ignorable filler post: 1991 Cardboard Dreams #4: Wayne Gretzky

Whoopsie-doodle, the last card I did in this series was #5 (Canseco and Madonna, from back in February.. those innocent, carefree days of yore). Nobody noticed, so I think I got away with it. But today we backtrack to #4, which is a very good hockey playing man.

What do you think of this headshot likeness? I mean, you can tell who it's supposed to be, so I'd say it's good by those standards. I'm seeing a little Dolph Lundgren in there too. As for the action shot, I probably wouldn't have guessed that was Gretzk' unless maybe I noticed the uniform and guessed from there. Squint your eyes and it might resemble a Penguin.. like Sidney Crosby or something? Oh whom I kidding, I am a poser (poseur) hockey fan. I don't know a puck from my pecker!

Yet...

I went out and bought a Gordie Howe autograph card. Check this mother out! Big, horizontal on-card signature! Limited edition! Hawaii! (Oh man, I'm glad we squeezed in that Hawaiian vacation right before things started going sideways. We're still coasting off that high to get us through these days.) I love this card! I just wanted a Gordie Howe autograph so bad! He was "Woodrow" on that one episode of The Simpsons where Bart catfishes Ms. Krabappel!

Hey.. Speaking of Edna!..

I also recently scored this card! Full disclosure, it is not in-hand yet, but should be arriving very soon. I really hope the auto looks better in person and it's just a weird glare shown in the photo.
Love and miss the late Marcia Wallace.. so great!

Anyways, back to hockey...

I just dig hockey superstars and like to score good hockey cards for my collection once in a while. I assume it might be something like how maybe a guy who doesn't follow baseball much would still get a thrill out of owning an autograph from Hank Aaron or Willie Mays, ya know?

My hockey collection has no right to be this good! Yet here we are!

I'll probably target a Jagr next, but no rush.

As with all these Cardboard Dreamers, it's the back doodle that always seems to steal the show with its endearing bizarreness that looks like it was drawn by a 6th grader on their binder divider tab page. The fun facts they share on the back are often quite interesting too!

• A Google search for "most money ever paid for a baseball card" says it's still a 1909 T206 Honus Wagner, but now the record is $3.12 million. Damn inflation. lol

I don't think it's Wayne's Wagner that scored that top sale, though, was it?.. I remember hearing there was some controversy about his being trimmed before he bought it. But pretty sure he sold it years back regardless.

• The Toronto Argonauts of the CFL are still around.. the franchise going on.. [checks notes] 146 years?‽‽! Holy crap! The CFL is seriously that old? That must be hooligans screwing around on Wikipedia with April Fools jokes that haven't been corrected yet because there's no way Canadians were playing football back when Lincoln was freeing the slaves!

Oh man, speaking of deceased actors I love a bunch and miss greatly.. John Candy! Wow, I hadn't heard about him co-owning a sports team with Gretzky and another guy. Spaceballs, Stripes, Plains Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck. SCTV. So much good stuff!

Anyways, the 3 guys owned the team from February 25, 1991 – May 5, 1994. The split was Bruce McNall (60%), John Candy (20%), and Wayne Gretzky (20%).

Oh man, remember Rocket Ismail? They signed him for a huge contract-- we're talking T206 Wagner territory!-- and then the team won it all in 1991. That must've been a thrill for Bruce, Wayne, and my man John Candy.

I honestly have no idea what an Argonaut is. Is it like an arrogant astronaut?!

Here is a cool song by Frank Black called "At the End of the World" which might seem like it's fitting for these times, but is actually written about John Candy.


Cool song, right? It was a b-side to the "Headache" single.

Oh man, I've really been neglecting my MusiCards blog! I haven't posted there since before the dark times. Gotta start cranking out posts there again soon.

Candy sadly passed away in 1994, shortly after he sold his stake in the team.

• The last bullet-point on the card talks about Gretzky's records total. Wiki says, At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.

Yep, he was pretty good!

But I think I've achieved a sports accomplishment that not even The Great One could dream of...

