So Long Black Mamba

The NBA regular season ended yesterday with a passing of an era with the retirement of Kobe Bryant. While most fans were focused on the Warriors-Grizzlies game watching to see if the Warriors would hit 73-wins, they did, plenty were watching the Lakers-Jazz game to see Kobe play one last time and he left on a high note scoring 60 points after what seemed like he was taking every shot for the Lakers. I am not joking either, he took 50 shots while the rest of the team took 35 shots.  

Percentage wise this wasn’t his best game, it wasn’t his highest scoring game and the win didn’t put the Lakers in the playoffs, actually it knocked the Jazz out of the playoffs, but it will be memorable none the less. After 20 seasons, 5 NBA Championships and 18 All-Star selections he has decided to call it a career, and a Hall of Fame career to boot.

I am not a Kobe fan, as a Suns fan I am programmed to automatically dislike anyone wearing purple and gold but I will acknowledge he had amazing talent. Now had he been drafted by the Suns with the 15^th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, as was initially predicted in mock drafts, I would be telling a different story today.  

 

Happy trails Kobe, enjoy your retirement...you earned it.

Vintage Card Of The Month: 1933-34 National Chicle Skybirds Manfred von Richthofen

This month’s VCoM comes straight from my Top 10 Want list. A 1933-34 National Chicle Skybirds Baron Manfred von Richthofen, who was also known as the Red Baron. This set is a bit of a pain because half of the cards were released in 1933 and the other half in 1934 yet all of the cards are listed with a copyright of 1933 so some people tend to get confused about their issue date.

Ever since I watched Snoopy take on the Red Baron when I was a kid I have been interested in Richthofen. Manfred was the top ace of WWI with 80 victories, doubling up his brother Lothar, and was the #1 target of Allied flyers. What most people don’t know is that he actually started as a cavalry officer but became enamored with aeroplanes and realized that the cavalry was a dying occupation so he requested a transfer to the Air Service in mid-1915.

The write-up on the back is interesting, it makes it seem as if Richthofen was a mindless killer saying that he killed 100 men by shooting them, burning them and crushing them. He wasn’t a sociopath, he was actually quite brilliant and a great tactician.

The back also errantly lists that Canadian pilot Captain Roy Brown was the person who downed the Red Baron when in fact it is now believed that he was actually shot by one of three machine gunners (Sgt. Cedric Popkin, Gunner W.J. Evans or Gunner Robert Buie) with the Royal Australian Artillery. He was also alive when he landed the plane behind the Australian lines and remained alive long enough to talk before succumbing to a chest wound. Though I guess the truth of being shot down by an anonymous gunner and landing safely isn’t as glorified as National Chicle’s version.

The card is in beautiful condition, still solid cardboard that has held its shape. The colors have muted a bit, the corners are rounded and there are two thumbtack holes (top left and bottom right) but condition-wise it is my best card of the three National Chicle Skybird cards that I have in my collection. I would love to eventually add a better graded copy with brighter colors to my collection to replace this one. 

A Second Unpolitical Political Post

Brian Wallos, the creator of Decision 2016 and Benchwarmers, wanted to make sure to get the word out about his upcoming Decision 2016 set so with Leaf’s help (Leaf is distributing the set) promo packs of his product were handed out at the Hawaii Industry Summit a few weeks back.

The promo set includes 18 cards from the base set, numbered P1-P18 (Card #13 is missing the P), and while they are not numbered each card is limited to #/100.

Once the cards started showing up I have been grabbing them as I can. Prices for the cards released at the Hawaii Industry Summit are really fluctuating from a couple of dollars up in to the twenties, I have been pretty fortunate and found some deals. I have eleven cards, plus two dupes, so far and hopefully I will be able to complete the entire promo set. Now that the set has been released you can find the regular cards at a pretty reasonable price.

At $69.99 shipped I even gave in and ordered a hobby box through pre-sell, which shipped today so watch for the box break next week.

Tearing It Up

We are a week in to the baseball season and there are already some winners and losers but I think the biggest news is coming out of Colorado and their rookie shortstop Trevor Story. After hitting a homerun in his first four games he now has seven homers in six games. He will cool off but his play has made his cards white hot and out of the 12 Topps Now cards released he has been on three of them.

His cards are not selling at super nova prices like Stephan Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout’s early cards did but his limited numbered base cards and autographs are still selling at a significant price with his 2011 Bowman Chrome cards leading the way. He really came out of no where, not even rated in the Top 10 of the Rockies prospects (he was listed as the #11 prospect), it is time to go back and check my cards to see if I am sitting on any of his cards, this image was taken from eBay.

Some Steve Largent Pickups

I have received a number of packages recently from other bloggers and readers and I am very thankful that the cardsphere community is so friendly, it makes working out trades and deals so easy.

