The Harrowing Adventures of a Nerd Week Contest Winner!

A winner is me..

The prize for winning The Junior Junkie’s Nerd Week Contest arrived yesterday, and I nearly paid for it with my life!  That’s an exaggeration, but the box was huge (over $18 to ship!), and I was on my way out, so I stupidly decided to carry it over to the parents’ place with me.  Conditions were also way worse than I was expecting, and my main shoes are super old generic Shape-Ups types with no traction left on them.

Basically, it was a recipe for disaster, and, long story short, disaster indeed struck.  I ended up crashing and burning pretty bad on hidden ice patch close to halfway between here and there.  I hit the back of my head on the sidewalk, but I popped back up pretty quickly without difficulty, no wooziness or anything that would indicate being concussed.  A couple of folks I had passed a short ways back quickly came to my assistance helped me get my bearings and everything I dropped.  Very grateful to them for that.

The pain was mostly gone within a couple of blocks of continuing on my way, and any lingering head pain has minimal and infrequent, though I will get checked out if the random, brief little twinges of discomfort persist.  I finally managed to make it over to the parents’ place without further incident, and after getting cleaned up, I was finally ready to cut the tape and dig into the box!

The box in question..

And so I dug, and dug, and dug some more!  There was a LOT more in there than the DVD.  Are you ready to be as blown away by the thought and effort and generosity that went into this amazing prize package as we (the parents were very impressed too) were?

The note..

Here’s the handwritten note TJ sent, congratulating me and running down the contents.

The original prize..

Of course, the DVD was in there.  Say what you will about Family Guy in general, but the Star Wars specials are always straight up inspired.  Gonna enjoy this. 🙂

Are you ready for some football?!

I’m taking this back to the parents’ place next time I’m over, because it is small and plushy and can safely be thrown around over there during the rare lulls when we aren’t skewering anything and everything on TV MST3K-style or talking about generally geeky and/or nerdy things when dad, my little brother, and me are all there at the same time.

Original art by Jason Goad..

I love art.  I am an artist (allegedly), after all.  But I can’t afford much original art beyond relatively cheap sketch cards very often, so this is was a super awesome thing to find in the box!  It’s a fantastic piece and I absolutely love it! 😀

A trio of CDs..

Styx and The Who will definitely get some airplay around here, and I’m not quite as down on Dane Cook as most, so I’ll be giving that a listen at some point as well.

Under the CDs, you can sorta see the corner of one of the pair of monstrously huge Pinnacle screwdown holders.  I swear I took a picture of them along with everything else, but I can’t find it.  Anyway, they are so ridiculously thick and heavy that they might legitimately be able to stop a bullet.

St. Joseph’s Prosperity Bean..

I didn’t know what this was because I’m a lazy millennial, but mom seemed to recognize it and thought it was pretty cool.  I read a little bit about them when I got back to my place.  Very interesting, and I will be keeping it on me.

Mardi Gras beads!

I’ve always wanted to go to Mardi Gras (because I’m sure my antisocial arse being around hundreds of thousands of loud, crazy, drunk people for an extended period of time would go just peachy), but thanks to TJ, a little bit Mardi Gras has come to the frozen wastes of the Midwest.  He notes they’re the real deal in the above letter, so I can’t help but wonder what he had to do to acquire them…

Anyway, I’m just glad he sent beads and not the terrifying New Orleans Pelicans King Cake Baby.

The last thing you see before you die..

There aren’t enough NOPE gifs in the world… My apologies for the impending nightmares, ladies and gentlemen.  We should probably just move on with a quickness.

Various Asian candies..

There were four different things in pouches, and my trying them out went badly.  I definitely haven’t acquired these tastes yet.  The Lychee was the best in a walk, and it kinda tasted like accidentally getting fruit-scented soap in your mouth.  But the experience was still worth the while and very much-appreciated.

You know, we’ve gotten this far and haven’t even made it to the cards yet!

Ah, there we go..

But they were there, and they were many.  I tore off the old shipping labels on the outer boxes before I took the pictures, just to be safe.

So many cards!

