Hey, let's get a quick post out to pair with a similar Zapping recap at the njwv blog today, as I too received another fun mystery package from Zippy Zappy a few days ago.
The bulk of the mailer was a couple Lego Star Wars sets in various states of completion. I'll hope to build these back to their full glory one day.
I don't have much in the way of cool minifigs, so these are very welcomed in my Lego tub. (Skateboarding Yoda will be displayed out for a while.)
My Star Wars card collection consists basically of one modern completed set (Remember back when I went after the 40th Anniversary set to ring in my big birthday?), 2 or 3 decent autographs, and then like a potpourri of a few random cards from a bunch of different sets. Which feels perfect since I'm a big Star Wars fan but not like a full-on supernerd about it. Nice to get a look at what's out there. The autograph here is Hermione Corfield as Tallie Lintra (an A-Wing pilot in The Last Jedi).
Legos and Star Wars are cool, but baseball is the best. Can't forget 2011 Topps has a bunch of solid rookies besides the big one. Kenny also had plenty of empty top-loaders and card savers to pass on to me, not pictured.
And a few non-baseball cards. Love to see Alexa Bliss pop up in a trade package, though it turns out I already had these 3 cards in the PC. No worry, though, as it's a good excuse to sacrifice them for use in cardart.
I probably should have looked these up first, as it turns out the Wrestlemania card was like a $10 card before I cut it up. Whoops! lol, oh well; for art. I also accidentally cut myself during this project-- my first cardart injury to break the skin-- though just a tiny cut. Blood, sweat, and tears, am I right?!
I made a quick video of them, with bobbling action:
Earlier this week, I featured some highlights I got from Fan O' Freds Nachos Grande's 2015 Heritage group break. Chris also threw in a 2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection box to beef up the break. And I'm very glad he did, as I ended up with 4 great bonus hits in my haul.
Off the top of my head, I'm not sure if I had a Gwynn bat relic before this beauty. I know I've got 3 or 4 jersey relics, but don't think I had a wood chip. So this is a very cool addition to my collection, rounding out my Gwynn PC nicely.
A game-used on-deck circle relic! Never heard of such a thing! It features Vernon Wells and is #'d /90. The back states it was used in the 2003 All-Star game. And I don't think each player got his very own on-deck circle, so this relic could essentially be considered a relic of all 2003 American League All-Stars, right? Ichiro stood on it! Edgar Martinez, A-Rod, Hideki Matsui, Carlos Delgado, Posada-- that's some sick early '00s mojo right there.
And then not 1, but 2(!) Robin Yount bat relics. The one on the right is a parallel #'d 84/99. While I usually funnel most of my Brewers cards to Tony L., I'll try to hang onto at least one of these for my meager Yount PC. (Please tell me you already have at least one of these cards, Tony!)
Here are the backs in case you want to see them.
Here's another look at the back of the on-deck circle card. It might be a first for my collection-- well, not just the 1st on-deck circle card, but also the 1st card I have that's a refractor on the back. The front of the card isn't refractory, just the back. I thought that was funny.
For fun little bonuses, Chris also threw in a few low-end packs to rip in the break. Among the junk, I ended up with a Fred Lynn 91 Donruss I think I needed. The Pujols chip was nice, too, though I'm kinda glad Chipz aren't returning in 2015.
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Hopefully he's received it in the mail by now, so I'm not spoiling anything, but I wanted to share this little "thanks for the break" gift I sent Chris a few days ago:
LEGO® stuff and Barry Larkin cards are both atop his collecting list, so I thought I'd get cute and combine them on a sketch card. I didn't have much in the way of cards on his wantlist, so whipping up a special "1 of 1" was my next best bet for an easy yet thoughtful gift. Not my best artistic work, but it came out fine by my standards. And even though Chris is historically unimpressed by glow-in-the-dark cards ("I don't think there's any good reason to have glow-in-the-dark baseball cards" --A blasphemous statement to me! but to each their own.), I had to stand by my core values and make the card glow regardless.
Thanks again for the fun break and great cards, Chris!
Willie Mays 2003 Topps Retired autograph refractor numbered 24 (jersey number!) out of 25.
You know I love Topps Retired.. especially the autos.. and especially the /25 refractor autos. I'd been thinking about picking up a certified autograph of one of the greatest ballplayers ever (Hall of Stats has him ranked 4th greatest of all-time statistically), and pulled the trigger on this one.
