A little Bush and some Big Hurt

Happy for Reggie Bush getting his Heisman back. Got a small PC going for him because he’s a "local kid" for me; went to a rival high school in my district a few years after I graduated. Some highlights of what I've got:

In other news, the one "random card" in my COMC order (ie, not for a specific hobby project but just because I thought it was cool) was this die-cut Frank Thomas:

This was an example of "music on cards" I didn't have, and yeah I thought it was cool.

Frank Thomas CD collection is now up to a robust 2.25 discs. Actually that die-cut isn't quite a quarter of a CD. And they had to fudge the size:

Here lined up with a standard-sized CD.

In more Frank Thomas content, my rotating cardroom display is currently featuring my variety of his 1990 Topps card. Nothing here cost me over a buck! I don't have an original NNOF, but I do have the 2010 Topps "Cards Your Mom Threw Out" reprint in both standard and tough original back variation (...lucky cardshow finds).

But technically the rarest of the cards in this display is the "white border" card that no one else has:

Yeah ok, so it's just "cardart" I made by bleaching the borders for a year or two, and so therefore no "value" there, but I love it and consider it one of my top Big Hurt cards.

Here's another shot in late-afternoon sun where you can really check out the texture of the card. It's a little sloppy around the inner border, but man, it was a big sense of accomplishment when I finally got the last of the gnarly 90s border to finally disappear.  One could make a case that this is also a "partial NNOF" because of the "M" imperfection. LOL. 

Thanks for reading and follow your dreams.

more moldy oldies

Geena Davis here is taken out of context from an old SNL skit I saw the other day, but I figured it'd make for a quirky intro to another post documenting my quest to build a run of Topps flagship from the 70s.

GCA kindly thought of me while at a recent card show and sent more help with the back end of 1972 Topps, still considered my top priority as far as trading goes. Now that's the kind of PWE I like to see. Much appreciated, my friend! I was already in his debt before this, but I've got a solid return shaping up to square things shortly.

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Next up is a package from another long-time blogger bud, Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life. He's one of the most solid traders I've had the pleasure to deal with, and it's so refreshing that condition means nothing to him. Sadly after so many swaps with him over the years, since I don't rip product or hit the card show anymore, I really have to scrape around my collection a while to find anything else to trade him. But luckily this time I was able to sort out some dupes for him from my old Kellogg's setbuilds, plus I had a few vintage Japanese cards in my Mike Reinbach PC that I ended up with dupes of, so that all added up to a respectable return for a healthy stack of vintage needs Bo was anxious to pull for me, with the understanding that my standards for condition have lowered considerably. Yeah, really at this point in my life, I'm just looking for the satisfying closure of completing some sets. I'm not concerned about their value and I don't plan to ever sell them, and honestly I'm at the age where I could drop dead of a heart attack or whatever any day, so time's a-waistin'! That Johnny Bench card seems like it spent at least one recess period in some kid's pocket, but yeah, if that's the Johnny Bench card in my '77 Topps set, so be it. My set was at 46% complete, but thanks to this fat stack from Bo (with some of the bigger names on top), I'm now up to 65%. Not bad. Thanks again, Bo!

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Just got in my latest COMC order yesterday in that I placed near the end of January, so I'm excited to finally get that stuff in. Really shows you how I rely mostly on trades for setbuilding because there were zero vintage setbuilders in the order. I probably should start shopping around more to get serious about finishing off more sets, but seems I'm always busy searching for other cards online. I'll try to post about more from that order soon, but here's a couple vintage PC needs I picked up..

A couple more mid-70s Mike Reinbach cards from Japan, both featuring a powerful swing. I still need a bunch his Calbee cards, but they seem to pop up a lot more often these days. Back when I first started collecting him, they were few and far between, but now there's always an assortment on COMC. I've been known to upgrade cards I already own if the price is right (and that's how I ended up with the dupes to send Bo). These were needs, not upgrades, though, and this pair is in really nice condition. Like, I thought these cards were originally distributed in bags of chips? Somebody took good care of them.

Anyways, that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.