Campy Was In Every Set Too!

Night Owl has put Bert Campaneris back in the collective mind in more ways than one.  (See what I did there?)  His post about Campy related how Bert showed up in several games he was watching, and is remembered for playing all nine positions and losing his composure one time in the playoffs.

Dagoberto happens to be one of my (many) player collection subjects.  Mine is not the best or most complete collection of his cardboard, but I haven't done bad.  It's not high end by any means, but is pretty diverse in relation to most of my other PCs.  Let's check it out.  (Sorry, I left them in the pages to scan, so there may be a few glare spots.)

Nice '65 rookie card with ASR Trophy and KC A's pinstripes, also mirrored in the '66 Rub-Off.  The red thing is an Atlantic Oil game card.  The '69 trio card is a rare combo for that year.  Bert has a lot of hatless shots in his catalog, though.

Since he has so many oddball cards, I sometimes leave spaces in certain pages to make room for future additions.  There are some gems here, including the black & white '69 Milton Bradley, a Topps Photostamp, and a rare (for my collection) '71 Bazooka.  You can't do much better than '70 Kellogg's though.

Occasionally, I'll forego the chronological order to make a more appealing page, as in this one with so many matching O-Pee-Chee and Topps cards.  (Topps always goes first in my binders until 1980, then the companies go in alphabetical order).  The glaring omission here is the '73 World Series card.  Gotta look for that at the next big show.  Whenever that comes...

As with any major OPC appearance, you have to see the backs to fully appreciate them.

More World Series action and more oddballs.  And again, another OPC WS card gets pushed up my priority list.  Maybe I'll add them to my top 10 wants the next time I have to fill in some spots.

Some heavy airbrushing on those '77s.  You know that's the same photo recropped from the '76 shot.  The '79 is a very clean card though, and the colors work really well.  Apparently Kellogg's cards are prepared early in the offseason.  They didn't get the Texas memo in time.

Bert looks much less out of place with the Angels than the Rangers, I think.  After the rough edged OPC, we get into the modern era and the other companies.

But it isn't long until his career winds down.  That minor league card is by TCMA in '83.  It's my most recent addition to this PC.  The second all-time leader is OPC too.

Now we get to some serious oddballs.  Ol' Bert just didn't want to quit playing the game he loved.  Went from the minors to the Senior League.  I did not get that IP auto myself.  Bought it at a show for probably less than $10.  The little playing card thingy is in the catalog, but is really only a xeroxed piece of paper.  You can really see the embossing on the Action Packed in the last slot. 

His ubiquity continues thru the '93 Ted Williams set, UD All-Time Greats with Anniversary editions, Sonic Greats, SI Greats Of The Game (a set I want to build really bad.  Found a dealer with a whole box of it one time and only picked out my PC guys at the time.  Should have got a starter of the whole thing too.  One of those regrettable moments I'll always remember), and the excellent UD Decade 70's.

More recent post-career goodness - Archives, Super Teams, Fan Favorites, Tribute, SP Legendary Cuts, and the prettiest set of all time Upper Deck Timeless Teams.

Rounding out the binder pages, Topps Pristine and a buyback.  I try to put buybacks in order by the year they came in packs (again) instead of the year of the original issue.

Now to the really oddball stuff.  Pulled these out of my non-nine pocket page binder.  Upper Deck BAT triple folder card, '71 Topps coin, '70 Super (which is super thick and somewhat curled), and '67 poster.  Gotta love those shoulder numbers.

This one is even a little too large for the scanner bed.  1970 poster, which I thought was older than that.

And finally, and item so oddball it can't be scanned.  This RC Cola can is from the second series, issued in 1978.  They also had football cans that year.  The previous year, the cans had square bio information areas.  Luckily, this one was on top of my stack of nine cans of my PC guys.  Still looking for a bunch more.

And that's my Bert Campaneris collection.  He's got a lot of diverse card related items to go after, and I'm sure there are many more for me to find.

Doesn't Break My Heart To See Them Go

Matt from Heartbreaking Cards Of Staggering Genius did a little shopping for me and killed over half my top wants.  It's always so great when traders will do this for you.  And it makes the posts easier to compose, since the pictures are already on my home wants page.

The first couple were easy-ish football singles to kill sets.  The first of two guys named Allen kills my 1996 Topps set (or the second copy that didn't go to my Redskins collection did).

The next guy was also from 1996, but ended the regular Ultra set.  Bee-Ak-A-Ba-Too-Ka was the last rookie.  Still working on the companion set of the foily Sensations.

