I don't know if it's still the same with today's kids or not, but when I was growing up we were still taught that this was the time of year to reflect on the things that we were thankful for. I'd be lying if I said that younger me ever spent even a single second doing this, but it is something that I try to remind myself to do more often as an adult. And while I personally don't believe that such reflections should be limited to just a month or two at the end of each year, this post will probably make it seem like I do.

Sometime during this past summer, my laptop started showing signs that its end may not be too far off. Before going too much further, I should probably mention that it is around twelve years old at this point, and still operating on Windows 8. Its been very good to me over the years, and I've developed more of a rapport with it than I ever would've thought possible. Anyway, after the initial troubles, things seem to have improved, enough so that I, as a non-computer person, started to think that maybe it had just been a temporary hiccup. Unfortunately, recent events have proven otherwise. Seemingly out of nowhere, its operations became considerably more wonked three weeks ago. My mom is more computery than me, and after she told me that its end was nigh, I started scrambling to get all of the important things off of it while I still can. Most of my photos/scans, and more importantly, most of my obscene amount of newspaper related downloads were moved to flash drives (provided by my mom), and the one's that wouldn't transfer (something about them having properties that couldn't be transferred to a flash drive?) have been temporarily moved to an Adobe account that I created. And since I don't trust any of these things, I've also spent a bunch of time printing out hard copies of all of my genealogical research; which is quite considerable at this point. 

I'm done with all of the above as of this writing, which I'm very thankful for, as it took even longer than I thought it would. I feel like I should apologize too, to my fellow bloggers for the lack of comments left on your posts in recent weeks. I can only do so much. I have been reading posts on my phone at night, but it's much more difficult for me to type out longer comments on that little keypad.

I was kind of hoping that my laptop would outlive me, but since clearly it isn't going to, I'm thankful that A). It held up as long as it has. B). That it waited until this time of year to start dying, as sales on laptops are plentiful right now. C). That despite not wanting to have to get a new (and probably inferior) one, I at least have the money to do so (still a bit of a stretch though). If all goes well, I should have a new laptop, or at least have one ordered, by the time this post goes live. Hopefully it won't take me too long to figure out how to start using it.

In other news, the vertigo that was causing me so much trouble at the beginning of the year, that had been mostly under control, has returned. Not quite as bad as it was, but still enough to start making a few things more difficult again. I've already talked about this in multiple posts across two blogs, so I won't be getting into it again; other than to say that since this issue might be permanent now, my posting will probably continue to be highly irregular going forward, as computering seems to be the quickest way to trigger it. I've been told that the vertigo coming and going like this isn't uncommon, and when it's here, blogging is not easy. As an example, the previous post on here took me almost six hours to put together (spread out across eight mornings). That's a long time to work on what to most people was probably consider a throwaway post (after nine years though, I probably should've known better than to spend so much time on a non-sport card post). As sucky as my bouts of vertigo have been, I'm thankful that they haven't been worse, as they very well could be (and might be in the future).

Now that I got the boring, and depressing, things out of the way, I'd like everyone to know how thankful I am that folks still come around here. My posting has dropped off considerably this year (see the paragraph above), but that doesn't seem to stop a few people from showing up and supporting my efforts when I am actually able to get a post out there. Heck, people even still send me stuff from time to time. Unfortunately, because of the lack of posting, I've really really fallen behind in giving public thanks for the items that have shown up in recent months. I won't be able to get caught up by year's end, but hopefully I can get to a decent chunk of it here today.

Optic is one of those modern sets that's not really something I ever look for, or even think about, but both of these cards are fairly nice for what they are.

I completely forgot to ask Chris about this card when I thanked him for the mailing, as I have no idea what it is. I know what it isn't, and that's an original Philadelphia rookie of Bob Hayes. You can't tell from the scan, but the coloring is right, on the front, and back, but it's got a slight gloss to it, which original Philadelphia's don't have. There's no "reprint" anywhere on the back, and after searching around online, I don't see people selling reproductions (i.e. counterfeits) of this particular card on any of the usual sites, so at the moment I'm at a complete loss as to what its origins are.

Chris, if you're out there, come back... if only so you can tell me what the hell the Bob Hayes is! Kidding aside, I very much hope that you will return to us at some point; the blogs will be a much poorer place without your presence.

