Fuji! Fuji! Fuji!

Isn't Fuji a great name to chant?  If there was a Blogger Olympics, the crowd would get behind Fuji because they would love shouting his name in a stadium.  Even if Fuji, couldn't jump a hurdle, the crowd at the Blogger Olympics would still adore him like a champion.

Fuji, as most of you know, runs a blog called The Chronicles of Fuji.  It is a great blog that shows sports cards, starting line-up figures and some oddball sets from old television shows.  Fuji has a solid variety act going on at his blog, that is something I envy.

Fuji is also one of the better traders in the blog world.  He must have meticulously crafted the perfect trade package to send me.

This is one of the greatest Hideo Nomo cards ever made.  The V.J. Lovero series that Upper Deck came out with in the 90s was genius.  This Nomo will stand the test of time in the card world.

Getting cards of Nomo in a non-Dodger uniform is also a plus.  He spent some short stints with other teams such as the Brewers.  Nomo was still a cardboard superstar, even while donning something other than Dodger Blue.  Card companies still churned out a fair amount of Nomo cards in the 2000s.  It was nothing like the 90s though, when thousands of new Nomo cards were printed daily at Topps, Upper Deck, Fleer or any of the other card companies of that era.

 Fuji's blog has a lot of interesting variety to it and so does the trade packages that he sends out.  These are my first minis from Japan.  These cards feature players from the Seibu Lions in the Japanese Pacific League. These cards were made in 2009.  The Lions had one the Japan Series title in 2008 so, these dudes were on top of the world when these cards were released.

Minis from America!  Dodger minis from '86 Fleer, '87 Topps and '90 Topps!  Look a card featuring Mariano Duncan with a jerry curl and he is signing autographs with a blue sharpie.  Good Dodgers sign autos in blue sharpie.

This lot also features a couple Fernandos and an Eddie Murray too.  Did these come in little wax packs?  How were they sold?  I don't remember getting cards like this back in the day.  It seems that minis from this era just popped up when I became a card collecting adult.

Not many bloggers include stamps of ballplayers in their trade packages.  Luckily, Fuji is one of them that does send people stamps of players like Steve Sax.  The other two stamps show Burt Hooton in science teacher glasses and Jerry Koosman looking like a sitcom dad.

Including items like this start to make a trade package epic.  Where else would I have found these stamps?  I haven't seen them at a card show or hobby shop.  Fuji came through big time with these.

Fuji also sends cards with little pieces of cloth in them.  I believe this is my 100th game used jersey card of Shawn Green.  I am always welcoming more.  Were Dodger fans bored with collecting game used cards of Green in the early to mid 2000s?

It seems that in those years Green, Kevin Brown and Gary Sheffield had a ton of game used cards.  To me, Green is the only one worth collecting of the three of them.

I will finish off this trade post with a classic vintage card.  This is the 1963 Topps Dodger team card.  The stats shown on the back from the '62 season show some outstanding numbers.  In 1962, the Dodgers had 3 players finish in the top 5 of MVP voting.  Maury Wills won the award, Tommy Davis finished third, and Don Drysdale finished fifth.

Tommy Davis had a grand season.  He won the batting title while hitting .346 and also had 153 RBIs that also led the league.  I feel those two numbers are reachable for Matt Kemp in 2013.

This was a memorable trade with Fuji.  I look forward to our next.

Good News and Good News

I just got back from a meeting with my college counselor.  I knew that I was getting close to being able to apply for graduation.  I counted only 2 or 3 more classes left.  Today's meeting was about making sure I had enough credits and to fill out some paper work so, I can obtain my associates degree.

The counselor was very helpful and told me that only two more classes for my associates in history and one more class that is required to transfer to Cal State Northridge.  Next Spring, I am going to work less and crank out the last few classes.  Getting my associates degree is going to be a huge accomplishment for me and by next fall I will actually be on a campus of a state university, taking classes, searching for parking and finishing up life goals.

2013 is going to be the start of the Decades of Spiegel.  I can't wait until next year.

Since, I am full of a lot of spirit and energy, it is time for a long form trade post.  This trade post is going to feature cards from blogger superstar named Night Owl who runs a blog that the world has read.  Night Owl sent me a lot of really nice Dodger cards.  He sent them in a little box.

Night Owl is above using bubble mailers.  He prefers sending a stack of baseball cards in a cardboard box.

