Incomings and Outgoings

Got some incoming cards to round up into a post.

I did a quick swap of unofficial cards with reader David B. who fancied a copy of the Willie Stargell - Braves custom I made recently. In return, I got this pair of old school customs somebody made circa 1970. David didn't have a ton of background into on them, but he had bought a larger lot with several of them on eBay in 2021. The person who originally made them must've gotten pictures from a periodical or book, affixing them onto cardboard and turning them into cards, or close enough. They're just a hair too big to fit in a standard top-loader.

Looks they had been intended to have stats on the back, but the data entry must've ended up being too tedious-- you couldn't just copy & paste back then-- so that section got a purple overhaul instead. But yeah, happy to spice up my Wampum and Hoot PCs with these.

Thanks for the trade, David! Fun stuff.

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I fielded my first trade request on TCDB in quite a while, which is mostly my fault because I haven't added squat to my FT/FS cards there in a long time. But apparently I had a few '72 Topps on there (that I had forgotten about-- in fact I've got a couple different '72 "starter lots" from my dupes that I've been meaning to put on eBay), and a friendly guy with the username aint56cool needed one, offering this pair of 1970 Topps. I gotta admit I haven't been tracking my '70 setbuild on TCDB, I just blanketly added all the semi/high numbers to my wants a couple years back since I needed most of them. And I did in fact need these two. Now just 310 cards left to go. Maybe by the time my retirement benefits kick in, assuming I live that long, I can use that 401k to finance landing a Nolan Ryan and Johnny Bench. lol

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Next up is a surprise mailing I received from Japan.

Imported fresh! Love the early Darvish, and always down for an attractive lady on a trading card.

Zippy Zappy didn't include a note this time, but I'm assuming these were some leftover stragglers from the tail end of his through-the-mail autograph acquiring activity, with his budding Rockies fandom apparent with his lot of fellas. You may recall ZZ decided to tighten up his collection a while back before escaping America, jettisoning his non-personalized TTM returns, much of which has been entrusted to me. Happy to add these to the hoard.

Thanks as always, Zippy!

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Ok, those were the "incomings", now for the "outgoings".

The Mark Fidrych Memorial Bird Feeder (a.k.a. The Bird Birdfeeder) has closed for the time being after about 2 years serving neighborhood feathered friends. Squirrels had occasionally been a nuisance in the feeder, but a recent late night rat sighting forced the closure, as I don't want to be supporting unwanted rodents on my property. I'm hoping to "reopen the restaurant" at some point, perhaps in a different spot. Anyways, the above card was the featured entertainment for the birds to enjoy while they ate. It's faded in the sun somewhat, but there's still some yellow hanging on.

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Sad to hear Val Kilmer passed away the other day, though I know his health had been in the toilet for the past several years. He did a lot of great work, from his early quirky films to the big-budget stuff. I watched his documentary a couple years back and he really was a fascinating dude. Anyways, this above Ginter auto is a cherished piece of my collection, scored in a blogger trade back in 2016. (Bubba, are you still out there?)

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Now an update on my "latest art drop".. the silhouette cards from my previous post. Happy to report I sold out the Rickey Henderson cards within 48 hours! Interest was not nearly as robust with the other two featured athletes, however. So far I've moved just one Bo Jackson and zero Jordans.. kinda surprising to me, as I think they're super cool, but that's just how it goes sometimes. (Update: just sold 4 more Bo cards to one guy but don't feel like rewriting this paragraph.) Both Jordan listings had a weird thing where the listing didn't show up on the site until a day later, despite showing as active on my end. Not sure if that was a technical hiccup, or if perhaps listings mentioning 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan have a higher rate of getting flagged for moderation since counterfeits are so rampant with that card. But anyways, they're available now and we'll see if folks eventually start coming around to them. 

But my takeaway is that the market for Rickey cardart/custom stuff is strong, which is cool with me. I already had more Rickey stuff in the works anyways, so I'll continue that route, and spend less time on making new Bo and Jordan cards. (I also have plans for more subjects-- already made a Tim Flannery '88 Fleer silhouette card for Rod, plus a few Barry Bonds ideas for my guy who buys most Bonds cardart I whip up. [Though he passed on the pair of Christmas tree ornament cards. Maybe he doesn't celebrate? Fair enough!])

