Jose Rijo's Eyewear Emporium

"Hi there, I'm Jose Rijo! You may know me as a World Series Champion, and a Cincinnati Reds legend, as well as a fireballer on the mound. 

But what you may not know about me is that I LOVE sunglasses. They're the coolest. The way I see it, you become a completely different person where you're wearing the right kind of eyewear. It changes the way you see the world.

...so to speak. HEE HEE HEE HEE...

Let me show you some of the different types of eyewear we've got on display here at Jose Rijo's Eyewear Emporium...

FUNKY WIPE TO:

 GREETINGS, MISTER BOND!

No, don't worry, it's only me. Jose Rijo. But with these glasses, I FEEL like an old-school super villain. I could blow up a building, and these glasses would just...allow me. How weird is that?

Plus, these are kinda purple on the lenses, yet they're still good to wear as sunglasses, because..I mean, what CAN'T they do? Am I right...

hehehehhhhh...okay, next pair-

FUNKIER WIPE TO:

 HAPPY MARDI GRAS, Y'ALL.

...Look at the wings on this thing. Look at the shine, man. That is some premium cool on here, and this can be yours, for...um...okay, I honestly forget the price, but it's definitely cheaper than 20 dollars. I think.

And again, these are great for sunny days, winter days, bar mitzvahs, and just looking cool whenever you want. We've got dozens and dozens of styles of sunglasses, monocles, and general eyewear, that can fit the whole family.

AND DON'T JUST TAKE MY WORD FOR IT! Listen to these MLB players talk about what Jose Rijo's Eyewear Emporium has done for them!

CUT TO:

"Yeah. Uh. Jose made a real good deal with me on these sunglasses. Real good deal. I may have given him something else in return, but uh...look, these glasses are great. Look at the, uh, look at the cut on this lens. Look at the way that thing curves. That is cool, right?"

CUT TO:

"Jose? Yeah, he's one cool dude, right? He gave me these for helping him out with, uh...jeez, I forget. But he gave 'em to me for practically nothing. But I could have paid, like, 30 bucks for it. You ever seen shades this yellow? Looking through these...it's like you're seeing the future.

Swear to God, some kid from Chicago goes and steals these shades from me? He's a dead man."

CUT TO:

"Yeah, funny story. I was the one who got Jose into the eyewear business. Me and Quisenberry had a shades business going in KC for a while. He came through in a series with Oakland, wanted to see what we had. And we showed him. And his eyes LIT UP, man. I haven't seen his eyes since, cause he's always got 'em covered with good, good sunglasses. Couple years later, Mets do a series in Cincy, he takes me to his dugout, says "I wanna show you something". And he gives me this pair. Reflectors. Aviators. Scary good price, too. Jose has my respect, man."

DISSOLVE BACK TO:

So come on down to Jose Rijo's Eyewear Emporium, located in beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio...in the plaza with, uh...the Skyline Chili...and the Little Caesars. Yeah. That one.

Come on down, get some shades, have a good time, or my name isn't...Jose Rijo."

VO: JOSE RIJO'S EYEWEAR EMPORIUM. LOCATED RIGHT NEXT TO JOSE RIJO'S SUPERSOAKER WAREHOUSE]

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.

JustNewYear

 The Holidays were approaching, it'd been a while since the last order. It was time.

I try to space out my JustCommons orders to accommodate set-building preferences, and this order was no exception- as you'll see by the last half of this post, I was working primarily on trying to cap off some sets that had been plaguing me for a while.

Of course, as it's JustCommons, I couldn't just do that, and embarked on a bunch of assorted frivolities in addition, like this Gypsy Queen insert of (sigh) former Phillie Carlos Ruiz.

 This Cutch was one of the few Topps Fire inserts that I had any real intention to get, aside from the lucky few, like Harper, Kershaw and Thor, that landed in packs I opened. I didn't go for a ton of current inserts, as I didn't want them to weigh the order down, but this incredibly insane and detailed McCutchen was enough.

 I went for a few small player-collections while I was here, including, as he's clearly moved beyond steroids, Bartolo Colon. Like with most players, my emphasis is on eras of odd-looking uniforms, so those Expos ones were welcome, especially the Diamond Kings one. Meanwhile, ChiSox Bart looks wary and anxious, like someone's about to steal his wallet.

 Like usual, Adrian Gonzalez made the cart, as he's become one of the most likable and consistent hitters in the game, even after spending a third of his career in the minors. I still enjoy picking up Padres issues, though the Dodger ones are always welcome.

 Of course, from then on I went sort of set-specific. I've never been very reliant on Allen and Ginter, picking up cards when I can. The 2007 set I have next to none of, so throwing in a now-rare Yankee Abreu was a nice touch.

