First off, the older guys....
Next, the '69 Cubs
And finally, Jose
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Cubs Heroes: Diamonds
Today's suit from the Hero Deck Cubs is Diamonds. Nine of the Diamonds are from the '69 Cubs. A few from the '30s - '50s are here too. And Jose Cardenal and his super-fro was added to the bunch.
First off, the older guys....
Next, the '69 Cubs
And finally, Jose
First off, the older guys....
Next, the '69 Cubs
And finally, Jose
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Cubs Heroes
Today's post is part one of four. Either you're going to enjoy the next four days, or else, I'll see you on Wednesday!
In 2007, HeroDecks put out a set of Chicago Cubs playing cards. The Cubs are one of 16 MLB teams that have a deck. Does anyone else have their team? I picked my cards off of ebay a while back. I got two decks (one to play with, one to save) for a much better price than the $9.95 on the HeroDeck website.
The cards feature a blue back with a baseball. The front has the card designation, plus a color caricature of a Cubs player. The pictures all seem to be done very nicely. I'm thinking that the entire deck would look nice in a large frame.
I'll be showing a different suit each of the next four days.
Today, its the Clubs, which feature the oldest of all the players. This group includes several players from the 1907-1908 World Champs, and the Cubs all time hits leader, Cap Anson
Tomorrow, it will be the Diamonds.
In 2007, HeroDecks put out a set of Chicago Cubs playing cards. The Cubs are one of 16 MLB teams that have a deck. Does anyone else have their team? I picked my cards off of ebay a while back. I got two decks (one to play with, one to save) for a much better price than the $9.95 on the HeroDeck website.
The cards feature a blue back with a baseball. The front has the card designation, plus a color caricature of a Cubs player. The pictures all seem to be done very nicely. I'm thinking that the entire deck would look nice in a large frame.
I'll be showing a different suit each of the next four days.
Today, its the Clubs, which feature the oldest of all the players. This group includes several players from the 1907-1908 World Champs, and the Cubs all time hits leader, Cap Anson
Tomorrow, it will be the Diamonds.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Gint-A-Cuffs, Wrigley Wax Style
I've enjoyed reading the Gint-A-Cuffs battles among the bloggers over the past three years. But I've always been on the sidelines because, well, because I'm a cheapskate. I just can't bring myself to buy a hobby box....
....knowing that I won't end up with a complete set and knowing that I'll be getting hits of non-Cubs.
So I've always gone the route of buying sets and relics off of Ebay. While I miss the excitement of ripping through 24 packs, I also skip the disappointment of doubles and the lack of Cubs.
This year, just for the heck of it, I decided to see how I would have fared in Gint-A-Cuffs with the stuff that I did buy. First, I went to Blowout Cards to see what they were getting for a hobby box of 2011 Ginter. It was going for $78 per box. Then, I came up with a list of what I bought that equaled that price. For $82.95 I got a complete set of 2011 Ginter including the short prints, the Hometown Heroes set, the Baseball Highlights Sketches set, and 8 of the 11 Cubs relics cards.
The next step was to head to the official Gint-A-Cuffs rules for the scoring to see how I did. Here's what I came up with:
Base Cards -- 153 points
11 points -- +1 Your favorite team base cards..I got all 11 Cubs
4 points-- + 4 Your favorite player base card...Starlin Castro
48 points-- +2 Other favorite player base cards...I got the favorites of the 24 participants
-11 points-- -1 Any Yankees card...got all 11 Yankee base
100 points-- +2 Short Print base card....I got all 50
-4 points-- -1 for Holtz, Turasi, McEnroe, and Auriemma
+4 points-- +1 for Solo, Mullins, Petty, and Vitale
+1 point-- +1 for Chuck Wollery
Mini Cards -- 0 points
Other Inserts -- 260 Points
93 points-- +1 Hometown Heroes (-1 Yankees)...100 cards - 7 Yankees = 93
71 points-- +3 Baseball Sketches (-1 Yankees)..(25 cards x 3) - 4 Yankees = 71
96 points-- +10 Relics, and 1.2 multiplier for favorite team...(8 Cubs x 10) x 1.2
Box Toppers / Loaders -- 0 Points
GRAND TOTAL....413 Points
The rules also state that all cards that score points must be shown on the blog. That is going to be a little tough, so I'm going to improvise.
