Wait a sec- whaaaat?

Remember a while back when Upper Deck lost the license?

Remember when I said that the Topps design for 2010 was going to be epic.

Right
down
the
CRAPPAH!!!

Here it is, straight from the only card news blog worth looking at-
http://completist.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/2010-topps-baseball-design/

(And yes, I do need to stop linking Wax Heaven.)

My take- Wow. This looks like it's really going to suck. Then again, if it takes something that big to get Hand Collated out of hibernation, then make mine Topps!

Seriously, that design sucks. I'm not lying to you. It's like somebody took the 1991 Topps design, added a dash of this years design and made the designer Perez Hilton. Couldn't they at least put effort into it?

(Yes, I do realize I have been ranting lately. And yet people are still subscribing to me. Huh.)

Card Show- Swag Aplenty

I just got back from the Philly Show down in Valley Forge. Great show. I got a lot of awesome stuff.

The game used- 2005 UD Origins Jim Thome
The Rookies-
1996 Topps Geoff Jenkins
1997 Bowman Lance Berkman, Kerry Wood and El Duque
2000 Bowman Adam Dunn
2001 Bowman Josh Beckett and Matt Holliday
2003 Topps Gallery Adrian Gonzalez.
The 2009 Topps-
Jurrjens, Kuroda, Hendrickson, Grienke, Longoria ROY, Liriano, Kemp, Hardy, Encarnacion, Soto ROY, Kotchman, Cliff Lee CY.
The 2009 Topps Rookie- Colby Rasmus and David Price.

1974 Topps Rod Carew
1978 Topps Joe Morgan
1979 Topps Thurman Munson
1980 Topps Eddie Murray
1981 Topps Gaylord Perry, Dennis Eckersley
1982 Topps Reggie Jackson, Jim Palmer
1983 Topps Reggie Jackson SV, Rod Carew SV, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley
1985 Topps Reggie Jackson, Nolan Ryan RB, George Brett, Gary Carter, Rickey Henderson
1985 Topps Traded Will Clark Rookie, Tom, Seaver
1989 Topps Traded Omar Vizquel rookie

The Signer- Greg Gross
The cards autographed- 1976 Topps, 1981 Topps.

The Henderson- 1989 UD
The Ryans- 1994 Fleer, 1990 UD, 2001 Topps GM
The 52 Past Rookies- Ivan Rodriguez, Dontrelle Willis
The World Series Cards- Don Larsen, Juan Marichal UD WSH, Keith Hernandez Ring of Honor.
The Legendary Cut- Luis Aparicio
The Archives- Ralph Kiner, Phil Niekro
The Fan Favorite- Steve Garvey
The Griffeys- 1999 SPX, 1999 Topps
The TCH- Carlos Beltran 1991 Stadium Club, Russ Martin 1888
The 1990's Topps- 1996 Mike Piazza, 1997 Chippah
The Vladdie- 2004 Topps
The 2004 Showcase- Maddux, Halladay, Chippah, Soriano, Texiera, Griffey
The 2002 Diamond King- Bernie Williams
The 2003 Diamond King- Randy Johnson
The 2005 Diamond Kings- Maddux, Ramirez, Ortiz, Beltran, Dawson

Great show overall. They're saying the next one's in December

Since Chris Harris isn't plugging this...

I thought I might...

Philly Show 2009- Valley Forge Convention Center
Fri/Sat/Sun.
Free Parking
Admission $7
Signers include Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Whitey Ford and more.

I'm going. This guy is going. And the jury is still out on this guy. But still, I'll be giving you a post about the show after it's over. And on Saturday I have box seats for a Temple game (I know, ridicule me all you want), so I won't be going then.

BTW- I must apologize to my "fans" for watching the emmy's.

Was I the only one here who watched the emmy's last night?

Hooray for Kristen Chenoweth and Michael Emerson!

Alec Baldwin deserved it (Sarcasm, Sheldon?)

Jimmy Fallon's actually funny

Nice stache Sarah Silverman- You'll do great on a Pirate Set card!

NPH is actually funny!

Okay, I'm done.

(Notice how I haven't told you all that I lost the Jeter contest. THUMBS DOWN!!!!)

Wantlist- Under Construction

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I've been compiling my sets from the 70's and 80's just so I can get my wantlists that you guys have been nagging me about ready. I'm pretty sure I have a complete set of 88 Topps, although I can't be sure until I compile.

