Eight Men Out

I was digging through the dime box at my local card shop the other day.  They always have a wide selection of cards to choose from  I usually pick up some random oddball cards when I am building a stack to purchase.

I found a couple of cards from the movie Eight Men Out.  I am a big fan of this film.  It captured the era well and had some good acting.  This set came out in 1988 and was produced by Pacific Trading Cards.  I did some research and I think this set is rather large.  I thought that the set was going to be in the 20 card range.  I believe that there are over 100 cards to this set.

The condition of these cards is kind of shabby. The Don Harvey card has some creases.  The condition doesn't matter much to me though.

I was wondering if any of you guys have these cards for trade.  My favorite character in this film was Buck Weaver played by John Cusack.  I am also a big Charlie Sheen fan.  I would be willing to trade cards with photos of real ball players as opposed to actors playing ball players for more of these cards.

I am sure that there are some White Sox collectors out in the blog world that may have some extras to spare.  Please let me know.

Trading Off The Wall

Trades have almost come to a screeching halt since the holiday season began.  More bloggers are busy with family obligations or on vacation.  Even posting has been moving at a snails pace this month.  Trading should pick up again in the New Year.  I miss coming home from work and finding a couple bubble mailers waiting for me.

I have been slowly chipping away at some of the 1981 Topps cards that I have been seeking out.  Shane from Off The Wall sent me a handful of cards that I was looking for.  This was my favorite of the 1981 Topps cards that he sent me.  Dennis Eckersley is showing off a stunning mustache and hair combo.  I almost would like to comb my hands through his hair in a heterosexual way.  If there is such a way to do so without being mistaken for something that I am not.

Here is a Dice-K rookie card with his name in Japanese.  That was a cool touch used by Topps.  It makes this card a little more unique.  Shane is a Red Sox collector so, he must be bummed that Dice-K was a bust in Boston.  They paid tons of scratch for his services and didn't get much in return.

Also, this is off topic, but I hope that Shane named his blog after the Michael Jackson album.  Off the Wall is probably my favorite Jackson album.  The track "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" gets me on the dance floor every time I hear it.  Even if I hear when there isn't a dance floor available, I create an impromptu dance floor to show off my moves.

 I am still trying to build a collection of cards featuring hall of famers from the 60s-70s.  This Lou Brock will fit right in.  This card is in good shape and will go into my Hall of Fame box.

Sadly for Brock, all of his stolen base records will be smashed by Dee Gordon.  This is great for Gordon and Dodger fans.  Gordon is going to put on a speed show this year for the Dodgers.

I can't remember what the centerpiece of our trade was.  Maybe Shane can remember.  I think it was the Brock League Leaders card but maybe it was this signed Kazuhiro Sasaki card.  I am also curious to know the back story to this card.

I have stated this before, but I love hearing a good back story on some cards that come across here at the Platter.  Sometimes it may be an old vintage card that has something strange written on it or it is an oddball card that I have never seen before.  In this case, it is a signed Sasaki card.

This card has a crease in it.  That may indicate that this was signed through the mail.  The card is also signed in pen.  This may also indicate that Shane obtained this card through the mail.  I hope Shane will comment on this post and give me and the readers the story on this card.

Thanks for the trade!

Ex-Doyers Are Good To Me

The saga of my new found addiction continues to impress me.  My new addiction is sending out letters to ball players and asking for autographs.  Not an evil addiction that would be fun in the short term but have long term consequences like cocaine addiction.

TTM is a good addiction that has given me some cool results so far.

Of the Dodger autographs that I have obtained, Ron Cey may have the nicest signature.  The way his first and last name bleeds into one another is sweet.  The way he puts the number 10 in his "R" is a nice touch.  I also dig that he used a blue sharpie on my TTM request.  Cey is a true Dodger that understands what his fans like.

I guess the blue works when a Cubs fan asks for his autograph also.

Cey sent me these to me really quickly.  He lives about 20 minutes from my house so, that is probably the reason.  He could have held onto my letter and read and then re-read my words over the course of several days.  Luckily, he didn't and sent these two cards back to me.

