Showing posts with label excuse to show pretty girl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label excuse to show pretty girl. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Birthday Trifecta: Superheroes & Spies

I try not to post too many of these eye candy posts.  I could do a whole other blog with them and get millions of reads, but for what?  Though today I noticed that there were three gorgeous gals all having a birthday on the same day, so I couldn't resist.

Kirsten Dunst has been nominated for four Golden Globes, an Oscar, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I liked her best as a redhead in the Spider-Man movies by Sam Raimi in the early 2000's, then Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and later Hidden Figures.

She is equal parts girl next door and movie star bombshell, even at 43.

 

Gal Gadot is, of course, Wonder Woman on the silver screen.  The Israeli actress was a former pageant winner and model.  Still stunning at 40(!)

I didn't actually like the second movie, it was depressing.  Except for her...

She is both adorable and exquisite....

And finally, Ana de Armas has been a Bond girl, Marilyn Monroe, and a hologram in the movies.

 Those mesmerizing eyes....

She's been in the remake of Blade Runner, Knives Out (for which she was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe), No Time To Die, and Blonde.

A slim and sexy 37 today, Ana is absolute perfection.  She's my #1 most beautiful woman on the planet. 

You're welcome.

 

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Trading With Myself (Or The World)

Business is good.


Those sets are flying out of here, almost a couple every day or two.  I'm still in disbelief about how 1988-1990 sets are selling so well.  And if you don't know ~ eBay is a lot of work.  This is why I'm only posting a couple times a month.

But anyway, that's not what this post is about.  I finally photographed my last COMC order that I submitted in November 2024, and took delivery of in January.  I was trying to come up with a better way to show over 200 cards, but I ended up just laying them out and taking pictures with minimal glare.  I was only mildly successful at even that.  All the little bar-coded slips are still in each card's sleeve, though I did try to overlap them and crop them out.  But since they're all in penny sleeves, they catch all the reflections they possibly can, sorry.

Since my inventory on COMC is down below 100 cards, my credit balance is way up.  The last batch I submitted was 90% from the storage hoard (the upstairs batch in my house).  They've done well, and I've paid the owner his part, though I haven't cashed out the credit on the site.  I figure since I've paid out the money, I might as well get the cards from the site for myself.  My last order was over 200 cards like I said.  And most of them were around a dollar or less, so there are many more coming back than have gone out.  

  

The Trout above is one of several set hits that I knocked off with this purchase.  Set hits were not the majority of this order, though.

Stupid reflections...
The four 2006 Ginters are set killers.  The Trout is the penultimate 2012, but I still need Harper's rookie too.  Cal is the last one I've been searching for to finish that SP insert - and he's been elusive!  As you can see, the Pacifics are promos, and the first half of that group that I decided to dive into while picking out this order.  Jeffries is the proper Prism version - not the circular type.  And the Dominators and black GQ minis are both rather lifelong quests it seems...

Brett & Brady are the entirety of my football set hits this time.  They are also two of the more elusive finds and set killers.  Favre is a throwback promo from 2005 and Brady kills my 2015 Field Access set.  There have been many attempts at a Stadium-Club-like, unusual photo themed product in recent times, but they never seem to last more than a year or so.  They just keep getting different names.  

Some hockey list hits from a few different decades.  Guy & Mark leave only the big rookies for those two sets (Yzerman & Roy respectively), and Gretzky for the former.  Pretty sure the three '89-90s should kill that set.  The Flames team card is from one of my favorite hockey sets - 2005 Parkhurst.  Still looking for the Leafs and some of the higher number cards which aren't short prints, but are still hard to come by.  The remaining inserts are from Parkhurst of '16-17.  I have more trouble finishing the huge sets of recent years than I do the older ones.  

While I'm working on hockey sets, I always have to get a second batch of the Capitals too.  Many of these complete the team sets either outright or by upgrading the last ones.

  

And finishing out the hockey theme, I updated my list of Manon Rheaume cards that I have and want and looked at a whole lot of her stuff on the site.  Ended up with these that didn't exceed the cost threshold - a couple bucks or less.  Her older stuff is still surprisingly costly.  I suppose she's the only reason that people still look at early 90's off-brand hockey.  She's officially on my player collection list now.  Like Edwin Jackson, and Jordan Addison, it's only on the Database for the moment. 

