Millenium Men

I assume most blog readers by now know, but if you haven't already check out Play at the Plate's awesome contest celebrating 2000 posts.  Seeing as I think I posted all of twice last month, it's quite the accomplishment.  My hat's off to you, sir.

The Flea Market That Smells Like a Sewer

Flea markets aren't typically known to attract the classiest folks.  Heck, in our flea market travels Kate and I have found that a grungy tshirt and yesterday's jeans are the best way to go.  Dress too well and prices on the everyday variety of junk, sports memorabilia, and nicknacks suddenly seem to jump by 50%.

But our flea market trip to Ohio had a certain stench of post-industrial waste attached to it.  I guess it wasn't surprising, since the only employment in most of the small towns we drove through seemed to be McDonald's and factories spewing some ill-colored plumes of smoke.

The day was slow, and the typical flea market array of rusty tools, cans of spraypaint, and random useless glassware was dominating the day.  But luckily the same dealer who had the cards I posted earlier today had a few plastic bins of random sports stuff that he was selling at 3/$10.

 At first it didn't seem like a great deal.  But the Tom Barrasso Starting Lineup caught my eye.  I already have a copy of the figure opened - my dad picked it up for me at the Civic Arena after my first Penguins game.  I'd probably rather not think how much of a markup we paid inside the stadium!  So adding a copy of the figure still in the packaging was enough to bait me in.  The Hills price tag - a regional department store chain - was an added big of nostalgia.

And to round out the deal, I picked up a set of oversized team-issued postcards from 1995.  I was stuck on what to pick for my third item when the dealer mentioned he had some autographed baseballs, and I could take a look at those if it would close the deal.

There was a pretty wide selection of lesser names from the mid 90's, but all were players who I have plenty of signatures from already and most of the balls were low quality.  But one ball caught my eye.

 A 1995 All-Star ball?  Even if it was signed by somebody who faded into oblivion after one all-star year, this ball was coming home with me.  ...and then I rolled it over.

 Huh?

Daniel Moskos?  As in the Pirates 2007 draft pick?  The guy who pitched a handful of games in the majors, and was in little league when the 1995 All-Star game took place?

I'd rather not know what the thought process behind getting that ball signed was.  But hey, even with a worthless and wholly irrelevant signature, it's still a cool baseball and well worth the $3.  It'll just be displayed with the side panel facing out.

I also decided to pick up the Charlie Hayes/Mike Kingery and Jose Guillen signed balls on what ended up being a complete, and slightly regretted, impulse deal.  They were cheap, and with the lack of worthwhile buys for the day I had money burning a hole in my pocket.  I guess a decent baseball display will be just one more project to add to the to-do list whenever I finally buy a house and have my man cave.

I'm Goin Goin, Back Back, to Ohio Ohio

Some places just feel like home.  Every time I get through the tunnels and see Pittsburgh's skyline in front of me, I feel at ease - even if I am driving into a traffic accident waiting to happen every time.  When I stop to see my parents, turning into the housing plan is and forever will be home.  And even though I only spent two years there, crossing the state line into West Virginia a few miles outside Moragntown always necessitates a hearty acapella rendition of Country Roads being belted out in my car. 

And then there's Ohio.  Oh, Ohio.  The state that bored me into finally starting a blog. 

Last Friday Kate and I both had the day off, and decided to bravely return to our last state of residence to hit a flea market in Rogers, OH.  The flea market is a Friday only deal nestled in the middle of nowhere a few miles from the PA state line.  But it's one of the largest flea markets in the country, and we were in the mood for a trip.

The drive for an hour and a half on winding two lane highways and back roads made for some interesting sightseeing.  Some of the more interesting sights?  Santa on the side of the road and a two story gold bodybuilder statue.  The weather was decent, but the flea market was pretty dead.  Guess I should have expected that this early in the season.

After walking around for a few hours, our purchases were few and far between.  But I didn't come home empty handed.  I found one vendor with some cards - lots of overprices star commons at half book price.  But the 8/$1 box yielded a few cards worth bringing home.  The first thing that caught my eye was a small run of Kellogg's 3D cards.  For whatever reason they've always been tough to find around here, so the small stack instantly started my pile.  No Buccos, but I found a few 70's stars who will be heading out to fellow bloggers one of these days.

