Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Group Breaks: Fun or Frustrating?

The ladies at Dinged Corners asked if group breaks were fun or frustrating. So, I thought that would be a great topic of discussion!

I have only participated in one so far, and it's too soon to know what I think about it because my cards are still pending delivery. I'll be able to answer the question better once I see exactly what i ended up with (not just the 'hits' but the other cards as well - assuming we get all the cards that drew our number and not just the 'mojo').

Besides, I don't know that having only participated in one so far that I am qualified to judge the fun/frustrating level.

So, let's hear from the other folks out there that have taken part in group breaks - what do you think: fun or frustrating?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

I am Joe Collector, or am I?

I bought into my first group case break ever, held over at iamjoecollector.blogspot.com yesterday (the 27th). Of course, I was hoping to pull some Indians, and am still hoping to be able to trade for some, but here is what I ended up getting ("the hits"):

David Wright Finest Moments Red Refractor Auto /25
Jonathon Niese Patch Auto /285
Justin Morneau Refractor
Gary Sheffield Refractor

The Wright will find itself a very good home (along with another surprise I got in the mail today), but the others are up for grabs for anyone else that bought into the break who is willing to give up Indians.

I have to say, I missed the live break, but it was a lot of fun to see what I ended up with! It's a fun way to feed my habit, that's for sure. Of course, I'm so clueless, I have no idea what the cards look like to post pics here....

Thanks for some great fun!

tribecards.net changeover - FINAL update

Final update on this topic - Wahoo! It worked, it actually worked... There are some hoops you have to jump through to get your blogger site to point to your godaddy domain, but once it kicks in, it works just fine. Or at least so far. :-)



UPDATE (4/28/09) - Okay, my idea did NOT work, and it turns out I am going the hard way about things. If you want a custom domain for your blog, do what Patricia did at dingedCorners: use the blogger settings and let Google handle everything.

I opted, some time ago, to use GoDaddy. I have found a step-by-step that should get things going, but I won't know for a day or two. Looking back, I wish I had realized I could have done the whole thing through Google instead... Ah well, live and learn.



Just a quick word... tribecards.net will disappear for a bit. You can still get to tribecards.blogspot.com but the .net might drop off here soon as I figure out this whole hosting thing...

Thanks for your patience... If you've made it this far, you already have more patience than I do. :-)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Zito Effect

The girls over at Dinged Corners held a contest not long ago (and actually, I think there are new questions, so it may still be going on), and I was the lucky winner of a selection of cards by answering the 'unlucky' question number 13 - which actually turns out to be about a very LUCKY situation, now that i stop and do the math...

You see, they have come up with "The Barry Zito" effect - the effect whereby a collector receives many, many cards of one particular player and yet at the same time, receives very few duplicates of that player. I'm sure it also has something to do with a 'fallen star' effect, but I haven't figured out how to tie the two together, or if in fact the two ARE tied together (kind of Lincoln/Kennedy thing, if you will). I am not sure if I have any "Zito Effect" players myself, mainly because I hadn't thought to stop and think about it - a natural shortcoming of mine.

My correct answer scored me some very cool Indians cards!


The top card in the envelope is Kerry Wood in a Triber's uniform! Wahoo! It's funny, I've always been a closet fan of Wood's and now that he sports an Indians uniform, I can freely shout WAHOO! Mike Rouse, whom I admit I know very little about, is next, sporting what appears to be Oakland Green. In fact, the back of the card shows him wearing an A's hat - so there ya go. Franklin Gutierrez is up next, and his card number is 404 - which in terms of the Internet means 'cannot be found.' Unfortunately for the Tribe, that's kinds his legacy in Cleveland - he bounced around a lot between the bigs and the minors during his stint.

Next Scott Lewis, a Classic Best Gold Ken Ramos (VERY cool!), Kenny Lofton, and a Pinnacle checklist. The Pinnacle checklist features the Indians at Jacobs Field! Excellent! Travis Hafner on a Masterpieces, a classic Topps Cory Snyder, and a Fleer Tradition Rafael Betancourt finish out this group.