The top box had tons of Ryne Sandbergs, Mark Graces, and a random assortment of other Cubbies.  The bottom had miscellaneous non-sport stuff and some unopened junkwax era packs, most of which I will be drawing on the backs of at later dates.  Twas also home to the blue and silver beads.

The completely full box was bananas, with large amounts of 2012 Panini Golden Age, 2011 Panini Americana, and 2012 Topps Summer Olympics, as well as some Goodwin Champions, Allen & Ginter inserts, more random non-sport and entertainment cards,  and the occasional hockey card.

The big pack sittling in the middle of everything is a pack of 1986 Donruss All-Stars, which may be posted on A Pack to be Named Later at some point, and the rest will get a post of their own here once I’ve scanned some of them.

Since around half of the set was there, I’m definitely going to chase the Summer Olympics set now.  The other big stacks didn’t have enough for me to justify it, but I’m keeping a Single Page of both Goodwin Champions and Golden Age, as well as the vintage-ish Star Wars cards, and probably a fair amount of other things.

My canvas..

Finally, this card not part of the prize package.  This card is for a commission.  On the back of this 1989 Topps Traded Ken Griffey Sr. card, I will be drawing Ken Griffey Jr. from his RC, the very next card in the same set.  I loved the idea and will get to work on it as soon as my body stops being so creaky and achy.

For this commission I was paid $12, and even the money was worth mentioning.  Check it out!

$2 bill!

Yes, that is a two-dollar bill.  I’m pretty sure haven’t seen one of those since back in the late-1990s when I got one back as change at one of the last card shows held at the local mall.

The flipside..

Easily the coolest looking piece of US currency that still spends.

There you have it.  This has to be in the running for the single greatest card blog prize package ever made.  The amount of time, thought, effort, and money that must have went into this making it possible boggles the mind.  I know TJ puts a ton of effort into his collection and his posts, so maybe it comes as no surprise he’d go all-out on a prize package, but I am still beyond honored and humbled to be its recipient.

Thank you, TJ!  And thanks to everyone for stopping by!

It was worth the pain…

 

Bob Walk The Plank Trade

I’m not over losing Ernie, and probably won’t be anytime soon.  But all you can really do for the departed is keep on living.  The show must go on, as it were.  So I’m back today with a trade post.  I’ve found a few new trading partners since my return and subsequent frequent bumming around the ol’ blogosphere.  Thus is the arrival of my first cards from a trade enacted after the start of 2015, courtesy of Bob Walk The Plank.  Let’s see what we’ve got!

Shiny minis & die-cuts! Me gusta!

First up, the two I’m for sure keeping.  Love the Dual-ing Die-Cuts from this past year’s BowChro.  I have conflicting emotions about the minis, but they do make for a nice cheap blingy addition to a Single Page collection (more on that and the rest of the new look happening here in my next post).

Miscellaneous Cubbie hits (and a prospect)..

Finally some random Cubs.  The McNeil prospect will definitely make the miscellaneous binder, and Daryle Ward has a good shot as well.  Fuld and Prior (much as I like the card) will probably be sent along to others for things that are a better fit for my collection, but they’re much appreciated all the same.  I’m still waiting for something on COMC that will be arriving in my February shipment, but I’ll be sure to send back a nice array of Pirates & things in return once it’s here. 🙂

I’m not sure what my Blogger blogroll status is at the moment, but if anyone is getting this, thanks for stopping by!

The Road to WrestleMania has begun!

RIP, Mr. Cub…

Just basically been crying off & on for the past 20 minutes.  I was just going to post stuff I got in a trade when I got back tonight.  I don’t think the words to describe the importance and awesomeness of Ernie Banks have been invented yet.  I… I dunno what to say.  I’m just gonna leave these artistic renditions of the brightest and most revered star in my team’s rich history.

By Dave the Cardboard Junkie..

I guess that all these

tears mean I still have a soul

Thank you for all the

memories of your great life

in the greatest pastime, Ernie

By me..

We’ll miss you forever, Mr. Cub…

Card Draft II Countdown Part 2: 15-6

Hey y’all!  We’re jumping right back into the Card Draft Countdown, taking it down just shy of the top-5.  Light it up and go in hot.

