The CBS Video About Cards

In case you missed it, the CBS Sunday Morning Show piece on baseball cards.



I take exception with the statement, "kids don't care." When I give cards to my neighbor kids, they eat it up. Kids care about what adults care about.

The Stuff I Did Today

Hey everyone. I have been kind of missing this old blog, so I thought I would throw out some randomness for you.

The weather today was spectacular. Sunny and 60. I took the sewingmachinedog for a long walk. Then we played fetch in the backyard. She will do anything for a little nibblet of cheddar cheese. She's getting up there in years, but a round of fetch brings out her puppy-ish side.
I went to a bible study with my dude's at church. Getting into the scriptures with 10 or so other guys is refreshing. Unearthing the meanings behind the words is exciting to me.
I made dinner for the sewingmachinegal. It was a simple meal consisting of hard boiled eggs (sliced and seasoned), a fresh avocado sprinkled with lemon juice, lime juice, olive oil, and a dash of kosher salt, some cheese and crackers, fresh cut carrots, and a splash of Rex-Goliath Pinot Noir. We sat together and just enjoyed the food and drink. No t.v. Just the new Newsboys cd playing quietly on the hi-fi. You'll have to ask your Dad what a hi-fi is.
Riding home from my Mom and Dads last evening, I smelled a burnt rubber or burnt plasticy smell coming from the new Saturn Vue. While stopped at a light, I saw a wisp of smoke rise from the steering column. "Oh crap! Not my new ride!", I thought. When I got home, I hit the dope light to see if I could spot anything that might be burning. It was too dark to see anything, but the turn signal lever was hot. Not warm, hot. I drove the vehicle to work today. One of my workers is a bit of a shade tree mechanic, and in no time, he had the steering column cover off, and the turn signal/headlight control module out of the car. "Here is your problem. [points to a loose wire and some fried wire]. I ran to AutoZone and bought a new one. My guy snapped it in, and voila, no smoldering steering column. What a relief that it was a small relatively easy fix.
I sifted through one of my old boxes of cards tonight. Not really looking for anything special, just something to add to this post. I found this card.

Now I remember why I liked collecting cards as a kid. And I suppose, why I still like it.
Peace, Larry the smg

The New Ride

That's the new ride. 2003 Saturn Vue 5-speed stick. As I don't do a lot of off-roading, the 4 wheel drive was not much of a concern. This gets 25 to 30 mpg, and with the gas prices the way they are, that's a good thing.

I have, after much prayerful deliberation, begun to sell off bunches of cards from my collection. The added cash flow has allowed the sewingmachinegal and I to invest in this ride. Yes, looking at binder of old cards is rewarding occasionally. Not nearly as rewarding as seeing the misses smile hugely at the sight of this blue beauty.

I am seeing things more clearly now. Gods blessings should not be taken for granted.

Hoops

Back about 7 weeks ago, while playing a game of H.O.R.S.E. with my buddy, I did this to my ankle. Go ahead and chuckle, a pre-game injury while warming up with H.O.R.S.E. is funny.

That nastiness is an avulsion fracture with severe sprain. Ouch!

After 7 weeks or so, and much of it wearing this lovely accessory...

I was able to secure the appendage enough last night...

To do this... It's only 40 seconds or so. That's me at the end stroking a three. Feels darn good to be back. Not 100% by any means, but back.

Times Change

You may or may not have noticed my lack of posting this year. A few weeks ago, I was lamenting about my spending on cards. I have since then bought some 2012 Topps baseball cards. After getting tons of doubles, triples, and a few quadruples, I gave up buying more. I enjoyed the initial feeling of ripping open the packs, but the lonely stack of cards was just a big fat nothing to me after that. I also experienced the frustration of misplacing valuable cards. I have sifted through thousands of cards, and still can't find the Magic relics. I am not "feeling it" with collecting right now. It seems gluttonous to me. If someone took a look in my card cave, they would probably say I am ; a hoarder, unorganized, messy, nerdy, wasting money, and clinging to old crap like it will be worth millions someday. I couldn't argue. The thought that keeps rattling around in my dome was inspired by a blurb here.
I need a car, we need siding and windows on the house, there are other things that need my attention and my cabbage right now.
I am currently unloading a bunch of stuff I love. The Magic's will soon be listed too. If there's something you've seen here on my blog that you want, let me know.
I've given this much thought and prayer. It feels a bit like a defeat, but it's the right thing for me to do at this time.

Sports Card Show

I will have a table of stuff for sale at the big Lee High School show this Saturday. I am bringing tons of my most beloved collectibles. Yes, it hurts a bit thinking about parting with some of the stuff that I have toted around for the past 35 years. Hope to see some of my friends, family, and fellow collectors there.
The details of the show: 
LEE HS 4th Annual Sportscard Show & Auction
February 25th, 2012
Hours: 9am-4pm
Lee High School
1335 Lee St SW
Wyoming, MI 49509
All proceeds go to Stubby Overmire Field improvements and Lee Rebel baseball. Special guest signers will be former Detroit Tigers star Denny Mclain (4th Year) signing from 12:30-3pm. $5 per autograph, and Jacksonville Jaguar rookie tackle Cameron Bradfield signing from 10am-2pm. $5 per autograph. From 4:30- 8pm there will be a Sports Memorabilia auction. (Free food at auction) INFO: Ty Emelander (616) 443- 8568
75 tables
FREE Admission

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If You're Like Me, You Collect Comics Too

http://www.freep.com/article/20120222/FEATURES05/120222002/Inherited-comic-collection-expected-fetch-2M?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

Check this out.

The Other Bump Wills

No, not the 1979 Topps. This.

Cubs Manager, "hey fellas, the photographer from Fleer is here today". 
Bump, "OOOH! I want to go first. How's this?"

This card is just wrong.

Some 2012 Topps Tigers

The top three cards are the three that I got from my recent 2012 binge (Blaster, 2 Jumbo Hobby, 2 Loose Retail, and a Rack-Pack).

My daughter says, "It sounds like the announcer is calling him Dumb n Young". 

 This Cobb is a manu-patch. No serial numbering. An eBay score. Meh, probably coulda got it cheaper had I waited.

 These 2 Golden Moments were also eBay pick-ups. They would look a lot better with autographs on them.

3's Company The Topps Way

There are major collation problems in 2012 Topps.
I mentioned yesterday that I got 4 Rex Brothers cards #72. Well that was just the tip of the iceberg.

I have 8 sets of triples! I could scan another 8 sets of doubles.
To recap; I bought 2 Jumbo Hobby packs, 2 Retail loose packs, a Retail Rack-Pack, and a Blaster box.
I was not thinking I would come close to a complete Series 1 set, but this is sad. I feel a bit ripped off.