Cards from the Crooks! and VOTE for me!

Chris Cook wrote me to let me know he received his selection of cards (including Presidents and perhaps some snakes) from the giveaway.  As it turns out, he also sent me a bubbleope with some cards!

We have a very cool UD Goudey green back of Pronk!  You may notice the white "G" on the front of the card. Yeah, there's a jersey in there. Sweet!  The tape across Pronk is on the sleeve the card is in, not on the card itself.  Just so we understand each other.  The next two cards are Topps Opening Day 2010's.  The scan does not bring out the blueness of the border of Masterson's OD stamped card.  It is very cool!  The card is also serially numbered out of 2010 cards.  Excellent!

THANK YOU, Chris, for these great Tribe cards!

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Sidenote: Head over to Beardy & Mojo's to vote for your favorite baseball card rap!  Your favorite being, of course, MINE!  Actually, I have to give props to Thorzul.  His is VERY well done, as is Tim's.  But, vote for mine anyway because you like me. You really like me. Don't you?

Condition: (Not even close to) Poor

Today's mail contained an envelope from Fords, NJ.  Inside, a full-page hand-written letter from Sean over at Condition:Poor. He first thanked me for the cards he received in his "Last Great Giveaway" package, and then apologized for not being able to return to the favor en masse.  I do appreciate the part reading, "I know the point of the giveaway was to get rid of cards..."*  What he was able to include is one of the greatest custom cards I have received.  It is a 2010 SlangKo Al Rosen Commemorative TTM Autographed card!!  Holy FRIGGIN COW!!

The card celebrates Rosen's 1953 MVP Award!  My apologies for the poor picture quality, but the MacBook's built-in camera does not do 'macro' shots. Dang it. I may get a chance to rescan these at some point.

THANK YOU, Sean!!  This card is absolutely incredible!  I cannot tell you how much I deeply appreciate such a unique collectible!


*As always, I deeply appreciate any cards that are sent my way.  There is never any required or expected return on the cards I send out. It's something I enjoy and love doing it as part of my love for the hobby and the hopes that it keeps our hobby alive.

MLBTV Indians Prime 9 - Do I agree?

During the recent "30 Clubs in 30 Days" featuring the Indians, they ran through the top nine plays in Indians history.  I thought I'd share my thoughts on their choices. I am commenting as I watch (pausing at each one so I can write and not get ahead).  Come along for the ride...

#9 - 1981 - Len Barker throws a perfect game.  Len Barker was one of my favorite players when I was a kid, first collecting Indians cards before I had ever even seen them on TV.  I actually started collecting a few years before this, but I can't even tell you when I saw my first Indians game on TV - it was in the 90's for sure though.

#8 - 1940 - Bob Feller throws a no-hitter on opening day.  How do a perfect game and a no-hitter by a HOFer get the bottom two slots!?  That is just not right. Guess we'll see what else MLBTV comes up with. 

#7 - 2001 - Tribe overcome 12-run deficit to win 15-14.  Okay, yeah, this was a HUGE one.  I remember turning off the TV and heading back to the home office to play games on the computer.  After a while, I came back out to see how the Tribe were doing.  I stayed to watch the end of it, waking my wife to tell her the news. She was not amused.

#6 - 1997 - ALDS Games 4 and 5 - Indians clinch series.  That was friggin awesome.  The Indians were heading to the World Series to play some new-fangled team called the Marlins of all things.  Surely the Indians would conquer. Er, uh, well, maybe not.

#5 - 1975 - Frank Robinson hits opening day homer at first at-bat as 1st black player/manager.  Yeah, buddy.  This needs no explanation. And though it was awesome, is that better than a perfect game!? Hmmm...

#4 - 1995 - Tony Pena walk off homer to win ALDS game 1.  Really?  A walk-off homer?  Yeah, it came in the 13th inning, but as a NUMBER FOUR all-time moment!?  Nah...

#3 - 1995 - ACLS Game 6 - Indians win first pennant since 1954.  Now, this was HUGE!  This came after all the "Major League" movies had played out and Tribe fans everywhere were watching life imitating art before their very eyes.

#2 - 1948 - World Series Game 6 - Indians win 2nd championship in team history. 

#1 - 1997 - ALCS Game 6 - Indians win AL pennant.  Okay, are these really in the top nine order?  I mean, yeah, that was great.  But, surely this is not the #1 moment in Indians history.  I better keep watching...

Yeap, those were the Prime Nine moments.

The hosts began banter about their favorites.  John Hart (former Tribe manager) picked the opening win on the first day at The Jake and Harold Reynolds picked the "Major League" movies as a Prime Nine moment.  Of course, there was the continual sellout for 455 games.  Frankly, in the history of Tribe, I'd have to give the fan sellout an honored spot in the Prime Nine.

One of the coolest photos ever...

