A Good Day

 I went to a card show today!  My first in over a year! It was held at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds and was the biggest show I have attended here in Oklahoma.  It was huge, but it included Pokémon and TCG and I expect it was dominated by those sellers. To be honest, I barely got inside the doors. Two of the sellers I buy from at every show were set up next to each other right by the entrance. I never got past their tables.  

Overall, there was nothing I would consider a noteworthy pickup. It was all set needs.  Mostly commons, but with a few minor stars and a couple of HOFers that aren't particularly popular in the hobby.  I did manage to find a few 1967 high numbers, which was a pleasant surprise.  Overall, it felt good to attend a show again.  

However, this post is about something different: mail deliveries!

As long as it has been since I went to a show, it has been even longer since I added something to my Johnny Antonelli player collection. And I added two this week.

I found this 2009 Heritage buyback on Ebay for less than $20 and I grabbed it immediately. I have a complicated relationship with buybacks.  I don't consider that the foil stamp conveys any transformative effect to the card.  This is, and will always be, a 1960 Topps card. But the online resources consider this different, so I will continue to add them provided the price is reasonable. I've seen other Antonelli buybacks, but prices in excess of $50 are not reasonable.  So, this is my first buyback card in this player collection.  

This is the real star of the two. It is a 1971 House of Jazz card.  These were issued by the House of Jazz record store in Glenside, PA as a store promotion. There are 35 cards in the set and it boasts an impressive checklist for an unlicensed set.  There isn't a lot of information on the store, though a quick Google Maps search shows that the address is now home to a counseling service and a community development organization. The checklist itself is dominated by East Coast teams but seems to lack any thematic organization. It includes all-time greats, stars, and utility players (Peanut Lowery!)  

The set itself would be fun to build, but the rarity of the set makes that a non-starter. I have only seen the Antonelli a few times, certainly less than 4, over the years and it normally sells in excess of $300. I can only imagine what the Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson would sell for. When I saw this on eBay for $99, I mashed that But-It-Now button immediately.   This is probably the second most rare Antonelli issue behind the 1958 Packard Bell (of which I have only seen once) To say I am stoked is underselling it.

What I am listening to: Life During Wartime by The Talking Heads

Cards from The Junkie, Part 3

So, if knocking cards of my 1976 Topps and 2001/2 Heritage want list wasn't enough (it was enough. More than enough), dayf also sent along a sampler of 10 cards from each Topps Heritage set that I haven't started. Since I haven't started 2003 through 2010 yet, that means he sent along 80 cars. 80. Eighty. Eight-zero. 1010000. I am a little embarrassed to get such a return for my amateurish Pony card.

Since what little creative ability I have has been sucked out of me by waiting to hear if I got the job I interviewed for (and replaying the interview in my head pretty much continuously,) I decided to pull one card out of each year's sampler that I like and show it. Yeah, I know. Boooooooring. So sue me.



2003 Heritage Bartolo Colon - I love Bartolo. He was a godsend to the Yankees last year. I was disappointed that they didn't resign him, but I am glad that he caught on with the A's. I didn't see any of the A's - Mariners games from Japan, but I understand he pitched 8 innings of three-hit ball (86 total pitches, which implies his control was pretty good) in his first start of the regular season. He is one of the few non-Yankees I want to see do well this year.


2004 Heritage Eric Chavez - Eric is starting his second year as a utility infielder for the Yankees.


2005 Heritage Carl Pavano - Being a Yankees fan, I read a lot of Yankees blogs. And they cannot stop talking about what a bad free agent signing Carl Pavano was, both in terms of productivity and as a team member. 2012 will be the fourth Pavano-free season in the Bronx. Let it go, guys, let it go.


2006 Heritage Tanyon Sturtze - Only being back into baseball for a couple years now, I had never heard of Tanyon Sturtze. Having looked at his career stats over at Baseball Reference I can see why. He is the epitome of the journeyman middle reliever(2 years of starting for Tampa Bay notwithstanding.)


2007 Heritage Chien Ming Wang / Mike Mussina - Yankee Aces. Of course this is the card I would show, even if neither are Yankees anymore.


2008 Heritage Jack Cust - The Yankees just signed Cust to a minor league deal. The thought is that they brought him on board as left handed DH insurance, since Raul Ibanez was sucking so bad in Spring Training. Ibanez has finally found his swing over the last week and has been tearing it up with 3 taters so far (and would have had a fourth except he was robbed by a highlight reel-worthy catch by Jason Heyward.)


2009 Heritage Mike Aviles - No idea why I chose this one.


2010 Heritage The Winners Celebrate - More beautiful than an Ansel Adams print, amirite?

Trade with JABO

This was my first trade with Kyle from Just a Bit Outside. I was able to send him some 2011 Topps Chrome to help him towards completing that set. In return, I got a mixed bag of Heritage from 2008 through 2010, all except one of which were Royals. I am hoping these were duplicates and not cards he pulled from his team sets.





Though I love me some Heritage, this card was the centerpiece of the trade for me:



This is the last card I needed to finish 2011 Update. I can now put 2011 completely behind me. Just in time, you might think, to start on 2012. But, I am happy to report that I have, so far, stuck by my decision to give 2012 flagship a complete pass. I've been in Target twice since it hit the shelf and have had no desire whatsoever to pick any up. Now when 2012 Heritage comes out in a little over a month......