The Streak Continues…

Another two Quik Trip packs over lunch, another pair of winners… at least if you’re a Cardinal fan.

16 – Chris Perez. 2008 Closer-In-Waiting just suffered bad-mullet-kharma and was sent to the minors yesterday. And yes, that might be the least genuine “action” shot I’ve seen in this set.

368 – Aaron Miles. Another curious example of Topps not airbrushing the new uniforms for a player who switched teams well ahead of time. I like Miles, Isaac absolutely loves him… its a shame he had to go to Chicago. But hey, if someone wants to overpay for my skills, I’d do the same thing.

437 – Zach Duke SP

 

C26 – Vladimir Guerrero Chrome /1960

 

 

NF5 – Fifty Star Flag Insert

All in all, another surprisingly good pair of retail packs from the gas station!

1962 Topps

Just one ‘62 Cardinal in the vintage box.

#223 Alex Grammas. The border is noticeably darker than a non-Cardinal card numbered #501.

1960 Topps

#291 Bob Keegan. According to the cartoon on the back says Bob threw a no-no for the White Sox in 1958.

Isaac still refers to these as Heritage cards when he sees them.

1959 Topps

243 Marv Grissom – Marv? Marquis? Could it be?!?!?

#379 Bob Miller – Airbrushed over the Philadelphia cap I presume.

Retail Therapy III

Stopped by the Quik Trip this morning for a cup of coffee, saw the Heritage box and thought, "Why not, let's see how far this goes..."

Two packs. Each pack had an insert and a Cardinal: one Flashback, one News Flashback, and base cards of Ryan Franklin and Yadier Molina.

Sorry for the crappy Blackberry pics; I thought I'd try the post-from-phone-via-email feature. Click on the image for an even better view of BB phone fuzziness. I gotta say that as great as the Curve is, the cam really stinks... especially when compared to iPhone pics I've seen. Ah well, its free... can't complain too much.

Shades Of Greatness

Postcard from Shades of Greatness: Art Inspired by Negro Leagues Baseball, a traveling exhibit presented by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum which visited St. Louis earlier this year.

Image: Kadir Nelson, “Low and Away” (Click on image for larger image)

Mr. Nelson’s art can also be found in his book, “We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball.” Click on the bookcover on the right to view a slideshow of images in the book. While its targeted towards younger readers, the stories, paintings & illustrations make this book HIGHLY recommended for baseball fans of any age.

Retail Therapy

The local Quik Trips have carried trading cards for the last year or so and the ones I frequent started putting up 09 Heritage a week or so ago. Avoiding the retail vs. hobby debate, the sheer convenience of picking up a pack or two along with the morning coffee outweighs the base card blues found inside. Or does it?

I ended up buying two packs earlier this week and, surprised by the retail goodness, picked up another two packs this morning at a different location. Out of four packs, only one yielded 100% base cards and that one had a Sizemore so Isaac was pretty excited. All in all, 2 short prints, a Flashback, a Berkman /1960, and a Molina /560 out of four retail packs.

2009 Dad Packs!

2009 Dad Packs are live! I travel quite a bit and have been picking up singles here and there of Cardinals, Isaac's favorite players, and the occasional oddball I think he'll like. Isaac is also turning seven soon and has started doing chores around the house. What better way to reward him (instead of an allowance) than homemade Dad Packs?!? Look for auto's, game used, and even 09 Topps and Heritage packs inside!

Can you tell which ones Dad the Engineer / IT guy did and the lone pack designed by Mom the Art Teacher?

Follow Up: Topps 2008 Red Hot Rookie Redemption

Guess what was waiting for Isaac today? That's right, the first of two 2008 Red Hot Rookies: The Rangers' Chris Davis.

I'll say this for Topps support, while they weren't proactive about correcting the wrong email dates they support representative was honest and provided accurate information. He said the email should have said "4 - 6 weeks" and sure enough, this card arrived four weeks to the day.

The card itself is pretty blah. Davis's face is obscured by the helmet and sunglasses. He appeared in 80 games for the Rangers last year yet this picture appears to be from spring training, batting practice, or a minor league game. Topps couldn't get a major league shot for a guy who played half a season in the majors? One last thing, is "Rangers" airbrushed / Photoshop'd on his jersey or is that just me?

