Washington Wednesday: A Couple of Unseld Autos

 Washington Wednesday: A Couple of Unseld Autos

It seems like there is always a long time between my Washington Wednesday posts. I should fix that. Hmm when was that Last one? You can click that link to find out. Moving On!

In this episode I will actually mention and show the cards that I briefly blogged about on my Kirk's Knook blog to make my self appointed minimum monthly posting quota way back in April of last year 2017. What I mentioned cards over there? And in APRIL? LAST YEAR? Egads Man PROCRASTINATE MUCH?

On Friday 21 April 2017 as part of my mail day one of the two packages contained an Ebay BIN single card $4.90 + $3.25 Shipping. Bidding had started at only $1.99 but got dangerously close to my max bid of $5.00. Was it a shill? I don't think so, but sometimes when I win auctions very close to or at my max bid I do wonder.

So here it that beaut:

 2015-16 Panini Excalibur Basketball: Regal Endorsements Autograph:

RE-WUN Wes Unseld Bullets on sticker blue sharpie #d 135/200

Then that following Wednesday 26 April 2017 on a single package mail day coming from Ebay. A BIN auction for a single card $1.99 + $4.99 shipping. Short story with this one that I first posted on my regular blog (Kirk's Knook Blog as linked at the beginning of this post). It was mainly a rant about ordering from Ebay without checking out the seller and where they were located. Which was why I posted it on that blog. I knee-jerk bought the card without seeing where it was coming from. It was from a dealer in China. Sometimes that means you will get some kind of counterfeit product. Original tracking information said it would arrive sometime between early May to early June. Fortunately it arrived well before the estimated date.

It was this beaut: Looks like a Dave Bing Cameo. I played some with the post-scanning photo editing to help bring out some of the features. I am far from a pro at it.

2015-16 Panini Threads Basketball: Century Signatures:

CS-WUN Wes Unseld Bullets on sticker autograph blue sharpie #d 137/199

The seller included 3 bonus cards: Fortunately all basketball. I like surprise bonus cards when it makes sense like these from the same sport, but I don’t like it when you order non-sports and they send sports or vice verse, or they send different sports than what you ordered. I like all (well most) sports but some people are just one sport collectors, or Non-Sport only.

2016-17 Panini Donruss Basketball: At first I thought these were special “gold” versions turns out the regular base has the gold/bronze coloring.

142 Marcin Gortat Wizards - Hey they sent the “same” team.

Yes Gortat was the subject of  the previous WW episode.

197 Tyrone Wallace Jazz

2016-17 Panini Select Basketball: Yes I did have to play with the post-scanning settings for this "chrome" card. I didn't realize until after the initial scan that the right side edge and some of the left side had some kind of smudged schmutz on it as shiny chrome cards tend to have if not wiped as soon as gotten and put into a penny sleeve. I wiped the card of the smudge but haven't sleeved it yet.

9 Zaza Pachulia Warriors

The Wallace and the Pachulia cards are of course up for trade.

Bonus to 5th Blogiversary!

OK here is a way or two to get some bonus points for my Blogiversary Contest!

• If your blog has a post you feel has been neglected and hasn't had any comments or the love you think it should then post a link to it on this post. Limit 2 links per blog = 1 point per link.

Now here are some bonus questions Correct answers will get extra points, partial answers might get one point. Post guesses here, only one guess per question. Answers will be provided sometime after the contest is over. Some of these will be sheer guessing on your part since not all of these subjects I have ever blogged about.

