People Actually Read My Words

I know that some folks do read my blog.  I have known this since I got my first few followers when I first opened up the Platter.  I always thought that my readers were all other bloggers in the card world.  Then, I got an email from Reader Steve.  Steve doesn't have a blog but enjoys reading about and collecting baseball cards.

I was so happy to actually receive a trade offer from a reader.  This marks a milestone in the Platter's history.  Steve got a bubble mailer full of cards from the New York baseball teams.  He sent me a nice mix of baseball cards featuring Japanese baseball players.

This is a nice looking vertical Ginter card of Kosuke Fukudome.  It almost looks like an unlicensed card that is trying to hide some MLB logos.  It would be hard to figure out what team is supposed to be featured on this card.

Steve also sent me a shiny Dice-K from last years Topps Chrome set.  2011 Topps Chrome is coming out shortly.  I hope that Topps has fixed the curvature problem that plagued last years set.  I have seen some pictures of 2011 Topps Chrome and it looks pretty good.  So, we shall see.

I don't really understand Fleer Ultra's subset called Lucky 13.  These cards feature rookies from that particular year.  I think that there is a store in my local mall that sells clothes from a company called Lucky 13.  That is what I think of when I get a Fleer Ultra Lucky 13 card.  I think of fat teens wearing tight Lucky 13 t-shirts to try and look tough.

This was the big hit of the package.  I had told Reader Steve that I didn't have anything to send him for this card but, he mailed it to me anyways.  The generosity in this community is superb.  Collectors are always looking to help out there fellow man.

Thanks for the trade.  I love having readers!

Bid Board Goods

About a month ago, I started going to a card shop called Valley Sports Cards in Tarzana,CA.  This shop was recommended to me by Dodgerbobble.  This shop isn't very close to me.  It takes me about a half an hour to get there.  But, the drive is worth it.

One of the better aspects of this card shop is the bid board.  People pin up some random cards on a wall once a week and you bid on the items.  Ebay style!  Except it's in person and interactive.  I even put some items up there to get a few extra bucks on something more fit for my collection.  Since, this shop is in Dodger territory a lot of people put up Dodger items for bidding.

A customer of the store posted up tons of 2005 Dodger Medallions.  These are metal, coin-like objects that are slightly bigger than a quarter.  The set includes Dodger legends as well as players on the dreadful 2005 team.

Gagne is my boy so, I had to pick this one up.  He has a nice drunken, lumber jack beard going on.  I hope Gagne gets a job with the Dodgers as a coach someday.  Gagne can teach the young ball players how to use roids yet still have a beer gut.

This is was the best medallion that I saw at the shop.  Yhency Brazoban was briefly the Dodgers closer in the mid-2000s.  He had 21 saves for the Dodgers in 2005.  Brazoban wasn't very effective in getting those saves but because the team was awful and had some injury issues, he was allowed to close.  He had a ERA of 5.33 and a WHIP of 1.40.  Not exactly dominating stuff.  His career fell down each year after 2005.  Brazoban had arm troubles and troubles with obesity.

The Dodger Medallions were kind of random to find.  But, I do live in a Dodger hot bed.  This graded Kaz Matsui is even more random.  This card is a 1994 BBM Matsui RC graded at a 10.  Awesome!.  I have never seen this card probably would have never found it in my life but, then here it was in Tarzana,CA.  This card makes me want to find more graded cards.  I hope it will be the vintage kind of card.

2011 Topps Lineage Trade Bait

I showed off my Dodger pulls from the 2011 Topps Lineage blaster that I bought on my last post.  This time around, I am going to show some of the cards that are for trade.  I pulled some solid cards of other teams but, the Dodgers were the best pulls.

All the cards that I am going to show are for trade. 

These cards are really cool.  The 1975 Minis from this set are awesome looking retro cards.  It also makes me want to get some 1975 Topps cards.

I pulled these two Dan Uggla cards in the same pack.  The shiny one is a diamond platinum parallel which is laying next to the base card.  I don't mind opening a pack like this.  If a Braves fan opened this pack, it may make there day.

