Monday, March 31, 2014

Mysterious glow-in-the-dark baseball card discovered

Back in September 2013, I posted a revealing exposé of every glow-in-the-dark baseball card variety I could find info on. All these months later, I've finally dug up another one. In a recent Just Commons shopping spree, I took a shot in the dark and searched the term "glow" hoping for maybe some '93 Fun Pack "Glow Star" stickers or something.

Brooks Kieschnick GLOW
Code: 1994 Classic Best Gold Rookie Express RE20

..This card popped up. Never heard of that guy, not very familiar with that set, and I wasn't certain that capitalized "GLOW" meant that the card glows in the dark or what, but for just a quarter (a mid-priced card by Just Commons standards), took a chance threw it into the cart.

I'm happy to report that after 3 or 4 Just Commons orders, this one was the first that I received 100% correct. Seems I always had 1 or 2 wrong cards in each previous order. I love the site and they were all low-cost cards I missed, so I never made a stink about it, but it was a bit of a letdown when it happened.

Anyways, back to the mysterious GLOW card. When it arrived, I grabbed that sucker, held it up to the window for a few seconds, then tucked into a closet with it. Lo and behold, it glowed! Nice.

Let's take a look at it in action:


Looks pretty cool, especially compared to the other glowing cards of the time. Not just a glowing border or whatnot, but the whole thing lighting up. One kinda weird part about the card is what appears to be some bleed-thru of the back. For example, you can sorta see the back photo "being stepped on" by the front photo, and the circle for the logo / card # is in the upper right. And other copies I saw picture of online seem to be the same way. The card is not very thin or translucent acetate or anything that would seem to explain it, so it must've been a weird manufacturing issue.

Oh wow, I just discovered that the back glows too! Very cool. None of the other glowing cards I've checked out so far (besides the lackluster 2013 Topps Chipz parallels, if you count those) glew on both sides.


That's a damn neat piece of cardboard. Minor bleed-thru issue or not, I'd definitely be up for hunting down more cards like this.

So now the trick is finding out more info on this set. What other glowing cards are in the checklist? etc.

Looks like Rookie Express is a 20 card insert set in 1994 Classic/Best. This card is #20. While I assumed all 20 were glow-in-the-dark, or at least had glowing parallels, I could not find any evidence supporting this theory. It appears to me that cards 1-19 are foil, with only #20 glowing. Weird! And I'm not sure if there's a non-glowing variation of this card. Can anyone shed any definitive light on this? Seems crazy that a company would put out a set of cards and have only one special card that glowed in the dark.

And Brooks Kieschnick isn't exactly a name that's going to resonate with most people, so why choose him to get the one super-special card in your set? To his credit, he was a 1st round draft pick (10th overall in 1993), and while his career stats won't jump out at you, he's notable for being a backup outfielder/DH/pinch-hitter and relief pitcher at the same time (not just used in desperate/blowout situations, but a legit option both in the bullpen and off the bench), going both ways for the Brewers in '03 and '04.

So that's pretty cool. I guess he eventually kinda justified that neat glowing card after all. But it still seems odd to me.

As always, if you know of other glow-in-the-dark baseball card varieties that I haven't mentioned-- or have some glowing cards to trade-- feel free to drop me a line.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Check out my cutting-edge new card-sorting table

My work was tossing this weird table-thing Friday and it was out on the curb after work right next to where I parked. After a solid minute debating the benefits of taking it home verses the shit my girl would give me for bringing more crap into the house, I gave in and threw it in the back on my vehicle. (I'm pretty notorious for bringing home stuff I've found on the sidewalk. Lots of shelves. Clothes. Kitchen stuff. You name it.)


I wasn't exactly sure what I'd do with it, but thought I might find a place for in in the "recording studio" area of the house. But then I had the idea to put it in the "study" (my carding room-- well, my fiancée isn't completely surrendering the entire room to me since I've already got a lot of space for myself in the basement, so I've gotta be willing to share at least some of the room) and use it as a sorely-needed card-sorting table. The fact that it has a grated top actually comes in really handy for picking up stacks of cards anywhere on the table. Especially for a guy like me with little-to-no fingernails (If nail-biting were an olympic event, I'd bring home the gold, time and time again) it can sometimes be tricky picking up stacks of cards in the middle of the surface. The grates make picking up cards a breeze. Now I gotta get serious about sorting my collection. Recently buying a $12 card that I already had (forgotten about) really underscored the need for me to get better about organization.

