CrazieJoe corrects a mistake I made circa 1996

 I was a very different person back in 1996. (I'm sure that's true for everyone, actually). When I first began collecting the NBA, I was a bit more rigid than I am now- back then, everything had to be defined before I would consider it part of my collection, and, this is the important part for this post, it had to be standard sized. Anything that was not standard sized was not considered part of my collection, with the exception of the so-called "Tall boys". 

So, when I got the current season Fleer/Z-Force promo, and two year old Emotion promo, which were two standard sized cards attached to a center strip with perforations...I separated them. Although I didn't think much of it at the time, I came to regret it, and I've been regretting it now since the late 1990s. I have not come across replacements for either yet...

until Joeseph sent me a package recently, and the very first thing I see in the box is a copy of the Emotion panel! In perfect, unperforated form! 

Amazing to see it in one piece again, for the first time in circa 25 years. Here they are in all their singular unit glory! 

That wasn't all, though. 

He also included the panel for the NHL set, which, despite using the same design and being released in the same year, is actually from a different season, with NBA being 1994-95 and NHL being 1995-96. I had never actually even seen the NHL card before!  

These two panels will NEVER be separated, I can assure you of that! 

That wasn't all Joseph sent but this, to me, is definitely the highlight. 

Just because, here's the back. 

Thank you again Joseph, and sorry for how long it took me to get this post published. Looking over at the right side of the dashboard, I see that I started composing it on December 8th, 2021...

Top 12 Cards of 2019

I like to finish each year with a countdown of my top 12 cards of that year- one from each month. This year I was mostly on burnout mode because of my Card of the Day project in 2018, basically just going through the motions until about mid-November, when my passion returned (as I'm sure you've been able to tell by how much I've been posting since then) I have even less preconceived plans about what will "win" each month this year than I have in the past couple of years, so this should be fun for me to compose, hopefully for you to read, as well.

January:

2017 Absolute Racing Tools of the Trade Dual Gold

It's hard to argue against a dual relic SN to ten that I pulled from a pack myself, which is not something I do very often! Couple that with the fact that it's got two colors on the sheet metal piece and parts of the Goodyear lettering on the tire, I just can't beat that! 2017 Absolute was also the only hobby box I bought for myself during the entire year...although not the only one I did. I got three for Christmas as well. That's it though, the least I've done in a year since 2008 when I did none.

February:

2015-16 Ultimate Collection Jumbo Materials Patch

I attended my first card show since either 2004 or 2005 in February, that was a thrill for me! This is the marquee card I got, and I actually got two from this same insert set. I had hoped to attend the card shows at least two times a year but it just didn't turn out that way for me, attending each one only once. But the fact that I got to go to two is just so amazing to me, I hope to get back to at least one in 2020.

March:

Hitting 2017 Absolute Racing again, but this time from the Plainville CT card show, not the box. This has a piece of neon yellow sheet metal, and having grown up in the 1990s, there are two things that will ALWAYS catch my eye- holograms and neon. This is my first piece of neon sheet metal, although not my last, as I purchased three pieces from the same seller at the show all at once. As you can tell from the photo, Menard is ecstatic.

April:

Here's a card I got from another blogger, this one coming from Chris of the Collector. It completed my Starting 5 promo set for that year, which is quite an accomplishment because I wasn't collecting NBA at that time, and promos are notoriously hard to find after the fact.

May:
I'd like to show you the favorite card I got in May, which is a Henrik Lundqvist card I got in trade from Kenny/Zippy Zappy. But, I lost the box I put it in and the other cards he traded me, as well as the rest of the Beach Boys box I finally finished opening, so I can't. I've gone nuts looking for them, because I didn't even get a chance to list them in my paper listing yet. Very frustrating, and a sign of how much I was just going through the motions in those months.
What I CAN show is one of his trademark pretty girls he's known for sending. Somehow, I managed not to lose them.

2013 Seven Colors #62

I have no idea who this lady is, I think possibly a musician, but she has a lot of cards issued. Unfortunately, I can't find full checklists so I can't post them on the Database, making them and the Sumo cards Ryan sent me a while back the only part of my collection not properly documented.

June:

2018-19 Panini Threads Dazzle Gold #86

I never pull cards SN to 10 or less...I did it twice in 2019! My brother bought me some cards when we took a one-day-up-and-back trip to Lake George, and I happened to pull this Russell Westbrook card SN 01/10! And it's really cool looking in person, much nicer than it does in scans.

July:

1966 Batman Black Bat #51

I was able to add three 1966 Batman cards in 2019, bringing my total to 4. I need more of them, but they are quite hard for me to find! The Black Bat set was new to me in 2019. I still lack the Blue Bat set totally.