This was snagged from an Indians Photo Gallery:
http://www.mlb.com/cle/photogallery/year_2010/month_03/day_23/cf8889242.html?tcid=fb-cle-misc4

A Stack to Be Named Later, er, now, actually...

Matt F dropped an envelope in the mail to me not long ago.  Inside the package were little blue notes attached to various stacks of Indians cards.

"I tried to send you only some older or oddball cards so they weren't all doubles for you. Enjoy!"

I don't believe I have seen the Pronk Elements opaque card before! And one Westbrook Bowman is thick, the other is 'normal.' Again, I don't know the significance there, but I don't really care - they are GREAT cards!

I love Conlon cards!  It's great to be able to get cards of the folks that would have never had a card otherwise!  I don't think I've seen a card like the Sizemore Opening Day puzzle piece either. Fantastic!

And what would a stack of Indians be without some Alomars thrown in for good measure!?

Another pile of cards read, "I don't think a person can have too many Allen & Ginter or Masterpieces cards."  I agree wholeheartedly!

And the last note read, "Here are my 2010 Tribecards."  These are AWESOME!

THANK YOU, Matt F!  These are great!! 

I have suddenly found myself way behind the trading curve!  I am keeping tabs, folks!

A triple play!

For the fun of it, I just pulled a triple-play posting of ONE pack of cards:

The posts appear in a three-way cross-posting between "A Pack A Day," "A Pack To Be Named Later," and "Things Done to Cards."

Yeah, I'm Looney like that.

"Hope you don't mind..."

The note inside read, "Hope you don't mind but I built a little pile of Indians..."  Those were the words from none other than JackPlumstead in merry ol' England!  Rest assured, I *never* mind!!  I also need to amass some Red Sox for you, pal!

Inside the envelope was a very nice stack of cards indeed!

I love the 4-scene mini sticker card!  That is too cool.  I also got a bunch of Bazooka cards - some thick, some standard thickness.  I do not know (have not researched) the significance of the varying thicknesseseseses. Oh, sorry...

Also included, a variety of makers, players and years! How can you argue with what is most likely a full team set of 1990 Fleer!? You can't. It is just awesomeness!

THANK YOU, as always, John from across the Pond!

The Tyrants have come to play

I am by no means anywhere near the talent that PunkRockPaint is when it comes to original artwork.  And, to that end, the player pictured above is actually HIS design. All I did was put a tux on the guy.  For those that suffered through the Tribecards Trundles fantasy season last year, let me tell you that this year, the boys will be looking sharper.  How they play is a whole different story. That will just have to be seen.  Oh yeah, I added "Wild Thing" glasses for good measure.  The Tribecards Tyrants are here for a comeback!

Throwin Down the Gauntlet

Beardy is holding a contest, asking folks to come up with a hobby-related rap in order to win a box of Obak cards.  I'm throwin' down:

Welcome to the Clubhouse: One More Pack!

If you haven't discovered the new card blog, "One More Pack," I recommend heading over and saying "HI" to Eli!!

His first post-inaugural offering features an autographed card of Bucky Dent!  Now, THAT is how to start a party!

eTopps T206 Tribute: Bob Feller

eTopps has released two Indians tribute cards.  The latest is the Bob Feller you see above.  I enjoy the eTopps cards, and had been a VERY active member of the community for many years before selling off just about everything in my portfolios.  At one point, I has a complete set of the 2002 series, though given the pricing on that, it was not hard to do.  What I finally did was get the cards in my portfolio sent to me, and then I dumped those into the giveaways I did recently.  Share the love, ya know?

Does anyone else collect eTopps?  Nowadays, I like to wait until football season comes around and pick up the cards I want a whole lot cheaper than IPO or at higher pricing during the baseball season.

I have to admit, though, I am VERY tempted to put myself down in the lottery for a couple of these...

Cactus League RBI Jim Thome

I received this Thome card as part of an eBay "buy a bunch of Tribe cards" deal.  I have never seen one like this and have had a hard time tracking down much information.  The card itself is 4"x6.5" including the "Cactus League" at the top.  The card features a bronze foil "RBI" in the lower left corner, which I assume is for "Regional Baseball Index."  From what I've been able to cull together so far, these cards most likely came out of a Cactus League magazine (hence the 'Index') published by Stadium Sports Publishing.  Now, before you think I am some uber-researcher, let me show you the back:

The back of the card features the Cactus League logo, "RBI," the player's name and a tidbit of info about the player.  There is a place for an autograph and then relevent copyright info (such as the publishing company).  The front of the card (well, the photo portion) is top-notch for the time (I am assuming circa 1990).  The back of the card, however, looks like a kid drew it.  Well, actually, it looks like a colorized version of the little comics you see on the back of some Topps cards.