I've also got my trade stacks nice and organized by team (for the most part) with handy labels. I'm gonna try to thin out some of the more-plentiful teams, so be on the lookout for some Trade Bait posts from me coming soon.


If you want to "beat the rush" to your team's cards, hurry up and check out my wantlist and get in touch about a trade.

DRAMATIC UPDATE: My fiancée objected to the table, saying it looked too junky. It was looking bleak there for a moment. But, ever ingenious as I am, I gave it a classy makeover with a tablecloth and candles. It won her over ("Ok, I can tolerate that.") Crisis averted! Here's how my carding station is looking at the moment:


Have a great week everybody. Play ball!

Friday, March 28, 2014

My Best Girlie Card


Celebrity crushes, we've all got them. 

With my marriage on the horizon (Hawaii in June), I've been racking my brain to finalize my "list of adultery exceptions" to include in the pre-nup. You know, a short list of celebrities that your significant other agrees to give you a thumbs-up to pursuing a one-time fling with, in the infinitesimal chance that someday you run into one of them and hit it off. 

What? Isn't that a real thing? 

I'm lucky that my girl is cool enough to humor me and go along with silly things like this (and yes, she can write up a list of hollywood hunks or rock stars that I have to give her a pass for, as well). I'm extremely happy to have found her. I love her a bunch and don't doubt for a second that we're in it for the long haul. I'd obviously never dream of messing around on her under normal circumstances.

So this is really just for fun. Yeah, it's pointless and in questionable taste (I hope my to-be mother-in-law never reads my blog!), but something entertaining to daydream about. --Hey, the world is a crazy place! Stranger things have happened than a random guy hooking up with a beautiful star, that's for sure.

Ground rules
It's gotta be a famous person, so nothing like "Tiffany from next door" or "Becky from high school". It doesn't have to be an A-list star, though; Being a "famous person" is determined by having an established Wikipedia entry. The number of celebrities should be set at a low number such as 3 or 5 or even just 1, but a couple may agree on up to 10 slots if desired. Once the list is submitted, it cannot be edited (swapping someone out) unless mutually agreed upon by your significant other, limited to one request per year, in writing. The exceptions to this are if one of your choices passes away or reveals sexual orientation that would preclude them from interest in your gender, in which case you may instantly select a replacement.

While there are a lot of pretty ladies out there, one woman in particular commands the top spot of my celebrity affection and needs to be locked down on my air-tight, legally-binding list.


Christina Hendricks. My word. Perfect.

Can't lie, I'm drawn to shapely ladies-- a Breast Enthusiast, if you will-- and she's among the shapeliest.

"I don't know what you have planned tonight, but count me out."
I love her on Mad Men, but that's pretty much all I know her from. I've been meaning to check out her other acting work. It's a bummer the show is coming to and end soon, but hopefully she keeps busy working so I can keep on admiring her.

So what does all this have to do with cards?

Well, a while back on the blog, I was talking about how Mad Men should have trading cards, and I salivated over the thought of owning a certified on-card auto from the lovely Mrs. Hendricks. Moments after posting that, I did a quick eBay search and found out she does in fact have a "signature" card out there!

This isn't it. This is a fake card I photoshopped up for giggles.
It's part of a Firefly set that came out pre-Mad Men. I watched the first 2 or 3 episodes of that show on Netflix a while back, but I'm not much of a sci-fi guy (Star Wars notwithstanding) so it didn't really grab me, and I never got to the episode or two where she guest-starred.

So anyways, I found a seller with the card. It was at a ridiculous Buy It Now price with Or Best Offer. I made him an offer that was much lower than the Buy It Now price, but still pretty ridiculous. The seller accepted my offer, and a few days later she was mine.


LOVE THIS CARD! It's an on-card auto, which is always much more desirable than a sticker or cut-signature. Features a nice, mostly-legible signature. Sure, it's not perfect.. bold blue sharpie would've been better than thin black ink. And yes, a photo showing some cleavage would be ideal. But the headshot is fine, too.


So yep, this is my best "Girlie Card" (what I call my little collection of females on cardboard), leaping over Olympians Carly Patterson and Nancy Kerrigan, and well as Playboy model Spencer Scott and Billie Jo.

I intend to stick a fork in girlie card collecting now, saving my energy and money for baseball cards.