Here are a couple of the diamond parallels that sparkle more than shine.  I wonder how much glitter Topps had to purchase to make these cards.  Topps may have the biggest warehouse of silver glitter in the country.

This pop-up Albert Pujols should go quick.  He is a star and still hitting tons of home runs over the past decade.  I also really dig the old school 80's design on the rookie cards.  Corey Luebke is having a solid season but since, there are no Padre collectors this card may sit in my trade binder for a while.

Please leave a comment or send me an email if you would like any of these cards for your collection.

Lineage Blaster Break:Dodger Style

I couldn't resist opening up some packs of 2011 Topps Lineage.  I have opened a couple of hobby packs when it was first released.  I enjoyed some aspects of the new set.  The 1975 minis were cool.  The diamond parallels are still looking hot to me.  But, I was mostly trying to avoid buying a blaster.  Those things are a $20 gamble that favor the house which in this case is Wal-Mart.  I even joined a group break to try and get a lot of Dodger cards from this set.  The group break yielded me most of the Dodger base cards and nothing else.

I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some red shirts for work and a new binder.  Those were my two main objectives.  Getting those two items was the key to my trip.  The store happened to be packed on Sunday.  The store was packed with fat people in sweat pants and whiny little kids.  Some of the shelves were pretty barren.  Wal-Mart looked like it had been picked through by a bunch of animals.  The store was out of red shirts and only had small binders left not the bigger ones that are better for baseball cards.

Luckily, Wal-Mart has a card aisle.  Since, I wasn't able to get the two items that were on my want list, I decided to see what baseball cards that they had for sale.  First, I checked to see if they had any good discount blasters.  The shelf only had a 2010 Upper Deck blaster on sale.  I just opened one of these recently and was underwhelmed.  I passed on that. 

The 2011 Topps Lineage blasters guarantee one relic.  Awesome!  I really want to get a 1975 mini relic.  So, I splurged a little and picked up a $20 blaster.  I didn't get a crappy red shirt but, I got some baseball cards!

I happened to pull a ton of Doyers from this break.  The Jackie card is a cool leaping shot of him.  I can't wait to chase the parallels for these base cards.

I also pulled a couple more Dodgers base cards.  These two of current Dodgers, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw.  Ethier is currently playing through an infected ingrown toenail.  That sounds so gross.  But, still not as gross as someone having an injury called a pulled groin.  When I hear that some player has a pulled groin, I think of a more painful, dirty image than what the injury actually entails.  You know what I'm saying.

Topps adding some refractorness to this set was a nice move.  Seeing a Roy Campanella card with some modern flashiness to it is a plus in my book.  The Diamond Platinum Parallel is seeded at 1:4 packs.  The blaster only contains 7 packs.  I was going to get at least one of these and I am glad it was a Dodger. 

I only got one of the cloth sticker cards also.  This one turned out to be of the great Sandy Koufax.  I am so happy that his cards are popping up in Topps products this year.  No Dodger fan will ever get tired of getting Koufax cards.  Koufax is above everyone. 

I still think that Koufax can pitch in today's game.  Probably in the bullpen.  He still has a solid fastball.  Just last year he killed a lion, who was attacking some school children, with his fastball.  True story.

This blaster was meant to be purchased by a Dodger collector!

The One and Only

There are many Dodgers collectors.  There are also many Yankee, Red Sox and Phillies collectors.  Most of the big market, older franchises have lots of fans that collect cards.  The Angels on the other hand don't have many people that collect cards of men in red.  The Angels are celebrating there 50th anniversary this season.  I knew that they had been around for awhile but, just seeing the number 50 makes me a little surprised. 

By being around that long in a big market, which Orange County as a whole is, you would think that they would have more Angels team collectors.  So, cards of Angel players usually sit around in a binder or box in my bedroom waiting to find a home that would appreciate them.  Luckily, I trade with Tom of the blog, Angels in Order.

He is the only guy I know that collects Angels cards.  I live in northern LA County.  My home is pretty far from the OC so, I don't know many Angels fans.  I don't cross paths with them.  Tom is my guy when it comes to swapping Angels for Dodgers. 

