The H-Word

No, not hell.

Not even hentai (sadness, I know.  Sorry.).

I’m on hiatus.

I love you, goodbye.

I’ll stop in long enough to scan some stuff when I can, as well as posting an interesting non-sport box break, but don’t expect a Heartbreaking Cards-type non-hiatus hiatus, not even close (though I do hope to contribute more to his brainchild APtbNL in the future).  Sleep has gone mostly to crap again (barely coherent as I write this), and it’s backing up the Breygent sketch cards, and I can’t keep my sh*t together even to the most marginal degree to start with.  So something’s gotta give, and this is it for now.  The endless quest for consistently decent sleep, sketch cards, and a massive rearranging of crap that probably requires a professional rearranger of crap looms, so until I have time, inspiration, and focus to blog again beyond a cameo, this is my “lost my smile” speech, and I guess I’ll see y’all when I sees ya.

Also, know that I’m not skipping out on anybody.  All previous trades are still on (email me with details, I’m not even sure I remember half of them anymore… *sigh* click the blogger profile on the sidebar, my email addy is there), and those that I already owe should find cards owed in your various mailboxes… eventually.  I’ve failed so many times, I guess just knowing that they will get there someday is the best consolation I can offer (thank you all for being way more understanding about my slowness than I am with myself, btw… it’s something I guilt trip over often :().  And I’ll be sure to check up on some of your blogs from time-to-time when the mood strikes or if you link it in a tweet.

I guess it’s no coincidence I’m mostly closing up shop at a time when baseball especially, and sports cards in general… well, let’s just say I couldn’t give two delightfully disgusting Gellman-esque unnecessarily specific descriptions of poop about sports cards right now.  All my card related concern is being poured into the sketch cards at hand, with just a pinch leftover to pick up the odd sketch card or Project S.T.A.L.K.E.R. addition (mission accomplished on both accounts this month).  I’m not sure when or if the sports card itch will ever fully return, but the blogging itch will, so the focus may shift rather harshly upon returning to irregular regularity, though I’m unsure what the focus might shift to.

And, Beardy, your Markaki sketch card is done.  The couple of peeps that were cool enough to stay up waaaay into the night to see me draw it up were quite impressed, so I hope you will be too.

Finally, being a bigtime professional artist now (I couldn’t even come close to typing that with a straight face, just so you know :P), you should totally commission me for money.  Cash will come in immeasurably handy when I make my big escape from crappytown, much moreso than for cards I plan to keep.  And since there’s no messy as hell collection to fight, you’ll actually get them shortly after they’re finished.  How long they take to finish… is another matter entirely.

Now I’m going to shut up because this post is proving way less short & sweet than I was intending.  Much love and a temporary goodbye.

Until our next…

O Happy Day!

Something I’ve been waiting for for so long has finally happened… I got Bipped!  And what a Bip it was.  This was no ordinary Bip, my friend.  Somehow the surprise even managed to usurp the awesomeness of trading for the sweeeeeeeeeet Frank Robinson relic in the package, if only for a minute (it’s still makin’ me grin though).  Scans to come when I’m not half asleep and can be arsed. 🙂

If giving double-meaning to Bipping as a right of passage akin to losing virginity is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.  Haha, yeah...

Odds & Ends + A Bonus Rant!

I’m still here I guess.  Been busy with the sketch cards & was sick all day yesterday.  Looks like we’ve run out of time on the group break, to get it done on opening day at least.  If the six or seven who’ve shown interest still want to do it sometime though, I’ll keep the option to do one open until we do get enough people who want in, however long that may take.

And I haven’t forgotten about any trades or people I still have to send cards too.  I’ll get on that sooner or later, I swear.  Baseball Dad and part 1 (because I forgot to put the McGriff sketch card in it, so there will be a second package with that & translucents & the Rich Hill joisey etc) of the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame‘s stuff is as good as on it’s way and maybe I can just devote an entire day to trying to all the others together whenever I take a day off from card drawing and am not otherwise distracted.

To reference the maybe still vaguely relevant to things Yu-Gi-Oh!, my heart just hasn’t been in the cards lately.

«~•°•°•°•≈Warning, I feel a rant coming on…≈•°•°•°•~»

I’ve almost sworn off ripping new stuff (with two possible minor exceptions later in the year) due to that now infamous patronizing bullshit press release by MLB, and distaste for a topps exclusive (if not topps itself, jury’s out) in general.  topps has never done it for me.  I think I’ve preferred pretty much every other brand that came and went in the past thirty years over topps.  Maybe even Pacific!  And frankly I don’t give a rats ass about topps’ history and tradition, that they so enjoy shoving down our throats.

Look, I loves me some real vintage cards of all kinds.  I love that I get them in trades once-in-a-while and would pick more of them up on my own if I had access to decent (or any) card shows or shops around here.  I happen to have a sweet tooth for history in general, it truly fascinates me.  But something rings hollow about topps’ hanging their hat pretty much entirely on their history, and the history of others whom they’ve acquired the rights to (206, Allen & Ginter, and Bowman going wabac).  It’s like topps has nothing but history (and shitty gimmicks, though I don’t personally mind those) to offer.  And I, like probably most that grew up and started collecting in the 1990s or later, have no real connection to that.  My very first cards weren’t even made by topps (seven packs of 1991 Upper Deck on my 7th birthday)!