I reeeeeally need to get myself a teal Mariners jersey one of these days.  Gotta love the Big Unit.

 And of course I was able to dig up a few cards for my main collections.  I always love adding minor league cards, and one of my biggest (of many) complaints about the Topps monopoly is the lack of minor league releases these days.

 Bronson Arroyo wasn't in the Pirates organization all that long, but it's nice to see his familiar leg kick was still gracing cardboard two years before his big league debut.

 And of course no trip would be complete without some new cards for my Kordell Stewart collection.  There are just so many cool 90's Slash cards out there.  It's a little hard to see from the scan, but the top card features X-Man Wolverine in the background.  Perhaps not the most logical superhero pairing, but an awesome card nonetheless.

 And I'll always have a sweet spot for cards from early in his career that feature Kordell as a receiver.  At this stage my Slash collection is probably one of my favorites to add to, with so many awesome cards still out there to chase.

 Overall, not a bad haul for $2.  Overall the trip was a bit of a bust, but I did manage to find a few other cool pieces that I'll hopefully post later on.  Flea markets are always a roll of the dice, but it made for a fun, and cheap, Friday trip.

A Cheap Plug

Another sporadic post over in Battlin' Bucs land.  Cards, and baseball in general, has really been on the back burner for me.  Going through some of my posts over the winter it's seemed pretty clear that a little breather from the hobby might do me good.  And it has, I think.  Of course it has come along side some major rethinking of my career decisions and some rough waters in job-land. 

But in the mean time, Kate has *finally* started up a blog of her own.  If you're so inclined, go check it out at thriftburgher.blogspot.com.  In all honesty it's a way cooler blog than mine (and will even have the occasional cameo of yours truly, if you want to see my bearded face), and she'll be focusing on a range of stuff from our various thrift shop, rummage sale, and flea market adventures. 

Give it a read, if you have a few extra minutes.  And with a little luck, I'll be back later today with a real post!

Game Used Gold

 My collecting habits have tailed off across the board of late.  But one of my favorite elements of my growing collection has been my array of game-worn jerseys.  I've largely focused on more unique pieces - throwback jerseys, commemorative patches, Jackie Robinson Day.

But a trip to the flea market last weekend caused me to stretch my collecting scope a bit broader.  While digging through a dime cards of one vendor I regularly buy from, I ran into a box right in front of me.  A sheet of paper on top said Pirate Jerseys - $30.

I quickly took a glance at the box, expecting to find some China knockoff jerseys or at best some jerseys of guys who left Pittsburgh that the vendor was able to score on clearance elsewhere.  I was quite surprised to find a box full of Spring Training jerseys complete with MLB hologram and decent signs of use.

I flipped through the box, but no players stood.  Lots of non-roster Spring cannon fodder - Brandon Boggs, Rick Vandenhurk, Logan Kensing.  I already have more stuff than I can display, so I figured best to just get my $5 in dime cards and be on my way.

And I did, all the way to the parking lot.  Until I made an abrupt U-turn.  These gold ST jerseys are by far one of my favorites from recent memory.  They only lasted for a couple seasons before being phased out by a black on black abomination this year.  For a mere $30 I'd be kicking myself for passing on these jerseys somewhere down the road.

Another dig through the box found the best of the bunch - Jeff Clement, who appeared in 23 games for the Bucs in 2012 late in the year.  And heck, he's only one letter off from a much more famous Pirate.  But the icing on the cake?  Clement came to the Bucs as part of the Jack Wilson trade with the Mariners, so there's a semi-valid connection there.

One jersey closer to acquiring an example of every jersey style the Bucs have worn during my lifetime.  And still a long, long way to go.

On the Road Again

Finally!  After a month-plus away, I'm back behind the wheel of my beloved blog.  The last month or so has been pretty hectic.  My hour drive each way to and from work each day has really taken a toll on me, and it feels like I've been living out of my car.  Not literally of course - my card collection would never fit. 