The next return that I received was from former Dodger shortstop Greg Gagne.  His name is pronounced how it is spelled not the French way like Eric Gagne.  Gagne is American so, I'm sure his ancestors assimilated and the pronunciation became Americanized.

  Gagne also added a 3:16 inscription to his autograph.  I have seen this before.  I am not a religious man so, I am not sure what 3:16 means.  Maybe a reader may be able to educate me on that.

Gagne also answered a couple questions for me.  I had asked about the biggest difference for him when he came from the AL Central to the NL West.  He mentioned that the travel was a lot tougher.  Gagne had played in the 1991 World Series for the Minnesota Twins.  I asked him about the crowd noise.  I asked him this because I remember how loud the Metro Dome got during the playoffs.  The place sounded insane.  He wrote that he felt a different vibe from the crowd but, he was able to block out the sound and concentrate on the game.

It was cool that he answered my questions.  I am going to try and include a few questions in each letter that I mail out.  It will be fun for me to get some responses back from the men that played the greatest game ever at the highest level.

I believe that I have lived in the same city as Mike Lieberthal throughout his entire playing career.  So, I have watched him play for a huge chunk of my life.  When he started his career for the Phillies in 1994, I had just move to the Philadelphia area from SoCal.  Then, when Lieberthal came to the Dodgers to finish his playing career, I was already back and living in LA.  We kind of followed each other.

Sadly, I only had one card of him as a Dodger to send him.  This card came out nice though.

This is kind of a Phillies card.  It has the Phillies logo on the bottom corner but, Lieberthal is wearing his high school jersey.  This is my favorite card that he sent back to me.  He looks so young in this photo.  Obviously, he does.  But, I always thought that Lieberthal looked like a grizzled vet throughout his career.

This card is sweet because his high school stats are on the back of this card.  He hit 13 bombs his senior year and even stole 8 bases.  What happened to those wheels?

This is a full on Philadelphia Phillies card.  This is also one of those mid-90s Fleer cards that were made to get signed. I am not sure if I ever had one of these signed before.  I didn't open too many packs of these back in the day even though I enjoyed Fleer products.  I was more of a Fleer Ultra man anyways.

I am having a ton of fun sending cards and letters out to ballplayers.  I should be sending more out this week and I hope to get more returns.

An Envelope From A Legend

This TTM adventure that I started a couple weeks ago has been amazing.  I have actually been getting signed cards back from former baseball players.  I was a little skeptical at how this whole process would come into fruition.  I wasn't sure if I would get anything in return.

My skepticism was totally wrong.  I am naturally cynical.  Being cynical is part of being a Dodger fan.  At least a Dodger fan of my generation that missed some beast Dodger teams back in the day.  For the record, I was born in 1983.

 My mailbox has been getting solid returns since I started this adventure.  I have sent cards out to several players and they are coming back auto graphed in droves.

This is my favorite return so far.  This is a signed Upper Deck Masterpieces card of Bobby Doerr.  Doerr is a baseball legend.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.  He is also the oldest living Hall of Fame baseball player.  His baseball reference page lists his age at 93.

Doerr was a great player for the Boston Red Sox between 1937-1951.  There was a brief gap in his career due to military service during WWII.  Doerr was still able to accumulate nice counting stats as a strong defensive second baseman.  He hit 223 home runs and drove in 1247 RBIs.

I know new school stat geeks would scoff at me mentioning counting stats but, those stats do help you get enshrined in Cooperstown.

Here are some numbers that new school dudes love:
Career .823 OPS
Career OPS+ 115
Career OBP .362
Career WAR 47.7

Those are all great numbers for a second baseman.

His signature is also very great.  He even added a HOF '86 inscription. Doerr was also nice enough to sign a couple index cards for me.  I did not ask him to do so.  The index cards were just there for card protection. But, Bobby Doerr is a cool dude and a baseball legend.

Thank you, Bobby!

Carl Furillo!!!!

