Baseball Card Mashup: Ripken Insanity. Ripkinsanity!

Baseball Card Mashup is a feature here where we take popular cards and mix them around via Photoshop in ways that may very well hurt your brain and anger your sense of reason. But maybe, just maybe, it'll make you think, and open your mind a little. Perhaps even make you a better person.

For this hotly-anticipated second installment, we'll be having some "what if?" fun with the Ripken family.


Well well, here's an odd card.

Imagine how embarrassed Topps would be if they let this card slip by their Quality Assurance department! That'd be quite a blunder, indeed!

And how about this alternate reality..? What if that infamous '89 Fleer card wasn't Bill's, but Cal's?

I'll bet at the very least, Cal would have needed to take a game off to do some damage control, thereby never eclipsing Gehrig's record. Fans might have turned on him and he likely would have spiraled into a deep depression and been out of the game by 1990, to soon be all but forgotten, except by card collectors who remember him only as "the Fuck Face card guy."

But enough obscenity and dystopian visions, let's end on a sweet one. Here's a nice family shot for Ma Ripken.

Awwww...

Thanks for taking this strange trip with me. See ya next time.

I bought some packs in person for the first time in years

Since my Chargers didn't last too long in the postseason, my interest in football for this year fell off the table. (San Diego's lifetime drought without a major sports championship continues for yet another year.. sigh.) But that means NFL playoff days are a great time to shop. My fiancee and I are already planning to hit Target during the Super Bowl. We did that a couple years ago, too, pretty much having our run of the place. It's basically just us and some single moms and old people. Nice.

I'm not much of a shopper. Weekly grocery shopping, of course. But other than that, I buy most stuff online. I go to the mall maybe once a year. Same with Target. I've only been in a Walmart a couple times in my life.

But this past weekend, we needed new glasses, so we went to the glasses place in the mall. Adjacent to the mall is a Dollar Tree. Back when I was a bachelor down in San Diego, the 99 Cent Store was where I did probably 75% of my shopping.. food or whatever.. the one by my old place was huge and had a great selection. I don't remember ever seeing a sportscards section, but then again I wasn't an active collector at the time, so I wasn't really looking. But now when I'm at a place like that, I keep an eye out for card displays. The Dollar Tree chain up here in Portland is pretty close to the 99 Cent Store, though not quite as great.

They did have a bunch of low-end cards, though! So I bought a few packs. Four, to be exact. Let's take a look!

I went with some variety, grabbing a mixed-sport repack, NBA Hoops, Americana, and Triple Play. I've never bought any of these before.

First up, the repack.

90 Donruss.
Out of these 4, Chuck is the best. But no keepers here.

91 Score

If the Moises was in good shape, it'd probably be a keeper, but it's a bit beat up. The Vince Coleman is ok.

Some Fleer. No keepers here.

Football cards. I was excited to get the Patriots card simply because it was featured earlier that day on baseball card vandals. (Luke Wilson.. LOL, it does look like him!) I'll probably keep the shiny Chargers card, though I can't say I remember Curtis Conway. Jerry Rice (blurry down there in the lower right) is also always a keeper, even if just a LL card.

And closing out the repack, some 89 Donruss, a 93 Jimmy Key, the lone basketball card, and the card peeking through the package: Pete Rose. I think I already have that Pete. If not, it's a keeper.

Ok, howbout another pack?

Panini Americana. Rhonda Fleming (don't know her), Noah Gray-Cabey (don't know him), Linda Evans (vaguely know her), Pam Anderson (hello!), and Michael Madsen.. I just watched Kill Bill parts 1 and 2 earlier this month for the first time. Part 1 was a bit over the top, but Part 2 was pretty solid. Anyways, Michael was in that. Cool.

Basketball time. Carmelo Anthony is the only guy here I've heard of. 

And finally..

Triple Play closes out my Dollar Tree spree. Nobody here I really care about much. If I had to hang on to one of these cards, it'd be the Ichiro, I guess.

