Impulse Mize

Lately I've had COMC open all day - on my computer at home and at work (usually in a minimized window) just in case COMC challenges are open, or I'm able to check new sales at the top of the hour. 

I had been saving my challenge credit for a set need or two.. until yesterday, when a sale posted just after 9 a.m. The top card was intriguing to me, but because I was at work I didn't have time to research the card/subject or consider my options (i.e. keep saving for my set needs.)  I was convinced that the card would sell quickly, and so I made my decision quickly.

For $24.25 I was able to pick up a vintage rookie card of a Hall of Famer. But there's a catch..

Johnny Mize was well past rookie status when the 1948 Bowman set was released. In fact he was closer to the end of his career than the beginning; the slugging first baseman debuted with the Cardinals in the spring of 1936. 


I wasn't all that familiar with Mize before buying this card but I knew he was a Hall of Fame 1st baseman, primarily with the Cardinals (the only other Mize card in my collection depicts him with the Redbirds.) 

What I didn't know was that his prime years were lost to World War II, he never won an MVP award but probably should have in 1940, and that he was elected to Cooperstown by the Veterans' Committee and not the BBWAA (losing three seasons to WWII surely worked against him.) 

Mize didn't win a World Series in St. Louis, but he earned a ring in each of his final five seasons, as a part timer with the Yankees. He retired in 1953 - not all that long after his rookie card* was issued. 

*It should be noted that Mize appeared in a few oddball sets before 1948, including 1941 Double Play (which TCDB considers his XRC). I was able to confirm this before buying the Bowman card. While it made me wonder how many other stars of the 1930s and 1940s didn't get a rookie card (or why Mize didn't appear in Play Ball sets) it wasn't enough to dissuade me from making this impulse purchase.

Here's another look at the front of the card, which appears to have faded a bit around his cap. I'll have to wait a few months until it's in hand to determine if it was wize to buy this Mize. 



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Burnout

I haven't posted in ten days but it feels like a month. I'm not depressed or busy, I'm just feeling burnt out by all the work that goes into enjoying this hobby of ours. 

Lately I've been reconfiguring my entire card collection (while watching Bob's Burgers or Family Guy) and doing as many COMC challenges as I can before the Spring Cleaning sale.

I posted a "quote" on my TCDB profile that I'm not making any more trades until every card in my collection is checked into the site. Naturally, I got four trade offers after posting my 'closed until Spring' sign...so I moved my entire tradelist to my collection. I've got more immediate card-related concerns to address anyhow.

Before I complete my cataloging project I have to send cards out to bloggers who have sent/are sending me cards and aren't worried about "winning" a trade.

A couple weeks ago Billy posted a list of sets he is one card away from completing. I checked my TCDB list and found that I have two set fillers for him.. but I've been so exhausted that I still haven't sent them. Of course, Billy didn't let that stop him from sending a PWE to me:

 Billy picked out a pair of Brett Favre cards for me, including this 2005 Topps Turn Back The Clock promo. I think it's a promo, anyway..I seem to recall my LCS issuing three-card packs of these with a qualifying purchase.

This 1996 Pinnacle Laser View hologram scanned better than I thought. It took me a second, but I can see Brett's image in there. These two cards of #4 bring my total to 685 (not counting the dozen or so COMC is holding in my inventory.)

The rest of this PWE was basketball based, including a Ray Allen Stadium Club RC for my UConn and Milwaukee Bucks collection.

This Hall of Fame trio is brought to you by the letter W.

And the rest of the PWE. Penny, Deng, and Deron are my favorites here. The Elton Brand looked like a gold parallel to me, but the base backgrounds all have that gold tint.

Billy, thanks again for the great cards! I'm determined to catch up on blogs and trade packages this week, and your PWE will be at the top of the list! (Jon, Doug, and Kerry yours are on there as well.)


Have a great weekend everyone!

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Sports Card Tour 2019 - Hartford

The Whalers are back, and so is Sports Card Tour (for one night anyway)

For the second time this year, the Carolina Hurricanes paid tribute to their Hartford roots by wearing Whalers colors. The Carolhartford Whalercanes lost to Boston 4-3 in overtime, which figures because it was the first time I've wanted the Canes to win...ever. 

Adding injury to insult, Bruins forward - and Civil War General - Marcus Johannson was wounded in battle ..er, injured and hospitalized after a collision with Whalers ..er, Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland.  

Carolina and their awesome new owner Tom Dundon hosted a Whalers night against the B's right before Christmas..but I had Christmas things to worry about and missed it.  