1. I'm not sure if I have mentioned it here but I might have. During my college days I participated in an extra curricular activity. I also had a nickname that was associated with the activity. What was that activity and my nickname? (Hint: The nickname came from a movie franchise)
2. Below are some of the many TV shows I have enjoyed over the years. There have been many others, but I can't list all of them can I? I often have difficulty deciding which ones are my all-time faves but for this contest I picked 5 that I always include in my top 10. Guess which are my "All-Time Fave" shows. 1 point for each correct show. Those who get all 5 will get some bonus points: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Primeval, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Planet of the Apes, Return to The Planet of The Apes (animated series), NCIS, NCIS: LA, NCIS: New Orleans, JAG, When Things Were Rotten, Mork and Mindy, Happy Days, Doctor Who, Blakes 7, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Warehouse 13, Wizards and Warriors, Gilligan's Island, Agents of SHIELD, The Amazing Spider-Man, The A-Team, V, Voyagers, Quantum Leap, The Incredible Hulk, All in the Family, The Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes, The Partridge Family, Eight is Enough, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, Max Headroom, CSI, CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, Eureka, Land of the Lost (original 1970s version), The Man From UNCLE, UFO, Charlies Angels, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy, Homefront, Welcome Back Kotter, SWAT, The Odd Couple, ALF, The Big Bang Theory, Babylon 5, The Fantastic Journey, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Campion, The Black Adder, Mr. Bean, Faulty Towers, Hawaii Five-O, Emergency, St. Elsewhere, Magnum P.I., Taxi, Continuum, The Blacklist, Highlander, Under The Dome, The Muppet Show, Charmed.
3. True of False: I would pay upwards of $100 for a NM/M 2012 Topps Archives Baseball 241 Bryce Harper RC Super Short Print?
4. Of the following four television shows, which TWO have I seen at least an episode of and would most likely watch the entire run of? Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, 24, Lost
5. Yes or NO: I own an HD Flatscreen TV?

Group Break Status Update 5 Feb 2013

Blog Group Break Update:

OK so the break is as full as it's going to get and is Now officially "filled". Technically I could have waited some more and tried to fill one maybe two more spots but I'm getting impatient and have enough people to still make the break fun for all (hopefully). With the number of members/slots vs. number of teams left (and me not taking extra random teams) it looks like everyone will get an additional random team. That is 4 teams total (1 Chosen + 3 Random).

It is time to get those payments in via Paypal or into the mail whichever way you are planning. If you haven't done already please send me your mailing address. I have a few addresses and a payment, but not all of either yet.

I will do the randomizing of the bonus teams shortly after this post. I will also start a post that I will use as the "official break page" and link to it on the right-hand sidebar.

The first box will open tomorrow night (Wednesday 06 Feb 2013) around 9:00 PM EST. I will first break it live via Ustream.com (my user ID is captkirk42 there as well, with the exception of some earlier memberships on a site or two my CaptKirk42 ID is pretty much universal for my memberships). If you can watch the video live great if not it will be saved for viewing. After I do the video I will do a pack-by-pack play-by-play post.

Up First:

2007 BOWMAN 

24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack

Key Rookies:
Alexi Casilla

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Hideki Okajima

Andrew Miller

Ryan Braun

Elijah Dukes. 

My "Graded" Collection

For the record I am not thrilled about graded cards. I think my main reason is it seemed to be originally developed as another way to rob the poor card collector out of his/her hard earned money. OK from a preservation stand point they are probably the best thing for cards, especially fragile perforated cards like stand-ups and sticker/stamp pages/strips, and also they insure authenticity, but from a practical stand point and a financial stand point they suck. They are expensive first for the cost of having the grading company do their thing of grading them and slabbing them, or "entombing" them as some collectors say. Also those who do sell the things try to squeeze out as much money from you as possible for them.

Here are some things I said about the reasons I had been avoiding getting graded stuff:

*I thought they are a pain to store, you have to keep them in separate areas from your ungraded cards due to the case they are in.

*The cost of sending your cards to a company to get graded vs. the grade they will come back as. etc..
 

*The confusion of which company to use. There are about a dozen companies and only 3 or 4 are worth using, depending on who you talk to.
 

*The distance between you and the card through the plastic tomb. It's like looking at your new born kid through the glass window at the hospital.