This card is instantly one of my favorite Mike Piazza cards.  Piazza won the All-Star Game MVP in 1996.  The game took place in his hometown of Philadelphia and it was also the city that I was living in at the time.  It was big news in the area that the city was hosting the All-Star Game and for a local boy like Piazza to win the MVP honors was a perfect story for the game.

I am not sure if this card has been on the Dodger Card Countdown that Night Owl is running.  I don't remember seeing it.  This Piazza may have a chance.

Oddball cards featuring Dodgers always have a binder spot in my collection.  Even Dodger players that I prefer not to look at, get a placed in a binder if they appear on an oddball card.

This is a fantastic action shot of Steve Garvey.  It shows him crushing a baseball and showing off his popeye forearms.  The bottom blue part on the bottom takes away from this photo a bit.  Topps needs to acquire the rights to this photo, revamp Stadium Club and churn this card out for the masses.

It is only that simple, Topps.

These are some of my first 2012 Topps minis.  I have been staring at boxes and packs of these at my local card shop for weeks.  I have been tempted to buy a box or at least a handful of packs.  I must refrain from doing so and just wait until the hundreds of Dodger bloggers out there get some dupes and mail them to me.

The Javy Guerra card is a neat daytime celebration photo.  It would be better if Dioner Navarro wasn't in this picture.  I am surprised the Dodgers actually won this game with Navarro in the line-up.

Are collectors getting frustrated with the over saturation of parallels.  We have all different colors or parallels and also mini sized ones.  When is too much of one card.....too much of one card?

Night Owl has been purging his collection of relics since the card companies got involved in a scandal.  The scandal involved the card companies knowingly buying fake jerseys from some scumbag and sticking the non-game used jerseys in cards.

I understand Night Owl's frustration.  I still would like to obtain cards that have photos of Dodgers on it.  The prices of relics has dropped and the ease in which bloggers mail me them has been beneficial in my quest to obtain Dodgers.

Night Owl gladly dumped a handful of relics on me and I gladly accepted.  He sent me a couple Shawn Green cards.

This is a well designed relic of Paul Lo Duca.  It has a tiny photo of his face, a tiny piece of cloth and a tiny version of a Dodger Stadium ticket.  Fleer added a lot of stuff on this card and I like the effort.  It gives my eyes many things to look at and focus on.

This card is also slightly smaller in size and has a perforated edge on one side.  I miss the creativity that Fleer used to bring to the table.

How many more years until MLB gives another company a license to compete with Topps?

 
One of the relics that Night Owl included features a dude that I never heard of.  He is wearing a Dodger uniform and it stumped me.  This doesn't happen very often.

I had to Google Mike Nixon's name and look up his stats.  Nixon was drafted out of a baseball player factory called Arizona State University.  The Dodgers picked him in the 3rd round of the 2002 draft.  Nixon didn't pan out for the club and his baseball career ended in 2005.

He does have a spot in my collection though.  I may never own a Mike Nixon base card but, I at least have this one of him.  I really like the mountain and the brick building in the background of his photo.  The stadium that he is in is probably pretty nice with a mountain popping out of center field.

This was a wonderful trade and it took me a while to pick out some cards that I wanted to feature at the Platter.  That is usually a good sign of how well received this trade box was.

Thank you for the cards, Night Owl!

Can't Find A Fit

I am the lucky guy that has this weekend off.  I haven't had a weekend off in awhile.  Earlier today I ventured out to a card show.  I remembered to write down a list of things to focus on at the card show.  Whenever I go to a card show, focus seems to be a problem.  A good list helps immensely.

One of the things on the list of items to keep an eye out for was supplies.  I needed some top loaders and maybe a binder if it was cheap.  Another aspect of hunting down supplies is trying to find plastic holders for oddly shaped cards.  This can be tough at times because some dealers may not be selling any random protective plastic casing for the one dude that may need it on that particular day.

One of the cards that needs to be encased is this 2002 Flair Box Topper Kaz Ishii.  This card was sent to me by Napkin Doon and it is my first Ishii autograph.

This card is also thick due to the slice of wood that Ishii signed.  I will have to roll by my local card shop and try to find something to help display this card.

Napkin Doon also sent me this card which has the ability to stand on its own.  See evolution is real.  This baseball card proves it.  Cards have the strength to stand now.  Pretty soon they will be walking and causing a ruckus.