"Yeah, right, Gavin. Just TRY to resist. Bwahaha!!"
Of course, there's still time for Mad Men to come out with a set of cards (The new season premieres April 13, 2014, then the show will eventually wrap up in mid 2015).. so if another, better Christina Hendricks certified auto card pops out up one of these days, it'd be hard to resist going after it.

And if I ever happen to bump into her, I could break the ice by telling her I've got her autograph. We'd probably have a good laugh about it and I'd ask her if she'd like to get a drink or something. One thing would lead to another and.. well, this is a family blog, so...

"Your place or mine, Gavin?"




Nah, in reality, I'd just shyly smile at her and then quickly scoot away with my head down.

But for whatever it's worth, she'll be perched atop my "list of adultery exceptions" just in case.

That guy behind her is her husband. Nice job, buddy! And he ain't no Brad Pitt, so that makes me think I've got a legitimate shot!
Honorable mention on my celebrity crush list would need to go to Zooey Deschanel. She's pretty awesome too. I wonder if she has any certified autos out there? Hopefully not.. or I might have to find one.

Others likely to make my list? Um, Amy Adams seems cool. Hard to resist Kate Upton. Taylor Swift is a cutie. Tina Fey would be a lot of fun to spend time with. Oh, and Emma Watson, for sure!

The Waitress from Always Sunny would probably also make my list, too. ...That lucky bastard! I need to photoshop myself over his face.
Ok, that's the end. Hopefully this flagrant celebration of female physical beauty didn't offend anyone. It's not my intention to be sexist, objectifying, or whatnot. Just paying tribute to a lovely lady! I respect women immensely, I assure you.

If any of you readers would brave continuing the discussion down in the comments... Who's on your celebrity crush list? Do you have any sweet cards featuring pretty ladies you'd like to brag about? Let's hear it!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Out of the Park: Juan Uribe hits the waves

Out of the Park is a feature where I make a silly gif of a baseball card.

We've been taking a look at how infielders like to take a break from the action. Delino DeShields studied aeronautics. Cal Ripken was a equestrian.

Now here's the 3rd installment of this series.

In it, we take a look at Juan Uribe having some fun between plays.



















See ya next time!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A Greatest Gavins Christmas in March

I haven't posted an update on my Greatest Gavins collection in a few months, I don't think.. though I have added several nice additions since last time. If you're unaware, this is just a mini-collection of mine featuring cards of anyone named Gavin. I know this isn't exactly a fan favorite blog topic, since it's really just a vanity project or whatever you wanna call it.. doesn't really have universal appeal. But screw it, if you took the time to read this far, let's take a look at some neat cards of guys named Gavin!

Let's start off with a dual mini-collection hit: Gavin cards that are also Christmas Cards! That's right, another quirky collecting habit of mine is any card serial numbered 12/25. I like to feature Christmas Cards from my collection every month on the 25th, so it works out good timing to show off this one now!


Gavin Floyd, the George Washington on the Mount Rushmore of North American Athletes Named Gavin. This beautiful Gav-used Christmas Card Autogavph was pretty cheap, making it even better. If only it were on-card, it'd be an A+ in my book.

But that wasn't the only Christmas Autogavph I've brought home recently..



Gavin Escobar refractor #'d 12/25. Nice looking card (it's shinier than the scan indicates). On-card auto. Now I just need a Christmas Autogavph of Gavin Cecchini to complete The Big 3 G's. (He has a bunch, but they seem to be a little out of my preferred price range.. someday.)

But back to Escobar, as I mentioned in the past, he has a ton of autos on the market. He's not really a big future star, honestly, but I guess pretty much all NFL rookies just typically get a huge amount of autos produced. I went ahead and bought a cheap lot that included a bunch of Escobar RCs and 1 auto.


It's a sticker auto, but it was cheap, so whatever. And the Gav-used patch is neat. This brings the number of Escobargavphs in my collection to 3 (sorry, I need to cool it was the made-up words). I think I'll be content with 3, the magic number, and not pick up anymore.. unless maybe it's super cheap or from a trade.
Oh, and that sparkly Bowman parallel on the upper left is super cool.. I should make a Refraction Action gif of it one of these days.
As I mentioned a couple posts ago, I'm not one to hang on to dupes (1990 UD Marquis Grissom notwithstanding), so look for some of those extra Topps and Bowman rookie cards to find themselves thrown into various trade packages from me for the heck of it.

