TWIB: Dodgers, Cardfoolery, and a Pair of Ladies

This has to be one of the roughest weeks in by far the worst year of my lifetime.  Lots of poop hit the fan this week, but nobody wants to read about that.  It's Saturday and if you follow my blog, then you know it's time for This Week in Blogging.

#1:  The Dodgers Win The World Series!

2002 Topps Archives Autograph #TAA-JPO

Congratulations to Greg, Jim, and all of the other Dodgers card bloggers out there!  It took some digging, but I discovered I had this Johnny Podres autograph sitting in my Archives autograph collection.  Night Owl put him atop his list of Dodgers World Series heroes earlier in the week.

1987-88 Fleer #130

2009-10 National Treasures Century Signatures #154

1988 Kenner Starting Lineup

GCRL pointed out that 2020 wasn't the first time the Dodgers and Los Angeles Lakers won titles in the same year.  They also accomplished the feat in 1988.  I could show off a Kirk Gibson card, but as an A's fan... that stirs up painful memories.  So I'll post the 1988 NBA Finals MVP instead.  Okay.  Okay.  Here's the 1988 World Series MVP too...

1988 Topps Big #91

And of course the 2020 World Series MVP:

2010 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects #108

This is the only Corey Seager that I have scanned.  Picked it up before the 2019 MLB season, because I liked the look of the card and wanted to have a rookie card of him.  It set me back $16.52 on 4 Sharp Corners.

#2:  Sport Kings Rule

2012 Sport Kings Series E #216

2012 Sport Kings Series E #217

One of my favorite autograph collections are the recent Leaf Sport Kings buyback autographs... which features one of the greatest card designs of all-time.

Earlier in the week, Matthew over at Number 5 Type Collection wrote a fantastic post which covers the the mystery of the 1933 Big League Gum Napoleon Lajoie.  It also touches on the Sport Kings cards from the same era.

If you're a fan of pre-war era cards, I encourage you to click here and check out the post.  He made a sweet looking Lajoie Sport Kings custom that is truly magnificent.

#3:  The Bar Has Been Lowered

2008 TriStar Signa-Cuts #NNO

A few years ago, I started a series of posts called Chronicles of Cardfoolery.  It just featured cards that I deemed "silly" or "foolish".  One of the first cards I featured was this Steve Sax autograph that was signed on a label and attached to a piece of cardboard and called a "cut signature".

It doesn't get much "foolish" than that... but last Sunday... I saw something that rivals it over on Sport Card Collectors.  Do yourself a favor and check it out here.  I'm glad I'm not the only one willing to fork over money for cards like these.

#4:  The Other Sandberg

1983 Topps #282

The 1983 Topps baseball card set is my favorite design from the 80's.  I've loved it since I opened packs of this stuff back in the day and honestly didn't think I'd ever be surprised by a card from this set.  Then I read a post on Sean's blog:  Getting Back Into Baseball Cards... In Japan which featured the Reggie Smith above.

I can't believe it's taken me almost forty-years to notice that Ryne Sandberg has another card in that set and I owe it all to Sean.  If you're interested in seeing some fantastic Japanese baseball cards, I encourage you to add his blog to your reading list.

Speaking of Japanese...

#5:  A Pair of Ladies

2008 Bench Warmers Autograph #4

2008 Bench Warmers Autograph #8

On Thursday, Bulldog opened up a pack of 1997 Bench Warmers on his blog (Nothing If Not Random) and it reminded me of these cards which are part of my Japanese PC.  Actually... I haven't officially included them in that collection, because I'm not 100% positive they're Japanese.  But they are 100% attractive.

#6:  Happy Halloween

The Last of Us Part II

These days, I can barely manage one blog.  Flywheels has three that I subscribe to and that's not including his participation on A Pack to Be Named Later.  Earlier in the week, he wrote a great video game post discussing games for the Halloween season over on his blog:  Adventures in Video Games.

I thought I'd share the game I'm currently playing.  I won't even bother trying to review it, but The Last of US Part II has been worth every penny.  I've heard that it isn't as good as the first game, but so far I feel like it's right up there.  It's not exactly a super scary game... but it does have these zombie-like creatures in it.  I think it's perfect for Halloween and helping you take your mind off of this crappy year.

Happy Halloween and sayonara!

Multiple Meanings

When you hear the words, "blue moon"... what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Some of you might have thought of the Belgian-style white beer.

