Dimebox Dysmorphia

More dimebox haul highlights from the show yesterday.

Dave Parker and Pops.

A couple great catchers and a couple Yankee agitators.

Former Padres in the Hall. I had received a Christmas Card relic of the McCovey from gcrl a few months ago, so it's nice to have the base version now to pair with it.

Beltre and some more dudes. The Bartolo is #'d /125, I believe.

Some Sox.

More old-timers.

Juicers. There's always way too much of these guys in Bill's bins, but I caved and threw some on my stack. The HoloGrFX cards are just cool looking. I dug the throwback on the Canseco. And Powerdeck discs are hard to pass up when that cheap.

I kinda-sorta collect Tony Fernandez, plus I'd like to work on completing 1984 Fleer someday. As for the Rizzo, I just thought it was an odd photo choice for a card. According to COMC, it's a two-buck card, so not a bad pickup for a dime.

A couple 3000 Club cards and a couple Hanks.

A few football cards to close the post with. When I first got to Bill's tables, the only available space for me to pull up to was the football dimebox area. So I bided my time there while I waited for space to open in front of the baseball bins. It all worked out, as I was able to grab a few cards for myself, plus some trade fodder. I'll likely have a big "trade bait" post up within the next few days.

More cards later. Thanks for reading!

Card Show Coronation

Productive card show for me today! Let's scratch the surface of my haul.

Forget my goal of finishing 1965 Topps by the end of the year.. I might knock it out by the end of the month! Yesterday, I won a bunch of cards from one seller on eBay, and I've got a few cards sitting in my COMC inventory. The above 6 cards were picked up at the show from the old vintage guy. He let me have them all for a total of $20.. a very solid deal for some pesky cards. The Masanori Murakami RC is the biggest card here, notable for featuring the first Japanese player to play in the MLB.

Other than the '65s, I grabbed a bunch of cards from Bill's bins, some 50¢ each and a bunch of dimebox cards.

There are always so many Griffey cards that I'm overwhelmed and usually just pass them by. But once in a while, I grab a few that catch my eye. The mini-type one is a magnet and dated 1989 (oddball rookie!)... Looking for more info on it, I find a few similar 1990 ones (Phoenix Industries), but couldn't find another one of these. So I'll assume it's worth hundreds.

Not one, but two mustache-less Mike Schmidt cards!

Plucked some Pucketts out of the dimebox, too.

Also grabbed some late-career Rickey cards.. always fun.

Well, I think that's enough for now, but I'll be sorting through the rest and posting more this upcoming week. Thanks for stopping by!

When you suddenly realize it's a card show weekend

A "surprise" card show coming up for me, as I forgot it was so soon in the month this month. Nice!
I hope to score some sweet cards and show them off in the coming days.

Speaking of surprise cards, here's a trio of cards that were lost to me for years. They had been missing since I moved to my current house back in early 2014. Maybe you remember in my Paul Molitor PC post a few weeks ago I was lamenting how I couldn't find his RC that I knew I had somewhere. Well, just a few days ago I finally found it, plus a vintage Wilt Chamberlain and a Dick Allen auto (with custom glow-in-the-dark case) hiding out on the side of a big box with some other less-interesting stuff. Very happy to bring these guys back into the fold!

Here's a recent Twitter score. @vicsdugout posted a few "trade bait" cards a little while ago, and I spotted a '57 I needed for my set. I was able to round up some 2017 set needs and various Texas Rangers for him and we had a deal. Pretty sweet card of HOFer Luis Aparicio!

Here's my dog Annie last weekend staring down some pigeons at the 2017 Portland Dragonboat race (where my wife's team took home gold, proud to say!). Annie had a great time cheering on her mama, (and staring down pigeons), and I hope to have as similar focus at the card show tomorrow, zeroing in on some great cards.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

A Gwynn, a Gwynn hater, and a beautiful Bruno

Here's a little post with 3 recent pickups.

