Thank you all for making my first five years of Cardboard History such a resounding success! With a big anniversary comes a contest, and now it's time to pick a winner of said contest...
I can't...I just can't...so everybody wins! Make sure to let me know what your address is, and which sport or sports you want your cards to be. It's not going to be a lot, just a little token of thanks for supporting my ramblings and musings.
I realized my email was not showing on my profile, so it is now, but I don't do email often, once a week at most. Best way to contact me is through the Trading Card Database or Twitter. I have Jon, Chris, SCC and Kirk's already...thought I had a few others but apparently not. You can also leave me a private comment on the Cardboard History Gallery, click the Private box and I will be the only one who can see it. Either one of those ways will get to me in a matter of a few hours.
Thanks again for reading and taking part, I have so much more to come, including a great new series starting next week...that's the closest I'll ever get to a Frankenset!
By the way, this is the first Meme I've ever made.
I don't know how to embed a Twitter status, but you can see them all there. As I was working on scanning them yesterday, I realized, wait a minute, tomorrow is Thanksgiving...traditionally known as a day of turkey in the USA. And three of the cards are from the Topps Turkey Red set of 2006-07...man, this just writes itself!
I knew I had to wait and scan, and post, these Turkey Reds on Turkey Day! So, I did exactly that. I literally held off on scanning these a day just so I could do them on Thanksgiving...yeah, I'm weird. I'm also having chicken, not turkey, for dinner. And it won't even be fried!
The Turkey Red set was based on a 1911 set that was 126 cards, and split 2/3rds baseball and the rest boxing. The Turkey in Turkey Red is actually based on the country, not the bird, but close enough.
All three of these cards feature legendary players, with an actual image superimposed in front of a very unrealistic background. The cards also feature an interesting texture on the front and back. I like them, even with the phony background. The George Gervin card is actually the ABA's Virginia Squires, which is where he started his career. He played only a year and a half with them before being traded to the Spurs in a financial maneuver, where he would become a Hall of Famer, and this is my first card of him with the Squires! It's also only my fourth post-ABA card of the Squires, and one of them is a reprint of Dr. J's rookie card from the 50th anniversary celebration. The Bill Russell image is used on at least two other cards in my collection from modern Topps, and the Maravich image is the same one used on Topps' 1972-73 base card...more than likely actually taken by a Topps photographer.
As much as I love to get any new cards of Hall of Famers, the Gervin Squires card is clearly my favorite here, because it's the only one of him with that team.
Thanks Jon for sending them to me!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And remember, you have until midnight tonight to enter the contest from a few posts ago!
For the past week Night Owl has been trying out a new sorting system that to me sounds extra complicated. This is how I do it, and have done it since before I was 10 years old.
Each group of 10 gets it's own stack, lined up in order so that 1-9 are above 100-109, and that is above 200-209, etc.
It works perfectly...although I have found anything larger than 400 card sets should probably be split into two waves, because it makes your arms tired. Just a single set won't, but when you spend 14 hours in a day doing it, trust me, your arms will be tired.
This set (1990 Maxx, NASCAR) only has 200 cards so it required only two rows. Normally I can't stand to turn a vertical card sideways, but my table is not wide enough, so I had to do it. I would have only been able to get 7 rows otherwise.
After the cards are sorted into 10s, I simply do each stack in order from highest to lowest, so they are stacked nicely face up in numerical order. (190s, 180s, 170s, etc, down to 1-9) I generally do this by hand, not setting the cards down until they are sorted...however, some sets, especially during my heyday, that made it impossible. (For instance, I once counted that I had more than 80 copies of one card). For a set where I have that many duplicates, I have even broken it down into a stack for each number in the unit. It's been a long time since I've done that, long before digital cameras.
This can also be done with years. Instead of 1-9 on the left, it would be 1990. 1991 next to it, 1980 above it, 2000 below it, etc. In this sort, I didn't have any cards from the 70s so that spot is left blank.
I've never timed how long it takes to sort this way. Not very long, but I also don't rush through it. I probably spend more time reading backs of the cards than I do actually sorting. I enjoy the process so, when I start, I go very slow. When I'm nearing the end of a major sorting session, which used to last for weeks and that was 80 thousand cards ago, I usually want it to be done and move onto something else, so I go much quicker.
