Card Show Fun Time

I strolled home a couple of hours ago after a long day working a table at a card show.  The show was held in Culver City, CA and had an old school card show feel.  The show had an eclectic mix of dealers and a steady stream of customers.  It was also held in an auditorium that probably hasn't been remodeled in a few decades.  The setting was perfect for a card show.  Good deals were to be had and it reminded me of card shows that I used to attend as a kid when events like this were a little more common.

It was certainly a buyers market.  Prices for tables were reasonable, which is why my buddy and I jumped at the opportunity to get a spot at the show.  The reasonable table prices probably kept prices low for the consumer.  Even though, I was a vendor at this show, it was good to see collectors happy at the deals that they were finding throughout the auditorium.  The show was old school and had positive vibes.

The show also was a sort of Dodger blogger gathering as well.  It is always a grand time when Dodger bloggers get together to talk some cards and some baseball.  It's also nice to get a chance to chat with some of the members of the blogging community and helps you put a face and personality to the words that you read daily.  I got to meet Ernest from Dodgers Blue Heaven and he made an awesome purchase which I won't spoil in case he wants the honor of showing it off on his blog.  Jesse from Los Angeles Inspiration was also in the house having a good time and buying some really nice looking cardboard.  Those were a couple of my fellow bloggers that I got to spend time with this afternoon.

Culver City's favorite son, Zakwin was also in attendance at the card show.  Zakwin runs the famous, Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle blog and he brought me some presents.  Woo!

I had given Zakwin a baseball at the Dodgers Fan Fest earlier this year so,he could get it signed by rookie of the year candidate, Hyun-Jin Ryu.  I told him to just get me back later the next time we met up.  He came through big time today.

He handed me this sweet looking Ichiro bobble head that comes with a baseball card.  I am so tempted to just pop this sucker out of the plastic and display it in my room.  The card itself will also fit nicely into my Ichiro binder which has soared to almost 250 cards.

Not only was the Ichiro bobble given to me but, Zakwin also handed me a stack of baseball cards.  One of the cards that was in the team bag was this Dee Gordon card with a piece of his minor league jersey in it.  I have the Jerry Sands version from this set and am happy to now have the Gordon to go along with it.

A fourth Doyer blogger that I got to chill with today was Oscar from All Trade Bait, All The Time and he brought some cards for me as well.  Double woo!

Oscar and I had agreed upon a trade after he posted up some old Montreal Expo cards on his blog.  He had a couple cards that interested me and a swap was established.  I set aside some Dodgers and hall of famers for him.

The Expos uniform has to be one of the best of all time.  The hat was awesome and the red, white and blue color scheme always looks spiffy.  Montreal deserves to have a team again just so these uniforms can come back and grace the front of some nice cardboard.

A vendor at the show was practically giving away high end mid 90s packs.  The vendor was selling some Upper Deck SP, Topps Finest and Topps Laser.  I was very tempted to buy a bag full which some other folks at the show had done.  I show restraint at this show and only spent a dollar on a card.  My goal was to keep money and not spend it on more baseball cards.

My restraint paid off as I left the show with a pocket full of cash and Oscar had included this Topps Laser Rauul Mondesi in my trade stack.  Getting this card was just a little extra icing on a fun day.  I had made my money back plus some and got some items from members of the blogging community that fit into my collection.

It was a great time seeing some of my blogger buddies.  I look forward to the next show or game where we get to hang out again.

Added Intrigue

When you make a trade with a fellow blogger, I usually know what type of cards will be sent my way.  Even when a blind trade is agreed upon, the cards that the bubble mailer will be stuffed with, will fit into my team collections or player collections.  The only element of surprise is usually the quality of Dodgers that are sent to me.

One of my favorite bloggers, Napkin Doon, sent me a rare item in our latest trade.  He sent me a few random packs of baseball cards.  Getting packs of baseball cards in a trade does not happen often.  The included packs added an element of surprise because Napkin or I had no idea cards will stumble out of the wax sealed packs.

