1975 Topps Gary Carter rookie card
Archive for baseball cards
Gary Carter 1954 – 2012
Posted in Hall of Fame Rookie Cards with tags baseball, baseball cards, Gary Carter, Hall of fame, Riookie Card on February 17, 2012 by Cardboard IconsLet me fill your 2012 Topps baseball set needs
Posted in Newspaperman with tags 2012 Topps, baseball, baseball cards on February 17, 2012 by Cardboard IconsI’ve got a few hundred 2012 Topps baseball commons sitting here on the desk and they need to go. Working on a set? Let me help you finish that!
Leave a comment below, shoot me an e-mail at cardboardicons(@)yahoo.com, or contact me on twitter.
What am I seeking in return?
Any extra sparkle parallels or 1987 Minis.
Cardboard Icon: 1909-1911 T206 Polar Bear Back Walter Johnson
Posted in Cardboard Icon with tags baseball, baseball cards, Cardboard Icons, Hall of fame, Walter Johnson on February 16, 2012 by Cardboard Icons
I like to show off my cards from time to time. You know that. I show them off because these are not cards you typically see on other blogs.
I show them off because I am proud to own them. I show them off because I’m hoping to turn some of you onto some of the true Cardboard Icons. I show them off because these are the kind of cards that YOU could own. Yeah, you.
Today I present the newest Cardboard Icon: The 1909-1911 T206 Polar Bear back Walter Johnson.
Johnson was part of the inaugural class of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. He was inducted along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner. Yeah, he was pretty good.
Dubbed the “Big Train,” Johnson hurled his way into history by playing 21 seasons during which he won 417 games (including 110 complete game shutouts), struck out 3509 batters, and posted a career 2.17 ERA and 1.06 WHIP.
This PSA T206 Johnson came to the Cardboard Icons collection in February 2012. While the overall grade leaves much to be desired, the card presents nicely. Johnson T206 cards in this grade usually are offered for $250-$350, and they are usually of the more common “Piedmont” back. This slightly tougher version went below that market.
Tip: Remember, if you’re in the market for one of these century old cards, make sure they are already graded by PSA, BVG/BGS or SGC. There are a lot of reprints on the market, many of which are falsely altered to look old. Buying a card not graded by one of these three top grading companies could lead to an expensive mistake.
Don’t let this happen to you
Posted in Newspaperman with tags baseball cards, baseball, autograph, rookie cards, Roy Halladay, Dunedin on February 13, 2012 by Cardboard Icons
Way back in 1995, Roy Halladay was an 18-year-old pitching stud that only a few people knew about. He was not featured on his first Major League card until 1997 (Bowman, Bowman Chrome, and Bowman’s Best). But when he was just a teen, he had a few cards featuring him in his minor league uniform. One of them just so happened to have his signature.
It was found in a product called Signature Rookies Tetrad 95. The product was an “off” brand, but offered the first signatures of top athletes in four different sports — baseball, basketball, football and hockey. Kind of like the old Classic Four Sport sets.
The product was one that was not cheap in 1995, and even if you can find it these days, it still costs some decent coin.
But before you go running to eBay to buy some … I have some words for you to heed:
DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU.
I’m a dumbass sometimes. Not a lot, but on occasion. I did exactly what I told you not to. I went to eBay. And I bought some. Four boxes actually. I wanted Halladay’s first autograph, too! I sunk $40 into this 15-year-old product.
I believed that I was getting one autograph per pack. That’s the way I remembered the product when it was new, and that’s what I was reading when I looked at the boxes in the picture.
What I had forgotten — and what didn’t register in my brain — was that you got a redemption per pack, which can be exchanged for an autograph. The whole hook behind this product was that “You Make The Call” — you choose who will be featured on your signed card.
Needless to say the moment I opened the first pack and found the redemption card in the middle, my heart sank and I got an empty feeling in my stomach. I knew at that moment that my $40 had essentially gone to waste.
The one bright side though is that I did pull a Halladay base card in each of my four boxes. So I guess not all was wasted. This was issued two full years before his Bowman, Bowman Chrome and Bowman’s Best rookies.
Backlash for 2012 Topps is not warranted
Posted in Newspaperman with tags baseball, baseball cards, Rally Squirrel, Topps on February 11, 2012 by Cardboard IconsThere is something I simply do not understand about the current state of the hobby. The notion that things some how were better before than they are now.
It’s simply not true.
I’ve heard people bash 2012 Topps for the last week or so, citing the recently released Skip Shumaker/Rally Squirrel short print as the latest example of “what has ruined the hobby.”
Seriously? A card of a squirrel that actually captivated the country during the 2011 World Series is the reason this hobby has fallen into shambles? The reason you are so upset about your hobby that you’re willing to spend time bitching about it in public forums? The reason that at least one collector has decided to boycott 2012 Topps?
The Rally Squirrel is a short printed card. It did not replace anything in the set. It did not keep you from completing your set. It’s not like Topps took the card #93 slot, removed Skip Shumaker all together and left us only with a card that would render most sets an incomplete project.
It’s a bonus. If you pull the card and don’t want it, you sell it on eBay and take the profit to … buy more cards. What is so hard to understand about that?
But what about the bigger picture?
Again, people cite the Squirrel’s release as an example of Topps, the only licensed manufacturer of Major League Baseball cards, not giving collector’s what they really want.
Well, what DO collector’s really want?
The basic Topps brand has been the same for years — a set released in three series and composed of more than 700 cards when completed. It documents the happenings of the previous season in Series One, some of the current season in Series Two, and then even more current season events (trades, all star game, rookie call ups, etc.) in the Update Series. I think collector’s want that.
They also want autos, relics and rookies. Topps has all three of those, too.
And believe it or not, collector’s also want the “Golden Ticket.” Like in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Whether it be in the form of the Rally Squirrel, a Pie in the Face, a Gatorade Bath or literally gold, collector’s want something to chase. Something that when they pull it, they know they’ve hit the jackpot.
What most collector’s DO NOT want is a release void of all frills. They do NOT want to go back to the “junk wax” era and feel like they are buying 1988 Donruss, 1989 Score, 1990 Topps or 1991 Fleer.
The time for that stuff has come and gone. Can collecting those sets be fun? Absolutely. But in moderation.
This hobby has moved so far forward that you’re only going to drive yourself nuts if you keep harping on the “good ol’ days.”
The hobby’s evolution has not ruined card collecting per se. What’s harmed this hobby is the collector himself. The one’s whose greed and lust for the glory cards has ruined his or her personal experience, causing them to piss and moan about how bad things have gotten.
If you buy what you like and do it in moderation, and ENJOY what you possess, then you can’t lose in this hobby. The minute you stop enjoying it, you need to take a break or change your focus.
