Vintage Wax Break- 1981 Fleer Baseball Stickers

A friend of a friend gave me some card stuff he didn't need anymore. It included:

• Complete Set of 1986 Topps
• Signed Rangers Puck
• 1956 Topps Yankees team card
• Box of 1981 Fleer Stickers.

I had never seen those stickers, so I opened the box. Not many stars, so I'll give a pack by pack rundown, and one highlight per pack

1. Jim Palmer. Pack also included Greg Luzinski and Davey Lopes
2. Johnny Bench. Also included Bill Buckner, Jose Cruz, Looooou Piniella
3. Don Sutton. Also included Ron Cey, Tommy John
4. Rod Carew. Also included Sparky Lyle, Dan Quisenberry, Tug McGraw
5. Carl Yazstremski. Also included Bucky Freakin Dent
6. It's a four way tie! This was the best pack I opened- featured Mike Schimdt, George Brett, Willie Stargell and Nolan Ryan.
7. ...followed by the worst pack. The highlight was Dave Kingman, I guess.
8. Another Four Way Tie! Jim Rice, Rickey Henderson, Rich Gossage and Reggie Jackson!
9. Alan Trammell. Also included Dave Parker.
10. Bruce Sutter. Also included Graig Nettles, Al Oliver
11. Reggie Jackson. Also featured Willie Randolph
12. Reggie Smith
13. Andre Dawson. Also featured Tony Perez.
14. It's a tie! Steve Carlton and Robin Yount.
15. Rollie Fingers. Also featured JR Richard, Ken Griffey
16. Cesar Cedeno.
17. Joe Morgan. Also included Dave Concepcion
18. Pete Rose. Also featured Paul Molitor, George Foster.

I ripped half the box, so I could save the other half for something else coming up. But overall, nice product. The photos aren't the best, but hey, it's 1981 fleer. What were you expecting, the MoMa?

I might go out later for some Series 2, if my target actually has some for once.

The Tournament of Bad Autographs Round Three

That's right Autograph deadheads, we've entered the Bad Auto sweet sixteen here at Mint Condition. The four autographs you will be voting on are the four that you, the bloggers, voted the worst autos EVER. They beat out legends like Prince Fielder, Miguel Tejada and Curtis Granderson for these spots, and now you will vote to send them to the semi-finals. Here are our competators.

Our first matchup features two pitchers. One horrible, one promising. Let's get the stinker out of the way. It's our #1 seed, Jason Jennings.

That looks more like a nametag on Bring Your Child to Work day

And he will be facing Number Four seed, Johnny Cueto

I take that back- THAT is the one reason why the Reds are second place overall.

Our next battle is two hitters- one a Yankee, the other an ex Pirate. First, let's get the Yankee. Third seed Nick Swisher.

Nick's auto is said every night during Hannukah

His Brutus- Number Two seed Bobby Bonilla

I don't know why, but I'm suddenly very hungry for pretzels.

Those are our matchups, now go ahead and vote. Remember, the winners will go onto the Semi Finals, where they will play each other for a seat in the final four. I know it's just for fun, but it still sounds awesome.

Remember to check out the other regions at JD's, Oncardautos and Drew's blogs. I'm too lazy to post the links, so check them out.

Polls are on the sidebar- VOTE!!!

Perfect

Thanks Roy, for Perfect Game #20. Cy will take it from here.

Live and let Pie

I just don't get this Pie in the Face gimmick.

First they do it to all the Yankees, now they do it to the promising stars. I mean, I don't get it at all.

Seriously Topps? You get the license to make baseball cards independently, and you completely....mess it up by putting in random gimmicks that don't make sense??? I mean...I just don't know what to think anymore.

But still, here are 5 reasons I will buy 2010 Series 2

5. those 2020 inserts. They sound like a cool idea. I always thought about how cards evolved. First they were black and white squares, then they were colorized horizontal paintings, they they were vertical color photos on cardboard, then they were colorful glossy photos, and now they're pretty much the same. I think a future baseball card will be a hologram that changes photographs with the push of a button. If technology advances in the next 10+ years.