I still think that way about graded cards somewhat. Although now I won't ban them like I had before having any in hand. Of course there are techniques to "free" your card from it's "Tomb" some work better than others, I think probably the best way to do it without damaging the card is to use a flathead screwdriver and at the top where the paper label is wedge the screwdriver into the seam and then pry a little and then slide it along the edge like opening an envelope. I think you need to hit both top corners loose a little first. Anyway enough about how to free them you can find many videos on YouTube on how to do that.

OK so lets get to discussing the slabbed cards I've got OK.

This first one was the first graded card I ever received in May of 2009. I had never bought one and this one I didn't buy It was in a package from a fellow collector at TCC it was just a "Random Act of Cardness" (My own original saying) from the forum's "Time To Give Something Back!" thread. In the package I had received several other things including a boat-load of Marshall Faulk cards.

Anyway the graded card is a 1997 Topps Basketball Kevin Garnett Graded by FGS (Finest Grading Service) Gem Mint 10. Yowzers. (I jokingly said on the forum he was probably "some loser rookie guy.") I will either trade it for some high-value vintage, or try to sell it.

1997-98 Topps Basketball 148 Kevin Garnett - Timberwolves

Graded by FGS Gem Mint 10

This next card also came from TCC a different user on 24 March 2011. This time from a post called "The Chain" where a package with an assortment of cards is sent around to collectors in a set order and upon receiving the package each collector chooses one card to keep, then replaces that card with a similar type of card and sends the package on to the next collector or "link" in the "chain". There is an option to add another card in a new category to make the selection more interesting. The big problem the experiment had is some people started sending big memorabilia and someone else sent a couple card sets all of which increased the size of the package to a medium flat-rate sized box thus increasing the postage necessary to send on to the next person. That is just a bit of a related tangent to this card, because this graded card was a special "bonus" that the collector who sent me the package sent specifically to me since he knew some of my tastes.

So the second graded card I have is a 2000 Fleer E-X football card # 54 Kurt Warner - Rams graded by Beckett Collectors Club Grading (BCCG) grade a 9 Near Mint or Better.

2000 Fleer E-X Football 54 Kurt Warner - Rams

Graded by BCCG Near-Mint or Better 9

This final graded card was actually my first purchased graded card (received 15 December 2009 for $10.00), well it's more card plus memorabilia because it is a 1971 Milk Duds Baseball FULL BOX Frank Howard Washington Senators Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) Graded EX-5 The Milk Duds set is unnumbered. Alphabetically this is card #9 (69 in the set)- PSA slab has it marked #1 - the # 1 on the box is for the box code not the card number as all the boxes seem to be numbered 1.

1971 Milk Duds Baseball Complete Box - Frank Howard - Senators

Graded by PSA EX 5

When I was a Kid I had some of the Milk Duds cards, I don't recall which ones. I probably got rid of them because they were "hand cut" and thus "destroyed", or my mom did the stereotypical "threw them out". She did that more so with my oldest brother. Little did I know back then, whenever that was, that I would later like to get some more of these in the Complete Box. Not necessarily graded versions. Due to prices of these things, especially the big stars I can't afford to get all of them in graded form.

Bonus Non-Sport Promo Cards

I forget when I got these promo cards but they came as a FREEBIE bonus from some seller I think from sportlots.com but it could have been from Ebay. I'm fairly certain though that my purchase had been some sports cards so why they included some Non-Sport cards I don't know. That is another of my little pet peeves of card sellers the inclusion of a "Bonus" card(s) that are not related to the card you purchased. If I buy some football cards then give me some football cards as a bonus preferably the same team, not baseball or basketball or non-sport. If I order non-sport cards either send cards from these same series, a similar series or something that is non-sport don't send me no baseball or football cards with my TV or general entertainment cards. I think it is better to not include a bonus than to include something totally unrelated.

Now onto the cards I received all of them are TV or Movie related and are made by Inkworks.

The first two are for sets from the TV show Charmed which starred Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, and Rose McGowan (who replaced Shannon Doherty). I haven't gotten the Charmed sets yet, but I would like to and maybe try to find some of the other promo cards, but not any of the costume cards those are the non-sport version of a jersey card. I have never liked the idea of cutting up memorabilia into little 1" squares to glue onto 2.5" x 3.5" pieces of cardboard.