Tonight marks the end of the deadline for Mario's "Win a Jeter and Torre 1/1 if you have a degree in writing" contest, which I am sucking at. Whoever invented the thumbs up/down bar should be given a thumbs down. Even though my ideas are witty, no one understands them. I'll just go post a few hundred more of those filthy limericks.

"There once was a man named Trebek
Who had the world tiniest-"

Back to the old drawing board.

Custom Cards- Why I've stopped them

First of all, I haven't found any time to get any done. Between all the things I do after school and all the things I do at night, I barely have any time to get things done. Also, my scanner has gone loopy and in order to make sure I have a good card, I have to put a card under it. But what if the card is crooked. And what if it centers in too much.

That is my dilemma. Until brighter photoshopping times, my Custom Cards will be discontinued. All the time I had in the summer has gone. But please, because of this decision, don't unsubscribe and stop reading my blog. I'l still be quite funny, and I'll be yakking about sports until I croak. So even though I'm done with the customs, there is still hope for this blog. Plus, I'm not necessarily done with the customs quite yet.

In the meantime, Mario at Wax Heaven has a contest going on where you could win a Derek Jeter and a Joe Torre printing plate. All you need is

A- Creativity
B- A knack at handling poetry
C- A knowledge of recent events in the hobby.

I'll be entering, but that's how I roll. Any words that have "Derek Jeter" and "relic" in the same sentence is a good sentence to me. Enter the contest here

Custom Card of the Day (Yes, Really)

This was a pretty obvious choice, since Cole has been hotter than a certain 47-year old pitcher. The 83 design is one of my favorites because of the extra photo in the bottom right corner. Also among my fave designs- 76, 77, 81, 82, 84, 87. Anyway, this was another easy one, and as always, fun to make.

A few days ago was September 11th. I remember I was in school and the teachers weren't telling us anything, even though I knew something was up. I was young then, but I had my thoughts. This was also today of my family's purchase of the car they have today. It was a long day, but at least nothing like that'll ever happen again.

Not much else is going on in the world of blogging. One of my favorite players did something big, and I'll have a cool card commemorating that up soon.

The Absence Explained

I'm really sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I was trying to get a photoshop ready, but

A- No one has a plus size image of Jim Thome on the Dodgers
B- The scanner keeps cropping off needed parts of my cards
C- School sucks.

Fortunately, I'm working on one that'll probably be up later today. Also, look for a Jeter card somewhere later in the week.

Custom Card of the Day- Rookie Fridays

This was the only image I could find of Snider here, but it doesn't completely suck. This was another easy one except for the baseball in the top right corner. I made that another layer and shopped in back in later.

The reason I didn't post yesterday is that I was trying to get a certain card up for a Gehrig/Jeter post. My scanner, once again, was going buggy and I just shopped the Snider which was already in my computer. Still, there will be a Gehrig/Jeter post on this blog soon.

Last night you can bet your behind that I watched the 1st NFL game of the season. I saw Pittsburgh crush the Titans, which is a good thing. Rothliesberger seems hot again this season, and maybe it'll be two straight championships...until the Eagles come from behind and kick their butts. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

Instead of trying to afford The Beatles set, I'll do this

All you need is love


All you need is love


All you need is love, love.


Love is all you need...



Other than hundreds of dollars to get the Beatles set. Still, as one of the biggest Beatles fans in the world, I salute thee on 9-9-9, the day that you will all be getting gobs of cash, instead of Beckett for a change.

(I would have posted Card #9 from the last 10 Topps sets, but this'll do just fine)

Custom Card of the Day

You knew that I'd had to put up an Ichiro. He's one of the best known players in the game right now. And coincedenatally, he just hit his 2000th hit yesterday. That takes skill. Either way, we're looking at a possible HOFer here, and the first to hail from Japan. The 83 design is one of my faves, and it looks even better when Ichiro's on it. This was another fun one to make.

Another trend these days- One hitters. Yesterday, Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals only allowed one run against the Brewers, with the only hit coming from Jody Gerut. JODY GERUT? Not even the world's largest vegetarian could get a hit? But Carp still did a great job, and this is going to be one tough offseason if ESPN is calling the series against these guys.