#15

1974 Topps Traded Ron Santo..

This one is a little bittersweet.  Your best friend only moved across town, but you still get the sense that it’s the beginning of the end of your friendship.  Everything changes and life goes on, but it’s sad in the moment.  And you know that career is coming to an end when the team they’ve been with for their whole career lets them go.  But still, you gotta remember the good times, and Ron Santo was great.  So this is a bittersweet keeper.

#14

1974 Topps Al Kaline..

Another late-career card of a Hall of Fame slugger.  It is beat to hell, which is why it’s so low on the countdown, but still a fine card nonetheless.  I’m willing to trade this one away though.  Not my team, not my town.

#13

1974 Topps JR Richard..

And now for the “what could have been” I mentioned in the previous post.  JR Richard had the stuff to be an all-time great, but he flamed out probably not even halfway to immortality.  But the little we got was just crazy electric amazing.  This badass card is a keeper.  I’m working on a single page of him, and was able to score a couple more for the page in Card Draft III.

#12

Harold Baines RC..

A RC of the 2nd or 3rd best more-or-less pure DH of all time.  If Edgar Martinez is getting into the Hall one of these years, which seems like a very real possibility, then Harold Baines belongs there too.  Edgar has a better slashline .312/.418/.515 to .289/.356/.465.  But Harold has him in hits 2866-2247, 384-309 in home runs, and 1628-1261 in RBI, all of which Edgar would struggle to reach if given the extra 3+ seasons Harold played.  You would have to tack those years on at the beginning and/or end of his career, and he did all his best work from age 32-40 (dude never hit over 18 HR in season before that), so only the hits would maybe be in danger.  You can complain about accumulating all you want (and Harold Baines was unquestionably an accumulator), but if you put up 2866 hits, 384 home runs, and 1628 RBIs together, that’s Hall of Fame-worthy career, DH or not.

In other news, I completed a Harold Baines trifecta earlier this month thanks to landing this card in the draft.  I got the auto late last year, this in Card Draft II: The Search for Son of Curly’s Electric Boogaloo, and finally the relic courtesy of eBay.  Being that Harold Baines is probably my dad’s favorite player, all three are currently displayed on the parents’ entertainment center.

#11

’61 Moe Thacker..

An early ’60s Cub?  Of course I’m going to to take it.  I don’t really team collect anymore, but I have a binder for cool Cubs stuff I like that doesn’t fit into a specific player collection or set or single page.  There’s a place in it for vintage, rookies/prospects, inserts/parallels, hits, and certain oddballs and things.  So yeah, this be a keeper.

#10

1986 Topps 1000 Yard Club..

What better way to jump into the top-10 than with the greatest running back of all-time?  I have several cards from Sweetness’ playing career (including his RC!), but nothing from about 1981-86, so this starts to close that sad gap in my collection a little bit.

#9

Dock In Action..

Another ’70s pitching great with a dedicated binder page the card drafts have started to fill up.  I only had a single Dock before this, from epic time suck that was the Diamond Giveaway.  It should’ve been two though, Topps.  Thanks for screwing me out of the ’75, the only card from his playing career that could top this card and the next on the countdown.

#8

Dock not in action..

My ordering might’ve gone off the rails in this part of the list, but that’s okay.  It’s hard to beat a ’72 for anyway.  This was early in the era where I argue Topps peaked (from 1971-1985, they simply didn’t make a bad looking set, and ’71, ’72, ’75, and ’83 are all-time greats), and while the design is way… oh, let’s say flouncier, than ’71, it still positively reeks of the same kind of class as the straight black ’71s.

#7

Upper Deck Ovation Future Forces Ray Allen..

From the height of Topps powers to the height of Upper Deck’s, this is one of those scan doesn’t do the card justice types.  These days Ray is the most prolific 3-point shooter of all-time and a future Hall-of-Famer.  Amazing then that he might only be the fourth best player in his draft class!  Kobe, while kind of a douche, is unquestionably the best of the class, Allen Iverson is 6th in NBA history in points-per-game at 26.7 (from a guy not even legitimately 6’0″ tall!), and Steve Nash is a 2-time MVP and one of the greatest point guards in NBA history.

