Cardboard Classics - Mark Fitzpatrick

This one sort of fits nicely with the Patrick Marleau Canvas card from the other day.

Another great photograph here, I guess I'm a sucker for hockey cards featuring unique rink entrances.  Maybe I should make a collection out of it, as Brad suggested in the comments the other day.  It seems like Mark's mind is somewhere else in this photo.  I like that the Panthers bothered to put actual whiskers on this thing, too.

The back of the card ties it all nicely together, as we see in this warm-up shot that Mark's mask has the same open panther mouth design as the stage element that he skated in through in the photograph on the front.

Cardboard Classics - From the Mouth of the Shark

I've always sort of liked the San Jose Sharks, since they joined the league at a time when I was a huge fan of the game as a kid.  Plus, it's been fun watching the Bruins' trading of Joe Thornton re-affirmed year after year when they flame out of the playoffs in the early rounds.  Okay, that was a bit harsh, I really do like the Sharks.  Today's card is right up there with my Arturs Irbe autograph as far as my favorite Sharks cards go...

When done right (aka an interesting, non-standard photograph), the Canvas inserts that Upper Deck has been rolling out the past few years have produced some of my favorite modern hockey cards.  This one's from the 2011-12 set, and the image is just perfect.

I came close to buying this one on COMC more than once, but never wanted to pay the buck or so that it generally demands on that site.  Patience paid off as it set me back much less than that as part of a recent insert/parallel lot.

I've got a few more Upper Deck Canvas cards to show in the coming weeks...

Cardboard Classics - Doughty & Bailey

My Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend haul from COMC arrived yesterday. With about 75 cards shipped, plus well over 100 that I still haven't gotten to from the shipment before that, I'll be posting the goods for many months to come. For today though, time for only a single card...

Because I just can't get enough of mascots on cards, here's defenseman Drew Doughty fist-bumping Kings' mascot Bailey the Lion.  Something you don't see everyday.  To me, the card is even better thanks to the run of success the Kings franchise has enjoyed over these last few seasons...

A solid pick-up for 60 cents any day!

Cardboard Classics - Stadium Club Napoli

Now that it's been out for a few weeks, prices on 2014 Topps Stadium Club baseball have cooled as collectors move onto the next hot new item.  I was finally able to land a Red Sox team set for less than $5, which isn't too shabby given that there are an impressive 12 Sox cards on the checklist.

My favorite of the bunch is this fantastic Mike Napoli card.  Stadium Club's hallmark has always been top-notch photography and this year's release is no exception.  That being said, and I could be biased here, I feel as though the Red Sox in particular ended up with some of the nicest photos in this release.

This particular card is one of the nicest new Red Sox cards I've seen in quite some time.  A perfectly framed photograph of Napoli hoisting the World Series Championship trophy minutes after the team won it last year.  The shine of the trophy, the beard, tattoo sleeve, World Series Champs T-Shirt, and sea of fans in the background make for a unique piece of cardboard to say the least.

If there's one thing to gripe about it would be the card back.  Not terrible, and certainly colorful, but overall it just seems uninspired after that captivating photograph on the front.

I'll share a few more from this set down the road, and I'm sure you've probably seen them all anyway at this point, but I thought this card was significant enough to merit its own post.

Cardboard Classics - Marquee Mantle

I recently shipped myself a batch of cards from COMC that had been building up for a couple of months.  There was one gem among them that I couldn't wait to share, and I think it's worthy of its own post:

I knew I was picking up this card the moment I came across it.  In my humble opinion it features one of the best photographs that I've ever seen featured on a baseball card, period!  Mickey here comes from the 2011 Topps Marquee set.  The cards are super thick, and I'm assuming it was a high end product, but they feature some really stunning photographs.  There's just something about this shot that hits home in a nostalgic (even thought I wasn't born yet when this photo was snapped) or historic kind of way.  I'm glad Topps didn't put a border around this one and just let the photo stand on its own.

My copy happens to be the blue parallel, serial numbered to 299 copies, but I don't really care about that.  It just happened to be the cheapest copy available, and I snagged it with an offer of $1.33, which I felt was a bargain.

The back is nothing special, although it does feature career stats and an amusing anecdote.  Still, it can't compare to the front...

Just over $1 spent and this may be my favorite new card added to my collection in 2014.  Just goes to show you that this hobby doesn't need to be expensive to be fun.

Cardboard Classics - '59 Topps Slaughter!

