Small world

So I have a very casual relationship with Listia.  I usually have a couple of credits floating around, so I bid them all on random auctions, get outbid, and repeat.

A couple of weeks ago I did a quick survey and got a bunch of credits.  Then i did another one and got a bunch more.  I managed to win some 1975 Topps and some Dallas Cowboys.

This auction in particular was interesting.  As a Cowboy fan, I've always been a huge Emmitt fan.  When he was playing he was overshadowed personality-wise by Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman, but that was something I could relate to.  So Smith is my only real football player collection.

But that wasn't what made it interesting.  When I went to transfer credits to the seller, I recognized the avatar in an instant.

I had just won an auction from Tom over at The Angels, In Order.  Half the time, reading Tom's blog is like looking at my want list.  He gets all the best Angels cards.

But in true blogosphere fashion, he sent more than just the card I won.

Aikman might have been much less showy than Irvin also, but I don't think there was any doubt on any player's mind who the team leader was.  Aikman wasn't expected to be Dan Marino or Peyton Manning, but he led the team and was maybe the most accurate thrower of all time.

But he didn't stop there.

Nope, I haven't gotten sick of these things yet.  Love 'em.

Thanks Tom.

It's Gameday!!

That's all I can say.  Too excited!

That works out

I got a package in the mail about a week and a half ago from Kerry over at Cards on Cards.  I've kinda dragged my feet a little on posting about it for a couple of reasons.  First, the package was pretty big, there were 3 team bags full of cards.  Second, I've been working a bit, and last I've frankly been procrastinating.

But I think the timing has worked out pretty well.  By posting now, I can pimp a contest he just put up.  If you like college football and/or picking bowl games, head over and enter.

Also, my Cowboys had a huge win last night against a very strong team that quite possibly will turn out to be an elimination game for the two teams involved.  And it was against Kerry's Eagles.  These cards came from a time when I wasn't collecting football cards (and was almost out of baseball cards too), so these will get a happy home.  Is there ever a card of Tom Landry that isn't awesome?

There's some Cowboys from their Super Bowl teams, and some from the current incarnation.  I think the Cowboys showed last night some heart for the first time in years.  Can't say enough how excited I was with the win.

But even though Kerry and I are fans of rival teams, there is always common ground somewhere:

So that was just some of the first team bag.  The other two team bags were roughly themed too.

Oddballs.  I actually had all the box bottoms from 1986.  In full panels and cut.  I bought lots of boxes in 1986.  I don't know what happened to them all.  I'd never heard of the Hills Team MVPs set, so that's always a good add.  And another new Ryan for that PC.

Are the paint splotches supposed to line up like that on the 1990 Classic cards?  We had a Kay-Bee card in the last scan, and a Toys "R" Us card in this one.  And again, this is only part of the "oddball" themed team bag.

The third bag had more Angel goodness for me.

Can't go wrong with parallel Halos.  You've got your overpaid players parallels in the top row and your Chris parallels in the second.  I never buy Chrome, so the generosity of the blogosphere is my main means of acquisition.

I had to go figure out what that Vlad was.  Its a "Flapper Card" insert from 2008 Opening day.  You can kinda see the perforations in the scan, and it opens up.  I don't think I will open, but I don't know why.  And again, there were many more Angels in the bag.

If I was forced to choose a favorite card though..

A new Carew.  Awesome.


Thanks again Kerry.

That's what I get.

I think I've said before, but although my favorite sport is easily baseball and I'm an Angels collector for sure, my favorite sports team is the Dallas Cowboys.  Have been for over thirty years.

The Cowboys' rivalry with the Washington Redskins is something akin to Dodgers/Giants or Yankees/Red Sox in baseball.  So when a Redskins fan contacts a Cowboys fan, the Cowboys fan is understandably suspicious.  On the other hand, the idea of moving some of those yellow and maroon clad thugs has its appeal.

Greg, who I've traded with before, showed some interest in some Redskins, so I packaged them off.  He sent back a stack of my needs from 2014 Topps series 1 baseball.  And he also sent a nice stack of my beloved Cowboys. [edit: Greg has a blog, maybe he'll start posting on it.]

And sure enough they arrived the same night the Cowboys were losing to the Redskins on Monday Night Football.

And the Cowboys lost their quarterback too.  And their next game without said quarterback.

There's really only one conclusion.  The Cowboys are losing because I traded with the enemy.  I thought I could trust him.  Now there's trouble in Big D.  That's what I get.....

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Had the pack busting itch the other day.

I haven't finished my Topps base set this year, but I'm at the point of diminishing returns, so I didn't feel like getting 90% dupes.  I can't justify the price of Chrome, just not enough bang for my buck.  So even though I wanted some Chrome, didn't buy that either.

Just as i was about to leave the card aisle empty handed, I spotted

this hanging there.  Its got a Cowboy right there on the front.  (I'll ignore that nasty card to the left for now.)  I do recognize that picture, so there was a little hesitation.  But I went ahead and popped on it.  $4 for 100 cards.  Why not?

Turns out I have a white bordered version of the Romo card, so I'm good.

I didn't realize until I got home

There's a dreaded Redskin on the back too!  Uh oh.