Now let's backtrack to a few more Floyds, these of the non-holiday variety, but still pretty great.


There's my first Graded Gavin. Like Escobar, my Floydagavphs now number 3-- wait, make that 4, I think-- and I'll probably be happy to leave it at that unless there's a super bargain I just can't turn down. And of course trade offers are always welcomed.

And I picked up a new player for my Greatest Gavins, specifically a poker player. Gavin Smith.


This isn't a great-looking autogavph (sticker auto, poor design, unflattering photo), but it's something.

Though I have no intention of going after many cards of Mr. Smith, I felt like I needed to upgrade to a better looking auto card from him, so I threw a bid on this one when it popped up and ended up with it:


That's an improvement. Better design, cooler photo, and on-card auto.

Next, here's an inductee to the "Last Name" wing of the Hall of Greatest Gavins.


John Gavin appears here on this 2013 Leaf Perfect Game amateur card. He graduates high school later this year. Wha?! Giving sports cards to kids who haven't even been drafted yet seems wrong. But whatever. Good luck with your career, Mr. Gavin!

After picking up the above card, I found a numbered gold parallel for even cheaper, so I went nuts and ended up winning it too, officially making me the world's foremost John Gavin supercollector with a grand total of two cards from him.

 (hair on the scanner alert)


Now here's the first non-athlete (and um, non-poker player) to be inducted into Greatest Gavins, Gavin Hood.


Apparently this guy directed that recent Wolverine flick. I haven't seen it, nor am I familiar with his other work, but hey, it wasn't too expensive. My favorite part about adding autographed cards to my Gavin collection is checking out how other Gavins sign their name. Mr. Hood here is the first I've added who prints it out (not cursive). Different. Kinda cool.

Finally, this last Gavin is a fictional character.


Yes, some Greatest Gavins purists out there might scoff at the inclusion of a card signed by actor Daniel Dae Kim, but just look at it and there's no denying it belongs in a collection of trading cards focused on people named Gavin. Gavin Park is a character from the TV show Angel. To the best of my recollection, I've never actually watched an episode of this Buffy-spinoff, but couldn't resist spicing up my collection of Gavin cards with this puppy. For what it's worth, I like this actor from his work on Lost, a show I didn't watch during its original run, but burned through on Netflix over the span of a few months a year or two back.

So there you have it, the recent additions to the Greatest Gavins. Hope you enjoyed it! We'll see you again another time for more cards of guys named Gavin. Next time I'll try to get the collection organized and give an overview and come up with a count.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Don't bring me down, Bru!

I gotta catch up on some thanks/trade posts! This neglect has been bringing me down for a couple weeks now. Time to finally get this post out.


I just had this song stuck in my head and wanted to post this video. Unrelated to Bru from the blog Remember the Astrodome.

Jeff at 2x3 Heroes hooked me up some some Tis The Season generosity. I had forgotten that I signed up for anything. And I moved in the interim, so the package was delayed a while till it finally got to me. But Jeff kindly sent me a lot of Padres..


There are 6 of my favorites, but he sent a bunch. AND a bunch of Yankees and A's too! Awesome! Thanks, Jeff!

The Yankees lot came in handy when a friendly reader named Mike offered to help me out with a solid 100+ chunk of needs off my 1973 Topps list. Here are some highlights:


Mike said he was a Yankees fan, so I passed a bunch of Yanks his way, including an extra Bobby Richardson auto I had and a few other goodies. He seemed pretty happy with the return package, always a good feeling.

I also did a couple smaller trades for a few more 73 needs. Johnny's Trading Spot and Remember The Astrodome each hooked me up with a few sweet 73s. I returned the favor with PWEs of cards off their respective wantlists. Sadly, Bru brought me down when he told me the Astros envelope got ripped and arrived empty besides my note. Heartbreaking! (Ok, see, here's where the stretch of this post's title comes in. But again, I really just had that song stuck in my head and wanted to shoehorn it into a blog post. Bru was totally cool about everything.) I was really happy with the cards I had scrounged up for him! Oh well, I'll just have to find some decent replacements. That's the risk when sending PWEs, I guess. I even marked it "non machinable" and paid the extra 20 cents, but that didn't seem to help. Bummer.

Here're the cards Bru sent..

He also included that 74 Vida from my desperate dozen. Nice!
Johnny's cards for me arrived just fine in a small "Thank You" card envelope with just a Forever stamp. That's a great idea! I need to get me some cheap Thank You cards that I can use to send cards in.

