Deciding What to Collect - AND Trade Bait

Aloha, everybody, 

Since the beginning of the year I've been thinking about the reasoning behind my collection and the meaning of this blog.

One of the beautiful things about our cardboard community is that we hold a rich variety of collecting philosophies. Some of us want every card ever produced for one team, or one player. Some of us focus on autographs and limited edition, high end product, while others chase rookies and pre-rookies.

The last time I blogged about this, I referred to myself as a shotgun collector, with fairly open interests. Since then I've made the decision that 2016 will be the year I work on collecting vintage Dodger team sets - from 1957 until 1980.

 Certainly I understand it's impossible to complete that task in a year, or perhaps over a lifetime of collecting. But we all know, it aint about completing the task, it's about the juice we get from the chase. 

That's where you all come in. I'm humbly asking that you consider my wantlists for these team sets (updated last week) whenever we trade. A few of the checklists are impossibly long, but I'm close to completing a few. With a little help, I should be able to close those out this year, while chipping away at the others.

Of course I'm still happy to receive cards from the other scattershot angles to my collecting, but I'm hoping some of you out there have some older cards that fit these new needs. 

I've got extras of a (small) few of these cards, so I'm hoping that might serve a need or two for you vintage set collectors out there. 

That said, here's some trade bait that's looking for new homes (with more to come over the next few days)...

 2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers Robin Yount bat relic. These had a hobby pull ratio of 1:24.

1968 Topps Killebrew. 

And a wildcard throw in...

Who loves Pac-Man? 

Aloha!

Binder Page Heroes - Harmon Killebrew Edition

Aloha, everybody, 

The start of the new year has seen a lot of bloggers rolling out their cardboard resolutions for 2016. While I'm not the kind of collector who sets many goals - at least not the kind with deadlines - I was inspired by Night Owl's post about the stuff he "wants to do" in 2016. One of the things on N.O.'s to-do list was to keep his blog series' alive, which spurred me to revive one of my own. 

Ladies and gentlemen, let's return once again to Binder Page Heroes, the series in which I showcase a page from one of my binders. 

This time it's a page featuring one player - someone I don't see getting a whole lotta love from the blogs. Which is probably because there aren't many Twins collectors in the blogosphere. But the man definitely deserves some prime time, so it's hats off to the Killer (no, not Jerry Lee Lewis)...

I'm a big Dodgers collector, but don't forget, I also love cardboard from baseball's heroes who played for other teams as well. In no particular order, these are my favorite Harmon Killebrew cards. Leading off are two from 1968 Topps...

You can blame my scanner for slicing off the edges of these. I love the old timey stadium tiers lurking there. Is this the Twins' home stadium? 
 

I like collecting these All Star cards, but I'm always let down by the puzzle backs. Gimme some substance! I wonder if this photo was taken in the same sequence as the one from the base card above?

A great batting stance photo, combined with a lousy color scheme which pretty much washes out the player's name. 

Coming up is one that Arpsmith would probably consider a McCovey card...

Back when I used to haunt the weekly card show, these 1975 Topps dual player cards were easy to find, and were a pretty cheap way to grab some vintage cardboard - with double Hall of Famers to boot.  Now I wish I had the foresight to have bought every one of those '75's I came across. 

Killer started out with the Senators before they moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. I'm glad Masterpieces featured him in the old Senators uni. 

Killebrew looks like he popped one up here. Nevertheless, these In Action cards are some of my faves. 

More "Killebrew in action"...

Next up is a beautiful swatch of old time, grey uniform...

The card is thick and feels substantial in hand. The flannel (?) has darkened with age and feels like baseball history. 

Last ups brings us to colorful 1972 Topps and a vintage bat shaft shot for Dimebox Nick. ...

 Killebrew was a Minnesota Twin for 21 years. He was an 11-time All Star and hit 40 or more home runs eight times.

Here's one for ol' Harmon, "Another Place, Another Time" from the other Killer ...

Aloha!

Heavenly Trades Result in Cardboardy Heaven

Hey everybody,

How about that Yasiel Mondesi Puig??? Wow, what a wonderful addition to the Dodgers.

I'm about to settle in and watch the ballgame.  Can't wait to see what excitement Puig will bring to the Dodger Nation tonight.  BTW- I'll be at the game on Sunday, and that'll be my chance to see Puig in person.  I'll try to get some good pics for a later game report. 

I've been falling behind in trade posts lately, so here comes the first of a few.  Cameron over at Cardboard Heaven put up some cool Topps vintage and I just hadda have 'em.  It took a few emails scattered over a few weeks, but we finally nailed things down and locked in our trade.

That neato '67 Topps Steve Carlton (below) wasn't even involved in Cameron's initial trade bait post, but it worked its way into our trade talks, and now its happily in my binder. 

How's about some old-time Dodger Stadium lurking?

 Those '68 Topps above were the cards from Cardboard Heaven that started our trade.

Some 2013 Gypsy Queen came along on the side.

This miiiiinnnniiiii is my favorite from the Queen cards.  What a great looking card.

I got some Heritage too!  This Banks photo really matches the card graphics.

I cannot have too many cards of Hammerin' Hank.

Is that a cruise ship lurking behind the boys?

This is a great Kershaw card.  Thanks for this one, Cameron.

What a great trade.  THANKS for reading, everybody.