I have finally reached the point in my collecting quest where I have obtained an actual Brooklyn Dodger card.  Of course, I have numerous reprints of Brooklyn legends such as Jackie, The Duke and Campy.  But, I have finally acquired a real,genuine Brooklyn card that was made in the 50s.

This is my first Brooklyn card!  This card is actually from 1957.  This isn't a Topps reprint of any kind. This is a real Brooklyn card.

I was so excited to see this card at my local card shop.  Valley Sports Cards always has a great selection of Dodgers.  The shop has autos, relics, vintage and oddball Dodgers.  I always at least glance at the vintage Dodger section.  I love just checking out some of the Sandy Koufax cards from the 50s-60s and hoping that they will be mine someday.

This Furillo caught my eye because it is a Brooklyn card and it was reasonably priced.  As a matter of fact, I was seeking out Furillo cards on ebay the night before I bought this one.  The Cardboard Gods must have sensed my need for this card and made sure it was waiting for me at the shop.

Carl Furillo will always be big time because he was a member of the first Dodger championship in 1955.  He was a key cog for that team.  Furillo mashed 26 homers and batted .314 that season.  I am forever grateful for his contributions to a great Dodger team.

It is now time to gorge myself with brisket and potato pancakes!  Happy Holidays!

Funner Than A Group Break

The blog Juuust A Bit Outside recently held a card draft.  Kyle, the man in charge at Juuust A Bit Outside, had a lot of good choices to pick from.  He had hits, vintage, and some nice modern cards.  I love a good card draft!

I think that I may be more selective when joining a group break now.  A group break is always a risky gamble and most of the time I feel lie I am just throwing money away.  I am on a bad luck streak when it comes to group breaks.  You may sense my bitterness.

In a card draft, I am able to preview the items that I may choose.  In a group break, I can only hope and pray to the Cardboard Gods that I will get some sweetness.  I have a better guarantee in a card draft to pick something that fits into my collection.  Every card draft that I have joined brings me some cards that I want.

These two cards of the real MVP, Matt Kemp, fit greatly into my collection.  I get a sweet chromed out refractor serial numbered out of 660 and a Ginter SP that I have been trying to obtain.  I had my heart set on these cards before the draft and luckily I was able to scoop them up.  These cards in now in a happy Doyer home.

Also, I may take down my Ryan Braun haves list that I have on the side bar.  I may replace it with a Matt Kemp haves list.  Now that Kemp will probably be a Doyer for life, he will probably have the most cards in my collection at some point.  Braun brought too much shame to himself and his fans for me to still support him at the Platter.

When I pick well in a card draft, I usually walk away with some nice items to sell or trade.  The card shop that I go to has a lot of Lakers fans.  I am sure that I can plop this up on the bid board and get some cash added to my store credit.  This card is serial numbered out of 50 and is super shiny in person.

This was my first pick in the draft.  I knew that this card is easy trade bait or any easy sell.  I will listen to some offers for this game used card of Mariano Rivera.

Even though he is a Yankee, I still had my eyes set on obtaining this card.  Worst case scenario was selling this on a bid board for a few bucks.  Best case scenario is getting a sweet Dodger game used in return.

Come on Yankee fans make me an offer!

Some group breaks have a variety of different boxes to open.  Some only have multiple boxes of one product.  I prefer a wide variety of cards to select from.  A good host of a card draft makes sure that there is a wide range of years and sets to choose from.

I was able to build on my hall of fame collection.  I am trying to focus on getting cards of past legends from the 60s and 70s.  The 50s is a little out of my price range right now.  I am also looking to trade for some 60s and 70s cards of hall of famers.  Condition isn't too important to me right now.

This 1975 Topps mini Dave Winfield happens to be in excellent condition.  At first I thought that this was from the 2011 Topps Lineage set.  That is how good this card looks.  Are people still opening packs of 1975 Topps?

This card draft gave me good bang for my buck.  Certainly more bang for my buck as compared to some of the group breaks that I have failed in.  My card gambling money is mostly going to go towards card drafts now.