Maybe topps really doesn’t have anything else to offer.  Aside from the surprisingly decent flagship, the only good stuff they did in 2009 were the usual suspects Chrome and Allen & Ginter, the latter decidedly retro and the former has been around for about 15 years (their A&G brand is no rookie either, starting in 2006).  Heritage was only notable because it pulled a good year design-wise in 1960 (and because I pulled a Gordon Beckham auto from retail).  topps206 was an uninspired ripoff of the A&G formula (though I guess the A&G formula got it’s start in the original 206 sets from topps from 2002-2003, but A&G perfected it, so the point stands).

And despite Upper Deck’s releases never really rising above mediocre in 2009 and usually falling well short of even that, topps still managed to put out probably the two worst reviewed sets of the entire year in Ticket to Stardom (with it’s wonderfully nonsensical tickets and little overall bang for the buck) and Unique (I can think of about ten reasons it sucks just off the top of my head).  And it’s pretty well known that topps’ high end is… wait, let me put this in a way that topps will understand: utt erc rap.

So yeah, maybe they’ve got nothing more to offer, though I’m starting to think topps was never anything special to begin with.  Sorta the McDonald’s to all the exciting and interesting companies that came and went from 1981 until 2009.  Just a tepid, mediocre product with name recognition and the “tradition” and “heritage” that comes with being around the longest.

I’m sorry, but I don’t have the connection to look back at topps’ history with the rose colored glasses of nostalgia.  And I can’t look at topps offerings with anything other than disdain if they insist on shoving history down my throat and every attempt at something new is riddled with crippling flaws or just plain uninspired.

I’m not even going to delve into topps’ laughable cluelessness when it comes to the marketing towards kids & whatnot.  Another rant for another time, perhaps.

But I will close by saying this: If we’re going by current companies that make the best quality cards, then neither topps OR Upper Deck really deserve an MLB license, let alone an exclusive.  Upper Deck’s baseball had been on the decline for at least a couple years before losing their license and I think I miiiight have mentioned above that topps could use a good kick in the pants to shake the perpetual creative mediocrity and stupid nostalgia kick they’re on.

Honestly MLB, since the decision to even let an exclusive happen in the first place is ultimately on your shortsighted and archaic-thinking head, I’d take Tristar, In The Game, and good lord even Panini over topps (and Upper Deck for that matter) right now.  Even their average stuff is better and more importantly, more FUN, than all but very best of what topps has to offer (well, Panini is still a work in progress, but showing improvement).  You should be begging them to make cards for you.  So fuck the confusion noise, because I don’t give a damn.  It’s not a good time to be a baseball card collector.  Period.

Rant mode off.

I Really Mean it this Time!

Okay, I guess I meant TODAY is when I finally get down to business. Damn if being medicated again didn’t help the hell out of me, I feel pretty good today.  Being able to sleep rocks!  Gonna get some packages ready to send, there’s about a dozen bubble mailers ready to go that need creamy card filling. And maybe I’ll even get around to sending the two that are already ready.

Also, we’re running out of time on the group break if it’s going to happen by Opening Day. So if your interested, please let me know. A few peeps have stated their intent to join, but there’s still a good 9 or so spots available! Join up!

Still Livin’ the Dream…

Ha, are you sure it’s not a nightmare, title post that I wrote?  Anyway, I’m still here.  I basically shut it down since last I posted, and have accomplished nothing at all.  But that will change today, oh yes.  The sketch cards should be getting here any day now, so I have to get my act together.  This means two things: I have to start cleaning and moving all my crap around cuz of the stupid closet door nonsense, and people can finally start looking for cards from me in the near future and have some expectation that they will actually be there! 🙂

That’s all I’ve got for the moment.  No pictures or nuthin’, sorry.  Gotta go clean & get a little shuteye right now.  Someone wake me at the crack of 3pm please.

Woo, cleaning! *Sarcasm-o-tron spontaneously combusts*

Quickie Sketch

Sketch cards didn’t arrive today, so I’m gonna be even more pressed for time than I already was.  Awesomesnausages…

EDIT!: Sketch cards didn’t arrive because they were SENT on Friday.  Epic reading comprehension fail.  On the plus side, the deadline was pushed back a few days.  Also, though *debatably* on the plus side, I now have more free time to fight with my collection to try and get more packages ready to send.  Not debatably cuz I don’t wanna send stuff, I’m just sick of fighting with it.  Have I mentioned that yet?

