Part Two of the Awesome Package From Too Many Verlanders

Aloha, everybody,

Here's the second part of that great package my hermano, Dennis, from Too Many Verlanders, sent to me. Be sure to stick around for a great finish! 

Enjoy and aloha! 

A Surprise Package From Too Many Verlanders!

Aloha, everybody,

I got a surprise package from my hermano Dennis way out in Michigan. 

This package was so stuffed with cardboard goodies, I hadda make two videos. Here's part One. Part Two will probably drop after the holiday. 

THANKS so much, hermano. This was a fun package to open and just kept getting better and better. 

Update: I just watched the vid, and there's a glitch in the audio synch with video. I don't know how to fix that, so we'll have to live with it. Sorry!! Pretend its a podcast? 

Enjoy and aloha! 

Surprise 2020 Package From Too Many Verlanders

Aloha, everybody, 

Just before Christmas, I received a surprise package from Too Many Verlanders. Lemme tell u, my 2020 started off with a blast bc this was a windfall of Dodgers cardboard and relic awesomeness.

Aloha!

Opening a Cards Package From Too Many Verlanders Blog

Aloha, everybody, 

Dennis from Too Many Verlanders sent a surprise package my way. Let's open it up and check out the cardboard goodness inside. 

It's Been Too Long Since This Arrived From Too Many Verlanders

Aloha, everybody, 

Happy 2019! I've got a few bits of news to drop on you all, and the first order of business is this new YouTube video showing off the holiday cardboard goodies that I received from my long-time trading partner, Dennis, over at Too Many Verlanders. Hope you'll check it out. 

I also hope that you'll continue to check out the content on my NEW YouTube channel - NetChucArts. This ATBATT video is its inaugural upload. 

I created the new channel because I'll be expanding the vaiety and amount of YouTube content I'll be creating in 2019. I'll still be creating Dodgers news and opinion videos, but those will remain on the LA Dodger Report channel. 

I'll be filling NetChucArts, my new YouTube channel, with content about our card collecting hobby, as well as beer reviews, my quest to rebuild my vinyl records collection, and whatever else should strike me as video-worthy. 

In addition, I'll also be showcasing my art work on the new channel. A couple of you know that I'm an artist, so I look forward to you joining me on YouTube as I share my creations. Perhaps we'll shift those shares into the next level as you bring some of my original art into your own homes. 

That's all to come as 2019 unfolds. Please enjoy my first upload and take a few seconds to Like and Subscribe to my new channel. 

Aloha! 

Too Many PWEs Becomes Just Enough Cards For Me

Aloha, everybody, 

Here's a quick video opening a couple of recent PWE's, one from Too Many Verlanders and the other from Tim Henson. 

THANKS, Dennis and Tim! Watch the video for the big reveal! 

Aloha! 

You Can't Have Too Many Great Things to Read

Aloha, everybody, 

I have to start this post off with an apology to Dennis, from Too Many Verlanders. You see, Dennis sent a package to me long, long ago, and I'm just now getting around to posting about it. 

It wasn't because I didn't like what he sent - rather, I liked it so much, that I immediately stashed it in my library to be enjoyed in my leisure time, but I forgot it was there until now. 

When Dennis' package arrived, I was still reading "Electric October". So I put it aside to be perused when I finished the book. Unfortunately, I didn't finish it until a few days ago. All the while, the package sat there waiting, while I forgot to post about it. Ugh!!

OK, self-flagellation is over. I finished the book, and I'm currently enjoying this generous package of past collecting periodicals from Dennis. 

Most were old Beckett mags, and I love 'em. I read Beckett religiously back when I started collecting, and I saved a few from back in those days. These are great additions to my collection. 
There's so much goodness and collecting nostalgia in these mags, I'm going to spread them out over a few posts. 

Let's get started with Mike Piazza, the cover boy for July 1996. 

I love reading and reminiscing over what the card collecting world was like back then. For many of us, Beckett was the cardboard bible, and it set trends as much as it reported on them. 

Here's who collectors were chasing back in '96. Frank Thomas and Piazza were at the top of my wish list back then. 

The main attraction this mag has for me is a gallery of full-page photos that were meant for autographs. I wonder of anyone ever got every autograph needed to fill out the set. 