I believe this is the second time that Tom and I have traded.  He always sends me a good bubble mailer full of Doyers.  Hideo Nomo has been on some cool baseball cards.  Since his career was from the mid-90s to the early 2000s during the era of a million new sets per a year, Nomo has been on a ton of cards.  Also, since he had a funky, unique wind-up, that made for a great photograph.  Every now and then I flip through my Nomo binder and find a lot of sweet looking photos of his pitching motion.

This is a rainbow-ish, super shiny 2007 Bowman Heritage Russell Martin.  I really like the shine on a retro set.  The 2010 Heriatge and Topps 206 looked killer when it was chromed out and full of shine.

What happened to the Bowman Heritage sets?  They came out when I was on a collecting hiatus.  They looked to be cool looking cards.  Did they flop when they were released?

Andre Ethier looking damn cool!  He probably hit a huge bomb off the Giants and now he is strutting around the dugout like a pimp.  Ethier also throw a guy out at home during this game and made a diving catch.  It was a wonderful Dodger victory over the Giants!

Tom sent me this really cool Nomar from 2008 Baseball Heroes.  This is the Oakland Raiders Silver Parallel numbered out of 399.  This has to be one of the biggest sets of 2008.  The base design is classic and the different parallels is a simple concept that works.

What was the collecting world's reaction when this set came out?  I know the buzz that certain sets have gotten this past year.  Just wondering what the anticipation was like for some of the better sets of recent memory.

Tom you are my Angels guy!  There is nobody out there that will be competing with you for my Angels cards.  We will trade again real soon!  Thanks.

Name The Set

When I attend a swap meet, I often try to find some oddball or cards that are mysterious to me.  Swap meets offer a great chance to find some random cards that I have never seen before.  I went to the Rose Bowl Swap Meet over the weekend.  I already covered the Raiders cards that I picked up in my last post. 

I saw this card featuring Bob Feller and Satchel Paige and I had to purchase it.  This is my first card of Satchel.  This card states that these two played in an exhibition game in 1946.  This was before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier so, white and black players would only play in exhibitions in 1946.  This had to be a big ticket game where ever the game was played.  Feller vs. Paige!  That game was probably a ticket scalpers dream.

I also have no idea what set this card is from.  If I had to guess the year that it would have been released, then I would say late '80s?  It has a similar card stock to the cards made in that era and the condition is pretty good so, it can't be too old.

Here is the back of this card.  The card is telling a background story on Bob Feller.  The story continues on other cards from this set.  The back of the card doesn't give any year or company information.  This makes it harder for me to figure out where this card came from.

What set is this card from?  What year did this card come out?  Please let me know.

Swap Meet Finds Colored Silver and Black

My sister had a table set up selling shirts and greeting cards that she makes.  The table was at the Rose Bowl Swap Meet in Pasadena,CA.  This was a great excuse for me to visit with her and go on the prowl for some sports cards or memorabilia.  The Rose Bowl Swap Meet doesn't have many card dealers.  They have a sizable amount of people selling toys or comic books in the locker rooms underneath the stadium.  But, as far as guys selling cards, well, there are a lot of people that sell junk and those vendors may have some cards at there table.

I try to go on the look out for people with cards that are scattered or in a card box that looks old.  Because cards that a vendor may have are ones that he is tired of lugging around to different swap meets.  With the vendor thinking that cards are too heavy and take up space, they may be more willing to sell some on the cheap. 

Also, swap meets usually have a wide mix of cards available for sale.  You never know what your going to find there.  The Rose Bowl Swap Meet is huge.  It was hot and there was a lot of walking.  I was chugging waters like an animal just to keep going on my quest.

I found one guy that was selling random junk.  There are tons of vendors at the Rose Bowl that are selling a lot of random items such as furniture, clothes, and old books.  This guy was one of those sellers.  He also had a box of cards!

His box of cards were marked at a buck a piece and I knew that I wasn't going to be paying that.  These cards are packaged in top loaders and in a card box that looks like it has been through many shows in its life.  Every thing is negotiable at a swap meet.  That is an aspect that adds some fun to the purchase. 

I picked up some of the oldest football cards that I have now.  This card is a 1978 Topps Ken Stabler.  Stabler was the leader of the Raiders in the 70s.  He was a total bad ass and played hard like a true Raider.

