On the reopening of card shows

I've been hearing rumblings around the card world that shows are starting to reopen in certain places.

I was worried this would happen, and I think it's incredibly dumb. I haven't checked if any shows in my area are running again, but even if they were, I wouldn't dream of going. It's been uneasy enough being at work in a fairly well-spaced out store with (most) people properly wearing masks -- could you imagine being in a cramped hotel banquet room with almost no masks in sight? (Let's not even discuss the fact that, at least from personal experience, a fair amount of people who attend card shows...well, let's just say they're not the most hygienic people in the world.)

Even in the best-case scenario of the pandemic fizzling out quicker than expected (which in my heart of hearts I don't see happening) I highly doubt I'll attend another show this year. I've said many times that I do indeed miss card shows -- but if I have to choose between a card show and my health, I'll take my health. It feels like the great divide between people's obliviousness between want and need has really been highlighted lately. There's a huge, huge distinction between the two.

Sure, I want to go to a show, but as much as I miss the memories of those fond card show afternoons, it's not a biological need or anything.

Plus, it's not like I'm in a card desert or anything -- if anything the number of packages I've received in the mail has increased over the past few months.

One particularly fun assortment of cardboard came from Shoebox Shane, a longtime trade partner and friend of the blog. I've swapped cards with Shane enough times to know that a package from him is like a card show hammered down and shoved into a single yellow mailer.

This time around, he started off my sending me a bunch of these 2013 Target Red parallels -- and when I say a bunch of them...

...I mean a BUNCH of them.

I loved these at the time, and I still love 'em now -- seeing them all in one place like this really makes me miss those (seemingly) long-gone years when Topps cards had borders.

Shane has said that he never quite knows what to send me, and just picks out any random items he thinks I might find interesting.

He's shown to have a great eye for that -- and from the looks of it, the overarching theme of the lot this time around was spectacularly colorful parallels.

You could pick a stack of cards at random from a giant box, and chances are I'd be able to find a use for a good portion of them.

Shane nearly batted 1.000 with his selections -- including a new Bo Jackson that I didn't notice doubled as a hit for my "interview" mini-collection until the third or fourth viewing.

Apropos of nothing: Eck!

These sucked me right back into my adolescent card-collecting years -- I opened many packs of all these semi-forgotten years and brands, and I often wonder if I'm the only person who's nostalgic for a set like 2006 Fleer Tradition.

I think I actually tried to build this Inaugural Nationals insert set in 2005 -- I was too young to remember the Diamondbacks/Devil Rays expansion in '98 so the Nats were (and still are) the closest thing I'd experienced to a "new" baseball team.

I guess I must've given up that project at some point, because I didn't have this Cristian Guzman (don't look too closely at that photo, or he'll start to stare into your soul). And so as you've probably seen, everything Shane sent here had the appropriate amount of fun and randomness I'd expect to find at a show, and I barely had to leave my room -- or the seat of my pants -- for the experience.

Card shows rule, but they're not necessities -- hopefully it won't be too long before the rest of the collecting world realizes that.

Local man finds cards at Target

I realize what I'm about to say may sound improbable, and perhaps even impossible, but I actually found cards at a Target last week.

And it was little more than an accidental surprise: I was out with a friend one day and sheepishly asked if she wouldn't mind stopping at the Target we were about to pass. I walked in expecting the same card-aisle tumbleweeds and was pleasantly floored at the full display. It was even more surprising because I'd been to the very same Target the week prior and found the shelves absolutely barren. But alas, the baseball cards were plentiful this time, and stocked to the brim -- if you read Dad's guest post last week, you know why such a sight is so rare these days.

I knew I probably shouldn't have posted this picture on Twitter, but I did anyways, and from the reactions it got you'd think I'd just discovered cold fusion or something. I love opening packs, but I like to think my collection doesn't depend on opening packs -- from the Twitter mob on that post I unwittingly learned that, to some people, collecting means opening packs, and little more than that. My thoughts on the retail bros are well known, but on the grand scale of things it probably affects me less than most collectors. Packs, to me, are an appetizer, but not so much a main course.