Tony Gwynn 2015 Panini Contenders Old School Colors Auto 

This is my 10th Gwynn auto (post with the other 9), and I don't really go looking to buy any more unless there's something special about it. This was one I was keeping an eye out for because it's an Aztecs card, and that's a favorite segment of my Gwynn collection (I too am a SDSU alum). I already had a couple autos featuring images from his time on the SDSU basketball team, but this is my first certified SDSU Gwynn baseball auto. It's also my first posthumous Gwynn auto, not being put out until the year after he passed. As such, it's a rare instance where a stickergraph doesn't really bother me much, though sure, I'd prefer if Tony had actually touched the card. (Looks like Panini has a decent stockpile of Gwynn signed stickers, as he's had autos in product as recent as 2017 Donruss.)

Man oh man, I loves me Topps Retired Refractors! If I can find one I need at a reasonable price, I'll likely snatch it up, even if it's a player I'm not very familiar with, or in this case, a player I don't like. Jim Leyritz was a backup catcher who never did much in the regular season, but would then step up in the postseason. He had some important clutch October hits for the Yankees and Padres in the late 90s. But he soured San Diego fans' perception of him when he talked shit about Tony Gwynn in the newspaper, basically calling him selfish. Wouldn't you know it, Leyritz would later reveal himself to be a piece garbage, killing someone in a drunk driving collision.

But all that negativity aside, I'm happy to pick up another 2005 Retired Refractor. I think there were over 100 autograph subjects in that year's set, so I've got a long way to go if I ever want to complete the refractor auto set. But who knows... If I collect for another 20 or 30 years, I might pick up the final card on my deathbed.

But the 2004 Retired set on the other hand, I've got a shot at completing a some point before I'm retired.

The base version of this Tom Brunansky is one of the most common autos from the set to find.. There are 9 sitting on eBay right now in the $10-15 range. But the refractor version, on the other hand... I've been looking for years and this is the first one I've seen. The final bid went more than I'd typically like to pay for a player of this caliber, but again, it doesn't show up very often.. plus this one was extra special for my collection...

 Christmas Card!

Bruno had a fine career as a big swinger in the 80s and early 90s, with the highlight being the Championship season of 1987 with the Twins.

This is a nice one to check off what I consider my "ultimate collecting goal" of completing the autos in 2004 Topps Retired. Overall, I only need 2 more autos (Aaron and Banks), and then another 18 where I have the base auto, but I would like to "upgrade" to the refractor auto someday. After that, I'll try to "upgrade" to having every 2004 Retired Christmas Card refractor auto. Haha, I'm (half) joking about that. But yeah, I do like picking up the 12/25 cards when I can.

Thanks for reading!

Bill Madlock PC

I like posting my player collections on the blog like this. It's a good way for me to take stock of what I got (since I don't typically keep records of my collection other than setbuilds) so I can figure out what I still need, plus it's also for trading partners to see what I need (and what I don't need, to hopefully avoid sending me dupes).

The latest PC to feature is Bill Madlock. I've actually already done a PC post for Mad Dog, but that was way back in January 2014, and I've since added many cards, so figured it was time for an update since he's one of the main dudes I collect.

Starting with 70s Topps. I don't think there's any Topps flagship I'm missing from this decade. Even snuck in a Cubs team card since Bill's floating head is easily identifiable near the middle.

1980s Topps flagship. I hate to post pics of cards on their sides like this, but it was just frustrating me way too much trying to otherwise fit them all together.

I think I'm only missing one Topps flagship card: a "NL career batting leaders" card from 1984 shared with Pete Rose and Dave Parker.

While my Topps run is nearly complete, still plenty of OPC cards I'm missing.

Here are some Topps oddballs from his playing days. The 1987 is Tiffany. Still need a bunch of his Tiffany cards, which if you're not familiar, were available in "Collector's Edition" factory sets with better card stock and glossy fronts. I believe they started doing those sets in 1984.

Some autographed Topps cards Tony L. was kind enough to send my way, I believe TTM successes for him as a kid in the early 80s.

Looks like a pretty complete run of Fleer cards from his playing days. Needs include 1983 Fleer Stamps, 1984 Fleer Star Stickers, and 1987 Fleer Update Glossy.