Here're the cards John sent..


Thanks to these trades, I'm pretty close to the halfway point with the set, looking at 45.9% on the big board (321/699). If I wasn't being somewhat of a completist by also going after the several dumb manager card variations ("Ooh, the rusty orange background on the coaches pics is more rusty brown on this one." "Ooh, part of a coach's ear is missing from the pic on this one.") and the unnumbered team checklists, I might already be at 50%, but I'm too lazy to do the math on that right now.

Anybody out there with some available 73s who can help get me over the hump with this set, please check out my needs and maybe drop me a line and let's work out a trade!

Thanks again Jeff, Mike, Bru, and John!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Dupe Dreaming: I need every existing copy of 1990 UD #9

I'm a one-card kind of guy. When I get a duplicate card, it goes to the trade stack with few exceptions. When I decided to try to complete 1973 Topps, I had no problem plucking the 73 Reggie card out of my Reggie collection, the Gossage RC out of my Gossage collection, etc. I still feel like I've got these cards in my collection, they're just currently stored in a different place. If I happened to come across another 73 Reggie, I'd give it a home with my other Reggies, but I don't feel like I need another one.

A lot of collectors like a copy for their set, another copy for their team binder, and another copy for their PC, etc, but that's never been me. I think that one Tim Wallach guy's collection is beautiful yet heartbreaking (How did Wallach never have a Diamond King?! What an injustice!) Same with the Junior Junkie. How can you accept so many duplicates into your collection?

But a recent post at All the way to the backstop about getting several copies of a particular card got me thinking. I was particularly struck by Marcus noting that "looking at pages and pages of the same card might be soothing, in a hypnotizing mind numbing way."

Yes! That sounds wonderful. Sign me up for some of that. I'm not even a binder guy, but became bent on filling my eyes with double vision.

The questions then was, which card should I pick to obsessively accumulate? It's gotta be cheap, it's gotta be attractive, and it's gotta mean something to me.

It didn't take me long to decide. 
1990 Upper Deck #9. 
The Marquis Grissom rookie card.


This was my absolute favorite card for a while when I was a kid. I would sometimes bring it to bed and admire it in the moonlight before placing it near my clock and falling asleep. I may have even slept with it under my pillow once or twice. There was just something so soothing and comforting about the card that I loved. Like a favorite stuffed animal or something.

It's just a perfect portrait of a confident young ballplayer, full of promise, standing alone on a field at night. Featuring vibrant colors and soft focus, it feels like something magical out of a dream.

Grissom certainly had a respectable career. While he won't be remembered as an All-Time Great, he put together many fine seasons.. 4 Gold Glove Awards.. 2 All-Star selections. 

And where he really stood out was in October. He hit a shining .360 in the '95 World Series as his Braves brought home their lone Championship. The next year he followed that up with a .444 average (!!) in a losing cause against the Yankees. And then in '97, made a 3rd consecutive trip to the Fall Classic, batting .360 as his Indians fell to the Marlins. Numbers to be proud of, indeed.

He's also a good person who spent nearly all his baseball earnings on the Marquis Grissom Baseball Association, a non-profit organization whose aim is to teach baseball to underprivileged kids so they can qualify for university scholarships. Plus, he bought houses for his mom and each of his fourteen siblings. Seems like a solid dude, both on and off the field.

So yeah, not a "nobody", but his cards aren't really sought after these days. And while his Upper Deck rookie card isn't exactly a common, as a base card from the overproduction era, it can be had cheaply and easily.

Deep in a part of my mind, he'll always be that rookie on the cool-looking nighttime Upper Deck card. But of course, much time has gone by. Marquis retired years ago. The Expos don't exist anymore. And Upper Deck no longer makes baseball cards.

I don't bring the card with me to bed these days, but it still fills me with warm fuzzies when I see it. So I'm excited about my quest to amass a pile of them.

I kicked off my hoarding by finding a lot on eBay for 35 copies of the card that set me back less than 22 cents each when all was said and done. Not bad!


So let me officially announce my intention of becoming a dumping ground for Marquis Grissom UD rookies. Because of postage rates, I won't necessarily jump at every trade offer for one. But definitely would be a nice addition to any trade package. And I might keep an eye on eBay for more cheap lots (less than a quarter per card, shipped).

Let's call this mini-collection Marquis Mania. I'm not really after other Grissom cards, but if I get them, I'll likely keep 'em anyways.

