Kick out the jams, reprise

A short while ago, I wrote a long overdue post about all the music-related cards in my collection.

Little did I know of the chain reaction it would set off.

My good buddy Fuji mentioned the 1985 Rock Star Concert Cards set in the comments of that post. As fate would have it, my dad was digging through a few old boxes not too long after that. Guess what he found?

That's right. A rubber-banded stack from that very same '85 Concert Cards series. My dad said he remembered buying a few packs of them when they originally came out, but hadn't touched them since then and couldn't remember where they were. Until a couple weeks ago, that is.

He graciously donated them to my music collection. Personally, I'd never heard of the set until my dad and Fuji both mentioned it.

Granted, not a ton of the cards I found match up to my particular music tastes. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them.

One band included in this Concert Cards series that I do enjoy is The Police. I didn't start to dip into their material until about two or three years ago, but I've been finding loads of great songs of theirs ever since.

I can't help but wonder what took me so long.

I can't say I know much about Adam Ant.

I've heard his name on a number of occasions, but I never realized how popular he was in the '80s.

As it happens, he received not one, not two...

...but three different cards in this set.

The backs are way more detailed than most baseball cards you'll ever find. They even contain every single album and single ever released by the given artist.

Kind of like their "stats", in a way.

I rather like the design of this series.

Although I'm not sure if it's supposed to mean anything, the cards are grouped into different colored borders. 

38 Special, for instance, gets a green border.

Quiet Riot, on the other hand, gets an orange-yellowish border.

While I'd take it over anything played on the radio these days, I'm not a big metal fan.

Just a little too much hairspray for me.

Okay, way too much.

I used to like AC/DC a whole lot more than I do now, but they still have quite a few songs on my playlist.

My dad didn't have the big name guys like Angus Young or Brian Johnson (Bon Scott had passed away years before this set was released), but he did manage to pull this Malcolm Young back in '85.

Although his brother gets more of the publicity, I've heard that Malcolm was actually the one who started AC/DC. And, while I'm not a virtuoso of technical music knowledge, I can tell that Malcolm's rhythm guitar is what keeps their songs together.

Plus, I can certainly appreciate any band who has kept chugging along for over forty years.

Ozzy!

I have a passing interest in both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. They're one of those bands that I feel like I should enjoy a lot more, but I can't for whatever reason.

I'm sure this was one of the chase cards back when this set was released.

That is, if chase cards were even a thing in 1985.

My dad managed to pull the entire pink-bordered Stray Cats trio.

I can appreciate the novelty of their image, although very few people actually dressed like this in the 1950's. I don't know too many of their songs, although I have enjoyed the few I've heard.

Plus, I can get behind any band with a stand-up drummer. The Violent Femmes are the only other rock group I know of that has one, and they happen to be one of my absolute favorite bands.

It's too bad they didn't get a card in this set.

For both my dad and I, though, these were the biggies.

Although I can't seem to find a checklist anywhere, I'll bet that each of the five Rolling Stones received their own cards in this set.

You can't go wrong with Mick Jagger and Ron Wood.

But, more importantly, my dad pulled the coveted group shot of the Stones.

I was kind of a late bloomer, but they've quickly become one of my favorite bands in the past few years. They're near the top of my dad's list as well.

As I've mentioned before, my dad is as much into collecting vinyl as I am with cards. I've heard him say on a couple occasions that Exile on Main St. is his all-time favorite album.

After this generous starter set from my dad, I'm interested in chasing down the rest of this Concert Cards series.

I guess I'm just a sucker for anything that combines music and cardboard.

Maybe I'm kidding myself

I'm proud to say that this blog revolves around the base card.

Base cards are what got me into this hobby back when I was a little kid. I busted open pack after pack in search of simple base cards of my favorite players.

I took an unexplained siesta for a year or two, right around when I started high school. For whatever reason, my focus shifted towards relics and autographs and numbered cards and all those other overhyped fads.

I'm back to being a base card kind of guy now. No matter how much Topps may be trying to kill it, base cards are the main reason I'm still collecting today.

