A Giant Thank You

Awhile ago Matt from A Giant Blog held a contest sponsored by our friends at Strat-O-Matic. There were a few prizes, one of which I was fortunate enough to win.
A brand new 2010 computer version of Strat-O-Matic's baseball game!

A huge thanks to Matt at A Giant Blog and a huge thanks to Strat-O-Matic!!!

Now I just have to find some extra time in my day to play it. Maybe I'll go without sleep this weekend...... sleep is over-rated anyways...

If you head over to A Giant Blog, Matt is currently pitting every great Giants team against each other in a head to head battle of the ages.... interesting stuff...

A Shipping Bipping...

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased a 1987/88 OPC Hockey NRMT set off of ebay for $20. (yeah, it's a long story, for another time...) It came from a seller in the U.S. who ran a brick and mortar shop. Part of the story is that he prided himself on proper packaging for shipping, and did not have kind words to say about how his competitors packaged items.

When it arrived in the mail, I opened the 400 ct box to discover that the seller had put additional cards in the box to protect the OPC set. On either end AND on the top and bottom to stop the cards from moving around inside.

Therein lies the Shipping Bipping.

We start off slow. Four 91/92 UD Ken Daneyko
Then he gets mean.... Nine 91/92 UD Chris Joseph...

And here is where it gets odd.... not one...

not two...

not even three...

but SEVENTEEN 91/92 UD Wayne Gretzky's.

This does not even consider the 14 cards of these three players that were RIPPED IN HALF to further stuff the box full.

I thought I was safe by ordering a complete set, and I still got Bipped.

And what does this say about Gretzky's career and our hobby in general when one of the most collected players in sports is used as packing material?

Super Waxaholic Playoff Contest Update....

The semi finals are done. Onto the Stanley Cup Finals! Congrats to Chicago and Philadelphia.

Here's an update on the Playoff Contest Standings. All results are unofficial until the final bribe has been counted.

Sal - 104 pts
Roy - 102 pts
Play at the Plate - 95 pts
dayf - 90 pts
Justin G - 86 pts
DFG - 85 pts
Dan - 75 pts
Jeremy - 72 pts
cynicalbudha - 72 pts
shane diaz - 69 pts
1st and Goal - 67 pts
madding - 65 pts
gcrl - 63 pts
Night Owl - 63 pts
BA Benny - 56 pts
roofgod - 55 pts
dr Steven Ibottson - 55 pts
dwfbuck2 - 53 pts
Wax Wombat - 50 pts

Good luck in the Finals! Some of you are going to need it.

not TTM, Through the Troll ( TTT )

I had the pleasure of chatting (albeit too briefly) with my buddy Marck, The Collective Troll yesterday. Aside from the usual pleasantries, the main body of the conversation came down to the fact that we both are terrible bloggers.
We are both sooooooooo far behind in posting trades we've received from other collectors. In fact, the area of my "U" shaped desk that stores the piles of "waiting to be scanned" cards is in danger of collapsing.
So I'm going to knock off an easy one. And cheat while I'm at it. You see awhile back, Troll had a contest to win a Chipper Jones signed 4x6 photo. The first 10 entries would contend for the prize. I was the first one to enter. And the second, the third, the fourth...... are you getting where I'm going with this?
Anyways, public outcry and Troll's sense of fair play won out, and I was disqualified for all but one entry.
So I put in a call to my buddy at Random.org... and voila!
I won! With only one entry.

But that's not what I was talking about when I said I'm going to cheat while I'm at it. Of course, Troll sent along more than just the pic.... he sent over some glorious '80's football, as well as a smattering of Braves.

They are still in that pile. Near the bottom. Shall we say, the foundation of my mail days posts.

Thanks Marck!!!

latest addition to the family...

May I present to you a 2005 Donruss Diamond King Framed Signature Dual Bat somethingorother of Mr Adam LaRoche.
You see that shiny light electric blue there? If you remember your Donruss, you know what that means......

1/1 baby. I believe that's 12 in my LaRoche collection. Only one is a printing plate. An autographed 2008 UD Black black plate. No, I didn't stutter.

It's always fun adding a card to your favourite player collection, 1/1 or not....

Sebastien Daniel!

the last of my card show purchases was this Sebastien Daniel Sisti card. You might know him as Sibby Sisti.
A 1951 Bowman card #170
with a slight character mark in the lower left corner.

a mouse maybe? A hungry two year old? No matter. Sibby set me back $3. Normally I don't buy Tiptons (does this count?) but I couldn't resist.