When I finish scanning everything, get my cards sorted back together by set, and get my sets sorted back into order for the first time since 2004 for the NBA, 2009 for NASCAR and ever for NHL- the whole sort will probably take me months. I HOPE it takes me months.
Interestingly enough, these cards are actually duplicates, and all but 6 of them in this picture are being mailed off to Canada in a trade.
First off, thank you everyone for commenting on my last post and entering the contest. I don't want to reply to each of you like I normally do so I don't miss anyone when I am putting together the list of entrants. Even though I'm putting out more posts, you have until midnight on Thanksgiving to enter. I forgot to include that in the actual post, duh.
Now, knowing my anniversary was coming up, my mom decided to get me a small anniversary present...two packs of this year's Hoops and a fatpack of this year's MVP! I did very, very well...I got 6 new NBA players and one new NHL player out of the packs, and the very first card out of the very first Hoops pack was probably the most important of them all...
Because it was none other than wunderkind Zion Williamson, who is considered by many the most gifted player to enter the sport since LeBron James. He has two cards in the set- his base rookie card, and this Tribute subset that's based on the Supreme Court design in 1991-92. (the only apparent nod to Hoops' 30th anniversary). I hoped to get at least one of them when current, because I don't want to have to pay more for it later...so, forever more, 2019-20 Hoops #296 will be known as my first Zion card. (How many other rookies come in and are already known by their first name before they ever actually play a game?) I don't know what my first card of LeBron was, or Elton Brand, or any of the other players from my first time collecting the sport. I did keep track of it, but it was lost when my Excel file corrupted in either 2004 or 2005. Unfortunately Zion got hurt during Pre-Season, and won't play until mid-December. From what I saw of him in pre-season action, he's the real deal.
Here are some other cards that came out of these 2 Hoops packs:
This is the base card design. I like it. I wish Panini would bother to give us a real set, instead of 280 players in a 525 man league, but that is it. Hoops is the only set I actually try to complete every year. By the way, this is my first AD Lakers card. I would pull the Tribute subset of him in pack #2.
I knew I got five new players out of the two packs, but it turns out I actually got six. I was sure I had a card of Derrick Jones Jr. already, considering it's his 4th year in the league...but no, this was actually my first card of him. (Panini didn't bother to create even a single card of him last year) Another reason I was sure I had a card of him is that he was in the Slam Dunk Contest in 2017, finishing runner up....and the NBA pushes that contest far more than it needs to. I was wrong though. I didn't have any cards of him, but now I do!
Jokic is the most unlikely superstar. A second round pick, a draft-and-stash player, and he rarely ever jumps. Yet, he gets the job done and is mostly responsible for the Nuggets vast improvement last year. It's just fun to watch him play because he's so deceptively good.
Markelle Fultz is the second most maligned player in my time period watching the NBA. The former #1 pick didn't really do much in Philadelphia, who drafted him. So, they gave up and traded him to Orlando. He's finally healthy this season and is usually the best player on the Magic every night. For some reason, the media refused to believe he had a real injury and kept saying it was all in his head. I can't wait for him to prove them wrong all season long. (in case you are wondering, the most maligned player is Carmelo Anthony). This is my first Magic card of Markelle, by the way.
Grant Williams is one of the new players added to my collection. He got a college card in SI for Kids over a year ago, which I have, but college cards don't count. This is the first real card of him.
Bruno Fernando is also a new player for me.
And Jaylen Hands of the Nets is the last new player from the base cards. He is on a two-way contract with the team, but this is a Summer League photo...a rarity, most of the rookies are the Rookie Photo Shoot photos like the two players shown above him. Personally, I like the Summer League shots.
Now, each 8-card pack of Hoops guarantees you either an insert, a parallel, or both, and I did well, getting two inserts and a parallel. I did very, very well...
My first card of him.
My first Nets card of Kevin Durant!! I still can't believe he chose to come to my favorite team. The first time ever we've gotten a major superstar as a free agent, and he brought along another with him in Kyrie Irving. He's going to miss the entire season due to injury, but he's one of us now...and I can't be hapier. This card is really nice in hand, too. It's the holofoil parallel, and has a rainbow sheen in hand, even though it scans purple. Visually, it's the most stunning card of any that I got for the Annversary.