There, that's the binder will all of the cards. The relics are here. The rest of the pictures are of a random page from the binder of base cards, SPs, Sketches, and Hometown Heroes.
I think that 413 points is a pretty decent total. Did I win??? ;)
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Topps 1969 - 2011 Complete Set Prices
Here is my monthly look at complete set prices, taken from the first five completed sales listings on Ebay on August 1.
If you were looking for some bargains on junk wax, this was the month. There were several sets that sold for only $0.99....1988, 1989, 1991, and 1992.
There were several sets from 1971 that went for a good price, but otherwise, there wasn't much action with the vintage stuff.
The price of the 2011 sets has gone up, because factory sets are available now. The previous 2011 sets were hand-collated, which tend to be cheaper that the factory boxes.
There was a 1972 set that I didn't included in the average. It sold for $2,025 and included 53 graded cards, mostly 7s and 8s. I typically just work with the raw sets, which makes the comparison truer.
And if you want to buy one of each, that will set you back $5,852.90.
If you were looking for some bargains on junk wax, this was the month. There were several sets that sold for only $0.99....1988, 1989, 1991, and 1992.
There were several sets from 1971 that went for a good price, but otherwise, there wasn't much action with the vintage stuff.
The price of the 2011 sets has gone up, because factory sets are available now. The previous 2011 sets were hand-collated, which tend to be cheaper that the factory boxes.
There was a 1972 set that I didn't included in the average. It sold for $2,025 and included 53 graded cards, mostly 7s and 8s. I typically just work with the raw sets, which makes the comparison truer.
And if you want to buy one of each, that will set you back $5,852.90.
| YEAR | Aug. 1 | July 1 | June 1 | 12 Mo. Avg. |
| 1969 | $916.67 | $1,380.25 | $1,311.80 | $1,055.04 |
| 1970 | $869.50 | $767.67 | $1,275.00 | $906.94 |
| 1971 | $839.77 | $632.28 | $1,124.40 | $797.99 |
| 1972 | $941.30 | $918.06 | $1,104.24 | $926.75 |
| 1973 | $476.00 | $317.05 | $341.24 | $373.20 |
| 1974 | $199.08 | $233.87 | $318.16 | $237.13 |
| 1975 | $308.97 | $184.84 | $229.61 | $294.59 |
| 1976 | $159.30 | $139.47 | $183.20 | $166.93 |
| 1977 | $114.00 | $117.20 | $178.85 | $128.71 |
| 1978 | $92.53 | $103.79 | $102.60 | $95.51 |
| 1979 | $85.39 | $72.97 | $86.40 | $86.63 |
| 1980 | $63.81 | $50.06 | $68.41 | $63.93 |
| 1981 | $24.37 | $28.79 | $28.69 | $29.25 |
| 1982 | $43.30 | $30.66 | $30.45 | $32.97 |
| 1983 | $34.27 | $30.37 | $35.80 | $32.70 |
| 1984 | $20.45 | $26.99 | $16.10 | $23.56 |
| 1985 | $18.90 | $21.06 | $29.21 | $24.39 |
| 1986 | $13.61 | $8.66 | $22.04 | $13.97 |
| 1987 | $8.81 | $10.30 | $13.92 | $8.19 |
| 1988 | $9.30 | $8.37 | $11.06 | $8.43 |
| 1989 | $5.90 | $5.42 | $9.34 | $8.56 |
| 1990 | $9.49 | $11.09 | $4.75 | $9.67 |
| 1991 | $10.18 | $7.80 | $9.49 | $8.53 |
| 1992 | $10.49 | $9.45 | $6.59 | $10.35 |
| 1993 | $17.92 | $27.20 | $19.77 | $20.72 |
| 1994 | $20.51 | $27.11 | $32.00 | $22.52 |
| 1995 | $75.41 | $23.75 | $35.00 | $40.88 |
| 1996 | $12.91 | $29.98 | $19.68 | $20.61 |
| 1997 | $44.70 | $23.83 | $42.50 | $41.34 |
| 1998 | $30.25 | $46.99 | $52.06 | $41.19 |
| 1999 | $15.99 | $24.42 | $23.88 | $22.40 |
| 2000 | $27.33 | $16.80 | $18.35 | $17.72 |
| 2001 | $41.69 | $49.42 | $36.97 | $51.67 |
| 2002 | $53.69 | $33.53 | $40.55 | $38.56 |
| 2003 | $33.83 | $22.93 | $27.00 | $32.08 |
| 2004 | $24.49 | $27.19 | $19.72 | $24.58 |
| 2005 | $21.16 | $32.53 | $18.25 | $24.14 |
| 2006 | $19.62 | $31.51 | $18.81 | $20.83 |
| 2007 | $18.80 | $10.99 | $11.56 | $14.51 |
| 2008 | $21.00 | $42.01 | $25.83 | $23.59 |
| 2009 | $33.47 | $28.00 | $37.70 | $35.90 |
| 2010 | $26.80 | $33.78 | $24.22 | $35.90 |
| 2011 | $37.94 | $33.70 | $0.00 | $31.05 |
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
All The Cubs Ginter Relics
Boy did this get out of hand! Topps went from a Ginter high of five Cubs relic cards last year, to a ridiculously new high of eleven in 2011. That matches the number of base cards in the set.