I am not sure what type of plastic case I will buy to house this card.  Maybe something that is used for ticket stubs?

I really like this card.  Not only were Shawn Green and Paul Lo Duca two of my favorites in the early 2000s but, this card has a lurking Eric Karros.  Karros is seen walking up towards the plate while Green and Lo Duca are congratulating each other for a job well done.

Napkin Doon writes a unique blog and he sent me some interesting cards which I appreciate very much.  Napkin Doon's blog is always entertaining and has good wit to it.  Go check it out especially for his Cleve's Auction posts.

Thanks for the trade!

Platter Substitute

Over the course of many years, I have seen many different types of teachers in school.  I have had teachers that are always positive and seem motivated with a high energy level.  There have been some teachers that I have had that seem to be more babysitter types, that just hang out in the class room and coast through lectures just to get it over with.  Teachers that are burnt out and are sick of delivering the same lecture for the thousandth time.

Another type of teacher that I have encountered is the teacher whose style is of a rambler.  The lectures often veer off the point into another zone completely.  The teacher even acknowledges this problem but, still can't control it.  Each discussion can go on for several minutes at a time without the teacher mentioning anything from his outline that he just wrote on the board.

The rambler type is especially fun to have as a history teacher.  The rambler in a history class may start a class by discussing the reconstruction years post Civil War and mention such "key" Civil War figures such as Herodotus, Napolean, and Richard Nixon.  I seem to learn a little bit about every era in a history class like this.

What if a rambling history teacher wrote at the Platter?  Lets find out......

Paul Lo Duca was a pretty good catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1998-2004.  This card, here has a piece of Paul's jersey in it.  I looked at this card closely and studied it.  You can see a speck of blood from a Giant that Paul Lo Duca must have gotten on his jersey after stepping over his rival.

Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself.  My name is Mr.Dryskell.  I am filling in for Spiegel and taking over his writing duties for the day.  I am a history teacher by trade and always wanted to try my hand at blogging since blogs were invented in 2009.  The Platter is getting to be so big time that Spiegel now can afford a substitute to write for for him as he is off getting into hot night clubs due to his blogger fame.

This card was sent to Spiegel by an individual named Night Owl.  According to my records, this Night Owl guy writes a blog and lives in New York.

Lo Duca was born in Brooklyn,New York.  He was born to be a Dodger because Brooklyn is where the Dodgers were born.

Television and radio icon Larry King became a Dodger fan during the Brooklyn years.  King claims to have been at Jackie Robinson's first game as a Dodger.  Many other folks also make this claim.  Spiegel told me he was also in attendance at this game.

Roger Kahn wrote a good book about the Brooklyn Dodgers called The Boys of Summer.  I recommend this book.

Photography must be a key component of collecting baseball cards.  I was never much into collecting baseball cards.  I do see the appeal after seeing a photo like this.  This photo is evidence of Shawn Green hitting a home run against the Giants.

The Dodgers and Giants are major rivals.  The games between these two teams are filled with passion, anger and lots of grit.

The Russians and the United States had a huge rivalry during the Cold War.  These two countries fought against spreading one another's ideals across the globe.  The race to build more missiles and the race to have the best space program was also part of the Cold War.

I really enjoy old Civil War photography.  The black and white photos that are now tinted yellow for the most part.  Color photos are okay but, I love seeing the darkness in the eyes of the subjects in old Civil War photos.

Whoa, this is too shiny.  Spiegel must have given me this one to write about because he knew it would temporarily blind me when light reflects off it.  People are pranksters at the offices of the Platter.  There are clowns all over this building.

No wonder Spiegel posts only once a week.

I remember reading a good book about clowns.......ummmmm.......I forget the name now.

I think it was written by a famous writer from the Bay Area.

No, I am way off, the book is called "It" by Stephen King.  He is from a place slightly worse than the Bay Area called Maine.

This card is much classier than that Mike Piazza catastrophe.  A Gypsy Queen card of Matt Kemp with a nice frame.  I researched Spiegel's records and found that he doesn't have many of these framed 2012 Gypsy Queen cards.  That is a shame due to the beauty of these cards.

This card is pure art.  If this was blown up into a big enough size to hang in a living room, I am sure this would be hung up in the White House.  Barack Obama is a big baseball fan.  Obama, probably is a huge Matt Kemp fan even though he pulls for the White Sox.