Sibby broke into the league in 1939 with the Boston Bees, and stayed with the franchise until retiring with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. Included in that is a stint with the U.S. Coast Guard 1943-45.

Sibby is also famous because of The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book in which the book ends with the line, Good Night Sibby Sisti, wherever you are...

This now becomes my oldest baseball card. I have several tobacco cards going way back, but they all feature Indian Chiefs or Flags, or Actors....

What's your oldest baseball card?

Who wants brand new shiny hockey cards?

Go HERE. Sign up for the group break. Then sit back and bask in the awesomeness. It's a word. Ask around.

Can someone please explain...

Can someone please explain to me WHY american tv executives force the scheduling of playoff hockey games (traditionally night games... hello? Hockey Night in Canada?) into mid morning/early afternoon time slots on the weekend, but insist on taking baseball and football playoffs (traditionally day games) and forcing them into prime time or late night time slots?

Is there a labotomy needed to apply for these positions? Or just anyone who can't cut it at the local Arby's?

Anyone?

Completely random and not at all sports related

with the american networks debuting their new fall schedules this week, it was announced that Waxaholic fave Elisha Cuthbert will have a new half hour comedy on ABC.
It will be titled; Happy Endings.

I can't make this stuff up.

Like Lemmings to a flame....

You knew I had to pick up some hockey while I was at the show... it's like a rule or something. Like Lemmings to a flame, or moths leaping off of a cliff, I buy vintage hockey.

I've been looking for a good copy of this card for awhile now to send off ttm for an auto. Phil and Dan Bouchard were the original Atlanta Flames. I sent off for Dan's auto last week, Phill will go next week.
A nice '73of Canadian Hero Paul Henderson for .50 cents. If you find cards of Paul for under a buck, YOU MUST BUY THEM. It's in our constitution.

You guys have that guy who warned you about the British coming, we have Paul Henderson. Both saved their nations from oblivion.

Paul is currently battling cancer... I feel sorry for the cancer. Go Paul!

Of course I picked up a card of the Road Runner.

Yvan is one of my faves from my childhood.

And a card of one of the Mahovlich brothers. This one is of the Peter the younger.

and of course what would that be without Frank the Elder?

Next, a couple of Rookie cards. First, Michel Plasse. Michel played for several teams in his career, but is most famous for his time in Colorado, playing for the Rockies.

Don Cherry, former coach of the Bruins and Rockies always has this to say about Michel whenever he sees a picture or "highlight" of him on TV.

"There's ole Michel Plasse, the Human Sieve."

I was sad to find out this week that Michel passed away in 2006.

Speaking of Don Cherry, the other RC I bought was of one of his two main goalies during his time with the Bruins.

Gilles Gilbert.

People often think that Gerry Cheevers was Don's main goalie, but it was actually Gilles. Four division championships in 5 seasons. Bounced out of the playoffs by Montreal every time.

Lastly, and completely random, Ed Giacomin, the Rangers All Time greatest goalie.

8 cards from '73/74 for $12. I'm a sucker.... but a happy one.

Birthday Contest!!!

But Canuck you say, your birthday is in April, what gives???
Well, you're right, It ain't my birthday, but it ain't my contest either.
Head over to 1st and Goal, answer several questions, and win free football cards.


Or don't. I mean, who wants to spend time answering questions? And who likes football? You don't, do you?
Tell you what, I'll enter, and if you're just curious as to what is given away (he's not telling...) I'll post it here for all to see. Then you don't have to waste any time answering questions and stuff....

See? I look out for you.

Wally Moon Wannabe?

Some more singles from the weekend card show.... Night Owl had asked to keep a look out for a Sandy Koufax. Any Koufax.... This was as close as I got. Well, actually, there was a gentleman there who had a 1966 Koufax that he rescued from some bicycle spokes somewhere. He had it on "Show special" for $300, down from $350. If I had cash, $280.
It's still there Greg. Sorry pal.

Anyways, from the same guy I got the '71 OPC from, I found this beauty for .50 cents.
Bill is so blinded by his eyebrows he is mistakingly hacking away at his Rookie trophy.
I also grabbed a few '75 OPC, including the Wes Westrum card. Better known as the San Francisco Giants Team checklist, unmarked, for a buck.

Yes, I put Dodgers and Giants right next to each other. What are you gonna do?

Along with Wes, I grabbed a couple of cards of rookies. Pitchers.....

and outfielders....

again, .50 cents each.

Later today, my hockey singles... (you knew there had to be some, didn't you?)

And then, the best baseball card at the whole show. Yes, even better than that $300 Koufax. It is Awesome with a capital "A".