That reminds me. An ever-generous reader named Michael recently sent me a monumental stack of recent inserts and parallels.

Huh?

I still can't understand why I continue to chase after all the different kinds of parallels.

I've gone on record saying that what Topps is doing these days is nothing short of parallel overkill. Do we really need the emeralds, blues, golds, reds, and countless others that were released last year?

Probably not.

Yet, I still find myself salivating over receiving such a big stack of them in the mail.

I guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite in that regard.

I go to huge lengths to defend my precious base cards, but then I go behind their backs and chase down their parallel enemies.

Blood rain, blue, green, you name it.

Michael even generously included a few of these 2014 "Power Players" singles.

I haven't tried out the promotion and I don't intend to anytime soon. But I'll still take the code cards themselves.

I think part of my weakness towards parallels involves my love for binders. Parallels just look so nice next to their base counterparts in a nine-pocket page.

My binders really do have a hold on me sometimes.

Hey, look!

A base card!

The parallel extravaganza was actually the second of two packages I received from Michael within about a three-week span. The first time around, he contacted me saying that he enjoyed my blog and had some hits from my "set needs" page to send my way.

This 2012 Archives Verlander was one of many Michael dug out for me. As far as I know, it was the very last card from the set that I needed for my many player collections.

Check out all that shrubbery in the background.

As if the parallels didn't make me feel like enough of a hypocrite, Michael sent over a whole bunch of Archives cards I needed.

This post comes just a day after I blasted this year's Archives for being monotonous and uninspired.

But here I am gloating over finally getting my hands on a couple coveted SPs from last year's release.

I've never had issues with Archives inserts.

Still, I feel a little strange chasing after them since I'm so disappointed in the brand as a whole.

Besides, I'm not one to turn down new cards of Gary Carter or Andrew McCutchen.

These are simply spectacular.

Archives revolved an entire insert set around the 1965 Topps "Tall Boys" football design last year.

Though I might be inclined to think otherwise, the pairing of football and baseball is actually a refreshing change of pace.

Which reminds me...

...this is the first one of these in my collection.

What you see here is another crossover insert from 2013 Archives, one that features Mr. Darvish on the 1972 Topps basketball design.

I can't say I'm much of an NBA fan, but I'm absolutely enamored with these.

Here's a little more hypocrisy for you.

Though I've tried to make myself feel otherwise, I just flat-out don't like Gypsy Queen. I don't like to say that about any brand, but it's true with GQ. Like Archives, the inserts aren't bad, but the base cards don't strike my fancy.

I've found myself on an unofficial quest to corner the market on Trevor Bauer lately. I think this is already about the 25th different card of his in my collection. They just seem to fall in my lap.

He's struggled during his brief time in the majors the past couple years, but I still think he can turn it around.

As this Gypsy Queen insert predicts, I think there's potential for Bauer to become an ace.

No matter what Topps does, Flagship will always be about the base cards for me.

But that's not to say that I won't devote a little time each year to chasing down some of the inserts. Because I will.

I was certainly happy to see this pair of '72 Mets minis come from Michael.

The same goes for these two.

I can't turn down a good insert every now and then.

Deep down, though, I'll always be a base card kind of guy.

There were no such thing as inserts when this Bob Lemon card hit the streets in 1958. Topps was a base set and nothing else.

Michael completely shocked me with this one. He didn't say anything about vintage in the email he sent me.

But, lo and behold, this beautiful Bob Lemon started out at me underneath his big stack of recent inserts. I don't think it's any coincidence that Topps gave Mr. Lemon a yellow background.

That's the kind of beauty you can only get from a base card.

A '50s card of a Hall of Famer would normally close out a trade post like this.

Not in Michael's case. As he mentioned in the note he included, he shares a name with a former minor leaguer. (He was also quick to mention that this Michael Gray is not him.)

I find that unbelievably cool. My last name isn't at all common, which means I probably won't be sharing it with a professional ballplayer anytime soon.