Fact is, however, I did walk out of the Target that afternoon with some cards, because I just couldn't resist -- anyone wanna take a stab at guessing what my big purchase was?

If you said a blaster of Diamond Kings (way in the bottom-left corner of that photo), you're right.

I'm as surprised as you. I'd never once bought a pack of Diamond Kings before this -- mainly because they're obscenely easy to find in dime boxes. But, of course, card shows aren't a thing right now. And while I did nab a couple Series 2 rack packs, I figured picking up any more than that would be a huge waste because I already had most of the base I needed coming in a Card Barrel order. And after deciding against Select (12 cards for $20? Nope...) and Bowman (don't know 90 percent of the dudes in the set), Diamond Kings basically won by default.

Normally, I wouldn't consider Diamond Kings anywhere near blog-worthy -- there's not a whole lot to say about it -- but given the rarity of finding baseball cards anywhere in the wild these days, I figured I'd document my blaster for posterity, if nothing else.

Pack 1:

#139 Nick Solak
#113 Donnie Walton
#157 Kyle Lewis
#28 Joe Cronin, blue frame parallel

The main draw of Diamond Kings, of course, is the older guys -- they're the only reason I considered buying a blaster of the stuff to be anything near worthwhile.

A further plus in Panini's favor is that they tend to feature somewhat forgotten legends (oxymoron?) that are all but ignored by Topps these days -- Joe Cronin is one of those lost stars, which made this framed parallel a treat.

#DK-7 Nolan Ryan, DK 206

These obvious T206 rehashes are a good enough idea, but they kinda freak me out a bit...I'm not sure why.

Pack 2:

#132 Jose Berrios
#106 Kyle Seager
#119 Mike Piazza

I don't talk much about Diamond Kings around here because the looks and designs and concepts just tend to get incredibly repetitive and dull and start to bleed together after a while.

I wouldn't have a prayer of matching each DK design to its respective year and release, and this time next year, I'm sure 2020 Diamond Kings will have already lapsed into that oblivion.

#111 Michael King, Artist's Proof blue parallel

#AP-10 Aaron Judge, Artist's Palette

To me, the relative lack of flair from Topps these days makes colorful cards like these seem all the more exciting.

Pack 3:

#163 Nap Lajoie

There aren't nearly enough Nap Lajoie cards in this world.

#138 Trevor Story

#112 Tony Gwynn

Gotta show all the Tony Gwynn cards I pull -- it's a law.

#86 Josh Bell, Artist's Proof blue parallel
#3000-13 Cal Ripken Jr., The 3,000

Pack 4:

#156 Logan Webb
#131 Jake Fraley
#DKMS-BA Bryan Abreu, DK Material Signatures

Significant for the jersey/autograph, insignificant since I have no idea who Bryan Abreu is.

#ATDK-22 Vladimir Guerrero, All-Time Diamond Kings

Me, I'll take this over a jersey card a hundred times out of a hundred.

#GOS-14 Christian Yelich, Gallery of Stars

Pack 5:

#105 Adrian Morejon
#150 Jaylin Davis
#126 Manny Machado
#DKM-TD Travis Demeritte, DK Materials Holo Silver (/99)

I've at least heard of Travis Demeritte, and this is probably the first time in recorded history that I've pulled two jersey cards out of the same blaster (and in consecutive packs!).

#DK-2 Aaron Judge, DK 206

Pack 6:

#101 Tres Barrera
#144 Bo Bichette

Something I don't understand: the checklist for this set lists everything from Card #101 and up as a short-print...but almost every base card in this blaster was #101+.

???

#118 Johnny Bench

Johnny Bench has been well represented by many brands over the years, but I'll never, ever get sick of his cards.

#29 Joe Wood, Artist's Proof blue parallel

I pulled a Smoky Joe Wood out of a pack of 2020 baseball cards.

I love this.

#INT-15 George Brett, In the Zone

The one and only horizontal card in the whole blaster.

Pack 7:

#27 Jackie Robinson

I want any and all Jackie Robinson cards.