What a draft that 1996 class was.  4 Hall of Fame locks (the above mentioned Kobe, AI, Nash & Allen), 4 of the better all-star/Hall of Very Good journeymen ever (Antoine Walker, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Stephon Marbury, Peja Stojakovic) and several significant contributors and long-lasting role players (Kerry Kittles, Marcus Camby, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Derek Fisher, Jermaine O’Neal).

Oh, and I guess this card is available, but only reluctantly.

#6

Aramis Ramirez 2012 BowChro Blue Refractor #’ed /250..

This card is so so pretty with that deep blue border and surprisingly decent for a Bowman product design (although 2013 is pretty decent too).  The only thing keeping it out of the top-5 is the Cubs’ next Hall of Famer having moved on to the Brew Crew after the 2011 season.  Usually I stop actively chasing players when that happens, but I finally officially went over 100 Aramis Ramirez cards early this year and am still going strong, if mostly focused on using my own money to get his autograph cards right now.  I figure when I get back into trading again, the lower-tier Aramis base cards and inserts will start filling out some more.

Well, there you go.  I might even be questioning my list myself, but those are my 15-6 from Card Draft II.  That’s all for this one, lonely souls.  Thanks for stopping by and reading my rambles and looking at my cards.  Check back next time for the top-5!

Next time, Gadget…

The Lonestarr Personal Collection- 1983 Fleer Ryne Sandberg RC

One of the better couple dollars I’ve ever spent..

Picked this beauty up on COMC not too long ago for around $2.40.  I already have two Topps Ryno RCs, so now I just need OPC and Donruss I think.  I’ll never be able to afford the TCMA card.  Also, those early-’80s Cubs unis are ridiculous, but still better than the fugly White Sox’ early-’70s Sunday alternate throwbacks.

I wish I had more to say about the card itself though.  It’s definitely worthy of an insane Night Owl post.  Maybe I could use it as an excuse to continue down the ridiculous uniform rabbit hole, or lament the lack people naming their kids Ryne these days or something.  But alas, I’m not that focused or seasoned or good.  If I was, I’d have my silly tween genre fiction novels written & published already & no longer be living in this dump & I’d be able to afford more cards &… Err, anyway, just suffice to say I absolutely LOVE this card.

Until our next…

Cubs and Bears COMC Keepers

Heyo, Loneycakes (yeah, that better not stick) back with the Cubs and Bears portion of the latest COMC order.

Bears!

The Gale Sayers scanned rather nicely, but still doesn’t do the card the justice it deserves.  Easily amongst the 10 best I picked up this time around.

The Pog card is kind of a mess.  Think I might pop ’em out.

Can’t get enough Hester cards.  That’s a collection I’d love to expand dramatically.  Incidentally, and to unintentionally totally rip Fuji off with related question audience participation, do you consider Devin Hester a Hall of Famer, or at least well on his way to becoming one?

Orton, man… can’t let ol’ neckbeard go.  Wrecking the Pack’s perfect season plans was most enjoyable.

Forte is a parallel with a super subtle rainbow shine and is #’ed /250 I think.  It reminded me a lot of the shine on the lesser American Pie parallels, where you can’t even tell unless the light hits it right.

Finally, A-Train!  What a great looking card with a great looking autograph.  It’s on (or in I guess) card too.  All I need is a swatch to complete his trifecta, and they are cheap and fairly plentiful.

Cubs!

Corey Patterson… what could have been?  He was fading a bit when he got hurt that year, but would he have become legit if it never happened?

Welington looks like an embedded window ala the A-Train, but it isn’t.  It is on-card though.  I do believe this completes my trifecta for him.

Brett Jackson.  Please pan out, please pan out, please pan out…  Josh Vitters too.

The Ryno back..

Honestly, I don’t even remember buying this one.  But it’s pretty cool.  And I totally did forget something in the non-Cubs post, but it’ll have to wait.  They really should have a post of their own.  So stay tuned for that, along with one other keeper post.  Then we go to the trade bait end of things.

Until our next…

Ryno Get!

