Pack Rip - 2003 Topps Stadium Club

I purchased this pack almost 8 months ago, forgot about it and finally got around to opening it this weekend. Why did I buy it? Well, it was less than 2 bucks, it's a set I've never seen and don't own any of, and Stadium Club generally has pretty decent photography. Only 6 cards in the pack, so I've scanned all 6...

#6 - Derek Jeter - New York Yankees - I like the horizontal card, but the blurred out player in the foreground (who I believe is Jason Giambi) kind of detracts from the overall look.

#92 - Manny Ramirez - Boston Red Sox - This card is staying in my collection, as opposed to being added to my trade list, for one reason and one reason only. It's a Red Sox card that I don't already have. Ugh.

#103 - Hank Blalock - Texas Rangers (Future Star) - Pretty good rookie to get I suppose. He had string of 3 very good offensive seasons from 2003 to 2005 but seems to have cooled off and been bitten by the injury bug.

Royal Gold #43 - Luis Castillo - Florida Marlins - The Royal Gold parallel card isn't a whole lot different from the base cards, just gold foil (which scans better) and it's about the thickness of 3 regular cards. Probably a cheap parallel designed primarily to deter pack searchers.

#41 - Jeff Bagwell - Houston Astros - In 2003 Jeff had a great season, batting .278 with 39 HR and 100 RBI. I'm sure most people wouldn't have predicted he would be totally out of baseball just two years later...

#18 - Johnny Damon - Boston Red Sox - A pretty good shot of Johnny leaping for a fly ball with the Green Monster looming in the background. I wish Topps hadn't cropped in the photo so closely but had instead gone for a horizontal card.

I was pleasantly surprised with this pack. I'm always a little reluctant to purchase a product with only 6 cards per pack, but two Red Sox plus a Jeter and a Bagwell made for a decent pack. Aside from the Damon and Ramirez these cards are up for trade...

Bruins Sweep at NHL Awards

Congratulations to Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara and Claude Julien who all captured awards at last night's NHL ceremony in Las Vegas. Claude Julien won the Jack Adams award for "head coach who has contributed the most to his team's success". I wonder how the New Jersey Devils, who recently dumped Julien as their head coach just before the playoffs began, felt after watching him propel the B's to the #1 seed in the East this year.

Zdeno Chara won the Norris Trophy for top defenseman in the NHL, breaking Nicklas Lidstrom's 6 year streak and joining Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque as the only Bruins to be recognized as the league's top blue-liner.

Finally, Tim Thomas took home the Vezina as the league's top goaltender. I don't think this was a big surprise, as Thomas led the league in Goals Against Average and Save Percentage. The only major knock against him was that Manny Fernandez made a good deal of starts, but Thomas still played 54 games which is plenty in my mind. It was great to see a stand-up guy like Thomas, who has struggled to stay in the league consistently and even played over in Finland for a while, take home the hardware.

Since I usually feel obligated to include at least one scan in every post, here's a Milan Lucic jersey card that just arrived from Captain Canuck. We made a bet a couple of months back on the Montreal Canadiens/Boston Bruins first round playoff series, and thanks to the sweep by the Bruins this Lucic card is now a welcome part of my collection. Best of all, Brian had already added a good scan to Zistle, saving me the trouble!

I also received some junk wax which I will be showcasing soon. I sent him a few packs in return and right now you can vote on which you'd like to see him open first. Thanks for the great cards Brian and here's hoping the Ghostbusters pack wins out!

Completed Set - 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces Baseball

Yes, the title of this post is correct, and I just finished my 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces set. For some reason I acquired most of this set, then sort of forgot about it and let it fall by the wayside. While it's far from perfect (I'll get to that shortly), it's definitely one of my top 10 favorite modern baseball sets and I was extremely pleased to finish it recently.

The Good: The paintings are beautifully done. Something about the way they are painted (the slightly exaggerated action shot of Ty Cobb above is no exception) really makes me appreciate the history of the game. The large number of Hall of Famers on the checklist is another plus. Even the canvas-like card stock is just so fitting for these cards. A 90 card checklist and no short prints make this set extremely collectible, even for the casual collector, which is something I really appreciate.

The Bad: I guess the number one debate regarding any set featuring some of the best players from baseball's storied past will always be the checklist. In this case though, I don't think any sane baseball fan would claim that Upper Deck got it right. I think they got sucked into trying to take a gamble on some younger stars to make the set more tempting or to appeal to a more widespread audience, but the set suffers as a result.

I can appreciate that some players were included more for their involvement in a single classic moment that is permanently etched in the minds of millions of people, like Kirk Gibson rounding the bases, than they were for a Hall of Fame career. Here are a few examples I'd love to hear someone from Upper Deck defend...