So that wraps up this uneventful purchase. Sorry guys, not all posts can blow you away with awesomeness. Don't unsubscribe, please! I've got a cool new Baseball Card Mashup post in the hole ready to post soon. It'll win you back!

Anyways, if you saw anything you need above, it's pretty much all available for trades, so just let me know. Probably wasn't worth my $4, but oh well, it's always fun ripping packs of cards, so no regrets. And while it sounds weird to need to "replenish my junk wax supply", I actually have been getting low lately. A lot of these cards will likely become fodder for Glowing Altered Variation cards.. squeezing some coolness out of them by making them glow in the dark.

Need More Cardboard traded with me! Check it out

I haven't done many online card trades yet, but everytime I do, seems like I get the better side of the deal. I guess that means you guys are very generous. --or, yeah, maybe I need to step up my trade game. Andrew of Need More Cardboard is the latest to be added to my mental "I owe ya next trade" list.

Here are some awesome cards he sent me recently.

The card that got our deal happenin'.. a shiny, serial numbered (17/50) addition to my Greatest Gavins collection. And that Bagwell is, believe it or not, the first "official" glow-in-the-dark card I've added to my glow-in-the-dark card collection since I posted my glow-in-the-dark card collection months ago. (Of course, I've made several Glowing Altered Variation [GAV] cards myself since then-- and if you trade with me or win one of my contests, be warned that you will most likely get one or two of them thrown in whether you want it or not!)

Puig! I haven't bought any "Update" packs of any variety, and as such I have not yet become totally immune to being stoked on receiving a Puig card. This marks my 3rd Puig card, which might be the lowest total for anyone who considers themselves an active baseball card collector. I'm stoked! He'll probably win MVP next year. --and every year after that for the next decade or two. Mark my words!

Gotta love Stargell. Gotta love Clemente. Delgado and Vlad?.. well, they're a couple big boppers from the steroid era who I happen to like and semi-collect. The Delgado is #'d 2278/2667, while Vlad is a "card your mom threw out".. Hey Topps, don't be talkin' 'bout my mom, buster!

Pads (and former Pads) on Parade! That crystally Adrian might make a reappearance on my blog in a future Refraction Action post.

Teddy Ballgame? The Splendid Splinter? Sweet cards! Andrew suggested the hologram card might make a good subject for a glow-in-the-dark alteration. But man, I've wanted that card since the early 90s.. I don't think I could deface it! Plus I don't know if it would do much glowing (typically, bright cards work best.. and hologram cards are usually pretty dark). Maybe I'll try doing a Refraction Action with it though (my previous attempt at "capturing" a hologram card left a lot of room for improvement.)

My Frank Thomas collection is looking pretty decent these days, after picking up a sweet inscribed auto that arrived the very day he got the call to the hall. And these 3 additions from Andrew complement it nicely. The die-cut in the middle is #'d 198/299, while the Donruss Round Trippers on the right is #'d 2488/5000.

Lastly, some Reggies. Now, Andrew didn't send me that vintage in the middle.. I just coincidentally picked it up for a couple bucks a few days before his package arrived. And obviously that fake "1961 Topps" card on the left seemed familiar when it arrived. Topps does weird things sometimes with their faux-vintage/reprint cards. But hey, I'll take it. The "new" version shows us a bit more of the photo, including more of Reggie's right hand and more of his.. um, midsection.

So there you have it. Thanks a ton, Andrew! I appreciate your awesomeness when it comes to sending cool baseball cards to people. Everybody, do yourself a favor and check out his blog and hit him up for a trade.

Scribble Showcase: my best hockey card

This post wraps up a trilogy of sweet-ass autos I've added to my collection recently. As I mentioned a few days ago, I wanted to diversify my card collection a bit into basketball and hockey. With gift money from the holidays burning a hole in my bank account, I went on a shopping spree that, among other things, netted me a gem to shine brightly atop my tiny hockey collection:

I may have never actually watched an entire hockey game in my life, but I know of Brett Hull and his awesomeness. If Wayne Gretzky is "The Great One", Brett Hull must be the "Also Very Good One". This card hits a few marks for me: nice looking card, "Christmas Card" serial number, legendary player. And now I've got his autograph!

