i stand with patp

it was heartening to see play at the plate open up about his weakness for manufactured topps vault collectibles the other day, adding his voice to that of condition sensitive regarding the topic.  it's a sort of 'emporer's new clothes' moment in which perhaps the raising of the question 'why?' in regards to these gimmicks will lead to their demise.  but probably not.  

however, in a show of solidarity, i will admit to making purchases from the topps vault in my own moments of weakness.  i've already shown two of my color separation proofs in my davey lopes quadfecta post, but i have not previously shown these two items - a pair of 1978 topps dodger team color proofs

dodger stadium looks nice in blue or pink.

here's the first thing i ever bought from the topps vault - a 1978 topps bill russell slick proof

i was led to believe that these things were created back in 1978, but who the heck really knows?  tricky dick over at upper deck was printing 1989 upper deck ken griffey jr cards after the initial print run was over, so who's to say that michael eisner isn't creating new proofs of old cards.

i haven't bought any of the blank back 1/1's - i was tempted last year by the update adam kennedy - and i don't plan to.  but i can't change the fact that thrice i have given in to the topps vault's siren song.

1988 topps cards that should have been of 1978 topps dodgers

there were only 7 of the 27 people featured as dodgers in the 1978 topps set still deemed worthy of a card by topps in 1988.  by my count, there were three others that should have been recognized.  here then are the 1988 topps (and topps traded) cards that should have been for the 1978 topps dodgers.

1988 topps traded don sutton

sutton returned to the dodgers for the 1988 season, but was released in august.  i guess that was enough time for topps to remove him from the 1988 topps traded set checklist (if he was on it to begin with).  i used sutton's 1988 mother's dodgers card for the image because i wanted him to be 'suttoning' on this card that should have been.

the other two that weren't featured in the 1988 topps set were ron cey and steve garvey.  the 1988 issue would have been their final tributes.  here are the versions that i came up with.

ron cey front

and back

travis at punk rock paint created the front of the 1988 topps steve garvey card that should have been

and i did the back

at least garvey got a card from score in 1988, and it's a nice one

complete with the career stats on the back

plus some nice 'iron' and 'rust' wordplay.

keep an eye out next week for a garvey-centered contest, and the next installment of the evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers.

a beast of a sase

if you haven't sent a sase (or, as i did, a few sases) to wes at jaybarkerfan's junk yet, what are you waiting for?

the first of my self-addressed stamped plain white envelopes was returned to me last week.  it was a beast - literally and figuratively.  i have sent three cards by way of a single forever stamp before, but wes was able to turn my 46 cents into 8 cards (!) plus a dodger hologram.

first up is the guy who helped popularize 'beast mode', matt kemp

that is a very nice looking 2013 bowman chrome green parallel.

here's that hologram i mentioned - it's from 1989 upper deck.

as are the next few cards.

jose gonzalez is just hanging out in the dugout

while orel hershiser is out throwing shutouts

and kirk gibson is winning games and the mvp

now, that gibson card features a photo from the aftermath of his game 1 pinch-hit walk-off home run, but the card is really all about his winning the national league mvp (yes, he deserved it mets fans).  there is another card of gibson in the set that celebrates the famous home run, and it carries the mark of the beast

upper deck describes me as 'frantic' (i was in the right field pavilion that night).  nervous, anxious, hopeful, and then frenzied for sure.  anyway, you are all familiar with upper deck and it's obsession with assigning card number 666 to the dodgers, right?

but wait, there was another.  this 2003 upper deck sp legenday cuts card of leo durocher is numbered to 1299

which means that someone (meaning me) has to have the one numbered '666'.  or, in this case, '0666'.  that's ok - i don't mind.  to me, the number means simply 'garvey-garvey-garvey'.  or  maybe these days, 'garvey-puig'.

one more serial numbered card from the envelope, but it's 311.  it's a 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic don drysdale

the 8th card sent was this 2000 skybox autographics angel pena auto card

so that was it for the first sase.  however, wes had also sent me a couple of cards as part of a trade.

2008 topps stadium club blake dewitt  photographer's proof auto

and 2008 upper deck sp authentic chad billingsley by the numbers auto

thanks for all the cards wes!

a mayoral memorial patch

bob o'connor was the 58th mayor of pittsburgh.  he began his term in january of 2006, and just a few months later was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer.  he passed away on september 1, 2006.  for the remainder of the season, the pirates wore a 'bob' patch on their jerseys.  you can see it on brian rogers' 2007 upper deck card

along with the all-star game patch.  sadly, o'connor was diagnosed just a day before his city hosted the midsummer classic.  o'connor had mentioned the all-star game in his inaugural address as a motivator to 'redd up' the city, but he was unable to attend the game due to his illness.

this 2007 upper deck ultimate collection ian snell card

will represent the bob o'connor memorial patch in the collection.

an astros armband for vivian smith

vivan smith was the widow of one of the colt .45's/astros' founders - bob smith.  that's not how she came to be a minority owner in the team, however.  at least not directly.  bob smith was bought out in the mid 1960's after a falling out with his partner.  he died in 1973, but his widow vivian joined the group that purchased the astros in 1979 - a few years after smith's old partner lost the team to his creditors.