This is a 1975 Topps Tom Seaver in great condition.  The corners are good and the card is only slightly off center.  Seaver was a beast.  I have a handful of his cards from the 70s and the number keeps growing.  I seem to be stockpiling cards of some great pitchers of the 60s and 70s.  I have some Jim Palmer cards and some Bob Gibson as well.

I really have a good time in a card draft.  I enjoy seeing what others are selecting and also fighting with other Dodger collectors for the best of the bunch.  I am already in another draft at Cardboard Heaven and will be getting another solid haul of cards that I want.

Thanks for hosting, Kyle.

My First TTM Return Featuring Jay Howell

Last week I sent out some baseball cards to get signed by some ex-Dodgers.  This is my first endeavor into the fun of TTM autographs.  I did some research on the subject before I mailed out any cards or letters.  One of the tips that I was told about was to be patient.  I was expecting to wait weeks before I got anything in return.

But, Jay Howell came through super quick.  I sent out a letter to Howell on December 8th and got three autographed cards back on December 15th.  Howell must have gotten my letter and immediately signed my cards.  He then must have stuffed my SASE right into his mailbox.

Howell must have been moved by my kind words.

I miss the old scoreboards that Dodger Stadium had along the baselines.  Those old scoreboards are less obnoxious than the ribbon scoreboards they have between the field level and loge at Dodger Stadium.  The brightness from these lights can be distracting at times during night games.

Jay Howell was apart of the 1988 World Series team.  I am extra psyched that he signed these for me.  I plan on writing some other members of the 1988 team and will see if they write back.  That team was the only Dodger championship that occurred during my lifetime.

I have seen a handful of 1988 Dodger addresses on the Sports Card Forum.  I will try my luck at that.  So far, so good in the TTM department.

 This is my favorite Jay Howell card of the bunch.  The gold foil is a classy touch by Topps.  I had offered him a card to keep and I was thinking that he would have chose this one.  I was secretly hoping that he wouldn't because I knew this card would look dope signed.

He ended up not keeping any of them.  One of the other tips that I got was to offer the player a card to keep as a token of thanks.  I will continue to follow this pointer and hope the player would enjoy a card for himself.

But, even Jay Howell must be tired of seeing late 80s and early 90s cards of himself.  Howell holds the record for most '91 Donruss Jay Howell cards ever seen in a lifetime.

I really appreciate these cards.  I will keep you guys up to date on anymore TTM returns that I receive 

Hiflew Returns to the Platter!

I am so glad that the blog called Cards From The Quarry came back.  Hiflew is the dude that runs the best Rockies blog in the blog world.  His blog may be the only blog that focuses on Rockies cards.  The blog world was void of someone to trade there Rockies too.  When the Quarry was on hiatus, I just had stacks of Rox piling up waiting for Hiflew's return.

The blog world is a better place when the Quarry is open.

Hiflew knows what I like.  He knows that I like the 90s, shine and cards of first base icon Mike Piazza.  Wait.  What?!?!  Mike Piazza playing first base in the 90s while on the Dodgers. I don't remember seeing this back then.  Eric Karros had the Dodgers first base position on lock in the 90s.  This card is from 1996.

Piazza does look very determined at first base.  He may also just be showing off for the Pinnacle camera man while horsing around in between snap shots.

This is another great Mike Piazza card from '96 Aficionado.  This is a really slick looking set.  This set combines 90s flash with a retro wood finish.

Piazza is glaring into the dugout during this shot.  Piazza must be looking into the dugout wondering why they are leaving Tom Candiotti in for so long.  Mark Guthrie is already warm.  I remember this game like it was yesterday.  The Dodgers ended up rallying to overcome a 10 run deficit against the Giants.

Mike Piazza had 11 RBIs.  The Dodgers won 11-10.  Great game.

This is a flashy 1996 Aficionado Hideo Nomo card.  The impact that know had on popularizing the game in Asia is still felt today.  The impact he made just in Japan was huge.  The stars of Japanese baseball still want to ply there trade Stateside.

Yu Darvish is the latest Japanese Star that is trying to make it in the big leagues.  I wish the Dodger ownership situation was already clear so, they could bid on Darvish.  The kid has mad skills.  Just a little more patience until the new Dodger owners start spending some serious scratch.