August:

2000-01 Stadium Club #236

August was probably my worst month in the hobby since 2008. I didn't scan even a single card during the entire month, the first time that has happened that I can recall. The one and only highlight of the month is that Ryan / SumoMenkoMan sent me a box of stuff totally at random, and I really like the design of the 2000-01 Stadium Club hockey set- this is only my second or third card from the set- so it got the nod.

September:

2011-12 SP Game Used Authentic Fabrics Patch

I think we all knew that this was going to be the card. I passed this card by last time I went to the shop it was for sale in in 2017. I didn't get there at all in 2018, and I assumed it would be sold...lost to me forever. When I got back there on September 3rd, it was still there, so I made sure that I would not leave without it- even if it's the most I've paid for a hockey card to date. (tied) This is probably my favorite card of the entire year, to be honest. I can't tell you how many times I had thought about and regretted leaving it behind.

October:

1887 Allen & Ginter Arms of All Nations

I got a lot of REALLY great cards in October. For new cards, it was one of the best months of the year. Getting my oldest card, a full 131 years old, that can't be topped so it gets the nod.

November:

1972-73 Topps #87

In November, I found out I was losing my favorite place for vintage cards, where I've gotten all sorts of great oddballs and hockey since 2014, due to the owner pulling the lease to put in "upscale coffee shops". Well, I went and got as much as I could afford, which was a lot of Rangers cards, and a partial set of 1972-73 Topps, which I suspect was complete at one point, but had gotten picked over over the years. I chose this card, instead of the many Rangers I got, because it has such a cool, unique photo on it. (and it does have a bit of a Rangers tie in- the photo was taken at Madison Square Garden.) This is a really unusual and creative photo for 1972-73...about 95% of the set are posed photos, not even action photos, which makes this stand out even more.

December:

2019-20 Upper Deck UD Exclusives #86

Although I got a lot of great cards in December, including my COMC order that had been building since August of 2018, a card I pulled had to get the top spot. I have been a fan of the UD Exclusives parallel since it was introduced in 1998-99 for the NBA, and as I would come to find out, the NHL as well...although it would be years until I learned about that sport, which has now taken firm control of the #1 spot in my collection...not in card totals but in interest. The UD Exclusives are always SN, usually to 100, although some sets to 500. They are not common pulls, and since I began collecting the NHL, this is only the second one that I've pulled from a pack, following one from 2010-11, which I pulled from a single pack I found somewhere. In the grand scheme of things, these are my third-favorite parallel concept, but are de-facto #1 since the first two are no longer issued in my sports, or at all. (Refractors, which sort of live on in Prizms from Panini for NBA and NASCAR, but not quite, and Ultra Gold Medallions). The fact that I pulled a Ranger, a player from my team, makes it so much more special. I pulled this on Christmas day, and I got the base version as well. My brother's Christmas Present to me was $100 on COMC, and a good portion of that was spent on other UD Exclusives issues, including a full page from the 2017-18 set...I'll post about them when they arrive, and my recap of the cards I actually got on Christmas will be coming soon...hopefully by this weekend....but next year, nonetheless!

I ended 2019 on a high note, Cardboard History wise, and 2020 is going to be starting out much the same way, as I have almost 30 posts in the queue waiting for their time in the sun...

Thanks for another great year of reading!

Cardboard History Goes to a card show!

I have not been to a card show since 2005. I've said that many times, but I can say that no longer! Yesterday morning, my Mom and I made the 2 hour drive to Enfield, Connecticut to attend their monthly card show, and let me tell you...it was WELL worth it! I had a really great time, it was everything I could have hoped for, and then some. The last card show I went to, at the Holiday Inn in Taunton, Massachusetts, back in 2005...it had nothing for me. That's a 4 hour ride one way and I didn't get a single card. This show...this show in Enfield had EVERYTHING represented, and as you will see in the photos below, I added to my three main sports and even baseball.

Everyone at the show was friendly, knowledgeable and I don't feel like a single dealer judged me based on how I look- something that actually surprised me, because I'm so used to it. I never felt like anyone was trying to pressure me into buying anything either- although it's a given that every dealer wants to make a sale, none of them felt pushy to me. Two of the dealers, who I had never met before yesterday- gave me cards.

I saw some really awesome cards, including a Bill Russell autograph (who I consider the greatest of all time) and also the most spectacular patch I've ever seen- the entire Chevrolet logo from Jimmie Johnson's firesuit. It took up most of the card! (It was a 1/1). Unfortunately, I was a bit out of it- being surrounded by that much cardboard can do that- and I didn't think to ask if I could take a picture of it! In fact, my plan was to ask dealers if I could take pictures of their stuff to post on here, and I totally zoned out on that. I took one photo when I first got there-

and I didn't take any other pictures of the show. Duh!

While I didn't take any more pictures, I was IN two pictures. I had put up a thread on the Trading Card Database about the show, and two of my fellow members mentioned that they would be there. I made sure to get a photo with each of them, which will surely appear in the 2019 edition of the C2Cigars Trading Card Database set!

