Washington Wednesday: Joe Rutgens

1964 Philadelphia Gum Joe Rutgens Redskins

This is just a quick one of these. As usual it has been a long time since I've done one of these. I am lazy on a great many things as you might have noticed. I got this card from Sportlots on 04 March this year (2013) didn't mark the price. Got a 1965 Philadelphia card with it (98 Rams Play of The Year). Not sure if it was from one dealer or two, looks like it might have been one. Sometimes I list all the specifics sometimes I don't. Anyway since I don't have many details just look at the card:

1964 Philadelphia Gum 192 Joe Rutgens Redskins

(Front and Back)

Note the cartoon on the back has a question about what Joe does in the "off-season".  Well kids back before the late 1970s and Free Agency sports athletes didn't make the Millions upon Millions they make today. The stars of yesteryear had to have a "second" job during the off season to pay the bills.

Why The Ridiculously High Price?

OK this post is primarily just a huge rant. It is mostly about the ridiculously high prices for individual cards that folks ask for on Ebay and elsewhere because some boneheaded collector or the silly folks at Beckett have said the card is worth that skyhigh price.

A case in point this "Lost In Space" The Movie autograph card made by Inkworks in 1998 of Lacey Chabert who played Penny Robinson, the teenaged "cute" younger sister played by Angela Cartwright in the original 1965 television show.

1998 Inkworks Lost in Space Autograph Card

A-2 Lacey Chabert as Penny Robinson black on-card sharpie

(Front and back)

 

Images from blog: retiredcomicguy.blogspot.com

 

For at least a year or two, possibly longer, I have been watching various copies of this card on Ebay. It isn't often listed as an auction, but usually as a fixed price item for sale. When it does it does come up for auction this card usually starts at OVER $100. At the time of this rant there are 3 Fixed priced listings currently at $108.39 + $10 shipping (in Australia using the Aussie Dollar Mate), one at $130 (or best offer, whoopie they probably won't take anything under $100) with $6.95 shipping in Columbia, Maryland bet they send it in a PWE and the third at $125 w/ Free Shipping from Phoenix, Arizona. That is plain RIDICULOUS with a CAPITAL "R".

Any collectors who know me know that I try to get the lowest price as possible for any of the cards on my want and wish lists. OK I am really really cheap. My standard maximum price I am willing to pay for an individual card, especially newer cards, is just about 40 bucks. Obviously for some vintage cards of huge stars I'll have to go a little higher, but NOT over $100. At least not until I am a confirmed millionaire and can afford to buy any card new or vintage for over $100.

The other two autograph cards A-1 Mom Maureen Robinson (Mimi Rogers) and A-3 little brother Will Robinson (Jack Johnson) from this set sometimes start at $50 or more, but can be found closer to my comfort zone of $20-$30 ($30 is my near-maximum price). So far I think $35 is the most I have EVER Paid for a single card.

For my Non-Sport collecting wants/needs I currently need ALL THREE of these cards. I am watching all 3 now, but haven't pulled the trigger on them yet. As I said the Lacey Chabert one I will NOT pay those ridiculous prices for.

Related blog post article: 1998 Autographed A-2 Lacey Chabert Lost in Space Movie Trading Card by Inkworks

RAC Card Update: In The Bargain Bin

The RAC Card is back in the USA from it's vacation. It is currently with Nick of Dime Boxes. To see where it has been check out the Tracking post.

RAC Card Update: European Vacation

Here is an update on this card:

The card has made its way to Lisbon, Portugal. An overseas adventure that I'm sure would be an exciting tale if only cards could talk. Check out the updated RAC Card Tracking post it isn't much but hey its an update. Thank you Ana for the email and post.

I wonder where the card will end up next?

Card of the Whenever: 1959 Topps Baseball Roy Campanella

After coming up with an idea for my Curly W Cards blog of showing off one Washington Baseball Card and calling the feature "SeNators Singles", I have decided to do something similar here. If you read enough card blogs you will notice that some of the bloggers have a "card of the day" or a "card of the week" feature where they feature a random card from their collection on a regular basis. Some blogs ARE that feature. Due to my posting nature I won't be able to do a daily feature, and sometimes a weekly feature I get lazy so for this feature it will be "whenever".  It won't necessarily be "regular" in the sense of having a fixed schedule. It will just happen when it happens. So Deal with it. Speaking of deals...

