1995 Classic Phone Cards

As I mentioned earlier, I have been selling 1995 Classic Phone Cards on eBay. Some are doing/have done pretty well (Travis Fryman went for more than $40). Others don't sell at all. Oh well, nature of the beast. Aside from sales-related conversation, I think the idea of baseball card-like phone cards is pretty cool. Plus, I'm sure it gave Classic a new use for the tons of photos they WEREN'T using on their trading cards.

There are five Tribe Phone Cards, and I have three of them: Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, and Eddie Murray. I am missing the Carlos Baerga and Albert Belle. In all honesty, I have not put much effort lately into completing the set, but I will take up that challenge once I get through my latest purchases (a couple of "dealer went out of business" lots).

As for the cards I do have, I debated long and hard with myself (mainly because I am the only one that will listen when I start talking cards) whether or not to break the cards away from their factory hanging stock. Ultimately, I decided to open up the cards and let them join their brethren in my binders. Okay, yeah, I have pocket pages that would have accommodated the whole thing, but ever since watching "Toy Story" many moons ago, I just have an uneasy feeling about leaving things in their "original boxes" as it were... My cards are not meant to be museum pieces, necessarily. I do put them in pocket pages, and you can bet your butt I am not about to let my five year old handle my 1909 T206's, but just the fact that they aren't "all wrapped up" and that, at least for a little while, they were held "in hand" brings out what card collecting was always "supposed" to be.

Edited: In the giving spirit (The Trippin Tribe Tradeaway)

11/24/2007 - I have had a couple people email me and tell me they do not have any vintage Indians cards, nor do they have oddball Triber cards, but they would still like to participate in the Tradeaway. Well, I am not one to prevent folks from the season of sharing, so I am amending the "rules" a bit.

I am a big fan of "Tipton" cards (What's a Tipton!?). So, if you have any "Tiptons, (from ANY team/player)" I will gladly accept those in trade for 2007 Goudeys in my Tradeaway. What's that? You don't have any Tiptons either? How about ANY baseball oddball card(s)/item(s) you may have laying around?

If you are still not able to come up with a viable trade, email me and we'll figure something out! :-) After all, this is the season of giving!

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In the spirit of other sites which have started giving away cards for other cards, I have decided to do the same. Yeah, I know the name is corny, but that suits me pretty well. Though, because I am more specific in what I collect, I will also be more specific in what I'm looking for.. :-) So here's the deal:

Send me your Tribe cards, and I will trade you 2007 Goudeys for 'em. I've got about 75 of the 2007 UD Goudeys up for random trading. So, what are the rules?

1. You send me an email (davidinark -at- yahoo -dot- com) and I will send you my mailing address.
2. Once you get my address, you send your card(s) along with a SASE.
3. I am looking for Tribe cards from 1977 or EARLIER only (any brand) - Any condition!
4. Exception: Send me ANY Tribe oddball card or oddball item, and I'll accept that for trade.
5. I will send you ONE (1) randomly-selected 07 Goudey for each Tribe card you send.
6. I am not responsible for lost cards, torn envelopes, etc.
7. The Tradeaway will end once all my 2007 Goudeys are gone.
8. I will post scans of trades as they happen/as I can.
9. If you ask nicely, I may consider requested teams/players depending on availability. If I can't fulfill the request, you get a random Goudey.

So, there ya go! :-) Tribe cards for Goudeys - how can you go wrong??

Indians sign Kobayashi

The name Kobayashi may sound familiar to you, but the Tribe did not sign THIS one:


They signed THIS one:


According to the Indians web site, Shapiro said, "The signing of Masa Kobayashi marks the first contract ever signed by a Japanese professional baseball player into the Cleveland Indians franchise and, more importantly, accomplishes one of our primary off-season goals of adding depth to the back-end of our bullpen."