Let's see what's inside:

The Good

Three Cowboys.  With 32 teams, I guess that's right what I should get.  (edit: I checked.  There's no Raiders, Patriots, Titans, or Bills in the repack.  But 5 Bears)   I'd have taken more.  I'm pretty sure I have that Everson Walls, as I bought a fair number of 1989 Pro Set.  I hadn't really been in football cards for a few years, but I spent a year or two buying football cards at the beginning of college.  Shepard wasn't a Cowboy long, but I'll take any Cowboys I can get.

The Bad
I would normally show you all the Redskins here, maybe throw in the 49ers, Eagles and Giants too.  However, in light of recent events, the bad in this repack is apparently

Yup, I got two of them.  Back to back.  Maybe they're trying to dump all of their Muhammad Ali Ray Rice cards.

The Ugly

Redskins could go here too...

Ugly designs.

Some of the Rest

 This could be in the ugly pile too.  8 different card products from 1991 alone in the repack.  This doesn't even have Topps base.  I had gotten out again by this time.  And I'm kinda glad I did.

I wasn't back into collecting yet in 2011, but I've liked this design on the baseball side.  And while I think its rather weak to use the same design for both sports, I think the design works real well on the football side too.

Then again, I kinda like the competition design too.  It kinda has an early 90's feel to it or I might like it even more.

I really don't have any desire to collect football cards other than maybe trying to complete some sets like 1982 and 1983, or start getting some vintage (I have a complete 1981 set).

On the other hand, I can't seem to get enough Cowboys cards.  If anybody collects a particular team, I have a couple of other repacks so let me know.

#16

In case anybody hasn't seen ESPN lately, today is the first round of the NFL Draft.

My Cowboys hold the #16 pick in the draft.  This is only the second the Cowboys have had the #16 pick. 

No, don't have this card

The Cowboys took a Linebacker in the 1961 draft.  He never played for the Cowboys, having signed with the Dallas Texans of the rival AFL.

But there's hope at 16.

G.O.A.T.

The Cowboys held the #17 pick in the 1985 draft and were all set to take this guy.  Then the 49ers traded up to 16 and stole him.  The Cowboys took a defensive lineman that registered 12.5 sacks in 4 years with the team. 

Luis Sharpe was a starter for 13 years for the Cardinals, making 3 Pro-Bowls.  The Cowboys took a defensive back at #25 in 1982 that lasted 2 years with the team.

Clayborn was a starting corner for 14 years, also making 3 Pro-Bowls.  The Cowboys took a HOF Running Back at #2 in 1977. 

So there should be good NFL players available to the Cowboys at #16.  I just hope Jerry doesn't screw it up and go for fanfare. 

Group break results (Quick post)

I have seen many blog posts about 2014 Donruss.  I must say that I kinda liked the design.  I've thought that the border is a bit wide, but otherwise it was pretty decent.  But I really had no desire to buy packs of the stuff.  As I've said, I'm pretty much limiting myself to one set a year.  So when I saw that Cardboard Collections was hosting a group break, I thought "Hey, perfect.  I can get Angels."  And really, outside of my set building, I just want Angels.  So I signed up (I was assigned the Padres randomly).

There's my haul.  Two Trouts for my PC.  The Pujols is a "Press Proof" and is number to /99.  I've seen comments on the glossy fronts, pro and con.  I like it.  These aren't meant to be old Donruss throwbacks.  But they are meant to be reminiscent of an old design, just a nod to the past really. 

I think Panini had to reach to do write ups on the back for Pujols and Hamilton.  They trotted out Hamilton's last 30 games (conveniently forgetting his horrible first 121 games).  And they cherry-picked Pujols' 3 interleague games against the Cubs (conveniently fogetting his other 96 games).

But there was more.

I've been asked a couple of times by bloggers about my use of the Cowboys star as my avatar.  The simple answer is that while baseball is my favorite sport, the Dallas Cowboys are my favorite sports team.  Colbey must have been paying attention.

Unexpected Cowboy bonus!  That Dutton comes from my favorite football set, 1982 Topps.  That was first year Topps had the NFL license, so Topps made sure to put the logos front and center.  Staubach is of course an all time great.  Miles Austin might just be on his way out the door, thanks in part to the emergence of Terrance Williams there.  And Dez is possibly the most gifted receiver in the game.

In Mourning

If any bloggers out there have seen my comments on their posts, they've probably noticed my avatar:

and wondered why a football icon has commented on their (mostly) baseball posts.  I've always said my favorite sport is baseball, but my favorite sports team is the Cowboys. 

I know what you're thinking.  I'm from California and I'm an Angels' fan.  Cowboys??  I inherited it from my father.  He grew up in Dallas.  He's also a fan of the evil empire, but I couldn't possibly follow in those footsteps.

So yeah, last night's game kinda sucked (quiet Brad.)

So I'll try to think of happier thoughts.  Like one of my Christmas presents.  I didn't get any cards, but I did get this

My early favorite player growing up was Rod Carew.  But somewhere in college I became a huge Ted Williams fan.  This book is huge.  It'll take me awhile to get through it.

This is actually the oldest card in my collection.

I don't have the 1969 base card, but I do have this one.

Knowing Ted, he's probably looking at a pitcher here.

Now he's thinking about hitting.

And now I'm (kinda sorta maybe) bringing it full circle.  Williams was the first major league manager in the Metroplex...which is where my beloved losers Cowboys are located.

Oh, and Congrats to Brad and all the other Eagles' fans.