Random Scan Post V: The Scans Strike Back

I kept the 10 posts per month streak going another month. Yay for me. Enjoy the random cards? Yay for you!

 With my new scanner I can mix the Stadium Club cards in with the other cards, something I have not been able to do since...hmm...2012? I can't remember. RIP to Jerome Kersey, who was killed by a blog clot following knee surgery.

 The sky blue Kings jerseys were cool.

 You don't see people wear #52 too often. 1990-91 Fleer is another set I set aside to do later, and that later is now.

 I bought this set complete in 2013, and I'm pretty sure this is the first card of it to get scanned. It's from Panini Canada, and is bi-lingual.

 1994-95 Hoops is one of my all-time favorite sets, driven mostly, but not fully, on nostalgia. It's a quality design, and is one of the very few sets to include the player's jersey number on the back. They also have full career statistics including playoffs, it's probably the best card back in NBA history.

 This one comes from a yet-to-be-blogged trade with Kenny/Zippy Zappy. It's an insert from an Ebisu Muscats set, which may or may not have been published by BBM. It has the same texture as the BBM cards I have...

This is an insert, as I said, but the base cards are all in bikinis. Not something you would expect from an American music group, but I am not going to complain!

 Funny story about this one. Motorsports Modelcards was a company in business from 1991-92, or perhaps 1994, depending on how you want to look at it. The company also made Blue Ridge decals for scale models. and some of the decal sets came with cards. I got both the decals and the card sets in either 2004 or 2005, but I didn't notice until last week that the cards are different! I always thought, since the pictures were the same, that they were just the regular cards put into the decals. Earlier in May, I looked through my decal stash for the first time in about 10 years, and I looked at the cards again. As it turns out, the cards ARE different! The card number is different and they have a line of text about looking for the full sets.

As far as I know they are undocumented anywhere on the internet, except by me.

 This card was actually scanned on the last day of scanning with scanner #4. But it came out awful so I set it aside. I finally got around to scanning it with scanner #5 and pulled off the good scan on May 28th...original, bad and long deleted scan made mid-February.

Around 2015 I bought a mixed lot of cards in a Facebook group, which is pretty unusual, and the seller padded out the box with a big stack of 2014 Prestige football. The foil name is easy to read in hand, but not in scans, it's Shane Vereen.

You had to know there would be a Star Wars card in here at some point, right? From my favorite Star Wars set, Galactic Files.

Even more random scans

I wasn't going to work for it anymore, but I kind of like my streak of posting at least ten times every month. I looked back at my archive, and I've gotten ten or more posts out every month since 2016. That's pretty amazing considering I spent time without my computer working more than once in that time.

So, you get another random scan post.

This guy's name cracks me up. I pulled this one from a pack myself.

 This one came from Chris/The Collector

 Another from this year's UD I pulled. The photos from this angle are usually pretty interesting, and this one is too.

 SI for kids pushed college way, way too much- usually 2 or 3 per issue. Didn't used to be as bad. But you almost never see a female hockey player on cards.

 I finally finished opening my box of Beach Boys cards, figuring I'd spread out the fun. Well, typical Panini fashion, I ended up three cards short of the set but with a stack of duplicates 40 to 50 cards high, including inserts and even insert parallels. It's amazing how Panini can manage to get it wrong so often. Luckily, HutNut on the Database had the three cards I needed and is sending them to me at some point.

 This is a base card. Image is from, obviously, the Pet Sounds album cover photo shoot.

 My local dollar tree still has 2017-18 Panini Stickers for both my sports. My mom brings home packs from time to time, as I am no longer buying new cards it's my only way to get new stuff. This one needed a back scan on the Database, so I rush scanned it. I think only a couple cards need back scans now, but I don't have any of them.

 I got this entire 44 sticker set from Dave & Adam's as a bonus gift several years ago, just finally getting some scanned. I have seen the movie but I don't remember much of it.

 I'm getting into the original box I set aside of stuff already on the Database when I sorted my collection out to prioritize what needed to be done on there. This is one of the first cards I was given in 2015 that put the thoughts of hockey originally in my head.

The cards I set aside to do later were the ones already on the Database, and all the 1980s Fleer cards were already done, so I hadn't scanned any in a few years. Now that I'm done posting everything I have on there, I'm scanning everything I had set aside, so that leads to some 1980s and 90s cards getting scanned. More to come in the next post.