Autographed or not, these are great photos. I'll hold commentary and let the pics speak for themselves...

Good stuff, right? THANKS for these wonderful mags, Dennis. Sorry it took so long to post up. 

Next time, we'll get into the way-back machine and pull out a real vintage Beckett with plenty of fun reading inside. 

Aloha! 

You Can't Have Too Many Good Trades

Aloha, everybody, 

Dennis from Too Many Verlanders sent a fistful of cards to me a few weeks ago, and boy, it was a doozy. Let's not waste any time with blah-blahs and instead, get right down to checkin' out some righteous cardboard.

Leading off is my favorite Dodgers catcher...

Note Piazza wearing the Tim Crews death patch on his sleeve...

I tell ya, this package from Dennis was chock-a-block stuffed with shiny goodness from the heyday of shiny cards. Awesome.


Chan Ho Park. Upper Deck Black Diamond Numbered 1500

These cards are so shiny n' glossy that they register the opposite on my scanner. 

Here's an early Joc Pederson card notching him as a future member of the 500 HR Club. While I doubt that, Joc is definitely heating up right now, and I hope heading for a 20 HR season.

This guy is mashing pretty good right now also...

Here's one of my favorite home run hitters from the day...

I've got the swatch version of this moonshots card. Now they can sit side by side in the ol' binder. 

Dennis also included this beauty. A new relic card for my Green PC. This one is extra cool because it identifies the day he wore this jersey. It was Opening Day 2002 vs the Giants. This was back when I never missed Opening Day, so I was most likely at this game. 

A quick search tells me Green went 1 for 4 that day, with a single. Awesome card. 

How about some Opening Day pitchers? Starting with Kershaw....

This ones a little weird. Looks like Kersh was pulling noodles, but they snapped on him...

I'm becoming a big believer in Diamond Kings...

Before Kershaw ruled the mound at Chavez Ravine, there was Fernando...

Fernando Gypsy Queen mini, numbered to 199. Sweet! 

Before there was Fernando, Dodger Stadium's mound was graced by this man...

Here's the third baseman who got away...

Todd Hollandsworth was one of those ROYs who only lived up to his potential on cardboard. This card is a beautiful diamond finish in hand. 

Finally, a tribute card to a member of the legendary Infield that GCRL Jim named a blog after...

 Check out this card back. You just don't see that time with one team anymore...

Whew! That was a whole lotta cards. And there's a whole bunch more I didn't show. What a package. 

THANKS for the awesome cards, Dennis. These are gonna be fun to fit into the binders. 

Aloha! 

You Can't Have Too Many Trading Partners

Aloha, everybody, 

You already know there are as many baseball card styles of collecting as there are collectors out there. For example, while many of you are completing sets from particular years, that way of collecting just doesn't float my cardboard boat. 

I do however, chase team sets of the Dodgers from the 50's to the 80's. If you want to know what to place in my Christmas stocking, just gather some Dodgers from those classic/vintage sets and I'm a happy card-collectin' geek. 

That's exactly what Dennis from Too Many Verlanders did. I sent him a little something in Operation PWE, and he sent over a fistful of Dodger cards to me as well. 

In our email conversation we played with the semantics of whether this was a trade or a gift exchange. In the end, terminology really had little to do with it, as Dennis is a regular on my Operation PWE list, and he already had some cards set aside for me just because. 

Call us trade partners or friends exchanging gifts, either way, it means Dodgers for my binders! And that's what Christmas is all about, right? Let's see what I got in my PWCS (plain white Christmas stocking). 

Dennis started me off with a batch of 1979 Topps. I'm almost finished with this team set, but a couple of nice thing about doubles are, the new ones can serve as upgrades, and replaced cards are now freed up to help out some set collector out there, or a Dodgers collector who's low on vintage. 

UPGRADE 

UPGRADE

UPGRADE

Young Don Sutton in a beautifully nostalgic Spring Training photo from 1973 Topps. 

Dennis got me down to needing just one more card to complete 1977 Topps...