I did manage to find references to the "R.B.I." but so far, nothing specific to this card set.  Though I have been tempted to cut the card down to the size of the Thome bordered section, I realized that doing so would mess up the back.  Thus, I will find a pocket page to accomodate this very oddly proportioned card when it goes into my collection.

Lofton heads for the hall (in Cleveland)!

Solid Gold! Well, at least Kenny Lofton is even if the card isn't really.  Kenny Lofton was named to the 2010 Indians Hall of Fame.  He will officially be inducted in August, 2010.  Lofton is by far and away one of my all-time favorite Cleveland Indians players.  In a weird way, when I watch "Major League," Willie Mays Hayes reminds me of Lofton.  Face it, Lofton has skills so off the charts, the man was still stealing bases in 2007, setting a new post-season record.  I don't know that I ever heard he 'officially' retired, though.  But, as long as he is, he can count down the years until he heads to the National Hall of Fame, where I have little doubt of his election.

Brian Giles Retires

(1995 Authentic Signature Rookies Old Judge)

Today, ex-Triber Brian Giles announced he was hanging up his cleats for good.  He's reached that "critical" age of 38 and had signed on with a minor league team in hopes of rejuvenating his career.  Alas, injuries set him back and he has opted to say goodbye to the player-side of the ball field.

Giles played with the Tribe from 1995 through 1998.  He played in 299 games with 857 at-bats.  He scored 150 runs on 243 hits, 48 doubles, and just 4 triples.  He knocked in 48 home runs bringing in 157 RBIs as an Indians player.  Though he struck out 139 times, he was walked 155 times, walked intentionally 14 times and hit by pitches 4 times (3 of which came in 1998 - OUCH!).

As a Triber, Giles garnered a .362 bating average and a slugging percentage of over .600!

In the 1997 World Series, he batted .500, getting 2 hits, a double, scoring a run and getting 2 RBIs.

I wish him all the best in the future!!

The USA Today story appears here:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/03/brian-giles-retires-after-15-seasons/1

1996 ProStamps

Even though I primarily collect Indians cards, I also have oddball stuff in my collection.  I'm going to be sharing these at various times, and who knows, maybe it will become a regular feature.



These are 1996 ProStamps Team Set stamps.  Basically, each team has five players depicted and a team logo stamp.  The stamps are high quality stickers, really.  The players featured for the Tribe are Kenny Lofton, David Bell, Eddie Murray, Manny Ramirez, and Charles Nagy.  Each stamp has the player's name in gold foil, along with "USA 1996."



I decided to scan the back of the sealed package so you could look up your favorite player and/or team.  Regular readers are thinking, "Wait a minute, David usually frees his collectibles from their sealed coffins."  And, you'd be right. Normally, I do.  In some cases, though, such as with these, I opt to leave them in their packaging.  If you're looking for a rhyme or reason for which ones are released and which ones are not, well, keep the line moving.  There is no rhyme or reason for that here. 

I'm pretty sure I scored these on eBay one day while trolling for Tribecards.

edit: I realize the list is hard to read, so for a more readable version, check out the checklist from TeamSets4U: http://www.teamsets4u.com/checklist/1996/1996prostamp.html

Don't make me come back there!

The ladies over at www.DingedCorners.com laid down the gauntlet, challenging other bloggers to find cards where something else is going on in the background.  I chose this 1974 Topps Rusty Torres.  Not only do we see a glove casually tossed aside on the right, but the card itself is actually dominated by the batting practice taking place behind poor Rusty.  This picture would never happen in today's practice sessions due the Arkansas Traveler coach that was killed by a ball hit down the line, hitting him in the head.

Looking into Cerrano's Locker

For no logical reason whatsoever, while I was watching "Major League" on TV and the scene came to Pedro Cerrano looking in his locker for the red tag, I noticed baseball cards hanging there.  Well, I took it upon myself to waste part of an afternoon and find out just what cards they had placed there.  I managed to figure out all but one so far...

1 - 1984 Donruss Diamond Kings Eddie Murray
2 - 1968 Topps Game Roberto Clemente
3 -
4 - 1971 Topps Willie McCovey
5 - 1954 Topps Hank Aaron
6 - 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson

Thoughts-N-Sox thought of Tribecards!

Adam over at Thoughts-N-Sox sent a package to me back in January.  I didn't open it (much like several other packages lately) until just now to scan them in.  I have to say there is a wide array of Tribe cards in here for sure!

I love gold cards. Maybe it's the implied prestige of the gold, or maybe I just like shiny things.  Either way, I got plenty of both in this package!  There are chrome cards, too, adding even more shininess to the mix!  You'll notice a couple minis in there as well. Excellent!

