Cooperstown Goal Accomplished

I will continue to show off some of the goods that I purchased from yesterday's card show.  One of my top goals was to add to my Dodgers vintage collection.  I added two great cards to my collection that I showed in a post yesterday.

Another one of the goals that I had on my list was trying to build up my Hall of Fame vintage collection.  The SoCal Baseball Expo had plenty of vintage tables to chose from.  1971 Topps was the set I was most looking forward to find.

It is so much easier bringing a list and notes to a card show as opposed to trying to remember what you are searching for.  I wrote down a list of categories that I was out to purchase.  Sure enough, I followed my own guide and was able to stick to a collecting plan.

I have mulled over buying this Bob Gibson card on a few occasions.  I love this photograph and am a fan of crowd shots from the baseball eras before my birth.  I am not sure what stadium that Gibson is pitching in, on this card.  The field level seats looks like a big section.  Stadiums now seem to have less seats on the lower concourse.  This stadium that had the privilege of hosting Bob Gibson, seems to have endless rows of people sitting down low.

I enjoy Frank Howard towering over two legends to claim his spot as the top power hitter in 1970.  Harmon Killebrew seems too disappointed by being bested by Howard, that he doesn't even want to look at the camera.

Carl Yastrzemski looks like a thug in his photo.  Yaz appears more pissed about coming in third place and less saddened by this feat.  Yaz also looks like someone that could double as a violent felon.

The face of Yaz isn't the only picture from the '71 set that kind of creeps me out.  The set has this creeper named Rollie Fingers.  He didn't have a mustache yet and looks like less of a ball player without it.

Fingers, minus his 'stache, resembles a vampire to me.  No wonder, the Oakland A's had so much success in the 70s, they had Count Dracula on their side.

The playing field wasn't level even back in the 70s.

Baseball would be more popular today if Phil Niekro didn't scare off so many fans 40 years ago.  So, many of his cards make me not trusting of his face.  I would not climb into a van with blacked out windows with him even if he offered me an autographed baseball with inscription.

Niekro seems to have mastered having "dead eyes".  The "dead eyes" must have added about 1000 strikeouts to his career total.  Batters must have just froze for a second too long, while gazing into the Niekro Death Stare.

Hoyt Wilhelm is in the Hall of Fame of Vintage Creepy Face.  I chase down his cards, not only for his baseball accolades, but also because he has many disturbing looks.

Wilhelm has more looks than just "blue steel".

In his 1971 card, Wilhelm is bringing it with his grumpy grandpa look.  Grumpy grandpa is pissed to have his photo taking while taking a break on his perch.  He punched the photographer out five minutes after this photo was taken.  It took him that long to unwind from this pose.

Surprisingly, I still have a couple more vintage finds to write about on the Platter.  I may post about those later tonight before work.  Be sure to check back later to see what else I purchased.

Hooray For Brooklyn!

Today was the day that I cashed in on my free pass that I won from the blog, Vin Scully is my Homeboy.  The free pass was admission to the SoCal Baseball Expo in Anaheim.  The show was going to have some baseball card vendors so, I put my game face on and made the journey to Orange County.

This was a pretty far drive for me and the trip took me a little over an hour to arrive at the Anaheim Marriot. I was in search of some baseball card card finds and was in a positive mood about this show.  It helped that I won a free ticket.  Otherwise, I may have not attended at all and missed out on some vintage finds.

The few card shows that I have been to in SoCal, have had an abundance of vintage dealers.  A card show in Glendale that I have been to a couple of times had mostly vintage tables.  The show I regularly attend in City of Industry may be split among newer product and vintage cards.

This show in Anaheim, was mainly vintage tables.  Some newer stuff that skewed towards the high end, which is not my cup of tea.  I was happy to see some vintage cards for sale, I just wish this show had more variety.  Maybe some more newer singles in a dime box or low end hits in a $2 dollar bin.

I saw some quarter boxes which were nice.  The dollar boxes were nice to dig through.  I would have spent an extra hour at this show if I found one dime box.

The SoCal Baseball Expo had around 25 vendors selling baseball cards, memorabilia, and autographs.  I saw one of the vintage dealers that I was familiar with from the Glendale shows was at this Anaheim show as well.

I spotted his table and knew it was time to work on one of my goals for this show.  My top two goals were to boast my vintage Dodger collection as well as add to my Hall of Fame collection.