But stacks of paperwork, arts and crafts projects, food wrappers, and empty water bottles have made my backseat look frighteningly similar to the contents of an adopt-a-highway cleanup day.  And doing some cleaning over the weekend I discovered some long forgotten (and assumed mailed) trade packages.  I think one of them dates back to last calendar year (sorry Jeff!).  Hopefully the contents will more than make up for the sun-faded ink, long waits, and occasional pizza grease on the packages.

The flip side to some more disposable income has been...a complete and utter disinterest in collecting.  No, I'm not hanging up my toploaders.  Not by a long shot.  But there just isn't much in the hobby keeping my interest.  COMC is a gutted and unsearchable shell of itself.  While I like some of the low-mid end releases Topps has put out this year, I'm still not going to tempt restarting my wax addiction.  And new Jack Wilson additions have crept to maybe one card per quarter over the last year or two.

But that doesn't mean I've given up completely.  I had a few packages come in over my collecting lull, there were a few fantastic ebay purchases, and flea market season is getting in full swing.  So I hope you all will forgive me Houdini act for the umpteenth time and I'll jump right back into the madness.

I've bemoaned how tough it has been to find new Jack Wilson cards over the last few years countless times.  The life of a no-name player supercollector is a hard knock life, after all.  So when those big scores do come in, it isn't always through the most conventional means.  I was at home finishing up some paperwork a few weeks ago when I got a text.  It was from Brad, a Sean Burnett collector I've cyber-known for almost a decade but have never actually met in person, asking if I needed a 2005 Leaf Certified Materials Emerald Jack Wilson.  For some Jack cards I'll have to double check my master checklist - but no such need on the Mirror Emerald.  Its absence in my collection is seared into my collecting memory.

I few quick texts directed me towards a thread on Blowout's forums with the card for sale for a mere $8.  Only problem?  I didn't have a blowout account.  Or if I did, the username and password are long lost to my memory.  I quickly registered for an account, only to be informed that I would need to wait for moderator approval to actually be able to post.

The better part of the next 24 hours were spent repeatedly refreshing my email waiting for activation and refreshing the thread hoping nobody would snag what was to me the deal of the year.  Key word: to me.  In reality, I had little to worry about.  When my account was finally approved, there wasn't even so much as a nibble on the Wilson - a card that I would have gladly bid significantly more than $8 for on ebay.

The LCM sets are among my favorites (though I'm partial to Jack's '03 card over the '05), and the Mirror Emeralds are tough finds at only 5 copies.  I believe I recall one or two collectors working on the set around the original release date, so the cards are particularly scarce.  I don't think I have ever seen the '05 Emerald previously.

Hopefully it won't be another month until my next post!

Vintage...like my posting habits?

Geeze, it's been a long while since I've had the time to write about, buy, or even think about cardboard.  But it's time to break my non-blogging ways, get some long overdue trade packages in the mail after cleaning out the backseat of my car last weekend, and get back on the card train (toot toot).

In the mean time, I dug a draft out of the archives for your viewing pleasure.


I believe most or all of these cards came from a local mall show back in 2007 or so, when my collecting interests were still taking shape.  All I knew was back then I rarely came across vintage, and these cards seemed awesome for a buck or less.
A few years later, I still agree with myself.

The Brock is unquestionably the gem here.  I don't have the same appreciation for men holding bats that Dimebox Nick does, but even I have to admit that red bat is pretty awesome.  As are the ridiculous white stripes on the batting helmet.

 The Yaz is probably the card I'm least excited about out of this group.  But it's a nice vintage issue of a HOF'er, and in pretty good shape. 

I have always had a soft spot for cards that commemorate a particular date, whether it's playoff games, milestones, or individual accomplishments.  This card definitely fits the bill, even if the Bucs weren't in the series.  Brooks Robinson making a diving stop?  Just icing on the cake.

Another nice looking '71 here, this Wilhelm actually met a few collecting interests that I didn't even have when I picked it up.  Wilhelm's long and atypical career path took him to Chicago for just 3 games in 1970, so this card captures a very brief period in time at the twilight of one of the more unique HOF careers.