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In the next group, we have more shiny chrome and some Fleer cards, too.  I may be in the minority (not sure, never took a poll), but I always liked the Fleer brand.  I was not a great fan when UD took over for them (since, you know, it was just UD with emperor's clothes on), but Fleer has always held a special place in my nostalgic psyche.  Okay, okay, no more tissue talk.

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And then we have die-cuts!  I love die cuts.  Both of these are of CC Sabathia which makes them even cooler in my book (for no real reason other than I think it is great both cut cards of the same player. Work with me, people!).  I am also a fan of the embossed cards (like the Ovation above).  I digress here for a moment, but I thought the 1965 Topps Embossed were some of the coolest cards ever made.  Hmm, I need a thesaurus - just how many times can I use the word 'cool' anyway?

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Ooo, more Ovation!  I really like the Sizemore card - like an old photo/newspaper thing there.  And, of course, the "X" die cut is great!  Add to that the shiny Topps Finest, and I could die a happy camper right here.  Except there is even more 'coolness' to come! Uh, not from me - from the cards...

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I've seen a lot of collectors blast the "Ticket to Stardom" cards.  I like them, but wish they had different barcodes at the top. Yeah, they are like the Authentix of "old," but that's okay to me.  These are still fun.  The Martinez Artifacts is cool too, in its vintage kind of way. Though, red print on it is a tad difficult to read now that my eyes seem to be aging with the rest of me.  Geez, I sound like my grandfather...

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And now, some sweetness - UD Past-Time Pennants. If I have seen these, I don't remember it. I am loving these cards!  The things you can do with Photoshop these days makes these cards look like the photos were taken just before the cards were made. Superb!  Sorry about the cut-off Grady there at the bottom.  I really will get the hang of scanning one of these days. Or not. You know, it makes for interested conversation. Well, at least I like to tell myself that.

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THANK YOU so much, Adam!  These are going to be wonderful additions to my collection!

Festivus gifts from JustinG

Before Christmas, JustinG wrote to me and asked if I would like some "gifts for Festivus."  I am never one to turn down an offer of Indians cards, so I agreed whole-heartedly.  And, I have to say, it was a Fesitvus to remember!

There is a lot of gold and silver (er, that should be "Silver and Gold... Silver and gold...") in them thar cards!  Not only that, but a freakin Grady Sizemore game-worn jersey card! Holy Festivus, Batman!  SWEET!

THANK YOU very much, Justin, for your generosity and for spreading some holiday cheer!

Giveaway All Call

If you got some cards from me and you've posted about them, please let me know!  I love reading what you have to say (good, bad or ugly) about the cards I send out!!

Let the wild rumpus start!

Where did the fun go? Phungo right here!

Now, *THIS* is the set of cards everyone should be talking about in 2010! These came from a pack of Phungo's latest release.  I received a refractor Belliard from Topps, but the next card is way cool!  It is a limited edition black-bordered insert!  And, it is the Retired Number from the Indians!! WAHOO!!  I also got a Dickie Noles giving a thumbs up to Phungo!  Check out the other cards (and comments), too!

 

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Oh, yeah! We've got CC and Lincecum in here, along with big (and I do mean BIG) Thomas Jefferson!

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Rounding out the pack, we've got Arkansas' own Cliff Lee in a Phungo Phillies uni, plus two vintage Tribers: Jim Piersall and Ray Narleski!!

Dude, YOU ROCK!!  Thank you so much, Phungo, for another great pack of cards!

Saving the USPS, one "Great Giveaway" at a time...

I found it funny that on the day the USPS was asking Congress to cut back on their working days, I managed to mail off enough packages (many of which went Priority since I had gobs of those little boxes) to cover the daily pay of at least one postal worker and part of another's.

The trip required me to visit my vehicle twice.  Rather than unload everything at once, I opted to break the mailout into two purchases.  This helped get folks that had very little USPS business at hand to conduct their transactions between my trips.  I saw no reason to tie up the line for 30 minutes all by myself in one fell swoop.  Many patrons were appreciative of my arrangement.

As it turns out, Phoebe (my boss) happened in during my second load of packages.  To say the sheer number of items I was sending out overwhelmed her would be something of an understatement!  And while that was not anywhere on my radar when I came up with the idea of the "Great Giveaway," I have to admit that watching people's faces (especially that of the clerk behing the desk processing each of these packages) really brightened my day.

I've said all of that to say this: Everyone's packages have been mailed!  Except for the APO and my friends in Canada, everyone should get theirs by the end of the week, I would think. 

Thanks to everyone who helped me get all those cards out of the house!  Now, I just need to clean up the aftermath of sorting, packaging, etc, and my better half will be a much happier camper.  I will say, she has taken all of this in stride.  After all, my card habit is on par with her shoe habit... Well, not in number, of course, but in the amount of space they take up. Okay, maybe her shoes dont' take up QUITE as much space.

Happy collecting, everyone!  Tribecards is officially "back on the air!"