Flat Stanley Griffey Style

I have been wanting to pick up a Crazyworks Ken Griffey Jr. Sports Warrior action figure lately. When they were in stores I wasn’t big on them so I never picked one up but over the past 15 years they have grown on my and I now want one.

I didn’t pick one up but instead ordered a 1999 Topps Action Flats figure for a couple of bucks. The figure, which is about 3 inches tall, comes in a box with a special edition 1999 Topps card.

I initially planned on displaying the figure out of the box but I didn’t realize how flat it really is, Topps wasn’t kidding when they decided on the name "Action Flats".

EDIT- I forgot to include images of the card, here it is

 

R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy

This morning I was saddened to see that Leonard Nimoy had passed away at the age of 83 years old due to complications from COPD. He had been admitted to the hospital a few days ago because of chest pains and I had a bad feeling, especially at his age.

Like most people he will always be remembered as Mr. Spock from the Star Trek series and multiple movies though he was so much more than that. In total he appeared as Spock in 15 different Star Trek incarnations, including television, movies and video games plus a handful of short videos, The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory. With his most recent appearance in Star Trek Into Darkness where he worked with Zachary Quinto, who has taken on the role of Spock in the new movies.

Initially he tried to separate his true self from the character, his first memoir was even titled “I Am Not Spock” which he followed up 20 years later with a second book “I Am Spock” where he had come to terms with the way people remember him. He does have quite a bit of range though, often appearing in detective shows and westerns early in his career along with some of the best cult shows around like Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.

He truly will be missed.

Nimoy collectors do not have a shortage when it comes to collecting his cards, which are mostly Star Trek related, but he does appear in various Donruss releases. Rittenhouse has plenty of Nimoy autographs and relic cards in their sets but you can expect to spend quite a bit for his cards. Even before his death his autographs were running the price of a car payment and now that will probably double.

One of my favorite recent cards of his is the Star Trek Shadowbox card, I picked up the Scotty shadowbox card when they were released and was hoping to add a Spock card at a reasonable price but that will have to wait now for the eBay Toads to pass.

The Redemption Card Waiting Game...

It is that time of year to update everyone on my redemption status of the 2012 Topps Strata Bernard Pierce Auto Relic Rookie card that I redeemed on 2/26/13.

Well, I am still waiting 2 years and counting.

I could call and request a replacement but I am not a fan of getting something that Topps considers “Comparative in value”, I like the Clear Cut Auto Relic rookie cards and that is what I want. I would be ecstatic if they were to replace it with a Russell Wilson or Nick Foles version but I don’t see that happening. I would even be happy with Robert Turbin or Michael Floyd but with my luck I would end up with Isaiah Pead.

Pierce got in to 13 games and rushed for 366 yards so he had plenty of time to sign some autographs. He did sign some of the lower serial # cards but I am still sitting card-less.

 

When Is A Change Not A Change?

The Cleveland Browns unveiled their new "logo" recently, way to think outside the box but push right up against the sides. The difference is a deeper saturated orange and a brown facemask, not really a paradigm shift in thinking for the team management.

I know that the Browns are the unique team with no logo on their helmet but I would actually like to see their new Dawg Pound logo on the helmets.

Even the old Dawg Pound logo would be cool

I Am Seeing Double

 

Sometimes you wonder when exactly a designer gave up on building a set. In my recent JustCommons order I had picked two 2013 Panini USA Baseball Champions Griffey cards (#29 & #41) and I knew the cards were similar but forget similar, the cards are exactly the same. The only difference is the card number on the back.

 

Why would a company do this? There are plenty of Griffey images available from the 2006 World Baseball Classic. There are other players who have two cards in the base set and they have two different images for their cards. This is just lazy.

The Pain Of A Failed Prospect

I just endured a beating (in price) that has taught me a serious lesson on prospecting. Fortunately I did not purchase the card I had pulled it from a box but in this case I ended up missing out on a lot of money when I walked away from an insane offer.

In 2006 I pulled a 2006 Bowman Chrome Matt Leinart Rookie Autograph blue refractor #41/75 while I was busting a box in a friend’s card shop. At the time every one was seeking Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and even LenDale White and their cards were shooting up in price every day. There was a Leinart collector who frequented the store and word was passed on that I pulled the card, he made an offer of $275. I turned him down and decided to sit on the card because Leinart was slated to be the future of the Arizona Cardinals organization and I figured I would be able to cash in big time after he proved his potential.