Night Owl sent Spiegel some very nice cards.  Maybe I can sub for him more often because he has a bunch of other stacks of cards to go through.  The Archives Department at the Platter needs to work extra hard to get through this.

Peter the Great was once the ruler of Russia.  He was a hands on type of leader that would actually help to build ships for his military.

Nickelodean used to have a show on called the Adventures of Pete and Pete.  I just remembered that.  It has nothing to do with the Russian Czar Peter though.

I got sidetracked, I am sorry.

I will end my first post with a thank you from Spiegel to the Night Owl.

Card Shop Pickups:Video Style

Do you guys prefer video posts as compared to a written post? I think that I am going to try and mix it up so, things stay fresh for me. I am just curious to see what the blog world thinks.

I Must Get Organized!

As everyone in the blog world knows, 2012 Topps is coming out soon.  I also know that I still have cards from 2011 that I need to catalog and organize.  Some trade packages are still sitting at my bedside waiting for me to write about and then put away in there proper spots.

I must get my cards in order because pretty soon 2012 Topps will be opened up and that will get me even more behind.  I have the next week off from work.  I have these days off, not because I needed a vacation or because my inappropriate work place comments have finally caught up with me.  I have a week off because nobody is shopping at retail stores so, there isn't much of a need for a truck driver to deliver product to the store.  This week will be dedicated to drinking beer and organizing my collection.  In that order.

Part of my organization process will also involve posting more about cards that bloggers have sent me.  This particular Kirk Gibson was sent to me by Matt from Cardboard Conundrum.  This is a Topps card that must have been sold at Ames.  I don't have any other cards from this set but, this must be the best one that the Topps/Ames team up had to offer.

This card is commemorating Gibson's 20/20 seasons.  Being a 20/20 player seems like an amateur season compared to the greatness of Matt Kemp.  Kemp will be a 20/20 player by the beginning of May.  Kemp will also destroy any single season home run record that baseball fans recognize.

For the record, the Roger Maris record is tops in my book.  My book is also the only book that matters.

This is a rookie card of the Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year, Scott Van Slyke.  It is also a cool photo of him.  He is spinning his helmet like a Harlem Globe Trotter.

Van Slyke mashed last year in Double-A Chattanooga.  He is a first baseman and an Outfielder.  The Dodgers lack good offensive players in there system so, Van Slyke may have a good shot at the Majors.

Here are is numbers from last year:
.348 Batting Average
.427 OBP
.595 Slugging
1.022 OPS
45 Doubles
20 Homers

Those numbers are solid.  I hope he continues to rake in Triple-A next season and maybe gets called up to LA this year.  The Dodgers will need a new first baseman soon because James Loney is still a bum.

This was the prize of this trade with Matt.  This card is a dual relic of Shawn Green.  The card is also serial numbered out of 100.  Diamond King relics look pretty sweet and will fit in nicely with my other Shawn Green relics.

I wish that card companies would tell you what game or games that this bat was used in.  I would love to go online and check out just how many home runs Green hit against the Giants with this bat.  I think it is safe to assume that Green hit 7 bombs in a three game series against the Giants with this bat.  The 7th homer sawed him off but still clear the fence because Shawn Green is awesome.

Thanks for the trade!

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.

Trades Are Funner With Julie And Fuji

I have made several trades with Julie over at the blog Things are Funner here.  But, the package that she sent me may have topped all the other ones that she has sent me.  Julie was nice enough to include some of the things that she got from the Dodger Fan Pack she received.  I was surprised that the Dodgers sent out such nice things such as player photos, key chains, stickers, pocket schedules and a magnet schedule.  I just assumed that since the team has been in the hands of Frank McCourt, that every part of the team was run with cheapness on the mind. 

One of the two photos that were included was of Clayton Kershaw.  The other photo was of James Loney.  Kershaw may have surpassed Andre Ethier, in my mind, as my favorite current Dodger.  If I get lucky and have tickets to a game that Kershaw is starting, I have an extra excitement in me on my way to the ballpark.  When Kershaw pitches, you have a chance to see greatness.  I have had the honor to be at his two complete shutout games.  His second one being a complete game two hit shutout of the Detroit Tigers just a few days ago.  I hope the next owner of the Dodgers gives Kershaw a huge contract.  Keep him in LA for several years to come.