So I stopped by the Diamond Giveaway site like I do at least once almost every day, to clear out most trade offers & accept any I might like (there are two definite accepts today, for the record).  In recent days, I’ve also been checking to see if the final three Die-Cuts had dropped yet.  Ryne Sandberg is among the last three, so I decided to hold back any extra codes I might end up with until the last three dropped so I could take as many shots as landing him as possible.  I ended up saving back three of the four codes I picked up in that time, but it turns out I only needed one.  Behold!

Yes!

With the first code card (which will be forever encased in a top loader), he appeared.  And my jaw went slack in a way usually only reserved for impossibly beautiful women, impossibly beautiful art, impossibly bad puns, and impossibly delicious and gigantic sandwiches.

The other two codes didn’t score much (’85 common & ’90 Carlton Fisk), but anything else would’ve just been gravy anyway.  When I first looked only two Rynos had been unlocked, & five after I finished unlocking cards and digging, so I got him early.  Aaaand with my big late need already out of the way, I can concentrate the 228 (roughly 200 available for trade) cards in my portfolio on reclaiming Ichiro and Beltre and landing Ernie Banks and the other two Cubbies I need (Marmol and Colvin).  Hopefully there will be enough to score a few guys from my third tier list too (revised as follows: Andrew McCutchen, Mike Stanton, Reggie Jackson, Jackie Robinson, Carlos Santana, Miguel Montero, Dan Haren, Jered Weaver, Carlos Quentin, Clayton Kershaw, Jose Reyes… I’m not too picky, lol).

And yes, 228 is not a typo.  Someone offered 150 cards for my Ichiro, with a majority of it being solidly tradable based on other trades I’ve made.  So… I took it.  Thus also my reason for needing Ichiro again.

These are the Diamond Die-Cuts I have now, all keepers minus the extra King Felix, and I have specific plans for it.

Ryno

Starlin

Shin-Soo Choo

King Felix (x2, using the second to try to land Ernie or Ichiro)

Vlad

Big Papi

Winfield

Aramis

Marlon Byrd

Buehrle

Romero (Black Diamond)

Guess that’s all for this one, folks.  As ever, thanks for stopping by!

Until our next…

COMC Order #2

Vintage 2: Son of The Search for Curly’s Electric Boogaloo Returns

Yeah, let that sweet vintage goodness wash over you and cleanse your soul...

These are all Hall of Famers (except the card-sharing Downing and the Cobra, who is fairly close to Hall-worthy), and they are all keepers this time.

Is that ’72 not glorious?  1047 wins represented on that card!  And those two early-mid ’80s Carews probably don’t qualify as vintage yet, but they’re getting way too close for comfort.  That is depressing, because I will become vintage only one year later.  Not cool, man, not cool. 😦

On that disheartening note, the next post will be short, in more ways than one, as we somewhat seamlessly segue out of vintage and into the next section.

Oh, and Merry Christmas and Happy Universal Non-Denominational Holiday Celebration to all!

Now I have a machine gun.  Ho-ho-ho…

COMC Order #1

Check out my cards had a shipping special over Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend.  10¢ a card.  So I picked up the 77 cards I’d been storing up since about March, for $7.70 instead of over $22.  Well, I had mid-50s, but the $15 I saved on shipping allowed me to pick up about 21 more cards for immediate shipment.  And a few days ago I finally got it all scanned.  So let us check them out, one scan of one section at a time.

First up, we’ll start with vintage, cuz… why not?

1960 topps Gernert, Hobbie and Cunningham AS, 1971 topps Hoyt Wilhelm, 1975-76 New York Nets (featuring Dr. J), 1968 beat up & used Yaz checklist & Manny Sanguillen rookie, and a couple Gaylord Perry's from the latter half of the '70s..

Just stare at them for awhile.  They aren’t all the greatest of players or in the best of shape, but doesn’t staring at old cards just make you feel good?  Doesn’t it just relax you and somewhat put your mind at ease, if only for the moment?

Speaking of condition, the Wilhelm is in spectacular shape, impossibly awful centering aside.  Smooth surface, four sharp corners, and no creases at all.  Can’t ask for more of a ’71.  Only the first five are keepers, Yaz and the bottom row are available for trade.

PS: Nobody has guessed the card right yet.  Everyone that guessed may try again (on that post plz).  We’ll go until someone gets it right.

Until or 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...