Let's keep going with the player collections, and I'll save the coolest stuff for the end.  (Sorry about the mammoth image count if you're on a phone or something).  Found a few missing entries from my smaller football PCs.  The Upper Deck on the lower left is Dan LeFevour in the CFL. 

Of course, my biggest football PC is still Priest Holmes.  I found tons of his and had to filter out my take just to the cheap ones.  Had to draw the line at these so I didn't spend all my credit.  Between him and Jordan Addison, I could go all night.  Except for a half dozen "easy" base cards, I've been down to mostly serial numbered and scarce parallels - and mojo hits - for Priest for years.



Now, here's where I really went nuts.  I said I narrowed down my choices for Jordan Addison.  And I really did cut out any regular base cards that I figured I'd get in trade on TCDB.  But I still ended up with all these.  I'm out of control.  Here's a look at some of them close up....

A couple jerseys among them.  Only a few bucks apiece. 


Got these "Keepsake" base and parallels.  Don't even know what they are, except low numbered.  

And there was this silly thing.  

And these are the epitome of the parallel glut that is happening these days.  These are, in fact, different parallels.  The left one is the "Mini Diamond Refractor" version, as opposed to the "Speckle Refractor" on the right.  Come on people, you're really running this stuff into the ground.

Rounding out the player collection theme, here's all the baseball PCs from this order.  Lou Piniella isn't really one of my major guys, but there are so many of his managerial cards out there for less than a buck or so, that I can't help but try to fill them in.  The Pookie Bernstine in the very top left is the eighth one out of his ten total cards.  The only ones left are the gold version of that one and a TCMA.  The MCI Sparky Lyle isn't normally autographed, but at only $3, I couldn't grab it fast enough.  Got a pair each of minor league coach cards and Chrome Anniversary parallels for Gene Tenace at the same time.  The bottom corner Edwin Jackson is a 2010 Printing Plate that was only $8.50 - one of about a dozen cards over $2 on the whole order.


Moving on to fictional beings, Deathlok is my favorite comic character.   The Specialist card finally ends that Marvel set.  The first two cards are the same Captain America cover shot, but vastly different interpretations as far as color.

More sci-fi, but this time the classic stuff.  The last card to finish all the color series of the entire Star Wars set.  I'm also whittling away the 1977 Star Wars stickers - the cheap ones of course - these were all less than a dollar.  I'll be finishing the 1980 Empire Strikes Back set soon too.

And now the bonus for reading all the way to the end.  A few lovely ladies to complete the package.  A strange playing card Sheena Easton - my first musical love, before I heard the sound of metal guitars years later.  A Farrah mini from Golden Age to knock another of the five backs off the list.  A recent Saraya wrestling card - AKA Paige from WWE.   And some colorful images of golf influencer and total smokeshow Paige Spiranac.

Thanks for plowing through all my mediocre images of some cool cards.  As if I needed to add more cards to my overflowing desks, I have yet another order kinda like this one (though not as large) being picked right now and shipment is set for early March.  Stay tuned for that one!

My theory is that I'm basically swapping the cards I sell for all this, so it's really a bargain. It's kinda like trading with myself - or several hundred COMC users all at once!

Thursday, January 09, 2025

A Little Sunshine Among The Darkness

Man, there is suddenly a lot going on!  I go for weeks at a time with almost no inspiration to write, and now I've got like six post topics all happening at once!

I just posted a yearly recap that expanded into three parts, and today is my birthday, so I'm almost obligated to put this annual tribute to the lovely ladies that share my birthdate.  

Then I see that Monday, the subject of one of my most thorough player collections passes away at a young age.  I'll show you that collection in a little while.  

And there was also the passing of President Jimmy Carter, whose funeral was today.

But to start, let me acknowledge the praise of my best collecting buddy and blossoming blogger Stuart, who expressed his grattitude for my friendship over at SR75 Cards.  What he may lack in wordsmithing skill, he makes up in sincerity and enthusiasm (or maybe it's just addiction to cardboard).  We have indeed known each other since 2007, after we competed for a box of Upper Deck 40-Man on eBay.  He did introduce me to the National when it came to Baltimore the first time.  But don't let him mislead you about his superior cardboard knowledge.  I can't recite the World Series winners or MVPs or records and stats, but I've got almost 30 years collecting experience, and know more about a lot of card things (especially football.)  We've done a lot together in the pursuit of these little slices of fun.

Now let's continue to try to brighten the day with my traditional tribute.

