A Surprise Zippy Zapping!

Aloha, everybody,

I got a suprise PWE from Zippy Zappy. Let's behold the cardboard surprises within.

Enjoy and aloha! 

It's a Christmas Zippy Zapping! Let's rip open some cards n' stuff from NY

Aloha, everyone,

Zippy Zappy sent over a huge package of cardboard goodies for Christmas. Join me in seeing what was inside :)

Zippy Claus Zapped Me

Aloha, everybody, 

Christmas is just around the corner, so I'll take this opportunity to wish all of my fellow collectors, traders and readers a very Merry Christmas. I may post again before the big day, but who knows who will be reading then, so I'll take advantage and send these holiday greetings to you all right now. 

I've talked about it too many times, but WTH, it's the holidays, so I'll bring it up one more time. The reason I launched this humble little blog was to connect with like-minded folks across the country, but I had no idea just how wonderful it would be to meet you all through our community. 

One of the best guys that I met in the blogosphere (and with a friendship that has expanded to the Twittersphere) is Zippy Zappy, from Torren Up Cards. ZZ has earned a reputation of creative generosity through his legendary Zippy Zappings (trademarked yet?), and the joy of Christmas brought one to me. 

See that? It was in a plain brown wrapper, but the fact it was from ZZ meant there was nothing plain inside. I began oh-so-carefully snipping at the outer wrapping like I was trying to defuse a nuke. 

Hmmm...bubble wrapped goodies of various shapes and sizes. You can't see it in this photo, but through the plastic wrapping I thought I saw....

"THE ROLLING STONES".....what? No way. 

More careful snipping revealed the stash! 

Whoa! 

Sure, cards are nice...but as anyone who has known me for more than five minutes knows, I'm a big Rolling Stones fan, and ZZ just dropped a 3-cd anthology of Stones musical goodness on me! 

Bonus: The CD booklet with photos and liner notes. This is really important to me. Most people buy digital music these days, and like them, I recently bought the latest Stones release in digital form. The drawback is...no booklet, no liner notes, nothing to read - and hold - while listening. This time I got one! THANKS, ZZ!

I know, this is a card blog, you didn't come here to read about the Glimmer Twins, you want to know about cardboard singles. Let's check out what else was in that bubble wrap...

Leading off is the NL's shiny new ROY, Corey Seager, on a shiny, shimmery card. Beautiful. 

Here's some more Seager goodness, this time he's sporting number 12, 

ZZ specializes in prospects and rookies, so natch he sent a few more of those to me. 

Here's Rob Segedin, former Yanks prospect, now a Dodger. In his first game, Segedin had a franchise rookie debut record, 4 RBIs...

Another Dodger who just joined the big club in 2016...

 Really nice to get some Urias pre-Dodgers cardboard in my collection. Here he is with Oklahoma City...

For those of you who noticed Julio's left eye and don't know the story, his near-closed eye is a result of a birth defect. He's had one surgery to correct it, and I believe there is another one to come. Good luck, Julio! 

Richy here was sent to the Phillies as part of the Chase Utley trade...

This blue Richy is numbered 166/199...

I didn't mind Richy being traded so much as I hated to see first-round draft pick, Grant Holmes get sent to Oakland. The Dodgers got Rich Hill, whom they just signed to a three-year deal (might be worth it), and Josh Reddick, who was a bum as a Dodger, and somehow duped the Astros into wasting millions on him for 2017. 

Alex Verdugo is still with the Dodgers. Look for him to play beside fellow Dodger Adrian Gonzalez for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. 

ZZ keeps close connections with Japan, which allows him to get cool stuff from overseas. Like these cards from my favorite Japanese team, the Hanshin Tigers...

My scanner does no justice to this beautiful card of Atsunori Ito. The card is from close to the end of Ito's career. He's now a coach with the Tigers. 

Here's a Tigers team card...

I love the team displayed in one riot of bats ready to take on all comers. If only they played as well as they look on cardboard. 2016 wasn't a good year for the Tigers. The Colonel will stay dry until 2017. 

And then there was this...

A custom job commemorating the patron saint of ZZ's blog. 

Am I the only guy in the blogosphere who doesn't make customs? 

Oh, almost forgotten was this little guy...

NOW I've been Zippy Zapped.  Thanks for everything, ZZ. Whew!

Aloha! 

Zippy Zappings come in Vintage As Well

Aloha, everybody, 

Here's  the final installment of cards that came in the awesome package that Zippy Zappy sent to me.

When ZZ wrote his post about the cards I sent to him, he joked that I probably send him so many cards because I just want to keep him in cardboard debt to me. 

After this Zippy Zapping, I owe ZZ big time!

He chipped off another chunk from my chase for the 1974 Topps Dodgers...