I am not a big football collector at all.  But, I do love the Raiders and love the team's history.  This 1976 Topps Ken Stabler is in nice condition.  I may start to collect Raiders cards of the 70s.  I only have a small amount of Raiders autographs and GUs.

Stabler showed up to games on Sunday hungover and he still would dominate.  Stabler will always have a special place in Raiders lore.  If I was a kid in the 70s, I would probably have a Ken Stabler poster in my bedroom.

These Stablers that I picked up from this seller are in really good shape.  They appear to have been sitting in this box untouched for awhile.  This was a great find in order to get me started on my 70s Raiders PC.

This is a 1979 Topps Fred Biletnikoff!  I love the way the helmet looks to be made of cheap plastic.  I could buy a helmet of similar design nowadays at Wal-Mart on the cheap.  Biletnikoff and other receivers of the 70s had to be real men going across the middle.

Jack Tatum was a wild man patrolling the Raiders secondary.  If he had a shot to take someones head off, he would take that chance.  Tatum put fear into every wide out that he played against.  I need to find more Jack Tatum cards.  There must be some good action shots of him made in the 70s.

Art Shell was the man that I first remember seeing as the coach of the Raiders in the 90s.  The early to mid 90s is when I started watching the Raiders play and Shell was walking up and down the sidelines coaching up the players.

Shell was also a great player as an Oakland Raider.  He is a hall of fame offensive lineman.  He was a monster of a man that crushed his opponents.  His bushy beard featured on this card has mauled several defensive ends in 1980.

That is a recap of the bulk of my findings at the Rose Bowl Swap Meet.  This will also be the beginning of a nice old school Raiders collection.  Please help me out if you have any for trade.

Also, how many of you guys collect football cards?  I know of a handful of bloggers that do collect baseball and football.  To people that know more than me, what is considered football's junk wax era?  Also, what era is considered vintage football?  I need some background on football collecting.  Please help a friend out.

Swappin' Some Cards With Drew

Every now and then a Dodger and Yankee fan can get along just fine.  Drew from Drew's Cards and I made our first trade together.  I sent him a bunch of Yanks as well as some random cards for his PC.  I just got a return package from Drew a couple days ago and I was very happy with what he sent me.

This is a really cool card from 1977 Topps.  The 1977 Topps set has a nice design and will be a set that I will try to gather certain cards from.  Lee Lacy looks like he partied hard last night in this picture.  He was probably at a wild 70s party with tons of pot smoke, dudes with mustaches and chicks in short shorts. 

Bill Buckner probably joined Lee Lacy at many parties in the 70s.  Buckner's mustache could get him into every bar, restaurant or party that he wanted to attend in the 70s.  For good measure, Buckner also has his shirt open showing off some chest hair. 

I love cards that could capture a decade with one photo.  This Buckner card does the trick.  I just picture a bunch of men had this look back then.

Drew also sent me some jumbo cards.  These cards are the size of some of today's box toppers.  The 1989 Topps Fernando has some sort of a disc on the back of it.  I vaguely remember these types of cards.  I think that the disc once hooked up to a player of some sort and Fernando will say some prerecorded message.  I think this idea flopped but, I'm not positive.  Does anyone else have any info on this release?

The card next to the Fernando is an over sized Frank Howard card.  The back of the Howard card doesn't have a year on it.  So, I am not sure when it was released.  Does anyone know the answer to that?  Also, was this a box topper from back in the day?

Drew also threw in a Manny GU.  I don't think that this was part of the trade but, Drew just included it to be a nice guy.  This is a really clean looking relic.  Please comeback and make some licenced baseball products, Upper Deck!

Some bloggers may be over with the Diamond Parallel.  But, I am still a sucker for these cards.  They look cool and shiny.  Some people may think the concept is over done now that the Diamond Parallels are showing up in Topps Lineage.  I think it's cool because it will give me more Diamond Parallels to collect.  It is also really cool to get a shiny card featuring Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

Thanks for the trade, Drew!