Yes, I am a geek for saying that, but moving on...

4. Completing the Yankees and Phillies. I'm starting to get a hankering for my Jeter, my Raul, my A-Rod, Howard and Rollins in the 2010 design. And I'm pretty sure they'll look awesome.

3. The Rookies. Most notably, Austin "The Man" Jackson and Justin Heyward. Those are the two rookies that I'm looking forward to the most. I guess they'll leave Heathcott and Strasburg for the update set, to leave collectors at bay.

2. The old players in new designs insert set. That has always intrigued me, putting old players in new designs, or new players in old designs. That why I love making those customs so much. Because it creates a time machine (theoretically of course). But I love the idea of seeing Reggie Jackson in an older design, or other players like that.

1. You knew I was going to say this- More Cards that My Mother may or may not have thrown out. Even though I have yet to finish Series one's yo mamma cards, I will be hankering for some series 2 ones.

Well, that's my rant about series two, and pie gimmicks.

By the way- are there any Red Sox fans out there who would like a 2010 National Chicle Jersey card of David Ortiz, before I burn it. It's a plain white Jersey, but I really don't want to sleep at night knowing that I posess a card of the enemy (Hey, it could have been Youklis). I will throw in some other BoSox stuff, to get rid of other blasphemous items.

Box O'Chicle

I went to Target today, and the baseball selection was HORRIBLE! All the baseball they had was Heritage, and I didn't want that. So I went to my other local Target, and they had the exact opposite- tons of cards, especially a box of Chicle, which I merrily purchased. Now here's the results.

Pack 1-
155- Vernon Wells
OHHH NOOOOOOOOOO!
IT'S A GAME USED OF DAVID FRICKIN ORTIZ!!!!
GYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! WHYYYYYYYY?!?!?
184- Phil Hughes. Yeah, way to go Topps. Just to soften the wound, you give me the current Yankee ace. That's better.
49- AAAAAADDRRIAAAANNNNNN...In a 70's uniform.

Pack 2-
252- Duke Snider
237- Thurman Munson
100- Adam Dunn
175- Dexter Fowler- Player Back!!!
159- Kenshin Kawakami
194- Tim Lincecum

Pack 3-
37- Ryan Howard. WOOOOOO!
92- Cole Hamels. WOOOOOOOOOO!
147- Jon Lester. CRAAAAAAAPP
105- Mark Reynolds
64- A-ROD!!! YEAAAAHHHHH!
104- Justin Upton

Pack 4-
217- Frank Robinson. Okay, here's a burning question for you topps. Why is Frankie constantly shown in a Reds uniform, while he is most remembered as an Oriole. (And also, in my subscriber bank, the Oriole Red ratio is 3:1 Orioles).
262- Reid Gorecki
180- Freddy Sanchez
287- Ty Cobb in the modern Tiger uniform. Yeah...even you can't help Detroit this year, Ty.
269- Tommy Manzella
19- Jay Bruce. Again, what's with all the Reds?

Pack 5-
102- Adam Wainwright
157- Jimmy Rollins WOOOOOOOO1
60- JJ Hardy
312- Oooh, the much maligned Tyler Flowers/ Frank Thomas card. Ooh.
204- Carlos Gonzalez
234- Tris Speaker

Pack 6-
192- JD Droooooooooooo!
222- Lou Brock
47- Brandon Inge
10- Man Ram
54- Yunel Escobar
84- Hanley Ramirez

Pack 7-
22- Tim Wakefield Eating A Ball
137- Zack Grienke
95- Ryan Braun
196- Will Venable Player back
129- Nolan Reimold
169- Denard Span

Pack 8-
107- Mark Teixiera
187- Joe Saunders
235- Jackie Robinson
59- WANDY...Bazooka Back
199- Trevor Crowe
3- ICHIRO!!!

