New Year 2020 Surprise Package From The Pancake King

Aloha, everybody,

JBF, The Pancake King, mi hermano, sent out 13 Lucky packages before Christmas. Here's what I received in mine.

Aloha!

I Got Stacked by a Dodgers PWE

Aloha, everybody, 

Have you ever been stacked? 

Well, you ain't been stacked till you been stacked by The Pancake King! 

Check out this Dodgers cardboard stacked inside a PWE

Aloha!

Cardboard Goodies Arrive From a Collecting Legend

Aloha, everybody, 

There's only one man I know who retires from the game, but still continues to lay it down twice as hard as many of us shmucks who claim to be relevant in the collecting game. 

Of course I'm talking about none other than mi hermano from Hazel Green. Of course you know him too, as many of you received packages from good ol' Wes recently. 

I've seen your blog posts showing off the cardboard goodies that he rained upon you. Autographs, memorabilia cards, limited editions - Wes brought all of it. 

Lemme tell ya, he hit me with a package that blew...me...away. There was so much cardboard goodness in there, I had to make two videos to showcase it all. 

So indulge me, collecting brethren and sistren (?), as I submit for your approval, Part 1 of the Alabama Surprise. THANKS, hermano! 

Aloha! 

A Most Excellent Surprise PAckage From Mi Hermano & Beer Review

Aloha, everybody,

I got a surprise package from JBF, mi hermano in another estado (my brother in another state), and let me tell you...it was FANTASTIC!

Good ol' Wes always comes to rock and he's still batting batting 1.000

Also in today's video: I review Most Excellent IPA from The Dude's Brewing Company, a local brewer here in the LA area.

Thanks for watching (in advance) and BIG THANKS to mi hermano.

Aloha!

They Say Legends Never Die. I Hope Legendary Collectors Don't Really Retire

Aloha, everybody, 

Maybe you heard, the man who built a collecting and trading empire under the moniker of JBF has retired from the game. It's the end of an era. 

It's the flaming out of a torch the blogosphere thought would burn bright, like a thousand Willinghams, forever. 

Mi hermano is stepping down from brutal trading wars and year-long contests to savor the fruits of his many past victories and to complete some personal collecting chases that remain. 

Before stepping out of the spotlight, good ol' Wes dropped a few "Retirement Packages" into the mail. Of course he did, because that's the man's M.O. - generosity at all times. 

I mentioned this in the upcoming video, but in case you don't watch, I'll mention now that I'm the trader I am today because of Wes. He never knew it, but my Alabama brother was a cardboard mentor to me. He showed me that generosity is the life blood of trading FUN. 

My offerings are always humble, just what I can scrape together on a modest (and more often than not) nonexistent cardboard budget for trades. He never made me feel our trades were dependent on equal monetary values, and he never stopped sending things to me because my return packages didn't meet the heft of what he sent to me. 

Wes taught me that it was the act of sharing what someone else wanted, and not counting nickles, that mattered. My Cardboard Santa and Operation PWE campaigns can be directly traced to how Wes rolled. They are a cardboard legacy, if you will. 

Presentation speech completed, let's open the package Wes sent me, and review Azacca IPA, a beer from Founders Brewing, out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Aloah! 

Wes' Big ol' Cube - The Finale

Aloha, everybody, 

I hope you're all doing fine out there. I had a wonderful getaway to Laughlin, Nevada this past weekend. If you're unfamiliar, Laughlin is kinda like a VERY much slower and smaller Las Vegas. It's located along the shores of the Colorado River, with Arizona sitting on the other side. 

I needed to decompress from daily life and crazy politics on my mind, so Laughlin really hit the spot. Now that I'm back, let's get this part of daily life back on the burner and roll out the final highlights from the cube o' cards that mi hermano, Wes, sent out to me. 

We'll lead off with some cool vintage 1975 Topps that also filled in slots from my Dodgers team checklists...

Above is Boomer rockin' the 70' sideburns, and below is the greatest pinch hitter ever. 

Mota's beautiful card features the bonus of the Dodger Stadium pavilion with the old school scoreboard and paint scheme, and the famous palm trees, that Vin Scully dubbed "The Three Sisters". 

Speaking of beautiful cards: We get World Series Hero, Joe Ferguson, Hall of Fame skipper, Walter Alston, and a slew of Dodgers in the background...

For years I had only the mini version of this Mike Marshall card. Thanks to Wes, I now have its big brother. 

How about that? Two Hall of Famers on one card...

Here's Tommy John wearing his cap like the Sears photographer plopped it on him at the last second...

No, Marshall is not flinging a "poop ball special". Those brown things are small tears on the card surface. 

Here comes a nice surprise: A fistful of 1986 Oh-Pee-Chee Dodgers...