My parallel was also Nets! In fact, the base and Purple Hands were in the same pack, a fun coincidence that always makes me chuckle. I'm a big fan of colored parallels and I've now done 4 packs of 2019-20 Hoops and gotten two different colors- I also pulled a Teal, numbered to 49 copies no less, of Evan Turner.
Moving to the NHL, the MVP fatpack was a little tougher. Since I got a blaster for my birthday I already hand a handful of the cards so not all 34 were new. However, most of them were, and I've selected a few to show now, not all of them of course.
Henrique was the first card out of the pack and sports a throwback uniform, or perhaps this is the history-inspired alternate. I am not sure yet, even though I've been collecting rabidly now since 2016, I'm still learning.
Jake Gardiner is the king of silly faces on hockey cards, but nothing funny here.
I didn't get any Rangers cards, but I did get Trouba, who is now a Ranger! The MVP set does not reflect any of the player movement of the offseason, so players who were traded, like Trouba was, are still listed as a member of their previous team.
Now this I am SURE is a throwback! I am also sure the Blues will want to throw back to the 2018-19 season quite often, considering they won the Stanley Cup!
I may not have gotten any Rangers (or Golden Knights), but at least I did get an Islander.
Toews shows the 21 Stan Mikita Memorial patch on his chest. I wonder if this was taken at the same game as the Pietrangelo photo?
Brannstrom is new to my collection, my very first card of him. He was one of the key pieces that the Golden Knights gave up to get Mark Stone. I saw the game this photo was taken during, I believe! That's also Ottawa's alternate/throwback inspired uniform, as well.
I don't know why, as I have not been able to figure it out, but I find that I really tend to root for Calgary quite a bit. I have no connection to the area, their uniforms are fine but not spectacular, and it was when they beat the Rangers and I realized I was disappointed that I knew the Rangers were my team...yet I root for Calgary anyway. Go figure? This is one of the very, very few cards to show a player's tongue. For some reason, it's banned by the CBA. Not sure if they snuck this one through or the Collective Bargaining Agreement changed.
Localish Jonathan Quick wears the Kings' alternate uniform, which is so much nicer than the standard all black they wear. I have not really researched it yet, but I think he may actually be the closest-born NHL player...certainly the closest active player. The Hudson Valley has never put a player into the NHL that I am aware of...I'm not even sure if we have an ice rink.
I was sure the Bruins were going to win the title last year...I'm still kind of surprised they didn't. I have a lot of friends and even some family that are Bruins backers.
I enjoy seeing cards of players with teams they are not really going to be known for being a member of. Some people call them short term stops, I prefer to call them "He played for who?" based on Charles Barkley's hilarious "Who he play for" skit. Ryan Dzingel played only 21 games with Columbus (not counting the playoffs, where he added 9 more) after being traded there by Ottawa at the trade deadline. When Free Agency came around, he was one of a mass exodus of players who left, joining the Hurricanes, where he's already scored more assists and an equal number of goals this season as he did in Ohio.
I did manage to pull one parallel out of the pack, but it was a puzzle back. I didn't scan it yet. It's Matt Niskanen of the Capitals if anyone is curious.
So, thanks for the cards Mom, and thanks for anyone who reads along. Even though I mostly complained about Panini, I did enjoy the cards and I am thrilled to have them, and I'm thrilled to have the MVP cards as well.
Today is the 5th anniversary of Cardboard History. Where did the time go? When I started this up in November 2014, I didn't think anyone would care what I have to say, to read what I had to write. Was I ever wrong! More than 700 posts in, and I'm still not out of things to say yet.
Although my posts have been down this year, I've got no intention to ever stop doing this, I'll keep it going as long as I'm able.
The biggest change for me is that, when I began this, I was not watching the NHL or collecting hockey cards. When I started this thing, I had exactly 27 hockey cards...now I'm over 16,000 and growing, and so many of them have come from my friends in the hobby, it's amazing. To estimate at half of them is not too high.