Also, in my region, school starts today, which is why I'm posting a little bit earlier. Let's just say I'm younger than the rest of you collectors and still have to go to this thing (But, hey. Forgivable, right? No one's unsuscribing if they know that these cards are coming from a teen). Don't worry, I still have time for you, my loyal reader. I will be making more custom cards later today, and a 999 post will be the headliner tomorrow.

The Real Custom Card of the Day

You know I wouldn't let you down. You knew that even though I had no time yesterday, I could still crank out a custom Albert today. Overall, this was one of the harder ones, being that there was a little player in the bottom left corner. Oh, well. Still a pretty good card.

Today, I will be awaiting the return of the oldest pitcher in the game to starting. That's right- Jamie "Why am I still playing" Moyer will be starting today's game. Seriously, this is getting worse than Darrell Hammond on SNL. Jamie, you're a great player, you're a possible HOF candidate, but please, go home already! You've pitched beautifully. Just ask the Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Mariners and Phillies. But you've done enough. You're 47. Mike Piazza is 41 and yet he's not playing. Julio Franco is 51, but no one told him there was a door out of the MLB. My point is this- Jamie Moyer has made his mark on the game of Baseball. He just needs to retire before that mark becomes a rip.

Two records were broken yesterday. Ichiro became the 2nd fastest to hit 2000 hits. Wow! The guy has been playing 9 seasons and he's already hit 2000 hits. Of course, it took Alex Rodriguez 9 years to get to 450 Home Runs, so...

The other record, is that the Pirates have had 17 straight losing seasons. Hmm, and why might that be? Ask Barry Bonds. Ask Jason Kendall. Ask Brian Giles and Jason Bay. Ask anyone who grew up playing for Pittsburgh and ended their career with their loyalty snapped and their playing ability wasted. The pirates can't afford to resign anyone big, and that's why Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, Tom Gorzellany and Nyjer Morgan all went to other teams this past season. I say move the team to another state, one with more money. One that actually has fans that can go to its games. Like...NEW JERSEY!!!

Custom Card of the Day

I don't have a custom card for you today. I'm so sorry. I was really busy last night, and I cou;dn't make it a point of my day to try and make one for you. If I have time later today, I'll get one made and I'll post it.

Custom Card of the Day

This was another easy one. I cut out the player, redid the background and put in Larry. My scanner keeps goofing up and keeps canning all my cards at an angle or without the border. This infuriates me so much, I may have to rescan them today. If that doesn't work, I will not have a custom card for you tomorrow.

In card-related news, My dad brought home some stuff he got while cleaning out my grandmother's house. He brought home A- A lot more 1987 Topps, which I don't need, for the last time (Anyone need to complete their 87 set?) and B- A small white square case. I opened the thing up, and I saw the COMPLETE SET of 1994 Action Packed Minor Leaguers. Inside, were such failures as-

• Pokey Reese
• Charles Johnson
• Trot Nixon.

And some pretty good players- like

• Phil Nevin, who also got an insert
• Derrek Lee
• Dmitri Young
• Johnny Damon.

But the two cards that made the set were-

• Derek Jeter
• Alex Rodriguez, who also came with an insert.

In other news, I was at a Barmytzfah party last night. Ugh, too loud for me. Plus, I don't know if any of you have seen the video for the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow", but it is the trippiest thing I have ever seen. I haven't seen something that trippy since David Lynch made those PS2 ads (If this were Family Guy, I'd cut right to them, but I'm not that cruel.) Let me make it a point that that song is on the latest Kids Bop. Imagining kids singing that would be like seeing an elephant do the tango (You can see that on Dance Your Ass Off)

BTW- I will be doing something with my Tribe-loving friend. If cards are involved, I'll keep you posted, but you never know.

Custom Card of the Day

Another one of the guys I saw play on my trip to Camden Yards. This guy's awesome. The sad part is the fact that his team's in last place, but hey, at least the Yankees aren't. This one was a bit harder than the rest, being that the card was offcentered in the first place. Still, fun to make.

About last night- ROY FREAKIN HALLADAY! What did we do to deserve this? Halladay creamed my boys, and the Blue Jays won. I'm a bit pissed, but, we're still in first place, so a bandaid could heal it.

Note- Sorry this is so late in the day. I had a %&%&% barmytzfah to attend.

