Of Heroes And Patriotism

Was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of one of the packages that Greg the Night Owl sent out recently.  Some of the contents were very timely, arriving just before Independence Day.

This is one of two 2001 Topps United We Stand inserts that were issued after the events of 9/11 (2001).  The flag flying over the damaged Pentagon wall honoring those who perished in the attack on Washington, D.C. that day.

Here's a wider view of that spot just after the tragedy.

The other UWS card is a shot of Ground Zero at the World Trade Center in New York.

Just last weekend, I visited the site of the result of the third attack that day, the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, PA.

A wide view of the grounds, with the wall to the right, the point of impact marked by the boulder in the middle, and the walkway that borders the sacred ground of the crash site.

 

This is the overlook platform just beyond the Visitor Center at the top of the hill.

The wall with the names of the 33 passengers and aircraft crew.

And a shot of one of the displays inside the Visitor Center.

I'll do a more complete post about that in the near future.

And just so this doesn't become more about 9/11 than the 7/4, here's another card from N.O. with a little more triumphant spirit to it.

Neil Armstrong setting off to unite the world as they watched him set foot on somewhere other than Earth.  An amazing accomplishment that still blows my mind when you think of the level of technology present in 1969 when they pulled it off.

I don't consider myself a really spiritual person, but my sense of patriotism is very strong.  It's almost the strongest emotional force that I can be motivated by of anything I can think of.  There are a lot things about this country that are annoying and cause a lot of conflict between people.  But I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.  I'm not a very competitive person, nor am I overly motivated to be that "type A" go-getter who spends a lot of time gnashing their teeth to achieve as much as possible all the time.  But I could see myself becoming highly energized to combat an attack on our freedoms in this country.  I actually tried to become a soldier once, but a severe case of pneumonia at the wrong time messed that up.  At the time I discovered my path was elsewhere, but I still have an appreciation for the fighting spirit in defense of the flag.

Enjoy your celebrations with family and friends on the Fourth.  And be safe with the pyrotechnics, please.

If I Did Not Trade Fupbaw, I Would Not Be Getting Fupbaw Today

Got one of those great "out of the blue" envelopes today from Trevor at Bump And Run Football Card Blog.  It was mostly Redskins, with a couple bonus cards too.

A couple familiar 2013 Bowman, though Bowman is never really familiar.

A pair of Donruss Elite, circa 2018.  Definitely an interesting design.

Four from Prestige of the year before - 2017.  I like this design too, but I'm STILL working on the 2014 Prestige set.  The inserts go on forever.  Nice Draft insert of Jon Allen.

Bonus items included a hit to my second set of 2008 Score, the always elusive and numerous rookies.

A rare hit to my Priest Holmes collection!  Sweet!  It's hard to hit my Priest list with anything that's not a scarce parallel in general, so this is pretty cool.  Kudos to Trevor for perusing the long listings.

Back to DC's finest, a cool serial numbered Joe T.  Let's hope the new #7 in town can perform like he did.

Whoa! I never expect a mojo hit among a batch of Redskins like this.  Just "wow!"

I shall have to renew the assault on Trevor's want lists.  Thanks dude!

And here's the famous (at least to us older folks) football routine I reference in the title.

Historical Figures Come To Life (in 2008)

Bo from BB Cards Come To Life! saw my post about the starter for 2008 Allen & Ginter that I picked up at the beach and had some to fill holes.  One of the cool things that I like about A&G is the "other" people that are featured in the set besides the ballplayers.  Here are the non-player cards from the batch Bo sent.

Ben, Al, and Annie.  Masters of Electricity, Relativity, and Weaponry.

James, Mary, and Bram.  Wrote about Frontiersmen, Frankenstein, and fellows with fangs.

Marie, Pablo, and Claude.  Brought Radium, Cubism, and Impressionism to the public.

Harriet, Pyotr, and Friedrich.  On the forefront of Abolition, Composition, and Existentialism.

Charles, Frederick, and Davy.  Leaders of Characterization, Anti-Discrimination, and back woods Oration.

Pluto and Oscar.  For a while they stood tall, but were destined for a fall.

 

Not that Pluto and Oscar....

The one United States (flags) insert to home town face of the franchise Ryan Zimmerman.

And the rest are the (Just Short Of) Short Prints.  These are the every-other pack cards from #301 to 350. 

That's the way you do "short prints". 

Thanks again to Bo for a great selection of singles for this set!

2019 NBA Oops Bob Myers Platinum Relic

Here's another ridiculous virtual offering from another company in the tradition of the Manny Machado tablecloth relic.  We're starting 10-hour days, so I can't stay up late (I'm writing this Sunday night) and put the website page together with the four digit sale price (at least not yet).  But here's the card itself.  Platinum edition, one of one.  Offered at $7499.99

Not a knock on ol' Bob for getting choked up about putting KD in and seeing him reinjure himself.  But rather a ludicrous object to be put in a relic card.  He would never sell them the suit to begin with.

Of course, you can tell it's the Platinum version by the silver striping. 

One of these days I'll have to invest in a graphics program newer than 1996 to be able to do layering and transitions better.

Goals For The 2019 National

Got my tickets to the 2019 National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, IL starting July 31.  (The 31st is the Wednesday night VIP preview.)

