Mike Reinbach apocalypse (The Reinbachalypse)

One of my favorite lesser-known guys to collect, Mike Reinbach was the first person from my high school to play in the major leagues. After a brief debut stint with the Orioles in 1974, he'd go on to become a star in Japan. Last November, in my big post setting his story straight, I was lamenting the fact that I had been collecting his cards pretty aggressively for a couple years and I owned none of his many Japanese Calbee cards, nor had ever even seen one for sale besides on Japanese Yahoo Auctions, which I couldn't order from because I don't read/write Japanese.

Well, the universe is funny sometimes, and on the very day I posted that, a Reinbach Calbee card finally popped up on eBay. The flood gates were cracked open a bit after that, and I ended up picking up 3 additional cards on top of the first one that appeared.

Recently, I won a couple other auctions for Reinbach cards, adding 4 (well, 3) more cards to the PC.

The card on the lower left is actually a dupe for me, as it's another copy of the first Calbee card I won last year. This one is an upgrade, though, so that's cool.

Here's the checklist I'm working off on my way to being a Mike Reinbach supercollector:

x 1973-74 Venezuelan Stickers #104 Mike Reinbach 104
x 1975 International League All-Stars TCMA #5 Mike Reinbach 5 (more info)
x 1975-76 Calbee #608 Mike Reinbach 608
x 1975-76 Calbee #659 Mike Reinbach 659
o 1975-76 Calbee #705 Mike Reinbach 705
x 1975-76 Calbee #734 Mike Reinbach 734
x 1975-76 Calbee #784 Mike Reinbach 784
o 1975-76 Calbee #831 Mike Reinbach 831
o 1975-76 Calbee #966 Mike Reinbach 966
x 1975-76 Calbee #980 Mike Reinbach 980
x 1975-76 Calbee #1040 Mike Reinbach 1040
x 1975-76 Calbee #1076 Mike Reinbach 1076
x 1975-76 Calbee #1116 Mike Reinbach 1116
o 1975-76 Calbee #1146 Mike Reinbach 1146
o 1975-76 Calbee #1219 Mike Reinbach 1219
o 1977 Calbee #46 Mike Reinbach 46
o 1977 Calbee 200 Home Run Cards #1 Mike Reinbach 1
o 1977 Calbee 200 Home Run Cards #14 Mike Reinbach/Hal Breeden 14
o 1977 Calbee 200 Home Run Cards #22 Mike Reinbach 22
o 1977 Calbee 200 Home Run Cards #36 Mike Reinbach 36
o 1977 Calbee Osaka Series #26 Mike Reinbach 26
o 1977 Calbee Osaka Series #60 Mike Reinbach 60
o 1977 Calbee Osaka Series #87 Mike Reinbach 87
o 1977 Calbee Osaka Series #103 Mike Reinbach 103
o 1977 Calbee Osaka Series #111 Mike Reinbach 111
o 1977 Calbee Pro Series #56 Mike Reinbach 56
o 1977 Calbee Pro Series #178 Mike Reinbach 178
o 1977 Calbee Pro Series #190 Mike Reinbach 190
o 1977 Calbee Pro Series #250 Mike Reinbach 250
o 1977 NST Mr. Baseball #57 Mike Reinbach 57
o 1979 Calbee April-June Central League Stars #OF6 Mike Reinbach OF6
o 1979 Calbee August Best Series #19 Mike Reinbach 19
x 1979 Calbee July Best Series #23 Mike Reinbach 23
o 1979 Calbee May Best Series #21 Mike Reinbach 21
o 1979 Calbee October Best Series #11 Mike Reinbach 11
o 1979 Takara Hanshin Tigers #40 Mike Reinbach 40
x 1979 TCMA Japanese Pro Baseball #81 Mike Reinbach 81
o 1980 Calbee Large #26 Mike Reinbach 26
o 1980 Calbee Large #85 Mike Reinbach 85
o 1980 Calbee Small #85 Mike Reinbach 85
o 1980 Calbee Small #145 Mike Reinbach 145
o 1980 Calbee Small #170 Mike Reinbach 170
o 1980 Calbee Small #281 Mike Reinbach 281
o 1980 Takara Hanshin Tigers #40 Mike Reinbach 40
x 1991 Orioles Crown #376 Mike Reinbach 376
o 2013 BBM Tigers Legends #84 Mike Reinbach 84
x 2014 Topps Vault 1973 Color Negative Mike Reinbach

(x - acquired since originally publishing this post)

Still a long way to go, but hey, I've more than doubled the number of Reinbach cards in my collection over the past 4 months!

In addition to real cards, I've supplemented the PC with a few hardcopy customs. I've previously showed off cards-that-never-were from 1976 Topps and 1981 Donruss. After that post, Mike's ex-sister-in-law thanked me for it, and was kind enough to dig up a few rare pictures from Mike's minor league days to share with me. Naturally I used them to make more customs!

Mike played for the Miami Marlins in 1970 back when they were an Orioles affiliate. I'm pretty happy with how this card turned out!

This photo makes for a nice 1971 Topps card. There was some open space on the right, so I threw a Topps All-Star Rookie trophy in there for kicks. The back features a photo taken from a 1973 Rochester Red Wings team photo.. So that's fudging things a little, but it works. I also forgot to change the text to "Minor league batting record" but I'll likely leave that as an UER rather than redo it.

After that other post, Mike's son Brian was nice enough to comment and say thanks. Now I'm Facebook friends with him and if I bug him, he might help me get in touch with another big Reinbach collector who may be able to help me land a few more cards I need.

So yeah, cool stuff like this really makes blogging extra awesome. Not just all the trading and making online buddies who share your love of the hobby, but occasionally you might even get praise and help from the family of a deceased player you collect! Very cool.