 Pat Burrell is on the HOF ballot this year, and I'm doubting he'll stick around, though I'll still collect him religiously. Beltran's Mets era is sadly forgotten in favor of emphasizing his time in St. Louis, Kansas City and...the Bronx, to be honest.

 They had a nice amount of 2003 Topps, so I bit. Middle row all played for the Yankees at some point. McGriff and Pierre are in here because I love collecting them. Jake Peavy is the only one here that's still playing.

 Two Diamond Kings for the road. Delgado's still good for collecting, as is a pretty nice Larry Walker sketch. I doubt Walker's a Hall of Famer, but I'm still collecting him.

 Four of the Topps Stars insert series from the late-2000's, all guys I collect. I wish Topps inserts would go back to stuff like Own the Game, Hobby Masters, and Stars, instead of some seriously mailed in inserts that we're getting now.

 Gypsy Queen took up a great deal of the cart. I collected a lot of the first two versions of the product, but once the blogosphere lost faith in it, so did I. The inserts are still some of the best in all of sports cards, though, especially this Adam Jones one.

 2014 set highlights. Chooch and Desmond have some pretty nice throwbacks. Tulo, Marky and Greinke have moved on to other teams, leaving Jayson Werth as the only person here still in this uniform...somehow.

 Astro-related cardboard. McCann, as awesome as he was as a Yankee, will be playing there this year, and Craig Biggio's still a huge part of their history.

 2013 set highlights. All three are ex-Phillies. Only Werth and Ibanez actually played together during that era. Also, nice to see Raul back on the Mariners, even if it was only for a season.

 Retired legends. The left half I'm surprised that Topps included in this set, especially Blyleven in an Angels uniform.

 2008 Upper Deck Timeline, as impossible as it is to collect, is a pretty great set, and there's a lot of likability in its insanity. Plus, here's a card of Adam Dunn on the Diamondbacks. Don't see that everyday.

 A few cards from 2013 Topps that I didn't have, including an early card of DJ LeMahieu, and an odd footnote on Francisco Rodriguez' fantastic career.

 Two horizontal 2013s. Kazmir did a run in Cleveland right as the comeback was starting. Kole Calhoun, seen here before he became a nice-enough star for the Angels.

 1995 Donruss is a set that goes way back for me, so these were nice inclusions, especially a final-year issue of Dave Stewart, and a rare card of Andre Dawson in Boston.

 Three cards from 2002 Upper Deck 40 man, which was a nice attempt at recreating Topps Total. Lofton in Chicago is an odd but enlightening inclusion, while the other two...I collect. So they had to come.

 Two players in Minor League sets that...might be pretty big someday. I did well in nabbing a ton of Gary Sanchez cards a few years ago, so might as well do a smidge more prospecting, then.

 Three more inclusions to the 2007 Dick Perez sketches set that I'm building. Michael Young looks a bit awkward, Joe Mauer looks good, and I have no idea why Gary Matthews was in this set.

 Trading Places is another cool little insert set that I can't help but collect, as it got my attention in 2007, my first year of collecting. Greg Maddux was one of the few players I collect in this set that I didn't have yet.

 Plus, three more additions to the First Pitch collection I'm harvesting. Chance the Rapper, because he's huge in my demographic, James Taylor because he's my mom's favorite, and Jimmy Kimmel because he's Jimmy Kimmel.

 Right. Now for the SET NEEDS.

Tim Raines looks amazing in this shot. This was also the last of the 1995 Stadium Club Cover Story subset that I needed, which is pretty nice.

 I also managed to knock out a few from a set I've been collecting ON THE BLOG ever since it came out, 2010 National Chicle. Mark Buehrle looks pretty nice here, actually.

 Four more i needed. The top two are a bit awkwardly designed, but the bottom two are a ton cooler. Victorino, because he's a hometown hero, and Molly just looks pretty cool.

 I nabbed a few from 1996 Stadium Club, as the box breaks didn't get a ton of the set, but I at least wanted to start. These were the nicer photographs, as the Fonville and Colbrunn are pretty cool.

 Also, this Doug Jones back-card shot is pretty great as well.

 1995 Topps took priority, as I didn't have a ton left on the want lists and I was trying to do my best to pound as much as I could out. This isn't everything, but mostly the highlights, including Bagwell, Denny Martinez, a leaping Thomas Howard, and Mike Kelly and a bunch of bats.

 With these four 1992 Stadium Club cards, I came WITHIN ONE CARD of completing the set. So close. All I need is Jose Mesa and I can knock that one off.

Speaking of cards I needed, these two 1990 Topps ones put me within one card of completing THAT set was well. And the only card I need...is #755, Rafael Palmeiro. I'm insanely close, but unless something catastrophic happens, I'll complete this set this year.

So...that was a pretty solid JC run, and I got a lot of accomplished. Probably not the last one of the year.