The other Allen is this 1983 rookie that I figured I'd end up buying at the next show, but now I don't have to look for it any more.  Glad to finish another vintage football set.  Which means I can start some more. 😁

Keeping with the Hall Of Famer theme, this Fleer Greats Of The Game Retrospection Collection (<gasp> long name) finished that little insert set.  I bet these were expensive when they first came out.

Even more potential HOF'ers in this pair of 1965 tall boy minis from 2012.   Wish these fit into sheets better, but they're too cool.

Same theme, different sport.  This Mario finishes the base set to 1993-94 Upper Deck, although I still have those WJC stamp errors on the list.  Not sure if they're easy to find or not.  I thought there was only one, but there is evidence that there are actually a bunch of them.  Anyway, Mario is one of the few Penguins I respect.

This one didn't spend much time on the Top 12 list.  It's a second copy for my space binder.  There are still a couple similar things on the non-sport list to take its place, though.

Back around to baseball, this is also a set killer from 1994 Donruss.  A set I kinda started from scratch with a handful of extras from my dupes box and a few trips to dealers with cheap singles.  Nice to put this one to bed.

And finally, this SP from 2014 GQ.  I never saw this one in the wild myself, so I'm very glad to finally have it.  Not likely to try to tackle any more GQ sets unless they go back to the more conservative retro designs.

Thanks again Matt for flattening my Top 12 list.  I replaced enough of them to make it a Top 10 list again.  It's getting tougher to find individual singles to put up here.  The majority of my "5-0r-less" set lists are down to at least three or more cards.  Maybe that just means I'll have to go on another shopping trip to SportLots or COMC again myself.

PayPal Shipping Tutorial

For all your basic mailing needs, PayPal Multi-Order shipping is really all you need.  The Post Office site is OK, and I think the rates are the same, but this way, the payment is more streamlined and it just works well for the most part.

I have a bookmark for the shipping site.  It is https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_bulk-ship  They call it "multi-order shipping", but it's not linked directly from the PayPal home page.  It may ask you to set up your From address and choose the default payment method.  It's been so long ago I don't remember if I did that or if it just takes it from your regular registered information.  In some of the help functions, it says multi-order shipping is for business accounts, but I've never registered as a business that I remember, or if I did, I probably just called my "company" Collective Mind or something.  That company name doesn't show up anywhere.

So hopefully, after logging into PayPal, you get to the shipping screen.

Click on the Create Shipment button on the right side.

Your address should show up in the Seller Address box.  (I'm obscuring all the addresses for security).  I typically fill in the "Order Number" box with the recipient's name and maybe a bit about what I'm sending.  Like "FujiGinters" or "NOwlDodgers" etc.

Scroll down and fill in the Recipient's name, street address, city, state, and zip code.  If you click in a box and don't put anything in there, it will turn red and nag you.  I keep blogger addresses in a Notepad file and my other trading group distributes a Word document with mailing info for all the members.  So when I go to mail, I copy the address and either paste it into a blank Notepad, or just have it ready.  Then I can copy and paste some of the pieces into this form.  Usually it's the street address, since they can be complicated.  Then click on the Continue button.

Next is the shipping method.  The default is never what I am using.  For a normal bubble mailer, you want First Class of course.  Heavier white boxes will need Priority, but you can switch later if a flat rate box ends up being cheaper.  Options for signature and extra insurance (above the included $50) are here.

Switch the first box to First Class Mail and the second one will convert to the proper choices.  Bubble mailers go under Package/Thick Envelope.

In the case of a Priority box, the options change to Package Weight and Dimensions.  Any fractions of an ounce must be entered as the next full ounce (2.3 oz = 3 etc.).  Dimensions only have to be whole inches.  Standard white boxes are 4" wide and 3" high and whatever length.

Scroll down for the other options, and then click on Create Shipment.

The circle will spin, and then you'll see this screen.  You can enter more packages and repeat the above steps by clicking Create New Shipment.  Or if that's all you have, then click Done.

That puts you back to the initial shipping screen with your entered shipment(s) now showing.  If you want to change anything, now is the time.  Click the Edit link at the far right for the shipment you want to change.  This is where you can change to flat rate boxes to see if it's cheaper.  You'll have to re-enter the weight and dimensions if you go back to straight Priority.  When it's all set, click Review and Pay.

Here you have some options on payment method (if you have more than one set up in PayPal already.)  And you can set the mailing date.  I don't usually get my packages out until the next day, so I set the date accordingly.  Don't imagine it makes that much difference.  Click on Pay when you're ready.

Your account is charged.  Click on Done.  Now it's time to print your new label.

Back to the shipping screen.  The tracking number shows for each shipment.  You might want to copy this for later pasting into an email or trading site.  Click on Print (#) shipping labels.

