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.

cards from WES

World Education Services (WES) is a nonprofit organization that provides credential evaluations for international students and immigrants planning to study or work in the U.S. and Canada.

But on the cardsphere, Wes is a nonprofit trader who provides incredible envelopes and packages for trading card collectors attempting to grow their collections.

Wes recently sought my help on a custom card project, and shipped me a nice Priority mailer of cards to say thanks.

Normally I'd save the best for last, but come on, having this lovely young lady in the preview photo for this post in blogrolls will be good for a few extra clicks, right? lol. I have a li'l Liv Morgan PC because I think she's pretty. Wes surprised me with a new "best card" for the PC with this beautiful 2017 auto.

And low numbered too!

A few more women on cardboard. Very nice!

There were plenty of men on cardboard, too. Some parallels and manurelics of guys I collect.

More top stars of today.

Hall of Famers. These are all serial-numbered besides the Lorde card.

Hey, how's about this? Some more numbered cards and an autographed '80 Topps Mad Hungarian. Neat!

Major League materials embedded as far as the eye can see!

Hell, I could've/should've done a whole separate post just on the incredible basketball cards in the package. The Dirk rookie in the middle was technically from a separate PWE, but I'm lumping them together. Awesome!

Winding down here with some odds and ends. Star Wars representing with an auto and an art card #'d 19/99.

The football guy Kendall Hunter saw some action with the 49ers but battled injury issues. It's a welcomed new addition to my collection of Christmas Cards.

And then a couple weird history relic cards. Ha, sure! One's got a couple pieces of old newspaper and a Susan B. Anthony stamp. Ooh, a 1/1! The other one says it has an actual relic from Barack Obama. I guess it's part of a letter he sent out or something? I was a little confused by these in the package at first, but I guess my wantlist does say I'm interested in out-of-the-ordinary relics, so give Wes props for diving deep into my ol' list o' wants.

And I was confused by the football cards at first too, but then I was like, oh yeah, black gold! Wes took note that I generally dig black cards with gold foil and hooked me up with these. Thick n' sharp!

And a sweet looking black gold auto plus a numbered Fridge to wrap things up.

Big thanks, Wes! Great bunch of cards.

ignorable filler post: 1991 Cardboard Dreams #8 Michael Jordan

Oh man, I just did a post featuring my Jordan PC, but I forgot about this one.

Like with all the cards in the oddball 1991 Cardboard Dreams set, the artwork is in the range of "better than the average person could do, but not necessarily great."

And here's the back. Cute (?) doodle of a helmet-less Jordan taking a cut for the Pale Hose.

Here's where I'd normally do some research/writing about the subject of the card, but at this point there's nothing more I can say about Michael Jordan that hasn't already been said. A very, very good basketball playing man. Possibly would have eventually been good at baseball had the '94 strike not thrown a wrench in his rapid progress.

With that out of the way, now's the time in the "ignorable filler post" where I ramble about whatever. Ooh, these posts are fun for me. Just spew out whatever I'm feeling at the moment.

I've seen a few bloggers saying that during this health crisis, they are reluctant to trade because they don't want to have to go to the post office to mail cards. Well, please allow me to present a reminder plug for the Definitive Guide to Shipping Sports Cards Safely and Cheaply I did back in 2018. It's got you covered for the best ways to send out packages (and PWEs) without ever having to step inside a post office. Check it out! Maybe some of you old-fashioned guys were reluctant to get on board back then, but now with the whole virus thing, perhaps you're ready to take the plunge and stop waiting in line.

In my MJ post, I mentioned I'd like to add an autograph at some point. 

The closest thing I've got currently is a Dennis Rodman stickergraph I picked up years back, mostly because of its 12/25 serial numbering. It's not much for penmanship, but still a neat card in my Christmas Card collection. I couldn't find it mentioned while searching my blog's archives, so either I never got around to posting it, or Blogger's search function wasn't working properly (which happens sometimes).

Hey, that's a good segue to rant about Blogger for a bit!