 2006 Inkworks - P1 Charmed Destiny Promo Card

 2004 Inkworks - CC1 Charmed Connections Promo Card

2004 Inkworks - CC1 Charmed Connections Promo Card Back

This final card is from a family movie The Golden Compass by New Line Cinema. It is for trade or I might sell it for like 2 bucks.

2007 Inkworks - GC-P1 The Golden Compass Promo Card

2004 MLB Showdown Card Game 11 pack

A while Back  (WOW back on 20 May) I had gotten some packs of cards from Target that I mentioned in this post Target Fairfield Value Pack Box This package consisted of 4 packs of baseball cards, 100 random baseball cards and a bonus of an additional pack of cards. I already mentioned the cards I got, but I decided I would show some of them. The few from the packs anyway, the 100 card deck I might only show a few choice ones. I haven't decided on that yet. I like getting these boxes/packages from time to time but I had forgotten that they "super" glue (it's not really the super-glue brand but the glue is really tough) the packs on the box supporting cardboard, making it nearly impossible to pull the packs off totally intact for those collectors who like to keep the pack wrappers.

BONUS PACK!

2004 MLB Showdown Card Game -
Trading Deadline Edition

(11 card pack)

I first became aware of this series/game when I got a Nick Johnson card (I've got to check that one out to see what his card says you are to do in the game, and to scan it someday). Anyway this is a CCG (Collectible Card Game) or TCG (Trading Card Game). I"m not sure how you play this game, or how long it takes, but I sure like these cards for some reason. I think I'll try to get the base set (how many hundreds of cards that is. I just researched and found they started making cards for this game in 2000 and ran the production each year until 2005 so six years worth. OK so make that 1,000s of cards). Anyway the set mixes in some game Legends and Vintage Hall of Fame players as well. It wasn't until I had scanned the pack wrapper and tried finding some of these cards on sportlots that I noticed I had the "Trading Deadline" Edition. Uh-oh that means it's more and more like Magic The Gathering as I feared. Maybe I won't go for a complete set, maybe just my fave teams, super stars and hall of famers.

There are two card backs since these cards are intended to be used for a game.  The base players backs are plain silver/gray while the "strategy" cards (The ones with the plays on them) are still silver/gray but with a red border.

2004 MLB Showdown Card Game - Player Card Back

 

2004 MLB Showdown Card Game - Play Strategy Card Back

010 Khalil Greene Padres

014 Brian Schneider Expos (Kool)

065 Randy Johnson D'Backs

066 John Burkett Red Sox

097 Jay Payton Padres

115 Roger Clemens Blue Jays
Chromy thing +5 Control card '97 Super Season

117 Luis Aparicio White Sox

(Cooperstown Collection)

118 Lou Brock Cards

(Cooperstown Collection)

S1 Dialed-in Offense Padres

S15 Great Reactions Defense Mets

S21 Feast Or Famine Utility Giants

Player Checklist 5/8

2004 MLB Showdown Game Instructions
(Back of Checklist Card)

Mattel Instant Replay Discs

 

 Back in the day early 1970s around '71/'72 Mattel released a wonderful electronic audio toy. The Portable Instant Replay Record Player. The hand held audio device used batteries (1 D cell) and played these little 2.5" records. The player came with 4 discs to start your collection off, then they sold sets of 4 discs of football, baseball, basketball, racing and mixed sports. I forget if Hockey was included or not. The little button on the side basically was just a play/eject button, it might of had a fast forward but I think it was just play/stop/eject. Every once in a while Ebay will have some of the discs available and sometimes the players.

Instant Replay Black Disc back.

I had the blue version of the player which I think was the first generation one, my brother had the Red version which I think came about a year later (1972) with "double sided" discs. Those discs had two pictures on the disc but I think just played on one side. The quality of the recordings was not that great, and as your battery ran down so did the playing of whatever was on the disc.