The label opens as a .pdf file in a new tab or window and gives two buttons.  The first prints a test page so you can verify how the label will come out before you officially print it.  If you know that is set, then click on Print label (# page).

 A third tab opens with the print screen as well as a separate printing dialog that comes from Windows.  For #00 and #000 size bubble mailers, I will go into my printer preferences and set the scaling to 85%.  That prints the label clearly, but in a size that fits flat on that small of a package.  Otherwise, just click OK to print as is.

Close those two tabs/windows and you're done!  You can log out of PayPal.

Cardboard OCD Chapter 7b: PWE Is Good For Me

I like to try to mix up my posts, but I spent yesterday getting a haircut (!), calling to set up and upgrade to my internet service, and filing and shredding about five years of bills and papers.  So here's the next mail tutorial back-to-back.  My readership numbers have been down to about 40 lately, but the bots come out in full force when you title something with "Cardboard", so that last post is at 193 or something crazy.  Anyway, on with the show!

Last time, I went through my bubble mailer packing technique.  Today, you'll see how I do Plain White Envelopes.

The way I do it, I need a few custom supplies - slightly wider penny sleeves, semi-rigid envelopes, and mailing labels.  Plus the right stamps.

We'll start by packing up the cards.

I generally don't get more than 10 cards in a PWE.  Some senders that use the "Sheet Strip Special" as I call it (one row of a plastic page in an envelope), might get more, but they're not quite as securely packed as mine.  Just my opinion.

So here are both halves of the batch in their sleeves and tucked in the particular size Card Savers.  I'm not sure what the designation is for this size (CS2 maybe?), but there's a bigger size that won't work.  I have tons of these sitting around.  If you'd like a few dozen or so, let me know.  I'll send 'em out gratis.  Don't forget your painter's tape over the openings if you suspect these will shift.  Most of the time, they're tight enough going in that I'm pretty sure they won't move.

The size is important, because they fit exactly in the envelopes that I use.  They're 6½" x 4½" and rigid enough to stand up a lot better than paper, but thin enough so they don't add weight.  I got 400 of them in 2017 for 10¢ each and I'm not running low yet.

I got this template from a post office that I used to frequent all the time near my old office.  Comes in handy to make sure my envelopes aren't over the thickness limit.

This is the current "regular letter + non-machinable" stamp I've been using.  (55¢ + 15 = 70¢)

This is the current one.  Same value.

This is what the 15¢ additional ounce stamp looks like in 2020.  Add one of these to a regular Forever stamp and you've got the same as the butterfly stamps.  Use one of these with the butterfly if your non-machinable envelope is also heavier than a single ounce.

You guys know how to write or print labels for sender and recipient addresses, so there's no need to show that in detail.  I have return address labels with my blog title, trading groups and other general sports logos that I can use depending on who I'm sending to.

Cardboard OCD Chapter 7: Wrap It Up, I'll Tape It

A while back there were packaging tutorials and the annual posts about pull tabs and the proper kind of tape to use when shipping cards.  I finally remembered to take pictures while packing up a few shipments, so I figured I'd throw my 2¢ in.

So you've got your cards to send out sealed up in team bags and nestled in a bubble mailer.  Your note is written and inserted.  They are ready to go.

The mailer is sealed, but there isn't any tape on it yet.  Go ahead and weigh it up.  (A decent postal scale is about $20).

Create your mailing label online.  I use PayPal, and will document that process in another post.  (Should be easy - I write computer directions for a living after all.)  Print 'em out - to scale if necessary - I will print my label at 75% size to put on a #000 envelope instead of wrapping it around both sides.

Cut your label down to size.  I got this paper cutter for less than $10 at Hobby Lobby.  I've seen people leave the little PayPal logo at the bottom of the label.  I cut it off.  I don't advertise for anybody.

Now the label is ready for attachement.  Unless I'm recycling a mailer, I put the label on the back.  That way you seal the package with the label and leave the front clean for future use.

Here's my little taping trick.  Stretch your packaging tape just beyond the width of the label.

It's a bit too wide to use the whole piece on one side of the label.  Before you apply the tape, tear it in half lengthwise.  Decent packaging tape will tear this way easily.

Apply each half to the ends of the label.

Repeat for the long side.

I've done it so much, I can leave the second half stuck to me while I apply the first half piece.

And it's almost ready...

I like to put a couple short pieces on the sides of the envelope flap just to make sure it stays closed and discourages snooping.

We'll send it out with this video that I'm always reminded of when I hear "wrap it up".

Next time: PWE's if you please...