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! 

The Dodgers are World Series Bound, so Let's See World Series Cardboard

Aloha, everybody, 

I'm sure you've all heard by now: The Dodgers are in the Fall Classic! The 29-year drought is over. The red, white and blue bunting will once again adorn Chavez Ravine, and the best team I've ever seen don the Dodgers uniform, is going to do battle with whomever wins that ALCS Game 7 tonight. 

The Dodgers have a long history of battling the Yankees in the WS, so I wouldn't mind one more chance to beat them. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Dodgers' opponents might well be the Astros. 

While we're waiting for that outcome, let's check out some Dodgers World Series cards from my humble collection. Most of these are tribute cards from modern issues, but I've got some cool original vintage cards coming up as well. 

(Some of you may have seen some of these before, please indulge me. I'm quite excited to show these off one more time.) Here we go, in more or less chronological order...

In 1920, the Dodgers (also known as the Robins at the time) won the pennant, but they were defeated in the WS by the Cleveland Indians.

1941- Leo the Lip Durocher leads the Dodgers to win the pennant for the first time since 1920. The Yankees spoiled the Dodgers happiness and beat Brooklyn in five games. 

One more card from the '41 series. This is the first of my vintage cards. These Nu-Card Baseball Scoops come from 1961...

Here's the first of two beautiful die-cuts I received in trade. This first one harks back to the 1947 WS. The Dodgers lost to the Yanks again. This time it took seven games. 

BTW - 1947 was Jackie Robinson's first World Series. 

Two years later, it was Dodgers v Yanks yet again. Different year, same results. Yanks in five. (more vintage cardboard, from 1968)

Fast forward to 1952. This time the Yanks were defending three straight championships. The Dodgers lost the series in five. 

Here's the second of those pennant die-cuts. In the 1953 WS, the Yankees were now four-time champs, and the Dodgers were trying once again to take that world's championship for themselves. No dice. 

 Here's a great action shot from the '53 series. It features Campy tagging out Billy Martin to end Game 4. Alas, the Bums lost to NY again. This time, in six games. 

Stay tuned, because next time: The Dodgers finally get over the hump and win their first World Series. 

Aloha! 

Never Judge a Trading Partner by the Cover of his Blog

Aloha, everybody, 

I first became aware of Paul's TTM Autograph blog back in April. I spotted a Pee Wee Reese relic card on Paul's blog, and we quickly put together a one for one swap; he got a Jim Thome batting helmet card from me. 

I thought that was going to be a one and done trade for us, because I presumed Paul was only interested in higher end cards. You know, autographs and such. I could not have been more wrong, as Paul and I have quickly become regular trade partners. The kind that you just set a pile of cards aside for, and then ship them out when the pile is high enough. 

Paul recently came across an awesome $5 box-o-cards at a garage sale and he generously decided to share the wealth with little ol' me. Here are some select highlights...

Leading off is some vintage that chipped away at my team sets chase. 

Awesome! Pedro Guurrero RC!! Bonus: Rudy Law and some scrub. 

More from one of my favorite "ones who got away". I've officially got enough Konerko prospect and RCs to start chasing more...

Viva Puig! Viva ridiculous weather map backgrounds! 

Mas Nomo? Hai! 

These cool 3-D die cuts on Paul's blog got these trade talks going...

 I casually mentioned in the comments that I liked this Big Hurt photo, and Paul included it! 

 How about this? My first Davey Lopes relic, on a well-designed card...

And my first Paul Lo Duca auto...

This Topps Chrome Campy is absolutely beautiful in hand...(my scanner lopped off the bottom of it) 

Also beautiful is this 2007 Turkey Red refractor numbered 66/999
The colors in the sky are stunning.

Paul sent these sweet 2015 GQ Fernando minis to me in a PWE earlier...

This is the backside of its companion mini, numbered 95/199

Those are just a few of the many, many cool cards Paul sent my way. Now let's check out my card favorite of all...

1997 Dennys 3-D Jackie Robinson. Why is this my fave? First, Jackie. Next, the card designers chose an awesome, rarely used photo of an older Jackie (note the grey hair) in a play at the plate. That looks like a Cub patch on the catchers uni. Third, the 3-D effect is clear and true. The catcher's mitt really appears to be below Jackie. This card has quickly become one of my favorite Jackies in my collection. 

THANKS for the great new cards, Paul. I'm off to find a lucky yard sale! 

Aloha! 

When Dodger Collectors Collide

Aloha, everyone, 

Not too long ago I wrote about Spiegel, my old collecting friend who was getting back into the trading game after retiring his own Dodgers blog a couple of years ago. 