After going undrafted, this Michael Gray pitched exactly one year in Low-A in the Pirates system. He posted a 3.20 ERA in 29 games with the Erie Sea Wolves in 1998.

The fact that he has a card at all is surprising. It means a lot that Michael would include it in a package to me.

At its core, this blog will always be devoted to the base card. Still, packages like these force me to consider a valuable lesson in collecting.

I always find it hard for me to come to grips with the fact that I continue to chase down inserts, parallels, or whatever else may come along. After all, I'm a self-proclaimed base card lover. I guess that brings up an interesting question.

Why do I feel the need to choose between one or the other?

There's plenty of room for both in my collection.

2014 Topps Archives: Second guessing

I guess it had to happen sooner or later.

While on our quest for Series 2 at the local Target last week, my dad offered to throw a rack pack of Archives into our cart. I hadn't planned on buying any of the product, but I'm never one to refuse new cards.

If nothing else, it allowed me to write a semi-formal review of Archives on the blog. And, hey, the rack pack itself is a nice addition to my wrapper collection.

That said, I'm probably the only person who hadn't written anything about Archives up to this point.

I'll give you a quick warning now. You've probably heard most of what I'm about to say about Archives on other blogs already. I don't know that this post will be all that original.

Still with me?

Good.

I'm going to be really unoriginal and get my number one complaint with this set out of the way first.

I don't think there's much denying that Archives has a ton of potential. The possibilities for new guys on old-time designs are endless.

But, for whatever reason, the people at Topps seem to be content with putting zero effort into Archives. I think that's best shown through their annoying habit of reusing the same photos over and over again.

I instantly recognized this shot of Adam Wainwright.

It showed up on both his 2013 Archives and 2014 Heritage issues.

Oy.

I think I found this shot of Tom Seaver on about three or four other cards.

The original is recycled from his 1977 Hostess issue, which is actually kind of cool. I wouldn't think Topps would even keep those old Hostess images in their inventory.

Still, I'd much rather see Topps use an original photo of "Tom Terrific" in Archives.

This is perhaps the most egregious example of the whole recycling phenomenon.

What we have here is an image of Adam Eaton quite obviously photoshopped into a White Sox throwback jersey. Topps couldn't even be bothered to snap an actual shot of Eaton in Sox gear for their Archives release.

They chose to just use the same altered image.

Like I said, zero effort.

Here are the four basic designs Topps used for 2014 Archives.

1973 -- Solid choice. Easily among my favorite Topps designs and one that hasn't been honored nearly enough in the current retro craze.

1980 -- Not one of my favorite Topps designs in the first place. I'm even more apathetic towards it now, considering Topps already used it for Archives in 2012.

1986 -- Probably the best-looking cards of the quartet, although the use of two designs from the 1980's seems uninspired.

1989 -- If two designs from the '80s are uninspired, then three are just plain lazy. Even more so considering Topps is already using the '89 look for this year's Flagship minis. Also, the amount of blank space on the nameplates really bugs me.

I think Topps should honor a design from four different decades in Archives. Something along the lines of '56, '69, '73, and '81 would've made for a top-notch set in my book. Instead, we get three designs from the '80s.

And, although I didn't pull any from this rack pack, I've heard that the short-prints from this year's Archives are equally mind-numbing.

I'd love to sit in at a Topps production meeting and hear just what goes through the minds of the head honchos over there.

Enough negativity.

Believe it or not, there are some things I like about this year's Archives. Namely, the inclusion of retired greats that aren't often seen in the hobby these days.

I'm especially fond of Topps using such an early shot of Robin Yount. Those old Brewers uniforms are terrific.

If you turn Mr. Yount over, though...

...you'll find another big Archives screw-up.

Robin Yount ended his Hall of Fame career in 1993. If you look closely, you'll notice that the stats on this card only go up to '91.

What gives? You couldn't squeeze two more years of stats in there, Topps?

Between recycled photos, repeated designs, and truncated stats, there's just so much about 2014 Archives that is open to second guessing.