And not much missing as far as Donruss/Leaf. The Diamond King is an error with the small text on the back reading "Perez-Steel". The corrected version ("Perez-Steele" --note the "e" on the end) is harder to find.

Here are a couple oversized Donruss cards from 1984. I think the only Donruss card I'm missing from his playing days (besides the corrected DK) is 1987 Donruss Opening Day.

Some oddballs/etc from his playing days. Some needs include 1975 SSPC Puzzle Back, some multi-player 1986 Sportflics cards, 1988 Sportflics, 1988 Score Glossy, and all his Hostess cards from the 70s. He's also got a few Kellogg's cards I need. (How do I have none of his Hostess or Kellogg's cards?! That's a travesty I need to work on rectifying.)

Love the Senior Professional Baseball Association card. I've mentioned it before, but I really think something like that would be more successful today than the ill-fated 1989-1990 run. I think baseball fans are more nostalgic now than they were back then, thanks in large part to the internet. Imagine guys like Bonds and Vlad playing on senior league teams right now! Hell, Rickey Henderson is still willing and able to play. Maybe even talk Griffey into it! I'd definitely pay to see those guys crank dingers and gingerly chug around the bases.

Anyways, back to the Madlocks.. Now we're getting into post-career cards.

Topps Retired is well represented, both 2003 and 2004 (He wasn't included in the 2005 set). Base card, regular auto, and refractor auto (/25). I still have black (I call them "charcoal") non-auto parallels (/99) I need to pick up. (Ok, I've actually just now grabbed the 2003 charcoal parallel off COMC.)

Some more recent offerings from Topps, including an original color negative from Topps Vault.

Some Upper Deck/Fleer stuff, including a relic and a couple autos. One thing in particular I've got an eye out for is a nickname auto with "Mad Dog" included in the signature. They're out there, but not very common.

And some more miscellany. The Corn Flakes cards are the same, but one is still sealed (A grey area as far as if I should consider one a "different card"). Guess I was wrong when I said earlier that I don't have any of his Kellogg's cards, though this one is from 1992, after he retired, not from the classic run of Kellogg's cards that kids pulled out of cereal boxes from 1970 through 1983. There's also a Canadian version of this card that says "Frosted Flakes" instead of "Corn Flakes".
The 1973 Topps-style card is a custom I made a while back.

And finally here's what started my Madlock collection: an index card I got signed by him in person as a kid at the 1992 All-Star Game Fanfest in San Diego.

Looks like I've fallen just a few cards short of my goal of 100 different cards. So help me out if you can! Thanks.

San Diego Chargers Mount Rushmore

The Chargers officially (re)enter the books as the Los Angeles Chargers during Monday Night Football this evening. Now that the San Diego Chargers franchise has come to a close, we can step back and take a look at the past. I'm from San Diego, though I haven't lived there for a few years. Still though, I don't see myself rooting for the LA Chargers. I mean, I suppose they're still my favorite football team by default, seeing as I don't give a shit about the NFL these days. But still, I think I'm rooting against them, at least at the moment. I want them to lose a lot and be last in the league in attendance. I know it's a longshot, but maybe then the owner would come crawling back to San Diego with his tail between his legs.. or better yet, sell the team to someone who isn't a dipship who will bring them back to SD.

With a soft spot in my heart for the glory days of the team, here's a little collecting goal I set out to complete. I don't collect football too heavily, but wanted my card collection to include decent cards from the top guys from my favorite NFL team. I came up with a "Mount Rushmore" model and chose these 4 players.

There they are.. carve them into the side of a mountain.

Oh, Junior Seau, the heart of the 90s Chargers teams. Picked up this foilboard Stadium Club certified auto a few months back. I thought it was the coolest looking auto card I could find of his and it was reasonably priced.

LaDainian Tomlinson. No athlete besides Tony Gwynn fills San Diego sports fans with more pride. Love that this is a Christmas Card, plus has some game-used material in the "21", though the auto is a stickergraph. Might have to "upgrade" to an on-card auto someday.