The immortal Tommy John. Sure, half the pitchers on your team have had the surgery named after him, but I was lucky enough to grow up watching him pitch. Ol' TJ was probably my first favorite southpaw pitcher, as Sandy Koufax was before my time. 
 

Here's Billy Buck showing how to NOT field a grounder. Sloppy in Spring Training leads to sloppy in the World Series. Right, Bucky? 
 

I don't remember too much about Ken McMullen. I suspect not too many other people do, as well. 
 

Good ol' Fergie, who I used as a trivia question to stump Stu Nahan in a radio contest and win breakfast at home plate with Tommy Lasorda on Opening Day.
 

 Looks like Joshua is nursing a sore wrist. 

 Loving this Walter Alston card. He was the first Dodger manager in my life, and I can't have too many cards of the skipper. 

Speaking of skippers...

"Look ma, no toothpick."

 Here's one that Matt might appreciate...or dislike???

 I don't know how I missed adding the following card to the previous posts that featured younger players, but luckily I noticed it still sitting in my scans folder, and here it is, better late than never...

 2013 Bowman Sterling Prospect Chris Anderson Auto! 

Anderson is a two million dollar bonus baby, who is now pitching for my local Rancho Cucamonga branch in the Dodgers' minors. 

Finally, a card that traveled - apparently by accident - to ZZ when I put together my previous package for him.

Welcome home, Nomar. 

And THANKS for all these great cards, ZZ. I had a blast opening the package, and adding them to their various new places in binders and team sets. Now I'm in cardboard debt to you.

Aloha!

The Best of the Rest Just got Best-erer

Aloha, everybody, 

Long time no blog, I know. I've written before about being away from ATBATT for a variety of reasons - some better than others.  But deep down, when I'm away from our collecting community for any length of time, I really miss it - and all of you. 

If there's anything that will get me to sit at the keyboard and refresh all of your blogrolls with an update from me, it's receiving some cardboard goodies in the mail, and that has happily come to pass. 

On June 1st, Zippy Zappy wrote about the "Best of the Rest", a name which he bestowed upon the both of us, (aside from the SuperTraders group) as collecting/trading/blogging representatives for our respective teams, the Dodgers and Yankees.

It's a name which was inspired by fun, but one which I wear with honor and a smile, because it's these types of connections and friendships that make our community so very cool to me, and they are the reason I miss the blogosphere when I'm away. 

OK, now let's get to checking out some of the cards that ZZ sent to me in the latest installment of our never-ending LA to NY trade-a-thon. 

Some folks include notes with their packages and PWE's. My notes on Rolling Stones paper have shown up from time to time, and anyone who has ever been Zippy Zapped, will recognize his trademark mascot. I think it's a rabbit, but who knows with art? 

One of the best aspects of trading is collectors will send different types of cards, based on their collecting habits. ZZ tends to collect a lot of young players, minor leaguers and rookies. 

That works out great for me, since I don't buy Bowman and the like, so ZZ fills in those gaps in my collection.

 Valentin is with the AA Phillies now, and putting up some decent numbers. Hopefully he can break through with them.

 Here's a purple beauty of long time minor leaguer, Zach Lee. The Dodgers gave him a shot with the big club early in the season, but he was on a very short leash, and was quickly sent down when he did not put up Hall of Fame numbers. 

The kid could be a solid innings eater, which is something the Dodgers could really use, but they don't listen to me. I'm hoping Lee gets another shot soon. 

Speaking of kids, Holmes here is a recent Dodgers signing with a ton of potential and a lot of hope surrounding him. This Bowman chrome also has a lot of shiny surrounding him.

It's a double shot of Holmes...

I love this Bowman beveled-frame-styled design. The blue on the bottom half works well with the Dodgers colors. 
 

 Verdugo here is a solid Top 10 Dodgers prospect. He's a pitcher transformed to an outfielder, and there is some talk of him moving into right field for the Dodgers, with the possibility of Yasiel Puig being traded away or jumping when he becomes a free agent. 

 Now here's a great little card that popped out of the package. It's the Dodgers teen-aged phenom...

Urias got shelled in his NY debut, but I chalk that up to rookie jitters, and an ill-advised, rushed debut in hostile territory. It was a ridiculous decision on the part of the Dodgers. 

 Urias pitched much better a couple of nights ago in his Dodger Stadium debut, and he will pitch on Sunday against the Giants - talk about hostile territory. Tune in for that one. 

Here's a cool limited edition 236/250 from Topps Finest of one of my favorites out of the Dodgers' beleagured bullpen, Yimi Garcia. I'm digging that German Expressionist background on the card. 

 Yimi is on the DL now, so I'm hoping for a full and fast recovery. 