Anyway, I wanted to write a special post to mark the occasion just in case it's the last time an NHL team reps my home state. Sports Card Tour was so much fun, and I wished I could have done a post for Hartford (and Quebec City - haven't forgotten the Nordiques)  but I just couldn't justify it until now. So...

source

Welcome to Hartford, capital city of Connecticut and home to two minor league teams - the Wolf Pack and the Yard Goats.

 
The Yard Goats are the double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

This is my only Yard Goats card - a Ryan McMahon relic from 2017 Topps Heritage minor league. I scooped this up for $1 during COMC's Black Friday sale.

Since the Whalers left town, the Civic(now XL) Center has been occupied by the Rangers' top minor league affiliate. I'm not a Rangers fan at all so I haven't followed the Pack, but I did go to one game there - an all-Connecticut match-up against the Beast of New Haven (Carolina's affiliate at the time.) 

The Wolf Pack briefly changed their name and colors to honor the Whalers..but it wasn't the same. 

The Whalers originated as a WHA franchise in 1972 and won the league's first championship. They were the only American-based franchise allowed to merge into the NHL.

Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, and Dave Keon concluded their Hall of Fame careers in Hartford..

..but the greatest Whaler of all time is undoubtedly Ron Francis. I don't have a rookie card of "Ronnie Franchise" but I do have a second-year card, and a Hockey News issue from that season:

My latest order from 4 Sharp Corners only contains two cards. This is one of them:

That brings me down to just 82 cards needed for the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee set. 

This poster was taped to the cement walls of my middle school's basement. I passed it every day on the way to gym/lunch. 

By the time Francis was traded to Pittsburgh I had become a fan. It was a devastating trade, turning the Whalers from average to irrelevant overnight. Hartford lost their first-round series to Montreal in 1992 and never made the playoffs again.

There was always promise that the rebuilding Whalers would turn it around and get back to the dance. Hartford drafted high most years, and ended up with some good young players including Geoff Sanderson, Jeff O'Neill, and Chris Pronger.

In a win-now move meant to make the playoffs and save the fledgling franchise, the Whalers shipped Pronger to St. Louis for Brendan Shanahan.

Shanny wasn't happy about it. He demanded a trade after just 76 games in Hartford. The Whalers shipped him to the Red Wings for Keith Primeau and Paul Coffey (who promptly demanded a trade out of town.) I never forgave BS for that. My wife was a Shana-fan, and as a result I have his Whalers jersey hanging in my closet.

I also never forgave Whalers owner Peter Karmanos who, like Shanahan, crippled my favorite hockey team and, like Shanahan, is in the hockey Hall of Fame. Karmanos fooled us all into thinking that if we just bought enough season tickets, the team would stay in CT. I begged my mom to buy two tickets and do our part to Save The Whale. I was 16.

I have this on a bumper sticker somewhere

My mom didn't have the money for season tickets, and we didn't live close enough to Hartford to drive up there 41 times a year. It wouldn't have mattered. Karmanos - and commissioner Gary Bettman - were hell-bent on leaving Hartford.

The Whalers won their final game 2-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Fittingly, captain Kevin Dineen scored the game-winning goal.

A couple years later (I think it was 1999, but it may have been 2000), my friend and fellow Whalers fan Chris and I had a contest to see who could collect the most Whalers cards by the end of the year. The loser had to buy the winner $20 worth of cards. We ended up tied.

I haven't counted my Whalers cards since, but I have two full albums' worth, plus about fifty inserts and parallels. This Sean Burke mask card from 1995-96 Pinnacle is one of my favorites.

In the two decades since the Whalers left Hartford, there has been occasional talk of bringing an NHL team back, even on a temporary basis. As much as I miss the Whalers I just don't see it happening. Hartford was too small in the 1990s, and its population has declined since. Seattle is a much better fit for a franchise - and if another team ever relocates (something I wouldn't wish on any city or fanbase) it would likely fill a hole left by another dearly departed NHL franchise..

Still, it was nice to see those Whalers jerseys worn by players like Sebastian Aho, Justin Faulk, and Justin Williams. It makes me want to cue up the Brass Bonanza.

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Ten Bucks

I am not from Wisconsin. I've never been to Wisconsin, and I don't think I've ever met anyone from Wisconsin (my grandmother might have been born there. we're not sure.) That said, the lack of tangible ties to the badger state hasn't kept me from developing an affinity for their sports teams.

Robin Yount was one of my favorite players growing up. He signed this 8x10 for me at the East Coast National in White Plains, NY about ten years ago. 

I haven't finished - and in fact I've barely started - cataloging my baseball cards, but I know I have at least 100 different Yount cards. I'd be surprised if that's not the most cards I have of any player who never played for the Red Sox.