• There are NO cards of Hank Aaron. Baseball's true home run king. Yet Hideki Matsui gets TWO cards.
• There are NO cards of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio or Pete Rose, yet Delmon Young (who is batting .288 with 1 HR and 18 RBI in 42 games this year) is included because he happened to finish 2nd in A.L. Rookie of the Year voting in 2007. The ACTUAL A.L. Rookie of the Year in '07, Dustin Pedroia? Not included.
• Some of the games greatest pitchers are omitted. No Cy Young, no Warren Spahn and no Nolan Ryan. Kei Igawa, who only two years removed from the release of this set has yet to pitch an inning in the majors, gets a card though...

Anyway, onto the goods. Here are 3 of my favorites and then 2 of the worst...
This has got to be one of the coolest Ozzie cards I've ever seen. While capturing him mid-flip would ordinarily be a bit cliche, I think this card is perfectly done.

This might be my single favorite painting from the set. The Cubs jersey with the baby blue background, the 'fro and moustache, the lighting. What a nice looking card!

A simple pose from Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr. He seems to jump right off of the card.

Prime example of a checklist mishap...

This is the ugliest card in the set hands down. Whoever sat down, looked at this painting, and decided to give it the go-ahead should be fired. The background makes no sense. How about some fans, or the sky, God-forbid a baseball diamond? Any of these would've been preferred over this mess.

You can find scans of all of these cards in the Zistle library.

Where Do You Buy Cards Online?

There really aren't many great hobby shops in my area, and as a result I buy probably 75% of my cards online. All of these online purchases over the last two or three years have come from 3 places...eBay, Dave and Adam's Card World, and Sportsbuy (great for singles and helping to finish sets).

While I've been very satisfied with all 3 of these sites, I'd love to have a couple more options for price comparison, etc. Can anyone recommend any websites that they've used? Thanks in advance for any advice!

Pack Rip - 2009 Topps Heritage Buyback

Topps has pretty much lost me when it comes to Heritage. A couple of years ago when I first got back into collecting I thought it was the greatest thing ever, but after two hobby boxes and some odd packs of '07 Heritage I was still so many short prints away from completing a set that I became discouraged. Except for the occassional pack here and there I try to ignore this product, as much as I like it. I know there are quite a few others that feel the same way.

That being said, 1960 Topps is one of my all time favorite sets, so when I saw this buyback card on eBay for under $2 I couldn't resist. I wasn't exactly expecting a Mickey Mantle or Hank Aaron given that you can basically see right through the wrapper, but I was pleasantly surprised to pull this...

Vada Pinson isn't exactly a superstar in most people's minds, but he had a great and lengthy career in the majors. He lasted 18 years and led the National League in hits twice, doubles twice and triples twice. His 2,757 career hits are the most of any eligible player not in the Hall of Fame.

I have to say though, part of me wishes I just picked up a standard '60 Topps issue card of Vinson. I'm not sure I like this trend of Topps branding their original cards with a big foil logo. What's your opinion? Are buyback cards a good way to keep people interested in older cards and the history of collecting, or are perfectly good vintage cards being ruined? I have to say that I like what Upper Deck did with their recent Goudey buybacks much better. Just include the vintage card and skip the foil stamp...

Let's Go Pens!

Stanley Cup finals game 7 is scheduled to start at 8 P.M. tonight from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, and it doesn't get much better than this if you're a hockey fan (it would be better if it was Bruins/Wings though)!

I hope some of you who don't consider yourself hockey buffs will watch. For casual fans or anyone who doesn't know a whole lot about hockey, this is a perfect chance to introduce yourself. These two teams feature some of the most prolific and exciting offensive players in the league, and the goaltending has not disappointed either.

For my two cents, I'll be rooting for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I've seen Detroit win more than enough Cups in my lifetime, including just last year. I think Malkin, Crosby and the rest of the Penguins team deserves to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. Not only that, but I would love to seen the Penguins stick it to Marian Hossa for jumping ship to join the Red Wings.

How about you? Will you be watching tonight? If so, who would you like to see come out on top?

1953 Topps Project - Post #36

#122 - Elmer Valo - Philadelphia Athletics

A quick look at Elmer Valo's career statistics would probably leave you less than impressed. Valo played 20 seasons in the majors, although he did quite a bit of pinch-hitting towards the end of his run, and didn't eclipse the 100 game mark in any of his final five seasons (1957 - 1961). A closer look reveals that he had definitely had a few impressive seasons.

It was the legendary Connie Mack that apparently first saw potential in Elmer, largely due to his ability to reach base. Valo first played in the majors at an incredibly early age, cracking the Philadelphia Athletics' lineup in 1940 at the age of 19. While he surpassed 500 at-bats only once in his career, he made the best of the opportunities he was given, posting a .400+ on base percentage an impressive 12 times. Valo was also the first player ever featured on the cover of Baseball Digest.

