Junk Wax Banter

Lucky me!Privileged to have grown up in the junk wax/steroid era.I was 12 In 1989 ,and by that time I was a full blown baseball card collector.I had some Fleer and Donruss,but mostly Topps and Score.In 1989 ,Topps could be found just about anywhere ,and with my favorite player, Canseco,adorning the retail boxes,spotting them In the wild was a cinch. I think the chase card from that set at the time was card number 648, Future Star  Sandy Alomar. Packs of 89 Topps were cheap.Less than 50 cents a pack,45 cents to be exact.A kid my age could swing that easily.Between lawn cutting and sofa change,I had more than enough money to come away with most of that set.Fleer and Donruss were  easy pickings as well,just not so high on my want list.Then the world of baseball card collecting would be introduced to two new brands of cardboard- An incredibly sexy and hologrammed out Upper Deck and the homey ,over sized,facsimile autographed Bowman.Both dared to be different.Upper Deck's counterfeit proof holograms were too cool,reminiscent of those old 80's Transformers faction stickers.It was almost like you were getting two cards in one because the backs of them had an equally stunning hi-res action photo  of the player portrayed. Upper Deck taught me how to carefully hold a baseball card.

 Bowman was equally beautiful In It's own,vintage way.The players stood out on the elongated card fronts with a facsimile auto across the lower half.The card backs had an interesting design as well,sporting players individual stats against each American or National League team. Because of that,every time the A's played Texas,I wasn't going out on a limb by telling my buddies that Canseco would rake In that series, thanks to the all informative  Bowman card backs.

These two new card brands were great,but pricey.I think that's when pack buying slowed down for me .Upper Deck was pushing a buck a pack and I'm pretty sure Bowman was more expensive ,too.I never accumulated many 89 Upper Deck cards,In fact the three you see above are what's left from my childhood collection.That Bowman Canseco Is the same one I had more than 15 years ago.Look closely and you can see a nice crease running down the middle :) So,yeah,my era might have been the Junk Wax Era,but It was still MY era.And I loved every minute of It!

Kenji's Korner

Once again,MLB's best Japanese born hitting katcher,Kenji Johjima!He may be gone from the states and MLB,but I'll see to It that he Is not forgotten ;)

A Pack Of 2012 Pro Debut From Cuz!

My uncle's In town from the sunshine state,and this time he had a pack of 2012 Topps Pro Debut for me,a gift from my cousin.My cousin and I are damn near 40 but still act like where 10 whenever we get to visit each other from out of state.As kids we collected everything.Whatever was hot at the time,we had.Even now we'll sit and talk for hours about past collections we had as well as the way things currently are In the world of collectibles and adult gaming.It's funny because those talks will then spill over into politics, the state of the world and then regress back into Star Wars and G.I. Joe.Insane ,right?The important thing Is that we get each other.So I get home to crack open the pack and realize that the top card had been damaged!A crease on the lower right hand corner of  a Kevin Pillar "Pro Debut", UGGHH!I saw that the rest of the cards had a slight warp to them but no creases,so that was cool.What's even cooler Is that the  back card was of  2015 MVP Bryce Harper!You gotta be shittin' me!Before opening the pack,I told my girlfriend how I would love to pull a Harper and the hobby gods must have been  listening. I can buy 5 packs of something and not get the card I want,so pulling a Bryce Harper out of a pack of 8 cards ain't too shabby.The good thing was that Old Brycie had a slight warp on the lower right hand corner but no crease.So I let It sit in between a couple of  heavy card boxes overnight and slabbed It this morning.Like new ;)Oh,and I also got a Profar,so,not bad!A big shout to my cousin for hooking It up :)

Excuse the nail polish.My daughter likes to do her nails on our computer desk :/

This Lee cat was a prospect at some point,I'm sure of It.Don't know what he's up to these days.

Score!Love this card!

Random Cardboard Awesomeness!

George Brett "Inaction" since he's not really moving In this shot.Still a great card!

The kid!

Murray had the best sideburns,man!

1987 Topps Pete Rose

1987 Topps Pete......hey wait a minute...

This Sierra has always been a personal fav,but someone In design completely overlooked the fact that this card should have been stamped with the Rated Rookie logo.

Guerrero was a player I never got to see enough of back In his playing days.A Youtubing of P.G. AB's Is In order.  

Edgar was such a good hitter,he should have been a lefty.

I loved Delgado as a Met but alot of Met fans blamed his decline In N.Y. on his first born baby,lol!I know It's highly insensitive but ya gotta call a spade a spade.Post bambino ,Delgado stunk It up. 

Walk off walk,I guarantee It.

