Home Displays

With many of us cooped up at home waiting for the coronavirus stuff to shake out, there's been some trends on social media with collectors sharing favorite parts of their collection.

I figured I'd do a post of the baseball/cards displays I've got up around the house.

Under our stockpile of wrapping paper and empty gift boxes, I've got some displays down in the basement in the little room with my drum set (I'm not much of a drummer, but I like to pound away for a few minutes from time to time). This Ken Caminiti display helps remind me of the glorious years 1996 and 1998 when the Padres were actually good. Also reminds me to not do hard drugs. Or steroids, unless prescribed by a licensed doctor.

The signed ball and wood plaque I got together for $5 at a card show a couple years back. Swapped out the Astros base card that came with it for the Donruss autograph. The jumbo Zenith dufex makes for a nice backdrop.

A couple of you readers might remember back when I did a post or two about making card stands out of LEGO? Well, I've got only one in use at the moment, and it's with this Julio Franco auto from '96 Leaf Signatures.

Might not look like much, but I love this Dave Winfield display. The signed postcard came from my close childhood buddy Chris who had been in little league with Dave's son a couple years earlier and got the autograph in-person. The '74 Topps rookie might be the 1st card I bought as an adult after leaving the hobby years earlier.

This one is in a part of the basement without good lighting, so it's a blurry photo. But that's a signed Steve Garvey flat along with a selection of Topps/OPC cards. This one came to me from the generous Padrographs Rod. He said he got the signature in person, and that Garvey said it was an unused shot for a bank ad or something along those lines. I have a lingering intention to perhaps swap out some of the cards someday, giving it more of a personal touch for me, but I've yet to bother getting around to it.

Another blurry one. This is the "1988 WS Game 1" display I've got. Bought it on eBay with the Kirk Gibson signed whatever-you-call-it ("Gateway cachet") on the top. The cards were originally 2004 Topps Retired autos, but I've since swapped them out with different cards of the same players. Posted about it back in the early days of this blog.

Another blurry basement one. We've got green LED Christmas lights up down there, which explains the green tint on this wooden plaque containing a signed Reggie Jackson 8x10. Got this for Christmas one year as a kid circa 1991.

Here's where I took a break to ride my bike to the post office to drop a couple things in the mail. My first time being out in the world since Thursday. Nice to get some fresh air, I suppose. First time I've ridden my bike in probably 3 or 4 years.

For the curious, here's my drum set. Above that...

Mystery Science Theater 3000 autograph display I put together recently. I need to do a real post on this at some point.

I recently started putting together a Glow-In-The-Dark Stuff shelf. Still plenty of stuff to add, but here are a few things. I envision this being chock-full of glowing stuff. Everything pictured here glows, at least in one little part of it. We will likely be moving soon, so the shelf may never achieve its promised greatness. Hopefully the next place has a similar shelf I can use for this idea.

Here it is glowing.

Here's a selection of wall in my card room with some cool stuff on display. My wife did the dog drawing to celebrate once when Annie got a bath.

Another corner of the room features my Goonies display, a Dick Allen white whale, and my framed Carrie Fisher TTM return.

Little Rod Beck frame.

This isn't baseball/card related, but here's a framed Decemberists gig poster I grabbed from the Casbah after their show there 4/6/04.

Guess that's about it as far as stuff on display in my house that anyone might care to see.

Thanks for reading and I hope you're all doing ok during this developing crisis!

Imagined cards that don't exist and ignoring cards that do

More cards from my recent COMC shipment.

I love these "What If?" cards-that-never-were from 2002 Donruss Originals. They imagine if Donruss was putting out current baseball cards in the years prior to their debut in 1981. You can see Reggie is in the dreamt up '80 Donruss design, while Brock and McCovey give you an idea of what '78 Donruss might've looked like. The Lou Brock photo is particularly awesome.