Only enough time for a quick post today, so why not show off another fantastic piece of cardboard that arrived in the recent giant surprise package from my friend Marc B:

What a beauty, this is 1959 Topps baseball at its best!  One of my favorite baseball names on one of my favorite vintage baseball card designs.  Marc blew me away with this one.  His timing was impeccable as I had just capitalized on a big chunk of beat up '59s at heavily discounted prices not long before his package arrived.  Enos fits in quite nicely with them.  The only flaws are that the card is a tad off-center and has a dinged top right corner, which is really nothing to me.  In fact, this is in better condition than the majority of the 30 or so cards I've added to my very young '59 Topps binder so far.

Enos was a ten time All-Star, and was just coming off his fourth and final World Series Championship when this set was released.  He would retire after the 1959 season so this is his final Topps card, which is kind of cool.

Enos Slaughter was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985, and passed away back in 2002.

Thanks for the great card Marc!

Cardboard Classics - Cheering for Cal Clutterbuck

I've picked up a decent number of 2012-13 Upper Deck hockey cards recently via repacks and grab bags from my LCS, and I have to say that of the cards I've seen thus far Cal Clutterbuck's might be my favorite photo:

This tightly-cropped shot, which features Cal celebrating with a couple of his Wild teammates, is just awesome.

On the back we get a different photo showing a nice scowl from Mr. Clutterbuck.  Great stuff...

Cardboard Classics - 2004 National Trading Card Day JS Giguere

How's that for a great shot of the early Ducks' sweaters (back when they were still the 'Mighty Ducks')?  Bonus points for the matching pads, and for the fact that Giguere began his career with my beloved Hartford Whalers.

Cardboard Classics - Campanella Legends Variation

Today I've got a card for your viewing pleasure that I drooled over years ago when I first saw it.  One of those that I've always had in the back of my mind and would occasionally search eBay for ever since.  Earlier this year I finally found a copy for a price I was happy with:

This is one of those legends variation cards from 2009 Topps.  Tell me that's not one of the more interesting photos you've seen on a baseball card?  As someone who is fascinated by old time baseball, particularly the Brooklyn Dodgers, this particular piece of cardboard just struck a chord with me.  Such an awesome, but totally strange, photo of the Dodgers backstop.  Not sure what he's doing in front of the outfield wall, outstretched like that.  Clearly a posed shot but I like it nonetheless.  Good to know that even back in the '50s Van Heusen shirts had soft collars and wouldn't wrinkle...ever!

Here's the back.  The standard card #210 on the 2009 Topps checklist belongs to Geovany Soto, so this particular card is #210A I guess, or would it be #210B?  Nobody wants to see the back though (even though it does include complete career stats!), let's take one more peek at that great front:

That's all for today.  Maybe this weekend I'll finally get one of these trade package thank you posts up...

Cardboard Classics - Pelé

Pulled this mini out of a random retail pack of 2013 Allen & Ginter from my pack shelf the other day:

I am always on the lookout for interesting soccer cards, and while this is technically a baseball card in the strict sense, it's a great addition to my small soccer collection as far as I'm concerned.  This is very my first card of any kind of the man who most agree is the best soccer player of all-time.

This particular version happens to be the A & G back variation.  Just a great card, was the highlight of the pack for sure!

Cardboard Classics - 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee Gordie Roberts

Quick post this morning, as I'm exhausted after a 16-hour work day yesterday. Here's a card I recently rediscovered when scanning and organizing a box of junk wax a few weeks ago:

I was 9 years old when this set came out, so I'm sure I'm more than a little biased, but I always liked 1991-92 O-Pee-Chee.  This card has to feature one of the best photographs in the entire set.  A smiling Gordie Roberts holding the greatest trophy in all of sports.  Also, it's amazing just how much the equipment has changed in the last 20 years or so, look at those shoulder pads!  How'd you like to take a body check from Alex Ovechkin at full speed wearing those?

Cardboard Classics - That Lion King is Downwind

I pulled this card from a $1 hockey repack I picked up at the LCS recently.  It's from one of the most over-produced sets in the history of hockey cards, 1990-91 Pro Set.  I had a ton of these cards as a kid, and I know both my brothers and I had complete sets, yet I don't recall this one.  How is it possible that my immature childhood self didn't snicker at this beauty every time I thumbed through the binder.  Maybe I did, and I've just forgotten over the years.