#162 Brendan McKay
#137 Fernando Tatis Jr.
#111 Michael King

#A-1 Kirby Puckett, Aficionado

My blaster closed with this Kirby Puckett insert that kinda looked and felt like all the other inserts in this blaster -- I prefer insert sets to at least have a concept behind them, and I still have no idea why George Brett is "In the Zone," or why is Kirby Puckett is an "Aficionado."

Overall, not a ton to say about Diamond Kings other than to offer some kind of hope that, yes, some Targets, despite the madness, are still untouched by the masses and do still have baseball cards -- it's proof that miracles can happen in this crazy card world.

Three days on the front lines of Series 2 (Guest post from Dad!)

As Nick has mentioned,I supplement my income doing vendor work at big box stores...one of my gigs is stocking cards...usually the biggest hassle is little kids destroying the Pokemon and Magic displays...

But as you will see (and I don't know what's with these Series 2,it was never as bad as you will now see) the BIG kids took the biscuit this week!!

Day 1 - medium-sized store, one aisle of cards

Most of the stores I visited this week had a sign in the card section saying they reserve the right to limit the amount of cards you could purchase...so as I'm opening the boxes, a "bro" (i'll describe him,because they ALL look the same...backwards cap,t-shirt advertising beer or a resort,cargo shorts, flip-flops or sandals,wraparound sunglasses) saunters up...

"Do you know about baseball cards?" he asks (haha,I say "yeah, I know a little...")...of course he's looking for Series 2...so he starts crowding and peeking while I'm going through everything, finally I hear him mutter "come on"...so I say "first, back up...second,STAY backed up..."

He took ALL the Series 2,threw it in a cart,and basically ran to checkout...no one said anything...so much for the sign!

So far,not too bad...

Day 2 - giant store with card sections upstairs and downstairs

FOUR bros lying in wait as I pull up the cart..."what's these?" "do you have those!?" "dude,I was here first!" etc...

I guess there's a new basketball set out,too...i happened to open that first,and the feeding frenzy was on...grabbing,arguing...by the time I got to the Series 2,they were full-on nuts...to top it off,this location had no sign...

I finally had to (again) say STEP BACK!...then I just opened all the boxes,left them on the floor,and said "have at it,boys"...got so bad the security guy had to come over and break it up,haha!

Funny coda - I had left a big box of Series 2 in the storeroom so I could get Nick a couple packs! The guy you see in the picture at the top of the post is one of the ones who came BACK...I just waited until he left,and put the rest out!

Day 3 - tiny store, 1 shelf of cards

I thought "well, no problem here"...right? WRONG! As I'm finishing up,yet another bro is there in a flash and proceeds to start loading up ALL the new stuff in a cart...

The employee in charge (super nice guy,but not exactly a bruiser-looking dude) comes over,points to the sign and says "we have a limit,sir"...guy goes NUTS!..."are these for sale or WHAT!?...get outta my way, (insert homophobic slur here)!!"...

Well,that tore that...i stood next to my pal,staring daggers at brohinski,and asked him "how many can he have"...employee says "let him have half"...he folded and put half back...

I told the guy I was going to be there a little while,so he huffed and puffed but left the store...the employee said "I really appreciate that" so that made the 3-day ordeal worthwhile!

And just to end on a high note,I'm so pleased Nick has this card community of good folks who do nice things for each other...the REAL card enthusiasts! Thank you all...

The apocalypse is (kind of) over, but the Cardpocalypse is here

Thought I'd share some good news: as of next week, I'll have a job again!

My manager at the bookstore called me yesterday and asked if I wanted to come back to work this coming Monday. While I still think it's way too early for non-essential places to open back up, fact is the bookstore is open (complete with masks and proper sanitation, of course), and I kinda sorta need a job. This is also the first job I've had that I can actually say I like. So for that, it'll be good to be back -- even though I admit it's been nice to be generally slothful over the last couple months.

While my own personal apocalypse/quarantine may be winding down for now, there's a whole new one starting up again on the blogs, spawned by Tim over at the newly-christened "Cardpocalypse" blog (formerly "I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning"). This year has felt like a bad dream for many reasons -- some of which have spilled over into the card world -- but despite the name, Tim's "Cardpocalypse" has been one of the better developments. He even held a series of contests to celebrate the return of his blog, and I was lucky enough to win this neat Gleyber Torres insert from Finest (a brand I've still never opened a pack of after all these years) in one of the giveaways.

