30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Game On!


Earlier in the week, I received a package containing this 1940 Stars of Baseball board game produced by When Topps Had Balls.  It had been purchased by a fellow blogger who preferred to remain anonymous.  Obviously I'll respect their wishes, but their gift is just too cool not to share with all of you.


Each board game contains a foldout play board (not pictured), 10 score sheets, a booklet containing 18 lineup cards, 4 plastic stands to display "runners" in the game, a pair of dice, a "1940 Stars of Baseball" pencil, a Lou Gehrig box topper (which doubles as a dice roll card), and a 40 card set.

The rules of the game are simple and the game itself seems like it'd be pretty entertaining.  But as a baseball card collector, I consider this more of a baseball card set than a game.  So instead of playing the game, let's check out the cards.

First up is the Lou Gehrig 5x7 box topper:


This "commemorative roll card" is a thing of beauty and hands down my favorite card in the board game.  A quick glance at the back gives you an idea of how to play the game.

As the name of the game suggests, the 40 card set contains baseball stars of the 40's.  The cards are your standard 3.5" in length, but are only 2" wide.  

2018 WTHBALLS Stars of 1940 #1

I'm a huge fan of the card design and the player selection.  The card backs offer a short biography of the player along with a special "power roll" number.  According to the Lou Gehrig commemorative card, if the player rolls the "power roll" number in the game, it's a home run.

2018 WTHBALLS Stars of 1940 #3


Outside of the Gehrig... my two favorite cards in the set are the DiMaggio and Williams.  Sure they're arguably two of the biggest names.  But I also love how their photos feature well-cropped action shots.

Here's a look at the rest of the 40 card set in its entirety:


#1 Joe DiMaggio, #2 Bob Feller, #3 Ted Williams, #4 Hank Greenberg
#5 Luke Appling, #6 Jimmie Foxx, #7 Bobby Doerr, #8 Bobo Newsom


#9 Joe Kuhel, #10 Harlond Clift, #11 Johnny Mize, #12 Arky Vaughan
#13 Bill Nicholson, #14 Dixie Walker, #15 Frank McCormick, #16 Billy Herman


#17 Enos Slaughter, #18 Mel Ott, #19 Lon Warneke, #20 Rip Sewell
#21 Charlie Keller, #22 George Case, #23 Bob Johnson, #24 Hal Trosky


#25 Joe Cronin, #26 Lou Boudreau, #27 Joe Gordon, #28 Rudy York
#29 Rip Radcliff, #30 Barney McCosky, #31 Paul Derringer, #32 Claude Passeau


#33 Joe Medwick, #34 Dolph Camilli, #35 Whit Wyatt, #36 Stan Hack
#37 Lonny Frey, #38 Bucky Walters, #39 Debs Garms, #40 Carl Hubbell


Well... that's it for tonight.  A huge thank you goes out to the generous, anonymous blogger who purchased this beautiful set for me.  Even though you told me not to, I found a few things to send your way today at the Serramonte Mall Card and Collectibles Show.

I hope the rest of you are enjoying your weekend.  Here in San Jose, it's insanely hot:


I took this picture at around 4:30 this afternoon.  My parents would be comfortable with this heat.  I'm more of a 57 to 67 degrees, overcast kind of guy.  I call it flip-flop/hoodie weather.  What about you?

What's your ideal weather?

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

17 comments:

Zippy Zappy said...

My ideal weather is around 0-10 degrees Celsius (which is basically 32-50 degrees Farenheit). I'm the type of guy who likes wearing a hoodie and a Yankees jacket on top of it with Timberland boots. The stereotypical New Yorker look.

Fuji said...

I've been wearing Timbs since Nice & Smooth rapped about them in Sometime I Rhyme Slow.

Billy Kingsley said...

That's a pretty awesome gift. The people in this hobby are cool. I've gotten a few gifts that I was asked not to say who they were from, as well.

My ideal temperature is anywhere from 20 to 65 degrees F. I prefer the winter...heat makes me have trouble breathing. I literally cannot count how many things I've had to miss out on / give up because I knew it was too hot and I would have trouble.

Corky said...

That looks like a well designed game with some beautiful graphics. We hit 101 yesterday and while I spent half my life in the valley (Phoenix area) where 101 is a mid-May decent day, I now live in Northern where 101 is a very rare occurrence.

Matt said...

My ideal weather was yesterday. Sunny 75ish slight Breeze. When you get to the 80s it starts to get too hot.

Very cool game board and pieces

Jeremya1um said...

Here in Florida, I’m good with a high of 78 or so. Anything over 80 is killer with all of the humidity.
I hate the cold, so I can go with a low of about 60 before I start freezing.

SumoMenkoMan said...

That is a really awesome game and cool gift. Bring on the cool weather. I like it at 60 degrees.

Mark Hoyle said...

As a guy who works outside I have to work in all extremes of the weather. I would love it to be 75 with no humidity everyday. I also grabbed one of the games. A true work of art.

Commishbob said...

That's a great item! Great gift for sure.

Ass for weather...I prefer whatever the weather is anywhere else but Houston right this minute. I'm not sure why I live here.

Matt said...

That game is simply beautiful! I love those cards!

Nick said...

Great customs! I have to pull the trigger on one of those sets sometime. Ideal weather for me is overcast and temps in the 60s -- something about cloudy days brings me solace.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

I'd rather have a 100 than 50, or 90 than 60, or 80 than 70. Oh yes, and I need that humidity, and no wind unless it is a gentile breeze when it gets hot. :)

John23 said...

Hey! Glad you liked the set! Appreciate the kind words! And thank you for this, you took such better photos of the set than I did! Gio/wthballs

GCA said...

I like it in the 70's when you can have the windows open and the air isn't running. When it's hot and humid, then the A/C runs too much and I end up getting cold in the house. Then I go outside and everyone wonders why I'm wearing long pants in 90°...
I'm old enough that I don't have to wear shorts when it gets above 40°, and I've never understood the jacket & shorts thing. Doesn't make sense to me. Ya got hot knees or what?

Fuji said...

billy kingsley - yeah... the generosity never seizes to amaze me. I'm with you in regards to temperature: winter > summer.

corky - wthballs did a great job on the design. his products are top notch. i've heard that northern arizona is pretty nice. my parent's friend lives in prescott and she says it's awesome.

sport card collectors - we're about 10 degrees off from each other. 65 with a breeze sounds amazing.

jeremya1um - never been to florida, but i've heard the humidity is up there. i'd say 45 starts to get to be too cold.

sumomenkoman - great minds think alike

mark hoyle - glad you got yourself a copy. this set is about as cool as it gets in terms of packaging. very creative

commishbob - i can only assume that houston is hot right now during this time of the year. definitely not my kind of weather

matt - it really is. kudos to wthballs for their product design

nick - my brother and i were just talking about how we both enjoy overcast days. maybe that's why i'm drawn to the pacific northwest

john miller - you and i are polar opposites. well... in regards to weather preference

giovanni balistreri - great job on producing another awesome set! keep up the great work.

GCA - for me... the hoodie/shorts thing is a comfort thing. i love the front pocket of a hoodie. you can put snacks, keys, etc. while wearing shorts allow my legs to breathe.

Ryan G said...

That's an awesome game. I might have to look into getting one... but I doubt I'd ever get to look at it!

I think 60ish is the most comfortable temperature. I prefer things a bit on the cool side, since I grew up in SF. I would go out on a cold foggy morning wearing a t-shirt and shorts and be fine. That said, when the thermostat hits the 80s fashion changes and people outside look a lot ... nicer.

Fuji said...

Very true. In regards to fashion, it's a great time to live in Cali right now.