I don't know what the future holds but thank you for coming along for the ride.
Of course you know I'm not going to celebrate an anniversary without a contest. The prize is a bubble mailer full of cards. You can choose NBA, NHL or NASCAR, or any combination of the three.
To enter, leave a comment and tell me what your favorite post in Cardboard History's History is. That's all there is to it! You have one week to enter, and cards will be shipped in December.
Thanks for reading...both now, over the past five years, and whatever comes next!
I am pretty sad, because my favorite place to go in the Hudson Valley is closing. The Dutchess Marketplace, which they advertise as a flea market but is really an antique mall, has lost it's lease and is being forced to close at the conclusion of 2019. This has been my source of vintage cards since 2014, when I first visited it. It's where I went first when I decided I really wanted to collect the NHL, which you can see in this post I made at the time: Life as a Hockey Collector. It's also where I got all my Scoop cards, and where I discovered the 1942 Gum, Inc. War Gum set, a favorite non-sports set of mine.
I've known since then that he had lots and lots of Rangers cards, but I never found the money to buy them. Well, knowing I was probably losing my chance, I made sure to get them.
as you can see, it's a lot of vintage cards...
Here they are broken out by set! It's not all Rangers- there's a large stack of what used to be a set build of 1972-73 Topps-but it's mostly Rangers, covering from 1969-70 through 1988-89, and the 1964-65 Parkhurst set that was actually issued in 1994. I didn't track any other team, but I know I added 247 new Rangers cards, which is a lot. According to the stats page on the Trading Card Database, it pushed my Rangers collection over 1000 cards! That's more than 500 cards more than my 2nd place team, the Canadiens.
The 1972-73 set is now my closest to completion vintage hockey set, as I now have 114 of 176 cards, although 3 of them are in really bad shape and need replacing. They are so bad I didn't even enter them into my collection on the Database.
It's not EVERY 70s and 80s Rangers card, but it's most of them...at least from Topps. There is some O-Pee-Chee represented, but I didn't get as many as I did Topps. I did get my very first card from 1969-70 and 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee, and the Parkhurst set is also one I was missing before.
I have not scanned any of them yet, although I will scan everything eventually...it's going to take me quite a long time to get through them all. In fact, based on the cards I got at the Marketplace, and the fact that I opened 4 of the 6 Harness Heroes years that day, I actually ended up getting 611 new cards that day...aside from the hockey cards here, I also got a set of girly cards which I won't be able to show, and then I visited the other card dealer there and picked up some more modern stuff...including some I plan to send out at some point.
Just because it's visible in the photo, I should mention that I did add the Star Wars card shown from my vintage dealer friend as well. It's got a little bit of water damage but the hanger pack header cards come up so rarely that I didn't care. He had taken it in in a trade since the last time I was there.
There's actually a third card dealer there, who deals mostly in sealed boxes. I purchased a box of 1993 DC Cosmic Teams but I didn't open it yet. Or think to take a picture. He had single packs for sale of the 1990 Classic Monster Trucks set, which I had to get, even though I have the complete set already. None of the packs survived so I got one...knowing it'll never be opened, because there are no inserts or parallels to chase. I believe, in my 31 years in the hobby, it's the first time I've purchased a pack with zero intention of opening it.
By the way, I have seen Carolina Crusher in person...a long time Chevrolet supporter, on the tailgate during this era were the words "Have you driven OVER a Ford lately?", which was a play on Ford's late 80s ad "campaign of "Have you driven a Ford lately?"
I also got a comic from him...
It's in black and white and of notoriously dubious quality, but I had to get it anyway, especially at $1! I added the Michael Jordan comic to my collection sometime in the mid-1990s, but I wasn't collecting hockey at the time. I'm still looking for the Charles Barkley vs. Godzilla comic, which is a real thing that exists.
I really hate that we are losing the Marketplace, over greed. (The lease owner plans to put in "upscale coffee shops" which I will never support on principle). It was a fun place to go where you never knew what you were going to find, I loved walking through it and seeing the various items, ranging from antique tools, to fossilized dinosaur poop, (yes, really) to even cars...and especially the multiple card dealers.