The second group of scanned cards features Pronk and more!! V-Mart leads things off on a Masterpieces card. That's followed by Pronk on a UD Timelines and a UD Future Stars - very cool looking cards. Lampkin appears ready to take part in a play at the plate. Hafner comes in on a Baseball Heroes card for his latest appearance in the deck! Dennis Martinez shows us his smiling face - though it is paired with a maniacal look in his eye... Pat Corrales looks a bit dazed and confused, which makes a lot of sense given the 80's-era Indians... Julian Tavarez is catching something in his mouth. It's way too uniform to be popcorn, I think. To me, they appear to be jelly beans. But, who eats the white ones!? C.C. comes in on a BLACK Baseball Heroes card - very slick! The last picture is of Terry Pendleton, doing his best "Where is your mother" Bill Cosby impression.



There was one more card in the envelope, but it was stuck to the bottom of Pendleton's card. Yes, I realize this means I should have noticed right away, being the last card and all. Alas, my skills of blatant observation took a vacation this weekend.

The last card in the package was a Stadium club Jim Thome - caught in the middle of catching a fly ball.

Thank you so much, Dinged Corners, for another WONDERFUL package and a great prize!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

April Fool's or Extremely Rare? (UPDATE!)

UPDATE - 4/23/09 - I happened to have an older copy of the "Beckett Almanac" tucked away on a shelf I had forgotten about. Lo and Behold, there it was: 1989 Super Bubble "Major League Movie" cards!! The design looks a lot like the Upper Deck 70's throwback cards (like the Gaylord Perry in my previous post).

Now, I have something to go on!! I'll keep you posted.



I received an email inquiring about a 1989 set of baseball cards based on the movie "Major League." At first, I was excited about the prospect of such a set. The more I looked into this set, however, I started getting that "PunkRockPaint'd" feeling again. ow, let me be clear - this was NOT PRP making the request.

I hate to call out anyone, so instead I will simply post my findings...

As I typed in various search terms, I hit on the following image:


(from http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/09/fake4.jpg)

That led to a series of results that eventually led me to these:


(from http://www.sportscardforum.com/articles/?p=201)

Now, there is a similarity in both sets. That would be the 'illustrator,' who happens to share the name of the person who contacted me about the set.

Now, in his defense, I replied with a rather snarky, dare I say humorous, message. The reply I received seemed to indicate that the recipient did not see things as humorous.

Now, I found two sites that list the "1989 Major League Movie" card set: Beckett and on CardPricer . Now, my first, gut reaction was that the set must surely exist based on these results. But, soon, I began to think I was on a wild goose hunt.

As I poked around and was quickly coming up with absolutely no other references, I stopped to think about the two places that showed results. If I am not mistaken, both sites allow their users to create checklists and enter card sets. Granted, this is a rather elaborate hoax if it is one, but I suppose that could happen with someone having enough time on their hands.

I am very trusting by nature, which is how I often end up in these messes to begin with. I emailed several movie memorabilia shop owners, one of which specializes in movie/tv-based trading cards (I never knew there were Andy Griffith cards), and they had never heard of the Major League" set.

It is here that I am asking you for help. Is this some ultra-rare, super-secret set or just an April Fool's joke being played on yours truly? I'm a big boy, I can take it either way.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Birthday cards all around!


On my birthday, I received two very cool gifts! The first one is what you see above: a custom-made card from PunkRockPaint! Some time ago, he asked his readers to send a picture and he would create a card just for them. I sent this and asked that it be put on a 1991 Topps card design. I hadn't seen it in my inbox until today (I had a lot of cleaning up to do!), and I have to say it is great stuff!! Not that I had any doubts - Travis is one of the most talented folks I know of! Why 1991? That would be the date Shan and I got married, of course!

Thank you VERY MUCH for this great gift!


The next gift I received came all the way across the ocean to get to me. A great package from JackPlumstead! A while ago, he posted an article about 'sample' and 'promotional' cards and asked if anyone knew anything about them. I piped up, since I have something of a penchant for oddball stuff, and in return he sent me some very cool cards! I will post more about them on "Things Done to Cards" in a bit.


In addition to the sample/promos, John included a selection of TRIBERS!! Sweet!