 It just aint a proper Zippy-Zapping without one of these (and I don't mean a Manny card)...
 

 I mean one of these super cool, Japanese Sega Card-Gens. Some people get slabbed cards and don't want to remove them from the thick plastic slab. I feel exactly the same about not wanting to remove this card from its penny sleeve with a Japanese price tag on it. 

I mean, how cool is that? This time I mean a Manny card in the home whites. 

We're just getting started with the package that ZZ sent to me.

Next time: Part 2   Aloha!

Cardboard Santa Brought Me The Best Zippy-Zap Ever!

Aloha, everybody, 

Whew! What a Christmas, am i right? I've got just a few days to lose all of my new Christmas weight before the New Year's feasts begin. 

Before Christmas hit, Cardmas hit me even harder with one of the greatest packages to ever arrive at ATBATT HQ. Zippy Zappy from Torren' Up Cards/Cervin Up Cards zip-zapped me - and it was a doozy! 

Enough about me; let's get to the cards. Leading off are a couple of Topps highlights cards honoring Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers.

 Here are current Dodgers Clayton Kershaw and Joc Pederson in action. Pederson is up first with a great shot of him coming out of the box, bat in hand..

I love Kershaw's ASG face here, but that 70's trucker hat is the worst. 

ZZ likes to include several zaps of minor leaguers in his packages, which is perfect for a collector like me. I'm the kind of guy who almost never rips packs of minor league/rookie class product, so gifts like these are always welcome in my collection. 

 I'm digging that Inland Empire 66ers shield. I've never seen these cards before. Martin pitches for the Phillies organization now. 

Young Corey Seager burst onto The Show at the tail end of 2015. He set a Dodgers rookie record by reaching base safely in his first 16 starts, and was the Dodgers' starting SS in the NLDS. I'm looking for him to be there on Opening Day 2016.

 Here's Corey playing for Team USA...

I love this shot of 2014 first-rounder Holmes with a Dodgers jersey, a tie, and some kind of draft board in some kind of studio, with a live-feed cameraman hovering behind him. This card accurately captures the artificiality of the entire affair. 

You know ZZ likes to toss in vintage, and this time was no exception. This zip-zap was gonna hit all the cylinders...

Willie Crawford is a sentimental-favorite Dodger for me...

Believe it or not, Mr. Hunt is my first 1968 Dodger. I believe I've just been handed a mandate. 

A package with just those cards (and the others I didn't scan this time) would have been a very nice Cardmas surprise, but good ol' ZZ stepped into the Extreme-Cardmas Zone with this one. 

A bit more context would be appropriate right about here. 

Back when I posted up my Ultimate Nine baseball cards, I mentioned that this 1933 Goudey was the oldest card in my collection...

ZZ said this in the comments about that post...
"No knock on the Goudey but I don't like that it's the oldest. Let's change that shall we..." 

I knew what the statement implied, but I never dreamed that someone whom I've never even met in person would be so generous as to make a statement like that come true. 

Well folks, there is a Cardmas Claus, and his name is Zippy Zappy. 

Ladies and gentlemen, from the famous 1909-11 T206 white-bordered, tobacco card set, take a gander at this little piece of cardboard gemology...

 The T206 set was released over a span of three years, and Joe Dunn played for the Brooklyn Superbas in 1908 and 1909. I figure that places this card as a 1909 or '10 issue - meaning this 'ol boy predates my Goudey by a quarter of a century. And it's my first ever Superbas player card! 

 The T206 set is most renowned for being the home set of the famous Honus Wagner card, as well as HOFers Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Cy Young. 

Dunn was no Georgia peach, and he didn't even crack the Mendoza line (before there was one to crack) in his brief stint with Brooklyn, but he did go on to become a championship minor league manager. 

This precious - yes, precious - 106 year-old card is now in my collection simply because of the goodness of another collector. The warm and sincere generosity of our community is absolutely incredible, and like nothing I've experienced anywhere else.

When I mention generosity, I mean it in a broad sense. Some of us give time to keep the big blogs on the block running with new material for us to enjoy day after day. Others are generous with commenting on posts and corresponding as friends behind the scenes. 

Some of us are generous with contests and opening packs every day of the season, with the intent to later give all of those cards to all of us. Some of us surprise each other with PWE's and packages "just because", or share their art creating custom cards that are later gifted out. 

Of course, our blogs would be forgotten without the silent readers out there who generously give us their time to come and read the ramblings about our hobby. 

Everyone gives in the way each can, and that's why I love hanging out in the cardsphere. It was a wonderful 2015, and I look forward to continuing the tradition into the new year. 

THANKS for everything ZZ (and shoot an email to me at your convenience. You can find my email address on my profile page). 

Aloha, everybody!