Ok, when I first started drafting this post a week+ ago I had plenty to rant about, because I had been forced onto the "New Blogger" and it suuucks. But then I eventually figured out how to revert back to the old Blogger and everything's good for now. But if you're tempted to click the "Try the new Blogger" button.. don't. Or if you do, be sure to then also click the button to "give feedback" to Blogger to tell them how much the new version sucks so hopefully they go back to the drawing board and fix all the issues (issues that the new version created that are "fixed" by the old version) and hopefully all us Blogger-cardbloggers don't get forced into permanently using the terrible new version. I really hate it. It's like blogging with one hand tied behind your back.

With the hobby being bonkers right now (mostly MJ and Project 2020 lifting the waters), figured I'd give another shot at selling my all-time best pull, a 1/1 Ken Griffey Jr auto. Optimistically asking $5k but open to hear offers or intriguing trade propositions.

I baked a cake. ...Actually, my wife baked it, but I frosted/decorated it. It says "Yay 2020". It's sardonic.

It's gone now. Eaten in 3 days. Surprisingly I haven't noticeably put on any weight during this crisis even though I haven't been to the gym since mid March. Been riding my bike a few times a week, though. That's something.

I'm not much for sports video games, but the one I've always loved is Bases Loaded 2 for the original Nintendo. I've been playing through a season this year (not quite the real thing, but it's something!) and the other day I hit a walkoff dinger in the bottom of the 10th. Woot! Left a lot of guys on base, but managed to come out on top.

Oh! There's been a baby bunny stopping by our backyard recently. Super cute.
I call it Moon Child due to the white marking on its forehead.

Speaking of cute critters, looks like we've got a line on a new puppers finally, but it'll be a few more weeks till we get it since it's not old enough to leave its mama yet. No rush! Hopefully that all works out.

Here's a weird picture I took last week.

Don't look down.

I bought a Garfield card. Can you guess why?

Snipped from my 8th grade yearbook. Coach Love was a sweetheart PE instructor. Lost an ear to cancer, which was kinda creepy for us kids at first, but we all grew be fans of the guy pretty quickly.

I've got regret over not being a part of my 8th grade Sports Card Club. Don't recall being aware of it at the time. I wonder if any of these guys still collect. Maybe one or two of them have even browsed my blog at some point? Only guy I could name off the top of my head is Clayton, the kid in the back far left. Don't know the teacher.

Back to the topic of video games, my wife and I play 2 games together on a somewhat regular basis: Dr. Mario and Wario's Woods (both SNES). We're pretty evenly matched, with her winning Dr. Mario about 60% of the time, and me winning Wario's Woods about 60% of the time. In a very rare occurrence, we tied in Wario's Woods the other day and I had to take a photo. It's just the first or maybe second draw we've ever had.

My latest sketch card. I made this for mr. haverkamp. It's supposed to be Dan Gladden on the Giants. I probably shouldn't have used a blue pen, but let's pretend it's a throwback Seals uniform or someshit.

It glows in the dark a little.

I'm generally not the type of person who takes pictures of their food, but a couple recent deserts creations of mine warranted it. The first one is cookies n cream ice cream with a brownie bite and some Froot Loops. The second one is an oatmeal cookie sandwich with pistachio pudding filling. Both very tasty.

Thanks for reading this ignorable filler post!

Michael Jordan PC

Michael Jordan and his cards are suddenly super hot right now thanks to The Last Dance miniseries on ESPN. I'd like to watch it, but we don't get that network. I'll probably track it down one of these days somewhere, but for now I just see whatever the reaction chatter on Twitter is about.

I'm not a big basketball collector, but I've got a little Jordan PC. And I need a quick/lazy post, so here it is.

Ooh, these are in top-loaders. The Tar Heels card was scored back in my Listia days.

More cards. I like that Team USA one. Think it was in a lot of those things I got from a(n entire) dimebox purchase at a card show a few years back.

Some more. Any of these worth anything? Probably no hidden gems to make me rich, but oh well.