Despite having them on my want lists, which are sometimes public, for a lot of years, Bo, he of the always present, Baseball Cards Come to Life!, became only the second person to ever send me a Hostess card. I don't know if it's because I rarely talk about them, or what, but despite all the one's I see exchanging hands on the blogs, they just don't ever come this way. I'll live though. One did, and it was a very nice one at that. I don't think most folks normally associate Bo with basketball cards, but if you collect them, he does send them from time to time. My 1989-90 Fleer set build was helped along with this addition of Chris(tian) Welp.

I've talked about Larry Johnson, and why he was my favorite non-Blazer as a kid, multiple times on this blog, so I won't bore everyone with that again here today. Needless to say though, I still have a strong affinity for him, and his cards, all of these years later.

Many years ago, don't ask me how many, I came across this exact 1977 Argentinian Zorro card on COMC. I can't remember if the price was too high, or if I just wanted to look into the set more, but I put in my watchlist in the morning, and by that night it had already sold. That always sucks when that happens. Fast forward some years, and I had pretty much completely forgotten about it until a semi-recent post of Bo's where he was offering some unwanted stuff from a lot that had been bought; one card of which was this one. Needless to say, I couldn't reply soon enough. My mom and I use to watch the old Disney Zorro series when I was growing up, and over the years its remained a favorite of mine. This card makes an excellent companion to the couple of cards that I have from the Topps set.

Many thanks to Bo for this eclectic mix; those are usually the most exciting for me.

Jim followed up this solid trio with another PWE not more than a week later. There was only one card in the second envelope, but geez was it a fun one...
Jim mentioned that he had found this wonderfully mis-registered Play Ball reprint, and decided to take a chance and see if it met my criteria for such cards. It did. Staring at it too long makes me want to puke, which is usually a good way to tell if it's "off" enough for my collection. As much as I enjoy the card, I appreciate Jim even more just for remembering my little collection of wonked up cards. That's not the sort of thing I expect anyone to ever remember, so when someone does, it gives me the warm fuzzies.

With Chris gone, I think Jim is now the leader of the pack when it comes to active bloggers whom I've exchanged the most cards with. Hopefully he won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
I've mentioned more than a few times that I'd love to participate in Matt's, he of the Diamond Jesters, Time Traveling Trades more often, but stuff that I'm interested in just doesn't show up very often. And even when something does, I'm usually too late to claim it about 50% of the time. A few months back though, I was a bit earlier than normal to the most recent update, and was able to claim what I thought were two very nifty cards.

I already had two copies of the Ed Charles, but it's a card that I really like and could see myself trying to fill a page with, so while I technically didn't need it, I did very much want it. The Butkus game card was new to me though. I only had one other playing days card of his, so it was neat to be able to add another one.

From what I've seen the TTT has been a bit lean recently, but I think that a number of folks are thankful for Matt's willingness to power through the temporary slowdown and keep what's been a very popular blog series going.
I just recently got a surprise envelope in the mail from Randy, who most blog readers probably know from his comments as RJ Sahl. He's not a blogger himself, but can be found on the TCDB as rjsahl.

I've mentioned more than a few times that my original card collecting run stopped around 2000, but it very nearly stopped a few years earlier. I want to say that I didn't buy any packs of cards, or at least any new cards, during all of 1997. I don't remember why exactly, maybe I was done collecting and just hadn't realized it yet, but whatever reason, I went through a brief stretch there where I stopped buying cards and stopped paying attention to any of the new releases. Then, for reasons also unbeknownst to me at this point, I bought a basketball repack at the Lloyd Center (former mall in Portland, OR) Toys "R" Us in 1998. My friend Nate was with me at the time, and even though he had never collected anything up to that point, that repack sparked an interest in him (he was obsessed with basketball), which in turn, renewed my interest in cards. His collecting story is one for another time, but long story short, it only lasted about a year. I hadn't had a friend who collected cards in a number of years, so even though it didn't last very long, it was pretty fun to have one who did, again. As for that repack, I can only remember one card from it, and that was a 1997-98 Hoops Antoine Walker rookie. It was my first time seeing that year's design, and I immediately fell in love with it.