A couple of random facts to close things out...Valo was the first American League player to hit two bases loaded triples in the same game. As far as I know, he is also the only player to date to suffer through 2 separate 20 game losing streaks (he lost 20 straight on the A's in 1943, and 23 straight with the Phillies in 1961).

Set Status: 36/274 (13%)

Krejci Signs!

Great news today as the Boston Bruins locked up my personal favorite active hockey player David Krejci to a multi-year deal. While the terms have not been disclosed yet, it's great to know that this talented young player will be a Bruin for the forseeable future. Hats off to the B's management for signing him before he became a free agent later this summer.

1953 Topps Project - Post #35

#15 - Bobo Newsom - Philadelphia Athletics

I'm returning to the 1953 Topps project with a card I picked up a long time ago, Bobo "Buck" Newsom of the Philadelphia Athletics. Bobo's career spanned 20 seasons in the big leagues, which is about how long it's going to take me to finish this project, if I ever do.

Newsom actually put together some pretty impressive career statistics, although the totals are no doubt inflated by the fact the he stuck around in the majors so long. For every good year he had, he had a bad one, or a couple of average ones, and the result is that his career stats are about as bad as they are good.

He amassed an impressive 211 career wins, good for 89th all time and finished with a sub-4.00 ERA. He lost even more games than he won though, dropping 222. Looking at his stats, your jaw might drop when you read that he has 2,082 career strikeouts. You'll see a number greater than 1,700 in the walk column though. He won 20 games 3 times, and he lost 20 games 3 times. I can't help thinking of the Seinfeld where Jerry keeps breaking even and Kramer dubs him "Even Steven".

Sadly, Bobo passed away due to cirrhosis of the liver at age 55, just 9 years after hanging up the spikes.

Not Giving Up Yet...

I've received quite a few emails in the past couple of weeks regarding the blog and basically asking what the hell happened to me, so I think it's time for an explanation. I didn't realize just how long it had been since I last posted...

I was realistic with myself when I started this almost a year and a half ago. I knew I would not be able to keep up with some other bloggers who post daily or even multiple times daily, and I was alright with that. I wasn't looking for a huge following or a sponsorship from a card company, just an outlet for some creativity and a way to share my favorite cards with anyone who was interested. My goal was to manage 8-12 posts a month, and I was able to do so for about the first 15 months. A number of things have changed recently though, and contributed to my absence over the last 5 weeks or so...

My fiance was diagnosed with thyroid cancer recently and just completed her final surgery yesterday. Everything went as expected, and it's one of the least severe forms of cancer, so the long term outlook is good and there will be little impact on her day to day life other than a pill that she has to take once a day to control hormone levels. Nonetheless, there was a good amount of time spent at oncology centers and hospitals as well as providing support. I'm grateful that everything turned out well. She's home resting and it was actually a good chance for us both to reflect on what's important in life.

At the same time, I was given a huge project at work that pretty much occupied all of the free time I had, and had me living out of a suitcase at times over the past few weeks. This finally wrapped up recently and I'm happy with how it went, so I'm starting to see my life return to a more comfortable level of normalcy. Although it was hectic, I really do enjoy my job and am grateful to have one at all in this economy.

On top of all of this, one of only two local cards shops that I usually visit totally burnt down. I feel awful for the owner, he was a friendly guy and was ironically a volunteer fireman in the area. The thing is, I haven't purchased any new cards in over a month anyway. I'm not intrigued by any of the new baseball releases and hockey seems to be dying down now that the season is nearly over.

The funny thing is, instead of being frustrated about the lack of time to devote to my hobby, I actually really enjoyed the break. I didn't realize how much time and energy I was spending on organizing and scanning my cards, putting trades together, updating my collection on Zistle, browsing eBay, etc. Taking a month off left me feeling more relaxed than I have in a long time. So...where do I go from here?

Well, I'm not ready to throw in the towel on this blog or on collecting cards. I still love collecting and have met some absolutely great people through this blog. I think I just need to be a bit more realistic with myself and my expectations, and slow things down a bit. So, I'm going to start blogging again, with the goal of 8-10 posts a month going forward. I want blogging and organizing to be fun again, like it was when I first started, rather than feeling like my second full-time job. So beginning today, you will start to see some activity here once again.

Anyway, enough droning on about my personal life, this blog is supposed to be about cards! I'll leave you with another fine specimen from the 1974 Topps hockey set. You can't tell me that there isn't a strong resemblance between Larry here and Michael Imperioli. Is it just me or does this look like Christopher Moltisanti in a Sabres jersey?