Custom Card of the Day-Rookie Friday

I've decided that every friday I'll be 'shopping a card of a rookie. This week, I did Andrew McCutchen mainly because he was the first one to come to mind...and I can't do David Price. This was a fun card to make, and I had a great time making it. Future Rookies I'll be covering will be Tommy Hanson, Francisco Cervelli, Koji Uhera and more.

Also, I was in Philly last night- no, not for the Phillies game. For the first College Football Game of the year down here- the Mayor's Cup. My dad went to Temple, which ultimately spells out which team we had to root for. That said, I wish he had gone somewhere else, because Villanova somehow crushed us even though we were leading at the middle of the 3rd Quarter. That says something about this team. I'll be getting dragged to another game at the end of the month...which just so happens to be the day before the Philly Show.

I would have been better off going to the Phillies game, because it ultimately said a lot about Pedro Martinez. The fact that a 37 year old fireballer could still win in a battle against the top pitcher in the league just floors me. Pedro's still got it. We're looking at a possible HOFer right here, if things keep going well.

I might not get around to posting tomorrow, as I have to get up earlier for something, but stranger things have happened.

Custom Card of the Day

I love this guy. One of my favorite players on the Phils. He's just a great overall player and I don't root for him just because of the Phillies. Needless to say, this was a pretty easy one. I cut out Garry Maddox and laid in Mr. Hawaii over here, and boom- what a card!

Also- A-Rod hit his 2,500th hit. Yeah, at this point, I have completely forgiven him for the steroid allegations at the beginning of the year. That was a long time ago. Now, he's hitting wonderfully for us. Plus, his cousin did it, and he was a bit reluctant. So he has regained my trust. Now bash Bonds' record and we have something to talk about, Rodriguez.

Last night, the Phillies were playing the Giants, and we got completely pounded by Brad "Why was I a Red Soc?" Penny. After being thrown out of Boston's view, Penny threw us into oblivion and we lost. UUUUGGGGHHHHHHH! Why does this keep happening to us? Sure we were on a roll last night with Cole Hamels, but now we get the crap shaken right out of us! What did we do- Oh, right.

Will be doing a lot of photoshopping later this evening, and more Custom Cards are on the way.

The Trumphant Return of Custom Card of the Day

I polled you guys just to make sure everyone loved these, and turns out that this feature on this blog'o mine is staying. I actually had to scan one of my cards last night just to make this one, because Google Images can't have every card ever made. I took out Leroy Stanton, put in the Kid and it was gold from there.

By the way, you're probably wondering why there isn't a card of Cole Hamels up here. Well, I made this last night BEFORE the game. I might be making a Hamels in a few days, but since Victorino's on the way, I might as well wait. Anyway, about that 2-hitter- WOW! I knew that he could do something like that! Cole, that was amazing! No doubt, the Phillies might be going to the playoffs. Why? The Mets are struggling, the Marlins might be a wild card, the Braves are in the middle and the Nationals are searching for the server, according to ESPN. How cruel.

Now, I know most of you want to see my wantlists, but quite frankly, I don't know how to do that. Do you put in on a separate document? Do you put it on a post? That's my main problem. Plus, I need to scour my collections with cards I have and jot down cards I need. I have the complete sets of 2007, 2006, 1987 and 2008 Topps. So traders out there, please bear with me for a second.

Things that I didn't see coming

Night at the Museum 2 #1, Terminator Salvation #2.

Rita's Swedish Fish Water Ice tastes pretty good.

A Blog Called "Weekly Box Break"only posts every few months.

President Bush?

People actually like my custom cards

President Bush again?

Sarah Palin- One year, a small town Alaskan Governor. The next year, part of the worst decision in history.

Tina Fey- One year, a comedian on 30 Rock, the next year- "I can see Russia from my house!"

And finally, that by the end of the 2009 season, a once powerful ChiSox pitcher, a top pitcher for Baltimore and a HOF-Bound Slugger would all be shipped on a plane to Los Angeles. Night Owl and GCRL- Good News. WhiteSoxCards, OrioleOtheDay, any D-Backs fan- Baad news.

Also, I'd like to be the first one to welcome Wait Til Next Year back to the blogosphere. Still waiting on Hand Collated and Weekly Box Break, though.

Will be headed back to my hometown today, but don't expect to see Custom Cards tomorrow. I gotta photoshop some more. I might post tonight, you never know.