They even have imagineered backs with stats that would have been current for those years' cards. Too bad these things were tough pulls and often run a few buck each, as I would love to put this insert set together someday. If anyone happens to have any of these available, I'd be interested in talking trade. Looks like there are 27 cards in the '78 design, 25 cards in the '80 design, and 23 "What If?" "The Rookies" cards using all even-year designs from Donruss cards of the 80s. Typing up this post made me want to go look for more, and yep, my next COMC order has been started now.

I bought a complete 1976 SSPC set a few months back, but it had a couple cards with creased corners in it. These upgrades take care of that. The dudes are Buzz Capra and Dick Sisler, if you're wondering.

I also picked up a few cards for my '57 Topps setbuild. I'm now scratching at nearly 3/4 complete (74.1%).. and if I give up going after the unnumbered checklists and contest card inserts (all far more expensive than my desire for them would justify-- seriously like $200 for an unmarked checklist!) and only go after the 407-card base set-- as I'm leaning toward doing-- then I suppose I'm over 75% complete now.
[...]
Ok, I've made it official and adjusted my wantlist removing the checklists and contest cards from my completion formula (plus one minor printing error card I had on the list). Woo! Thanks to the new math, I'm now up to 75.68% complete (308 out of 407 cards).. That's good for 2 milestones: 3⁄4 complete, and down into double-digits with cards-remaining (99). I'll just treat those other cards as extraneous inserts, much like I did with the creepy embossed inserts when I was building my 1965 Topps set, and ignore them. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments, as I'd be curious what other collector's think. I suppose it's the difference between a "base set" and a "master set".

Jumping to the 90s now, I realized I didn't have many '92 Bowman cards in my collection, and so I snagged a couple cheap guys I collect.

And another Julio Franco need... 1990 Topps Top Active Career Batting Leaders. Last month I got a Rickey from this this neat set from SCC, and ended up looking for others I could use from COMC at a good price, pulling the trigger on Julio here. And the shiny 1992 Panini sticker is an addition for my Dave Henderson PC.

Let's close with this old thing. 1963 Topps Bazooka - All-Time Greats #23 Jimmy Collins. Last year, I pulled a Willie McCovey Bazooka All-Time Greats insert out of Heritage, and since then I was curious about landing an original one of these things. Looks like Bazooka put out All-Time Greats in '63 (like the above) and '69 (like the McCovey I pulled), so not quite the same, but close enough for me.

I don't collect Jimmy Collins or anything, but this was the cheapest Bazooka All-Time Great I could find on COMC ($3), no doubt discounted due to being miscut. But hey, works for me.

More from this order left to show off another day. Thanks for stopping by.

I'm wearing Brian Giles' pants right now

Yes, I'm wearing Brian Giles' game used pants right now, no joke, but that's a topic for another day. Lots of incoming cards n' stuff lately piling up, waiting for its moment in the sun on the blog, then to be filed away. Time for a blast of awesomeness.

Oh first, I made a couple new baseball card gifs to show off! I really should do more of these; they're fun and seem to get a good response. I spent some time this morning (took longer than I care to admit) on this Ken Caminiti in honor of what would have been his 55th birthday. He's a favorite of mine.

I also whipped up this Mark Fidrych gif last night to help plug yesterday's post. Love it.

1980 TCMA minor league cards are neat. Just showed off the Fidrych from this set yesterday, and here are a couple other favorites of mine I was happy to pick up. The red borders make me think of McDonald's, though the Julio Franco card is decidedly affiliated with a rival chain.

The Julio Franco card was an eBay win. I took a look at the seller's other items and snagged a couple bonus cards for a buck each including this beautiful Hank Aaron refractor reprint.

The other combined-shipping add was the gold Hoffman. And then the other day I got another minor league card of his for the PC. Still ecstatic he made it to the HOF.

A couple nice new Gavin cards. Score an assist to Doug at the Dollar Store for emailing me with a heads up about upcoming hockey guy Gavin Bayreuther. I was able to pick up this autographed custom for a few bucks. Always cool to add a new "autoGav" to my collection. I wish him a successful career on the ice! And I was also happy to score that Gavin Sheets acetate Leaf Trinity auto for cheap recently. Take a closer look at the upper right corner... Christmas Card, baby!