Others might have started humming the famous song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934 and performed by numerous artists over the years including Mel Tormé, The Marcels, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Rod Stewart.

If you're into astronomy, then you probably know that there will be a "Blue Moon" on Halloween... which means that it's the second full moon of the month.  I didn't realize this was such a rare occurrence... hence the saying "once in a Blue Moon".  The next "Blue Moon" won't show its face until August 31st, 2023.  And trick or treaters won't see another one until 2039.

But I'm sure many of you thought of this guy...

2020 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autographs #FFA-BMO

Johnny Lee Odom was given the nickname "Blue Moon" by a classmate back in the 5th grade.  Although he's not a hall of famer... he went on to win three World Series rings with the Oakland Athletics and represented them in two MLB All-Star games.

I'm glad Topps finally decided to add "Blue Moon" to their Fan Favorites checklist.  He doesn't have a lot of certified autographs available, so I was pretty excited when I added this card to my collection last month.

Well that's it for today.  Go enjoy a Blue Moon.  I know I am.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Cornerstone Combo Cards

When it comes to combination cards, card companies sometimes take a huge risk when deciding who to pair people up with.

1998 Stadium Club Co-Signers #CS14

I've seen plenty of cards like my Gwynn/Grudzielanek Co-Signers card that have left me scratching my head.  Sometimes it involves a veteran and young budding star that doesn't live up to collector's expectations.  Other times card companies just throw two athletes together and hope for the best.  Bottom line... not all combination cards are classics.

But when paired correctly... they can become really cool cornerstone cards for your collection.  Today's post features five of my favorite combo cards and it was inspired by a post I read last week on Sports Cards Ate My Brain.  Sascards67 showed off some really nice combination autographs and relic cards.  The plan was to include him in my This Week in Blogging post, but it ran a tad bit long.  So I decided to make it a stand alone post.

I'm not going to bother trying to rank these cards, but I will say that this first card is one of my favorite cards in the collection:

1999 Stadium Club Co-Signers #CS4

I realize this isn't the first time I've shown off this card and I'd be lying if I told you it was the last time.  The fact that Chipper and Jeter each touched this card at some point gives me goosebumps.  I've always wondered who signed this card first.

The same question can be applied to this card:

2005 Sweet Spot Signatures Dual #SSD-PC

Actually, I'm pretty sure that Upper Deck just had the players sign these leather swatches the same way they have athletes sign the dreaded stickers), but I'll take this card over a sticker-graph any day of the week.

Next up is this black bordered beauty:

2002 UD Vintage Timeless Teams Bat Card #B-OF2

Okay.  I kinda wish Griffey was featured as a Seattle Mariner.  Upper Deck made the executive decision to have Rickey with the A's... even though he played with the Red Sox in 2002.  The could have done the same thing with Junior.

Nevertheless... I love this card.  It (supposedly) contains pieces of game used bat used by my two favorite baseball players, the Home Run King, and arguably the most popular player in our hobby during the 90's.

2004 UD Legends Timeless Teams

Team Terrific Game-Used Team Logo #TT-OA

I can only think of two booklets in my collection, but they're not even in the same league.  This awesome memorabilia card was a gift from Jim over at cards as i see them.  He actually has a few blogs and one of them is dedicated to his 2004 UD Legends Timeless Teams collection where I originally discovered these booklets.

This card has been one of the cornerstone pieces to my Oakland A's collection the past couple of years.  It features the players who were on the field when I first started attending games at the Oakland Coliseum back in the mid 70's.  And it was the first card that popped into my head when I was reading Sascards67's post.

I'll wrap things up with a memorabilia card featuring my two favorite football teams:

2007 Leaf Limited Matching Positions #MP-12

Steve Largent and Donald Driver each sit atop their franchise leaderboard in regards to receptions and receiving yards... and like Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, and Tony Gwynn... both of these guys were loyal to one franchise.  That will always score bonus points in my book.

Well there you have it.  Five of my favorite combination autograph and memorabilia cards.  What about you?

What are your favorite combination "hits" in your collection?

If "hits" aren't your thing, then...

What are your favorite combinations cards in your collection?

Well that's it for today.  Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

19th Hole

2011 Panini Americana Movie Posters Materials Combo #7

This is a bonus card scan of a combination relic.  Never seen this movie, but I'm familiar with three of the stars in the film.  Unlike most memorabilia cards, the swatches of clothing (supposedly) worn by Jerry Lewis and Donna Reed appear on the back of this card.