The '89 Topps and '89 Donruss are packs reminiscent of my childhood.  I remember opening tons of those packs, especially the '89 Topps.  That was and still is one of my favorite sets.  Napkin Doon must have used his special powers to figure that out or maybe I just mentioned my love of '89 Topps before at the Platter.  Either way, I am pumped to rip open some actual wax encased cardboard.

I don't remember opening up any '90 Topps Big as a child.  Opening this pack was fresh to me despite this set being over 20 years old.  The over sized gimmick must have intimidated a younger version of me.  Minis are cool, the big cards are too scary and tough to store.  Even the youthfulness of my collecting habits knew this.

I have decided to pick out my favorite cards from each pack.  This Mike LaValliere beat out the rest of the bunch.  LaValliere has a chubby face, a bad mustache, and a whirl coming out from under his Pirates cap.  Yup, that wins him the honor of best of pack.

Diamond Kings have a certain nostalgia feel for me.  These were the cool, flashy cards to pull for a young collector in the late 80s to early 90s.  I enjoy the artwork by Dick Perez and these stood out so much when pulled from a pack.  They added some contrasting colors and were able to have a slightly different card design from the regular base cards that added some flair to '89 Donruss.

I have no recollection of ever seeing Ed Whitson play baseball.  He may not even be a real person.  Whitson could just be a mythical ballplayer character created by Dick Perez.  The background of this card has a 70s style trippyness which may explain why Perez created a mythical baseball player.

 
The '89 Topps pack was the funnest one to break open.  I may have to find a cheap box of this set and try to complete it.  I wonder if one '89 Topps box actually contains one whole set?

Carlton Fisk just looks like a ballplayer in this photo.  Fisk is not doing anything athletic or gritty on this card.  In fact, he is just standing trying to decipher some had signals from his third base coach.  It is hard to describe into words, what "looks like a ballplayer" truly means.  It seems to be just an expression baseball fans use to describe some players.  Baseball fans just have that sense and Fisk just looks like a ballplayer.

Napkin Doon sent me some other really nice cards.  I think that I will do him the honor and make this trade post a two parter.  That doesn't happen often at the Platter but, the trade package Napkin Doon sent to me deserves a sequel.

A Bright Spot

The Dodgers have been playing some pathetic baseball this season.  The team got swept by the hated Giants over the weekend and are trying to salvage one game from the Diamondbacks to avoid the sweep tonight.  My baseball life has been pretty sad so far in 2013.  My collecting baseball life has been quite swell recently at the very, very least.

Aside from the Dodgers losing over the weekend, Sunday brought a shade of happiness for me.  This was just one little bright spot from an otherwise dismal weekend.  There was an autograph signing at a card shop in Whittier,CA called Harry's Dugout and it was featuring Pedro Guerrero.  Awesome.

Guerrero was a beast of a hitter for the Dodgers in the 80s.  He had some 30 homer seasons, a couple seasons of an on-base percentage over .400 and a little postseason glory in 1981.  The Dodgers beat the Yankees in 1981 to win the World Series.  Guerrero was a key piece to that championship by hitting two homers in the series and taking home a third of the World Series MVP award.  Ron Cey and Steve Yeager also took home a third of the MVP award, respectively.

It was good to see Guerrro looking good and healthy.  He has had some off the field issues with drugs and I wasn't sure what his physical appearance would be.  As you can see above, Guerrero seems to be doing well and that made this autograph signing even better.

I always struggle picking out a card to bring to one of these Dodger signings.  I pick through boxes and flip through pages on the lookout for the perfect card to bring.  It gives me some anxiety while on this search and I examine the cards with a microscope.  A big fear of mine would be to bring a piece of cardboard to get autographed,  only to realize the card had a huge bend in it.

That isn't my biggest fear in life.  The biggest fear I have are clowns with red hair.  They are pure evil just like Angel Pagan.

I settled on this card because I love the retro design and I knew the signature would come out looking sweet.  Guerrero's flowing afro was also a major plus for me.

This signing was tons of fun.  I had a good time in line chatting some baseball with a handful of the local LA graphers.  Good conversation always makes waiting in line more enjoyable.