Also really, really, REALLY debatably on the plus side, I get extra free time to figure how the hell I’m supposed to move two tables with close to 20 total precariously placed stacks of several thousand total random cards and likely most of the shit inside the closet itself out of the way so they can come in and put in completely unnecessary new closet doors, not to mention all the shit that has to be moved away from there has to somehow be moved out of the way so they can even get to the f*cking closet in the first f*cking place. sdfghkjjhgfdgsxfhgghdhfgsfjghgdfdbhjghxdzhxfhcgvbh

Whaddya mean CALM DOWN?!?!?  I AM CALM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahem…

Here’s a quickie I drew on the back of one of my billions of sketch books recently though, perhaps it will lighten the mood:

Sometimes... your reaction to something comes out as a drawing. Now let us never speak of it again. Also, my block lettering skillz are as awesome as ever.

This only took me maybe seven-ish minutes to draw, quite possibly less.  I think the letters took almost as long as the drawing itself.  Guess it’s just like riding a bike or something, because I hadn’t drawn anything purely manga-style in ages.  But there ya go.  Manga by moi.

That’s all I got.  Nothing interesting to say…

I dunno, is it interesting that the money I won’t be spending on current cards this month will be used either Pokemon Heart Gold or Soul Silver instead?

Well, anyway… seeya tomorrow or whenever I have anything to post about. 😉

A Couple Small Trades

The come from Baseball Dad and Da Rook, respectively.  I will find the cards I’m looking for and send them to them in return for these beauties sooner or later.

Here’s what Baseball Dad sent:

A couple Rynos, Rod Carew for K-Mart, Frank Robinson, the First Clementes I've ever gotten in a trade, the rare set need card (Nobunaga), and LT aka the reason for the trade in the first place.

And, though I still can’t find the missing Alomar, this trade is finally mailer’d up and ready to go.  I did call his bluff and throw in an extra case & a half of random Indians cards though.

Now for the cards from Sarah:

Ichiro & Vlad toppstown golds, old school Ted, probably the coolest Tales of the Game insert, and possibly the only meaningful ticket in Ticket to Stardom..

Man, remember when everyone thought the Cubs horribly overpaid for Lilly?  He’s only gone on to become the most reliable pitcher in one of the better starting rotations in the league.  He’s like… the anchor that keeps them afloat.

And I mentioned the Shin-Soo Choo card might be the only one with a ticket to a meaningful game to the player depicted in the entire set.  Behold!

The only way it could've been better if the ticket was from the semifinal, but it's Ticket to Stardom, so I'll take what I can get. Also, it's #'ed 1/90, which is nice. Also, Jackie's legendarytastic World Series moment in text form. Reading is good.

Don’t see too many tickets from this where the player actually did something, so I was pleasantly surprised to get a memorable one.  Hopefully I can find the straggler and get the gaggle of Chippahs sent on their way soon.

Oh, my wantlist has been updated quite a bit.  Be sure to check it out!

Adieu, homies.

Frustration…

I am getting really frustrated with my collection.  It is a total mess that I can no longer keep up with.  It’s holding me back from sending out my end of trades to Baseball Dad (the Alomar is missing), McCann (one of the mini Chipper jerseys is missing), The Great Sports Name Hall of Fame (Tyronn Lue card and Rich Hill jersey missing), and Baseball Card Stuff (most of the topps206 Bronzies are missing).

This really sucks.  My frustration has reached a boiling point and I want to be rid of most of this stuff.  It’s just taking up space.  I’m not quitting, I’m just starting over.  I’ll still buy cards in the future, I just want 2/3 of what I’ve got, gone, so that then I’ll be able to organize what’s left and be able to easily shuffle new cards into the collection and also find stuff!  So if you’d like a random assortment of cards from your team and/or possibly off certain wantlists, email me your address and I will stuff as much as I can into a 4″x7″ bubble mailer and it can be your problem.* 😛

All I ask for is something off my wantlist in return.  It can just be one card or it can be a whole bunch of stuff.  I’m not so concerned with keeping my PC so in order, because it ain’t going anywheres, so just send whatevers.  I just want the stuff I don’t want or need that is getting in my way outta here and hopefully to people it will be useful to.

It’ll just be a random stack of your team of choice, or non-random stack of set needs (or both), but should you offer up a hit or something #’ed in the email, I will very gladly return the favor for that.

And remember, my email is available via the link to my google account profile on the sidebar!!!!!

In other news, I need the good Troll’s address to send him some Pirates for the kids, and the now Pirate Japanese Aki card that turned out to be the boobie prize from my contest.  Brian, you’re winnins be on the way soon too!  Did second place and beyond ever choose the card they wanted?  Would like to get those sent one of these years too.  Need to move it along so I can have another contest on account of just passing 10,000 hits.

Also, who got the Hello There, Ball thing waaaay back in the day?  I’ve got a Zack Duke jersey card with their name on it (not literally, of course).

*Offer doesn’t apply to Cardinals or Red Sox, because the Red Sox are already part of a major trade, and the Cardinals will be soon, or the Rangers and Marlins, because I barely have any of them.  I have a disturbingly decent amount of Steelers and Cowboys (and probably a few other teams) football cards though, if anyone wants them though.

Another day, another time…