Singles Only (NFL Edition)

Lately I've been doing a little throwback gaming,playing season modes In Madden 98,and It got me thinking about those players from the 90's that I loved so much  like,Emmitt Smith,Barry Sanders,Thurman Thomas,Elway..and the list goes on. I've made It a point to try and recoup some of those players cards that I used to own as a kid and add a few that I never had but always wanted.I loved running backs,who doesn't?Below are only a few of the many that I still have to covet.I'll also be trying to accumulate 80's Broncos cards of Elway,Humphries and Vance Johnson.This will be a change of pace for me and an enjoyable endeavor ,what with MLB In hibernation mode.

  

My Favorite 9 (Right Now)

First off,a special thanks to Junior Junkie , the inspiration behind this post .I had fun.Oh,and thanks for the quick and  quality cut and paste job (butchered Kris Bryant aside) with the card pics I sent over . Homie Is pretty damn fast!Initially ,this wasn't as hard as I thought It would be,but In retrospect ,some very cool cards In my collection got overlooked.Not that the 9 I chose aren't "Favorite 9" worthy   ,because they most certainly are.In fact I think I was pretty honest with myself about It,even though I could have easily added to the list.It's kind of like when someone says something and then asks you to say the first thing that comes to your mind.Well,these were the first 9 that came to my mind.I love the 9 cards I chose.These cards get stared at a little longer than the others when I'm rummaging through my  collection.The level of admiration I have for some are based on star power,while others,like the Canseco,Jefferies and Jones, are just childhood favorites.So without further adieu,  my favorite 9 right now....

Singles Only

        Nothing big,just a couple of Chrome pick ups.The 2015 Topps design was one that I was curious about getting the chrome treatment.I don't know If It's just me but they don't really pop as much as past Topps Chrome stuff.Still,the Degrom and Harvey are nice additions.Stay tuned for my next couple of posts as I'll be showing some recent Football card pick ups.

Singles Only

Before Night Owl could get that Syndergaard out to me ,my itchy finger pulled the trigger on  a '15 Topps Update Syndi and Cespedes.And I finally scored an '04 Bazooka Yadi Molina RC.

Night Owl Covers All The Bases!

A little while ago,Night Owl dropped a post on some 2015 Topps Update he had just acquired.The Syndergaard and Matz rc's really caught my eye as I had no idea they would be featured In the set.I haven't been In pack buying mode lately,so I figured why not cherry pick on Ebay or try to acquire the Syndi and Matz through a trade.Night Owls next post touched on   World Series night games , and how a collection of World Series night game cards was In order.I just so happened to have what he was looking for as well as some cards on his want list,so an E-Mail was sent and a trade initiated.Night Owl covered all the bases , sending me the meat and potatoes part of the trade (Syndergaard and Matz),as well as some other much needed cards on my want list.

I love  It when bloggers take the extra time to add little thank you notes to their trade packages.It's something I rarely do.Shame on me.The face card was totally unexpected but a welcomed addition.A Mets fan can never have too many Degroms In his/her collection.

Now this was the card I drooled a little bit over when catching a glimpse of It on N.O. blog.My first thoughts were - "Man, now I gotta go see If our local Wal Mart has any '15 Update stocked because I desperately need that Syndergaard!" My second thoughts were - "Man, now I gotta leave the house just to go see If our local Wal Mart has any '15 Update stocked because I desperately need that Syndergaard!" My third thoughts were "Fuck that,I'm not going anywhere I'll just Email Night Owl and see If we can work out a trade or something". Next thing you know-"BAM!"

The Boy Wonder ,Steven Matz!

I don't have alot of contemporary stuff,so anything from 2010 to 2013 Is pretty much non existent In my collection.Hence the appreciation of this awesome Panini Hometown Heroes Puig rc!

While I'm not crazy about the original Topps Rookie Cup design,I welcome any of  Dee Gordon's  baseball cards Into my collection .I hope to one day see him leading off for the NY Mets. 

1988 Topps Jose Canseco!This was the card that started It all.1988 marked the beginning of my baseball card collecting ways.This was the card that lit the fuse.So anybody out there holding onto a surplus of this particular card,let me know!I will gladly take them off your hands.

Another card on my want list,this 89 Topps Jefferies Is a personal favorite of mine.It's just a great looking card and one I wouldn't mind having multiples of either.

A new Yadi!By far my favorite Catcher with Salvy Perez coming In 2nd.I'd love for  Molina to come over and platoon with Darnaud at some point In his career.Could you imagine how much more dangerous Degrom ,Syndergaard and Harvey would be with this guy sitting behind the plate?!? 

Night Owl must have read my catcher collection post as he threw In a couple of  gems ,especially the Mayne.

WHEN I SAY ROOKIE,YOU SAY CUP-"ROOKIE!CUP!ROOKIE...."

  

Thanks again for the trade N.O.Now I don't feel as obligated to go out and get any Update ;)