Binder Page Heroes #2

hey everybody,

the other day over at The Chronicles of Fuji, fuji san posted about his newest acquisition from the '64 giants set.  that inspired Binder Page Heroes #2.  although i don't intend to chase this set,  I do enjoy grabbing a '64 from the guys i collect anytime i can get my hands on them.  let's check 'em out:

this set is a great way to get your hands on classic HOFers on cool cards without busting your budget.  in my opinion, this set is undervalued by the price fixers, and that's good news for you and me.

the card backs have the cool look of a sports column.  educational, full o' stats, and they look great.

if you like portraits of your heroes, this set is for you.

can't ever go wrong with a kaline card

what a great photo

naturally, the card from this set that means the most to me is the one that has been handled the most by others before me.  it's the most loved. 

this is the card that fuji posted about. 

 cool stuff, right ?  

thanks for reading !

Binder Page Heroes 1

hey everybody,

today i launch a new series of posts here at ATBATT.

in this Binder Page Heroes series, i'll be posting the (ever-evolving) pages of my collecting binders.  I currently have 2 such binders, Dodgers and non-Dodgers.  yup, thats it, only 2.

i've seen some of you super collectors out there with closets and boxes and laundry bins chock full o' cards.  while i do have a couple of milk crates full of designated trade bait cards, these two binders contain my favorites.  that's my discipline.

i'm hoping this series will accomplish a few things simultaneously:

1. i'll share my personal card collection with all of you who equally love cards and our hobby, and hopefully it'll spawn some interesting card chatter, or at least an assorted comment or two.

2. of course, in keeping with the theme of ATBATT, all of the cards are available for trade, but some cards will understandably command a more robust trade offer than others.  for example, it will take less for me to trade a '94 triple play frank thomas and more for my 'Dodger Southpaws' Koufax and Podres card.  simply be creative, and all things are negotiable.

3.  the most important goal though, is to make these posts interesting and fun reading for all of you.

let's begin with the non-Dodgers binder.  this first page is a bit of a hodge-podge, but then again, so is my collection, so no better starting point:

Binder Page Heroes #1 

i'm chasing this 61 fleer set, but i'm pretty sure i'll be passing down this chase to my kids.

Hughie was once a Dodger.  He was also player-manager for detroit from 1907 until 1920, and he won three pennants !  you go hughie, with those baby blues.

another tiger legend

i received this mini in a trade package.  i would hardly call it a card, as its printed on a single sheet of paper, with absolutely nothing on the back. i was almost going to toss it as i thought it was just a cheap xerox job.  thanks to my blogger brethren, someone posted an explanation that this is part of a real set release.  at present, it escapes me who wrote about it.

way to rock one of the ugliest unis ever.

got 2 certain hall of famers? check.  2 cool bat relics? check.  2 of the most popular guys to play the game? check.  2 guys loyal to their respective teams? check. got awesome awesomeness? CHECK !

classic shot of a classic HOFer.  diggin the old time batting helmet.

of course a binder page heavy with padres gotta have a tony gwynn RC.  once so young.

this is a great 90's insert. english and spanish text on the rear. the gold detail shines like all 90's insert gold should.

that's it for now, folks. thanks for reading.

Next Post: Binder Page Heroes 2

Trade With The Big Bad Owl

hey everybody,

today is a good day because there's no way the Dodgers can lose.  in the absence of a Dodger game to watch, here comes a post from a trade with the person who is consistently the most generous of all my trading partners, good ol' Greg over at Night Owl Cards.  

One would think that being bothcollectors and fans of the same team, we would hardly have anything left to possibly trade, Dodgers-wise, but happily, that has not been the case yet.   Greg and i pretty much just send each other blind stacks of cards, and it's amazing how he still manages to send cards that are new for me.  Greg consistently sends me cool looking inserts or vintage of Dodger heroes, well beyond base cards of obscure bench riders. 

here's some highlights from our latest stack fer stack trade off...

new for my collection.  team card of the Boys in Blue.  very cool.

unwittingly, and without trying, i'm growing a pretty fair Eric Gagne collection.   that's due to all my trading buddies out there.  thanks, everyone.

here's a great side by side example of simple and complex card designs that couldn't be more different, yet are equally satisfying to my eye. 

since their first appearance, i've loved these special edition cards and that mirror finish.  i pulled very few Dodgers back in the day, so this Ramon Martinez is highly appreciated, despite the fact he seems to be pitching in shallow water.

here's another cool mirror finish high-shine embossed card that looks crappy on my scan, but is awesome in person.

i recently received my first of these 'ring of honor' cards in a trade(Duke Snider was first), and then BANG! just 48 hours later, i get another one.  Dodger bloggers just seem to know what we each want.

finally, a great card from one of my earliest favorite Dodgers. 

THANKS for another great trade, Night Owl!

This Trade Pitch Was A Heater !

hey everybody,

yet another trade post, and i'm always incredibly stoked to post 'em up.  this was a first-time trade with Ryan's Pitch.

 Ryan runs a great blog and turns out he's an even greater trader.  this trade actually started a while back, when i first contacted him about helping fill some holes in his GQ want list.  in the end, i was only able to fill one of those slots, but since Ryan's such a cool dude, he sent over a nice assortment of cards. here's a few highlights...

doncha love this set?  beautiful cards

how about this one?  these are great yaz cards.  thanks, Ryan

this past weekend i was going through some Dodgers memorabilia and i came across a signed baseball i got from 'Sweet Lou'.  he even signed it 'Sweet Lou Johnson' on the ball for me.  he's a WS hero, and he scored the only Dodger's run in Sandy Koufax's perfect game.

didja know Bobby V. is married to the daughter of Ralph Branca?

how about this great 1960 card! there's a ton of Dodgers in 60 topps, but this Larker allows me to fill one full binder page of base Dodgers.  :) 

THANKS for an awesome first trade, Ryan.  Looking forward to another soon.