Whoops, looks like a dupe snuck in. Better put it on eBay asap!

This is a little boxed set from Nike I picked up for a few cents at a card show last year. 

R.I.P. Little Richard.

Closing out with some oddballs and baseball cards. The '91 Upper Deck is a card I pulled as a kid, a treasured highlight of my O.G. collection. The mini Little League card was something I made a few years back for no real reason. Technically the Bo and Frank Thomas shared cards are from those respective PCs, but plucked them out for the photo op... both Broders gotten cheap at card shows.

That's it. Nothing worth much, but it's a respectable little collection for someone such as myself who doesn't really collect basketball. Would love to score an autograph sometime, but won't be anytime soon.

trades n' fades

Here's some stuff.

John Miller sent me a nice surprise bubble mailer to thank me for the cards n' customs I sent him recently. Nice lot of '77 Topps here to bump me past the ⅓ complete mark with this set. Funny thing is these are all "high numbers". To clarify, the set is all one series together, but the cards John set are all from the tail end of the set (like 640-660). Sure, why not!

Super Giles World!

I tell John I'm good on Gavin Floyd base cards and that he can stop putting them aside for me, but he just shouts "NEVER!" and keeps 'em coming. Hey, better to have too many than not enough, right? The "Trev" is cool too. As for Dorssys Paulino, he made it as high as AAA for 4 games in 2018 but now appears to be out of the game. Still though, it's a lovely orange refractor and has a cool surprise on the back...

Christmas Card!

Thank you for another great bunch of cards, John!

-   -  - - ---o

Now here's one from Bru. For the past few years, we've been exchanging little blind trades.. He ships me a few Padres and I ship him a few Astros.

Always happy to add a new Gwynn to my #1 PC. The Josh Greer autos is neat.. though I can't find him on baseball-reference nor thebaseballcube.com.. my go-to sites for looking up players. I even tried Joshua Greer.. still nothing. Oh well, I'll assume he flamed out in the minors since this is an old enough Bowman design to where if I haven't heard of the guy by now, he didn't make it. But still cool. UPDATE: ok, looks like his name is really Josh Geer! Poor guy had to sign a big stack of cards containing a blatant typo in his name right there on the front.. ouch. I'd have told Topps to suck it, personally. Well, the good news is at least he got to pitch in 129.2 MLB innings (2008-2009) before he hung them up, so that's something.

A few more Padres along for the ride.

Thank you, Bru!

-     - - -----o

Hey, you hear about Kobe Bryant? Such a tragedy. My Sunday morning started out great when I secured a sweet deal with someone for some special cards I was VERY interested in, and I was literally dancing around the house with joy. Then a little while later, the news of the helicopter crash got to me. Could hardly believe it was real. Really cast a dark shadow over the day that still lingers. Just an incredibly sad event all around.

Here are the Kobe cards in my collection arranged in an "8".. my tiny tribute to a huge legend.

  -  -   - - ---o

I've never been to a basketball game in my life (maybe someday), though after last Thursday I can at least say I've seen an NBA player in person.

We had our annual work conference thing at a hotel near the office and it so happens the Mavericks were staying in the same hotel, in town to play the Blazers. As I was leaving for the day, I noticed some dudes hollering at a tall guy for an autograph who seemed to be courteously trying to oblige as many of them as he could. Turns out it was one of the biggest names in the game right now, Luka Dončić! I immediately went to join the small group of dudes, pulling out the black sharpie I always have in my pants pocket and trying to think what I could have him sign. I guess a dollar bill if nothing else. But it was moot, as before I had the chance, a team handler guy quickly pulled Luka away and pointed him onto the bus waiting in front of the hotel.

I snapped a photo just in time to catch his back on the bus. In hindsight, I should have maybe just settled for trying to get a high-five rather than hang with the autograph hounds (Afterwards I heard a couple of them complaining how crappy their autos turned out, the pens adversely affected by the wet weather, no doubt), but it was still cool to get an in-person look at a rising superstar.