 Myself and Jimetal

Suomibear and I

As you can see in both photos, I'm holding cards in hand. I'll get back to the cards shortly.

One thing that was interesting, is that the show was noticeably Boston- themed. Aside from the fact that most everyone there was wearing Boston gear, there were more Celtics cards available than any other team. The Bruins were well represented, but I would say hockey was pretty evenly available. Every dealer with each sport had some of the Boston teams. I don't remember there being such a Boston-theme to the shows when I attended in Taunton, but it's fine with me- I will be happy to have a place I know I can go to when I need to find some cards from these teams. (I actually have a trade I'm putting together that requires me to send out 50 Celtics cards...you'd think I would have bought some. I already had all the 90s era Celtics I saw but I didn't think to get any for my trade partner. I realized I had made that mistake this morning, unfortunately.).  It's too bad I both can't find and got too fat to fit into the Antoine Walker jersey I bought in 1996. I'd wear it to that show for sure. When we used to have shows here in the Hudson Valley, I don't remember them being NY themed, but it's been so long since we had any, my memory could be faulty. It was 17 years ago today since we had a card show locally.

The cards that were there was an interesting mix. TONS of vintage- I would say there was more vintage there than anything else, from all 4 of the sports Topps produced back then. Naturally, I can't say much about baseball or football, but I saw stacks and binders full of early 60s baseball. I saw high quality vintage NBA but decided to go in a different direction with my purchases. Modern stuff was also well represented. I would say that the show was about 50% all vintage, 25% modern (last 5 years) and the rest was a mixture. 1990s were well represented, the era between the two NBA lockouts was not (1998-2011), which is not to say they were not there, just not there much. NASCAR was much more well represented than I expected (NASCAR does have a rich history in Connecticut) and I was thrilled with that. I was actually able to pick up cards of two of the NASCAR people I was missing for my project of getting at least one of every person to get one.

Now, I'm sure you want to see some cards, so...here we go!

OK, the pictures kind of stink. Since the flash died on my camera the pictures have not been great, but it will take me forever to scan all these. These were the first two cards I bought- my first game used net card, and a game used patch from Nash.

More hockey from the same dealer...My first Goalie Pad relic, from Fleury to boot...SN to 15!

My two biggest purchases of the day. My mom talked me into buying the Roenick. That card caught my eye the instant I saw it but it was more than I usually spend. I'm glad I got it though. It's game worn, the Bennett is Rookie Photo Shoot worn.

 The one NASCAR dealer had a stack of Bubbas. I had to get this one- you all know how I am with SN cards. Purple foil for a purple car, it works well!

 Some cards out of 2017 Absolute. Majeski is one of the two people I needed. I just pulled the SN 8/10 Gold of the Newman so recently I have not even scanned it yet.

More NASCAR. The Slugger Labbe autograph is the other person I needed. My first Terry autograph, and the JJ Yeley is a base card from that year's American Thunder. Although the card is SN to 350, based on my searches for that card and the others from the subset, it's significantly rarer than the number would have you believe. I've been looking for that specific card since it was new (2006) and I've never even seen one for sale before.

 One dealer had 4 cards I needed from the 1965 Donruss Spec Sheet set, my favorite of which being the top right one. As a model builder, that speaks to me.

The same dealer also had a stack of Bee Hives, this is my first...and for about 45 minutes, was  (probably) my oldest hockey card. (Howell played for the Rangers from 1952-68, but the Beehives can't be dated properly.)

 All these cards came from a quarter box. I didn't think too hard about them, so some may be duplicates. It will be fun to see how well I remember my own collection. One of the cards I got for a Database member who I owe a thank you to. Those two Lundqvist cards and the one Zuccarello card were the only ones I saw in the show. Since I needed them, it was no thoughts needed to add them to my stack. I'm 99% sure I actually found a player I needed for the NBA names project as well- can't remember and have not yet bothered to check if I had already found an Erazem Lorbek yet before yesterday.

There was some unopened material to be had, but this was the only example I bought. This was the last Ultra set issues of my favorite brand for sports cards.

 My last purchase of the day- also one I had to be talked into buying, I'm such a cheapskate- brings me my oldest hockey cards to date. The card on the left is clearly from 1951-52, but I'm not sure when the card on the right is from- I will check on the Database shortly- Milt Schmidt was the first NHL player who died after I began watching the sport- at age 98. Both players are new to my collection, and since my oldest card was previously from 1957-58, I know that one of these is my oldest now. Also, my first original Parkhurst cards!

Right after we got there- before I had even seen every table- my mom won the door prize! That was pretty cool. Each winner got to pick three prizes, but all but one of the prizes were baseball. I chose the one hockey prize...