Next Post:  A trade with a guy that hoots !

Topps Diamond Giveaway Delivery

so who remembers the Topps Giveaway from so long ago?  lots of us participated and posted the cards received, but i held out till the bitter end trying to trade into even better cards. 

i was eventually able to trade for a cool davey lopes card that was apparently popular with lots of other folks, because i kept getting offers from people who wanted it. 

when all was said and done, i had about 25 cards in my 'card vault' but i didn't want to pay shipping on all those, so i settled on just a few, and here they are...

heres the Lopes card that was so popular.  great card but it is a bit of a miscut.

just what the heck is going on here?

this penguin card is definitely not for trade :)

this is another era of baseball photography that i really dig.  sure, today's cards are all shot crystal clear with digital cameras, but there's something about the graininess and depth of field in this era's photos that i love.  kinda like the big screen epic movies of the the past versus todays films.

Ferguson made the greatest throw EVER in a WS game (maybe ANY game)! click on the red link to see it.  i was lucky enough to catch it on TV when it happened.  it still stands as one of THE greatest WS plays i've ever seen. 

that's my topps loot !  thanks for reading !

Yo DawgBones, LoL At The Phillies Game

did you see this one, bro?   is it really that time of the season?  apparently homeboy had such a good time he's passed out and they put three cans of beer on his head.  haha

really? at phillies stadium you can take in your own 6 pack of beer?  ur kidding me...you have that option?   hey magic - look into this whole BYOB thing for next season. 

alas, this idea would never work in LA.  waaaay too many Raider fans are Dodger fans also. hehe 

BTW: victorino finally found his bat.  maybe it was a good trade after all. 

This Way To A Great Trade

...and the trades just keep coming.  i'm very happy to post about the first trade between myself and Mark from This Way To The Clubhouse.   Mark runs a great blog over there.  the layout is cool, i enjoy his writing, and as you will see below, he's an awesome trader.  check out the highlights, but if you're in a rush and only have time to see one, scroll to the bottom and see the last card.  it inspired our trade, and it's a real cool addition for my Dodgers of the the PED era collection...

mark sent over a great batch of cards with old time baseball heroes like maris, and good ol' number 42.

here's a cool art card from fleer 95.

here's some great examples of topps getting it right on the reprints.  mark's inclusion of this clemente from 2012 archives was a great surprise.  nice addition, mark !

here's a great carda tha bambino.  what makes it extra awesome is this card features the babe as a red soxer - before that accursed trade.  the rear of the card tells about something most of us dont know or tend to forget: before the babe was known as a home run smasher, his claim to fame was being a kick-ass southpaw pitcher for the beantown boys.  check out the full on suits and ties being rocked in the stands. 

mark tossed in lots of cool Dodger cards that were new for me

this card tells about some of Jackie's world series exploits.  Jackie is one of only 12 players to steal home in the fall classic.  my added tidbit - he stole home on a pure steal, not at the end of a double steal or a squeeze play.

an awesome reprint of killer killabrew !

i've seen this card around the blogs and ebay.  although i collect koufax, i was unimpressed with it.  now that i have it in person, i see this is actually quite a nice looking card.  the back taught me that Koufax's 14 K's are the MOST EVER in any perfect game.  but of course. 

one last coupla very nice cards. i especially dig the babe ruth. 

for those of you who read to the end, or scrolled quickly to see my favorite - here's the card that spawned the deal. it looked cool at 'the clubhouse' , it looks absolutely awesome in my collection..

THANKS for a great trade, Mark !

Hope It's Not 30 Years Till The Next Kingly Trades

 hey everybody,

since the new owners of my team have tossed millions upon TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars into unproven foreign talents,signing giant contracts with the talents we do have, and millions upon more millions into bringing fish and fillies over here - and the best we can do is win 3, lose 4, win 3, then lose 4 again - i guess i'll just have to focus on what doesn't frustrate, baffle and perplex me, my cardboard collection.

here are the latest additions, thanks to my great trading partners.  leading off, is kevin, who the rest of the world knows as The Diamond King...

check out these way cool die-cuts.  the backs detail how the player led his team to that year's pennant (Reese in 1947 and Campy in 1953), and the cards are numbered up to that year. 

last night at the game i sat next to a guy wearing a Gagne jersey.  not only that, but he shared Gagne's size, and was proudly sprouting that Gagne signature chin bush.  dude - just commit to the goggles and be done with it, already!

those were great cards, kevin.  i really dig those pennant die-cuts.  next up is my first trade with Brian over at 30 Year Cardboard.    brian sent a great bunch of cards, and here's some highlights...

always nice to get cards from a couple of my all-time favorite Dodger pitchers.  the southpaw tossing the unhittable screwball, Fernando Valenzuela, and bringing the heat from the right side, Pedro's bad-ass big brother, Ramon Martinez.

i've seen these 'ring of honor' cards floating around, and i really love the design. i dont necessarily want to chase the whole set, but i definitely could get into putting together a binder page or two of these beauties. 

 you say your team had willie mays?  oh, you guys had mantle?  we had the Duke of Flatbush

THANKS for the great trades, gentlemen.  as always, looking forward to the next one !