Free internet cookies to anyone who can guess the card, or even the set....

Card Show Pickups - OPC style

at every show, there's a guy. You know the one. He's got singles. At a fair price. And they're discounted even further. And the more you buy, the cheaper it gets. Remember him? Yeah, he was there. Saved the show for me. Not a game used patch card in sight. No autographed jock straps. Just old singles. Mostly hockey, but in a box, off to the side, was baseball.
Inside I found some '71 OPC.
I bought them all.

First up, a stack of 44 cards, he called them "fillers". Total cost - $4. Did I mention it included 8 high numbers???
Next, some really nice looking cards. Two team cards. (my scanner ate one of the borders, but it's there)

Buford and Bench!

Rookie Stars!!! (Who?)

an unmarked checklist, no creases, just the famous chipping on the left side.

and a Home Run Leaders card, featuring the Natioal League.

all six of those cards for $12

Out of the 50 cards I bought, only two ended up being duplicates. So I'm happy there. And of the "fillers", I'm happy with the quality of 25 of them, so that doesn't leave too many to be upgraded when/IF I ever get this set done.

Contest!!! Free!!! Hurry!!!

go HERE, and do as the man says.


Free custom cards courtesy of Big D himself, tell him Big B sent ya!

Card Show Pick Ups - Part Two

On to some of the purchases I made. Factory sets. I know, I know, a set builder buying factory sets. Complete. In a box. No packs. No trading. Blasphemy!
Well, I couldn't help myself. Early '92 was when I had stopped collecting. I'd had enough. I closed my shop and walked (ran?) away from the hobby. For 15 years.
As a result, I never finished my '91 OPC hockey set... and of course never started my '92 set.

And at $10 for the pair, I couldn't resist. He wanted $15, I offered $10, and he accepted. We chatted a bit, he remarked about how great these were for the kids and somone was going to be very happy when I got home. Uh.... kids? Yeah. Yeah, these are for the kids... yeah.... gotta go now....

These of course will not stay as factory sets for long. They'll end up in binders alongside the rest of my OPC sets.

Now one area of the show that I was most unhappy with was wax. It seems like very few dealers wanted to bring any, and those that did got together the night before to discuss pricing. When every dealer has the same price, I call B.S.
Not only that, but the prices weren't show prices either. They were full retail. And if I'm going to pay full retail on wax, it ain't going to be from anybody at a show. I'll buy from my local card shop. Makes sense, yes?

As it happened, my LCS was there, and while I didn't spend too much time looking at his stuff (that's what his store is for) I of course spent a little $$$ at his table.
I grabbed one of these for $20.

Can anybody guess what it is???

Settle down, there's no contest here, move along.... It's a box of 99/00 McDonalds hockey packs. 100 of 'em.

Should be an interesting break. Next up, part three or part last, the singles......

Card Show Pickups, Part One - the swag

So as you all know I went to the Super Bossa Calgary Sports Fan Fest Extravaganza yesterday. I had asked in an earlier post some thoughts as to what I might find. Thanks for all of your support, however it is painfully obvious that not many of you have ever gone to a card show in Canada. (Canada, not toronto)

There were no oddballs (except for a couple of the dealers) no quarter boxes, no dime boxes. There was virtually no football, except for the Calgary Stampeders booth, but if you've ever watched them, you'd understand, there was no football. There was almost no baseball. At all. More on that in post Part Three.

It was hockey, hockey, hockey. And a lot of dealers had large stacks of autographs. But I didn't bite. If I want fake autos, I'll get them off of ebay like everyone else.

But first, we start off with the free swag promised us. On the show sell sheet, it states that Sunday is
"Collector Appreciation Day! Each paid admission will receive one of our famous "Bossa Super Bags!" with Upper Deck hockey packs, rare hockey cards, autographed memorabillia, and more!"

Okay, let's take a look at what $16 paid admission ($8 each as my wife came with me...) gets. Here are the rare hockey cards.

some 2010 cards called Biography of a Season, and three Sportflic type 2006 cards, all of Crosby/Ovechkin.

No packs. None.

In one bag there was a 1/32 scale Diecast Vancouver Canucks Zamboni. Lame. So lame, no photo for you.

In the other bag was an autographed picture of Doug Gilmour.

Not bad. Can't complain about that. But not exactly what the show sell sheet was promising.

Meh.... no big deal. Next post, the purchases....

what to do at a card show...

Calgary is getting a card show this weekend. Supposedly a big one. Autograph guests and everything.
Details LINK here.

