Archive for August, 2009

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Love It, Hate It: 2005 Donruss Cal Ripken ’85 Diamond Kings Reprint

Posted in Love It / Hate It with tags , , , , , , on August 21, 2009 by Cardboard Icons

2005Donruss85DKRipkenRPI have a love/hate relationship when it comes to reprint cards. There are a few types of reprints I don’t mind owning, like that of the 1909 T-206 Honus Wagner, or the 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson. But when it comes to reprints of modern cards, I’m kind of baffled about their existence. Sometimes I love ‘em, sometimes I hate ‘em.

In 2005, Donruss decided to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the 1985 set by issuing reprints of some of the Diamond King subsets from that year. One of them was this Cal Ripken Jr. pictured here.

I traded for this card, which is limited to … 1,985 copies, clever … about three weeks ago, and took it on pretty much as a tradebait piece. I don’t love or hate Ripken per se, but it is not difficult to find someone who would be willing to trade me some Red Sox for this card. I traded for it sight unseen, figuring that these reprint Diamond Kings usually look pretty snazzy.

But when this one arrived, I kind of got an upset feeling in my stomach, like someone had kicked me in the balls. The card is what it is, so there was no chicanery there. It is indeed the reprint that was advertised, and it is “limited.” But for some reason this looks like a piss-poor knockoff. The card design is exactly like that of the 1985 set, which I happen to enjoy, but the design here looks fuzzy, and the card ends up looking like someone just made a photocopy of the old card.

Judging by what you see here, what is your reaction? Do you like (love) or dislike (hate) the card?

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Texture means a lot to baseball cards

Posted in Newspaperman with tags , , , , , , on August 20, 2009 by Cardboard Icons

TurkeyRedCompareAnyone with a photograph, computer and card stock can really produce their own baseball cards. I mean for the most part, cards are glorified pictures with some special design and verbiage written on the back. But when it comes to good-looking, quality baseball cards, the texture of the card stock means everything.

The other day while preparing a slew of eBay auctions, I came across a stack of 2007 Topps Wal-Mart special cards. These were inserted three per special Blaster Box; two examples can be seen in these images — the David Wright Allen & Ginter and Carlos Delgado Turkey Red.AllenGinterCompare

In 2007, Topps set out to make these special cards as a hat tip to the old school designs, but I always felt that something was lacking. This morning I figured it out — it’s the lack of texture. Compare the images shown here. Look at the Delgado and Babe Ruth Turkey Red cards, and the Wright and Matt Cain Allen & Ginter cards. The Delgado and Wright cards look like cheap knockoffs, where as the Ruth and Cain exude a certain authentic feel. The reason: Texture. Both of the Wal-Mart insert are printed on thin, flat, glossy card stock — just like all of the other 2007 basic Topps cards — while the Ruth and Cain are printed on different types somewhat authentic to their cardboard  heritage — the Turkey Red on matted and pitted card stock; the Allen & Ginter on thick and matted stock.

These little details matter. If Topps would have produced Topps Heritage on slick card stock akin to the 2007 base product, would collector’s be eating it up? I doubt it.

This is where I feel that Topps and Upper Deck have differed in recent years. Both companies have created their fair share of products — and their retro-style brands — but Upper Deck doesn’t seem to put the same effort into all of its products. This is not to say they have not created some great-looking cards, but when you look at their products on a greater scale, Upper Deck tends to stick with the same simplistic design — thin, glossy stock with a crap-load of holofoil — sometimes use a retro image, other times use something almost futuristic.

Topps does this to an extent, too, but there seems to be a little more attention to detail from brand to brand, particularly when it comes to the texture of the cards. And as we can see above, the texture of a card makes a world of difference.

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Topps’ replacement package, teen melowdrama, and trade list

Posted in Newspaperman with tags , , , , on August 17, 2009 by Cardboard Icons

This is just wrong ...

When I stay home sick from work, there are a few things that are a given: I’ll check my work e-mail even though I don’t have to, I’ll watch a few episodes of Saved By The Bell or Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and I’ll probably find time to write one quick blog post. I’m now on the last leg of this trio of activities.

As it pertains to the TV shows, how on earth did TBS manage to run two of the most serious episodes of these two series on the same day? Freakin’ AC Slater couldn’t play in the home coming game he was hurt during a drunken crash after a toga party; and the topic of the episode of Fresh Price revolved around Ashley losing her virginity. WTF, dude! Where’s the comedy here? A good laugh always makes me feel better, not this teenage melowdrama.

Whatever. On to more serious matters like baseball cards.

Last Friday I received a replacement package from Topps that included corrections for a pair of collecting violations committed by the card giant.