Mike, a reader and fellow Steve Largent collector, contacted me about some Largent cards that he had available if I was interested. When he emailed me originally I was in between trips and wasn’t always able to respond so I am very appreciative that he is patient with me and we were able to work out a deal. In all 20 cards were sent my way and with his help I made some nice headway in my Steve Largent collection.

Here are some of the highlights ranging from 1979 Topps through 1990 Score.

Now! Well, Maybe Not Right Now

Sometimes you have to go with what is given to you, I think Topps missed an opportunity here. The Chase Utley rule may be controversial to baseball purists but I am betting that had Topps made this card it would sell well in the Tampa area.

No Go On Colin K

OK, looks like we can stop on all the talk of Colin Kaepernick going to the Broncos. The big issue has been his salary, the Broncos wanted either the 49ers to cover $4 million or Kaep to restructure his contract to accept a $7 million a year deal.

I have seen arguments on both sides with some people saying he should have taken the cut to QB a team coming off of a Super Bowl win while others point out that why should he take a pay cut where if he just stays in San Francisco he will make the $11 million plus bonuses. I have never been in his shoes so I don't know where his mind is at right now and I guess the deal still could work out but I am guessing the Broncos are just going to look elsewhere instead of squabbling over money neither is willing to budge on.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Broncos turn to turn to Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Jets or possibly Nick Foles from the Rams.

The NBA Hall Of Fame List Includes:

The 2016 NBA Hall of Fame inductees were announced today with Shaq leading the list. In addition to Shaquille O’Neal is Allen Iverson, Yao Ming, Sheryl Swoopes along with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and the Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. This is a solid group, though I am not completely sold on Yao Ming, and very collectible.

Shaq is the reason I returned to collecting in 1993, his 1992-93 Stadium Club #247 is my wallet card (though he didn’t get many photo ops last year), and his autographs are still highly collectible.

AI is one of my mini PCs, I actually pulled this autograph in 2007, one of my favorite auto pulls. His career didn’t flower like it should have and he definitely has a grating personality but he definitely is worthy of a HOF plaque. As long as there are no practices required Allen Iverson will be there.

When it comes to (recent) women’s professional basketball there are three names held in reverence, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes. Cynthia Cooper was inducted in to the Hall of Fame in 2009, Lisa Leslie was inducted in to the Hall of Fame last year so this year it is Sheryl Swoopes turn.

The final player being inducted is Yao Ming. I do not know how I feel about him being included, he had a decent career being an 8-time All-Star and was among the top centers during his career but he spent much of the time injured, never pushed the Rockets to an elite team and many are saying he is being included simply for being a foreign player that opened up the league to China, essentially an ambassador for the sport.

 

Is Colin K. About To Become A Bronco?

No, this is not a late April Fools Day prank.

 It is reported that the Denver Broncos, the 49ers and Colin Kaepernick have come to an agreement on a trade for Kaep to the Broncos. Apparently the only thing holding up the trade is a restructuring of Kaepernick’s contract. The 49ers are expected to get a mid-round pick from the Broncos in return.

When it came to making Kaepernick a Bronco I was at a bit of a loss, obviously #7 is out of the picture for his jersey number (Elway’s #7 was retired). So I went to his college number, which was #10 when he played for the University of Nevada-Reno, but that belongs to Emmanuel Sanders and I was left with his high school number, which was #4.  Punter Britton Colquitt, who has been with the Broncos for 6 years, wears the #4 jersey but if Kaepernick was going to purchase a number from another player I would think this would be the cheapest option.

I ended up using Broncos third-string QB Trevor Siemian for the image base, add Kaepernick’s face and arms, a couple of adjustments to the jersey, levels and colors and we now have Colin Kaepernick playing for the Denver Broncos.

The Panda Is Struggling

 Potato Sandoval is in the news after the Boston Red Sox benched their $95-million third baseman for the young Travis Shaw. While a surprise what Sandoval’s agent Rick Thurman said today made the whole situation even more laughable. He Tweeted "if you want to win, why leave the Ferrari in the garage?’

Sure, Sandoval is being paid like a Ferrari player but after last year’s disappointing .245/.292/.366 with 10 HRs and 47 RBIs he is playing more like a Yugo than a Ferrari. Tossing in his issue with mobility due to his weight and it is completely understandable why the Sox do not want him on the hot corner.

Unless there is a huge turn around in his career, which there are whispers of a trade to San Diego, he appears to have gone form an elite player to a bust in less than two seasons. Some fans have even gone as far as suggesting he be dropped down to the Sox's AA league team the Portland Sea Dogs so he can work on his hitting and try to cut the weight.