The Broder Version of Graded Cards?

If you write about Broders... there's a good chance you'll get featured on This Week in Blogging.  Jay over at Card Hemmorrhage showed off some nice looking Broders last week on his blog.  Unfortunately... my Saturday post ended up being the baseball card version of The NeverEnding Story.  So I had to make some last minute revisions and presto... you have today's post.

I have probably close to one hundred different Broders sitting in a box that I'd love to show off at some point.  But for today, I present to you this not-so-nice looking "wannabe" rookie card of The Kid.

I've been told on multiple occasions that these cards are completely worthless, but the fact is... a card is worth what someone is willing to pay you for it.  And there are actually collectors out there who are willing to pay a few bucks to add this mass produced unlicensed piece of cardboard to their collection.  Just saying.

Getting back to Jay... he recently sent me a padded enveloped that contained what I would deem to be the graded card version of a Broder:

2000 Archives Reserve #23

Okay.  So this card grading company looks to have been legit at one point, but I'm gonna bet the majority of you have never heard of Snaggletooth Grading.  Have you?

I did some research and it looks like the website might have been up and active in 2002 and 2003, but that's a long time ago.  Just like Broders, there are some collectors out there who don't have an appreciation for defunct grading card companies or the cards they've graded.

Me?  I love this card.  It's a piece of history.  While many collectors would pop this card out of its plastic prison, I have zero intentions of doing so.  My goal is to collect an example of every grading card company slab in existence and I thanks to Jay, I can officially cross Snaggletooth Grading off of my list.

He also sent me some other cards for random collections:

I was very happy to add another Ramon Laureano Topps rookie card to my collection.  He struggled after trying to attack the Astros coach, but I'm confident he'll return to top form next season.

And as much as I avoid purchasing Panini cards myself, that Pinnacle Swing for the Fences acetate insert of Albert Pujols is a nice looking card.  Thanks Jay!

While I'm covering care packages, I received another large padded envelope in the mail last week.  The other one was from Jon over at A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts.

Let's start off with the largest item in the envelope:

The Raven DVD

One of my favorite things about Jon's blog are his pickup posts where he shares his DVD and VHS purchases.  It reminds me of my days of walking around the flea market before I started hunting for cards.

Back in the 90's and 2000's... movies, CD's, and video games were actually the #1 thing on my list to buy at the local flea markets.  I'm sure I'd stop and look at cards, but I don't remember finding too many deals on them.  Used media was a completely different story.

These days, I'll still pick up a DVD or video game if it's cheap and something I really want to see or play, but it's not very often.  In fact... I haven't been to the flea market in over nine months.  Maybe I'll look into walking around the De Anza Flea Market in November.

Getting back to cards, Jon sent me some of those too in the form of set needs:

Two years ago, my buddy Woody hooked me up with a nice starter set of 1980-88 TCMA Baseball Immortals.  Over the past twenty-four months, the only four cards I've crossed off my list are the ones sent to me by Jon:

This is one of those sets that I have stored in a binder on my office shelf.  I probably should make a stronger effort to complete it.  Right next to that binder is a binder holding these sets:

Jon helped me get one step closer to completing the Greatest Sluggers set with this Jimmie Foxx:

1982 TCMA Sluggers #20

Another set that I just need to sit down and finish.  I absolutely love these 80's TCMA sets.  They're like if Broders and Topps Archives hooked up and had a baby.  I mean it in the best possible way.

In addition to these set needs, he also sent me a nice stack of A's, Padres, and Japanese guys:

That top row of A's are shiny refractors... and both bottom rows of these pages are buybacks... including the two 1987 Topps A's cards and the 2011 Topps Padres team card in the middle rows.

I tried to pick a favorite and narrowed it down to the Terrence Long Bowman Chrome refractor, the 85T Mike Davis, the 86T Garry Templeton, the 88T Benito Santiago, or the 2011 Padres team card.  They're all awesome, so I'll leave it at that.

Thanks Jon for this very generous care package.  As soon as I sit down and watch The Raven, I'll let you know.  Today is the first day of the second quarter and I spent most of the weekend grading, getting my next unit lined up, and then resting, sorting some cards, and writing this week's blog posts.  Maybe over Thanksgiving break?  Hopefully sooner.

Okay... time to get ready for class which starts exactly when I have this post scheduled to publish.

Happy Monday and sayonara!