Ron Cey Autograph Signing

The Johnny Rockets restaurant at Universal City Walk hosted a Ron Cey autograph appearance.  The event was scheduled to begin at 12 and end at 1.  Cey showed up on time and the event staff ran the event smoothly.  I even won a pair of Dodger tickets for a game next month.  There wasn't too many people there.  Cey drew a crowd of around 100.  Earlier today, Matt Kemp was also having an autograph signing in Redondo Beach.  Most Dodger autograph collectors were probably at the Matt Kemp signing.  This was fine with me as the Cey line wasn't too large.

Since the line was reasonable, you were allowed to take a photo with Cey.  Ron Cey was a power hitting 3rd baseman in his day.  He still looks like he can pop a few bombs a year.  His forearms are pretty big especially compared to mine.

Ron Cey was signing anything that you handed to him.  Luckily, I brought a couple cards with me for him to sign.  At these Dodger signings, it is always good to bring multiple items because sometimes the player and staff is okay with getting a couple items signed. 

Cey has a really nice signature.  I like how he puts his jersey number 10 in his "R".  That gives a nice touch to the autograph.  Sometimes I get nervous getting a player to sign a newer glossy card.  But when they come out well on a glossy card, the signature just pops. 

I also got this 1981 Fleer Sticker signed.  This card shows Cey hitting a moon shot against the Padres.  The ground also looks like it's all dirt.  Maybe this was an exhibition at a softball field.

Today was great to get a couple autos from a Dodger star of the 70s.  There are a couple other Dodger autograph signings coming up that I may attend.  It's nice that former and current players take time out of there day to give an autograph to there fans.  Dodger fans don't have much to cheer about but the Dodger players are showing that they care for the fans.

The Return of Godfather Night Owl

It always makes me feel better to trade with a fellow Dodger fan.  It is nice to know that you share a common bond with someone because they root for the good guys.  I always have a ton of Dodger dupes.  I get doubles of inserts, parallels and of course base cards.  This makes it a great option to trade with a fellow Dodger collector.

Godfather Night Owl always seems to know what cards I have and what cards I need.  I don't have an overly comprehensive wants list on my blog.  I am not focused and organized enough for that.  Night Owl must have special powers to know what to send me.  Him and I have made several trades together.  When he sends me a lot, there are usually at least 90% of them that are new to me.  That is really good and done on a consistent basis.  Night Owl runs a solid blog and is a great trader.  Oh yeah, he also roots for the good guys.

1977 Topps is a sweet looking set.  The more cards that I see from the 70s, the more I love the designs that came out of that decade.  My next set building project is going to be building Dodger team sets from the 70s.  This will take more time but, I do have a decent dent in those sets. 

I sent Night Owl a 3-D Kelloggs Steve Garvey and he sent a Fernando back my way.  These cards are really cool, have a cool shape and stay in really good condition over time.  The Fernando is from the 1983 set and appears like it was just pulled from a box of cereal.

I am a sucker for the Topps Gold Parallel.  I have been collecting such parallels since my childhood in the 90s.  Gold still enriches a card in my opinion.  It gives the card some extra class.  The 2011 Topps Heritage Casey Blake appears to be covered in green slime.  But, I think it is supposed to be some sort of a green refractor.  It must be from a retail pack, maybe a Target exclusive parallel?  Anyways, the green slime reminds me of Double Dare.  That bit of knowledge in itself makes that Blake an awesome card.

Night Owl must have somehow have known that I don't buy any Topps Attax cards.  Those special powers of his really came through this time.  He sent me two Topps Attax cards of the Dodgers two best players.  Kemp and Kershaw are the beasts of the team.  Things would be even worse if these two weren't playing so well.

Night Owl also sent me a Topps Attax card of the worst player on the Dodgers.  That player's name is Juan Uribe.  Things are so much better with him on the DL.

This is one of my favorite cards of all time.  Upper Deck Masterpieces had a really good thing going on.  The cards were well made and the framed parallels were a nice touch.  This Sandy Koufax card is a work of art.  I wouldn't mind having this card blown up and framed on my wall.