I got a sweet deal on this lot of 1987 Bohemian Hearth Bread Padres. All the cards are in less-than-mint shape, and I only needed the Gwynn, but it was too good of a deal to pass up. And now I've got dupes for my Templeton and Garvey PCs, with the rest available for any Padres fan who might want to trade. I'm down to just needing Dravecky and Flannery to finish off this oddball set.

Speaking of my Garry Templeton PC, here's my first managerial card of the man.

Another Padres fan favorite, here's a Bip Roberts card from his last year as an active player, bouncing between Detroit and their AAA affiliate before being traded to the A's to wrap up his career in 1998. (I struck out trying to get Bip's early minor league cards from back when he was property of the Pirates.. but one of these days.)

And here's the last Rod Beck minor league card I needed. (Actually, there's apparently a "glossy" version of an '89 San Jose Giants card that I still need.. grrr, can't even escape parallels when dealing with minor league issues.)

And let's close with this lot of Vince Coleman minor league cards. Two from his early days when the world was his oyster, and two from the twilight of his career when he was struggling to stay in the game. Great cards to spice up my little VC PC.

Thanks for reading! I'm going to go take off these pants now!

Minor League Classics

Moore recent minor league pickups.

Legend Jim Moore. Very happy to add this iconic card to my collection.

Julio Franco still had a few decades left in his career at the time.

This horribly-designed card can't decide what's the correct orientation. Nice addition to my Crime Dog PC, all the same. Dale Holman was a decent hitter in the minors but never made the show, sadly. Fred McGriff belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Baby Benito.

HOFer pre-rookie! I already had a couple Trevor Hoffman minor league cards from back when he was an infielder. This is a transitionary card for him, with the position listed as pitcher, but still with hitter stats on the back.

(I got an extra copy of this and am giving it away on my Padres Breakdown Twitter account. Also a couple more cards in this post in my main twitter account. Follow and RT to enter.)

I've mentioned before, but I still consider Pete Rose, Jr the top-rated prospect in MLB. The second coming of Pete Rose?! Slam dunk! Sign me up!

I've got a mess of Dick Cummings on my hands after this recent load from a seller with a huge minor league selection. Seemin' to me that the 1992 card is a Junior? (Or else Dick really shaped up over those few years.) According to Linkedin, Dick Cummings (II?) is still sticking around inside the Cubs' organization today.

Thanks for reading this shit.

Taxman bassline, some random cards, and a special offer

The first instrument I really got into playing was bass guitar. My two best friends played guitar and drums, respectively, so it just made sense that I would complete the presumptive trio (that never really came together in the end). But anyways, bass is my first love and learning to play it gave me a greater appreciation for good basslines.

One particular bassline that's always been a favorite is the main riff of "Taxman" by the Beatles. It sounds great plus it's fun and easy to play. You don't even have to move your arm around the neck of the bass, as all the notes you need are right there in the middle. I've noticed an "homage" to it popping up in a few other songs, and thought I'd work a post out of it. And I'll try to pair up a recent card pickup of mine to each song to keep us on focus.

Bauhaus - Too Much 21st Century

This song from Bauhaus' reunion album from a few years back walks the fine line between homage and blatant ripoff, but I like it. What are your first impressions?

This card kinda fits in with the song, I guess. It's my first auto from Cal Quantrill, last year's #1 draft pick of the Padres. He had a solid 2017, advancing to AA. We'll probably see him in San Diego in a year or two. Gotta love these "cracked ice"/"atomic" refractors.

Rancid - Start Now


Here's a cool punk song that busts out the Taxman bassline in the bridge (starting around the 1:45 mark) (Head's up, they drop a prominent F-bomb, so be careful around innocent ears).

Rancid is from the Bay Area, so let's match them up with a refractor auto from A's rookie Bruce Maxwell. I think his story fits well with the song, too.