Well, even though I got a red sox game used, I'm still satisfied. The fact that the game used isn't why I love this product is one of the reasons. The design, the short prints, the legends. It's great.

When there's no room in hell, the Bowman shall walk the Earth

(Original title for this post= "Bowman- Like Ishtar, but crappier"

This post explains my hatred of Bowman. Bowman has been a rookie set for idiots who can't get the same old stuff in Topps, and it's been doing this for 21 years now.

Why do I hate it? In 2006, Topps began using the Rookie Card rule, wheras the rookie card would represent a player who had been already been playing for a year, already had a Topps rookie card and had to be represented with a tiny little Rookie Card Emblem. That infuriated me.

You see, the fun of the good old days of collecting was seeing those future stars cards, cards with a few different rookies on one card, that gave us rookies of many Hall of Famers like Mike Schmidt, Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew, Jim Rice, etc. The 2006 rule took the fun away. Because the 2006 rule deemed the Bowman set absolutely useless.

I mean, think about it for a second. A product that had showcased plenty of rookies for a decade and a half, and you replace it with a rule that says you do the same friggin thing in your flagship set. I mean, why not just dump the Bowman set altogether?

They didn't. Bowman has been uselessly giving us rookie cards of promising your players for the last five years. And so has Topps.

Another thing that bugs me about Bowman- wouldn't it KILL Topps to actually use a different design every year? I always see that it's the same red border/blue border shtick every year, and the same prospect design every year. How about some originality, Topps. The 1990's Bowman sets (Like 93 and 94 Bowman, my personal favorites) had original designs that showcased both prospects and veterans with the same design- no tweaking involved. Go forward 10 years, and it's been segregated.

So Topps, here's my offer, see if you can accept it. If you want to keep a set that has individual rookies, some of which will never pan out, can't you at least cancel Bowman and bring back another set that all of us bloggers like. Like, ooh, I don't know, Topps Total, or maybe Stadium Club again, or maybe Topps Gallery if you want. I know that card sales are down, but the reason sales are down is that there is nothing on the shelves that collectors would actually want. So please, listen to us for once, instead of randomly giving us another Bowman set next year.

Yeah, if you know me, this is where I ask for feedback. What's your take on Bowman? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Do you really not care at all, mainly because you're too busy scarfing down Chicle? Let your voice be heard, so I don't have to lose mine.

AT LAST, SOME CHICLE (Heritage Too)

I finally got some Chicle today (4 packs was all they had, but still), and I also got some Heritage, which we'll start with

Pack 1-
11- Adam Wainwright
374- Brad Hawpe
90- Ex Philadelphia Prospect Gavin Floyd
Leaders
Holy Crap...it's a chrome #to 1961...of Brian McCann. And this photo kinda makes him look like dayf
Flashbacks- 23rd amendment
194-Joey Votto
WSMVP 2005 Jermaine Dye

Pack 2-
166- Ramon Hernandez
87- Juan Uribe
215- Derek Jeter!!!
322- Michael Dunn
Flashbacks- Frank Robinson
370- Mark Reynolds
269- Edgar Renteria
Mantle Thing

Chicle Pack 1-
Honus Wagner Regular
Juan Pierre
Carlos Beltran
Javier Vazquez. The one Yankee I get, and it's F%^%&*^&* VAZQUEZ???
Tris Speaker Modern...he actually looks cool on the Indians.
Josh Hamilton

Pack 2-
Luke Scott
The David Price is wrong, bitch!
Adam Jones
Michael Cuddyer
Michael Cuddyer Bazooka back!!! The regular and the short print!
Jono Broxton

Pack 3-
Hey, Waddaya know, it's Albert Pujols
George Sisler regular
Brent... Dlughjdfljadkj
Jed Lowrie
Bob Gibson...Bazooka back!
Denard Span

Pack 4-
Johnny Bench
Madison Bum
RAAAAUUUUUUUL
Adam Moore
Hey, it's Thurman on the modern Yanks.
Carlos Quentin

I like this set- a lot of cool pictures and fun short prints. I gotta get more!