In all honesty, though, this is one beautiful piece of cardboard.

As I said earlier, I think the 1986s turned out the best from my brief rack pack sample size.

This is a perfectly nice shot of Warren Spahn. And, more importantly, it's one that doesn't show up on any of my other cards of his.

It's a glimpse into what Archives could be if Topps chose to put any effort into it whatsoever.

I've never had a problem with Archives inserts.

Although I wasn't lucky enough to pull any from my rack pack, the idea for the Major League series is one of the best Topps has had in a long time.

The only insert I pulled was this Troy Tulowitzki, one that honors the 1988 Topps All-Stars subset. I was never that big on the originals, but seeing this one makes me like the design a little bit more.

In the end, that's what a set like Archives should try and accomplish.

I get the feeling that Topps knows they have a good idea on their hands with this product. Until they decide to put any effort into it, though, Archives will always remain a middling set to me.

It's a damn shame.

Wacky windups

I think I secretly always wanted to be a pitcher.

During my years in Little League, I was mostly a middle infielder and an outfielder. My coaches seemed to recognize that I had a decent glove. I was that rare kid who liked to field more than hit.

All this time later, though, I can't help but think how cool it would've been if I were a pitcher. While I'd like to believe otherwise, it's probably no coincidence that the coach's kid got to pitch on most of the teams I played for in Little League.

If memory serves me right, I got to take the mound exactly once in my career. It only happened after weeks of begging my coach. I don't believe I allowed any hits in my one inning of work, although I think I walked a guy.

I guess part of me just wanted to mimic all those wacky windups I'd learned about in my self-taught baseball history lessons.

In today's highly-mechanical era of air-tight pitching, it's always good to see a guy with an unorthodox motion make it to the majors. It adds an extra bit of spice to a baseball game.

I'll ruin the suspense now and say that my all-time favorite windup belongs to the ultimate submariner himself, Chad Bradford.

I hurled a countless number of baseballs over fences trying to emulate his motion.

Although less so today, baseball history is filled with sidewinding pitchers.

If you look at turn-of-the-century footage, these types of windups were pretty much commonplace. Walter Johnson and many pitchers of his era threw from the side.

I'm a bit of an oddball, in that my natural delivery is actually sidearm. I can't throw overhand or three-quarters to save my life.

Maybe that's why I've become such a big fan of Kent Tekulve.

Much like sidearmers, big leg kicks aren't as common today.

The majority of baseball history, however, is littered with them. I'll bet Bob Feller's menacing fastball had something to do with the huge leg kick he had in his delivery.

I couldn't imagine having to face a 100-MPH fastball, period. Much less one accompanied with a windup like that.

I remember trying Feller's crazy delivery once.

I fell right on my butt.

I never had it in me to try anything like this.

As shown on a number of his baseball cards, Juan Marichal used an alarmingly high leg kick throughout his Hall of Fame career.

It looks like the "Dominican Dandy" is trying to tie his shoe in midair in this shot.

If there's one guy keeping the leg kick alive in 2014, it's Bronson Arroyo.

In one of the most beautiful horizontal cards ever made, you get a glimpse of just how extreme his is. Arroyo's leg pretty much reaches to the top of his head.

I don't know about you, but my leg hurts just looking at it.

With a windup like this, it's amazing that Arroyo just recently landed on the DL for the first time in his long career.

If you were a baseball-loving kid around 1981, I'm sure you copied Fernando Valenzuela's famous windup all the time.

Although I started Little League in the late '90s, I know I goofed around with it every now and then.

Valenzuela would start his windup by lifting his arms high above his head.

Then, in what would become his trademark move, he'd look straight up at the sky just before delivering the ball.

Hideki Okajima, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

He looked straight down as he threw to home plate. While guys like Tekulve and Valenzuela get mentioned often in these types of discussions, I think Mr. Okajima is like an ace in the hole.

I've never seen another windup quite like his. How he had any sort of accuracy with a delivery like that is beyond me.

