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.

Helmar Brewing Series 1

I started a mini binder after reading dayf’s A&G mini post last month. It really is a stroke of genius as it gets all of those great cards out of the boxes and into an easily viewed book. I started with the A&G 07 & 08 mini’s we had and stirred in some Topps T205 & T206 from 03 & 04 to make it more interesting. I’m thinking about picking up some vintage specimens to spice things up as well. Before I jump head first into that empty pool, I thought I’d revisit the Helmar Brewing cards I picked up last summer.

Series 1 was released in 2005 and was available as a set, uncut sheet or in packs of of three cards. I bought a set along with the Series 3 set (more on that in a later post) after reading a few posts and seeing them in person during a trip to Wisconsin. I’m told Series 2 is only available as a set and is difficult to find these days.

I had planned to put them in binder pages and scan them for all to enjoy but the cards are too thick for normal 205 / 206 pages. They’re the equivalent of 3 - 4 A&G mini’s, depending on how hard you squeeze. If I can figure out how to display these, then I’ll re-post with pictures. Until then, here are the three St. Louis related cards:

James “Cool Papa” Bell

Mordecai Brown of the St. Louis Terriers

Hugh McAleer of the St. Louis Browns. This is an interesting one as I can only find information on Jimmy McAleer.

These have also been featured at A Pack A Day here and here. Topps Heritage also has an article and checklist online.

Dear Mr. Musial

Isaac received this postcard months ago and I’ve mentioned it a few times on comments on other blogs. The recent cut autograph fiasco reminded me of this Musial autograph card. There are tons of these on eBay for only $20 each, certified. Real? Fake? Machined? Read my brother-in-law’s letter to see why we really don’t care. Its fairly cliché these days to say that baseball and its heroes can bridge gaps between generations and, in this case, kids and their new uncles. However, its amazing how a sport, a local hero, and a simple act of kindness can transform the newest member of our family to a favorite uncle. Isaac was asked to make two Valentines this year with the teacher assuming kids would make one for each parent or maybe grandparent. Isaac made both for his new uncle.

The Autograph – Click on the picture to read the amazing list of accomplishments.

The Letter – Click on the picture for a larger, readable version.

"Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight." – Ford Frick

1975 Cardinal Combo’s

I think 1975 Topps may have been the first packs I opened as a kid. Tough to remember these days as my collection was lost in a house fire when I was in junior high school. I picked these up at the last card show. I like the design but the little curly-cue print defects bother me.

1964 MVP’s – Boyer was great player lost in the shuffle of stars on those 1960’s Cardinal squads. He and Ron Santo suffer in comparison to the other third baseman on the card. I understand the pleas by Cubbie fans for Santo to make it to Cooperstown; I just hope Boyer isn’t lost in the shuffle (again) simply because he passed away at an early age and didn’t have Santo’s 30+ years to contribute to the game after retirement.

1967 MVP’s – I bought this card thinking we might get it autographed in person but Isaac was sick for that show.

1968 MVP’s – The year of the pitcher: Wins vs ERA with McClain’s Tigers beating the Cardinals in the World Series. Funny how history remembers Gibby’s ERA that year as the reason for lowering the mound while McLain’s 30 wins (!) have all but gone by the wayside.

1974 Stolen Base Leaders