A little background. A month ago I received 2009 Topps Ser. 1 WBC redemption card of Gift Ngoepe. The card was late, and it was off-center so I was pissed, which I chronicled in this post.

And then about a week later I purchased my second and final Topps Allen & Ginter blaster from Target. The box is supposed to have eight packs, but only contained six. The shortage of packs pissed me off and pretty much sent me into a three-week card buying strike. OK, maybe strike is the wrong term. I kind of wised up to the fact that there was nothing on the shelves that would make me happy.

Anyway, so I sent a pair of letters to Topps along with my off-center Ngoepe and the wrappers from the Blaster, and on Friday — less than 10 days after I mailed my package — I received my replacements. That is what I call service.

The Ngoepe is in good shape, nicely centered. I’m also happy to report that Topps used a penny sleeve in the top loader, unlike the fulfillment company that initially sent me the card.

2009ToppsWBCGnoepe

And Topps also sent my two packs, which broke down as follows:

Pack 1) Gavin Floyd, Felix Hernandez, Mini Justin Verlander, Edgar Renteria, Anna Tunnicliffe, National Pride Robinson Cano

Pack 2) Elvis Andrus, Alex Rodriguez, Mini Simpson/Bunker, Dexter Fowler, Jay Bruce, National Pride Felix Hernandez, National Price Jake Peavy

2009ToppsAGMinisReplacement

Topps is back in my good graces, but there is still nothing on the shelves worth buying at the moment. Hell, I even resisted a trip to the card shop this weekend. One of Mario’s posts at Wax Heaven a few days ago kind of made me think about what I am doing, which has aided in my actions, or lack thereof. My collection isn’t nearly as big as the one pictured, but it is in a disorderly state. For the last several weeks I’ve been working on putting an extensive tradelist in an Excel spreadsheet, and documenting my Red Sox collection in the same way. This process is lengthy, tiresome and tedious, but must be done.

800+ cards posted

TRADE LIST CAN BE SEEN HERE

Note that the spreadsheet is sorted three ways:

By year, player’s last name and team.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be looking to make some trades with team collectors who are looking to dish their Red Sox cards for cards from their favorite teams. The cards I have to offer pretty much cover the last four decades. Speak up now  if you’re interested.

I’ve already got people lined up for Dodgers and Orioles. I’ve got a sizeable lot of Cleveland Indians ready to roll now.

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Mark Buehrle’s signature is almost perfect

Posted in Card of the Day, Newspaperman with tags , , , , , on August 9, 2009 by Cardboard Icons

Well, I finally found what I’ve been looking for, only I’m a few weeks late. You see, when Mark Buehrle threw his perfect game a few weeks back, I immediately thought about one of the oddest signatures I own — the 2004 Donruss card serial numbered to 141. I’ve owned the card for a few years, and thought I knew where I had placed it. But you know how things go, when you really want to find something, you can’t.

BuehrleautosI’m a few weeks late, but the card, which I found Saturday while cleaning the house, is still worth mentioning because there have been a number of bloggers who have shown off their Buehrle autos and I’d venture a guess that almost none of them look like this 2004 Donruss card, shown on the right.

There has been much virtual ink spilled talking about how great of a guy Buehrle is, and how he is an excellent TTM signer; one example is this 2002 Donruss Originals card I received from him last season. But where was Buehle’s mind when he decided to sign this sticker with just his initials and jersey number? It may not be the prettiest “signature,” but this is without a doubt one of the oddest ones.

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Rickey gets his number retired; A’s history epitomizes baseball’s Steroid issue

Posted in Newspaperman with tags , , , , , , on August 2, 2009 by Cardboard Icons

RickeyNumberRickey Henderson, who for nearly two and a half decades was one of the greatest baseball players in baseball, stepped into Oakland, Calif., last night and had his jersey retired by his hometown team. It was a nice gesture by the A’s, one of the nine teams Henderson played for during his illustrious career. I was there, only I missed the actual ceremony due to activities outside the ball park. Hey, it happens. BUT, we did get to hear the speech over the stadium’s public address system and actually caught the caravan that carried Rickey, third-base coach Rene Lachman and pitcher Bob Welch around the stadium. The A’s also gave away faux Rickey Henderson jerseys to the first 10,000 fans, so the crowd was abuzz with Rickey fever.

Oddly enough, this turned out to be the third Oakland A’s special event I’ve been to in recent years. I was there a few years back when they retired Dennis Eckersley’s jersey, and earlier this year when they had the 1989 World Series reunion on the field. And it is that reunion that I am reminded of as I think of Rickey’s special day.

Henderson has been heralded all over the country this year for good reason, and he turned out to be the star guest in June when the A’s held that championship reunion. But there were two HUGE omissions from that event, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. Read more »

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