Gotta love that spelling on VandeBERG. The Dodgers have 22 of these, so Wes has given me a good head start on the team set. 

BTW, the cards look just like they came out of a pack last week. 

More newish-looking cards from 1987 Leaf...

I've never even seen variations like these before. The card backs feature text in English and French. Very cool. 

That finishes off the cube. As always, another fun pummeling from good ol' Wes. I'm still putting together my return salvo, so keep your helmet on, hermano. Fire directed at you coming soon! 

Aloha! 

Wes' Big ol' Cube o' Cardboard - Part 3

Aloha, everybody, 

In the last two posts we enjoyed highlights from the big cube full of cards that Wes sent me. Today, let's check out the autograph cards. 

Leading off is a Dodgers prospect who I had an eye on and was sorry to see traded away...

Sands was sent off to Boston in the mega-trade that brought Adrian Gonzalez to LA. Since then, he's bounced around both leagues, and is now a Giant. This auto will fit right into the bunch of Sands RCs I have in my collection, and just can't seem to part with. 

Yimi here has had a slow start to his pro career. He underwent Tommy John surgery last season, so time will tell what's in store. 

Either way, this is a very attractive card. Garcia's signature is flashier than Jerry Sands, but they both make those A's in their last names prominent. What's up with that? 

Pedro Baez's card gives a scan that's hard to read, but this is also a very nice card. I dig the reief pitcher posing with a bat, and his signature is big, legible, and bold. 

Baez had a rough time toward the end of last season, but the Dodgers are keeping their faith in the young pitcher, and so am I. I was very happy to get this Baez auto card in the bunch. 

Miguel Almonte is actually with the Royals. I suspect Wes thought it looked like a Dodgers uniform. No harm, no foul. I'll gladly accept it and hope young Almonte has a good year for Kansas City, so this can become prime trade bait down the line. 

Magill here is one of those young prospects that never quite panned out. He was last seen jumping away from the Padres to make himself a free agent. Good luck, Matt. 

Willie Calhoun. The one they traded away. The one who they are going to regret trading away. 

The Dodgers wanted Yu Darvish and the Rangers wanted a top prosect. It came down to be either Calhoun or Alex Verdugo. I wanted Calhoun to be the Dodgers' next power-hitting second baseman. The Dodgers didn't listen to me, and chose Verdugo to keep and become their 110th outfielder. *sigh* 

At least I've got this nifty Calhoun card. It's bright, shiny, and features a great shot of Willie. The auto is kinda lazy, though. I can't even decipher a single letter from his name in that sig. 


Onelki Garcia was a Cuban defector just like Yasiel Puig. Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end. 

Garcia pitched breifly for the Dodgers, who weren't impressed. They sent him to KC, and they weren't impressed. Garcia is probably thinking about defecting to Mexico or Japan for the next stage of his career. on the bright side: A pleasant, circular auto. 

The final one today is my favorite of the auto cards. It's not a superstar, but a player I really enjoyed watching in his time with the Dodgers. Back in the early 2000's the infield pair of Cesar Izturiz and Alex Cora turned effortless and beautiful double plays. 

Most of you probably know Cora as the new manager of the Boston Red Sox...

A great group of signatures. THANKS, Wes. Next time: The finale -Vintage and team sets.

Aloha! 

Wes' Big Ol' Cube o' Cardboard - Part 2

Aloha, everybody, 

Yesterday we saw the first part of highlights from the cardboard pummeling I received from good ol' Wes. We now commence with Part 2 - RELICS, SWATCHES and AUTOGRAPHS...


First up is a beautiful patch card numbered 1379/1430 (14-30?). I love everything about this card, including the no-name scrub who lends his likeness to it. 

This is because our scrub pitcher bookends two big trades that I remember as a Dodgers fan. First, he came to the Dodgers (along with Brian Jordan) in the trade that sent Gary Sheffield to the Braves. Second, he was quickly shipped off to Oakland for Milton Bradley. 

Speaking of ex-Dodgers who've been shipped off to obscurity...

Here's a very low edition, low numbered (7/36), well-designed, Triple Threads...

 In a bizarro reverse situation, here comes Carl Crawford, who came to LA, and THEN found obscurity...

And now, the big boys...

My first swatch from Yasiel Puig, and it's super low numbered 3/99...

I showed this one off on Twitter earlier. Number 52/99, World Series relief pitching hero, Kenta Maeda...

I absolutely love this next one. Gonzo's career may or not be over, and the haters are biting around the edges, still claiming his arrival from the Red Sox paid no dividends. Philistines! 

A-Gon was the iron man, with ironclad offensive numbers throughout most of his Dodgers career.

 Good stuff from Wes, and we're a long ways from done. Next time: Autographs. 

Aloha! 