Anyway, with a name like Ron Asselstine, it's fitting that the card's subject appears to be clutching the boards about to float an air biscuit towards those unsuspecting fans.  At least they've got plexiglass protecting them, but that gold and green lion is straight in the path of Ron's backdoor breeze.  Asselstine's facial expression seems to support my theory.  Is this the only appearance of a fart on cardboard?  Feel free to leave a comment if you've got a thought one way or the other (or just want an excuse to post an amusing synonym for fart).

I promise to be back with something more mature and substantive tomorrow, it's just been this kind of week...

Cardboard Classics - 1992 Whitehall Babe Ruth Hologram

Just a quick one today as Thursdays are my long, 14-16 hour workdays.

I pulled this from a 100-cards-for-$5 repack a week or two ago, and I thought it was kind of cool.  I'd never seen these 1992 Whitehall "Legends to Life" holograms before (although I'm sure those of you who buy repacks more frequently than I do might have).  There's something kind of odd about seeing a player from nearly 100 years ago in holographic form, but it's a cool old-time photo and I actually kind of like the simple design of the card.

The back lets me know that this card was limited to just 150,000 copies.  I will definitely store it in a magnetic one-touch holder in the small, fireproof safe I have at home, so that if we ever have kids I can sell it to pay for my son's/daughter's college tuition!

Cardboard Classics - 2013-14 Score Shawn Thornton

Last week I received an awesome 6-card PWE from Douglas of Sportscards from the Dollar Store.  I haven't been able to find the time to scan the cards yet (hopefully will have a proper thank you post coming this weekend), but in the meantime I thought this particular card deserved to be highlighted on its own:

This awesome card is from Panini's 2013-14 Score set.  Shawn doesn't get a whole lot of cardboard love (this is only my second card of his), so I think it's great that he was included on the checklist for this set.  Aside from that, what a great photo!  Thornton emerging from the tunnel with Johnny Boychuk and Patrice Bergeron in tow, fans reaching out to make contact with the players.  The icing on the cake is the young fan to the right, in Thornton sweater with a Bruins logo painted on the back of his head!  I'm sure this must have been one of the best moments in this kid's life, and now it's immortalized on cardboard.  I wonder if he's aware of this and has a copy of the card?

The back is dull, and that's putting it nicely, but even this black and white mess isn't enough to detract from the awesomeness of this card.  Thank you Douglas!

Cardboard Classics - 2014 Topps Kendrys Morales

I often find that so much of my hobby time is spent shopping, or looking forward to acquiring more, and not enough is spent reflecting on and enjoying the awesome cardboard that I do own.  I also find that my own OCD often prevents me from posting a card without a good bit of research and a corresponding lengthy write-up.  This can make for very few posts in the months when life outside my hobby has me busy.

In an effort to kill both these birds with one stone, I'm going to be posting individual cards from time to time under the heading "Cardboard Classics".   These will be cards that maybe didn't catch my eye enough to warrant a post the first time around, but that I got a greater appreciation for in digging back through my boxes...cards that I think are worthy of a brief post in their own rite.  I know this isn't exactly original (thinking Night Owl's Cardboard Appreciation series, in fact thinking this is why most of us have blogs to begin with!) but as they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

Kicking things off is a brand new card from 2014 Topps.  Yes, despite all my railing against buying wax I did pick up a solitary blaster this past week.  I can honestly say that I bought it with the intention of trading away nearly all of it, as I owe a few bloggers cards and have precious little trade bait laying around.  Anyway, the blaster wasn't anything special, I got two lousy Red Sox base cards and the rest goes into the trade box.  The cards aren't as bad as I've heard many people say, but I don't like them as much as some do either.  I can confidently say that will be my one and only blaster.  There was one card I pulled that I didn't think much of at first, other than "hey, cool photo", but after reading an article yesterday I have now moved it over to my small keeper pile:

Back in 2010 while playing for the Angels, Kendrys Morales suffered one of the dumbest injuries in the history of sports when he broke his lower leg and ankle jumping on home plate to celebrate a game-winning home run.  He missed a year and a half of playing time before he was able to return to the game.

The photo above comes from a game on June 23rd last season.  Morales hit another walk-off home run, this time with the Seattle Mariners, and as he approached the plate got a good ribbing from his teammates.  What a great shot, a blurry Morales with arms raised in the foreground while the rest of the Mariners, most notably Felix Hernandez, encourage him to slow down and take it easy to avoid a repeat injury.

Here's the back of the card, which ties nicely to the photo on the front given that you can see just 51 games played in 2010 and the entire 2011 season missed due to injury.

A very comical photo resulted in this card being salvaged from the trade box and appreciated as it should be.  Great job with this one Topps!