Julie also sent me some cards.  She sent me this Shawn Green GU for a Roy Oswalt GU that I sent her way.  My Green collection is growing pretty well.  Card companies seemed to have made a lot of game used cards of him.  Oh yeah, this one is numbered out of 100.  Sweet!

I love the paper parallels for 2011 Gypsy Queen.  It makes the design a lot better and more regal than the regular base card version.  I also like how Sprint kind of gets a free advertisement on this card.  I guess that is one of the perks of being a stadium sponsor.  You know your ad will pop up on TV or even baseball cards.

I am really glad that Sandy Koufax is popping up in Topps products this year.  It was awesome for Julie to send this one to me.  Koufax is a Dodger icon, a baseball icon and a cultural icon.  He is above everyone.  At least in the world of Spiegel.  Koufax can walk on water and fly like Superman.  Koufax has an open invite to have dinner at the Spiegel household.  He has yet to except but, I hope he will someday.

Thanks for the trade, Julie!  We'll get another one going next month as usual.

I also received a card from Fuji who runs the blog called the Chronicles of Fuji.  This trade was a lot smaller.  He told me he was running out of space to keep all his cards so, he was just going after certain players.  This was a simple one GU for one GU trade.

I sent Fuji a Walt Weiss bat relic for his Oakland A's PC and he sent me this Shawn Green GU.  I love the blueness of this card.  Shawn Green has been on a book tour all over LA recently.  I have yet to attend one yet.  My collection is lacking a Shawn Green autograph.  Thanks for the card Fuji.  You should get yours in the mail by Saturday or Monday.

I'm A Fan Of JayBarkerFan And Napkin Doon

The other day I received a couple of surprise packages from a couple bloggers.  The first one that I got was from the man with the greatest name in the blog business, The Adventures of Napkin Doon.  Mr.Doon and I completed a trade weeks ago.  I thought it was finished so, I wasn't expecting anything from him.  He may have mentioned that he was sending me another card lot a little bit ago.  I have a faint memory of that.  Either way, I am always happy to get some new cards.

Mr.Doon sent me this card a couple days late.  I had met Darren Dreifort not too long ago before a Dodger game.  Retro cards look great signed.  Some collectors don't like retro cards but, even the detractors can admit that a Heritage or Ginter card looks great autographed..  I am going to hold onto this card and wait for the next time that Dreifort is signing autographs.  This card shall get signed!

I liked Diamond King cards when I was a kid.  I like the Diamond King sets that came out in the 2000s and now there is a blog I like called The Diamond King.  I should make a want list of all the older Diamond King cards that I need.  There are probably some nice Dodger ones that are missing from my collection.

Mr.Doon also sent a nice Rauuul Mondesi card from the 90s.  I remember these Bowman parallels from back in the day.  I always thought that it looked like some one spilled a bottle of bubbles on the border.  This is a cool card because it deviates from the standard gold or silver parallels that were popular at the time.  I have no idea where Rauuul is now.  Anyone out there have any idea?  Coaching?  Does he own a night club in LA?  I am curious because the Dodgers need a left fielder and maybe Rauuul needs a job.

Thanks for the package, Mr.Doon!

 The second package that showed up at the Platter was from JayBarkerFan's Junk.  He is currently having a Summer of Giving.  He sent me a package of Doyers because he a great dude.  The writer for the blog named Wes also included a nice typed letter stating his reasons for the giveaway and that it will continue to send out packages of cards that do not fit into his collection.  Don't worry Wes, I will be sending you a nice stack of Braves and Expos.  How could I not?  He sent me this awesome Pee Wee Reese with a design from 1984 Donruss.

Wes also sent me some great looking Shawn Green cards.  The photo chosen for this card is top notch.  Upper Deck probably won't be back on the baseball card scene for awhile.  The photography of baseball cards is lacking without them.  May Topps please bring back Stadium Club?  I asked politely.

This is another great photo but it is not from Upper Deck or Topps Stadium Club.  This card is from the 2004 Donruss set.  I believe this photo was taken as Shawn Green was sprinting for a double at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.  The only thing that throws me off is that I don't remember that many people even watching the Phils play at the old Vet. 

Thank you for the cards, Wes.  I will get a nice return package ready for you by the end of the week.