You all know I'm a Packer backer. I have nearly 2,500 Packers cards in my collection - though none of them were released before 1977. I've been spending my COMC challenge credit on Brett Favre inserts, Devils cards, and other cheap stuff, so when I spotted this 1961 Topps Jim Taylor I vowed not to buy anything else until I "earned" this first. Red background aside, this is what a football card should look like. 

It was high time I added a vintage Packer legend to my collection of Favres, Whites, Rodgerses and Mathewses. And this card was on sale for one day at the low, low price of..$9.07.

$9.07?? Then why is this post called "Ten Bucks?" Also...how was this card only $9.07?

COMC had the condition listed as Good to VG-EX. I couldn't see anything wrong with the front, so I assumed there must have been some writing or paper loss on the back:

Well..technically it's been scratched off, so I guess that counts as paper loss. But I don't mind. It's like the dealer at the Milford card show said to me - this is going in my PC.

I wanted to show this off now, since I don't plan to bring home any of my COMC purchases until after Black Friday. There are six other Packers sitting in my 'to be shipped' inventory..and one Milwaukee Bucks card:

This green Prizm parallel of the Big O is more typical of the cards I've been buying on COMC. Add the 51 cents this card cost to the $9.07 for the Taylor, and throw in another 42 cents for this Brett Favre..

..and you have an even ten dollars. But this isn't a COMC Blaster* post. This is a post about ten Bucks.
 *TM Shoebox Legends

When Kerry (Cards on Cards) rebooted his Guilt-Free Basketball Card Club I was excited to join in the fun, and swap some cards with a very generous trader. Only problem was..I didn't have a favorite basketball team. I'd hinted at maybe becoming a Bucks fan during the Milwaukee stop on my Sports Card Tour, but they were one of a handful of teams I could see myself rooting for. Small-market teams appeal to me, and I've grown tired of seeing the same two teams in the NBA Finals every year (at least Cleveland won't be back.)

I haven't watched enough games to call myself a fan, and I'd feel guilty about jumping on the bandwagon now, with the Bucks sitting atop the standings. But I do enjoy collecting Bucks cards more than most other NBA teams. Right now, the Bucks rank 6th in my NBA collection, due in part to a surprising amount of players I like to collect.

This is the oldest and best Bucks card in my collection, the highlight of my Secret Santa gift from Mark Hoyle. I would have loved to see these two titans of the game run the floor at the MECCA.

Jack Sikma was nearing the end of his career when I started collecting cards. He's one of many former Bucks in the "Hall of Very Good" along with Bob Dandridge, Marques Johnson, and Sidney Moncrief.

Moncrief's Starting Lineup figure was one of those out-of-market pieces that I desperately wanted. (The Sikma SLU is far less appealing. Kenner made him look like a neanderthal) I never did get a Bucks SLU, but I'd like to get a Moncrief card from something other than NBA Hoops.

Hall of Famer Moses Malone succeeded Sikma at center for the Bucks. This card is in my collection, and it features that cartoonish deer I saw a million times in my card piles.

By the time Ray Allen arrived, the Bucks were wearing purple as a primary color. Allen is probably the greatest UConn alum in NBA history, and as such, is a primary reason why I claimed the Bucks in Kerry's trading club. 

Of course there's also the Greek Freak, Milwaukee's franchise star and potential NBA MVP. If he were the only Bucks player I was interested in collecting, chances are I wouldn't have claimed them.

The Bucks also boast Khris Middleton, who shares the same first name (almost) and birthday as yours truly. 

Matthew Dellavedova is another guy I collect. I have a few of his Cavaliers cards but none with Milwaukee. It's a shame that he was squeezed out of the Bucks' rotation just when they were getting good, but he sees to be embracing his role as a leader on the rebuilding Cavs. 

Finally, here's another look at one of the most recent additions to my Bucks card collection: 

I missed out on so many great cards like this Danny Manning during my nearly two decades years away from basketball card collecting.  Even if someone who isn't a regular reader and only comments for the free cards scoops up all the Greek Freak singles I'll be happy with whatever Bucks cards come my way.



So there you have it..ten Bucks. And I didn't even mention Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon, Glenn Robinson, or Michael Redd. (perhaps I should have done a twenty Bucks post..lol.)


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Card Show: Conclusion

I thought I had scanned up all of the dime box finds from Sunday's card show, but a few Topps baseball singles got separated from the pack.

I skipped over most of the recent Topps baseball cards since I've already got them covered in my collection. The exception was Update singles, like this James Jones from 2014. It would have been a nice addition to my post featuring 99 cards of players who wore #99.

This 2015 Topps Update single salutes Miguel Cabrera for hitting his 400th home run, which he accomplished on May 16, 2015. That was nearly four years ago. You'd think he would have hit his 500th by now.