I keep surprising myself with cards that I have failed to mention on this blog but I had mentioned in some of my very seldom "mail day" posts on various card forums. This card is one such card. It is a highly sought after card that often sells for ridiculously over inflated prices even for vintage cards and even for a Hall of Famer. I can understand high prices sometimes for vintage and super Hall of Famers. What I can not understand those ridiculous overinflated prices for a brand new card that has an autograph, on a sticker I might add, and/or a tiny piece of what is supposed to be part of a uniform they supposedly wore at one time. Sometimes for a player that hasn't even played a single professional game yet. OH come on seriously people? Yeah I am a bit of a cheap scape.

Now for the steal: Before I won this card I had seen some auctions for it go for a little less than (but not much) what I ended up paying and I missed bidding on them or was outbid cause I was low-balling a little. The price I ended up paying hits close to my upper limits for an individual card, but for a card like this I might have even gone a little over my top price. The card is in what I would say is Pretty Good to Very Good condition, the dealer had it marked as being in Fair to Good condition.

THE CARD:

1959 Topps Baseball 550 "Symbol of Courage" Roy Campanella

Here is the back:

Nope didn't get it for that little, but I would love to have. That is the price sticker that was on the penny sleeve it was in, it was also in a toploader but I scanned it "naked" without the glaring toploader. I also scanned the back raw so all the info can be read.

I received the card on Wednesday 06 March 2013 (This year? Really I thought it was last year). I got it for (hold on to your seat) $24.99 Shipping was FREE. I have seen it listed on Ebay with starting bids of twice or three times as much sometimes in much worse condition. Copies in better condition I could see paying a bit more heck I might have even gone up another 5 bucks but $30-$40 is my upper limits for a single card at this time, even vintage cards of Hall of Famers. I am glad I found one at an affordable price. It makes trying to complete these vintage sets that much easier.

Nachos Grande Blogger Bracket Challenge: Round 1

And so it begins... ROUND 1 of the Nachos Grande Blogger Bracket Challenge in 3-D. Now the chips (Nacho of course) are for real, the tough get tougher and the rest fall by the wayside. Eliminations are now real and I am in one of those three person brackets which means the one with the highest score moves on and the other two fall to their doom. To my left is Backstop Cards to my right is gcrl OH Great that's it I'm doomed these guys are pros (like about 90% of the competition). Oh well Its been fun. Vote for me just in case UMK?

OK now on to the C prompt:

C:\>

NO NO not the "C" Prompt, the "Card" Prompt (this one):

↓

Subject: Craig Paquette (pronounced Paw-Ket) MLB Outfielder, 1st and 3rd baseman - 10 year career 5 different teams. Seen here with his second team the Kansas City Royals. But wait this is no ordinary action shot. It appears to be some sort of pregame shirt test during batting practice shot. A jersey resilience test? A screen test for a new deodorant?

Craig's jersey/shirt looks to be some kind of mesh jersey not your ordinary polyester or cotton blend. Kevlar maybe? Is that dirt? Or is it a new fingerprint type pattern? No we'll go with the mesh theory. Look there is one hand tugging at his left sleeve. Is it his own or some awestruck fan wanting to get a piece of their favorite player? I hope it isn't a zombie, but since we know Craig played some six years and three teams after this photo session it isn't a zombie hand. Then there is the right hand coming in for a firm handshake, or maybe it is the second shirt inspector from Nike, or Under Armour? Or ANOTHER ZOMBIE? NO we ruled out the zombie theory since Craig survived this encounter. Besides zombies don't often wear watches and if they do it wouldn't be shiny anymore, unless it was recently turned. That is a debate for another post some other time some other blog. What is with all this zombie stuff?

Geez for cryin' out loud would somebody get rid of that zombie conspiracy theorist? There are NO ZOMBIES IN BASEBALL!

UM OK maybe there are a few, or were.

Ah found the back of the secret shirt test card:

On the back of the card Craig is seen at bat in his road grays so I guess we can safely say that the whole invincible mesh jersey test was a wash. Oh well I guess it was just the final game of the season and the  "Take the jersey off the players back" day. Craig you are supposed to wait till the game is over to give it away and then sign it, maybe.

Now about this Zombie thing...

GOING GOing Gone!

The following post is a presentation of the Nachos Grande: 2013 Blogger Bracket Challenge Launch. Please do not panic but keep your arms and legs in the blog tram at all times.

GOING Going and Gone!