Also, the glowing cards did well-- they seemed to be among the quickest Rickeys to go, and the first Bo sale was a glower-- so I'll likely focus on more g.i.t.d. cards, which are my personal favorite anyway.

In fact, here's a sneak peek of my latest finished item with the lights out...

I'm still coming up with new ideas, as well as sitting on some good ideas that have been brewing on the backburner for years, so even if you don't dig the silhouette vibe, your boy Gav has more tricks up his sleeve, don't you fret. Thanks for following along!

70s progression

I think it was around 2017 when I decided I'd make a run at completing all the Topps flagship sets from the decade of the 70s. Part of my motivation for this was to really open up my wantlist and facilitate trading back when the blogs were boppin'. But then that all slowed down plus the covid boom bumped up vintage prices, and so the "last updated" dates on my setbuild spreadsheets haven't been getting updated as frequently in recent years. But I keep up with them in a "slow and steady wins the race" outlook.

It had been years since I traded with Scott Crawford, and it took us a few months of rounding up cards and dealing with distractions, but we were finally able to swap some cards. Scott stuck to the 70s and helped me sweep the cobwebs from many of those wantlists of mine.

Some popular dudes in the mix here. My 1970 Topps setbuild is up past 55% complete now, though it'd be foolish of me to consider myself over halfway done, as I don't have much out of the biggest cards and high numbers. But yeah, I love to get whatever I can via trades in sort of putting in me a good position for when I'm eventually ready to start targeting a Ryan and Bench down the line. But yeah, I have no doubt that 1970 will be the last Topps set of the decade I finish (if I even ever do), since I've already completed '71 and '73, my '72 set is entering the high number home stretch, and '74-up aren't too tough thanks to being all one series.

My 1975 Topps is tantalizingly close to 90% complete now (89.24%), with 71 cards missing. Some fuzzy corners here, but still happy to add them-- especially stoked to see the Mantle/Aaron when thumbing through the stack. Maybe they'll get upgraded someday, maybe not. Seems the older I get, the less concerned about condition I become. Not like I'm planning on ever selling the set when I finish it, I just want to be able to say I've got a complete set of 1975 Topps. Maybe I'll make a push here in 2024, since it'd be kinda cool to complete it during its "Topps Heritage tribute" year.

Even with this robust lot from Scott, I'm still under halfway with 1976 Topps. Not long ago I nearly tried to negotiate for a complete set from another trader dude who broached its availability to me, though that didn't make it into our finalized deal. But yeah, '76 Topps seems like a set that would make sense to get at once as a set since there aren't much in the way of "big money" cards in there jacking up the price. But for now, I'll keep chipping away at it the classic way.

Similar to '76, my '77 Topps setbuild hasn't quite hit the midway point, but keeps chugging along.

Here we go! 1978 Topps is rounding the corner now, with just 18 cards left (97.52% complete). I should try to scoop up those last few cards sometime soon. Already got the big ones.

Thanks so much, Scott! I really appreciate the cards!

- -o

Tacking onto this trade post a combined shipping eBay order I got in this week that also contained a couple 70s needs.

Here are some old cards of white guys looking off to their right. Roger Craig is the first '57 I've added in a while. Just 79 cards remaining there, but I've been at it for about a decade now. Hey, I might complete it someday.

The Yaz refractor was the card that spurred the purchase. I'm ga-ga about All-Time Fan Favorites refractors (/299) and will snatch them up at the right price-- even if I already have them! A lot of sellers ask a lot for them, even commons, but once in a while a nice star pops up cheap. I don't often blog about them as they come in, but going after the full run of all 442 ATFF refractors is a hobby priority of mine these days and I expect that project to be completed before 1970 Topps, for what it's worth. I also love the shiny Killebrew I found while looking through the seller's other items. It's from 2004 Upper Deck Diamond Collection.