Welcome back, Hiflew!  The blog world will always need someone to rep the Rockies.

One For Keeps,One For Trade

The blog world has had many posts about the situation with Ryan Braun.  All that needs to be said has been said by many in the mainstream media, among fans, and typed in blogs.  I will spare you anymore words typed about Ryan Braun.

I would like to show you readers a couple of cards that I picked up at Valley Sports Cards in Tarzana,CA.

I was able to pick up this Shawn Green card off the bid board at my local card shop.  I probably walked in at the perfect time in order to snag the game used gem.  Shawn Green cards go fast in the San Fernando Valley.  The bid board at the shop lets the sellers choose to sell there cards using a "buy it now" option.  The seller had this one marked at 2 bucks.

Sold!

This is a 2003 Donruss Studio Shawn Green Game Used Pants.  This card is also from a specific event.  I love those types of cards.  The event was a Big League Home Run Challenge which took place in February 2002.  It must have been an off season home run derby.  I don't remember watching or hearing about this event.

Anyone remember the great Big League Home Run Challenge of 2002?

While at the shop, I decided to bust some packs of Topps Lineage.  Lineage has become one of my most opened packs of 2011.  I love the parallels in this set as well as the game used cards.  I will probably end up buying a box of this product down the road.

This is a David Ortiz GU.  The swatch is a bright red.  It is always cool to see some color on a game used card.

Big Papi doesn't fit into my collection.  This card is up for grabs.  Please Red Sox fans, take this one home with you.  Papi is probably going to retire as a member of the Sox.  Add this card into your PC.

Also, Cardboard Heaven is having a cardboard draft for $15 bucks.  Please go and check it out.  His draft is almost filled up.

Deeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have finally acquired my first Dee Gordon autograph.  I may be the last Dodger collector to achieve this feet.  The prices for Gordon's auto have been dropping this off season.  His rookie autos last year were going for a decent amount.  Certainly too much for me to pay.  Since, the card companies have been pumping Dee Gordon autographed cards into many products, this has helped the price lower.

Lower prices work better for me.

   Bam!  This is a sweet 2011 Topps Tier One Dee Gordon Auto #ed/999.  Tier One is a product that I probably won't open a box of in my lifetime.  The set is too high end for me.  But, I will be able to get some singles of the players I collect.

I expect big things from Gordon this coming baseball season.  He will steal a ton of bases.  I predict getting a 100 steals this year.  Gordon will be a modern day Maury Wills.  Gordon is the fastest ball player I have ever seen play.  He is a sprinter out there.

This is what Dee Gordon is faster than:

Dee Gordon is faster than Kenny Lofton

Dee Gordon is faster than Shane Victorino

Dee Gordon is faster than James Loney's Maserati

Dee Gordon is faster than a Clayton Kershaw fastball

Dee Gordon is faster than Juan Uribe's weight gain

I could go on forever.  I think the point is that Dee Gordon is faster than anything on planet Earth.

Also, I would like to plug a contest being held at The Diamond King.

Late Night Trade Post Featuring Night Owl

Very few bloggers out there have the ability to see my collection and fill in the gaps for me, without ever actually seeing my baseball card collection.  Night Owl is the Godfather of the Blog World and deserves royal treatment for being a trader with special powers.  Well, that is how he gets treated at the Platter.  He probably gets rougher treatment at many other establishments.

Since, I have picked up a new laptop, my haves lists have been getting updated more frequently.  I still have a big stack of Dodgers to go through and catalog on Microsoft Excell.  One day I will hire a secretary to catalog my collection.  Just a person that will type out the cards I have and let me know what cards I am looking for.  I still enjoy putting new Dodgers in binders.  I will never give my secretary that job.

Oh wait, I probably will never even have a secretary that tends to my cataloging needs.

   Let me start out by showing a couple cards featuring some past Dodger greats.  This is a really nice looking set and Upper Deck uses a smooth, glossy touch.  Upper Deck may have touched up the Johnny Podres card a bit.  The photo looks way to clean to have been taken several decades ago.