GOING:

Going, going, GONE! That is what happens when you play this card as it is intended for your 2011 Topps Attax game campaign. You hit a Home Run. If you're lucky and your HR is a GRAND SLAM! All the Mascot cards will do a celebration dance for you (OK maybe not all Bernie Brewer rarely does anything but drink and slide). If you played your cards right, at the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, you win the game and the satisfaction of seeing your opponent's face go from a big wide grin to a droopy gloomy sour puss pout.

GOING:

Featured on this card is Carlos Lee when he was playing for the Astros. When this image of Carlos was first captured he was only thinking of knocking the ball out of the park, or pretending to if it was a staged photo op. Little did Mr. Lee know that he would have only one more year wearing Astros Orange and that the Astros would only have one more year at the bottom of the National League, OK he might have know of the impending League move for his then current team.

GONE:

So Carlos bid farewell to that baseball in 2011, then in 2012 farewell to Astros' Orange in exchange for Marlin's Neon Orange. The Astros bid farewell to the National League in 2012 and Hello to the American League in 2013. Out of the league's cellar and into the other league's... well cellar.  Oh and Carlos has since bid baseball farewell and said hello retirement. 

1970s Football Magazines Question

Valerie Bertinelli from "One Day A Time" in a John Riggins Redskins jersey.

I had a Sonny Jurgensen Jersey that style when I was a kid.

I no longer have the shirt but I do have a few pictures of me in the jersey.

I seem to recall that back in the late 1960s early 1970s there was a Football magazine that had some pinup or centerfold like photos of models wearing just football jerseys. It might have just come out at the beginning of the football season, maybe it was Playboy's football preview for the preseason or one of the regular Football magazines preseason issue, but I am about 90% certain it was a football oriented magazine not a men's magazine. My Brother had them and I am not sure if he remembers the magazine he might remember the photos/posters, but I'm not sure if he would recall the exact magazine. The reason I think it might have been just a special preseason issue is there didn't seem to be very many of these. I think it was also one of these one model/picture per issue thing. I think maybe they had four at the most, although I think my brother only had two.  Maybe it was because the magazine folded? I don't think it was a one-shot parody. This has been driving me nuts for years trying to figure this out.

Now-a-days with all the various porn magazines and online websites the sexy image of a girl in nothing but a sports jersey is about as common as a sports card from the late 1980s, or pictures of cats on the internet. Back in the sixties (or seventies) however it wasn't too overdone. These particular magazine images I'm looking for were tastefully done no nudity (at least I think there was no nudity). Color photo not drawing.

Kind of like this except not as provocative.

The pinups were of beautiful girls in a football jersey that is big enough for them to use as a nightgown, the way this image used to be done, now they tend to wear cut-off Jerseys to show more skin. I don't recall all the details, they might have had on white shorts or panties under the jersey, but I think they had nothing, or gave that illusion of nothing. The pinups I am looking for also might have had them holding a football, or with a football helmet, holding the helmet or lying near one or perhaps wearing it.

Something more along these lines, except shot in a photography studio.

Or like this. She sure is cute.

I seem to recall one of them was a blond with long hair in a straight style of the time wearing a white jersey of the Dolphins, Bills, Chargers or some other team's white jersey, either holding a ball or a helmet of that team.

Like many older pinups pre 1980s the effect was sexy without lingerie or showing too much skin. Yeah it was more like Gwen Verdon in Damn Yankees (and the promos) than anything from today.

UPDATE: If I recall correctly the main part of the magazine was black and white on newspaper type stock paper. The "centerfold" or "pinup" whatever you want to call it was the only thing in color. Of course since my memories are 40 some years from the mind of a 5 or 6 year old reality might be very different from the stored memory. Apparently six years ago I had asked about these things on the Ebay sports forums and a trading card forum with no replies or results.

Not Chyour Contest Or Mine Either

Christopher of Nachos Grande El Bloggo is hosting a contest that sounds like real fun. I entered and due to the nature of the contest slots could fill up real fast so check it out and sign up now. It is one of those participation ones, not a trivia answering or random card choosing. One requirement is you need to have a blog, or start one for the contest.

4th Blogiversary: Yay Me!

Today 16 October 2013 marks the Fourth Anniversary of this blog. Notice the original banner I didn't quite get it all filled in yet, I was still trying to figure out what cards to put on it. Wanna see my First Post? Card Blogging What A Concept. Yep the title is a play on the title of the 1979 debut comedy album from Robin Williams "Reality... What A Concept."

Another concept is posting more often. That will at least keep my two or three semi-regular blog followers awake.