I'm super excited to have a certified auto of the great Willie Mays in my collection now. Let's celebrate with a song. Here are a couple of my favorite little-known songs that mention Willie Mays in them...
There seems to be a modest intersection in the Venn diagram of sportscard collectors and Lego collectors. While I wouldn't call myself a full-on Lego collector, I do have a wastebasket tub full of Legos I've hung onto since my youth, plus a couple small Lego Star Wars sets my gal got me for Christmas a couple years back.
To cut to the chase here, I got the idea to make card display stands out of Legos.
I love putting my cards up on display (as you can tell from my blog's header), but it's sometimes hard to arrange them and keep them from falling over. I don't really want to spend money on little display stands, and it's always neat when you can utilize Legos for real-world applications, so it was a no-brainer! Plus, as you regular readers have likely picked up on, I often like to take artsy photos of the cards I'm showing off on the blog, rather than a simple scan or tightly-cropt photo. It just adds another visually-interesting level to the images. And if there's one thing I strive for here at Baseball Card Breakdown, it's interestingimages!
So anyways, let's check out some neat cards in stylish Lego display stands I made! (I would apologize at how incredibly dorky this is, but if it bothered you, you probably wouldn't be reading a baseball card blog in the first place.)
JULIO'S GUN SHOW
The Card: Love Julio Franco! Talked more about him in depth a few months back in a One True Rookie feature. I'm thankful for these mid 90s Leaf/Donruss signatures sets featuring non-superstar veterans who otherwise have few--if any-- certified auto cards out there. Was very happy to bring this home a few months ago for somewhere around $10, I believe.
The Legos: Simple, elegant, onyx. Unmistakably Lego, unmistakable class. The all-black design helps bring out the on-card autograph (from the days before blue sharpie became standard on certified autos). The space rockets on each side are too narrow for a top-loader, but snuggly keep a typical screw-down in place. --Or, as I have here, one of those slim hardcases finds some breathing room, yet still rests securely in the display's embrace.
REGGIE'S UNIT
The Card: Back when I was in the market for a marquee Reginald Martinez Jackson auto (got it, btw!), I frequently saw this other guy named Reggie Jackson pop up in the search results. I heard some buzz on him being a promising young guy in the NBA, and his autos seemed to fetch a lot of green. When I saw this one with a low opening bid from Taiwan or thereabouts, I threw in a reasonable bid and ended up winning it. A few weeks later (I mentioned it was from a far-off land, remember), this beauty arrived into my clutches. I think the autograph is on-card, though it seems like a sticker. Hard to tell. Whatever, I like it. He's in the playoffs at the moment. I'm not a big basketball guy, but I'll be rooting for him.
The Legos: This luxurious stand features ribbed tubes on either side that have some elasticity to them, allowing a case of nearly any width or thickness to fit, keeping the card nestled safely within its bosom. I'll likely change that top piece; looking at these photos has made it clear to me that it's a bit too phallic for comfort while without a card perched on it.
THE ARMS OF GRETZKY
The Card: Finally, we have one of the only 2 or 3 good hockey cards in my collection, an early card of The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. Burned a bunch of Listia credits on this a year or two ago. The card says "CENTER" at the bottom, but ironically the card is quite off center! But I still love it. He's the best. I'd like to add more Gretzkys to my collection at some point.
The Legos: This is probably the least attractive of the 3 stands we're looking at today. I went with red wheels because I thought they might complement the red outline of the card, though understated black may have worked better. The center back bar is fully adjustable to allow the card to be fine-tuned to the desired angle. The arms are very functional, as they can be adjusted to secure just about any size needed with strength and vigor. However, they distract from the card a bit and the grey is a poor choice, as it clashes with everything. Perhaps if they were black or red they would bring the piece together. But aesthetics aside, this stand delivers performance with flexibility to accommodate your card-displaying needs.
In Conclusion: Making display stands for cards out of Legos is cool and a lot of fun; you should do it if you have some Legos lying around from your kids or your own childhood. Great for admiring a card on your mantle or at your office space, and probably a fun conversation piece. Post pics of any good ones you come up with! I'll most likely whip up a few more myself before long. Good luck and thanks for reading.