Seeing modern cards with past players got me to thinking.  The card companies will always put past players in there recent releases.  Collectors for the most part like seeing the past stars of there team on new cardboard with touched up photos.  So, this trend will never end in the collecting world.  Since, I am a big collector of Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp, I will have an endless supply of there cards to collect.

Kemp and Kershaw are on there way to becoming Dodger icons.  I am totally biased though.  I just feel the both of them will be the core of some great Dodger teams in the future.  Therefore, the images of Kershaw and Kemp will adorn cardboard in 2040.  Topps or whoever is running the card industry that far into the future will pop out a Heritage Refractor like this one into its 2045 set and call it retro.

My Kemp and Kershaw collection will go on forever.

Awesome!  A Rickey Henderson card as a Dodger.  Henderson is not featured on cardboard as a Dodger very often due to his brief stint with the team.

The back of this 1997 SPX Hideo Nomo card is better than the front.  The front is pretty cool, it is a 90s holographic image of Nomo  But, I just can't help but focus on this "action" shot of Nomo.

What exactly is he doing?  His legs seem to be in an awkward position.  Is he dancing?  Maybe the snapshot caught him doing the Ickey Shuffle.

Card of the year according to Night Owl.  I also agree with that statement.  This is a great action shot.  I know exactly what Dee Gordon is doing here.  He is turning a double play against Colorado at Coors Field.

I hope that Dee Gordon does well on the field.  Of course, I do because I am a Doyer fan.  But, I also hope that Gordon's career on baseball cards is superb as well.  He is a high energy, speedster that makes spectacular fielding plays.  Gordon is destined for cardboard glory!

Night Owl also threw in a Ascent of Man card that I needed.  I am almost done with this set.  I will have to update my set needs page up top and add the other 2011 Ginter insert sets that I am collecting.  The Ascent of Man set will look picturesque once completed.  All the cards of this set fit together like a puzzle and cover the whole landscape of the evolution of mankind.

Thanks,Night Owl!

Making Junk Wax Useful

I have been accumulating a lot of Dodger cards since the Platter has opened.  Some of these cards are just taking up space in a 5000 count box.  They are doubles or Dodgers that aren't allowed in my personal collection such as Kevin Brown or Jose Offerman.  Luckily, this box is only about half filled with cards.

I am trying to keep the count low.  A lot of these Dodger cards are from the junk wax era.  I needed to come up with a solution of how to make use of these excess Dodgers.

I couldn't dump the junk wax Dodgers on a fellow Dodger collector.  All other Dodger bloggers have seen enough cards of Franklin Stubbs in there lifetime.

There was no way that I would just throw these cards away.  That would be too cruel and the baseball card gods would give me bad pack pulling karma as a punishment.

I have found a way to make digging threw my junk wax collection a fun experience.  I have found a way to give new life the cards of my youth.

I am going to start sending out some Dodger cards out to get autographed.  I am going to join the TTM hunt. This will be a new experience for me.

Last night, I did some research at the Sports Card Forum and found some addresses of past players.  The Sports Card Forum also has a data base where you can see which players are active signers.  This way it will limit making this endeavor a failure.

This Kal Daniels card will look great signed.  Stadium Club was top notch back in the day.

Kevin Gross took a photo with me when I was a kid in the early 90s.  He was nice enough to let my mother snap a pic with him and I during a Dodgers Photo Day.

Sadly, Gross was not wearing these shades when I met him.  This will be another great looking card if Gross is kind enough to sign this for me.

This was the best Greg Gagne card that I have.  I may have some cards of him when he was a Minnesota Twin but, I prefer autographed Dodger cards.  I am going to try and send at least two cards to each player. Sending just one card to a player may not be worth it for me.

I am also going to try and be patient.  I will not expect a quick reply from these players.  Being patient is against my true self.  This TTM adventure will help bring out a new character trait in me.

 I picked this card up at my local card shop while searching throw a dime box.  For some reason I thought Godfather Night Owl needed this card.  When I got home from the card shop and checked his want list, I turned out to be wrong.  Of course, Night Owl doesn't need any 1985 Sid Bream cards.