Thanks to Harry's Dugout for hosting such a nice event with a big time ex-Dodger.

Looking For More

It has been awhile since my last blog post.  It has been around three weeks since my readers have had the honor of glancing through my typed words.  Now I just need to remember how to type properly for your brief enjoyment.

Over the past few weeks during my blogging hiatus, I have been organizing my cards, purchasing lots online and compiling cardboard that I am stuffing into 3200 count boxes.  Those were at least the activities that I was doing that are card collecting related, of course.

I am setting up a table at a card show in Culver City on May 18th.  So, I have been stocking up on cards to sell at the show.  This was a totally different mindset for me.  I am usually not one of those collectors that buys boxes or autographed cards of minor leaguers with the intent of flipping the cards for a profit down the line.  This was a very different kind of seek and buy mission.  I had to think of what cards that some customer would want to purchase from me.  I feel that I have made some good buys online and I hope that will make my card show selling experience a money making success.

If you are going to be in the LA area on that day, stop by and say hello to your blogging brother.  The admission is free which is a huge plus for the consumer.

Enough of the buying to flip card acquisitions, it is now time to show off some of the good stuff that will stay in my collection.  I haven't just been buying cards with others on my mind, I have still been trading a bit.  I made a trade with Scott Crawford On Cards and I am pretty sure the trade talks began on Twitter.  I also believe that may make this the first time I have used Twitter as a form of trading communication.  I will get the Platter fact checkers to see if that is true.

A vintage Johnny Podres card will always fit nicely into my collection.  It was fun going through a bubble mailer with the joy of looking at cards that were going to stay in my grasp.  Buying for the show was getting tiresome at points because I kept seeing cards that I would like just for myself.

Trades with bloggers don't have that problem at all.  A blogger sends you some baseball cards and you usually get some sweet ones that you will cherish.  This Podres card fits the bill.

It is an honor for a Dodger pitcher to wear a blue glove.  Wearing a blue glove while playing for the Dodgers seems to be a tradition that I love pointing out.  Pedro Martinez was one of the first Dodger players that I remember rocking the blue mitt.  When did players start wearing gloves to match their team colors?

Some other Dodger players that have worn the blue glove like Pedro were Carlos Perez, Vicente Padilla and Pedro Astacio.  These players as well as many others have worn that glove with pride.  Pedro also has the right idea going with the bigger, outfielder's mitt which will better serve him on comebackers.

This Pedro card lists some of his minor league stats on the back.  They were quite impressive and you could see the numbers were dominant.  It made me kind of depressed and I will avoid showing the back of this card to save the despair for other Doyer fans.

 To not end things on a sour note, Scott sent me this snazzy Jackie Robinson insert.  Jackie is surrounded by refractorness qualities with another image of him at the plate in the background.

This card will spruce up a 9-pocket page in my Brooklyn binder.  The most recent Jackie cards that I have gotten have been of the more bland looking Gypsy Queen type.  Flashy Jackie is much better than the Dullard Jackies' I have added to my binders recently.

Using Twitter to get a trade going worked out well. I will have to try that again someday.  If I have some cards leftover after the card show, then I will have some nice trade bait to get some deals going with the blog world.  Hopefully, my pile of unwanted cards will be lighter after May 18th.

Thank you for the trade, Scott and sending me some cards that will never be flipped for profit.

We Play Nice

The Dodger/Padre scuffle the other night has added a spark to the blog world.  Dodger and Padre fans have posted write-ups about their opinions on the incident.  This fight has led to some dialogue between me and a couple Padre fans.  Emails were exchanged that were mostly pleasant and offered some insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Dodgers newest rival.

The Dodgers and Padres have always been in the same division and have competed for playoff spots.  This has been happening for decades.  Most of the animosity in this SoCal feud has been Padre fans hating the Dodgers.  Dodgers fans didn't really acknowledge that there was any bitterness or anger towards the Padres or their fans.  That lack of mutual hatred probably bristled the nerves of some Padre supporters.  San Diego fans may have wanted this rivalry to take a step up in temperature and I should add that they probably didn't want the feud to escalate due to a fight and a broken bone.

