2012 Topps Heritage First Look

I went to the local big-box store and bought me some 2012 Topps Heritage over the weekend. I bought 2 packs, 2 rack-packs and 3 blasters. I’m not planning to buy a hobby box this year so I was hoping to get a good selection. I’m actually pretty happy w…

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When I saw this CD in my local library I could hardly believe it. The United States of America was a dimly remembered band from the psychedelic era. Their single eponymous album was released in 1968 and got a lot of air play on the various so-called “u…

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Card #265701990 O-Pee-Chee Checklist #1I got this gem in a Fairfield repack box last year. Even though it says Topps on the front and back the tiny copyright notice on the left side of the back identifies it as an O-Pee-Chee card.Card #177381997 Upper …

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Since I didn’t really start paying much attention to baseball until the early 1970s, I pretty much missed all of Henry Aaron’s career. I, of course, had some awareness of Aaron’s career, if through nothing else from reading his post-career baseball car…

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Since we’re a sucker for science fiction movies we went to see this, despite the miserable review it got in the local paper. If you go to a movie like this expecting the plot to make sense, you’re just going to be disappointed. Enjoy it for what it is,…

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Card #75872003 Stadium Club Royal Gold #124 Andy Marte2003 was the final year for Stadium Club, with an encore year in 2008. The Royal Gold parallel card had gold foil instead of silver, a gold background color on the back, and a thicker card stock tha…

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I never get tired of this song. This is a pretty good live version.

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I picked up two blasters of Topps Opening Day at Target. I’ve been pretty disappointed in blasters recently but I think I made out pretty good with these. I pulled at least one of all the inserts (except an autograph), didn’t get too many duplicates an…

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After some distractions, I’m getting back to my 1991 card collection. This will be the last part.I’ve started working in earnest on my 1992 collection. I only need about 10 cards to finish that so maybe later in the year I’ll do this again. That collec…

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Card #127011996 Bazooka #88 Derek BellYet another 1990s attempt to bring kids back to the hobby.Card #91701990 Fleer #653 Delino Deshields/Jason GrimsleyThe rookie card of Delino Deshields and an alleged (the Capewood Collection’s legal department made…

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I like relic cards as much as the next collector but I don’t often like a set well enough to try and collect it. In fact I only did this once, with the 2003 50-card set Stadium Club Born in the USA Relics. It took years but I finally got them all.&nbsp…

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The 4th anniversary of the blog was actually in early February. I thought it was in late February so I missed it. I decided to wait until this post, my 900th,  to celebrate. This will be a retrospective post. I’m linking to the Top 10 posts in ter…

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The latest installment in my review of my 1991 baseball card collection. I think I’ll be able to wrap this up with one more post after this. I hope you’ve been enjoying this as much as I have been putting it together.As was the whole industry, Topps wa…

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Card #45952002 Diamond Kings Diamond Cut Collection #49 Marlon ByrdA nice card to start with. I always liked the Diamond King relic cards. Very solid feeling. I like that they show a picture of the actual jersey that the swatch came from on the back.Ca…

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This song, released in 1997, was the band’s first American hit. It is on their breakthrough album Born On A Pirate Ship. Although this is a favorite album of mine, and this is one of my favorite songs  on the album, I’d never seen the video for it…

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Let’s take a break from 1991 cards for a bit. I’ll get back to the rest of my 1991 collection soon. I promise.For a number of years Topps has included manufactured patches in their blaster boxes. I’ve said before that I’m not a big fan of these but I d…

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Card #93291990 Bowman #154 John Kruk Bowman dropped the over-sized design of 1989 but kept the crazy stats on the back for 1990.Card #307262011 Topps Cognac Diamond Anniversary #67 Vladimir GuerreroTopps had a couple of variations on this technolo…

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Let’s get right back to my complete set of 1991 baseball cards.1991 Stadium ClubIf 1991 was indeed a transitional year for baseball cards, Stadium Club is the set that most clearly breaks with the past and sets the standard for years to come. Although …

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Continuing my review of 1991 baseball card issues to celebrate my completing my 1991 collection. Today I’m only going to cover Score since they had 7 issues. I’ll throw in a couple of subsets from their base set. This will be the last Score base set th…

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A nice version of this Neil Young song, from the movie Philadelphia. This was recorded at the Theater of the Living Arts (TLA) in Philadelphia.

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Card #20072003 Fleer Double Header Double Keg Griffey/Barry LarkinThis was a weird set. The top of the card folded up to reveal Barry Larkin.Card #268941989 Upper Deck #139 Tony FernandezYoung collectors today, I think, can’t imagine how revolutionary …

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As I said in my last post on 1991 cards, this was a transitional year for the hobby. Some design features from the 1980s were still hanging on but new ideas were being seen. The seeds of the excesses of the later 1990s were here but nobody knew what wa…

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Well, really more like B (Bowman) to U (Upper Deck)I think 1991 was a transitional year for the hobby. The 5 big producers (Donruss, Fleer, Score, Topps, and Upper Deck) had been in place since 1989. Cards were still a mix of gray and white card stock….

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So, what do I mean by that?  My stated collection goal is to own at least one card from each set produced in each year. Since it’s my goal, I get to set the parameters. I’m pretty much talking about sets of major league players released by the maj…

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I have 4 songs by this singer/songwriter that I acquired on podcasts. His real name is Kristian Matsson and he is from Sweden. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about him.This live version of this song isn’t nearly as good as the album version but it is…

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Card #21062004 Upper Deck #127 Derek JeterIt doesn’t matter who does it, silver foil on a dark background is a bad idea. What percentage of cards do you think feature the glove hand of a catcher?Card #291472009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Mini #127 Fr…

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Card #40551995 Donruss Press Proof #99 Chad Curtis1995 Donruss was a nice set. Full bleed printing with good photography. I liked the little photo insert on the front. Press Proofs was a parallel set of limited production. 2,000 were printed of each ca…

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I had bought one blaster box of 2011 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions during the summer last year. I was pretty happy with the cards, but as is often the case these days, the box did not have an relic or autographed cards. I went on eBay a few weeks ago to…

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Card #91831992 Stadium Club #290 John KrukThe first two years of Stadium Club, 1991 and 1992, are among my favorite sets ever. Here John Kruk daintily runs the bases. I like how the fielder in the background is running the other way, indicating John hi…

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I have another song by The Etts called “My Heart” from their recent Wicked Hill album which I got on a podcast from KEXP last year. I couldn’t find that on YouTube but found other stuff I liked just as much. I don’t know anything about them except what…

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Card # 184221990 Donruss #192 Greg MadduxRemember when Greg Maddux was a Cub the first time? I’ve got a lot of these 1990 Donruss cards. Repacks are full of them.Card #147872010 Topps Opening Day #88 James ShieldsShields is 72-63 in 6 seasons for the R…

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I got a pretty good selection of inserts in the rack pack, hanger box and blaster box I bought last week. Apparently Topps’ theme this year is Gold. Almost all of the inserts have “Gold” in their name.This is a Topps Golden Moments Parallel card. As ot…

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Card #221732009 Topps Unique #61 Miguel TejadaDid anyone like this set? I don’t.Card #197421987 Fleer #185 Juan SamuelIn my opinion, the one of the best Fleer designs of the 1980s.Card #25282002 Topps Traded Chrome #248 Angel GuzmanI actually liked 200…

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I’m sure I a little late to this party but I suppose that my opinion counts as much as anybody else’s here in cyberspace.First off, I like the design. I’m not in love with it but I like it. I think the surfboard thingy is a bit too large but it’s OK. I…

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From their 2011 album Valhalla Dancehall.

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