only the loney

larry the sewingmachineguy at the brand new blog 'sewingmachineguy on cards' sent me an email recently touting a jersey pull from 2009 topps t206, wondering if i had a tigers relic to trade for it. that was it - a simple one for one deal. no three-blogger trade with future considerations.

james loney straight up for a magglio ordonez jersey card. nice trade. or, perhaps a better way to put it would be 'dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah'. (i really hope someone gets the reference or i will feel really really old).

thanks larry!

recent card shop pick ups (and they're not all dodgers)

i don't know how often the 'baseball specials' bin gets updated at the quasi-card shop that is nearest to me, but i stop in maybe once every two or three months just to check. here are some goodies that i picked up for around 30 cents a pop.

2002 topps archives reserve don suttonthis is one shiny sob. works well with the psychedelic tombstone.

1992 kellogg's all stars bill madlocknot sure what was more surprising to me - kellogg's making a bill madlock card in 1992 or kellogg's making a bill madlock as a dodger card. either way, i'm glad they did.

2008 upper deck sp cory wadewere these rookie exclusives short prints or just available in blasters? i think i recall buying a blaster and getting a 5-pack of rookie exclusives. no dodgers though.

2006 bowman chrome brad pennybrad penny is like a bad penny - he keeps popping up everywhere. next season, it will be in saint louis, where he'll be a teammate of this guy's

2008 upper deck o-pee-chee insert albert pujolskinda sorta a ripoff of 1969 topps. the studio shot is a look at things to come with 2009 opc.

finally, the beautiful 1974 topps dave kingman card i've wanted this card for a while after seeing it on a few different blogs. it is the yang to the 1974 topps steve garvey's yin; the hell to garvey's heaven; the mr. glass to garvey's david dunn. you get the idea.

where would this rank on the 'beard-o-meter'?

beardy's beard-o-meter that is. i'm just not sure if this is a good beard or a bad beard.(that's one of the better variations on 1979 topps that was included in the 1979 topps burger king phillies set, by the way).

the 1978 o-pee-chee willie crawford card that should have been!

willie crawford spent 14 seasons with the dodgers before he was traded to the cardinals for ted sizemore prior to the 1976 season. he would later go on to play for the astros and a's (with an offseason stop in san francisco along the way) before being granted free agency after the 1977 season. the dodgers brought crawford back into the fold, signing him as a free agent in february of 1978. not in time for topps to get him out of the garish a's uniform, but o-pee-chee had a chance due to their later printing.

unfortunately, crawford wasn't included in the 1978 o-pee-chee set. if he had been we might have been treated to this fantastic card - the 1978 o-pee-chee card that should have been: unfortunately, crawford was released by the dodgers at the end of spring training, which means that the 1978 topps card is also his final tribute.

here's to you willie!

bob gibson really was intimidating!

check out this 1963 topps national league era leaders, starring sandy koufax and don drysdale.gibson has big d shaking in his boots!

greg gagne through the mail success!

former dodgers shortstop greg gagne is a great through the mail signer. he has returned the cards i have sent to him in about 10 days both times. here's his 1998 upper deck collector's choice cardand his 1997 topps card.gagne was signed by the dodgers prior to the 1996 season to steady the infield, and most importantly, the shortstop position after jose offerman had made over 30 errors in just 115 games in 1995. he spent the 1996 and 1997 seasons with the dodgers before retiring, resulting in more instability at the 6-hole in ensuing years. that's ok, though - gagne served honorably.

here's his 1998 upper deck card, a double play turn with tony gwynn and the jack murphy palm treesand the dynamic duo of 1998 pacificand 1998 score that i showcased a couple of weeks ago.

he was best known for his ten years with the twins, which included two world championships, but gagne also played for the royals as shown on the 1995 topps card he signed (a double play turn, no less!)

thanks greg!

re-revisiting the magnificent 7

in addition to posting a few new want lists, i realized it was time to update the magnificent 7. when last we visited the list of cards, there were some new kids on the block. since then, a few more have been obtained, so it's time for an update. gone from the list are #2 - 2008 topps heritage high numbers #696 mark sweeney, courtesy of a certain night owl, and #3 - 1976 sspc #594 checklist 6 (ralph branca, carl erskine, pee wee reese). some nice oldtimers from a non-descript set, which i realized is actually considered the 1975 sspc set. also eliminated were #5 - 1982 donruss ron cey #6 - 1972 o-pee-chee gil hodges (i pulled the trigger on an ebay auction) and #7a - 1975 topps ken mcmullen thanks captain.

so here's the current list: as always, any help is appreciated!

1 - 2003 upper deck vintage #81 kazuhisa ishii - a short print in this awesome 1965 topps knock-off set.

2 (up from 4) - 1977 topps cloth sticker checklist (national league all-stars, middle card, middle row).

3 (up from 7) - 2004 fleer greats of the game steve garvey/vin scully. i have one in my garvey collection, but would love to try to get a dual ttm thing going.

4 - 1991 fleer ultra eddie murray.

5 - 1980 topps dodgers team card/tom lasorda. ex/mt or better - upgrading my topps dodger collection.

6 - 1981 topps dodgers team card/tom lasorda. ditto.

7 - 1968 topps walter alston. one of two cards i need to finish off my 1968 topps dodger team set.