There were a number of shops still around at that time, but I think I was only able to find a couple of packs of Series 2, and with singles being even harder to find in the pre-internet era (that is, the internet as we now know it), I never got very far in my late attempt to build the set. Whatever I had was donated along with the bulk of the rest my collection in the early 2000's (yet another story I've told on here more than once -- I really need to mix in some new stories!). I did acquire a few singles from dime boxes a few years back (an MJ, Kobe, Duncan RC, etc.), and that those set aside, but it wasn't until last year that I decided to try and build the set again. I know that it would be infinitely cheaper to buy as a whole, but I know me, if I did that I'd look at it once, put it away, and then never take it out again. My new build hasn't gotten very far yet, but thanks to Randy, I am now five cards closer to completing it.
My mom bought our first VCR in 1987. And one of the first videos that she bought was Creature from the Black Lagoon. 1987 was also the year that I got chicken pox. And for whatever reason, it hit me hard. Considerably harder than most kids. I was pretty miserable for a couple of weeks, and about the only thing that brought me any relief was watching Creature; which I did, over and over again. I don't remember much from that time, but my mom says that I watched it 3-4 times during that entire stretch (for those that weren't alive at the time, or for those who were, but have forgotten, videos were still terribly expensive at that point, so we only had a couple for the first year or two). Even though she's a big fan of the film to this day (as am I), I still don't know how she dealt with a very sick me, and having to watch/hear the same movie over and over again for multiple weeks. I guess that's moms for you. They're made from better stock. 

It's also worth noting that the set that this card comes from, 1994 Topps Universal Monsters, is one that my mom (she collected cards too) and I were collecting back when it was new; though we never were able to finish it.

I have a few of Bo's A&G cards that show him as a baseballer, but never knew that he had gotten in there as a footballer as well. It sure is a neat little card.
The two serial numbered Bo's probably would've been the highlight of the envelope for most folks, but for me it was this pair of needed Golden Age Playing Cards. I just posted about this set not too long, and Matt was the only one to inquire as to which cards I still needed. I appreciated him doing so, but didn't think that he, or anyone else reading for that matter, was gonna have any of my remaining needs laying around. Turns out I was wrong. With these now in hand, I just need seven more to complete the set. I was hoping to get a few more during COMC's Black Friday sale -- which hadn't started yet at the beginning of this post, but now is -- that plan hasn't worked out very well so far, as the discounts on my needed cards haven't been as large as I was expecting.

And speaking of being thankful, only Matt would know what I'm talking about here, but I'm thankful that he and I were able to repair our friendship (quick synopsis: I was an asshole, Matt forgave me, thus proving, not that I had any doubt, that he's the better man), it has been one of the better parts of my year. As much as the cards were appreciated, they pale in comparison to the renewed friendship. Many thanks to Matt for both though.

And with that, I'm about 75% caught up with thank you's now. I have two more people to get to, one that has sent multiple envelopes (too much to fit in here), and one that deserves their own post just because of the sheer magnitude of what was in the bubble mailer that they sent. I'd like to think that I'll be able to get to both before the end of the year, but judging by the way things have been going, I'll be thankful if I can even get one of those posts completed by year's end.

This post is going live a few days later than planned. Now that its going out when it is, I just wanted to wish all who celebrate it a Happy Thanksgiving. And for those that don't, I still hope that you day is awesome too!

I couldn't find as much as last year, but what I did find will have to do. My only solace is that at least a few of the cards in here are not the sort that one is likely to come across on the blogs very often.

1980 Topps Weird Wheels #'s 27, 36, & 49

1994 CARDZ Julie Bell #19

I'm too old for video games now, but there was a time way back when I could've been a called a "gamer"-- though, we didn't use that dumb term back then, thankfully. I, like a lot of kids, enjoyed horror themed games, this despite there not being very many such games at the time. One of the few exceptions during the early to mid 90's was the Splatterhouse series. I never owned any of them myself, if only because I never actually saw any of them for sale anywhere. I did, however, rent the heck out of volumes 2 and 3 on the Genesis. Looking back, they really weren't all that great, and old me now thinks that such games shouldn't have been being played by kids, but as they say, "It is what it is", or in this case, "It was what it was". I couldn't imagine wasting any of my remaining time on these sort of games now, and while I do wish that I would've spent some of those youthful years more wisely, it is still a period of my life that I'd like to not forget; and finding a card like the one shown that represents the series is a good way to help me remember. It'd also serve as a reminder for time misspent; lest I ever start to slip back into my old less productive ways.