I'd probably break a few car windows if I ever tried it.

Unlike Chad Bradford's submarine style or Bronson Arroyo's leg kick, some deliveries are nearly beyond description.

The only word I have to sum up a windup like Dontrelle Willis's is, well...herky-jerky. If that's even a real word.

Though his fade into obscurity was remarkably quick, Willis was at the top of baseball for a few years there in the mid-2000's. It still pains me that the Cubs traded him away at one point. (Although it did make for a neat zero-year card, I must say.)

You really had to see his windup to believe it. He'd turn his back to the hitter, tuck his leg way up against his chest, then unravel and deliver the ball to the plate.

I can see the influence of a certain Red Sox pitcher in Dontrelle Willis.

That certain somebody is Luis Tiant.

After his time as a hard-throwing, conventional pitcher with the Indians in the '60s, Tiant was forced to reinvent himself after losing a bit of zip on his fastball.

He had a few down years in the early '70s before joining the Red Sox and adopting the windup we've all come to love.

With so many dips, jerks, and kicks, his motion is completely beyond description.

If you've seen it, you probably know what I mean.

Chad Bradford may own my favorite delivery of all-time, but I think this particular Hideo Nomo shot is the king of wacky windups on cardboard.

Like Mr. Valenzuela over a decade earlier, Nomo dominated the baseball world with his strange delivery in 1995. It resembled a torpedo with the way he'd whip his body back towards the hitter.

I own lots of cards that feature Nomo's quirky windup, but none come close to matching the greatness of this one.

The sheer beauty of it is second-to-none.

Ah, maybe it's just as well I didn't become a pitcher.

With a desire to repeat all these crazy deliveries, I probably would've thrown my arm out by the time I got to 5th grade.

I don't know how these guys did it.

Wes does it again

It's easy to develop a distinct personality here in the blogosphere.

There's the Tim Wallach Guy, for instance. Or the Griffey Guy. Perhaps you've even heard of the Night Guy. Those particular Guys are just the tip of the iceberg.

For a while, I knew Wes of the terrific blog "Jaybarkerfan's Junk" as Contest Guy. He always seemed to be giving cardboard away.

He started shifting nicknames after that. At one point, he dropped dozens and dozens of PWEs on me in the span of a few days. As you might guess, I soon came to know him as PWE Guy after that.

As of late, though, I noticed he'd been dropping mounds of flat-rate boxes on people. It didn't take long for one of them to wind up on my doorstep.

Wes, a.k.a. Flat-Rate Box Guy, managed to put together an awesome mix of unopened packs and random needs in this flat-rate box.

I was in cardboard heaven.

He started out with a few zany "Awesome All-Stars" packs.

These were completely new to me. As you might be able to tell from Gary Garlic Breath here, they're not really meant to be taken seriously. Think Wacky Packs for baseball.

They even came with gum.

No, I didn't eat it.

Wes tossed in a few 1988 Donruss fat packs as well.

Even though I may have more '88 Donruss than I know what to do with, I must say that opening a couple packs of them was still pretty fun. Pulling cards of stars like O'Neill and Maddux was a thrill. 

I doubt you'll ever see another page of '88 Donruss on this blog again, though.

The same goes for 1988 Topps.

Hey, I pulled cards of Eddie Murray, Rickey Henderson, and Jose Canseco from the jumbo packs Wes sent.

I'm rich! I'll be able to pay my college tuition with those!

Oh, wait. I forgot.

This is 2014, not 1988.

Wes also threw in a few great '80s oddball packs.

You can see a couple wrappers from these 1986 Topps Leaders in the top-right corner of the shot at the top of this post. The first one I opened was amongst the most star-studded pack I've ever seen.

It held a whopping four Hall of Famers (Ripken, Brett, Fisk, Sandberg) and two other perennial stars (Parker, Reuschel).

You're not going to find many packs better than that.

Also included were a couple bite-sized packs of 1985 Fleer Star Stickers.