Sadly, the disdain level between the two fan bases has escalated due to a fight on the field and a near fight in the player's parking lot.  The rivalry of mutual hatred between Dodger and Padre fans has begun.  This is going to be a new experience for both fan bases.  Dodger fans save their angst for the hated Giants to the north.  Now Dodger fans have to shift a piece of the darkness to the San Diego team to the south.

Another team to the south that probably hates the Dodgers more than we hate them is the Angels.  I have heard Angel fans mention their dislike of the real LA team before.  I don't often hear Dodger fans talking about any hatred for the Angels or their players.  Mostly, Dodger fans take jabs at the Angels team name or Arte Moreno's mustache.

The emotions that we show towards other teams doesn't really affect the way we treat each other in the blog world.  We may have certain grudges against teams that are close in proximity or that are competing for the same division crown but, we still exchange items through the mail and write nice comments on blog posts.

I mean, I even take the time to read the words typed by a Giants fan and we also swap cardboard on occasion.

I even trade baseball cards with a fan of Orange County's major league team.  Tom from the blog, The Angels, In Order sent me a sweet PWE that included some Dodger stamps and a few Ian Kinsler cards.  Tom may not like the baseball team I root for and he may consider the Dodgers to be his team's biggest rival.  I am not sure.  I am sure that he is a nice fellow that surprised me with some stamps featuring some of my favorite players of the 90s.

The players included on this sheet are Mike Piazza(awesome dude in the 90s), Eric Karros(LA Dodger home run champ), Raul Mondesi(Physical freak until poor eating habits got in the way), Hideo Nomo(Superstar), and Delino Deshields(?).

These stamps were from 1996.  So, I googled the roster from that season to see if any other player on the team could have supplanted Delino on this sheet to make it perfect.  I actually came across several candidates that could have fit better than Delino.

Todd Hollandsworth would have been nice but, maybe these stamps came out prior to the '96 season and that was before his solid rookie campaign.  Ramon Martinez was a really solid starter.  Brett Butler was a premier lead-off hitter that could get on base, swipe a bag and lay down beautiful bunt hits.  Juan Castro would have been a better choice as well because Castro's inclusion would be making me laugh right now instead of cringing.

This PWE was a kind gesture by Tom.  I will have to scrounge up something sweet and odd that will fit into his collection.

Baseball fans can get along in the blog world despite the level of seriousness that we take our rivalries.  That kindness doesn't extend to the stands at the ball parks across America.  Maybe those drunken loudmouths would treat their fellow baseball fans better with some friendly dialogue and baseball card trading?

Carlos Quentin is Garbage

Last night's Dodger game was just plain craziness.  The most surprising aspect of the game between the Dodgers and Padres was Juan Uribe hitting the go-ahead home run in the 8th inning.  Uribe being a Dodger hero, just for one night at least, was a shock to me and probably most Dodger fans as well.  The second most surprising aspect of last night's Dodger game was a scumbag named Carlos Quentin charging the mound after getting plunked by Dodger starter Zack Geinke.

The Padres were down by a run in the 6th inning and Quentin was leading off.  The count was full and Greinke ended up hitting Quentin.  Instead of Quentin realizing the game situation, he took the beaning personal and thought there was some purposeful intent on Greinke's part.  Quentin charged the mound and a brawl ensued.  Greinke ended up breaking his collarbone in the scuffle because Quentin charged into him like a wild animal.

This is very bad news for the Dodgers.  Greinke is the team's second best starting pitcher and was pitching a solid game last night before the dumbest man from Stanford decided to take a run at him.  Greinke will probably miss at least a month and Quentin should receive a lengthy suspension.

This doesn't hurt the Padres as much because their aspirations this season is a 70 win campaign.  Now, without Quentin in their line-up for a period of time may put the Padres at 68 wins this year.  The Dodgers are geared for a playoff run and are contenders for a division title.  Losing Greinke for several weeks will hurt the Dodgers and their playoff chances.