Included in the mix of Indians were:
1991 Donruss Sandy Alomar
2008 UD Timeline Travis Hafner (I got Pronk'd!)
2008 Topps Heritage Jeremy Sowers (Black back)
2008 Topps Heritage Jeremy Sowers (Green back)
1999 Topps Finest Bartolo Colon
1999 Topps Manny Ramirez
2000 Fleer Gamers Jim Thome
1975 Topps Mini John Ellis
2008 Topps Heritage Kelly Shoppach (Green back)
2001 UD 70's Award Winners Gaylord Perry
2001 UD MVP Travis Fryman
2001 UD MVP Roberto Alomar
2001 Fleer Tradition Sandy Alomar
2001 UD Ed Taubensee

I have no idea what the difference between the black and green backs are on the Heritage cards, or if there even is one.

This was a great surprise to get on my birthday!! Thank you so much, John!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Cards for Night Owl

As promised, a few 'night cards' from the Rangers-Royals game the other night:




And, in case you didn't see the 'answer' to my birthday post, each card featured in the post is Card #40 in its respective set - in honor of the 'milestone' I reached.

Birthday Cards

Happy Birthday to me! These are all significant, given today is my birthday. And though it won't take much to figure it out, I thought it would be fun to post something that made you think a little (though not nearly as much as Thorzul's "Apple Pie" post a month ago).















Saturday, April 18, 2009

Talk about the house the Tribe built...

Look, I'm all for a good butt-whoopin every once in a while, but dawg, how about them Tribers!?! Of course, I am fully prepared should the day come when the Indians are the ones on the receiving end of the platter of rear end....

Quick post tonight: My wife took me to the Rangers game as a MAJOR surprise for my birthday (which is actually on Monday). The Rangers lost against the Royals, but it was AWESOME FUN! And, to top it off, we stayed for a bit of the free Jack Ingram concert in the park after the game! NICE!!

I'll post pics tomorrow sometime - took several Night Owl might appreciate!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

gotServed?

Wood from Heaven

From Indians Baseball Cards. And then some...

For whatever wacky reason, Blogger did not let me post this picture directly into my entry for today. Oh, well, there is more than one way to accomplish a goal with technology right?

In the mail today, I received an envelope from Wax Heaven and inside was a 1997 Bowman Chrome Kerry Wood rookie card! Now that Wood is bearing Tribe colors... wait a minute, he's ALWAYS been wearing Tribe colors! Well, no wonder it's been a 'relatively' smooth transition for him... I digress... Now that Wood is sporting the Tribe logo on his uniform, I've enjoyed getting surprises like this in the mail.

Thanks a bunch to Mario and Tatiana for this addition to my 'other players' collection!!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

So long, and thanks for all the fish!


No, no, I am not quitting my beloved Tribecards blog!! You see, today is Jackie Robinson Day! Is there a connection between the answer to "Life, the Universe and Everything" and Jackie Robinson's jersey number?

Well, back in 2007, SeriousSportsNews caught up with good ol' 42 and asked him about his legacy as one of the most popular numbers:

Number 42 speaks out

BROOKLYN, NY — He has heard people call him conceited, but he just calls it pride. One thing is certain: the Number 42 has quite a bit to be proud of. The number has received plenty of both praise and criticism over the past week, thanks to the celebration of Jackie Robinson Day on Sunday.

“They’re just haters,” 42 said of his critics. “I don’t know about you, but I like seeing myself on TV, and I’m not going to apologize for it.”

42 spends most of his days at home in Brooklyn in semi-retirement. He has seen his popularity plummet in recent years due to Major League Baseball retiring his image. While Commissioner Bud Selig said this was done to honor Jackie Robinson, 42 believes jealousy also played into the decision.

“We had a nasty fight a couple of weeks before he announced the retirement,” 42 recounted to SSNN. “Look, I loved Jackie. When people say he was the only person who could have integrated baseball, it’s the truth. But clearly he couldn’t have done it without me.”

42 alleges that Selig accused him of having an “out of control ego,” and that – as commissioner – he would do everything he could to remove him from the game.

“I mean, what did Jackie even do after he retired?” 42 went on. “Of course he worked with the NAACP and helped the Civil Rights movement, but other than that… I made James Worthy and Ronnie Lott into Hall of Famers. I turned Mariano Rivera into the greatest closer of all time. Where’s my day?”