U2 - Some Days Are Better Than Others

U2 changes the bassline up, almost reverses it, but at its core, I still hear it as an interpretation of the familiar Taxman groove.

For Andrew McCutchen in recent years, some days are better than others, as he has been very streaky with the bat. But overall he had a solid bounce back from his down 2016 season. I feel like my Cutch PC is at a good place and generally don't seek out his cards anymore, but I had been keeping an eye out for a deal on a 2009 Topps Red Hot Rookie Redemption-- just a cool prominent rookie card of his I wanted to score-- and recently landed this one for a good price.


Boingo - Change

The Beatles allusion in this Boingo song is no accident, I'm sure. In fact, the same album also includes a cover of "I Am the Walrus". "Change" is an epic 16 minute song, and you can catch the Taxman bassline creeping in around the 1:40 mark.

Since it's such a long song, I'm going with 4 cards for it. These all come from a seller on eBay who had a bunch of various "proof" cards from Chrome/Finest from the mid 90s to early 00s. I think these are pretty cool, though many collectors don't concern themselves with them since they weren't "packed out" traditionally. The Reggie Sanders 1996 Bowman's Best Gold Refractor is oversized, not yet trimmed down to standard size. The 1996 Topps Chrome Star Power Refractor Gwynn also needs a little off the top. I love the Julio Franco 1997 Finest Silver Refractor.. with a similar refractor design to superfractor "wheels". It's proof quirk is that it's not embossed. My favorite here might be the Ken Caminiti. I love that style of Xfractor (er, excuse me, they were actually called Atomic Refractors in 1997 Bowman). The final version of this card has "Best Cuts" on the left side, but I prefer this proof card without that text.

Any other songs out there with the Taxman bassline that I missed? Let me know in the comments!

-  - --o

I've had a couple guys take me up on my offer for a bunch of CDs for the price of shipping, but I've still got a lot left and I'd like to try giving it another push here as Roctober winds down. I've got a few USPS Medium Flat Rate boxes I would love to fill up and send out.

Here's my latest offer:
An even $20 Paypaled will get you shipped a box (US-only) with a bunch of CDs (you can pick out what you want from those I've got available, and I'll throw in a few recommendations), plus I'll fill the rest of the box up with many cards for you. I'll try to weigh it heavily on your favorite team(s), but it'll be a random mix for the most part.
Also, you can pick one of these encased autograph cards...

And one of these encased serial-numbered cards...

Bobby Jenks, Richie Sexson, Eny Cabreja, Ryan Cameron, Ramon Ramirez, Michael Jenkins, Haj Turay, Kazuhisa Ishii

Encased cards like this are kind of a pain to trade because they're heavy and jack up the postage, but it's not an issue with flat-rate boxes. Some of the autos have scratched up cases, but the cards themselves are in excellent condition, so you can pop them out of the case if you like (remove the sticker on top, then twist a quarter in there to pop open the case).

And just to give you something to chase, one of the 6 autos is also secretly bundled with this...

If you are lucky enough to pick the auto bundled with it, you'll also win this custom Simpsons Wade Boggs TTM autograph. Have you heard there's going to be a documentary-type-thing about that famous episode Sunday on Fox? I'm excited for that!

So who's ready to take me up on getting a big box of CDs and cards for the price of a blaster? Drop me an email and let me know what you're interested in! Trust me, I'll jam-pack that box with a bunch of great stuff and totally make it worth it for you.
First come, first serve. Offer expires 10/31/17.

I know not everybody has a similar taste in music, so you might not have much desire for the CDs I've got available, but just wanted to put together a solid offer for anyone who might have been on the fence. Again, I'd love to find good homes for them rather than just dump them with Goodwill.

As for songs in this post, the CDs with the U2 and Boingo songs are among those I've still got available. And there's a Rancid CD (Let's Go), though it's a different one from the one with that song on it.

Anywho, thanks for reading!