I was really at the point last night, of writing an even angrier and meaner post.  I just wanted to rip into Quentin and slam the entire Padres organization.  I am glad that I was able to sleep off some of my anger before writing up a post about the assault that Quentin committed.  My anger has subsided slightly this afternoon.  It will never completely disappear.  Last night's game has made me hate the Padres for the first time in my life.  I usually relegate all my baseball hatred to the Giants but, I guess I had a little extra hate in the tank to shift some over to the second tier franchise in San Diego.

Who knew that any baseball fan can actually feel animosity towards the little guys from a beach town?  Padre fans probably never knew that a rivalry was actually part of the game of baseball.  Now they should know that, pending on if Padre fans have any passion for their team or not.

The Dodgers and Padres meet again at Dodger Stadium early next week and the place should be a madhouse.  I really hope Quentin plays in the series so, he can hear some verbal abuse from the rowdies in the outfield pavilions.

Before the Dodgers play the new hated ones, they travel to Arizona to play the Diamondbacks.  Clayton Kershaw is on the mound tonight and will look to dominate.  These green looking cards were sent to me by Roy from Plain Gray Swatch and I dig the the color scheme on these cards.

They both remind me of apple flavored jolly ranchers.  When I get doubles of these cards, I will bite into one just to see if they taste like sour apple.

Seeing cards of Kershaw, makes me a little happier and slightly less angry.  If Kershaw dominates tonight and makes the D-Backs look like chumps, then I will feel even better.

This incident between Greinke and Quentin will make me feel bitterness for awhile.  This brawl does give me a new found hatred of the Padres.  It also makes Quentin a new villain in Dodger lore.  Welcome to the scumbag club of trash, Quentin.

Autographed Baseballs and a Ballgame

The Dodgers hosted the Giants in the first series of the year.  The last Dodger game that I went to was the third game of the season against the Giants.  Dodgerbobble and I rolled to the game to watch the Dodgers lose a tightly fought battle with the Dodgers losing 5-3.

That put a damper on an otherwise fun night at Dodger Stadium.  Before the gloom of falling to hated ones to the north, Dodgerbobble and I arrived to the park about 15 minutes before the gates opened.  This gave us a chance to explore the ballpark a little more and see some of the new additions made on the different levels.

On opening day this year, I was sitting in the Left Field Pavilion and have roamed around the Field Level of the stadium before.  My next step was rising up to the Reserved Level where I heard about some life sized bobbles.

Sure enough some big headed bobbles have been placed by a Reserve Level entrance that is right next to a taco stand.  This was the prime spot for a photo-op and to try some of the new street tacos that the Dodgers  are selling now.  I should have taken a photo of the tacos that I scarfed down shortly after this photo was snapped.  I was eating the tacos in one hand, while reaching for my camera with the other, and by the time I finally plucked my camera from my pocket, the tacos were gone.

Maybe next time I will eat more like a human as opposed to a pig.

Dodgerbobble and I were also able to complete one of our ongoing trades of autographs.  We have made several trades by just setting aside some nice signatures, that we have acquired through various avenues and exchanging them every month or so.

This time Dodgerbobble raised the bar in our trade agreement.  He had an extra Yasiel Puig autographed baseball for trade and was willing to hand it over to me.  Puig has the makings of the next Dodger superstar.  The first outfielder to get hurt on the big league club, will open the door to the majors for Puig.

I am happy to get an autograph of his before he hits stardom and these may be harder to come by.  Puig was already getting tons of hype from his scorching performance in spring training.

 
This is my first Nomar Garciaparra signature.  Dodgerbobble had gotten this one at a charity soccer game in Carson, CA.  Nomar was a decent player for the Dodgers and he is a local kid that grew up going to Dodger games.  His signature was much needed in my collection.

Dodgerbobble also game me some baseball cards and some of which also had signatures of ballplayers on them.  I may show those at another time.  I owe him a little more for our next trade because I consider a Puig and Nomar signed ball to be a pretty good get for a Dodger collector.