This is one of my favorite Steve Garvey cards.The Garv at the ready. Hat pulled low, forearms pumped, stirrups not effing around, and a slight smile that says, "Hit it to me." All in a gritty 70's film style. I've been wanting this baby for quite a while. Now I've got it! 

It wasn't all vintage. Dennis tossed in a bonus tribute card of big Don Drysdale from Upper Deck Legends...

The photo shows Drysdale holding a ball marked #3 and the date 10/5/1963. It was taken following Game 3 of the 1963 World Series. 

The Dodgers swept the Yankees in '63. Drysdale pitched a three-hit, complete game in Game 3 and won 1-0. A great photo from a great day. 

It was also a great fistful of cards. THANKS, Dennis. Let's not wait an entire year until we send each other cards again! 

Aloha! 

Han Solo Figurines Step Aside - Here Comes My Cardmas Action Figure

Aloha, everybody, 

Earlier this week I received a package from Dennis and Too Many Verlanders. Inside was a fun assortment of Cardmas goodies. We'll get around to that surprise mini-package in a moment, but first let's start off with highlights from the cards portion of the package and a mercenary...

 

 I always liked when it was Penny's turn in the rotation as he was a solid bet for a good outing. However, he isn't the Dodger I ordinarily associate with number 31. 

More pitchers...

Some folks don't think there's anything special about these RC shields, but they still catch my eye. I want 'em. 
 

 Gimme dat shield! Beautiful base card.

This is a perfect card for my collection, as Kuroda was a favorite of mine and he did not appear on a lot of product as a Dodger. 

I admired Kuroda's heart and consistency, and I wanted him to remain in LA., but flawed ex-G.M. Ned Colletti saw things differently. He pursued flawed Aaron Harang, while letting Kuroda slip away to pitch for the Yankees. 

As it turned out, not only has Kuroda's heart and rubber arm kept him going strong, but just last week Kuroda signed a contract to pitch for his previous Japanese team, the Hiroshima Carp. He is now the highest-paid ever Japanese baseball player. 

Nice going, Colletti! At least you were consistent as well. 

The words "trade bait" play an important role in the ATBATT name, and there's a very real reason for that. As we all have our personal reasons for blogging, trading with other collectors was why I joined our community, and will always be at the heart of this humble little blog. 

That said, Dennis sent me a fistful of trade bait that I can immediately offer up to football, college football, and USC Trojan collectors. Up for grabs, folks, with but one comment: Go Bruins...

Cards were not the only thing in this fun package. Here's an "also"...

 This almost laptop-sized cardboard sandwich is protecting something inside...

 It's a whole lotta somethings! 

Oversized Tom Cadiotti! 

 Even more over-sized and headless 1998 Pinnacle Raul Mondesi!  This looks like it was ripped because something was inside, but I have no idea what that hidden treat was. 

The real jewel of the batch was this super-sized Studio portrait of a lost Dodger who went on to become a legend for the White Sox...

Lots of Dodger fans, me included, loathed the day the Dodgers traded Konerko for Jeff Shaw. To this day, many Dodder collectors, me included, love to get our hands on early Konerko issues, with him wearing Dodger Blue.
 

This is available for trade as well, just in case any Konerko super collector might be interested. 

Now for the grand finale of the package. While it wasn't the biggest item in the package, it packs a fun punch. We saw this before...

 
What's in there? I spy a Dodgers helmet and arm. I grabbed the scissors and carefully snipped the packaging open. 

Whoa - it looks like Raul Mondesi! Without seeing the uniform number, there's also a decent chance this might be Juan Samuel. 

Is there anybody else out there like me? 

I don't immediately toss this out, because I think I may need this little packing to send some currently unknown something out to someone else....someday.

But I digress. Back to this very cool Rauuuuuuuuuuullllll Mondesi Starting Lineup figure...

That explains this matching Starting Lineup card ...
 

To everybody rushing the gates to get the latest Han Solo action figure, brought to you by Disney, I ask, does Solo have Kung-Fu action, swiveling hips and neck like Rauuuuuullll? 
  

AWESOME! 

Raul immediately slid into my bobbleheads display. See below...

THANKS Dennis, for the fun package and new additions to my collections. Raul says "Gimme a big cardsphere high five!"

 Aloha!