JBF Delivers a Cross-Country Body Blow

Aloha, everybody, 

Several of us received cardboard bombardments from the most generous collector I know. None other than my brother from way down south, good ol' Wes, of JBF fame. 

Wes sent me a big cube o' cards filled with cardboard goodness. The cards were packed in such a way that goodness was sprinkled about. Inserts, limited edition cards, relics and autos popped out from among Dodgers base cards that filled out team sets. As fun as it was to get those first glimpses of cardboard gold in my initial flip through the cards, its true glory slowly revealed itself as I sorted out what I had. 

As usual with Wes' slammings, it's going to take a couple of posts to show off the highlights. I'm so jazzed by said highlights, I don't even know what to start off with, so in no particular order, we'll get started with INSERTS and LIMITED EDITIONS...

First up are a couple of 2017 Chrome Refractors - real beauts...

Here's a green refractor, numbered 23/99...

Up next are a couple of cards that may be among the last issued to Andre Ethier as a Dodger. The blue is numbered 32/500...

...and the orange is #62/250...

This gold Manny is # 32/50. The photo is from Hanley's early days as a Dodger. It's a great photo, but looks like he's gonna be missing or fouling it off just underneath.

Here's a seemingly simple card, but I dig the caption "Robbed in Right", and the great shot of the ball nested securely in Puig's glove. 

Finally, a 2015 Chrome Farm's Finest miiiiinnnniiiiiiiiiiii of World Series hero, Joc Pederson...

We're just getting started folks. This is just the first wave of blows from ol' Wes. Stay tuned for more! Lots more. 

Aloha! 

What Was Lost, Is Now Found

Aloha, everybody, 

In my last post, I mentioned a surprise package that I received from mi hermano, Wes - which I had misplaced. 

It turns out the cards had been placed in a cabinet where I store my card shipping supplies. Perhaps by me, and then forgotten? This is very likely. 

The important thing is, they were found, and now I can give them their proper thanks in a post, before they are filtered into my binders. 

Leading off is Jackie in a mini variation. Sweet. 

Just like a surprise fistful of cards is sweet. You see, good ol' Wes doesn't blog as often as he used to, but the man hasn't left behind his generous ways of dropping cards on old friends (and hermanos). Wes just rolls like that, which is why blogging or not, he will always be one of my trading mentors and inspirations. 

Here's a blast from the past, from the days card companies were flailing about, trying to merge computer tech and the net with collecting. 

I checked the web address, which is now a dead end. *Sigh*

How about a great photo of Kenley Jansen on a  numbered card? 

With a card back that the stat-heads will love...

Here's a fantastic addition to my Pedro as a Dodger collection...

New Bowmans are always welcome...

New, shiny Bowmans even more so...

Here are some tribute cards...

This here's a copy of the '52 WS program cover...

Finally, a couple of very well preserved '87 Don Russ Opening Day Dodgers. Those '87s are always chipped around the edges, so I'm very happy to receive these upgrades. 

THANKS very much for the surprise cards, Wes! The pile I have for you is growing, but I want to make one more trip to the card show before mail day. 

Aloaha! 

Big Sunday BFG Pack Rip

Aloha, everybody, 

It's time for a pack rip! It's always time for that, right? 

Here are three more packs from the big box o' fun that I won in JBFs Big Fun Game. 

Let's see what we pulled. We'll start off with Fleer '90. I was surprised to find this guy with the same name - Jose DeLeon - as that of a prized (at least, to me) Dodgers prospect who was recently traded away to the Rays for that hole in the lineup, Logan Forsythe.

 RIP Bobby Welch, World Series Hero. 

Next up is 1991 Topps. This first card is Rene Gonzalez, the son of a close family friend. A local kid who went on to play for the Angels and O's. 

Gonzalez's experience with the O's must have been bittersweet. Although his career was blocked by being the backup shortstop to Iron Man Cal Ripken, he experienced first-hand the historical run of the Iron Man, sitting in the Orioles' dugout as Ripken chased and broke Lou Gerhrig's record. 

Here's an All-Star Rookie Cup. 

 Speaking of All-Stars, it's always good to pull a Rickey. 

Last, and sorta least, is 1988 Score. This pack was full of scrubs. I managed to pull a Dodger. 

These Score packs always have a "remember when" card. 

This one recalls the ML debut (and end) of 3' 7" Eddie Gaedel's career. His single at bat was a publicity stunt that became legend. 

I recently attended the Shrine of the Eternals Induction Ceremony, and the president of the Eddie Gaedel Society was there, as he always is. The society annunally remembers Gaedel's day in the sun with a party in a local St. Louis watering hole. If interested, look them up online for more info. 

This is a pin from the society that I picked up at the induction ceremonies.  

Pretty cool, right? 

Aloha!