I don't think I'd ever seen these before Wes came along. These are smaller than most minis, and they test my binder OCD quite a bit. I've decided that extreme minis like Topps Micro or those '90s Cracker Jack singles are too small to put in a regular binder page.

These Star Stickers are right on the binder border. In the end, I decided they're just big enough to be binder-worthy.

I think it was the right choice.

Thankfully, my binder OCD didn't have to be tested by the 1986 Fleer Star Sticker pack Wes sent.

These are beautiful regular-sized oddballs. There's little doubt that the best of the bunch was this sweet multiple-bat shot of Darryl Strawberry.

That sent the unopened pack portion from Flat-Rate Box Guy out with a bang.

In the photo at the top of this post, you might notice a pair of team bags in the bottom-right corner.

Though the packs were a blast to open, the team bags were what first caught my attention from this box. As I found, Wes filled them up with specific hand-picked cards tailored to my needs.

Things kicked off with this neat HOF plaque insert of Luis Aparicio. Since "Looie" was inducted into Cooperstown in 1984, this card is fittingly limited to 1,984 copies.

Believe me, the scan doesn't do it justice.

Wes was also nice enough to contribute to my slowly growing Pat Neshek collection.

He doesn't have a whole lot of cards out there, but all the ones I've seen have been spectacular.

As you might know, Neshek is a fellow collector and a great TTM signer. He's quietly putting together a brilliant season with the Cardinals this year. His 0.92 ERA is not to be trifled with.

I'm hoping he'll be a sleeper candidate for the All-Star team come July.

As it turns out, Flat-Rate Box Guy did a number on my most prominent player collection with this batch.

Wes sent along a substantial number of new Vlad Guerrero cards. Many came from fairly obscure brands like Metal Universe and Stadium Club Chrome.

Though he could've stopped there...

...Wes took it even further.

Also included were a slew of new refractors and/or serial-numbered cards of Mr. Guerrero. I don't think I'd ever seen so much Vlad goodness in one place.

This beautiful page has to be among the greatest scans in the history of my blog.

Wes wasn't done just yet.

He was also gracious enough to throw in this jersey card of Vlad.

As you probably know by now, I'm not the biggest fan of relics these days. While I may not actively seek them out anymore, I certainly won't turn down any that people send me towards my player collections.

Especially one of Vlad.

For now, though...

...let's get back on the topic of Luis Aparicio.

A little while before this box arrived, I got an email from Wes. He had a list of a few different guys and wanted to know if I still collected them. Luis Aparicio was among them.

I guess I can see why now. Wes wanted to make sure this fantastic Fan Favorites autograph of Aparicio would go to a good home.

I promise you, Wes. Mr. Aparicio is safe with me.

Still, I sure don't think I'm worthy of such an amazing act of generosity.

I'm really not worthy.

Just when I thought the Luis Aparicio tour was over, this amazing piece fell out of one of the team bags. I can't get over how beautiful it is.

Coming from Panini's 2010 Century Collection release, this beauty features an Aparicio jersey relic and an authentic U.S. three-cent postage stamp from 1939.

I can't say I ever got into stamp collecting, but I'll be the first to admit how cool it is to see something like that on a baseball card.

Oh, and did I mention that this stunner is limited to just eight copies?!

It's true.

And did I mention that this wasn't even my favorite card from Flat-Rate Box Guy?

This was.

Relics, stamps, and autographs can only go so far. A card like this takes things to an entirely new level. I let an audible "whoa" when I pulled it from its team bag.

Why?

Because it's my very first Vladimir Guerrero rookie card. I think he only has two out there, and the other is a wildly expensive Bowman's Best issue.

That said, this one commands a good buck as well. I tried to think back and remember if I'd ever actually seem a copy of this '95 Bowman Vlad rookie in-person before.

I don't believe I ever did. It's just not a card you see too often. I wrote off the hope of ever owning one long ago. I was fully prepared to go my entire life without having a Vlad rookie in my collection.

I guess as long as Flat-Rate Box Guy is around to save the day, you should never give up hope.