“Douglas Adams said I was the answer to life, the universe and everything – why isn’t anybody talking about that?” 42 bragged. “I don’t know that it’s necessarily true, but I imagine it could be. I do have a history of greatness; the theory is worth looking into, if nothing else.”

After a lifetime that he assured us was full of hard work and dedication, 42 just wants a little bit of recognition. “It’s so easy. April 15 is Jackie Robinson Day, so let’s just make the sixteenth 42 Day. You gotta admit, it’s got a nice ring to it.”

More recently, of course, he came into play as Capt. Scully had 42 years of experience flying before safely coaxing his plane into the Hudson River. And, if you really want to see what happens when someone puts way too much effort into researching the famous "42," you need look no further than HERE...

Need help - Authenticated Ink Penny Cards


What you see above is a card i won recently on eBay. It is from "Authenticated Ink" and the original item had an 1867 penny in the hole. I also saw a Bob Feller card, and after some research have found Jack Nicklaus versions and Tiger Woods.

I poked around a bit and it seems the dates associated with these cards are either 2003 or 2008, depending on which ones you look at.

Does anyone know anything about checklists or who actually made them (that is, who *IS* "Authenticated Ink")? If so, please let me know. Thanks!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A long way to go


In 1899, the Cleveland Spiders did something no other team has ever managed to do. Well, technically, there is one other team that can lay claim to their feat, but the number of games played is way off, so I believe the guys you see above hold the record.

What's the record? Well, the 2009 Indians (110 years AFTER the guys above played), have a long way to go before coming close to the feat the above players achieved.

You see, in 1899, the Spiders managed to win 20 games. Yes, 20 games the entire season. They went 20-134 that season, boasting the greatest loss record in professional baseball history. Period.

But, you see, despite the rocky start to the 2009 season, this year's Tribe has a long way to go in coming anywhere close to that record. Much like the fable, I believe the Indians this year are taking the slow and steady approach to the season. Just as the tortoise appeared to be losing greatly, in the end, he wins the race. That's what I'm anticipating, anyway!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

HAPPY EASTER!


Breaking a streak not seen for twenty years (that would be a season-opening losing streak), Kerry Wood and Victor Martinez 'high-five' the 8-4 win today - A happy Easter for the Tribe and Indians fans everywhere!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Tribe-al Metal - It's, um, Mega

As I reported a while ago, Motherscratcher sent me all kinds of card packs. Included in those packs were three "Mega Metal" packs from 1991 Impel. This is one of those "And then some..." posts. Feel free to read along, skip the whole thing, or some combination of the two. If you're old enough to remember when a lot of these guys were around for these cards, it'll be a trip down memory lane with some snarky commentary, I'm sure. If you have no idea who these people are, well, read along anyway. You just might learn something. Or not. You just never know with me.

These are presented in absolutely no order.


Judas Priest "Painkiller" album cover. Metal bands always had the coolest covers. Now, they also tended to have the dumbest as well, but you gotta take the good with the bad, right? King Diamond is a guy I never heard of until this set. His main goal was to show that the bloody rituals of satanic worship were actually based on Christian rituals. As far out as it seems, he actually does have a point - sacrificing lambs, etc... Rob Affuso from "Skid Row." I listened to Skid Row ALL the time. I thought they were more 'pop-rock' than metal, though...



Richie Sambora. Really, what else needs to be said? Well, he was named after the used car lot where his dad bought his first car... Iron Maiden - by far and away the best covers in metal. Period. I only remember "Number of the Beast" as far as songs go, but I can remember almost every album cover they came out with. What was so funny to me were the number of people who thought "Number of the Beast" was satanic and actually it was all about Christians and their fear and obsession with the number. nice. Robert Plant. Again, what can you say? It's funny that the back of the card simply refers to "Plant's band..." There must have been copyright issues... Of course, by 1991, Zeppelin had gone through some rough times and Plant was busy trying to keep Led on everyone's minds.



LA Guns? I never heard of them, but that doesn't mean a lot. My metal days are more around 1986-1990, so it may be that I just missed out on these guys. If I heard one of their songs and was told it was by them, I might recognize it. The band was named after their leader Tracii Guns. Michael Schenker is probably best known for his days with the Scorpions. Rob Halford helped pioneer thrash metal with Judas Priest.