It's a bit painful to collect Torres -- he was once a Cubs prospect, after all -- but I do, and thus I was thrilled to add this one to my binders.

I thought that would be the extent of my contest winnings, but Tim had other things in mind -- I knew something was up when a huge yellow mailer ended up on my doorstep which obviously held more than one card.

Turns out Tim went to town on my wantlists, plugging a Dime Box Dozen need with the Reggie (I miss UD Masterpieces) and finding one of those goofy SPs from last year's Topps Holiday Bregman.

Tim also participated in a small massacre of my 2020 want lists.

I get excited when people send me stuff off my 2019 Archives lists -- I still need quite a few of 'em because the collation was awful in the packs I bought at the time (a common tale these days).

The Cardpocalypse also came in the form of a couple mini-collection hits here -- the Stephenson feeds my begrudging love for photo variations.

Some excellent randoms here, including Joe Morgan as a minor-leaguer, Billy Wagner as a (real) fireman, and the first card I've ever seen in the shape of an outfield wall.

Here's a couple cool ones -- the base version of that Rizzo is actually vertical, but Topps switched the Chrome parallel to horizontal for whatever reason.

Me, I think it actually works better horizontally.

It still boggles my mind that people like Tim just give Deckle Egde and Hostess cards away for free, out of the goodness of their heart.

I had the Mays already, but this copy is a huge upgrade over the one I had (which I gave away in a Free Card Friday post), and I actually collect Dave Rader because I got him confused with his brother Doug once when I was younger, and I remember it taking a while to realize I'd been buying cards of the wrong guy.

Closing out the Cardpocalypse was this fantastic Baseball Talk insert of big Bob Gibson.

These strange pieces of Overproduction Era excellence feature actual acetate records on the back -- which I believe contain spoken bios and highlights of the player on the front -- and one of these days I'll have to bring one over to Dad and see if they'll play on his turntable. If the dawn of the Cardpocalypse means things like these falling into my collection, then I welcome it with open arms.

Even though it might take me a while to adapt back into the working world, it's nice to know I have a job again in these strange times -- but for now I wish all of you safety and good tidings during this Cardpocalypse season.

The OPC Award Show

Happy Canada Day!

Okay, truth is I've never been to Canada, though I've long wanted to visit our friends up north (at times I've even entertained the thought of moving there). The border isn't terribly far from where I live -- maybe a five-hour drive -- but there's something about Canada that has always seemed somewhat exotic to me, way more different than two countries so close in proximity should be.

Nothing symbolizes my Canadian fancy better than my lifelong fascination with O-Pee-Chee baseball cards. To the unbiased eye, there's not much of a reason to go nuts over these -- by and large, they're almost exact replicas of Topps cards with minor changes. But don't say that to a card collector, or at least not me, because I'll tell you again and again: OPC RULES! As an American, I'll always get a wild joy out of owning cards that were printed in Canada, issued there, and have French on the front(!). There's so many reasons to love these sometimes offbeat and always excellent pieces of baseball history.

And as a tribute to our northern neighbors on this fine Canada Day, I've assembled the best of the best from OPCs long history into the First Annual OPC Award Show.

Best French baseball term I've learned from OPC: Lanceur (pitcher)

I never took French in school -- it was never offered -- and so about 98 percent of my limited French vocabulary has come from OPC baseball cards.

My favorite of the many baseball terms I've picked up from OPC has to be lanceur, the French word for "pitcher" -- it makes me think of a swordsman ready to do battle, which, in some weird way, is fitting for a pitcher.

Best "lost" OPC cards: 1992 OPC Gary Carter tribute set

For the most part, OPC has been little more than a direct reprint set for Canadians, featuring French text alongside the same players and pictures we see here in American Topps.