And I decided on a baseball prize as well. I have commented on numerous blogs that the 1990 Topps baseball design is one of my favorites in all of cardboard history, and I basically just got the entire set for 33 cents- the cost of entry into the show, which gave us the ticket that led to three prizes!

 Since there was nothing else for me, I gave the third prize to my friend Jim from the Database. Afterall, the first time I meet him, and he handed me this box below!

I have not gone through it all yet, but it's a mix of hockey and NBA. All the curved cards on the right side appear to be 2017-18 Essentials Retail, a set I don't have much of- and one that has several people I do not yet have a card of. Hopefully they will be there, but I have not had a chance to check yet.

After the show, instead of coming back home through Hartford, we decided to go north, into Massachusetts, and came across I-90 to Albany and down. That was a wise choice, because...

 We drove right past the Basketball Hall of Fame! The sport was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. We will be making a family trip to the Hall some time this year, knowing it's less than three hours from home, there's really no excuse anymore for not going.

Saw some really nice vistas on the ride home as well. I love the Northeast.

Today was another busy day. I went to a coin show in Parsippany, NJ, a show that I had been wanting to get to for quite some time- around 2009 or 2010- but just never got the chance to get there. Either it conflicted with something, or I didn't have any money saved up, or I simply didn't feel good enough. I've kind of drifted out of that hobby over the past few years, but I still wanted to do it. And I'm glad I did! Because I ended up coming home with a bunch of vintage cards, including one of my most wanted non-sports sets!

1933 Goudey Sky Birds! I've wanted this set for a long time, and now, finally, I have one. The dealer also had the key card in the set- Baron von Richthofen, AKA, the Red Baron. But, it was in poor shape and more money than I wanted to spend on a card in that condition.

 That wasn't all I got from that dealer, though. These 50s Topps cards come from the 1957 Isolation Booth set, which I did not have previously.

 These two cards come from the same set, and I believe also date to the 1930s. I need to do more research on them.

I also got 4 cards that are quite a mystery to me, but I can't post them here- they are naked ladies, from Cuba. Pre-Casto, probably pre-War, but I'm not sure. I'm not even sure where to research them.

As we were leaving, my mom spotted a card vending machine- something I had not seen since 1996, and they actually had something I needed! It got stuck coming out, so I had to bang on the side of the machine with my fists. It didn't work, so I had to get help from a woman who worked there- and she was rocking the machine back and forth, until finally it fell. I was having images of the Simpsons episode where Homer is trying to get chocolate out of a vending machine and the machine falls on him. Luckily that didn't happen, but it gave us a good laugh.


Both shows are held monthly, but I don't plan to go every month to either of them- the card show, I would LOVE to be able to go to every month, but it's just a little too far to do that. 2 hours one way, it's a bit of a haul. I am hoping to go 3 or 4 times a year. The coin show, honestly, that hobby is just not as important in my life as it once was, and I can see myself only going once or twice a year at this stage of my life. I enjoy seeing the stuff, but most of it is out of my price range, or stuff I'm just not interested in. Honestly, I most likely will not go even that often. The card show, that one I want to do a lot more.

Since it's relevant for the day- I saw this sign on the outskirts of Hartford.

I took a whole bunch of pictures (and even a video) of the trips, and you can see them all HERE on my website.

$30 a Week Habit sends me more than 30 cards

Recently, I got a box of cards from Robert of $30 a Week Habit and My PCs One Card at a Time, who sent me a box of hockey goodness. Now, there were too many to show all of them, but here are some highlights:

4 new sets were added to my collection, with probably the highlights being 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee and 1987-88 O-Pee-Chee. The other two, not shown, are 2003-04 Heads Up and 1998-99 Finest, which happens to be the only one of the 67 cards he sent me that I have not scanned yet, I think!

One of the three 1976-77s he sent, which I am guessing are ones he upgraded in his on-going set build, is my first career issue of The Hammer.

It's my third card of his, but the other two were both issued long after his career ended. While I still have a lot to learn there are some names from the past I've already learned, and his is one of them.

Since I can't show two and leave out the third, here's Bob Nystrom:

 He seems to have been enjoying that photo shoot!

My Joe Sakic collection got a huge boost from him, with 16 of them joining my collection! It moved him into my top 10.
This one may be the most intriguing to me, as I have no idea what set it came out of. Robert or anyone else, do you know?

But there were more mainstream cards as well, going as far back as when the team was in Quebec:

 to Colorado...

 and even as an All-Star!

There were other players and sets represented as well, including some serious star power both retired and current, and even some inserts.

 (as an aside, the 1992-93 Topps design grows on me more and more every year. I've been familiar with this design since 1996 when I first saw it on an NBA card, yet I like it now more than ever. I don't know how to explain that)

In total, I got 67 new cards in the box, and all of them will be a part of my collection for many years to come. Thank you again Robert!