He started 11 games in 2006 and while he didn’t burn up the field he was ok for a rookie. Even then I held on to the card hoping for a better sophomore season. Needless to say he played in only 21 more games over the next 6 seasons and ended his career in 2012 with a total of 4,065 yards, 15 TDs and 21 INTs and a 70.2% QB rating.

For a number of years now I have been trying to sell the card hoping to find that diehard USC fan, I finally found a buyer. The final selling price… $3.50

I left $271.50 on the table and I am now done with prospecting, anything I pull that is hot and I don’t collect gets put up for sale.

What If? A Yankees Interference

Today is the day that Seattle Mariners pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training in Peoria, Arizona. It is also the day that the Yankees pitchers and catchers report so today is an ideal day for a What If? card based on a significant play involving recently retired Yankee great Derek Jeter.

It is Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS, the Orioles are up 4-3 over the Yankees in the 8^th inning and Yankee Captain Derek Jeter is up to bat. Orioles reliever Armando Benitez winds up and the pitch… Jeter smacks the ball deep to right field. Right Fielder Tony Tarasco backs up to wall and lines up beneath it to make the easy catch but a 12-year old boy, Jeffrey Maier, reaches over the wall and grabs the ball mere inches above Tarasco’s glove.

Right Field umpire Rich Garcia rules the play a homerun instead of the correct ruling of fan interference. This tied up the game and in the 11th inning Bernie Williams knocks a walk-off homer to win the game, the Yankees go on to win the series 4-1 games. Garcia later admitted that he made the wrong call but it didn’t matter.

To Orioles fans this is a deep open wound to their heart so what better way than to add to the pain with a What If? triple relic card. The pieces are Jeter’s bat, Tarasco’s glove and the ball caught by Maier.

Don't worry Cubs fans, I didn't forget your missed interference call but you will have to wait until another day for that What If? card.

It May Be Late But It Will Finally Happen

The fight for the ages is finally set, Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

After years of blaming each other and coming up with reasons not to fight the talk is finally done, the time and place is set and we will see who unifies the Welterweight world titles (Mayweather- WBA & WBC and Pacquiao WBO). Most will agree that this fight is probably 5 years to late but it will still be entertaining to see how it all goes down.

Mayweather collectors are very limited in their options with a handful of cards in various Brown’s Boxing, Ringside and Sportkings releases. Pacquiao collectors on the other hand have more options with Pacman appearing in a number of Topps releases over the past 4 years, which include official autographs.

Wallet Card Goes On A Nature Walk

I am surprised it took me this long to realize I didn’t have a picture of my Wallet Card Shaq with a Saguaro cactus.

Arizona is the only state where the Saguaro cactus grows naturally, they also grow naturally in Northern Mexico and a small section of California has a collection of replanted Saguaros, so they have become an unofficial symbol of that state and an icon of the Southwest desert.

There is such a connection with the cactus in the state that the State Flower is the Saguaro Cactus Blossom and the State Bird, Cactus Wren, calls the Saguaro home. In the past the Native Americans in the area would pick the fruit for food, they would collect water from them and even after one died it was utilized because the ribs from a dead Saguaro were used to make tools and shelter.

These cacti are in my neighborhood and are placed along a watershed. The needles can grow up to 3 inches so Wallet Card Shaq fit in their nicely with the needles holding him in securely while I took the pictures. Here are a couple of pictures so you can get an idea of how big a Saguaro can get. This specific Saguaro is about 10-12 feet tall and isn’t even the tallest one in the area. They can grow to around 75-80 feet and are assumed to live up to 200 years, though there may be some older. They actually do not even grow their first arm until they hit 75 years so when you see one beginning to grow an arm you know that your parents or grandparents would have been infants when the cactus began growing.

The larger holes that you see are animal burrows or bird nests and the smaller holes are where animals or birds were eating the flesh.

A Trip Down Error Memory Lane

I was hunting down a 1990 Topps card on my Griffey want list and I came across another card that actually was the first “Monster” card that I remember hearing about when I returned to the hobby in 1992.

At the time Griffey was young and tearing up the league and both his 1989 Upper Deck #1 and 1990 Leaf #245 were hot but it was an error card of some kid from Auburn that really set the fire on Beckett’s pages.

The card… 1990 Topps Frank Thomas No Name On Front (or NNO) card. The card was selling for hundreds in the early 1990s but after a Hall of Fame career that included multiple MVP Awards, a .301 lifetime batting average and 521 homeruns the card is selling for big bucks, a BGS 9 sold for nearly $4000 recently. Even raw copies are topping $800 and what surprises me is that the 2010 Topps NNO reprint is selling for $15 and up, more than the corrected base 1990 Topps version which can be picked up for under $5 shipped.