The card set features several foil cards. This one is from "Slaughter." Though I cannot recall any of their songs right now, I do remember listening to them in my early college days. The guy in the middle is none other than Billy Squier. He played with Hendrix, jammed with Les Paul and Jeff Beck, and made quite a name for himself as a rocker in the 80's. Nuclear Assault? I never heard of them either. I'm thinking Impel got a deal with the Great Southern Company as a way to promote some of their bands or something... Anyway, the last card is Dan Lilker from N.A...



Vixen. A teenaged boy with hormones running amok and a desire to rock out only needed to fire up some Vixen to get the blood flowing. "Fallen Hero" was one of my favorites of theirs. Next, Blas Elias from Slaughter tells us that he started out as Pre-Med but drumming led him away from doctoring. I started out as Pre-Med, too. I never had the guts to go the rock band route... I got all geeky and went technology on myself... Another card of Billy Squier. He once considered becoming a music teacher. I guess in a way, he did.



Once again, we have LA Guns. This time, they are in a VERY red card. This is Kelly Nickels. he was with Faster Pussycat but Elektra (record company) forced him to leave the band after he was taking too long to recover from a motorcycle accident. Danged record labels! Check out Robert Plant's psychedelic shirt, man! And, Skid Row with Sebastian Bach. He was the heart-throb of nearly every girl I knew.



Well, here we have the family portrait of Nuclear Assault. By the time this card was made, they already had six albums to their name. Who knew? Dave Sabo of Skid Row is looking a wee bit blue. Of course, his friends called him "Snake." Well, everyone did, really. And then we see King Diamond again. What a scary looking guy he is... The back of his card talks about the eye pendant attached to his necklace. He says it takes you back in time and when you come back, "You can see (other people's) actions, though you might be very far away from them." Uh, yeah...



Glenn Tipton (no, he is not the reason dinged up cards are called 'Tiptons,' but that's a good guess) is jamming. Another card of Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora. Okay, Sambora as metal, maybe. But the group as a whole? Never in my life have I ever thought of Bon Jovi as 'metal...' Iron Maiden, on the other hand, is all metal. Maiden Japan was one of my favorite covers. I always liked the zombie-looking creature and for me, this is the predecessor of many foes I would face in videos years later.



Ah, a partial Mega Metal checklist. The cards are divided by group, making collecting easy in the sense that Fleer in the 80's was easy as long as you knew which cards went where. The first appearance of M.O.D. shows up here. This is another group that I do not remember. They were, evidently, a satirical metal group - whatever that means. LOL, and The Front is yet another metal group I knew nothing about until running into them in this pack. One tidbit is that Walter Matthau (actor) makes a guest 'appearance' in "Violent World." I guess I'll have to download it and see what that's about...



Firehouse released "Love of a Lifetime" and that's probably the only song I remember from them, though as I have said before, if I were to listen to some samples, I might pick out others I know but didn't know I knew, ya know? Blas Elias of Slaughter shows up again. He says Ted Nugent was his role model. Well, he says that after telling the story of how he drilled holes in the dressing room walls so they could watch the girls getting dressed... And, Rowan Robertson of DIO has a card, too. I remember the group, but not any of their songs off the top of my head.



Here, we have the "Painkiller" cover from Judas Priest again. Dana Strum of Slaughter discusses the band's desire to create "hard rock with edgy lyrics." I thought that was what rock was all about. Guess I was wrong. Dark Angel's team photo is here next. They were formed in '81 and ten years later, they were "on the forefront of ... thrash..." So, there ya go.



Wrapping things up, we have the Mega Metal foil card. The back is an advertisement: "If you like the Mega Metal Logo as a hologram, wait till you see it on our t-shirt." We have the drummer (Rob Affuso) from Skid Row again, and finally, King Diamond leers out at us on the last card in the group.


I hope you've learned as much as I did. I have to thank Motherscratcher for giving me an education I would not have received otherwise... In addition to some interesting items for when "Trick-or-Treat" rolls around....

Friday, April 10, 2009

First Pitch


Before the rains came, Nancy score led off the game with the first pitch in honor of her husband, Herb Score, who passed away in November of last year.