More ‘70’s Brock…

Bought these on ebay months and months ago and only just received them last week… wrapped in a paper towel and held “together” with a folded piece of cardboard. Did I mention the package was sent with insufficient postage?!?!?

1970 Topps

1974 Topps – This one is a double and is headed to another Cardinal fan.

 

1975 Topps

 

1977 Topps

 

Topps 2008 Red Hot Rookie Redemption Update

PSA for those waiting for their 2008 Red Hot Rookies.

Like many others, we received emails in late February and early March that Isaac's 2008 Red Hot Rookie Redemptions were in the mail and should be delivered within 10 - 14 business days. After waiting well past that timeframe with no cards in hand, I called Topps this morning for an update.

I was told that the emails were erroneous and that the cards would not be arriving within 10 - 14 business days of the email sent date. Instead, the wait is actually 4 - 6 weeks for the cards to be sent, with a 10 - 14 day delivery window after they leave Topps.

No great shakes, just an FYI for others waiting for their redemptions. We're waiting for #6 and #8... I've forgotten who they are and am too lazy to find out right now. Isaac would know though.

More Vintage… 1958 Topps

Local shop had a bunch of vintage in the 50 cent box. Here’s the first of many.

#125 Al Dark - I wonder if this qualifies as an honorary Night Owl card?

#287 Sam Jones  - Not *THE* Sam Jones who, as a child of a Celtics fan, I patterned by bank shot after in middle school.

Follow Up: Helmar Brewing Series 1 Set

Here are the promised Helmar pics. Click on the images to view the larger versions (average size of 1.5MB each so they may take a few seconds to load). I grouped them as much as possible. I didn’t realize the copier was cutting off the edges on card in the leftt and top rows until the last scan and didn’t feel like rescanning everything.

Negro League & Japanese Players

Japanese, House of David & various North American Players


North American Players

Boxers

Flea Market Mini's

Made our monthly visit to the local flea market yesterday. Isaac was disappointed the $1 pack guy didn't have any 09's but he picked up a few Pujols' at another booth. We also picked up these Cardinals for the mini binder (not sure what to do with non-T205/206 sized cards yet though). I liked how the dealer framed the 08 A&G's in red cardboard.

Note to self: Next time, take the cards out of the toploaders before scanning. I didn't realize how scuffed up the plastic was until I saw the scans!

1999 Pacific - Rick Ankiel

2001 Bowman Heritage - Red Schoendienst

2001 Bowman Heritage - Stan Musial

2001 Bowman Heritage - Enos Slaughter

2005 Heritage Play Ball - Albert Pujols

2006 A&G Black Border w/ A&G Back - Frankie Frisch

2006 A&G Black Border - Bob Gibson

2006 A&G Base w/A&G Back - Bob Gibson

2007 A&G Black Border - Albert Pujols

2008 A&G w/A&G Back - Rick Ankiel

2008 A&G w/A&G Back - Troy Glaus

2008 A&G w/A&G Back - Adam Wainwright

Jackpot

Stopped by a small hobby shop over lunch and picked up a box of Heritage for $60 including tax. This will replace a box of 09 Topps for a certain kiddo's birthday. Anyone interested in a 2009 Topps Hobby box? I'll give you a deal on it.

Topps 2009 Throwback Blaster

Local Target had at least a dozen of these so I picked one up to see what the fuss is about. The most obvious difference, without ever opening a pack, is the pack thickness. These are noticeably thicker than their Wal-Mart counterparts. I’d even put these 8 card packs head to head with the 10 card hobby packs and even the 12 card retail packs in terms of thickness.

Lucky enough to pull a few Cardinals. Loshe & Wellemeyer will need to  give us enough depth in the rotation and to just eat up innings…. especially if Carp goes down again. Motte is a fireballer supreme who has been lights out this spring; enough to pass Chris Perez as our closer in waiting and send him back to Memphis.

Here’s the back of the Pujols card in all its throwback cardboard glory.

Instead of the links back to Mantle, we get the six pitchers Albert has feasted on the most. Apologies to NightOwl, but as soon as I saw that in the corner, I knew Perez’s days with the Dodgers had to put him on the list and sure enough he’s number one. From the looks of it, he looks to be feeling OK:

Looks like Topps decided to make him feel better and listed his lowest career OPS against…

And finally, a few inserts… The Turkey Reds and Williams patch are all available as trade bait, as are all the non-Cardinal throwback base cards.