I've missed the last couple Nationals, mostly by choice.  Didn't have enough motivation that I really needed to go.  I've been doing so well with trades, shops and local shows, ramping it up at a National would have just been overkill.  But we (including my usual teammate Stuart) have planned to go this time.  (The show returns to Rosemont every other year.)

We get the VIP packages because we usually attend three or four days of the show.  You can't see it all (or at least shop it effectively) in a single day.  Plus, the perks of the lounge area, and the early preview night and admission each day is nice.

The free autograph tickets are good trade fodder sometimes, but I don't usually go for many autographs.  Looking over the guests who are signing this time, I really don't have any prospects that excite me.  There are a couple of my player collection guys who will be there, but I've got their signatures in some form already, and the cost (auto + inscription) - Bruce Sutter ($39+20), Carlton Fisk ($89+25), Lou Piniella ($49+20) - is a bit much.  Piniella is about as high as I'll go, but he doesn't mean enough to me to seek him out.   The VIP freebies don't really have anyone to keep me around after the sales floor opens either.

It is nice to get the promo cards from each company, especially the Fisk for my PC.  I'll end up with two sets this time.  Skipping a couple shows leaves a hole in my Nat card collection, and I have extras that I'd like to trade for some of the missing ones from the last few shows and before.

But my main goal will be cards, of course.  And most likely largely vintage.

If I can find a T205 Mathewson withing a certain range, that'll be the biggest white whale purchase I've ever made, at a National or any show.

I'll probably put a dent in my remaining 1964 Topps wants, but I don't think I'll be able to kill the set.  Still need a whole lot of big names and high numbers.

Would love to find the last two variations of my 1959 set.  Need the ones WITHOUT the "Optioned" or "Traded" lines on the back.

Other than that, my vintage needs are mostly oddball stuff like '77 Cloth Stickers (2), '75 minis, '74 Kellogg's, some upgrades to '77 Topps, and the oddball Baseball Immortals.

I can really kill it in football this time, since I've fallen into completing three consecutive sets at once.  These will be my main targets to slay at the tables.

Plus a few hockey sets too.  Any bulk vintage hockey find would be absolutely epic.  Not that I need a bulk purchase at the moment.

I'm sure I'll find tons for my player collections in all three sports.  Hope I can knock off some of my top wants as well.  Can't wait to dive in!

Are you planning to attend the National?  Would love to meet you there.

Bethany Beach Bargain

Spent the weekend visiting my best friend William in Delaware.  We tried to go fishing on his pontoon boat in the bay, but the wind and choppy seas cut that short.  Nice day for boat rides, but not for catching fish.  His crab pots did yield just over a dozen.

So Sunday, we ventured down to Bethany Beach to walk around the shops, especially Bethany Sports Cards and Collectibles.

The first two times I was in there, they had some boxes of mixed baseball, Yankees etc. that were largely late 80's & early 90's. At one point there was a huge stack of starters or sets of 90's basketball.  Didn't find much either time.

This time, though, the boxes of mixed singles were still there, but there was a good deal more.  On top of a double stack of shoeboxes that I didn't examine real closely, there were two binders.

Inside one, there was a starter set of 2008 Allen & Ginter baseball.  '08 is one of the rare years that I don't have going of A&G.

And it's not just base cards.  Starts off with a box topper and three N43's....

There are mini inserts - a couple from most all the sets, as well as the full size ones.  The majority of the "United States" state flag inserts are present.

A better look at the minis.  These I'll be building.

Flipping through the base set, it's the better part of the base, and plenty of short prints, though there are a few big ones missing, but some of the name players are there.  No Kershaw, so he's the key fugitive.

The unnumbered Fukudome was up with the couple code cards and the inserts, though!  Sweet.

Then in the back, my favorite trade fodder - the minis.  In no particular order, they're just kinda stuck in there.

A mixture of low, middle, and high numbers (beyond 300), and a mixture of backs....

With a few black borders as well.  Ol' Kaz Fukumori (???) is unnumbered too.  All the minis are available for trade.  There are two and a half pages of the regular/A&G back ones that I can list for you.

I asked the gentleman behind the counter what the pricetag would be for the binder.  He deferred me to the owner, whose number was listed on their business card.  We left the shop as I called him since William wanted to see something elsewhere.  I called and left a message with Tom the owner.

He got back to me shortly thereafter, and apparently had spoken to the guy in the shop with the price, but I had stepped away already.

He told me "There are two binders there.  Ten bucks for both."

SOLD!

The binders themselves are basically worth that!  The second binder was really just a throw in and the contents are available to anyone who is interested.

It's a 210 card set of 1991 Impel Disney cards with about double that many extras as well.  No holograms, but plenty of minty fresh cards.

The set has three sections.  The first is Favorite Stories, which appears to chronicle a lot of well-known cartoons.

The second is Family Portraits which highlights all the major characters....

And the third is World Tour, that shows the Disney favorites showcased around the globe.

Like I said, these (and the A&G minis) are available.  I'll even send the Disney cards in the sheets if you want the whole set or entire lot.  Or if you just need a few, I can split those out too.

Nice beach bargain buy, I think!  '08 A&G is now on my want list.