I am going to mail this out to Bream to hopefully get signed.  Not a bad way to use a dime box find.

I remember having a lot of 1991 Donruss cards as a child.  Even then, I think I knew that this set was an ugly disaster.  This card has a terrible design.  Donruss picked there game up a little years later.

Donruss '91 didn't end my passion for collecting.  The junk wax era had many options to choose from but, I still had stacks of these as a kid.  I picked up my game as a collector and now have better taste.

These are the players that I am going to start with.  I have a few more in mind.  I also saw that some hall of famers sign through the mail for a fee.  I may do this since the chance of actually seeing one of these guys in person is rare.

But, I am going to start with getting some Dodger autos first.  I will keep track of when I send these cards out and when/if I get anything in return.

Have any of you guys gotten autos through the mail?  Any tips?  I would like any help from some TTM vets out there in the blog world.

Update on my 1981 Topps Chase

Awhile back I started to try and pick up certain cards from the 1981 Topps set.  Mostly cards of Dodgers and dudes in the Hall of Fame.  That list is slowly getting smaller and smaller.  I can sense victory.  The joy of completing a collecting goal is almost complete.

I just need a little more help and luck to get there.

I picked this up at my local card shop today.  It was just chilling in the dime box waiting for me to swoop in on it.

This also may be the only time an Angel gets featured at the Platter.  I am pretty sure I have never shown a card of a player down in the OC.

But, here at the Platter, I show respect to the legends of baseball no matter what uniform they wear.  I owe it to the baseball Gods to bow down to members of the Hall of Fame.

This is a great dime box find.  This card gets crossed off my 1981 Topps want list and also fits into my Hall of Fame collection.

If any of you guys have any of the remaining cards on my want list, please let me know.  Check out the list here.

Finishing Up 2011

Some other blogs have touched on the fact that baseball card collecting season is over.  The season kind of ended when the World Series wrapped up and when Topps Update comes out.  I am content with how my 2011 collecting season went.  This was my first full year back since my long hiatus between 1998-2010.

It is now time for me to get some of the cards that I missed out on during the year.  There are so many parallels released by Topps this year.  It is going to take me several decades to finally track down all the 2011 Dodger parallels that I need.

Luckily, the blog world helps me out on my Dodger parallel search.  Robert from Serial Insanity is looking to make a franken set consisting of a bunch of Topps serial numbered cards.  I think he is trying to build a set consisting of over a thousand cards.

I sent him a bunch of serial numbered cards to aid his quest for glory.  Robert also runs a blog called $30 A Week Habit where he posts about his Blue Jay collection.  I also sent him a bunch of Jays because he is the only guy I know that collects Canadian anything.

I will probably have a whole page full of this particular Clayton Kershaw card.  I also need to update my haves lists now that I have a new computer.  For all I know, I already have a bunch of 2011 Kershaw Topps cards in several colors.

Also, does anyone else find it odd that Andre Ethier is a Gold Glove winner?

I opened up some packs of 2011 Bowman Platinum.  It is a really flashy looking set.  But, I prefer the retro sets like Ginter or Heritage.  That is where most of my many went.

I have just been picking up some singles from this set.  I am grateful to get this gold parallel of the Real MVP.

Robert also sent me a 3D insert of the Real 2nd Best Player in the NL.  Ryan Braun is my favorite non-Dodger.  He grew up in the locally in Granada Hills and he is a great player.  I was happy that he somehow tricked old sportswriters into voting for him for the 2011 MVP award.

But, my allegiances will always be with Los Doyers.  Kemp is the beast of the NL and will dominate next year in order to win the 2012 MVP unanimously.

The big hit of this trade was a 2011 Topps Chrome Ivan DeJesus Jr. autograph. I have been trying to get this card from the bid board at my local card shop for weeks.  I kept on getting outbid.  I didn't know that Tarzana,CA was the headquarters of the Ivan DeJesus Jr. fan club.

His signature appears to be in another language besides English.  I have never seen characters like that before.

Thanks for the trade!