I finally pulled the trigger on this card.  The colors on this 1955 Topps Johnny Podres is eye catching.  I have been wanting this card for awhile.  It is now in my collection!

1955 was a huge year for Dodger fans.  The Brooklyn Dodgers finally beat the Yanks to win there first World Series in 1955.  Podres was the series MVP and pitched a shut out in Game 7 to clinch the victory for Brooklyn.

Beating the Yankees in a Game 7 is always sweet, it was even tougher for Podres because it was at the old Yankee Stadium.  Over 60,000 Yankee fans were in attendance and the crowd was probably pretty loud and obnoxious.  These were the days when Yankee fans actually showed up to playoff games.

Podres shut the Yanks down and Brooklyn became the champions.  Finally they over came, the Yankees dominance and claim 1955 as the Dodger's year.

This card will always have a special place in my collection.

I have been searching for a Bowman card of a Brooklyn Dodger, for a fair price for sometime now.  The Carl Furillo card spoke to me at the card show.  This card had to be mine.

The painted look of vintage Bowman cards are spectacular.  The color holds up on this 1952 card and the corners are decent.  I wasn't expecting to buy anything this nice and I am glad that I found this lurking within a mass of vintage boxes to pick through.  I chose the right box to search because I heard Furillo's voice.

I enjoyed my time at this show.  I was really able to focus and spend my money only on singles.  I was able to pick up some cards for the bloggers that won my little contest.  I also purchased more vintage that i will show in another post.

Roberto from Vin Scully is my Homeboy was at the show and got a sweet Hubie Brooks signature.  I was glad to see a familiar face and someone to chat with for a bit.  It was also nice to thank him in person,for running the contest that got me in the show.

Luck and fate were at play.  The Podres and Furllio were meant for my collection.

If any SoCal bloggers are attending this show on Saturday or Sunday and have any questions please comment or email me.  I was able to scope the place out and do some laps around the tables.

The Only Way To Go

The SoCal Baseball and Sports Collectors Expo is being held in Anaheim this weekend.  The show is going to feature many autograph signers such as Tony Gwynn, Matt Kemp and Jesse Orosco.  The show is also going to feature some card dealers as well.

When I first heard about this show, I was reluctant to attend.  Anaheim is an hour or so away from my house.  I am also just not too fond of going to Orange County in general.

The show also has an admission fee and $10 parking plus the long drive.  This was a card show that I was going to pass on.

Then luck came into play.

Roberto from Vin Scully is My Homeboy has been running a bunch of trivia contests giving away free day passes to the show.  I thought to myself, that the only way I would be willing to make the trek to the OC was if I won one of Roberto's contests.

I won the golden ticket!  All my negative thoughts of attending this show have faded and now I am fully committed to having a blast purchasing baseball cards this Friday.  A free ticket will get me to drive to Anaheim.  That is all it took was a free pass.

The SoCal Baseball and Sports Collector's Expo seems like a pretty big show.  A lot of vendors, graders, and signers will be in attendance.  I am still not fully certain what to expect though.

To give back a little to the blogging community, I will like to run a mini contest so, you too can bask in the glory of getting something for free.

I will be sifting through baseball cards all day, mostly for my own collection.  I will probably take a few minutes from purchasing for myself to buy some cardboard for some other bloggers.

Here is the rundown for my quick, little contest:

1.  First 3 people to leave a comment telling me which team that they collect will receive a mystery grab bag that I will construct myself and mail out to you.

That is all you have to do.  I will try to include something really nice to send your way.  Anyone that has traded with me in the past knows that I include a good mix of cards.

Thanks!

From the Singles Boxes to the Binders

About a week into 2013, I have been staying the course.  The course of refraining from buying too many packs and digging through singles boxes to buy some cards.  I am still going to buy some packs this year but, only from select packs.  I did well with this plan in 2012 and will keep it going again in 2013.

Singles from newer sets are usually pretty cheap.  I still have a lot of gaps in my collection from 2012 cards because I didn't open packs of some products.  My local card shop has some boxes of 2012 singles for a dime or a quarter.

In 2012, Topps released a set of minis that are just like their 2012 Series 1 and Series 2 products.  The photos are the same, I believe.  At least most of the images are the same from the base sets.

I remember hobby boxes of 2012 Topps Minis going for a lot more cash than hobby boxes of Series 1 or Series 2.  I also remember packs of these being hard to find and a little pricey for a set of cards that I have seen before.

