Sunday, September 18, 2011

Diminished Capacity, not just a movie title


While taking my irregular trip through the "Tribecards Clubhouse," I came across a post on "Cards in the Attic" regarding a movie about a baseball card.  No, this was not "Cop Out" with Bruce Wills (which I do want to see, but haven't yet).  The movie is "Diminished Capacity" with Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, and a host of other folks, including Ernie Banks playing himself in a cameo role.

The movie follows an old uncle (Alda) who is losing his mind and his nephew (Broderick) who suffered a head injury and has temporarily lost some of his own mind.  Turns out, the uncle has a T206 worth a boatload of money.  The story follows the characters from St. Louis to Chicago to a card show, where crooked dealers and wacko family family members come out of the woodwork.

It takes a while for the movie to get into "baseball card" mode, but I think it's better that way.  The real story is the relationship between the uncle and the nephew and how a little piece of cardboard can mean so much more than the price tag someone else is willing to put on it.

I don't know if Alda was nominated for anything for this role, but I would guess not (just because of the movie itself).  That's too bad, too.  I think Alda did an incredible job in this role - far bigger and better than the movie itself.  The baseball card aspect of the film was fun from a collector's point of view, and there are very funny moments that collectors will laugh at while others in the room will probably not 'get.'  Then again, collecting baseball cards in not brain surgery.  It's just what some of us do.

I don't have a ratings scale or anything, though maybe I should start one.  Well, whatever the scale, I'd give this a middle of the road score for the baseball/collector aspect and a higher mark for the personal story side.  Do I recommend it?  I picked up my copy for three bucks on Amazon or eBay or something. It's worth that easily.  So, yes, I recommend it. 




As it turns out, I *finally* found Topps sticker albums and sticker packs at the Target in Texarkana!  I was so excited, I bought every pack they had.  That amounted to about ten packs.  My daughter ripped open packs and called out numbers while I placed the stickers in their appropriate place.  Yes, that's right.  I am not about to keep the stickers separate form their rightful places!  Okay, once I fill the Indians page, then I'll collect stickers for pocket pages.  But, I'd like to fill the book first.

And so, it turns out, the title of the movie I just watched fits my journey to find stickers perfectly: Diminished Capacity.  That is, the diminished capacity for local retailers to carry the product.  I realize Hope, Arkansas (nearest Wal-Mart) and other smaller towns and cities may not be high on the distribution list for Topps, but come on.  We get Ginter, Regular, and a myriad of other Topps products - can we not have these stickers, too!?

*Link to Cards on Cards review/write-up: http://aardvarktradingco.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/flat-screenings-diminished-capacity-2008/

5 comments:

  1. An FYI for those with Netflix downloads: Diminished Capacity's on there too.

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  2. I'll have to check on that movie. Believe it or not, I have a package ready to send out to you tomorrow. Inside is a Topps Sticker album, two packs of stickers and an extra Carlos Santana sticker !!!!!

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  3. They are not in Walmarts around here either.

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  4. Jack, that is AWESOME! Thanks so much!! Ryan, thanks for the info!!

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  5. Thanks for this post. I included it in my September 2011 "Month in Review."
    http://royalsandrandoms.blogspot.com/2011/10/month-in-review-september-2011.html

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