I've never seen a show like this in Calgary before. I don't know what to do. Should I bring my wantlists for '71 OPC baseball? Or will it be 80 tables of this year's hockey???
Can I expect reasonable pricing from a show this size? Or will every dealer go scrambling to a beckett everytime I ask "How much?"

I have a feeling that I'm going to spend a lot of time today getting my wantlists ready, only to be disappointed on Sunday. (that's when I'm going)

I have an original jersey of the Tampa Bay Lightning from when they joined the NHL. I'd love to get Phil Esposito to sign it, but paying $79 to stand in line for three hours ain't my thing.

Hmmm... I can already feel my expectations dropping..... Oh well. It should still be fun to see stuff, even if I can't afford book price.

Anybody need anything?

Who doesn't love milkshakes???

Awhile back I shared with you one of my favourite players growing up. Goalie Denis Herron. For those of you not with us in January, I urge you to go back in time and read that short little post. I'm sure he will become one of your favourites too.... LINK

Well, that card makes another appearance on the ole blog today, but for a different reason. There seems to be some sort of smeared scribbling on it now....
and it's brought some friends....

ahhh, good old '70's airbrushing..... like a warm blanket....

along with a couple of photos. Dig the old Scouts uni's....

ahh... clean ice, clean, white boards... those were the days.

Mr Herron got all this back to me in just 18 days. Amazing considering the speed of our postal system.

I also sent Denis three more cards that were extra so that he could keep them if he didn't already have them. He did. Maybe to keep, maybe to send out to others..... whatever.

Thanks Denis!

I changed my mind...

Last night after the game I typed out a post. Not just any post, but a Collective Troll length post. It was eloquent and thought provoking a la Night Owl. But I couldn't hit "Publish". I just couldn't do it. It's now deleted.
Why, you ask? Well, it was a bit of a rant. Okay, it was a helluva rant. And I've done that too much lately. You all know how much I love hockey. I'm Canadian, it's part of my DNA. And it pains me to see how far the game has fallen. I was watching my Montreal Canadiens play Team NHL last night. It was horrible. For the third game in a row.
For those of you not watching at home, the american tv execs and the NHL has pre-detemined who will win the Cup. It's bad enough that american tv execs make the schedule, but when they start influencing games, it gets to be too much.
But I am not alone. The CBC started to question the leagues motives openly on air last night. TSN (our ESPN) did the same, calling out the NHL to respond. Even Don Cherry joined in, asking in his own stylish manner, "What the hell is going on?"
They are better at rooting out the bias then I will ever be.
I am just a fan, watching his game be ruined by an asshole in a suit who never played the game.



So, to brighten up my mood.... I went and got the mail, hoping that there was something in it to cheer me up. And now that the snowing has stopped (albeit briefly) it was a nice walk, although a bit brisk.

Success! An Adam LaRoche silver /25 signed ball.
It will go nicely next to his two friends I have waiting.

Very cool. Now that's better. Life is in the simple things kids.

Recent Additions..

In a recent fleebay binge, I purchased an Eddie Matthews Super Authentic Game Used relic from the SP Legendary Cuts set. I love this set. I must get more from it. Soon.
Look at that wool! (oh yeah, that line over the 41 is just scanner fluff.)

The same seller also had this Eddie Murray from the same set ending a minute later. No one had bid on Mr Murray yet, so he came home with me for .99 cents.

The swatch here was used by Eddie in a Mets game. Why didn't they just put a picture of him in a Mets jersey? I know the Mets don't really have any fans... but still...

Murray will end up in a trade post soon I'm sure.

Not bad for $5, eh?

Thanks to Tribecards!

About a month ago I was reading through the latest blog updates, when I came upon a post from our good friend David over at Indians Baseball Cards. He had just posted about a wonderful book he had found that was put out by Surf Soap in 1987. It was a full colour, glossy soft cover book detailing every Topps baseball card of the Cleveland Indians from 1952 through 1986. Pictures of every damn one of them.
Also included, a brief write up about the team for each season of issued cards.
What a cool book I thought. I was so jealous that I never got to see these regional oddball items. And I wished there was a Braves version.
Well wouldn't you know, David ended his post by listing all of the teams these books were available for. And the Braves were one of them!

*Open new browser...
*type in fleebay.ca
*search for Braves Surf book...
*click on Buy it now $4.95!!!!!
Woot!
my scanner does not like scanning books....

but you get the idea here....

every card from '52 through '86. It's nice to look at these and see which ones I'm missing from my team set binders.

I'm getting closer every day, and books like these help.

Thanks for the post David.

To see what other teams are available, click on the link at the top of this post to Indians baseball Cards. It'll take you to David's article.