A couple serial-numbered cards of future Hall of Famers. I don't really PC Verlander, but the purple sonar refractor called to me, not having seen that style of shiny card in-hand. Not that I want to encourage the endless amount of parallels these days, but it looks pretty cool. My wife has mentioned having a mild celebrity crush on Justin, so I might display it on the fridge in a magnetic-backed top-loader for her to also enjoy. For the record, I've never been into the swinger scene (despite having a buddy into that during my 20s), but Mrs. Verlander could probably convince me to at least consider it. lol

Finally, I don't go after basketball cards often, but this 1995-96 Finest refractor wasn't listed (priced) as being a refractor, so I grabbed it for just a buck while amassing 8 cards to get the seller's promo special shipping deal. (Basically felt like I was buying the Yaz and getting a few bonus cards thrown in.) Gheorghe Mureșan is a player I recognize because he did that movie with Billy Crystal. I like how the protector film text isn't covering any skin, otherwise I'd be more inclined to peel it.

That'll do it for today. Thanks for reading.

February's incoming cards

I've got a big ol' lot of cards in transit from Bo at Baseball Cards Come to Life which will likely take some effort to sort and post about, so let's clear the backlog of cards from the cardsphere that've made their way through the winter weather to my mail slot this past month.

My trade bait page facilitated another easy swap with a friend of the blog. This time it was mr haverkamp who took a shot at the Mike Schmidt auto I had available, hooking me up with some great vintage needs in return.

Home Run King, Hank Aaron! Very happy to knock this big one off the '72 wantlist.

Plenty of familiar faces on these league leader cards.

Along with these other glorious additions, I've scratched my way up to 83% complete with 1972 Topps.

Also some good stuff for my 1970 Topps setbuild. Still barely over halfway through there, but slowly chipping away. It's not his pricey high-number base card, but that NL playoff highlight card features Nolan Ryan.. so that's neat.

I thought I had completed a basic set of 1974 Topps late last year, but as often happens, when I actually went through it, seems gremlins had run off with a few of the cards, including a consecutive run of postseason cards that I must've inadvertently missorted elsewhere. Plus there was a missing base card, #539 Lloyd Allen, which is now atop my reasonable desperate double dozen sidebar wantlist. But yeah, glad to re-acquire this above pair, including the final card from Willie Mays' playing career.

Thanks for the trade, Jim!

-    -   -  - o

A lucky comment left at Johnny's Trading Spot won me a PWE of Padres.

Some recent Topps Holiday cards. I appreciate John giving me a heads up that the Soto is a variation ("Santa belt"), as I probably would've missed it otherwise.

Vintage HOFers to balance out the PWE.

Thanks, John!

-   -  - - --o

Last up today is a surprise PWE from the illustrious Night Owl celebrating the return of baseball being played.

Another fun Holiday variation here, with Manny Machado's Santa cap being hard to miss. Fingers crossed he remains productive throughout that huge contract the team gave him.

Speaking of current happenings in the game, he's not included in this group, but a Dodger and a young player named Gavin makes me think of Gavin Lux. Poor guy just wrecked his knee in spring training and will miss all of 2023. Ouch! :( Such a bummer. Wishing the best to Mr. Lux on his recovery and Mr. Owl on a solid Dodgers season, though of course I'm rooting for San Diego, hoping the Padres can at least win it once in my lifetime. That's all I ask.. just once, damn it!

Everyone knows that Night Owl loves '75 Topps, so receiving any of those from him feels kinda special. The impressive trio above takes me to 86.82% complete-- or round that up to 87%-- with 87 cards left to track down, funny enough. (Everyone knows that Night Owl hates '87 Topps.)

Big thanks, Greg!

That'll do it for this post. Thanks for stopping by.

Half completed sets abound + Refractor Friday #7 Tony Gwynn Hall Bound

This was supposed to be a midweek trade recap post but I wasn't able to get to it until today, so we'll throw the Refractor Friday stuff on the end.