They are working on finding a new place, but this is the second time the same person has pulled the lease on them...and the last time it was about a decade that they went without a location. It is far more popular now, so I'm hoping that they find a place much quicker now. I've become friends with some of the dealers, too. I won't be able to go see them anymore.
But at least I won't always be regretting missing out on all those Rangers cards. I already missed out on the Islanders cards he used to have, and are mentioned in the post I linked to above.
However, in retrospect, I should not have spent the money on the cards, because my teeth problems that I mentioned in the last post got really bad this past week. In fact, I've scheduled this post to be published while I'm having my very first root canal...and holy crap, tooth repair is expensive.
I don't do ebay too often. It's not that I have anything against the platform, but most of my online card purchasing is on COMC. I like paying only one shipping fee, and being able to build a larger order.
But last week I was poking around on Ebay, I don't remember why but probably researching something, and I came across a lot of 50s cards that included not one but 5 of the cards from the 1953 Topps License Plates set. This was one of the few Topps automotive sets I was missing, and it's the one I've been chasing the longest, since I first learned it existed probably about 15 years ago.
I bid on and successfully won the auction! They arrived this week, when I was dealing with a terrible amount of pain from a bad tooth that I ignored too long. (The worst pain I've ever felt, and I know pain since I live in it 24/7/365)
Every US state and province of Canada got a card in the set, plus I think a few other places.
License plates used to be a really popular card topic, but then just stopped after this set. I think it's the most recent example of a license plate set, despite the fact that it was the second or third produced by Topps in a 5 year period!
However, that was not all that came in this lot...
1958 Topps Zorro, my first card from the set.
1959 Rinso Soap The Paladin, my first card from the set.
1954 Quaker Sports Oddities, also my first card from the set. It's a little rough and has some extensive paper loss on the back, which is normally something I dislike, but considering I was buying it for the license plates, I consider it essentially a throw in.
There was also a card I needed but have not scanned yet from the 1956 Topps Jets set, and one that turned out to be a duplicate from the 1959 Sicle Air Force set.
Not bad considering I paid $3.95 for the lot. The shipping actually cost me more!
Now I just need an example of the Topps Sports Cars set...
Last weekend, my brother took me on another Adventure, this time it was to the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen, NY. I never know where the Adventures are going to be, it's more fun that way, and this was certainly a fun one...and that's before I found real, honest to goodness cards in the gift shop!
This museum was not something I knew even existed, but I don't know all that much about horse racing...of any sort. Harness Racing is when the horses pull a small trailer called a "sulky" where the driver sits. It is a very old sport, the Goshen Historic Track, where the museum is located, opened in 1838, and has been the continual host of races ever since. It's one of two sporting arenas on the National Register of Historic places!
An even cooler aspect of this is that my great grandfather used to take part in this sport. I never met him, as he died before I was born, but my brother did. All I know is that he was a driver, but I never realized something until we were there and talking about it...but my great-grandfather was an athlete! How cool is that? I don't know if he ever raced at Goshen or stayed at his local track, he lived in New Jersey at the time. But Goshen is not all that far away from New Jersey, so it's possible. It's something I want to know more about and as I would see later, they keep very detailed records...so I might be able to find out more some day.
Neither of us had ever been there, so we didn't know what to expect, but as we turn into the driveway, the track comes into view...and as we are driving in the driveway, we see some horses go by on the track! We happened to arrive there are the perfect time, because there were 4 horse/driver teams out there on the track practicing! Wow!
I took a little video...
it was pretty cool to see them, and especially hear them, going around the track.
They went back behind the building, off the track, and we went into the museum.
The museum is largely in a stable built in 1912, although it has been expanded because the museum is quite large.
here are some pictures from inside the museum:
This somewhat lousy photo shows the original stable section, which is the main part of the museum. The original floor remains!
The actual cart pulled by Hambletonian!
This is the only known single-wheel sulky.
The original stable is the building where hay chutes were invented, I think the lady who worked there said. Original people had to move the hay manually, but they invented chutes here were a person could put the hay in from the second floor and it would go down in to the stable stalls for the horse to eat.
This was built in Whitehall, NY, which is by Lake George.
Actual sleigh bells!