after vivian passed away in july of 1989, the team wore black armbands on their left sleeves in tribute.  here's a 1990 topps jim clancy card showing the memorial

oddly enough, there are a few cards in the 1991 upper deck set that also showcase the armbands.  i guess it's not that odd, knowing how card companies often used older photos on cards.  anyway, here's the back of glenn wilson's 1991 upper deck card

the armband actually kind of blends in to the astros' uniforms.  take a look at rafael ramirez's 1991 upper deck card

the armband looks like an extension of the uniform stripe.  no armband, but a dodger stadium shot on the back of ramirez's card.

here's the card that will represent this memorial in the binder.  the clancy card is a great example, but i like this one a tiny bit better.  it's a 1991 upper deck craig biggio card

it seems appropriate that the team's astrodome centered logo appears on the card, as a statue of smith was erected outside the (now condemned) stadium.  along with it, a plaque was placed that reads 'vivian l. smith  1908 - 1989  she loved the astros'.

the last of the lcs

this weekend, i've been posting cards that i picked up at the two local card shops over the course of a few visits made in the last few months.  this final post is all dodger goodness, and the cards shown here all came from the shop that doesn't want me to use a computer to browse their inventory.  however, it seems as though they aren't opening new product, as the nickel boxes remain capped at 2011 releases.

they do have some vintage boxes sitting out, and i was able to find a 1962 post willie davis

and another copy of a 1963 post maury wills

this one is (if you can believe it) cut better than the other one i own.  i was kind of hoping that one of them was actually a jello card because i can never tell them apart.  but, it would seem that they are both post, as the red line is not flush with the stat text.

moving on, here's a 1987 leaf candy city team duke snider card

that is essentially a reprint of the 1983 donruss hall of fame heroes card.

i found some 1994 topps finest for a dime apiece - tom candiotti

and brett butler

as well as a bunch of piazza stuff.  this one is a 1995 pinnacle zenith card

and this one is a 1997 fleer checklist

i am guessing that piazza had a deal with rawlings.

i am also guessing that it's piazza there in the catcher's crouch on this 1996 pinnacle denny's hologram of hideo nomo

that also features super scout mike brito.

here's a 2010 topps history of the game insert of jackie robinson

and a 2011 topps prime 9 insert/redemption card of sandy koufax

the star/hof box was filled with these types of cards which were available from card shops as redemptions for inserts in series 2 that year.  i guess not too many folks bothered to redeem them at this location.

i don't know if or when i will get back to this lcs.  if i knew that there would be some new stuff in the bargain boxes i might be more interested in a return trip.

so a guy walks into a card shop...

i've got some more cards to show from my most recent lcs visits.  normally, the cards i pick up are dodgers, double plays, or cards that fit in other collections of mine.  sometimes i will pick something up even though it doesn't 'fit'.  like this 1992 megacards babe ruth card

the best thing about this photo, other than it being of (most of) the first hall of famers, is babe ruth's droopy socks.  i actually have an 8x10 of this photo framed, i think it is so cool.  no dodgers, unfortunately.  also unfortunately, megacards identified one of the game's greatest players incorrectly.

in 1936, five players - ruth, ty cobb, christy mathewson, honus wagner, and walter johnson - became baseball's first hall of famers.  in 1937, they were joined by nap lajoie, cy young, and tris speaker.  also voted in that year was connie mack (one of 13 19th century figures that were added to the hall between 1937 and 1939). the lone 1938 inductee was grover cleveland alexander, and in 1939 - the year that the hall officially opened - george sisler, eddie collins, and willie keeler (there's a dodger!) joined the ranks.  that means that there were 11 living hall of famers in 1939 (mathewson and keeler had passed away), but the photo, taken at the opening of the hall of fame in cooperstown, only has 10.  let's see what the back has to say about that

poor cy young.  according to the card, he wasn't in the photo.  in reality, he is seated to mack's left.  it's ty cobb, the one who received the most votes for induction, who is missing.  the way the story goes is that cobb either arrived too late for the photo due to poor planning, or he chose to be late out of spite for kenesaw mountain landis.  it should be noted that lou gehrig was also voted into the hall in 1939, but his election came in a special ballot held in december of that year, so he was not a hall of famer at the time of the photo.  anyway, that's a great card.

i picked up another from the same set, this one with the babe wearing his brooklyn hat and singing alongside kiki cuyler (if the back of the card can be trusted)

the card back features a story told by ruth's old teammate bill dickey that involves some locker room hijinks.

i grabbed a few 2006 upper deck cards of dodgers, including one of a guy in a phillies uniform

and another of a dodger in a red sox uni

plus one of a devil ray in a dodger uniform

and then there was a 1987 woolworth's don sutton card that i had not seen before

that highlighted sutton's 300th career win.

i am not sure why, but i also grabbed a 'rookie of the week' card that topps put out in 2006 of george brett

i was disappointed that there were no dodgers in the set, nor were there any 1978 topps styled cards included.  i thought that maybe mike piazza would have been featured, or that eddie murray or paul molitor would have had their '78 cards restyled.  no such luck.

speaking of rookies, here are some rauuuuuuuul mondesi cards i rescued from the bargain boxes.  1994 donruss triple play

1995 topps stadium club

and 1998 upper deck collector's choice starquest insert

i picked up a bunch of other dodger cards, too.  that means there is one more lcs post on its way...