blog and claim your team if you have not done so already, as he has some teams left to clear out.

topps 206 blaster

I picked up a 2010 Topps 206 blaster at the local Target today (along with two loose packs) and I have scanned the minis shown here. As far as anything else goes, it wasn't anything but base and the thick bronze parallels. So no cool stuff like autos or short prints or anything. Here are the minis:

There are four American Caramel backs, one Old Mill, two Piedmont and one Polar Bear. The other two are historical events inserts, which are pretty cool. I may try for all of these, but I don't think I plan on buying much more of this set beyond maybe a few random packs. I don't think this set needs to be an annual issue and could be rotated every other year with Ginters, but hey, its not my damn company. I do like minis though...

in the city!

Today's starting pitchers in New York for the game we're at:

Javier who isn't a Brave anymore, and Mr. I still can't pronounce his last name.

Lets hope for a Jays win! (and good weather)

wwe week-day 5 (final)

The final post in my WWE themed week, celebrating 900 episodes of Monday Night Raw (the longest running weekly episodic show ever...or whatever Michael Cole reminds us of every damn week). Today I've saved the best for last, with the first two cards being not that exciting, but still interesting. They are these:

I could really care less about the two ladies depicted on these cards. The neat part is being part of the canvas from the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View. Its not like its Layla's canvas, so it doesn't matter who is on the front of the card, but they had to put someone. These come out of the blasters found at retail. Usually one per, but sometimes you can get a regular relic too (as was the case with the John Morrison unnumbered relic I posted on Wednesday).

Here is the single best card I pulled out of all that I've bought. Its not too fancy, but it was just right:

Just right in the fact that Edge is the wife's absolute favorite wrestler ever. I opened the pack, but she got the smile. Its a superstar super swatch, numbered to 30, and are at a ratio of 1:276 hobby. A very cool pull indeed, as the shop I usually buy boxes from had not seen one of these yet, and they busted many boxes, and even got signed printing plates (yes, those are way harder to pull, obviously).

Well there you have it, WWE week is finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I had opening it all up. Baseball will resume tomorrow, thanks for reading!

wwe week-day 4

These are the two dual autographs I pulled in my boxes. They run about 1:162 hobby. They come in a gold (#'d to 25) and red parallel (1/1). I believe all dual autos are XX/99. Both are pretty good match ups too, that make sense, as they are both tag teams (well...one former). Some of the dual pairings are a little odd, but these work. Tomorrow's post will be the "big" finale, and then we go back to baseball for those who don't care much for wrestling. Normal programming will resume on Saturday...maybe. I'll be in New York City for the Yankees/Jays game and we're leaving super early so we can hit a few places before the game. I'll probably do a post for Sat. on Friday night. Until then...

wwe week-day 3

Welcome back to day three of WWE! Today I've shown some of the 'event worn' cards. The silver John Morrison is the basic relic, and the other three are numbered to 99 parallels. Morrison is one of our favorites, and we definitely don't mind the Randy or Rey. We're halfway there, don't miss tomorrows post for more signed goodness!