I was just waiting until I could pluck some singles from this set for under a quarter.  That day came yesterday and I was able to purchase a good stack of these little cards.

Skip Schumaker is a new addition to the Dodgers.  The Cardinals traded him to the Dodgers for minor league prospect Jake Lemmerman.  This trade is kind of old news since it happened a few weeks ago.

To my knowledge, this is my only Skip Schumaker card.  I may have several more but, don't feel it is worth digging around for a Schumaker card.

So, this was a good cheap pick-up for me.  This is the Schumaker card that I will keep until he has a Dodger card released.  One of my very, very minor goals of 2013 is to have Schumaker sign this card for me.  It will probably happen.

 
Earlier this morning, I watched an FA Cup soccer match between Liverpool and Mansfield Town.  It was a very exciting game and big boy Liverpool almost lost to the little guy, Mansfield Town.

I won't get to into this game because I will probably bore most of my tens of readers.  If any more sentences are typed about soccer at the Platter, I will probably receive some angry emails and a trade package filled with Juan Uribe awfulness.

I am now watching an NFL playoff game.  The game is the Colts versus the Ravens.  I actually can't explain why I am watching this game.  Because of Andrew Luck in his first playoff game?  Maybe for Ray Lewis' possible final game?

I think the real reason is because no baseball is on right now.  I am stuck getting more sporting fix from the FA Cup and an NFL match-up that may put me to sleep.  Any NFL playoff match-up that doesn't include the Raiders, may put me to sleep.

I would even watch a Yanks/Sox game on ESPN featuring Joe Morgan's return to the booth, with Hiroki Kuroda dominating for the Yanks, and Shane Victorino hitting a walk-off homer to give the Sox a 1-0 victory if it was on television right now.

I need baseball.

Weird Player Combos

Some baseball card blogs that I have been reading express a frustration with new cards and want to cut back purchasing new products in 2013.  The card collectors that are going to buy less packs or boxes, may impact trading in a way.

I enjoy getting some random Dodgers base cards from new sets that I wasn't going to buy anyways.  Products like Bowman or many Chrome products probably won't be purchased by me in 2013 or beyond.  Other bloggers do buy these packs though and some even send me the Dodgers from those sets.  If the blog community as a whole, spend less in 2013, will there be less trading?

If I bought less packs of new cards, then my trade bait will go down.  I will become less likely to pull that Josh Willingham auto that some blogger may want.

It is just a thought. I am just curious to see if less baseball card purchasing will impact the trade aspect of collecting.

The blog community will always have some free giveaways.  I think the contest or just plain old fashion, "here are some cards, please take them," is ingrained in our blogging hearts.

Too Many Verlanders ran a giveaway the old fashioned way and I swooped in to claim a bunch of cards.  The grouping of cards that the blog runner, Dennis, sent me, were an abundance of multi-player cards.  The trickiness of having cards with multiple players on them, is that over time the card may turn out to be downright comical.

Maybe back in 2001, Jose Ortiz was thought of to be a stud like Rod Carew or Roberto Alomar.  This is a really nice looking card with shooting stars and your eyes do follow the progression that Topps chose to showcase.

Ortiz had a short big league career and crushed a whopping 14 homers in 3 seasons.  To his credit, Ortiz did play 17 professional seasons in the minors, Japan and Mexico.  He hit 203 home runs in those seasons.  He was a pretty good ball player but, just not major league caliber.  Certainly not at the level of greatness that was Carew and Alomar.

Should this card go in my Rod Carew section, Roberto Alomar section or a solo page for Jose Ortiz?

Here is a Bowman product that I can enjoy.  This is a '99 Bowman's Best insert featuring Nomar.  The set is called Mirror Image and you can see a lurking player behind Nomar throwing.  See that dude?

Yes, that dude is career scrub, Pablo Ozuna.  The last year that Ozuna spent in the big leagues was with the Dodgers in 2008.  He had 32 awful at-bats where he racked up a .242 on-base percentage.

The only reason that I remember him playing as a Dodger is because I remember questioning, why is he a Dodger.

This is such a nice looking card though, that I will place this in the random Red Sox section of a binder.  Nomar deserves that for being a good baseball player, played decent as a Doyer and for not being Pablo Ozuna.

I still have several more team bags to scope through that Dennis sent me.  I will pull out a bundle of these cards randomly and show off the cardboard fun.