The ever-graceful Kate Middleton was struck by cancer this year.  She fought well and underwent chemotherapy and seems to be back up to speed.  That's never a pleasant experience.  Hopefully she's moving past it in the new year.

That's right, keep smiling lady...you're amazing at 43.

What sets her apart is her extraordinary grace, elegance and humility. She adapted to being Royal in a way that was quite amazing. She is diligent in her duty as all Royals must be and relates to people with friendliness and genuine warmth.

Nina Dobrev is still active in movies and television production.  

She also has appeared at many awards and charity events.


And of course, stylish photo shoots...looking nothing close to 36.

And this year's bonus is the 70's and 80's country artist Crystal Gayle, whose bright smile and long locks attracted fans for years.

Believe it or not, she's still touring at 74 and looks just about the same!  An American classic.

Monday, September 30, 2024

Birthday Trifecta

I try not to pad my posts with a lot of this kind of thing, but I couldn't ignore today's particular situation.  Today marks the birthdays of not one, not two, but three lovely ladies.  I celebrated this before in 2020.

Monica Bellucci, star of two Matrix movies, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Malèna, Tears Of The Sun, The Passion of the Christ, and many more, turns an unbelievable 60!

Lacey Chabert, who has graced many productions from the Hallmark channel in the last several years after grabbing the spotlight on the Party Of Five tv show, turns 42.

And the former Nanny and current president of the Screen Actors Guild, Fran Drescher is still looking good at 67!

At least I'll get two posts in this month.  (With only a few minutes to spare!)

Saturday, July 20, 2024

Jerseys And New Yorkers

Still making like detectives and opening the case.  Gonna close it out with this post, since there are six boxes to go.  Too few to split into two posts, so I'm gonna go a bit quicker.

So far our insert/parallel/box topper piles look like this.


Box 4

Starting us off, Michael Jack Schmidt box topper.

Nothing really amazing in the parallels - white and shiny New Yorkers.  This is a recurring theme for a bit...

A slightly skewed shot of the hit - Eloy white swatch.  Hit Location - Last pack mojo (Bottom 4th)

And the rest.  An OK box.  Not my first choice if I had to pick one out of the whole case.



Box 10

Let's see if Stuart can do better than mine.  Starting off with another solid jumbo.

Another regular Chromey.  Three whites again.  Nice to get a Trout insert.  Also pulled his short print, which you'll see in the next pic, but not for long...

Because it is also the best shot of the biggest hit of the case.  I wouldn't say it's a "case hit", but it's the most valuable one we pulled.  (Stuart is keeping it forever.)  Hit Location - 3rd pack 4th stack

The consolidated view.


Box 5

Alright, let's see if I can get back on track.  Again, nice HOF topper...

Color swap Curtis Mead.  Comparing to shiny version, but you see the difference.

Duly noted on the back.  And my pull....

Cool!  So glad it's a vintage player again.  I know a Pirates guy that probably wants this one.

Another Palmer that will go in my PC, the Apollo insert for the Space binder, and a shiny Gavin......Gavin?  I'll get second copies of the T&N and News for my set later.



This gal might look familiar to those who follow the Royal Family in the UK...She usually had #24.

Box 11

Resisting the urge to reference "Spinal Tap" here again...  

A-ha!  Another buyback.  Still don't like the stamp where it is....checking Night Owl's list...Dangit.

Zack Gelof "My Lawn" image swap...

Confirmed.

J.T. Re-al-MOO-To.  The Phillies wear grey?  Hit Location - Last Pack Mojo.

The Black & White borders performed the Heim-Lux Maneuver.  

 

Box 6

Cool shot of Brett I don't think I've seen before.

Image swap of Johan Rojas.  Swapping his name to Rohan Yohas would have been even more fun.

Charlie's Bat, mon.  Hit Location - Top 2nd

We ended up with two of the Ohtani Highlight SPs.  That's always nice.


Box 12

And finally...

This one already appeared on Night Owl's post about how there is so much '75 content on his blog these days.  It was the only one of the three he needed from our break.


Neat black & white image Jake "No, my sister isn't Jenny" McCarthy.  Though I can't say I like the orange and yellow with the colorless picture.

Another image swap in the same box!

And this.  Nice autograph from another Yankee.  

The Morel of the story is "the shiny ones aren't the biggest deal".

I could keep going, but there is no Box 13.  Sorry, Leyla...

Hmmph...

I'll probably do a recap post just to put things in order.  Thanks for tuning in.  Good night!