Earlier, I thought that there were ten relics, but as I was rummaging through Ebay, I noticed that Starlin Castro had both a jersey and bat card. I don't know if other collectors consider these different cards, but I do. Though they have the same number, AGR-SC, a bat and a jersey are not the same thing, so to keep my set complete, I got both cards.
Most of these came while we were on the road, leaving me several presents when we returned. The good news is that it seems like either everyone else is getting tired of these, or Topps put out too many. The price for each of the relics was very reasonable, with several under $2.
I'm starting with these three, because Colvin, DeWitt and Samardzija were not considered base card worthy. No card, but relics.
Here are the two Castro cards.
And below are the other six.
Now, next year, let's get back to normal numbers; two or three of these, please.
Earlier, I thought that there were ten relics, but as I was rummaging through Ebay, I noticed that Starlin Castro had both a jersey and bat card. I don't know if other collectors consider these different cards, but I do. Though they have the same number, AGR-SC, a bat and a jersey are not the same thing, so to keep my set complete, I got both cards.
Most of these came while we were on the road, leaving me several presents when we returned. The good news is that it seems like either everyone else is getting tired of these, or Topps put out too many. The price for each of the relics was very reasonable, with several under $2.
I'm starting with these three, because Colvin, DeWitt and Samardzija were not considered base card worthy. No card, but relics.
Here are the two Castro cards.
And below are the other six.
Now, next year, let's get back to normal numbers; two or three of these, please.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Wrigley Wax on the Road
We're back!! After a mere 2778 miles on the road, we're back in Michigan. This year's family vacation had us heading out west to Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills. Highlights of the trip include:
...finding license plates of 48 of the 50 states...the missing two: Delaware and New Hampshire (yes, we really did see Alaska and Hawaii plates!)
...counting a total of 97 Wall Drug signs along the highway between Sioux City, Iowa and Wall, South Dakota...and yes, we did stop at Wall Drugs.
...getting $4.00 worth of gold in our pan at the Broken Boot Gold Mine in Deadwood.
...seeing the "other" Sturgis, Sturgis, South Dakota
...being awed by the carvings at Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse
...twisting and turning our way along Hwy 16A through the Black Hills and Custer State Park
...enjoying the stark beauty of the Badlands
...poking around the shop of Antique Archaeology in LeClaire, Iowa. Mike and Frank weren't in, but their van was in the parking lot.
Of course, I made sure we mixed a little baseball into the trip. We went to two ballparks in Iowa.
This is Modern Woodsmen Park, along the banks of the Mississippi River in Davenport, the home of the Quad City Bandits. We saw them play the Cubs class A team, the Peoria Chiefs. Of course, Peoria lost. In fact, they got clobbered 11-3. That does not bode well for the future!
Want to guess the other park we saw? It's not an active ballpark, but it is probably one of the most famous. We stopped in Dyersville, Iowa and saw...