Keep Mentioning It

As I am sitting here watching a soccer match between Sunderland and Liverpool, I am reminded that after the Raiders NFL season ended, I have no sports to truly feel passionate about until the Spring.  The NHL seems to not want to resume games.  Hockey is one of my favorite sports and watching the NHL gets me threw the doldrums of the baseball off season.

I try to watch some NBA action and it just doesn't interest me as much as baseball, hockey or Raiders football.  I also occasionally watch the English Premier League.  The EPL is where I get my soccer fix.  I at least try to feed my sporting fix with soccer.  It is a struggle for me to get into a league and a sport with so much history and tradition.  Learning about English soccer will take me several years to fully understand the sport, culture and where the location of Queens Park is.

My sporting interests will be sort of rested until baseball season.  That will give me extra days to build up some anticipation and passion for the 2013 Dodgers season.

Luckily, the blog world really has no off season.  I never have a chance to really take a break from my collection or from the Platter.  Baseball cards always offer me a chance to type some words about or flip through a binder to enjoy some of my pick ups.

Trade packages always show up year round.  Trading takes a slight dip in December but, never fully disappears.

This trade package was sent to me from Adam, whose blog is called My Cardboard Mistress.  Adam is the one that sent me my favorite Topps parallel.  A nice shade of blue surrounding Hawaiian tough guy, Brandon League.

This card shows League's tattoos on his arms and protruding from his chest.  The art of his tattoos will probably help me give him the benefit of the doubt if he struggles in 2013.  I may go easy on him with my commentary from the Left Field Pavilion at Dodger Stadium.

It also helps that League looks like someone who may be related to me.

  
Adam included a bunch of Allen and Ginter insert needs for me.  The more I mention the insert sets that I am chasing, the greater the chance that a fellow blogger will mail me some.

I don't want to say what Rocky Mountain Oysters are.  Please look it up online or just try some for yourself.

Napoleon and Cyrus the Great getting featured together at the Platter.  I am showing range and variety on this blog now.  That has to count for something.

I just showed Napoleon looking like a distinguished champion.  Now, let me even things out and show Napoleon's major defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.  That is only fair, right?

I sent out a bunch of bubble mailers today to complete some trades.  The Blog of Trade Bait has been quite lately due to the holidays.  With the holidays over, let us get some trades going.

Thank you for the trade, Adam.  

The Better Collection

The year 2013 is upon us.  I am actually looking forward to the new year.  I am usually pessimistic about the new year and expect the worst to happen.  Going into 2013, my thought process is more positive and am looking forward to a brighter outlook.

Some people I know may read that opening paragraph and think that I have lost my mind.  It is rare when I want to point out positive aspects of life.

In my last post, I talked about going after the 2013 Allen and Ginter set.  Set collecting will be a part of the fold for me this year.  I have completed insert sets before but, chasing a base set is foreign to me.  Trying to hunt down short prints to complete 2013 Allen and Ginter next year is one of the collecting adventures that I look forward to in 2013.

Bill Madlock played 15 seasons in the big leagues.  He played about 2 and a half seasons with the Dodgers.  He doesn't have too many Dodger relics out there.  Brad, from Brad's Blog, had this card above listed as trade bait on his blog.  I needed a tiny piece of Madlock's jersey for my collection so, a trade was born.

One of the things that makes Brad a cool dude is that he grew up in the same suburb of Philadelphia that I did.  We went to the same schools a couple years apart, we probably bought hoagies and iced tea from the same Wawa.

It's really neat finding a fellow blogger that you have a past link to,that you learned about through a passion for baseball cards.

Aside from set collecting in 2013, I will also make it my goal to buy some singles of the newer Bowman products.  I am not a fan of prospect heavy sets.  I need my sets to have star power, scrub relievers and old school ballplayers.

Bowman packs don't even get touched by my hands.  I don't even remember opening any Bowman packs in 2012 or maybe even 2011.  That is, if any pack of Bowman is memorable.

Bowman also has a lot of parallels to go along with its base set.  I probably need to track down several versions of this Clayton Kershaw to have a colorful looking binder page.  The chase will be on in the singles bin.

The "Singles Bin"?  That should be the name of a new singles bar that I am going to open up in Reseda.

Another thing that makes Brad cool is that he sent me this mini of Julius Caesar.  This is back to back trade packages that have sent me a Allen and Ginter insert need.

I am slowly chipping away at those sets and should have at least one completed by this day in 2014.

Thank you for the trade, Brad.  Richboro pride!