The other day I was playing Wii Sports Resort - Island Flyover subgame.. an old favorite game of mine when I just want to chill out and fly around like I'm Roy Halladay (RIP, the psycho son-of-a-gun). It's really fun. Sometimes I like to challenge myself to pull off trick moves just for fun (Not like you score points for it or nothin'), and the latest thing I managed to pull off was landing my plane in a swimming pool. It's tough because it's a small pool and you need to time your landing just right or you'll crash. But yeah, after a few attempts, I managed to just barely splashdown safely with a cut engine for a minute or two just hanging out with the kids at the pool. Pretty cool, right?! LOL

Have a great weekend, everybody! To help raise some good vibes, check out the first completed page of what I hope will one day be a decent-sized Thumbs-Up Binder! Yeah, a couple photos are reused, so it's not perfect-- but still! Nine different cards with a thumbs-up! 👍

That 70s Trade Post

After posting about my intentions of working on a run of 70s Topps flagship a few weeks ago, I got a few friendly folks getting in touch with me about helping out.

I recently completed a trade with generous reader Gmixo Greg, who helped make strides in my efforts with mid/late 70s Topps.

1975 Topps needs! Reggie sighting!

1976 Topps needs! What a great smile on that Griffey!

Many 1977 Topps needs!

Nice starter lot of 1979 Topps! Probably about time for me to sort out what I've got and make a wantlist soon.

Some bonus hockey PC guys, too! Gretzky and Messier.

Big thanks for the trade, Greg! Much appreciated!

-  -  - --o

Here's a quick PWE trade, just my second-ever trade done thru TCDB.. but funny enough, I didn't give up any cards on my For Trade/Sale list there, as user BucCollector was interested in a few of the surplus customs I posted about a little while back. I was happy to swap them for a few '77 needs highlighted by a pair of HOFers. (Looks like I've got an extra Niekro for the PC, as I got that card from Greg too.)

Thanks, David!

-----o

Last for today is my second Twitter trade with Heavy J. I found some set needs for him in exchange for a lot of '78s.

Solid bunch of cards here!

Contest win! I also happened to win a little Twitter giveaway he ran around the same time, and the prize was several off-condition vintage star cards. Between PCs and setbuilds in the works, I'll be able to put the vast majority of these to good use.

Some nice non-baseball cards too! That's my first Wonder Bread card. Heck, my first 90210 card, too.

But the trade really got legit when he told me he had a card on my "Desperate Double Dozen - Wishful Thinking" wantlist that was available...

Warren Spahn! To seal the deal, he commissioned me to whip up a custom to go with one of his display pieces.

Great to check off another HOFer from my '57 Topps needs. A minor crease, but overall in very nice shape.

Big thanks, Jason! Great stuff.

And thanks again to Greg and David.

Played hooky today and got in a nice little hike with the pooch on a cold but sunny autumn day.

Good Hockey Cards

Looks like the Stanley Cup playoffs begin tonight. And unrelated, but I heard that you're supposed to wear a hockey jersey tomorrow (4/12/18) as a remembrance to the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League that recently suffered a horrific bus accident. I don't own a hockey jersey, but I do have some hockey cards to feature here. (Figured I'd post this a little early as opposed to tomorrow since I usually post later in the day.)

Here's a recent pickup I was pretty excited about, the great Bobby Orr! It might not be the most attractive card (I generally don't care for mass produced "art cards"), but for a reasonably-priced, on-card auto, it was the way to go.

I've shown this one before, but as long as I'm busting out my good hockey cards, I'll show it again. There's a lot for me to like about this card.. Gretzky auto! Messier auto! Christmas Card! Again, not the prettiest card around (I generally don't care for foilboard cards), but that probably helped keep the price within my budget.

And some early cards from this pair.

As I said, I don't have a hockey jersey, but I do have a hockey jersey card, at least. I believe this was a dollar-bin pickup at a card show a year or two ago.

Here's the other recent pickup I wanted to show off: Bobby Hull! It's a real nice-looking Christmas Card.

And now I've got my first Father & Son pair of 12/25 autos! I picked up the Brett Hull auto a few years ago when I first started going after Christmas Cards and wanted to add an impressive hockey card into the minicollection.

While I've never been super into hockey, I've got a deep appreciation for the greats and enjoy adding them to my card collection once in a while.

Thanks for reading.

Simply the Wes

Wes a.k.a. jaybarkerfan over at Willinghammer Rising is a great dude. Sad to see it seems like he's retiring from trading, but at least he's going out with a bang via his World Cup of Trading. You can see part 1 of what I sent him here (heavy on Willinghammer customs), with a small encore on the way shortly. Let's check out the great stuff Wes sent back in exchange.