Postcards from some recent adventures

As I've talked about a few times, my brother is taking me on a series of adventures...and I'm trying to do as much as I can now, while I still can. I have not had any luck finding trading cards at any of these places, but post cards, most of them have post cards. So, I've been getting some...fully embracing the post card as an actual collection, although still in doubt if I want to consider them part of my card collection...I will be posting them on my Cardboard History Gallery.

The good thing about postcards is that they are very cheap. The average selling price is 50 cents, and only one of them cost more than that in this post, and you'll see why when we get to it.

On the trip to Lake George last week, I picked up 4 cards, although 3 of them were not actually Lake George related, but Adirondacks related. I love the Adirondacks so that's fine with me. This is the West Branch of the Ausable River, taken in Lake Placid, where the Miracle on Ice occurred.

 This is Long Lake

and this is the view of Castle Rock on Blue Mountain Lake. I've never been to any of these three places, but they all look fantastic.

 This is the only one that's actually for Lake George, and it's kind of generic in that all of them for sale were animals in the forest, which could be anywhere in the northeast. This card is actually printed on birchwood, and is pretty thick- the same thickness as 8 regular postcards. It can be mailed, but I have no intention of doing that. You may recall, although I don't talk about it much, is that the turkey is my second favorite animal, after only squirrels. I had to get it, even though, in 30+ years of going to Lake George, I've never actually seen a turkey there.

Now, we move on to an adventure I am too chicken to do.

 This past Saturday, before joining my mom and I at FDR's home, my brother stopped at the Walkway Over the Hudson State Park. This was a train bridge connecting Poughkeepsie and Highland NY, and was built in 1888. After a train caught fire on it in 1974, they could no longer run trains across it and it sat abandoned for decades, and eventually was turned into the Walkway. There's a good article about it on Wikipedia that has a lot of old images. The above image, taken from the Poughkeepsie side, shows the bridge, and it's 212-foot height. Way too far up for me!

 This shows the bridge from the entrance to it.

 This image is from the Highland side, and shows a tugboat pulling a barge up to Albany.

 This shows it as it appeared in circa 1960.

My brother picked out these postcards for me. He went across the bridge, something I could never do.

I forgot to check the FDR gift shop to see if they had post cards. Duh!

The final adventure is one I have not actually written about yet. I thought I had, but when I went to look for a post to link back to, there wasn't one. A few weeks back my brother and I went to Long Island for a scale model show there. While there, we took a side trip to the Nautical Mile in Freeport, which I will post a picture of after the post cards. It was cool but probably not something we will do again. It was mostly seafood (which I don't eat) and bars (and we don't drink) so, since I've seen the boat part already, we've pretty much finished up all that we need there.

 Where we were is not considered part of NYC, but Long Island is more like the city than where we live. They also had this Manhattan post card, which I got. I still find it a little hard to believe that I've walked around in Manhattan now, more than once. It's not my favorite place to be, but they do have things you can't see elsewhere.

 This photo is probably taken from a boat on the Nautical Mile, but I am not sure- Freeport is right on the Atlantic Ocean, I think, so there is a lot of water and boats there.

I love sunflowers. I always have. So I had to get this one!

And that's all of the post cards. Below are a couple of pictures from the Freeport adventure.

 The Nautical Mile is basically a road for boats.

A cormorant landed on a pylon and flapped it's wings and shook it's tail

 The Woodcleft Canal is now what the Nautical Mile is based around

 This propeller is likely from the 1800s

 As you can see from the pictures, most of our walk down the Freeport Mile was in the rain

 Out on the only "tourist pier" I saw. Note the raindrops on the lens, which is actually my smart phone.

 This small boat crossed the Atlantic Ocean! It was the first outboard powered boat to do so, and it faced a hurricane in the process. It was almost destroyed by Hurricane Sandy and was found on somebody's front lawn three blocks away, according to the woman who sold us the post cards.

 Part of a mural in the municipal parking lot. I love these old style ships, wish I could have seen them. They create a sense of yearning, a feeling of loss in me, that I can't explain. I've never actually seen one, and I've never gone for a real boat ride- so why do they create such an emotional feeling/reaction in me? I've wondered about it for years.

 Their historical signs are not the most detailed, but I will always stop and photograph one of these when I see them. This was actually taken out the windshield of my brother's car.

 When returning to the mainland over the Throg's Neck Bridge, it actually turns and it looks like you are going to drive right into Long Island Sound. A little unnerving- especially the first time you do it. I had done it before, but not since 2008, and it was still unnerving.