1940 Bridgewater Film Stars 8th Series #18

Dorothy Lamour is best remembered for many things, horror not being one of them. That being said, she did appear in one of the Creepshow 2 stories. I liked the first film as a kid (not as an adult though), but the sequel never did much for me.

1993 Topps Jurassic Park #135

1935 Gallaher Portraits of Famous Stars #44

Beetlejuice may not be a horror picture, but there's no shortage of Halloween-esque doings in the film. It was a small part, but Sylvia Sidney's role as Juno is very memorable. That's partly due to it being a good character, but even more so because Sylvia had been appearing in pictures for a lot of years by that point, and knew what to do when she was in front of camera.

1974 Topps Monster Initial Stickers #NNO

1950 Dutch Gum Series A Black & White #9

Barbara Hale is best known for her role as Della Street in Perry Mason, and this card was gotten for my Perry Mason collection, but the card itself works well for this post, as she also appeared in The Giant Spider Invasion. It's been decades since I last saw that picture, but I did like it quite a bit as a kid.

1995-96 TV Week #3

Depending on the episode, The X-Files could very much be considered a horror show. Looking back, I personally think that many of the episodes would've held up better had they focused on horror more often. The scary standalone episodes are still very watchable, much more so than the jumbled story arc's that just kept getting more and more nonsensical with each passing season. Chris Carter was good at creating shows, but bad at knowing where to take them once he got them greenlit.

The photo on this card was originally used for a magazine cover, back when the show was the hottest thing around, and you couldn't go more than week without seeing our intrepid agents on the cover of some periodical. I remember those days quite vividly, though, at this point it feels like that was multiple lifetimes ago.

1996 Fleer Metal Universe #84

Being surrounded by floating eyeballs would be pretty scary, right? Well, maybe a little less so were you to be wielding a baseball bat at the time.

Sadly, no, but I was recently asked to evaluate a small collection of cards for an upcoming sale.

As a few of you know, I have three different blogs; one of which is a non-card blog. And as I've probably mentioned on there a few times now, my mom volunteers at multiple places that are somewhat of the retail-ish variety. The above shoebox full of cards was recently donated for a rummage sale (it's not really a rummage sale, but I can't think of a better way to describe it at the moment). Seeing as how no one there knew anything about sports cards, my mom, the volunteer (though she's risen to more than that at this particular place), volunteered my services, as a longtime collector, in trying to help them come up with a reasonable price for the entire box... which they gladly accepted.

There was one small catch though, the box was donated one day before the sale that it needed to be in was happening, which meant that I only had a couple of hours the night before to go through it and try to come up with some figures that they could look at, and then choose a price that they'd be happy with. Now, this probably wouldn't have been much of an issue had it been one of those disappointing boxes full of nothing but late 80's/early 90's beaters that you often hear about other collectors and shop owners being expected to appraise, but it wasn't. Its contents were a little bit better than that, though still not one of those boxes of untouched tobacco cards that pop up from time to time. That sort of box will have to wait for another day (fingers, and toes, crossed).

I started by sorting everything by sport, and year. And as you can see, pretty much everything was of the early to mid 70's variety. As mentioned, this was kind of thrust upon me at the very last moment, so I wasn't able to get very many pictures before the sun went down (the lighting in my house isn't conducive to photos). Had I had more time, I would've at least moved the best card from each pile to the top to make this one photo a little more impressive.

We're a few weeks removed from this sale, so I can't remember all of the numbers at this point, but I believe that there ended up be around 425-475 cards in the box. About half of them were in P-G condition, and the other half was EX- to EX+. It was kind of odd how that worked. Trying to come up with a price was a bit tricky, as I didn't want to price too low and have some asshole flipper come along and profit from them (as opposed to the cause which the sale was for), but also didn't want to price it too high and scare away any and all interested parties. There were a couple of notable cards, which are usually what are gonna move a lot like this, so I based the price mostly on what someone would've had to pay at a show or online to get them; then tacked on an additional lower sum for the remaining cards. And despite the lack of time, I wrote out a page that could be taped to the box which contained a breakdown of the card totals by year (and sport, of course), and also highlighted the notable cards (and their condition) that were in the box.