A couple sweet relics with Bryce Harper (a very blue card with a clashing red swatch) and Mark Messier (one of the very few hockey guys I kinda collect).

That Donaldson is #/25. And love the early Hoffman auto. Comes with a separate COA slip. Looks legit to me for the era, though as with most players, his signature got lazier over the course of his career.

A couple Michael Sam autos for my Pride PC.

I know I've said "I'm done with the f*ing Chargers" over a dozen times on my blog by this point, but still, if a buddy of mine is giving away Chargers hits, I'll speak up for 'em. These are both very nice.

So those above were the cards I called dibs on in the WCOT, but of course Wes also include a brick of bonus cards.

Rod Beck gold winner! And always happy to add later-career Benito cards to the PC.

HOFers!

Julio Franco! Love those Revco cards, represented here by Big Mac. And how about that Teke box-bottom!

Here are some active guys, highlighted by a Lindor fishfractor.

Gavins!

Big lot of nearly 50 Josh Donaldson cards! Wes PC'd Donaldson for a while there. I wasn't collecting him at the time, and sent Wes a bunch (including, I think, that gum-stained Heritage that has returned home). But then I started collecting him, meanwhile Wes decided to focus on collecting a different Josh. This lot doubles my PC of the Bringer of Rain (who has only been bringing the drizzle this year, but hopefully he turns his season around soon).

Great selection of Gwynns. Needed most of these.

Wes really Bipped me good, with a big stack of nearly 100 Bip Roberts cards. While much of it was junkwax I already had, there were many neat parallels in here I needed.

We wrap up with this trio. While I love adding to my PCs, what really widens my eyes in trade packages these days is setbuild needs.. especially somewhat-obscure sets I'm working on. Those Bohemian Bread cards were a big surprise. I've mentioned I had the Garvey from the set way back as a wee tyke before I was really a collector, so it's a sentimental set for me for sure. These 2 aren't in mint condition (these cards came packaged in bread, for what it's worth), but I'm very happy to be able to check them off my needs.

And the Jim Abbott gets me one card (sticker) closer to completing the Glow Stars subset from '93 Fun Pack.

Here it is in action.

Huge thanks, Wes! Awesome batch of cards. Hopefully it's not the last card package I ever receive from you, but if it was, it was a great one to go out on. All the best in all life has to offer!

Some cards for a big eBay milestone

Woo! Yesterday I just hit a cool 1000 for my eBay user feedback. I'm proud to say that's 100% positive, with nary a single negative or even neutral review sullying my good name. Sure, the majority of my transactions have been as buyer, but I've done a bit of selling on there over the years, too. And while I can't say 100% of my interactions have been perfect, even the ones that "went bad" were at least civil enough to where I escaped unscathed. Pretty impressive considering how many assholes are out there who seem to enjoy stirring up shit.

And I don't know if it's related or just a coincidence, but today I got an email from eBay telling me I'm now a Top Rated Seller thanks to my past performance, and that entitles me to 20% off final value seller fees, which is very welcomed because that's definitely where they get ya.

Anyways, the listing that has the distinction of giving me positive nod #1000 is the Curt Smith TFF Psych auto I already showed off a couple weeks ago (seller was a little slow in leaving feedback, but whatever), so instead I'll use this post to show off a few other recent eBay pickups that I haven't gotten around to working into posts yet.

The great Warren Spahn! He was a great signer throughout his life, though his signature understandably got a bit sloppier near the end. Still better than most athletes these days! This is my 2nd auto of his, the first being a 2003 Topps Retired card. I nearly scored a 3rd Spahn auto recently, a signed penny sleeve that the Summer of '74 blog put up as trade bait, but seems somebody else beat me out for it.

Here's the back. It's a nice pickup for my ARMS (Archives Reserve Master Set), which is my looooong-term goal of acquiring every Archives Reserve card ever put out. Oh man, if Topps ever revives this product line, I'm screwed. No way I would include a reboot in this ARMS project. I'm sure they'd have a bunch of parallels and 1/1 stuff if they brought it back today. A beautiful thing about the original Archives Reserve (2001-2002) is there are no parallels and no printing plates, so a master set isn't an impossible dream. It's definitely costly tracking down all the big name autos and relics, but not impossible. Oh, and I'm not including any buybacks in this project either (I suspect some base cards were signed, slabbed, and included in recent Archives Signature Edition products.. but screw 'em, I'm considering that a different product).