Night Owl had gotten a bunch of these 1984 Fun Foods pins as a gift.  He had some doubles to trade and I jumped at the chance to get this Rick Sutcliffe button.  This shows Sutcliffe as a Cub but he was a Dodger also.  I also like his grizzled beard and woodsman hair cut.  That beard alone earned him a few victories in 1984.

My hunt for the 2011 Allen and Ginter Ascent of Man set is going really well.  I have been receiving some in trade and picked up a few at my local card shop.  Night Owl sent me a handful of these to help with my quest.  I am almost done with the set and when I am finished then, I will move on to trying to get some cards from the 70s.

This has been another great trade with Godfather Night Owl.  Thanks for the solid variety and the Ascent of Man cards!

Video Trade Post

This is the Platter's first video post. I got an awesome trade package from Jeff who writes the blog called My Sports Obsession.  He was very kind and generous to me that I wanted to post something a little different.

Please let me know how you guys like video posts.  I may do more of these in the future to change things up.  Thnaks for the trade,Jeff!

Also, a special thanks to Josh from Dodgerbobble for helping me film and post this.  I am a caveman and wouldn't be able to do this on my own.

Minor PC Addition

As I try to get more trade partners, I am going to be adding or subtracting players listed under the section to the right called "Minor Collections."  Every now and then you will be able to see a new player or subject that I am currently collecting.  This will add new trade offers and more of a chance to trade with some of the many bloggers out there.

This addition is going to be of a former Dodger that I find myself still rooting for.  That player's name is Adrian Beltre.  He is a slick fielding third baseman with a strong arm and some pop in his bat.  Beltre is a player that I collect no matter what uniform he is wearing on his card. 

This is the only auto that I have of Beltre. I am on the lookout for some more.

This is the only bat relic that I have of Beltre.  I really dig this one because of the LA stamp on the piece of wood.  I think some collectors don't like an imprint put on a relic.  But, I like it because it adds some uniqueness to my collection.

See, I told you that I am seeking Beltre cards in any uniform.  This is a 2011 Topps Beltre GU jersey where he is pictured as a member of the Red Sox. 

Here is a blue piece of jersey.  This is a hybrid card where Beltre is photographed as a Doyer but is stated as being a Seattle Mariner.  I like getting some color on the jersey even if the card company can't pick a team for Beltre to represent.

I am mostly looking for autos or GUs of Beltre.  I would like to boast my small collection of his.  Please send me an email or comment and we'll work out a trade.

The Diamond King and I

I believe this is the second trade that I have made with the great Diamond King.  He runs a very cool blog and is currently going through his favorite players based on position.  The Diamond King is also one of the better names in the blog world.  I hope people call him that around his neighborhood.

These two cards are what sparked the trade between us.  These are promo cards that probably came out just before the sets were released and given out to dealers to create a buzz in the collecting world.  The 1995 Donruss Promo is a rookie card of Hideo Nomo.  I have the regular base card but, now I have the promo card to set beside it in my Nomo binder.  The second card is a 1998 Topps Tek Rauuuul Mondesi card.  The back of the card where the number is, says "pre-production" on it.  This Tek set is awesome.  It feels like a credit card.  I love cardboard but, I also like cards made out of metal or plastic.

The Diamond King also threw in some Jackie Robinson cards.  The 2001 Upper Deck Jackie has Dodgers written in what feels like felt.  Upper Deck was striving for a look of stitching on the card.  Very nice touch.  I love cards from the "Baseball's All Time Greats" sets.  I am not sure how many different releases that they have.  I know there are different colored borders.

The Diamond King hooked me up with a few 1981 Topps cards!  My chase continues to get a chunk of cards from this set.  The 1981 Topps sets is one of my favorites.  I have been searching for the Kirk Gibson from this set for awhile and now it's mine.  I still have a bunch more that I am looking for from this set.  Please click on my set needs up top and let me know if you have any for trade.

Ichiro with some shine!  Upper Deck used the Topps Refractor look to commemorate Ichiro's 1,000th hit.  The 2009 Allen and Ginter National Pride set looks really cool.  The rising sun behind Ichiro looks good on cardboard.  The Diamond King also included several other Ichiro cards which is much appreciated.

Thanks for the trade!  We will trade more in the future.  Please check out his blog and maybe send him some diamond kings.