Looking out to sea, Long Island Sound.

This is not the most photo intense of adventures, in that the album only has 259 in it. It's actually the lowest photo count for any adventure, although, had it not been raining, I would likely have taken more, and if I could have done more physically, I could have gotten to the end of the road which is the ocean. I couldn't physically do anymore, though, and the next time we attend a model show at the Freeport Rec Center, we plan to drive to the end of the Nautical Mile just to get the ocean view. They hold three model shows in the Rec Center every year so I do have the opportunity...although I won't go to one show due to something I witnessed there in 2008. And the other conflicts with the last race of the NASCAR season, so it's out too, at least for this year.

HERE is my photo album on my website.

Military Encampment at FDR's home

Before last Saturday, I had never had a ride in a classic car...now I've had two in two weeks! My model club, the Hudson Valley Historical Miniatures Guild, or HVHMG, was invited to set up at the Military Encampment at FDR's Home in Hyde Park, NY, for the second year in a row, and I have gone both times. This time, however, was more enjoyable. The first time was over 90 degrees, while today was only about 70- a huge difference. I was able to see more of the show and more of everything else.

The most exciting thing for me, is that I got to go for a ride in a 1945 Jeep! I don't recall them giving rides last year but they stopped right after my brother and I got our ride, so maybe I just missed it. Although I took the model pictures first, I will end with them.

 Various Military patches- I have detail photos on my website, at the link at the end.

 This radio works and was playing 1940s music.

 Lots of memorabilia was around.

 People in military uniform- some original, some reproduction.

 More than a few Jeeps were around.

 1974 GMC bus

In the bus!

 This is the Jeep we got a ride in, and our driver

 Although WWII is the majority of the reenactors, there are other wars represented. This man is in Revolution uniform.

 Not a real chicken

 A recreation of the mess, in civilian terms, portable kitchen. None of the food is real.

 We had garbage cans just like that up to 2002.

 A car mostly done up as a military command car. If it were actually serving, it would have had zero chrome- the door handles, window frames, hood ornament, etc. would have all been painted. The chrome can give off reflections and let the enemy zero in on your position.

 This large camera is for use in an aircraft.

 I spent a lot of time talking to the camera people- I AM a photography nut, afterall.

 1930s era camera.

 Models on display! These were not part of our club display but part of the show itself.

 My father's father brought some German coins home from the war. He was in the Battle of the Bulge, among others, and those coins- less than a dollar face value- is the only tangible thing he ever gave us. My brother had them and gave them to be when I began collecting coins, a hobby deep on the backburner.

 This Jeep is a 1952 model. It was made basically unchanged for the military from 1941-1981, when it was replaced by the Humvee.

 This tree is still standing, despite the obvious health challenges it's faced. A bit metaphorical of my experiences.

 This truck was huge- I have no idea how you get into it. The bottom step under the cab was about equal to my elbows when I stood next to it.

 Front of the 52 Jeep

 Italian helmets

 Victory Garden table

 This woman, playing the role of Dawn O'Day, say period songs for much of the day. Her father played the role of Bob Hope.

 Engine of the Jeep I got a ride in

 Jeep I got a ride in

 Field of Honor. Very impressive. Each flag is placed in memory of a local soldier killed in action. (while there were a lot more- you have to pay for these flag's placement, so there's a limited number)

 A nice shady path heading back to FDR's House. That is my brother on the left hand side of the path

 Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's burial site. (I think Fala, too)

 The stable

 The Roosevelt home. A fine building. Excellent architecture.

 The view towards the Hudson River.

 During FDR's lifetime, you could see the river, but it's since been covered by trees.

 The south-facing side of FDR's home, his bedroom was in the upper left most window.

 Stable

 Neat old mosaic style tiles...in the stable!

 Carved from the Berlin Wall. The part it was carved out of is in on display at the Winston Churchill memorial, which is in...of all places, Missouri!

 Back to the camera. I spent about 20 minutes talking to the woman who runs the booth.

 I got to hold the big aircraft camera!

Painting in the Visitors Center.

Now, here are some images from my club's model display:

In all, I took more than 300 photos and 4 videos, including the entire ride on the Jeep, which you can see all of on my website, HERE. The show is still going to be going on tomorrow, although I will not be there- it's going to be 86 degrees tomorrow, I have the Indy 500 and Coca Cola 600 to watch, and I saw everything today. But if anyone wants to check it out, it's a lot of fun, and it's free!