From one legend to another, here's a Khalil Greene auto. Ok, I'm being cheeky calling him a legend, but if you were a Padres fan in the mid '00s, his story has likely achieved legendary status for you. He was a hot prospect and in 2004, was runner-up for NL ROY. He then had a few solid years, but never quite performed at the elite level he (and fans) hoped for. He struggled emotionally under the pressure and was eventually shipped to St. Louis to finish his MLB career with a forgettable final season there. I think this is my first card of him as a Cardinal, and is his last widely-available autograph card. I had a saved search for it, waiting for a cheap one to come along. It seemed like a hole in my ample Khalil PC, so landing it helps round it out and make it feel more complete even though I'm sure there are several hundred more cards of his out there I'll never have.

Maybe you remember a couple weeks ago when I posted about a Manon Rheaume auto I picked up. A reader gave me a heads-up to check out Erin Whitten. Turns out she was another exceptional woman goalie who played professionally with various men's teams in the mid 90s. Pretty cool. I took a look if she had any autos available and grabbed this one cheap. The signature is pretty faded, but like I said, it was cheap, so worked for me.

The back says it's autographed, so that's good, because it's not so easy to tell from the front. lol

I never followed basketball too closely, but I thought Dikembe Mutombo was a fun player. In fact, I say his name a lot, just because it's fun to say, especially in a deep, bombastic accent. Go ahead, say it. d'KEY-m'BAY Moo-TUMBO!!!
I was looking to score an autograph of his, and this Christmas Card ended up being what I went with after my best offer was accepted. But I kinda regret this purchase a little bit, to be honest. I just don't really like foilboard cards or sticker autographs. Even the 12/25 serial number can't quite save this card. Still though, a fun one to throw into my yuletide minicollection.

Speaking of cards I only care about because of the serial number, he's a Trevor Bauer auto. Well, at least this one was cheap. Plus it's #'d 12/24. If a Christmas Card is a unicorn, then a Christmas Eve Card is a unipegasus (unicorn with wings.. extra fantastical!).. much harder to find than 12/25 cards, especially if you want a player selection better than washed out former fringe prospects-- mostly football and basketball, at that. At least Bauer is still in the majors, stinking it up with the Indians. The basic design of the card is nice, but the stickergraph sucks, and man, that's gotta be one of the worst photos ever on a modern Topps card. The poor guy is fumbling with his glove, looking like he's in the middle of being shelled. (which is likely)

Anyways, yeah, those are some various cards I picked up on eBay on my way to a perfect 1000 feedback rating. I'll be surprised if I make it to 2000 before running into a jackass to ding me, but here's hoping!

Manon Rheaume auto, the first lady of hockey

The hockey playoffs are in full swing, so let's sneak in a hockey card post.

If Manon Rhéaume came along today, I'd probably collect the heck outta her cards. I'm all about chipping away at the idea that top level pro sports can only be played by dudes (and straight dudes, at that). I hadn't heard about her until seeing her cards pop up on a couple card blogs recently, but back in the early 90s, Manon played minor league hockey and a couple pre-season exhibition NHL games. (See her Wikipedia entry for more info.)

She had a bunch of cards put out back then, mostly from Classic, including some certified autos. I snatched up one off eBay the other day.

I think it's a pretty nice card. I'm getting a Jennifer Lawrence vibe. I mean, not that looks are everything, and even if she looked more like Don Mossi I'd still want a card of her based on her accomplishments, but a pretty face definitely ups the collectability. It's numbered 1693/1992, which is actually low-numbered by 1992 standards.

The back lets me know this is an autograph card.

It also came with a separate COA card card-sized piece of paper (which is redundant since the back of the card is all the authentication you really need), plus a thick lucite case and an engraved metal nameplate for it. I'm thinking I might end up using the case for another card and not bothering with the nameplate, but we'll see.

If anyone has any other Manon Rheaume cards to trade, I'd likely be interested. Hers is a cool story and hopefully more women come along to play in the major sports currently dominated by men.