Wear your helmets kids

It's been an eventful week in the land of Junk Wax.  On Monday, my older daughter fell off her bike, and was knocked unconscious for 10-15 seconds.  I rushed from work to the hospital.  At the hospital we heard numerous people tell her "..and don't forget to wear your helmet".  Which made me think of the card above.  (Hopefully that isn't too morbid a tie-in.  She suffered a concussion and a black eye.  But she's doing just fine)

I have already professed my love for 1982 Fleer.  And so have writers with far more talent than me.  But specifically I was always fascinated with that Landestoy card.

And the Mejias card.

And Concepcion too.  There was always something vivid about the Reds' helmets in the set. 

I'm not really sure if it's the Reds' helmets themselves, or if it's just that the rest of the set is out of focus, and these cards are in pretty sharp register.  But whatever it was, I could just look at them forever.  (What do you want?  I was 9).

Speaking of Reds....

I'm working on the 1979 Topps set, and something really stuck out at me.

Where's the distinctive Reds' "C"?  The first thing that hit me was Topps football cards prior to 1982:

Topps didn't have the NFL license, so all the helmets were airbrushed up through the 1981 set.  In 1982 they got the license and put out my favorite football set, which is a coincidence.... but I digress.

Those Reds' helmets without the logo were almost jarring to me when I first saw them.  I'm assuming those are spring training photos, and for whatever reason they just hadn't added the logo in?

Angels, Angels, and even more Angels

I'm pretty sure that anybody who reads baseball card blogs has come across the Dime Boxes blog, but if they haven't, they need to.  Nick has a way of connecting with cardboard of all types and enjoying the cards on their own terms.

Recently I saw a post he wrote and inquired about a card I needed to have wanted to get.  I sent along a couple blue and red parallels and a stack of the blurriest 1982 Fleer I could find.  What I got back was way more than I could have expected (which is quickly becoming a running theme for me).

This is the card I asked about.   I would have been happy with this card alone.  An Angels blogger, who I know has seen more Angel ball than I have lately, has opined that this kid has the enthusiasm that the rest team could use more of.  So I've started a player collection.  This camo version will go next to the base card and the gold parallel I have.  I only need 45 more for the rainbow (I kid...sorta.  There's 14 total I think.  14!?!)

But Nick decided to throw in a stack of Angels.  Over 50 more Angels.  I'll show some of the highlights.

 Player collection needs!  There's a Rod Carew card from his playing days.  I thought I had all those except his rookie card, and assorted OPeeChee cards.  And a Tim Salmon to add to one of my more recent player collections.  But that Bobby Grich is possibly my favorite card of the package.  Underrated player, and he doesn't seem to get much love from Topps in their recent binge of "old players on new cardboard".

1987 "1987 mini" next to 2012 "1987 mini".  And a 1987 for comparison.  1987 Topps was the second set I ever completed from busting packs, after 1986.  All these years later, I still like 1987 better.

A couple of guys who ended their careers in 2012, never having made the majors.  Both made AAA though.  I don't think I'm in the minority when I say that I would given anything to have the chance to play one season in the minors.  Castillo played 7, getting 5 games at AAA in 2011.  Auer played 5 seasons, getting 105 games at AAA in 2010-2011.

Gold parallels, and sparkly parallel.  I'm a sucker for all the parallels I've seen the last couple of years.  Sure, Topps is beating a dead horse, and the dead donkey next to it, by overdoing parallels.  But I still like them.

I have considered starting a Gary DiSarcina player collection.  He was the real reason the Angels collapsed in 1995.  He was hitting .307 in the 9 hole and made the All Star Game in 1995.  Then he gets hurt on August 3rd, missing a month and a half, and the Angels went in the tank.  The Percival and Velarde bring my grand total of 1997 Topps to two (edit - grand total of three.  There was a third one in the package).

And here's the guy the Angels let go so they could sign Josh Hamilton.  So they could pay 5 times as much for less production.  So they could sign a guy with a checkered past and ongoing recovery instead of a clubhouse leader.  (Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing anybody in recovery and definitely not the process itself.   I'm lamenting the presence of the man that got away).


Thanks Nick.

Ever Wonder Why?

You ever like something and haven't a clue why?  You just glom onto something, and it becomes a favorite of some sort.  But there's no real reason for it.

When I first started collecting, I just bought cards and wanted to get as many different ones as possible.  But a couple of years in, I found myself collecting this guy:

I'm not an Indian fan, never have been.  And yet, Franco was one of my first player collections (or what I would later make into player collections).  I still only have a few player collections, and almost all of them have connections to the California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels.  Rod Carew, Brian Downing, Nolan Ryan, Dick Schofield, Frank Tanana, Bobby Grich, Bob Boone - all Angels.  And yet, why did I collect Julio Franco??

My favorite set though falls into the "Ever wonder why" category. 

Graphical Representation of 1982 Fleer

That's right, my sentimental favorite set is 1982 Fleer. 

Fuzzy, out of focus? 1982 Fleer.

Off center, why did they pick that picture? 1982 Fleer

They don't know which way a right hander throws? 1982 Fleer

I don't actually have this card

They used the same photo as Topps? 1982 Fleer

I remember spending the summer at my aunt's apartment and I would somehow get 50 cents (I think it was) and walking down to the Shortstop (I didn't get the connection at the time) and buying a cello pack of 30 cards.  I had bought some Fleer the previous year, but those cards were gone.  1982 Fleer was the first set I ever really collected.  So I guess that is the real reason I love the set so much.  It was my first.  Funny thing is it never was the same after that.  In 1983 we would walk over to the 7-11 (or was it Circle K?) and buy 1983 Donruss.  But it was wax packs, not the cool cello packs from the year before.  In 1984 I got a couple packs of Donruss from the K-Mart, but I didn't really like the design (I'm in the minority, I still really don't).  In 1985 my mom came home with a box Fleer, and to this day I don't know why.  1986 was the first year of mass pack busting.  My stepbrothers and I put together sets of Topps by hand from boxes bought at the Price Club.

But 1982 Fleer was my first.