Just as you might suspect, Spiegel isn't the only ex-Dodger blogger who was away for a while and is now back in. GCRL Jim is another. Jim and I recently turned the U.S. mails blue when we swapped fistfuls of Dodgers cardboard. 

We Dodgers collectors are blessed, as our team has historically had plenty of representation in card companies' checklists. That means no matter how large our collections are, and however much we swap among each other, the chances of receiving plenty of new (for us) product in our mailboxes are pretty good. 

Take for example, these 2007 SP Legendary Cuts cards of Roy Campanella and Maury Wills. 

 I've loved these black n' red beauties ever since I saw a dealer selling a large stack of them a couple of years ago. He wanted fifty cents a piece for them, and I wasn't convinced they were worth that, so I walked away and never had a chance to pick through that set again. 

Speaking of beautiful cardboard...

Just lookit that. I don't need a card to be selling for $100 on ebay for me to appreciate it. A grand design and good photography goes a long way with me. 

Sure I've got 2009 Dodgers, but I didn't have O-Pee-Chee versions until GCRL hit me with them. 

Sir Night Owl wrote about receiving a team set Dodger card tonight, and just like the team bag says, these are a bunch of 2012 team set Dodgers...

Just enough to make me need to complete the set. Ha! 

Here's an interesting pair, both from 2005. Playoff Prestige and Throwback Threads both used the same photo of the Penguin. The Prestige card was even lazier in its use of the same photo on the back. 

GCRL set me up with a whole lotta cards that were brothers in sets that I've never seen. Like these...

And the hits just kept on coming. Here's a string of Dodgers batsmen...

 Except Manny's bat is nowhere to be seen. 

And here's some pitching. 

Another set with amazing photography and design....

Finally, one more photographic work of art on a little slice of cardboard...

Dig that sly smile on Jackie. It's the same look Dodgers collectors have when we open packages from each other. 

THANKS for all the great cards, Jim! 

Aloha! 

Breaking Down Trades of Substance

Aloha, everybody, 

A couple of weeks ago the great custom card artist, Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown, ran a ruthless March Madness PWE tournament  in which my PWE of Padres was absolutely CRUSHED when it was put up against a Mark Hoyle PWE chock full o' vintage. It was a massacre. 

The PWE match up was all in fun, but it got me to thinking about the cards that I send out to folks. From time to time a trade will be very specific. For example, I just put together a swap of a Jim Thome Batting helmet card for a Pee Wee Reese swatch card. No surprises. Everything prearranged and set. 

Other times I'll drop a fistful of Mets or Angels or Cubs into a package and ship them off to someone who collects those teams; what we often refer to as a "blind trade". 

Both types of trades are fun, but I realized I'll have to take a bit more care in checking collectors want lists before I ship base cards out. Some collectors don't want every card from every player on the team. As I mentioned to Gavin in our conversation about this topic, "The next Jose Offerman card I get is going to be the thousandth one I don't want." 

Which leads me to the PWE that ol' Gav sent out to me, in which he led off with this gem...

The note is on the penny sleeve, so my new "O-for-man" card remained pristine. Nevertheless, I won't be submitting it for grading. It might have remained a joke between friends if that was all there was in the envelope, but Gav doesn't roll like that. In fact, there really were some cardboard gems awaiting in that PWE. 

Exhibit A. A card featuring one of my favorite all-time Dodger pitchers. The GREAT and underrated Ramon Martinez, known to most of you as Pedro's brother...

If only the Dodgers had listened to Ramon when he told them his younger brother was going to be even better than himself. *sigh*

How about this never-before-seen cardboard beauty...

 That one boasts baby-faced and moustachioed versions of the Penguin. 

Speaking of the captain...

You want more Brooklyn? I got yer Brooklyn right here...

Gavin's artfully crafted PWE spanned the Dodgers from the New York boroughs to tomorrow's heroes of Chavez Ravine...

Young Trayce just got the call up and his first ML hit when slug Franklin Gutierrez recently went on the 10-day DL. 

I'll close out the post with cards that feature the man being honored by MLB today, the patron saint of ATBATT....

The Dodgers will honor the great Jackie Robinson with the unveiling of their first stadium statue tonight, and yours truly will be there. 

I'm always happy to attend a ballgame, and extra juiced when it's Jackie Day, but I'm super thrilled to see the statue tonight, because it's featuring (as you read my prediction here first) the pose of  Jackie ....Stealing Home. 

Thanks for the great PWE Gavin! 

Aloha!