It's not a sticker nor on-card auto, but a signed piece of game-used hockey stick. That's pretty cool.

Did I mention this card is thick? And it came in a super thick case, too. So this thing is nearly as thick as my wallet!

Anyways, while I might not have many hockey cards, this glorious specimen instantly gives some credibility to that small wing of my collection and makes me feel like a well-rounded Sportscard Collecting Enthusiast.

A timeless Ken Griffey, Jr piece of art

Here's a joint Scribble Showcase/Refraction Action post honoring this lovable new addition to my collection. While nowhere near Junior Junkie levels, I've always been a big Griffey fan. Very happy to pick up this relatively inexpensive (<$44) certified auto as the crown jewel of my modest Junior PC.

It's a gorgeous card, though my "multiple exposure" scan up there might not quite do it justice. Per usual, the foil doesn't scan very well, but at least you can see it dancing around a bit. Almost looks like the gears and springs are actually turning. No Photoshop trickery here, just different scans mixed together.

Here's a regular photo..

While I'm a fan of puns, generally speaking, I usually hate when auto cards have some cheesy insert name/gimmick like "Sign of the Times" or "Inkredible" or really anything with "ink" in it. But this "Etched in Time" motif with inner-workings of a timepiece is actually pretty cool. I've always thought old pocketwatches and shit like that was real neat. (I've got a busted old pocketwatch of my great grampa's that I'd love to get working again someday.)

I don't think this would technically count as an on-card autograph, but it doesn't really seem like a sticker either. Honestly, I'm not sure how this 2004 card was put together. But whatever. I love it. Junior does an awesome job of filling the available space without going outside the signature area. Perfect! Nice work, Kid!

The back kinda sucks, though. "Congrats! This auto is legit. Here's that same front pic again." But it's fine.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I'm quirky about serial numbers (exhibit A, exhibit B). On the surface, 1095/1625 doesn't seem like it has any significance, does it?

Well, sir. Let me ask you this: What is Ken Griffey, Jr's career-high slugging percentage?

Give up? His baseball-reference page tells us it's a terrific .674 in 1994.

Now do the math on 1095/1625.

Pencils down. Did you get it? 1095 divided by 1625 is a long decimal number that rounds to-- you guessed it-- .674! Griffey's best slugging season!

So there's your stretch for significance for this serial number. I think it's a pretty cool little easter egg on an already cool-as-hell card.

Anyways. Ken Griffey, Jr. is a timeless talent.. one of the game's best; a sure bet for the Hall. And now I've got his autograph!

Scribble Showcase: my best basketball card

I wanted to diversify my collection by-- pardon the terminology-- "scoring a sick hit" of the neglected 2 of the Big 4 team sports that us Americans/Canadians care about. I've got lots of nice baseball cards, and a handful of sweet football cards, but not much from basketball or hockey.

But now I can check off basketball thanks to this card:

Love it. Obviously, my disturbing attraction to "Christmas Cards" was a motivating factor in picking up this particular card. I think it helps round out my collection in general very nicely. It wasn't cheap, but I justify the expenditure as part of my late December/early January "Christmas/Birthday gift money" extended shopping spree.

The tight headshot caused me to assume this card was unlicensed at first. But nope! Flip it over and there's some trademarked Los Angeles Lakers intellectual property on full display.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar is in the Hall, where he belongs. He's definitely on the shortlist of greatest ever, right there with Jordan and the gang. While I never really followed basketball too closely, especially as a kid, I always knew and liked Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Heck, he was awesome in Airplane! And now I've got his autograph!

I also picked up an equivalent sick (again, sorry) hockey card, which I'll be showing off soon.

Baseball Card Theatre: Carlton Fisk Tries To Remember Where He Parked

Hello and welcome to today's performance of Baseball Card Theatre. Today, the great Carlton Fisk will be performing a neverending one-act play entitled "Carlton Fisk Tries To Remember Where He Parked". Let's watch.

Thank you for joining us for Baseball Card Theatre. We'll see you next time.