JustRebranding

I've posted several times on here about JustCommons, mostly because it's been aiding me in several of my set-building endeavors, as well as being a nice source of cards that are impossible to find at any old 10 cent bin. It's a nice little utility to have as a collector with social anxiety who sucks at doing trade requests (MORE ON THAT ANOTHER DAY!)

JustCommons, however, is not a thing anymore. It's a figment of the imaginations of every like-minded collector. Good news is the JustCommons guys are now doing the exact same thing that they were doing before, only with a COMPLETELY NEW NAME, 'CardBarrel', which is slightly more accessible but has less combinations in terms of snappy blog post titles.

Needless to say, I stocked a cart from CardBarrel recently, and...it went well. It went as well as any JustCommons order I've done, only now that JustCommons has vanished into the ether indefinitely and legitimately, it was...nominally different?

I'm monologuing. You don't want to see me monologuing, you wanna see the bloody cards. I can show those. I nabbed a Jim Thome from A&G 2007 specifically because I thought it'd be a good title image. Because nothing catches the eyes of scrolling collectors like a smiling Jim Thome card.

 Dudes I Collect:

Jack Morris is officially a Hall of Famer! That means I don't need to feel bad about collecting his cards. I mean...I never really FELT bad about collecting his cards, but I'm guilty about random things for the sake of snappy blog posts.

One thing I AM....genuinely guilty about is not having a ton of Morris post-dufex-era Tigers issues. My binders have a ton of Blue Jays, Twins and EVEN INDIANS cards of Morris, so I need to replenish the post-retirement Tigers supply...as well as quench my meandering thirst for UD Goudey, which was a very nice set. This card accomplishes both.

 Three late-career Morris'. Mostly Indians issues, but one rad '93 Leaf Jays one in there, solely because I also really like that set.

 Also, seeing as I should collect at least one 1993 Philadelphia Phillie that isn't a pompous ass on ESPN...or a pompous ass on Twitter, I might as well nab some Darren Daulton cards, because not only is he a great hitter and player, but there's no possible way he can disappoint me with his post-career inclinations (except for dying).

I dig the 1997 UD one, because it mentions that he's changed position from catcher to outfield, in an endearing and not-at-all 'your career is nearly over' kind of way.

Collecting Dutch means enduring his more unfamiliar moments, such as his ring-winning but dignity-sacrificing turn as the 1997 Marlins' backup catcher and first baseman. I do really like the 1998 Topps card, because it's an example of the several instances of great photography in there.

 Another collection I'm trying to spruce up is Kenny Lofton, because he's one of the more fun players of his time, and one of the more prominent base-stealers of an era. Yes, he's not a Hall of Famer, but...neither is Daulton and I still collect him.

Some evidence of Lofton's year-long stay in Atlanta here, especially the well-thought-out 98T one.

 Lofton also played for both sides of Chicago in the span of a year, with several other uniforms in the middle. Both cards show instances of bunting, which reminds me of Juan Pierre....another guy who wore both Chicago uniforms and bunted.

 Late career Lofton. I think around this time, ESPN or somebody did an ad about Kenny Lofton changing teams every five seconds, which was a nice touch.

 Of course, thanks to the recent HOF vote, I figured I needed to let some more Vlad Guerrero into the book. I obviously have a ton of Angels issues of his in my collection, because he was huge in Anaheim by the time I started collecting. This 2010 A&G release of Vladdy in his sole, but still memorable, year in Arlington, was one of the many, including...

PENSIVE, STATIC EXPOS MOMENTS!

FUN, AUTO-SIGNING EXPOS MOMENTS!

And SPRING TRAINING SHOTS IN 2010 PRODUCTS!

I mostly did this to bolster my Expos collection of his, as he's probably going in as an Expo (right?? RIGHT??) but still.

 Random Needs:

The one thing you can do on JustCo- UH, I MEAN...UHHHH... CARDBARREL...is you can look in sets you don't hear about very often and find cards you didn't know were awesome, like this 1997 Pinnacle issue of Jim Edmonds.

These two legends also had 97 Pinnacle issues, and they're both pretty cool as well, with emphasis on the Eck.

 Also, here are some from (GASP) 2003 TOPPS TRADED??? Some random guys I collect from that set, including the rare sight of Roberto Alomar in a ChiSox uniform, and Juan Pierre and Aramis Ramirez' first cards in classic uniforms.

 Also, they had some First Pitch cards I didn't have, and...eh, might as well. Jim Caviezel is best known for...wait, shit he's done a TON of things. He was in The Count of Monte Cristo, the Passion of the Christ, Person of Interest. Veteran, respected character actor. Also, he was in Frequency, which is a really cool movie that you should see.

 Mariners had a ton of good ones last year,  including Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard (a must-have), and Iron Chef Morimoto.

These Chicagoans were the high points. Anthony Rapp is, and forever will be, Mark from Rent. And Ty Pennington will forever be that goofball that ran around a construction site yelling "WE'VE GOT TWENTY-FOUR HOURS! TWENTY-FOUR HOURS!" on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for 7 years.

 Set Needs:

These two Yankee pitchers marked off two more set needs for the 2008 Topps Trading Card History insert set, a classic by all means. Getting down to the wire on that one.

 These two knocked off some 2014 Stadium Club base needs, as i'm still building that one, as it's surprisingly manageable (rookies notwithstanding)

 And these four, minus the Buxton which I already had, go toward the 2016 Archives set, which is slowly coming along.

And these three head towards the 1994 Stadium Club set. Now, if you think that's a minuscule amount of Stadium Club...

...THEN GET A LOAD OF THIS CRAP!

I needed ALL OF THESE for my 1995 Stadium Club set. Most of these came from Series 1 of the set, which has now balanced itself to looking more manageable, like the Series 2 set. Here are the highlights:

 Curt Schilling in a 90's-era-alt-uni
A super-cool dirt-facing shot of Carlos Sanchez

 Two INSANELY COOL POSED SHOTS. The Brewers had a TON OF awesome posed shots in this set, rivaling the Diamondbacks of current years. This Spiers is definitely a highlight, right next to the Pat Listach from this set.

 Two team heroes- squatting Biggio, pile-driving John Franco.

 Assorted static shots. Arocha and Delgado are in stadium moments, while Klesko, and his background, are pretty awesome.

 From the Statistical X-TREME subset, Bret Saberhagen and Carlos Baerga.

 Another insanely cool posed Brewer, and a nicely-zoomed shot of Derek Bell sliding.

 Lots of blue sky here. The Bones and Merced are great, as those two had some great cards, but the Lopez is the classiest of the bunch.

And, as is tradition, we end on one last Darren Daulton to bring this post full circle.

That was my CardBarrel haul. Might do another one in a little while, as they're still very helpful.