Back in the day my brother and I had about two dozen of the discs or so. There were many players I recall knowing about because I had this "toy". Over the years the discs were lost to time, or rather the "utility room" in our basement. Many of the discs sell for between $10-$30 or more sometimes you can find lots of several of the discs for a better price.

Anyway my rebuilt collection of the discs (useless as audio records unless I can find a working player for a decent price) are shown below. The Frank Robinson disc I got for $15.00 at my local card shop and the Sonny Jurgensen I got for $6.99 (+$2.00 postage) from Ebay.

 

 Sonny Jurgensen

The Ebay seller sent as a bonus an unopened pack of 1991 Upper Deck The Quarterback's Challenge cards distributed by Domino's Pizza. I'm debating if I should open the pack or not.

2005 Donruss Diamond Kings Nick Johnson Framed

In a recent purchase from the Bay I got a Red Framed 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings 139 Nick Johnson Expos/Nationals. 2005 was the first year the relocated Montreal Expos played as The Washington Nationals in DC. Many cards from this time like this one will picture the player in their Expos uniform, but the card will say they play for the Nationals. This is the Red Framed version. The card has a glued-on maroon colored frame border and the Diamond Kings logo at the bottom is in a shiny metallic Red lettering. I think these framed versions are less common than the standard version. I have one of those I just haven't scanned it yet, when I do I'll probably do a side-by-side comparison, or just repost this scan with the standard one. They missed out by not serial numbering these, I would have liked if they had done that with this set.

2005 Donruss Diamond Kings

139 Nick Johnson  Expos Red Framed

Now the Ebay seller that I got this card from also included some "Bonus" cards (six total). Here are the six cards that were sent as a Bonus all six are for trade:

1990 Upper Deck 684  Jack Armstrong Reds
1990 Fleer 151 Andy Benes Padres
1990 Fleer 429 Jeff Reed Reds
 1992 Topps Stadium Club 684 Phil Stephenson Padres
1998 Topps Chrome (Yuck) 77 Greg Vaughn Padres
1998 Topps Chrome 212 Gerald Williams Brewers

The 1992 Topps Stadium Club Phil Stephenson card has no stats charts because and I quote "Insufficient Major League data available for an accurate analysis of batting strengths and weaknesses". Wait two years playing and NO STATS? This card is his 1992 card, they are just showing his rookie card on the back. And the Stadium Club series was Topps High-End Products in the 1990s.

At one point I liked the 1990 Fleer Baseball set, but got sick of it back in the day because I had so much of it and didn't have a complete set. Now it just reminds me of many of the reasons that era of card collecting is tarnished.

I really don't mind bonus cards, but these made no sense except for the fact that they were at least Baseball cards. None of them were even from Donruss, 2005 edition or Diamond Kings. None of them were Nationals (or Expos), Nick Johnson, or even one of the teams he played on. They are 1990s junk.I would think if you are going to send bonus cards try to match them up to what the person bought. I mentioned earlier a vintage '50s card of a Chicago Bears player I bought and the seller sent a couple of bonus more modern Bears. Although they were  prime 1990s junk cards one of which I already had. The point is they were at least of the same dang team of the original card I bought. End of RANT.

OK getting back to the Diamond Kings sets. I recall when Donruss began the Diamond Kings as a subset of the main 1982 set. That year they were the first 26 cards in the set. The following year 1983 they they had more DKs cards. They were a similar design and it is a little confusing because the 1983 cards are copyrighted 1982. I don't any of those scanned right now, but I do have some other 2005 and even a couple of 2004 DKs scanned to show right now:

2005 Donruss Diamond Kings

139 Nick Johnson Expos Silver #d-14/50

2005 Donruss Diamond Kings

250 Ryan Church Expos Red Framed

 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings

250 Ryan Church Expos

2004 Donruss Diamond Kings

85 Ryan Church Indians

2004 Donruss Diamond Kings

85 Ryan Church Indians Bronze Framed