JBF's Junk Becomes My Treasure

Aloha everybody,

How's summer playing out in your neighborhood? I've survived another week of the L.A. summer heat waves, as temperatures in the 100's have finally dropped back to the reasonable (?!) 90's. 

 As mentioned in my previous post, the generous JBF offered up a bunch of cards that he referred to as "junk", and I requested a couple that spoke to me. 

The first was a cool swatch of fedora from the great Karl Malden, and today I'm showing this numbered (103/125) swatch from the almost great, Jeff Kent. 

Kent was a polarizing figure when he came over to the Dodgers, and it wasn't just because he was previously a hated Giant. 

Kent wasn't a smiley, back-slapping teammate; he just went out every night and gave 100%, while expecting no less from everyone else on the squad. 

Kent hit the first of four back to back to back to back homers in the greatest Dodger game I ever attended. 

It was the end of the season, in a heat of the race for first place game against the Padres, and a memorable battle full of comebacks that the Dodgers eventually won. Nomar Garciaparra ended the game with a walk-off homer and Dodger Stadium rocked like I never saw before or since. 

I would compare that incredible Dodgers energy to what it must have felt like when Kirk Gibson hit his incredible WS homer. It was THAT wild.

Lots of L.A. fans (and some Dodgers) didn't appreciate Kent's style -  but I did, and I'm very glad to get my hands on this card. 

Of course JBF tossed a little extra into the package, and he added this wonderful vintage Brooklyn Dodgers card...

The Boys of Summer

 Speaking of Brooklyn, yesterday one of the few remaining connections between the Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers - Vin Scully -  announced he will be returning to announce Dodger games for the 67th - yes, 67th! - season. Wow! 

I'll be happy just to see 67 years - period. 

THANKS for the great cards, JBF! Your package will go out in the mail next week.  

Aloha! 

Fedoras and More from JBF

Aloha,

JayBarkerFan has been running a "junk trading" series, and as we all know, good ol' JBF doesn't really offer junk, and he certainly doesn't include anything even remotely associated with junk in the extras he tosses into his trade packages. 

Although I have not been tracking the blogs as much as I did in the past, I was lucky enough to check out his site during this recent series, and one of the non-sport cards he was offering stopped me in my tracks. I hadda have it - and JBF was kind enough to ship it to me...

That's right. A hunk of Hollywood memorabilia from one of my all-time favorite films, "On The Waterfront". 

In this film old school hard-ass Karl Malden plays one of the greatest supporting roles ever. I jumped hard on the chance to get this card, and it doesn't disappoint, as I can feel the history seeped into the felt from that fedora. 

However, the back of the card revealed one curious detail. It seems this hunk of hat is actually from the TV series "The Streets Of San Francisco".

No worries, as it is still a hat from Malden, and I still feel the history in it - even if it's the waterfront from1970's San Francisco. This is still a great addition to my collection - and may well spark me into collecting more Hollywood memorabilia cardboard. 

JBF is never one to send just one card...and this package contained some fantastic extras that accurately scratched my collecting itch.

Vintage Dodgers that I did not have yet...

Check!

Adrian Beltre....and Shawn Green...
 

Check and Check!

Limited run cards with shiny designs...
 

Check!

You might ask, how about a limited-number Mike Piazza? 
 

Check! (and a low number too! 3/50)

How about more limited number Dodgers that I collect? 

Monsieur Gagne says "Le cheque." 69/100

What about one of those limited to only 50 and numbered below 10? 
 

Blam! Check! 

Finally, there was one more very cool Hollywood surprise.

 

A proof numbered 25 of 25 from another classic, "The Birds". Very nice. 

THANKS for these wonderful new cards for my collection, JBF! 

Next time: The second package! 

Aloha! 

I'm Off Hiatus Long Enough To Post Some Vintage Dodgers

Aloha everybody,

Tony from Off Hiatus Baseball Cards recently sent an AWESOME package of vintage Dodgers to me - which combined with the other cards in my collection, brought me very close to completing the team set from the 1977 Dodgers. 

He sent so many Dodgers, I can fan 'em out like a winning poker hand...

Here are a few of my individual favorites from the bunch. Let's lead off with a couple of the Dodger aces from that squad...
 

"Hi everybody. They named a surgery after me."

 

 Lopes was the team's base-stealing specialist. In '75 he stole a career high 77 bases. In 1977 he stole 47, with an 80% success rate. 

Today Lopes is the Dodgers' first base coach. I'm sure he wonders daily where the Dodgers' running game ran off to. 

 Speaking of specialists, Manny Mota was the greatest pinch-hitter I ever saw; he might be the best ever, for any team. 

 Good ol' Boomer - one of the friendliest guys on the post-career appearance and autograph circuit. Yeager is genuinely friendly and a pleasure to speak with. 

How about this great old-time "in action" shot?  Check out the scoreboard in the background: It looks like the Giants have double digit hits, but Wills is stealing bases and getting the Dodgers rally going! 

Below is another fistful of cards that were in the package...

But Tony wasn't satisfied to just send me team cards; He also included this vintage, oddball gem...

I always think of Roebuck as a Brooklyn Dodger, so it was a nice surprise to get something from him when he was an LA Dodger. 

As I mentioned earlier, Tony got me within four cards of completion for the '77 team set. If anyone out there can help me complete it, here are the four I need: 

 Stan Wall #88
John Hale #253
Kevin Palsey #470
Steve Garvey #400

 THANKS for the great cards, Tony!
Aloha!