So Johnny's Trading Spot had a post a couple weeks ago about a vintage trade he did with his Old Card Traders buddy Bob D. Since I'm always jonesing for vintage setbuilding help, I checked out Bob's wantlist and was able to find some stuff for him before sending an email feeling out a trade. I was hoping he had a few '72 high numbers to spare, and though he wasn't able to find any of my needed late-season psychedelic tombstones, he was able to find a stack of 1970 Topps needs and upgrades from my list. Gaylord Perry has some surface wear and a pinhole, but as a semi-high number, he's welcomed into my build with outstretched arms. As far as old sets I'm working on, priority-wise '70 clocks in under '72, '57, and '64 for me, but it's still a multi-series vintage Topps set I'd love to complete someday, ultimately trying for a run of flagship Topps encompassing the 70s and 80s.

-o-

That lot from Bob took me to 49+% complete with 1970, just 1 card shy of the midway point. I knew I had to make a push at getting over the line, and turned to my PCs to try to dig up a needed card.

I found a 1970 All-Star in my Rod Carew PC and loaned it out to the setbuild, officially taking me to over the hump. Of course I'm not actually "halfway done" yet since the majority of what I have are low numbers, and the high numbers are much more work to track down. But the bottom line is my "haves" are now more plentiful than my "needs" for 1970 Topps, so that's something to smile about

-o-

And hey, on that subject...

Got a nice package of cards from Fuji last week that included a bunch of 1979 and 1983 Kellogg's, taking both those back-burning oddball setbuilds over the 50% hump, too. The Canseco brings me to just 5 commons away from completing the '88 Fleer base set. (I think GCA's buddy Stuart said he could finish it off for me? Let's hope he comes through!)

Some PC additions here, including a Bruce Bochy sunset/final tribute from '88 Score I'd been wanting for a while. He spent all of 1988 in Triple A as a player/coach, the beginnings of his prominent managerial career.

Excited to be a recipient of one of Fuji's new blogger cards! Love it.

Thanks, man! I've got a little something to hit you back with soon.

-o-

Fuji deciding to send me a package must've gotten karma on his side, because his guess at last week's Harmon Killebrew refractor's serial number being 134/299 was right on the money. Congrats! Let me know if you see anything in the prize pool that you could use and I'll add it to that next mailing I send your way.

As a little extra bonus for Fuji, I figured I'd pick our favorite Padre to feature for Friday's refractor this week.

Refractor Friday #7 - Tony Gwynn 1998 Topps Chrome Hall Bound refractor

I don't remember what pushed me down the rabbit hole, but I probably saw one of these Hall Bound die-cut inserts on another blog, thought to myself, "yes, I'd really like one of those (specifically a refractor one)," and poked around the usual places until I found a decent deal on one I liked. I ended up with a slabbed Gwynn for roughly what they go for raw. PSA 6 is bad for a modern card, but looks great to me. Maybe the print line on the right knocked it down a little but all the way to a 6? Maybe the PSA person found something else bad under their microscope or whatever. But yeah, no complaints from me. I'll keep it slabbed for now since I'll bet even those of you who are firmly anti-grading can still appreciate not having to worry about those die-cut points getting knocked or caught. (Mr. Padre is my largest PC, and this is only my second graded card of his, pretty sure.)

Regardless, it's a fine specimen of refractive Chrome technology, wouldn't you agree?

Time to finish off with another little contest. Back to the autograph Fuji gave me of himself... It's hand-numbered out of 30 on the back. Be the first in the comments below to correctly guess which number it is and you can win a PWE of a few cards from my prize pool. For a hint, it's less than Tony's jersey number.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend, everybody.

Backtracking with 1982 Topps (because I'm a dummy)

I completed the 1982 Topps set back in 2018. But then I stored the set away in a longbox with the Cal placed on top in a rigid plastic case to keep it extra safe (been in there basically since pulling it from a pack as a kid). And then I also put my slabbed Traded '82 Cal in there too. This turned out to be a mistake; when the box was closed, Cal's cases dug into some of the cards beneath them. I assumed it was one of those boxes that had some breathing room above the cards, but no, it was one of those boxes without much space between the cards and the top of the box.

So now I've got a few cards from my '82 Topps set that find themselves in the condition of "upgrade would be nice" thanks to ground up edges on that one side facing the top of the box. I feel like a fool, but at least it was just '82 Topps, a set of cards that-- Ripken rookie notwithstanding-- are generally ubiquitous and inexpensive, and it could have been worse, as most of the damaged cards were commons.

