A JBF Tradeathon Leads to a Vintage-palooza

Aloha, everybody, 

Did you participate in JBF's recent Holiday Tradeathon? The creator of the Supertraders, the man who you never (but you really kinda do) wanna have a cardboard war with, is constantly finding new ways to spread his generosity around the blogosphere. 

This time it was a tradeathon. Wes offered up cards from different sports, autographs and well-loved vintage. The cards were offered to the first to call dibs, so one had to be vigilant to claim cards that were popular. 

I missed a couple of cards that I would have loved to claim, but there were plenty of others that caught my eye, and claim them, I did. 

Wes offered up a good amount of vintage and HOFers, both of which fit very well into my collecting wheelhouse, and here are the cards that I chose. 

A couple of posts ago, I decided to make a real go at collecting cards from defunct teams. Here's Frank Howard repping the Washington Senators from 1966 Topps...

 Howard, who broke into the bigs with the Dodgers, wasn't quite a HOFer, but he put up impressive enough stats: 
Rookie of the Year, 2-time AL home run leader, 4-time All Star, AL RBI leader, and a World Series champ. 
He'll slide into my collection just fine. 

Did I mention there was an offer of well-loved vintage? Who can resist 1954 Topps?
Bonus: Defunct team. 

Shantz was no slouch either: 3-time AS, AL MVP, 8 Gold Gloves, AL Wins leader, ML ERA leader, and WS champ! 
Bonus: Southpaw
Yeh, Mr. Shantz deserves a slot in my binder. 


In the three-hole, HOFer, Harmon Killebrew. I have a very modest PC of the Killer, and this card fit right in. 

This Killer card is an absolute beauty! Mirrory and refractory, it dazzles as it catches the light. 2014 Panini HOF Red Framed 08/50 

When I started collecting in the early 90's, Mickey Mantle cards were the bee's knees. I never lost my eye for Mantles. This one is an Upper Deck calling card commemorating the Mick's 500th homer. 
Bonus: Defunct Yankee Stadium 

The last of the cards I chose brings us back to 1966 Topps and another HOFer. This time it's one of the just 24 men to have pitched a perfect game... 

Bunning also pitched a no-hitter, was an 9-time AS, 3-time SO leader, and had his number retired by the Phillies, and he was a Dodger. Yup, I'll claim a Jim Bunning card. 

If those awesome picks weren't enough, good ol' Wes dropped in a bonus pack of 1995 Fleer. I pulled an abomination...

 And a second ex-Dodger, this time as a Met (I know, he's an ex-Giant, but we don't speak of such things in these parts), 

This card was the highlight of the pack. Gimme World Series Heroes every day of the week! 

Carter's WS heroic home run is forever implanted in my mind, so this was a great pull. 

Awesome cards from an awesome dude. THANKS, Wes! 

Aloha! 

Say JENGA When You Publish W/Out A Title and When You Get A Great PWE

Aloha, everybody,

The flurries of Cardmas continue with tonight's cards coming to us courtesy of Tony B and Wrigley Roster Jenga. This is the first time we've swapped cardboard, and I must say, just as he knows how to decorate a Cubbie Christmas tree, good ol' Tony knows a thing or two about stuffing a Cardmas package.  

Let's start off with one of my favorite things, a southpaw Dodger pitcher...

  Early Clayton Kershaw cards - Not a bad opening act. 

How about a Korean lefty... 

Complete with an All-Star Rookie cup

 And now my favorite lefty bat in the current Dodgers lineup, whom Vin Scully refers to as "The butter and eggs man"...

My previous post featured a Raul Mondesi Starting Lineup figure, and here come a few more Mondesis, of the cardboard variety...

Most cards feature Mondesi at bat, so I'm glad this Leaf Studio card has Mondesi showing off his throwing arm, "El Canon". Raul even has a tattoo of a cannon on his arm.

  
This was the first Rauuuuuul card that I ever pulled from a pack, and it remains my sentimental favorite.

 

Fleer Ultra was a product that I ripped plenty of packs of back in the day. 

But Tony B doesn't just send a few base cards. No way, baby. Inserts and special cards are par for the course as well. Leading off is a very nice white framed 2014 Gypsy Queen Han Ram...

Here's a shiny, shiny mini. this is one beautiful card in hand...

Now some tribute cards...

This is one of those "cards that never were". Campy was left off of the 1954 Topps checklist. 1955 Topps didn't carry him either. 

 

I'm usually a purist when it comes to mitts, but this two-tone job on Sutton is a beauty. 

Speaking of Dodger southpaw pitchers, the best one ever, with added photobombing kids...

 

You want numbered cards? I got yer numbered cards right here...

I love these Ovation cards with the tactile baseballs. This is the first time I've even seen a Dodger on one of the inserts.
 

Nice low number. 

Here's an old-timey Brooklyn Dodger by the name of Napoleon (Nap) Rucker...

I didn't know anything about Rucker, so getting his card was an extra treat and a chance to learn about yet another Dodger left-handed pitcher. 

Rucker threw a no-hitter against Boston and holds the all-time Brooklyn records for most NL shutouts (38) and most strike outs in 9 innings (16). Not bad, Nap! 

Last up is one of those cards you don't know you want until you have it. Remember when Will Ferrell made his Spring Training publicity stunt, playing for every team in one day? 

Topps printed baseball cards commemorating his tour, and now I've got Ferrell pitching for the Dodgers.

 He's not a southpaw, but he seems to have a decent game face. 

That was a way beyond decent Cardmas package, Tony. THANKS for all the great cards! 

Aloha!

Happy Sunday Night Vintage

Hey everybody,

Nothing helps a baseball fan - or a baseball team, for that matter - to shake off the gloom and dooms like stringing some victories together. 

That's exactly what the doctor ordered and exactly what the Dodgers got after losing a tough 2 out of 3 to the evil ones from the bay.  We got well with a weekend sweep of the Pirates. 

Since the Dodger Nation is feeling pretty good and moving back toward optomism tonight, I thought I'd share some of my personal feel-good loot that I recently acquired through a couple of prudent buys over on the other bay. 

Let's check 'em out:

1954 Topps John Logan.   Logan doesn't exactly have any stats  that'll knock your socks off, but he was a 4-time All-Star and he even won a world championship in 1957.   Bravo, Logan.

Coach card !  Because why the heck not? 

I wonder what the story is behind Keely's lifetime stats of just 2 games and 1 at bat?  I suppose he was a star defensive replacement since he's got a fielding percentage of 1.000. 

Here's a beautiful '53 Topps.  Sidney here looks like he played opposite William Bendix in any number of screwball 50's baseball movies.  Don'cha just love those movies?

 I really didn't pick these cards up because these guys mean anything to me.  The cards simply appealed to my love of vintage, they were in pretty darn good condition for their ages, and the imagery was appealing.  Best of all, they were dirt cheap when compared to the usual prices for vintage - even commons. 

What a great action card.  Never mind the blurry bottom, that's just my lousy scanner.   Bob Richardson hit a grand slam and set a WS record in this game.  He went on to be WS MVP, albeit for the losing team.  I wonder if this photo is from his grand salami at bat?

 Just read the names off this game recap...Mickey Mantle (with a homer), Clem Labine, Whitey Ford, Bob Cerv, Elston Howard, Moose Skowron. WOW ! What a who's who of vintage ballplayers.

I love World Series subsets, and I hadda grab this card as soon as I saw it.  This is the Mazeroski WS, so I'm now officially on the quest to complete this set.  Any help I can get will certainly be welcomed and appreciated. 

THANKS for reading everybody!