This is the first time that I've ever been asked to do something like this, and even though it would've been nice to have a bit more time, it was a fun experience; one that I wouldn't mind doing again. And I heard after the fact that the folks who run the sale were very pleased with my efforts (the spreadsheet went over especially well), and I've since been asked if I wanted to assess another lot of items. And thankfully, this time I'll have a couple of months to work on it. I, of course, said yes. This lot isn't sports or trading card related, so when I eventually get around to blogging about it, it'll be over on the non-card blog (sorry for the tease, but I'd like to generate more traffic towards that blog too).

But wait... there's more! Just doing this thing for these people would've been rewarding unto itself, but from the outset, it was made clear that I could pull out, and buy, any singles that I might want. I can imagine that some (or a lot of) current collectors would take advantage of such an offer by plucking out all of the key cards (which would all be conveniently priced lower than they should've been as well), thus rendering the lot as a whole considerably less desirable. That ain't my way though. I already had at least one copy of each of the better cards in there, and while I wouldn't have minded getting more of each of them, I would want them for cheaper than I priced them at. Heck, I would've bought the whole box if it had been one of those ones you hear about people finding at a garage sale for $5-10, but again, I was trying to make sure that these people got what they were worth, so it was a bit more than $5-10. All that being said, I did end up buying five cards, only one of which might've been considered a key card.

I haven't put much effort into doing so in recent years, but I'd still like to acquire all of the '71 action cards at some point. This got me one card closer.

There was more '73 Topps in this lot than anything else. It's also where the bulk of the best cards were hiding. Despite being Willie Mays, I don't think anyone could argue that this particular copy would be overly desirable to the casual collector. And aside form a few weirdo's, it most certainly wouldn't be of much interest to the seasoned collector (or those suffering from gradeitis). It wasn't until my brief foray into the Twitter a few years back that I came to develop a small appreciation for miscut cards. Slightly miscut still doesn't do anything for me, but cards of this nature, are, to some degree. I still won't go out of my way to find them, but this one felt like a must have. I found an uncut sheet online, which was able satisfy my curiosity as to whose partially shown underneath. It's Billy Parker. This particular card has been a longtime want, and while I'd still like to get a decent looking copy at some point, this one is pretty nifty in the meantime.

I can't remember how old I was, maybe 7 or 8, but somewhere around there my grandpa gave me a stack of cards (bound by a couple of rubber bands no less) that was made up of '73 Topps baseball and football cards. They were the first vintage cards that I can recall seeing, and were most definitely the first that I ever owned. Because of this early exposure, I have an affinity for both designs, but the football one has held a bit more sway. I've thought about trying to build the set a few times over the years, even more so recently as I've been jonesing to work on one of the 70's football sets, but after looking through the small stack that was in this lot, I realized that while I love the design, many of the photos don't do a lot for me. 

Joe Namath's card was another longtime want, if only because of his silly Joe cap. Of the five cards I took out, it's the only one that I considered a key card in the lot. That being said, it does have a few minor indents on the back, and a scratch on the front that doesn't show in the scan. I won't feel any need to ever upgrade it though. And I was surprised that I didn't already have the Alzado in my small collection of his. Prior to checking, I would've put money down on my already having at least one copy. I guess it was good thing then that there was no one around to bet with.

Bo sent me a copy of this card a few years back, but I couldn't resist adding another one to the collection. One can never have too many Rick Hunter's.

As mentioned, I did pay the going rate for all of these, and perhaps even a little more for the Mays, as I really wanted that one.

I didn't go to the actual sale. I used to really enjoy such events, but with such a large percentage of people engaged in the #FlipLife these days, I find myself rarely wanting to be amonsgt their ilk (at some point in the near future I'm going to be doing a hatepiece on their sort). I did, however, get one item from it...

My mom found this in a box of free stuff, and even though it was most likely made for Poker players, she still thought it would be appropriate for me, and my activities, as well. And she was right, of course. I believe that it was meant to be stuck on one's vehicle, but I'm not of the put's crap on the back of the car sort, so I'll have to find somewhere else to display it. It's pretty neat though, especially for a freebie.

I wouldn't expect anyone reading this to remember that there was a time, probably more than a few years ago now, when I more than slightly enamoured with all things Panini Golden Age. I can't say that I was going for master sets from all three years worth of releases, as each set had over 300 1/1's, but I had been looking to complete the base sets, most of the mini sets, the insert sets, and the autograph and relic sets. 