Let's hope that breaking this "new" ground helps us back to the ALDS, ALCS, and ultimately, the WS! :-)

1994 Upper Deck American Epic Ray Chapman

In 1920, Cleveland Shortstop Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch. Within hours, he was dead. He is the only player known to have been killed during an in-game play. Though I have collected Indians cards since I was a small boy, somehow, the story of Ray Chapman escaped my Tribe-al education. It was not until about two weeks ago that I learned of this fateful event. When I did, I went on a hunt for Ray Chapman cards, and this was one of the ones I found.

I like the tin-type effect of the front of the card. Having studied photography in college, it brought back many memories of studying and styles. It actually looks like it was taken in 1920 and magically transported into the moder era. Ray looks truly happy, blissfully unaware of the events to unfold in his future.

The back of the card is a half "bronze" color/half white, and reading the black text on the bronzing is tough. The stories on the back, though are short, but well-written: "The Pitch That Killed. A .300 hitter and ace shortstop, Chapman was leading the Indians to the 1920 pennant...Carl Mays, a Yankee pitcher with a menacing fastball and a submarine delivery... threw high and inside... The ball crushed (Chapman's) skull. He died the next morning." Umpires were told to remove any discolored balls following that game. Balls were often rubbed with dirt, spit, you name it, in an effort to trick the batter from seeing the ball. (This unquoted bit of info comes from my learning about the event and not the back of the card).

The white portion sums up Chapman's career. After Chapman died, Joe Sewell was called up to replace him.

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So far, I've had one taker on my Tradeaway, and I look forward to seeing what he sends me! :-)

In semi-related news, I am selling a bunch of non-Indians/duplicates on eBay (list is here). There is a bunch of eTopps in-port stuff, a Pirates in-hand Master set of eTopps, a slew of 1995 Classic Phone Cards, and whatever else I threw up there...

Three for the Road

I had the day off today (okay, I get the whole week off), so when it came time to check the mail, I had several bubble mailers waiting on me. When I opened them up, I felt like I hit some kind of Tribe Jackpot!

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First up, we have a 2007 Upper Deck MLB Artifacts Antiquity Artifacts card. This one is of Jhonny Peralta (why do parents do things like that to a kid?). The card itself it pretty nice except that UD opted for a brown wood grain background, then added gold lettering on top of it. How is anyone over the age of 30 supposed to read the friggin thing!? Aside form that, I like the "posed" shot on the left with the action shot on the right. The swatch inside a shield is kinda of a cool design. The back has the card number (AA-PE) and the obligatory "Congrats... you have an authentic card..blah blah..." You've heard (read) my rants about this cheap way out of a good card back, so I won't bore you here... :-)

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Next up, we have a 2007 Upper Deck UD Masterpieces Captured on Canvas. Now, this is a great looking card! I am a HUGE fan of the canvas-feel cards, and this one of Sizemore ranks right up there near the top of my faves list. I love the border effect, giving the canvas card a "frame" in 3-D (okay, technically in "relief"). The cut-out effect around the swatch is different, thought I'm not quite sure what it is supposed to be. Hey, at least it is not just a square! The back ,like the previous card, has the card number (CC-GS) and a "Hey, check it out" kinda message. I forgot to mention that both cards have the UD Kids code, so I'll have to log in to my son's account and add these to his points... :-)

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The final package is a three-fer in and of itself! It is a 2005 Donruss Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Absolutely Ink. Dang, talk about a mouthful! This Jody Gerut card features a swatch of jersey, a piece of game-used bat, and an authentic signature! My only real complaint about the design is that the player is lost in the HUGE "Absolutely Ink" logo that takes up nearly a full third of the front of the card! I'm wondering if the fact that a player should actually appear on the card was something of an afterthought... In any case, I love multi-game-used cards. The card is numbered AI-70, and serialed 14/50. The dark blue with black scheme gives the card this dark, cool feel to it.

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I now have three more cards for which I will start searching for their other Tribe counterparts. Scouring for similar-setted Tribers of the various makes and models of cards has become something of an obsession within an obsession. :-)