I say "most" because HOFer Carlton Fisk looks like he had himself a bit of a home plate collision.

Not like the card is completely ruined, but for a flagship 80s set, that's gonna bug me.

If anyone has some sharp '82 Topps singles available and would like to help me out with a friendly trade, here are the cards I would like to upgrade:

61 Tommy Boggs
63 Mario Soto
110 Carlton Fisk
285 Sparky Lyle
336 Mariners CL
645 Frank White

There were a few more with very minor damage, but these 6 are the only ones bad enough for me to worry about. Lesson learned: don't store encased cards in a box of cards like that.

While we're on the topic of 1982 Topps, check out this shiny pair...

Topps did a little run of Cards That Never Were back in 2007, and a few of them got the refractor treatment through eTopps. I just fell in love with them a few months back and have been working on the set. Expect another post on that once I collect 'em all. But anyways, yeah, these are a couple cool cards that could have been. I'm a little sour at Topps for leaving out the other of the Big Three rookies from '83 Topps: my guy Tony Gwynn. But oh well.

They did a decent job making "real" backs too, which I greatly appreciate. To nitpick, the numbering implies the cards are from 1982 Topps Traded... but the Traded backs were red in '82, not green like the base set. And Sandberg wouldn't have been in the Traded set as a Phillie since he started the year in Chicago.. so this card would make more sense in the '82 base set since he got a cup of coffee in Philadelphia at the end of the '81 season. Also, why does the cartoon say his nickname was Ryno? When did it stop being Ryno?!

As for the Boggs, the mention of his 3000th hit is *looks up a big word* anachronistic. As a custom cardmaker, I try to avoid that kind of stuff when making a "card that never was" type of dealy. 

But otherwise, yeah, neat cards!

From the same seller I got the Boggs from, I also got this baby Bill Buckner rookie for my 1970 Topps setbuild. Pretty good snag at just 99¢ and no additional S&H. I've still got a long way to go with that set, but feels good to keep chipping away at it.

That's all for today. Thanks for reading.

Maybe the last Incoming Cardboard Post before the move

Time for another Incoming Cardboard Post (or ICP, as my ninjas call it) showing off cards that've made their way to me since I last did one of these, that weren't purchases and didn't already get their own post.

Two or 3 weeks ago I was showing off the 1970 Topps Willie Mays that Daniel surprised me with, and a friendly Twitter guy named Todd at @Bookman30022 saw that and offered up a Rod Carew if I needed it, and I happily took him up on the offer, with the sweet Batting Leaders card getting in on the action too. Not wanting to be too big of a mooch, I was able to get him to share his wantlists with me so I could send him a thank-you. Thanks again, Todd!

Mr. Carew turns 75 today, assuming I get this post published by the end of the day here on the west coast.

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I called dibs on this 1963 Fleer Jim Kaat that Jon graciously offered up for an anniversary giveaway event at A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts. I dig this vintage kinda-oddball set and don't have many cards from it. A welcomed addition to my Kaat PC. I'm gonna post that one song I like again in celebration.

Thanks, Jon! Very nice of you. Keep up the great work on your blog!

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Here's a big trade I did with reader Oren V. a couple weeks back.

The key card coming my way in the deal was this Kris Bryant RC black parallel #'d /64. It's not his base rookie (#616), but still, this All-Star Game rookie from 2015 Topps Update is pretty nice. Sparkles had a down, injury-plagued 2020, but he's still in his 20s and will most likely bounce back to being one of the best in the game. That said, I feel like my PC of his has achieved "good" status now with the addition of this low-numbered rookie, and have now "retired" him off my main wantlist.

Here are a pair of solid players that I've missed in MLB this season-type-thing of 2020. Puig couldn't quite escape free agency, while Jones had a just-ok season in Osaka. Gotta mention that the red Puig is numbered 1/50.

A couple parallels of dudes I collect round out the package. Right on. Kershaw just threw a postseason gem.. good for him. (Still rooting against the Dodgers, though.)