My dream is to have a full-sized binder filled with nothing but page after page of 1990 Upper Deck #9. I would look at it before bed, and like a toddler with a picturebook, blissfully drift off to sleep with a smile. ....zzzzz..zzz..zz

Monday, March 17, 2014

breaking my 1991 Topps Traded set

When I drastically slimmed down my collection a few years back, one of the few sets I held onto from my original collecting heyday was my 1991 Topps Traded factory set. I was a sucker for those USA cards of sure-bet future stars. What a great investment opportunity!

But these days the set is single-digits shipped on eBay. Swing and a miss as far as my cardboard retirement fund. But there are some cool cards in there. I figured I'd free it from its green confines and let these cards out into the world.

I picked out a dozen best/favorites I want to hang onto. Let's take a look at 'em.


I always though Bagwell was a fine looking gentleman, but damn this is an ugly card. Not quite out of his awkward phase when this photo was snapped, apparently. Still, it's a nice card to have. Jeff should eventually get himself into the Hall.


Aw, one of the several USA Team kids! Charles Johnson had himself a solid MLB career, featuring a few Gold Gloves, a couple All-Star selections, and a shining performance in the '97 World Series with Florida.


Cobra! Love Mr. Dave Parker. That's a big shirt and tight pants.. a combo you don't see much these days.


The only (kinda) still-active player in the set? I was never much of a Giambi fan, but even with the PED stuff, he's still a pretty likable fella.


Jeffery Hammonds had a few solid years.


There ya go. I haven't checked "book value" but I bet this is the top card in the set. Maybe neck-and-neck with Giambi (or should I say no-neck and no-neck?), a hair above Bagwell. If Pudge can juke the steroid allegations, he's headed to the Hall.


I've had a love/hate relationship with Luis Gonzalez since he came up, but you gotta respect those career numbers. But like his teammate Jeff Bagwell, sure was an ugly duckling when he was a rookie.. yikes!


Crime Dog! As a Padre! And not a super-common junk wax card! Love it.


Mo Vaughn. His nickname was Hit Dog, according to b-r? He's not related to Fred McGriff. But Charles Johnson is. Mo is related to Greg Vaughn, though. Had some great years in the 90s, but chronic knee injuries cut his career short.


The young man on this baseball card is in no way recognizable to the Phil Nevin I remember rooting for as a Friar, 1999-2005. I don't recall if he's been accused/admitted to juicing, but I'd be shocked to find out he was clean. Still, got himself a place in my heart as a bright spot on my team during a down stretch.


Hey, a horizontal card!.. and the only actual Hall of Famer in the lot. Unfortunately, his best years didn't come in San Diego, but was nice to see him succeed elsewhere.


Ok, yes, Garry Templeton was my favorite player for a while when I was a kid, but the real reason I'm drawn to the card is unrelated. Ya see, I've been watching The Wire lately-- yeah, a little late to the game-- and in this photo, Garry looks just like Stringer (Idris Elba), which I thought was pretty cool.


Good lookalike, right?

Ok, those are the destined-to-keep dozen from the set. Now, every card besides these is going to my trade stack. A couple Braves are on their way to Johnny's Trading Spot and a couple Astros are en route to Remember the Astrodome. If you need any other cards from the set, feel free to get in touch about a trade.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Parallel Universe: 2014 Heritage innovates and astounds

[Grandparental Advisory: These are obviously fake, photoshopped cards. Just some silliness. For fun.]

Now let's enter the Parallel Universe and take a look at some of the incredible parallels that are in store for us in the brand-new 2014 Heritage set.

Parachute-allel /25


These parallels are printed on combat-used U.S. military parachutes. Pretty bad-ass.

Heritage Farm cookie parallel /5


Heritage and Pepperidge Farm have combined forces to bring collectors the most delicious cards to date. Milano Rivera? Paul Goldfishcracker? They're all here! The only question is will these edible cards make it into your binder or your tummy?

Micro /25,000


Minis for today's generation! If you don't have a powerful microscope handy, you'll just have to take Topps' word for it, but each pack (allegedly) contains upwards of a dozen micros, each a tenth as wide as a human hair. And look for Atomic parallels, /5! (You won't find them! They're a very tough pull! And they're too small to see!)

So go out there are get you some 2014 Heritage, boys!

And we'll see you next time.. in.. the Parallel Universe!