Family tree of Hambletonian
The museum has lots of models. Some of horses, mostly of people. They are really impressive, more on them below.
They have a Sulky you can get on to see what it's like...I had some difficulty getting off...in fact, I had to get on the floor and crawl out from under it, which was quite a challenge!
The very first ever moving starting gate, made from a cut-down 1932 Ford.
The Hall of Fame for each person is a unique model made of them. It was truly spectacular. I photographed each and every one. Living people are in one room, those who have died, referred to as Immortals, have their own room. As a modeler, I was highly impressed not only with the quality of the work but also with the effort put in to sculpt and cast a unique model of each person. This is one of the more unique models- in the welcome video when you enter the museum, they show this lady "swimming" the horse, which is something I didn't know was possible. Horses can swim, and they made her model showing that.
Here's a view of the track from the second story lookout.
I love historic markers like these.
After we finished the museum, we talked into town a little bit. Goshen is an old town with a lot of cool architecture. This obelisk is in honor of a signer of the Declaration of Independence who lived there. It's also in the middle of the road, which is kind of odd.
Here's a look into town. We didn't explore that way...my medicine makes me have to eat at certain times and I was going to be pushing it as is- so that direction was left for another day.
There is a Civil War monument in town.
You can just see the age of the buildings here. I really like architecture quite a bit. One of the houses, on the other side of the road, has a historical marker denoting that it's where Ulysses S. Grant stayed to watch the races from the back balcony. (It's shown in the album).
Now, the museum had a gift shop. I naturally explored the gift shop, and found some post cards...
The Museum itself.
These two are both of Grayhound, a famous horse. His stable- including those two striped chairs and the lamp- are at the museum. They were moved there and reassembled board-by-board from their original location.
A card advertising a book. It counts!
This very large card- it barely fit on my scanner tray- shows West Point.
This one, the same size as the West Point card, shows the view from to the southeast taken from Bear Mountain.
Then, as we are getting ready to check out, I notice a small display of small white boxes...a step over to them reveals that they are indeed trading cards! The first museum I've ever been to that had cards! They are called Harness Heroes, and a little researching online tells me that they have been produced since 1991. They had six different years- 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2011 and 2013-and my brother got me each year. Each set is 36 cards, so I ended up adding more than 200 to my collection that day! One weird thing is that they use the exact same design every year...and have since 1991! They don't even change the color of the border. That's a little strange, but it's a pretty solid design.
Here's a few interesting photos from each set:
The sets are mostly images of famous horses (both current and historical) with some people at the end of the set, and the final card or two being something important to the sport. The 2000 set had a card for the track, which is great, considering I got all the cards there.
Most of the driver cards are taken at the track, but some are posed shots.
This photo dates to the 1800s.
Based on the back of this card, he is the winningest driver in history, with 15,523 wins in 58.626 career races in a span covering 1981-2012! The fact that they have such detailed records (of all the drivers and horses that got cards) is what gives me hope that I may find out more about my great-grandfather.
I'm showing this one mostly because I think my mom will enjoy seeing it.
The lady who swims the horses is now in my card collection!
Each set came with a cover card- it can't be called a checklist, because while it does list all the cards in the set, they are not in numerical order and no numbers are given on this card. It looked the exact same in each set, other than being a lighter blue before 2011.
While we were walking around the grounds, we saw a sign for a car show they hold in August...which involves parking the cars around the track. We will absolutely be attending that show in the future, and I plan to check and see if they have new years of cards when we go...there is a set produced every year.
While I'm used to many more horsepower, this was a lot of fun- and seeing the horses on track was truly an amazing experience! I'm really glad my brother chose this one because it opened my eyes to a sport I knew very little about, but now have an appreciation for. Racing, the concept of competing to see who's fastest...it doesn't matter if it's a car or a horse, I enjoy it.
I ended up taking over 1200 photos that day. It is the 4th most I've ever taken in a day. You can see all the good ones on my website here: Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame
You can see all the Harness Heroes card sets, both front and back, on Cardboard History Gallery here: Other Sports By Set I have them in Other Sports by Set, sorted chronologically mixed in with the other sports that aren't part of the Big 5, which are each listed with their own section.