It's always nice to find pre-rookie cards of established major leaguers, and I was excited to find this Trevor Williams card among the four or five 2015 Topps Pro Debut singles in the box. Not just because Williams was second on the Pirates in WAR last season; I started a Trevor PC a few years ago thanks to some impulse COMC shopping.

An even more exciting find was this rookie card of Cy Young award winner Blake Snell. The excitement was short lived, however. When I got home I noticed a significant ding on the bottom left corner I thought I had inspected it before buying..apparently not close enough.

Same for this Mark Trumbo card, also from 2016 Topps Update. I'm less bummed about this one, for obvious reasons.

This Anthony Rizzo emerged from the box unblemished. Most collectors despise this set, due to the smoke effect along the corners. It's far too noticeable on the Trumbo but it's not so bad here.

While Trevor Williams was impressive as Pittsburgh's #2 starter, Jameson Taillon led the rotation - and the entire roster - in WAR last year. This Wal-Mart exclusive insert depicts prospects in the Topps set design of their birth year. I have a Kyle Schwarber from this set that might have to be discarded; when cataloging my 2016 baseball cards I noticed a small crease in the left side.

1991 was also the year Hall of Famer Jeff Bagwell made his major league debut. You'll notice that the Astros didn't wait three weeks to call Bags up to the bigs. Probably because there was no BS service time rule but also because the Astros wouldn't have saved anywhere near $30 million by holding him back.

There are very few singles from 2017 flagship that I actually like. Here's one of them.

I'd also like to take this time to point out a sports fan fallacy. Most of us who complain about exorbitant player salaries are not "pro-owner". I don't think I'm alone in saying this, but I'm fine with star players such as Chris Sale getting paid market value. What infuriates me as a Red Sox fan is overspending on the wrong players and/or short-sighted spending.

Boston has already closed the door on Craig Kimbrel because the payroll is maxed out on guys like David Price, Dustin Pedroia, and J.D. Martinez. Losing Sale and/or Xander Bogaerts just to keep Mookie Betts long-term would be a crushing blow. I actually hope JDM opts out after this season. He's a luxury; Sale is a necessity.

This concludes my dime box purchases (I think.)  

After finally summoning enough will power to walk away from the dime boxes I looped around to the other side of the room, where I found the 2018 Topps singles I was searching for (dime box guy didn't have any.)

This dealer had a two-row box full of flagship (and another, bigger box of Chrome) As I pulled out my checklist he felt the need to point out that these are not this year's Topps singles. I told him I knew that, and I was looking for '18 as I hadn't completed the set yet.

The cards were out of order and my wife was on her way back from a short shopping trip, so I only picked up 53 new cards. I might have made a bigger dent in my wantlist if I'd had more time.

While I had intended to focus on baseball cards at the baseball card show, this dealer's table was loaded with boxes of football singles. Lots of quality inserts and parallels. I quickly rifled through for some shiny parallels and players I collect; having much more money to spend than time was an odd feeling.

I considered a Dan Marino parallel #d/99 but put it back when I realized that the $7 asking price was more than half of what I'd spent at the dime boxes. However I didn't cheap out completely:

I was willing to pay $1.50 for this Jim Brown insert from 2017 Donruss...

$3 for this Jan Stenerud orange parallel (#d/25) from 2018 Panini Classics...

$5 for this Christian McCaffrey spectrum parallel (#d/100) from 2018 Panini Absolute...

$8 for this Brett Favre purple parallel (#d/149) from 2017 Panini Phoenix (not the best value compared to COMC prices, but still..)

...and $13 for this Brett Favre Golden Arms insert (#d/225) from 2016 Panini Black Gold. 

That's $30.50 for the five football cards and a TBD price for the 2018 Topps stack. The dealer only charged me $25 - so basically the McCaffrey and all 53 set fillers were free.

Not only that, the dealer (correctly) surmised that I was a Packers fan and offered me 50% off any Packers cards on the table because, as he said, "I know you're gonna keep them in your PC." Indeed I am. Unfortunately the selection wasn't that great at the front door-facing side of the table. Too much J'Mon Moore and Jonathan Franklin. 

I did find one more card to add to my Packers PC:

This Davante Adams Tools of the Trade relic was priced at $4, but it only cost me $2 -- which was cheaper than any of the 4 for $10 relics in the first dealer's box. 

Overall I spent a mere $40 on over 250 cards, some of which will be headed out to bloggers in the near future.  Didn't get any high-value cards, but it was a lot of fun to search through all of the boxes on both tables and find so many neat cards. 


Thanks for reading this three-part recap!


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