I think I was starting to fall out of love with this idea right around the time the boom started, but can't say whether or not the boom was completely responsible for my giving up the attempt. I do know that one of the deciding factors was that a number of the autographs shot up in price, and while I was at about the halfway point on each of the autograph sets, I had no interest paying multiple times more for the one's that I still didn't have, nor was I interested in waiting the 5-10 years that I predicted (publicly) the boom would last before the prices would come back down to Earth. I ended up giving my base sets, and some of the more common inserts, to a couple of people who were very interested in receiving them, grouped my mini's together in a couple of lots and sold them, and after pulling out the one's that actually meant something to me, sold the rest of the autographs and relics via the eBay (getting a lot more for them than I should've).

Despite the purge, I did, in the hopes of someday completing them, hold onto the cards I had from the two insert sets that I liked the most; those being the 2012 Batter-Up, and 2013 Playing Cards. I'm down to needing just two cards from the Batter-Up set, but haven't been able to find either of them for a reasonable price. I have however been able to add a few new additions to the Playing Cards over the last year or so, and as you may be able to guess, am about to show them.

Panini used the upper portion of this image for a few sets back in 2013 and 2014, but I believe that this was the only card they produced that features the full photo. It's pretty basic bat-on-the-shoulder Evers photo (I don't think Johnny cared much for having his picture taken), but it's still a nice photo nonetheless.

Speaking of nice photos! I could've swore I had this card already, but after carefully going through my set a couple of times found that I didn't (it's always weird when you think you have a card, but don't). Now I do.

This is my second copy of this card, as I had moved my earlier one over to the Perry Mason collection.

Arky is one of those HOFers you don't hear talked about much these days, or at least I don't. I've always thought it was odd that, given his accolades, and people's long-time opinion that he was the second best shortstop ever to play (I'm sure that some of those opinions have changed in recent decades though), that it took a vote from the Veteran's Committee to finally get him enshrined.

And speaking of Arky Vaughan...

... this seems like a good time to show off a really nifty Wheaties panel that I got earlier this year:

Arky appeared on a number of Wheaties boxes during the 30's, this one being from 1937 (the so-called sixth series). Prior to this year, I hadn't really ever paid much attention to these old panels, but for whatever reason, have been doing so this year. After seeing how many neat one's are out there, I feel like I've really been missing out all of these years; and am now trying to make up for lost time. I've been able to get three so far this year, and would very much like to try and increase that number by a couple of more before the calendar changes over to 2025.

I'm now down to needing just nine cards for this set. Ideally, I'll be able to get at least 4-5 more during COMC's fast approaching Black Friday sale (and hopefully at least one of those two needed Batter-Up's as well), and then be able to finish the set sometime next year.

And while I'm here talking about playing cards, I might as well squeeze in one more...

I know I've mentioned a few times on here in recent years how much I enjoy mis-registered cards. I don't come across them nearly as often as I'd like, and when I do, I'm not willing to pay the exorbitant prices that are usually attached to them. Occasionally though, i.e. once or twice a year, I'll happen upon one that isn't being sold by a delusional seller; like this absolutely wonderful George Saimes that I got off of the Net54 a couple of months back.

The '67 Topps football set is already the most psychedelic looking sports card set ever produced, so it seems sort of apropos to find such an acid trip of a card on that design. Has any card ever looked more Crimson and Clover than this one? If so, I've not seen it. One can only imagine what the full sheet must've looked like.

I have 5 or 6 cards that are this off now(I only like them when they're full on whack-a-doo), but this one is definitely my new favorite.

Other kinds of extreme printing errors appeal to me as well, and since I'm talking about such things, it seems like a good time to show off this wonked up TCMA card that I got from COMC last year...
 

As you can see, it was supposed to be Al Worthington's card, but even his write-up wasn't safe from the ghost of Billy Cox (#83).

I'm not even sure how such card can happen, but from what I've seen, a number of other kooky cards were produced during the printing of this set. Whether they ever actually made it into packs, or were secreted out the backdoor, I do not know, and honestly, I don't really care. I do know however that it's a crazy-awesome card, and I feel very fortunate to have been able to get it.