Who ever said cleaning up was bad for you?

A few days ago, I received an email from The Fleer Sticker Project, letting me know that he had been cleaning up and found a package on the floor that he thought he had already mailed off to me long ago. He said it would be on its way and when I got home this afternoon (Saturday), the package had arrived!

I had no idea what to expect, and I was blown away by what I found inside:

The scan above shows lots of goodies! First, a couple of Topps Coins featuring Ray Fosse and Steve Hargan! And then, a Topps Indians Stamp ALBUM! I have never seen the album before, though I have many of the stamps. And, the album is nearly full of stamps, too! I am going to hunt down the missing ones and stick them in there so the album will be complete. Not for any reason, mind you, just to do it. Also in there, we see Al Smith and Joe Azcue on 1964 Topps! Add to that a whole slew of 1969 Topps cards! Mike Paul, Richie Scheinblum, Max Alvis, Russ Snyder, Vicente Romo, Vern Fuller, Jack Hamilton, and Chuck Hinton cards that are great to look at and wonderful to hold in my hands. But that's not all!


The package also included 1970 Tribers Duke Sims and Larry Browne! Those were followed up by 1971 Topps Steve Dunning, Steve Hargan and Buddy Bradford. And just when I thought my head would explode, there's Kurt Bevacqua, Milt Wilcox, and Phil Hennigan on 1972 Topps cards to finish things out.

THANK YOU very much to The Fleer Sticker Project for these wonderful vintage Indians cards! I can't wait to find out which ones will fill voids in my collection!

Packs to be named later...

I am now a contributing member of the latest pack-busting blog, "A Pack To Be Named Later!" (see it here)

When I first read about the blog's launch, I thought it was something done to compete (though that may be too strong a word) with "A Pack A Day." As it turns out, though, the site is actually trying to accomplish something rather monumental: Open at least one pack of EVERY kind of card ever made. "A Pack A Day" is focused more on sport-related packs, and I believe that is the right direction for that site. "Things Done to Cards" is mainly sports related, but with an eye for the weird things that are either done to sportscards or are done in the name of being passed off as sportscards.

"A pack to be named later," however, blew the blinders off the horses and is letting them run free. No pack is off topic. Though, I would venture to say 'adult'-related packs are probably not appropriate, but that's not my call nor my place to act as any kind of censor whatsoever. In fact, I was told, "The weirder, the better!"

Now, THAT'S my kind of bustin' wax! I've got my first post up and two others are already scheduled to launch for Friday and Saturday, by which time I hope to have some of my eBay oddball/non-sport packs ready and waiting.

It's really too bad I'm not doing this for a living. I could get used to it....

Sunset at Arlington

I meant to post this 'custom' card back when I was posting cards of the night game I went to in April for my birthday. Since I am eagerly awaiting cards in the mail, and since I will be out of town Thursday evening, I thought I'd throw this up there to take my mind off all the rain we've been having here in Arkansas lately!

Juuuuussst a bit outside

In recent posts, I have discussed two card sets which have sparked interest among several of my readers: CyberAction Digital Trading Cards and 1989 Major League Movie Cards.


After doing some research, I actually located the email addresses of the original founding members of the Digibles/CyberAction card company. I wrote to all three, asking if they would participate in an interview regarding the cards, the company, and the hobby itself. I heard back from one of the individuals and through a series of emails, came -this- close to scoring an interview. As life would have it, however, things fell apart before they could come together.

---

The quest for the 1989 "Major League" movie card set led me down a road of enlisting multiple 'card finding' companies for help. In addition, Chris Olds at Beckett (who started the quest in the first place, if you remember) has not been able to uncover specimens of the cards, either. For my part in the hunt for the cards, I contacted Paramount Pictures marketing, those card-finders, several friends in the card-collecting world, and even Dr. Beckett's contact himself. So far, the only thing I seem to have help create is a bigger demand for cards that are even more elusive than that 1952 pack of cards in a Tri-Star chase blaster!