Sometimes, though, OPC has strayed from the herd and made their own "lost" Topps cards, and this is where I think OPC is at its best. There's been a handful of examples of this over the years (some of which we'll see in a bit) but my favorite OPC concept has to be the special five-card Gary Carter tribute set in '92. Carter is featured in '92 Topps and Topps Traded, but the tributes are exclusive to the OPC checklist and devote a card to each of the five stops he made in his long career (including both of his stints with the Expos!).

Gary Carter's one of my all-time favorite ballplayers, and this is the tribute he deserved.

Best OPC card back: 1971 OPC (of course)

This isn't just the best OPC card back -- it's one of the best card backs EVER, dammit.

Best vintage OPC set: 1977 OPC

There's one reason and one reason only I consider 1977 to be my favorite OPC set: the "alternate universe" cards.

These are pretty much exclusive to '77 OPC -- I cant think of any other vintage OPCs that feature completely different teams and/or photos than their Topps companions. The '77 OPC substitutes -- like this Tony Perez -- mostly consist of new and/or updated cards for the Expos and (expansion) Blue Jays, but there's a few other stray changes in the checklist (notably, Bobby Grich).

In the weird, wide world of "alternate universe" cards, these are easily the kings.

Best modern OPC set: 2009 Upper Deck OPC

OPC has had a few modern offshoots since their vintage days -- the OPC Premier sets of the early '90s come to mind -- but my favorite is by far the one-and-done 2009 Upper Deck OPC brand.

I loved these when they came out, and I still love 'em now (I'd once again like to note that I see a lot of 2020 Big League here). I think I read somewhere that Upper Deck acquired the OPC trademark at some point, which would explain why this set exists under the UD umbrella, but unfortunately this fantastic set came about right at the demise of UD's baseball years. Everything I love about baseball cards is right here in 2009 OPC: low-end, terrific design, great photography. Just a brilliant effort overall.

I'm still sad we never got to see more of it.

Oldest OPC cards I own: 1965 OPC Luis Tiant & Jim Kaat

A brief internet search this morning showed me that OPC was printing baseball cards as far back as 1934, but since I don't have a chance in hell of ever owning one of those, my oldest OPCs will have to be this pair of '65s.

The Katt (sic) was a Christmas gift from Dad many years ago, and Brian was generous enough to pass the Tiant along to me during a blogger meetup at the National a while ago.

Most morbid OPC card: 1972 OPC Gil Hodges ("Deceased")

I, admittedly, have a morbid love for this card -- I picked it up surprisingly cheap (three dollars!) at a card show recently.

Best I can tell, OPC cards went to print a short while after their Topps counterparts, and in at least one unfortunate case, that presented the dilemma of how to document a death -- notably with the "deceased" designation on the '72 OPC of Gil Hodges, who suddenly passed in April of that year.

Best "updated" OPC card: 1987 OPC Vida Blue

OPC has a long history of updating the cards of their Topps counterparts -- with the exceptions of the '77 alternates, they're usually documented with a logo update alongside a "Traded To" or "Now With" note in small text atop the original photos.

In this case, however, OPC updated something that never actually wound up happening, which probably led to some confusion. This is the same photo that appears on Vida Blue's 1987 Topps card, only he's labeled as "Now With A's" and fitted with the appropriate logo/color changes. But Vida Blue never played for the A's a second time -- he signed with them in January of '87 but retired a month later.

Thus began this card's wild foray into the bizarro world of baseball cards.

Best OPC card: 1977 OPC John Lowenstein

Why is this my favorite OPC card?

Let me count the ways...first off, it earns points for just being an OPC, of course. Second, it's one of those precious alternate-universe cards from '77 OPC. Third, and most importantly, it's a zero-year card, but unlike the aforementioned Vida Blue, it doesn't just note the change that never ended up happening -- it actually shows Lowenstein in full Blue Jays garb. 

What's even weirder is that, on a stats sheet, it doesn't even look like John Lowenstein switched teams in 1977 -- he went from Cleveland to Toronto to Cleveland again in the span of a few months before the '77 season started. But that didn't stop OPC from slipping out this card of him as a Blue Jay in the interim. It was something of a white whale of mine for a while before a cheap copy popped up on COMC last year. OPC itself will always be something of a novelty to me, and no better card shows its strange, electric beauty than this one.

C'est manifique!