Night Owl, this one's for you

The Customizer is a dying speicies. There might only be a few of us left, but what we end up doing is all worthwhile. I do agree with Night Owl's plea to topps, though. If Topps were to make a good old fashined retro set, we customizers would do it, probably better than the Topps guys would.

Thanks again for the shout out, Night Owl. And yes, Mint Condition fans. CUSTOM CARDS ARE OFFICIALLY BACK, BABY!

The Tournament of Bad Autos- Round 2

This one is long overdue (I think- Drew just posted his so I'm following suit.), but so what if I'm late. Only a true master shows up late to his own party. So here we go with round two-

THE MATCHUPS-

First off, Jason Jennings, seeded 1st, is here to show another reason why he sucks

Amazing. You'd write like that too if you were paid by Texas to pitch and couldn't keep yourself out of the DL

And he's up against the 8 seed, Mike Minor

Is it possible for a signature to be suffocated?

Nest is Melvin Mora, our 5 seed.

He likes cookies. "MMMMMMMMMM!"

His adversary is a tough one- Johnny Cueto, seeded fourth

More likely to have a "Hello, my name is" above it

Here's our 6th seed, Luis Castillo, who surprisingly was just benched today

And I believe the lasso in his signature benched him

And in a borough vs. borough battle, his opponent is a Yankee, our 3rd seed, Nick Swisher!

Amazing. The only baseball player whose name is in the Torah

For our final matchup, it's outfielder v. outfielder. First, 7th seed Curtis Granderson

His signature is also a radio apparently

And the beast he has to slay... 2nd seed Bobby Bonilla

He signed this for Auntie Annie

Well, I've done my duty- your task is to do yours and VOTE! I'm too lazy to post links to Drew, JT and OnCardAutos, but you know how to get to them anyway. Polls are on the sidebar!

Retro Sets- What's your take

The buzz this week has mostly been about how awesome National Chicle looks. Seriously- with all the coverage over at Dayf's blog, and all the people saying if they like it or not, my eagerness to get a friggin pack of the stuff is slowly growing. And yes, loyal readers, you will see some packs of this on the blog soon. But the thing is that lately, there has been a sudden rush of retro sets.

Let's compare how it was in 2001 to how it was last year with retro products-

2001-
Bowman Heritage
Fleer Tradition
Topps Archives
Topps Heritage
Upper Deck Vintage

That's 5 retro products. Here's how it was last year-
O-pee-chee
Topps 206
Topps Allen and Ginter
Topps Heritage
Topps Heritage High Number (Thanks Dayf!)
Tristar Obak
Upper Deck Goodwin Champions
Upper Deck Goudey

Right there, that 7 of them. And so far in 2010, we have

Topps Heritage
Topps Heritage High Number
Topps National Chicle
Topps Allen and Ginter
Topps 206
Tristar Obak (I mean, it's bound to happen)

So far, we have 2 retros so far, and 3 coming soon. There might even be some more out there, but that would only prove my point.

So what's your take on the retro sets? Too much? Too little?

Now Playing for the Angels...Robin Roberts

Ohhhh, man. Such a great Philadelphia pitcher. So sad to see him go. Robin, you will be missed.

NOW WHERE'S MY CHICLE!

Where's my stinkin Chicle?

National Chicle seems like it will be one of the better stes this year. It has great artistry, awesome looking short prints and just looks like a contender for the best set of the year.

Now why hasn't my local Targets gotten any?

Seriously, why can't they give the people what they want! We want Chicle, not 47,000 packs of Updates from last year!

(This has been a message from a blogger who hasn't found anything to post about)

Alright, I'm calling it

"The 2010 National League Cy Young award goes to... ROY HALLADAY!"

He's the best thing to happen to Philadelphia since the 2008 series win. Oh, man. Now, I'm starting to be really happy that they gave Cliff Lee away for this guy.

Oh...and SUPPORT YOUR BLOGOSPHERE...VOTE TODAY!