As you may have surmised, I do not go quietly into the night when it comes to cards I'm trying to find. I have not quite given up on either of these pet projects, but like many things, I have decided to set these on the back burner for a bit. Perhaps if left alone to stew in their juices, something will come along to take both of these to the next level.

Some of you may be wondering why anyone would post such setbacks in the first place. Frankly, I'm not sure myself. I think in some way, I'm hoping that sticking this out here, someone will stumble along and be able to help out with either project, or by some bizarre alignment of the planets, both projects.

So, while I am not ready too call these 'strike-outs' just yet, I will say that things are "juuuust a bit outside...."

I am Joe Collector, All Wright

I've seen other folks that participated in IamJoeCollector's recent Topps Finest break posting their winnings, so when I got to my mailbox this afternoon, I was very excited to see a bubblelope with the words "I am Joe" on the back! (Are other people using 'bubbleope, or is that just me?)

Of course, the main thing I wanted to see is David Wright's Auto Finest Moments. What I did not expect was the other David Wright card! I think DingedCorners is going to be very happy:

---

Being this was my first break party, I didn't know what to expect other than the "hits" I won. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I also got more than a handful of other cards! Given there were 30 participants, I'd say that's a pretty good take. Here are the cards (including other the other hits from the break):


Xavier Nady (Yankees) - He's by himself because of the way I had laid the cards on the scanner. Each card has a trivia question on the back. His is "Who was the youngest player elected to the HOF?" Hint? He was 36 years old when elected. Another hint? He would never be confused with a spacesuit-wearing squirrel. Ready? Sandy Koufax.

---

Wow, these scans came out really small... Well, that's Nick Markakis (Orioles), Chase Utley (Phillies), and Josh Whitesell (Diamondbacks). One of the trivia questions: "Who hit a home run in the first game he ever managed?" Hint? He's a former Triber. Another hint? He might have been caught singing a Simon and Garfunkel song to his wife from time to time. Ready? Frank Robinson.

---

Ah, the Jonathon Niese (Mets) Auto Patch card. I have to admit, this is much cooler than I pictured. It's a "unique manufactured patch." Seriously? "Unique?" I'm not sure how 'unique' it is if they used the same "S" for other players, too... Ah, well. Next is the Justin Morneau (Twins) Refractor. To be honest, if it didn't say "Refractor" on the back, I'm not sure I would have easily noticed the difference between the regular issues and the refractors. Ryan Dempster (Cubs) is next followed by the Gary Sheffield (Tigers) Refractor. The refractors do some cool things in the light for sure. I also just noticed that the refractors have a silver border instead of the white one, so if I were rifling through a stack of them now, I'd be able to spot the refracs pretty easily. Feel better? I do. Trivia question this time: Who was the first Japanese-born player to catch in the Majors?" Each trivia question is actually multiple choice. For the sake of being my usual goofy self, however, I'm going for the straight-guess route. Hint? His name doesn't sound very Japanese. Another hint? His first name is not Ronald. Ready? Keith McDonald.

---

Aaron Cunningham (A's), Kosuke Fukudome (Cubs), and Ken Griffey Jr (labeled as White Sox, but appearing in Mariners uniform) round out this trio. There was a discussion about cards like the Griffey over on All-Tribe Baseball. The general consensus is that card collectors hate these. Why not just go ahead and put "Mariners" at the top? Stupid. Trivia question: "Who is the only every-day player to be managed by his father in the Major Leagues?" Hint? It's not Griffey Jr. Another hint? Every-day pretty much should give this away. One more hint? He *is* a Junior. Ready? Cal Ripken, Jr.

---

The final three cards are Adrian Gonzalez (Padres), Jose Reyes (Mets), and Joe Saunders (Angels). Wow, I ended up with several Mets cards out of the deal. They'll go nicely in my to-be-given-away box! To be fair, remember, I give nearly every non-Tribe card away and then give away duplicate Indians, so very few cards are ever "safe" in my house!

I have to say, I am glad I took part in this break. It was well worth the last-minute decision to jump in there, especially because I have a couple Wright cards that will find a very loving home! So, to address my own question regarding breaks: I say this was definitely in the FUN category.