Dan Fouts. Really put the Chargers on the map in the 70s and 80s. This is the only card of the four in today's post that's not a certified auto. But when I looked at the prices for his certified autos, and noted that he was a dependable TTM signer, it was an easy choice for me to go this route. Of all my TTM successes over the past couple years, this signed 1973 Topps Baseball-inspired custom is definitely among my favorites. Thanks again, Dan!

And of course Philip Rivers. Still the Chargers' QB. While I basically hate the team now, I still love the guy. I hope he does well, even if away from SD. Great talent and seems like a hell of a guy. Wish they could have put together a Super Bowl championship team in San Diego at some point over his career, but that's just how it goes, I suppose. Picked up this card a few years back, and it's since been a favorite of my modest pigskin card collection.

The backs. That's Bill Romanowski on the back of the Seau co-signers card.

You'd be hard-pressed to bump anybody from that top 4, but I think honorable mentions gotta include Lance Alworth, Stan Humphries, Natrone Means, Antonio Gates, Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joiner, Drew Brees, Chuck Muncie, Marion Butts, and Shawne Merriman. Anybody worthy of Top 10 consideration I'm forgetting? Let me know in the comments. Hey, I'm a baseball guy.. I ain't no football guru, so I'm not claiming to be infallible here.

Anyways, yeah, I've never been a huge Chargers card collector though I grew up rooting for the team in the 90s/00s, and now that they've moved away I'll be even less likely to add more cards to my collection, but I still can't forget the San Diego teams I pulled for in the past.

Thanks for reading. Best of luck this year to your favorite football team, whomever they may be.

1965 Topps mailday knocking off some big names

If I complete my set of 1965 Topps by the end of the year, there will be a lavish parade in my honor and Miss Oregon will gently place a golden crown upon my head to rapturous applause. "You did it!," she'll whisper in my ear, then kiss my cheek.

... Er.. Wait, no, nevermind. Actually nothing special will happen. Whether I finish it tomorrow or in 2029 doesn't really matter, I'll just feel a nice sense of accomplishment whenever I get the final card in my clutches. But for the sake of, um, having collecting goals, I guess, I've given myself the goal of finishing it by the end of 2017. And since we're into September already, I've got to keep my eyes on the prize.

Last weekend I took aim at some of the bigger cards still on my needslist, and they just showed up, so let's check them out.

I believe Steve Carlton is the biggest (most expensive) rookie card in the set. I figured I'd hit it head-on instead of waiting till it was among the last few needed cards remaining. Found a decent looking auction, put in a bid, and ended up on top. I didn't spring for a graded copy, and maybe I was paranoid because of that, but when it showed up, it was so nice, it almost seemed counterfeit. But I put it in a stack of other '65s and it passed the cardstock test, so I'm confident it's legit.

Poor Fritz Ackley. His brief MLB career had come to a close before this card came out.

Here's a nice Al Kaline. Both Kaline and Steve Carlton are guys I had little PCs going for a while, but dropped them from my wantlist a while back trying to tighten up my collecting focus and not fall into the trap of collecting all Hall of Famers. Still though, love vintage setbuilding to give me an excuse to add a great card of theirs to my collection here and there.

Funny he never won another batting title.

Yaz! Here he's doing that classic goofy pop-up pose.

Been wanting to add this card to my collection for a long time.

Looks like this Frank Robinson was well-loved by a kid in the 60s. Then at some point in recent years, it was entombed, and I picked it up for a good price with combined shipping.

It's on the low end of the scale for condition I'm trying for with my set, but it'll do.

Last one for today, it's a Mets 4-player RC highlighted by Tug McGraw.

Again, it's a bit rough, but it's a short-printed high-number rookie card featuring a fan favorite, so I'm fine settling for a more affordable copy such as this. You could say there are 2 fan favorites on here, since Ron Swoboda endeared himself to Mets fans of the era, being a key member of the 1969 Miracle Mets.

I'm now at exactly 95% complete with this set. Just 30 more cards to go. After checking off these big names, I'm feeling good about my chances of meeting my year-end goal.