Thanks for the great first trade, Oren! Hope to do it again sometime.

- - ---o

Last one for today...

Padres, baby! Won a postseason game for the first time in a long time tonight. With recent injuries decimating the starting rotation, they're probably not going to get too far, but they're getting their cuts in! I hope to witness a whole bunch more quality seasons from Fernando Tatis, Jr. He's a real fun player and really good.

The fella from Once A Cub pulled this Topps Now parallel numbered 12/25 and thought of me. Aw yeah! He kindly let me dig up a few Cubs cards to send his way for it. A Christmas Card of a top tier PC guy of mine? A double-bullseye, as I say. Don't get much better than that!

Thanks again, man! Big hit for my collection.

And thanks again to everybody who's brightened my day with cards recently.

Heads up to my trader-buddies that I'm moving around the middle of October. I'll likely send out a mass email to my frequent trade partners with the new address once I'm good to go in the new house.

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Black Gold Rush (big trade recap)

I passed on going to the monthly card show today for a few reasons-- weather was crappy, I already had family lunch plans, it's December and the show is in a mall, and plus I've added a ton of new cards in the past couple weeks thanks to generous trade partners, so that's not a bad card show stand-in. In the interest of time, I'm just going to briefly run through these incoming card packages, though each of them could fill a post to themselves without much trouble.

First up is the latest bunch of cards from Bo.

Great lot of '75 Topps! This setbuild is coming along nicely. Hopefully knock it out in 2020.

Early 90s black gold! (There will be a lot of cards like this in this post, hence the title.)

When I put UD hologram Padres stickers on my wantlist a few years ago, I figured I'd be swimming in them before long. But nope, this is the first one I've ever received in trade, as far as I recall! I've got a Yeti ready for this to be affixed to.

PC needs!

Thanks again for the trade, Bo!

-    -  -- -o

Next up is another package from friend of the blog, Larry P.

Some big name black gold!

More for my "early 90s black gold" collecting project, plus a welcome need for my neglected '84 Donruss setbuild.

Thanks a lot, Larry! Much appreciated!

- - - ---o

And a quick trade with TCDB user jrberus...

..hooking me up with a few more Team 2000 black gold needs. When I eventually complete this insert set I'll have to do a post taking a look at which of these guys actually made it to the year 2000 as an active player. Same with the Team 2001 cards from the next year.

-  - ----o

Mr. Haverkamp dropped a PWE on me with some black gold cards, too.

Dig the "Winner D" pack still in its original packaging. Pretty cool.
Thanks, Jim! I'll send you back something soon.

- - - ----o

Next is my first trade with Bob, who just recently joined the cardsphere with his new blog The Best Bubble.

The black gold lovefest continues with an impressive batch of '92 Leaf golds.

More for the black gold project, including what I'm assuming is the highest "booking" '93 Topps Black Gold card.

Thanks to this and some of the other of the trade packages covered in this post, I've now completed the Leaf Gold Rookies inserts for both 1991 and 1992! I was in awe of those cards as a kid on the rare occasion I was lucky enough to pull one (and still get a big kick out of them as an adult), so that's a pretty cool accomplishment. I should do a post or two spotlighting them in the future. Still looking for some upgrades as well as dupes for PCs. My black gold wants spreadsheet can be found here.

- - - -----o

Lastly for today is a package from first-time trade partner Kyle in NJ. He got in touch with a nice email saying he likes my blog and had some cards to send my way. Always love to hear that!

Good stuff here! My 1992 Leaf Black Gold set is now at 27.27% complete. Still a ways to go, but a pretty good start after only embarking on the quest a few weeks ago.

Some more black gold variety.

Some PC additions too.

Christmas Card! Tyler Glasnow pitched very well for the Rays in 2019, though injuries limited his time on the mound.

Big finish with some impressive 1970 Topps needs and upgrades. Lou Brock in front of the batting cage is awesome.

And let's go out with a BOOM in the form of this beautiful Bob Gibson, a semi-high-number at #530.

Thanks a lot, Kyle! Great stuff. I hope to get a respectable return out to you this coming week.


Thanks again to everybody who's sent me cards, and thanks for reading.