Opening Packages from Bob Walk the Plank & Baseball Card Breakdown

Aloha, everybody,

I recently received a package from retired blogger Matt, from Bob Walk the Plank fame, and a PWE from still going strong, Gavin, representing Baseball Card Breakdown. There certainly was no breakdown in the quality of cardboard within both.

Check out this video as I receive my first uniform swatch with a chunk of jersey number and a verrrrrry sweet, very rare custom from Gavin. Enjoy!

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!

I Got Penny Sleeves in this Trade (Cool Cardboard too)

Aloha, everybody, 

If you're not following A Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts, well, you just aint doin' it right. Jon runs one of my favorite blogs. Quality writing, insight, and a good variety of cards and genres (unlike those of us who tend to blog about the same team 95% of the time). 

Jon and I don't make specific trades, we just gather cards and send when it seems there are enough. Lately, we've begun corresponding with each other about things large and small beyond the cardboard. I told Jon that I feel like the old days when authors, artists and friends would write long letters to each other. I really love it. 

Anyways, you're here for the cards, right? Let's check 'em out...

Some of you might be saying to yourselves, "Hey, my browser just switched over to Bob Walk the Plank. Nope you're still in ATBATT. Jon remembered I collect Hall of Famers, and he dropped this Honus Wagner with its marvelous photo on me. Besides, I dig these Fleer Greats sets as well.

Something else I chase are defunct teams like the Senators...

I have mixed feelings about Roger Craig because he later managed the hated Giants - seemingly forever. I never knew him as a Dodger, so even though he wears the Brooklyn flannels, my brain still registers him as the leader of the bad guys. 

More Killer cardboard, sir? Yes, please. Mucho more...

And gimme those career stats...

Good ol' Ossie here spent his entire career with the Senators, from player to All-Star to World Series champ to coach to manager. 

Did someone say I like baseball legends on cardboard? This'll do...

Now for some Dodgers. We'll go from a gorgeous old set...

...to a beautiful modern, acetate of The Tornado...

 World Series Hero Mickey Hatcher! Awesome

 Here come some more Konerkos. Some will say this card design is over the top, but I think it's just right. Even his cleats are getting in on the act. 

Did Konerko put his jersey on upside down? 

There we go, right side up again. 

 Speaking of ballplayers destined to be great - for another team!! Nonetheless, this card will look great in my binder.

Finally, Jon drops the extra spicy dose with some Kershaw swag! Nice! 

What a great batch of cards. THANKS, Jon. I really appreciate them. 

Shotouts to P-Town Tom and Tom Tessier for cards recently arrived. I'll get some posts up for you soon! THANKS :) 

Aloha! 

One More Batch of Cardboard TTM

Aloha, everybody, 

Welcome to ATBATT 2018. I'm lucky and blessed enough to open the year's posts with a small backlog of trade packages to present. 

Right before the close of the year, I featured a bunch of cards that came to me from Paul's TTM Autograph Blog. Paul, being a generous man, actually sent two separate packages to me. Today, we'll be checking out that second batch. 

The first couple of cards represent a side story for Dodger fans. It's "the changing of the guard". One big reason the boys in blue made it to the Fall Classic was the fact the Dodgers got younger. 

This card marks the power-hitting duo (from a few years back) of young Joc Pederson and Adrian Gonzalez. It's a good representation of the Dodgers turning a page on aging veterans, and moving toward a younger core. 

Andre Ethier, the longest tenured Dodger, will be probabbly moving on as well. I've long been a fan of Captain Clutch, so this blue-bordered beauty is very welcome. 

Manager Dave Roberts blew World Series opportunities when he kept Ethier mostly on the bench against the Astros, despite Ethier almost always getting a hit (including a PH home run) whenever he got a chance. 

Paul also dropped some new Nomos into my lap...

I love these cards that show Nomo just peeking over the top...

 Here's another angle...

Press Proof alert! These always take me back to my early collecting days. I was always ripping packs with the hope of catching one of these.

And now, World Series pitching hero, Kenta Maeda about to be sucked down into shiny, colorful quicksand...

Any and all Kenley Jansens happily accepted...

Closing out this pitching-heavy package is one of my favorite Dodger southpaws, on All-Star cardboard. I'm thinking that's Wrigley ivy behind him...

THANKS for the two great packages, Paul! I'm lucky the dealers around you are stocking a whole lotta Dodgers these days, and I'm very happy that you thought of sharing that with me. 

Aloha! 

Deck the Halls With Cards from TTM

Aloha, everybody, 

It's the most wonderful time of the year. 
Secret Santa gifts are dropping all around the blogosphere. 
Aint nothing in the world like cardboard cheer. 

Oh look! What have we here? 

Not quite a new car, but it sure beats socks. 
It's a Tommy Lasorda card. 
Here's Clayton Kershaw and Greg Brock. 

I'm wishing all of my readers, traders and friends,
A Merry, Merry Christmas
May all of your 2018 cards arrive without bends. 

Ha! How's that for a Christmas poem? If that didn't get things going, maybe these great cards that I received from one of the greatest traders out there, Paul, from Paul's TTM Autograph Blog. 

Paul hit me with a couple of fantastic batches of cards last month. Here's a quick recap from one of them:

Let's begin with a very cool die-cut featuring World Series hero. Joc Pederson, when he first broke into the bigs...

Paul also brought the vintage and chipped at my team set needs...

Here's one that Zippy Zappy might like as well...

A beautiful Nomo...

More vintage and team set needs...

Add caption

 I NEVER see these '59 WS cards at the show. Good ol' Paul came through big time with this one for my WS checklist...

Paul also included a sombrero full of Fernandos! 

These next couple are very simple cards, and simply beautiful...

A classic shot of the Bulldog peering in to get the sign...

Sure, everybody raves about Kershaw, but these two southpaws kept the Dodgers chugging through the season when Kersh was out with an injury, and they did not fold up in the World Series. 

Dave Roberts' ridiculous robotic reliance on the stats that insisted on pulling pitchers after going twice through the opposing lineup cost the Dodgers dearly - and fatally - when he pulled them despite their mowing down the Astros. *sigh*  

Here are a few more multiples of my favorite past Dodgers...

We'll close out with this ice-blue beauty. Pee Wee Reese, Topps Sterling, numbered 90/250...

Hearty THANKS for the awesome cards, my friend!  My humble collection is in a better place because of your generosity. 

Merry Aloha Christmas, everybody! 

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!