....the Field of Dreams! WW Jr and I took some grounders in the infield and played catch in the outfield (Quick question...do you "play catch" or like Ray said in the movie, "have a catch" In Chicago, we "play catch."). We also walked into the cornfield, but we didn't disappear. The field looks pretty much the way it does in the movie. The only thing that surprised me were the power lines that ran across the field, following the line between second and third. The farmer who owns the land has made a conscious effort to keep the field from being commercialized. As someone who hates tourist traps, I really appreciated that.
There was a small souvenir shop and they had this Moonlight Graham card. I thought it would make a nice memento of the trip, so I picked it up.
It was a wonderful trip, but now, its back to the grind. School starts in a month!
...finding license plates of 48 of the 50 states...the missing two: Delaware and New Hampshire (yes, we really did see Alaska and Hawaii plates!)
...counting a total of 97 Wall Drug signs along the highway between Sioux City, Iowa and Wall, South Dakota...and yes, we did stop at Wall Drugs.
...getting $4.00 worth of gold in our pan at the Broken Boot Gold Mine in Deadwood.
...seeing the "other" Sturgis, Sturgis, South Dakota
...being awed by the carvings at Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse
...twisting and turning our way along Hwy 16A through the Black Hills and Custer State Park
...enjoying the stark beauty of the Badlands
...poking around the shop of Antique Archaeology in LeClaire, Iowa. Mike and Frank weren't in, but their van was in the parking lot.
Of course, I made sure we mixed a little baseball into the trip. We went to two ballparks in Iowa.
This is Modern Woodsmen Park, along the banks of the Mississippi River in Davenport, the home of the Quad City Bandits. We saw them play the Cubs class A team, the Peoria Chiefs. Of course, Peoria lost. In fact, they got clobbered 11-3. That does not bode well for the future!
Want to guess the other park we saw? It's not an active ballpark, but it is probably one of the most famous. We stopped in Dyersville, Iowa and saw...
....the Field of Dreams! WW Jr and I took some grounders in the infield and played catch in the outfield (Quick question...do you "play catch" or like Ray said in the movie, "have a catch" In Chicago, we "play catch."). We also walked into the cornfield, but we didn't disappear. The field looks pretty much the way it does in the movie. The only thing that surprised me were the power lines that ran across the field, following the line between second and third. The farmer who owns the land has made a conscious effort to keep the field from being commercialized. As someone who hates tourist traps, I really appreciated that.
There was a small souvenir shop and they had this Moonlight Graham card. I thought it would make a nice memento of the trip, so I picked it up.
It was a wonderful trip, but now, its back to the grind. School starts in a month!
Monday, August 1, 2011
A Cool Grand
No, that's not how much I paid for a card.
Instead, that is what you are reading right now. This is post #1000!
When I started the blog back in January, 2009, I was most concerned with coming up with post topics. It's hard to believe that I've come up with 1000 of them.
In honor of post #1000, here is card #1000 as listed in my inventory spreadsheet
Topps 1976 Rick Monday. This is a great looking card. I love the way all the blues come together, the card border, the Cubs uniform, and the sky. 1976 was Monday's last with the Cubs. He was the starting center-fielder and smashed a career high 32 homers. The Cubs sold high on him after the season, sending him to the Dodgers for Bill Buckner. But the most notable event of Monday's 1976 season was this....
when he rescued the American flag from two protesters at Dodger Stadium on April 25.
And if I can't come up with any ideas for tomorrow, look for card #1001, Topps 1976 Jerry Morales!
Instead, that is what you are reading right now. This is post #1000!
When I started the blog back in January, 2009, I was most concerned with coming up with post topics. It's hard to believe that I've come up with 1000 of them.
In honor of post #1000, here is card #1000 as listed in my inventory spreadsheet
Topps 1976 Rick Monday. This is a great looking card. I love the way all the blues come together, the card border, the Cubs uniform, and the sky. 1976 was Monday's last with the Cubs. He was the starting center-fielder and smashed a career high 32 homers. The Cubs sold high on him after the season, sending him to the Dodgers for Bill Buckner. But the most notable event of Monday's 1976 season was this....
when he rescued the American flag from two protesters at Dodger Stadium on April 25.
And if I can't come up with any ideas for tomorrow, look for card #1001, Topps 1976 Jerry Morales!
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