Blog Bat Around: My Favorite Things

I suppose I should jump on the bandwagon here for this. This latest version of the Blog Bat-Around was created by Chris over at The Collector blog. His idea, list your favorite card design, song, and movie from each decade beginning with the 1950s, has spread throughout the blogosphere and has been really fun to read. So, I've decided to take the plunge here and see what I can come up with.

For the sake of my sanity and having to dig through my collection for cards, I'll be using scans from COMC.

1950s

Scan courtesy: COMC.com

Favorite card set: 1957 Topps
The obvious answer here for favorite card set would be 1952 Topps since it's pretty much the start of modern baseball cards. However, as much as I like 1952 Topps, I also like 1957 Topps much better. It's the first set with recognized trading card dimensions, has great full color photos on it and the names at the bottom along with the team name and position fit perfectly.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Favorite movie: House on Haunted Hill (1959)
I'll confess ... I really haven't seen too many movies from the 1950s so I had to really rack my brain to find a decent movie from the 50s I enjoyed. My initial pick was from 1946 so that wouldn't work so I finally came up with "House on Haunted Hill" from 1959 featuring Vincent Price as an eccentric millionaire who offers $10,000 to five people who can survive the night in a spooky mansion.

Favorite song: "Come Go With Me" - The Dell-Vikings
Here's a case of me coming up with the first 1950s song I could think of. There were a number of songs I had in mind for this but the problem was they all came out in the early 1960s. I picked this song as I remember it from a tape called "50's Sock Hop" that I somehow acquired as a kid.

1960s

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Favorite card set: 1965 Topps
Within my collection itself, I don't have many 1965 Topps cards. As a matter of fact, I think I could count on one hand the number of 1965 Topps cards I have. Regardless, this is always set I've liked because of the colorful pennants, the team logo. It's just a generally fun design. I need more of this set in my life.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Favorite movie: Night of the Living Dead (1968)
I know I've seen movies from the 60s, I just really can't recall what they are. They must've been that good to leave an impression on me. Speaking of movies that left an impression, "Night of the Living Dead" did just that. About 10 years or so ago, AMC TV ran the movie on Halloween night as part of their annual "Fearfest". That was the first time I'd actually seen the movie all the way through and since then, it's been one of my go to horror movies when I'm in the mood to put something on.

Favorite song: "Runaway" - Del Shannon

This is one of the songs I'd considered for my 1950s list but then I realized it came out in 1961. However, it's still a good song. It's got that 50s "sock hop/drive in" feel to it and when I think of the oldies, it's one of the songs that instantly comes to mind.

1970s

Scan courtesy: COMC.com

Favorite card set: 1971 Topps
There were really a lot of great card sets in the 70s so it was tough to pick just one. I could've gone with the wacky colors of 1972 and 1975, the colorful pennants of 1974, but for me there was only one true clear winner ... 1971. It's such a unique design with the black borders, the attempt at action photography for the first time, and the last Topps set to feature the Washington Senators. Next year's Heritage set is based on this and I for one will be picking a lot of it up.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Favorite movie: "Halloween" (1978)

You may be noticing a theme here with the movies I've picked so far. When it comes to 70s movies, for me there was really only one clear choice, the original Halloween. If I haven't mentioned it before, I'll say it again, the Halloween series (for all of its ups and downs) is my favorite movie series ever and this is the one that started it all. Even today, I think it still holds up as more of a suspense/thriller movie than a slasher movie.

Favorite song: "Run Through the Jungle" - Creedence Clearwater Revival

CCR is probably one of my top five favorite bands ever. They have so many good hits from "Bad Moon Rising", "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Down on the Corner", and "Lodi" to this classic from 1970. It's not your typical CCR fare to start out with but once it gets rolling, its such a good song to jam out to. It's a song I find myself singing too whenever it comes on the radio or when my phone plays it over bluetooth in the car. This honestly may be my favorite CCR song ever.

1980s

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Favorite card set: 1987 Donruss
This was a tough one. There's a lot of really good card sets in the 80s from Topps, Fleer, Donruss and all the other folks like Upper Deck and Score who popped up towards the end of the decade. I could've gone with Topps on this but I really have always liked the mid-80s Donruss sets and 1987 is probably my favorite of those. The baseballs on the side, the team logo, just everything about this screams fun to me. By the way, I'm on the lookout for that card shown above.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Favorite movie: "The Fog" (1980)
This first time I saw this movie, I wasn't sure what to think of it. Since then, it's really become one of my favorites. Sure, I could've picked "Big Trouble in Little China" but I think this is a really good movie that gets forgotten by time. It's got all the usual John Carpenter suspects in it ... Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Adrienne Barbeau, Charles Cyphers but Hal Holbrook to me steals the show as Father Malone.

Favorite song: "I Hate Myself for Loving You" - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
There's so many songs on my phone from the 80s, I didn't know where to start. I could've gone with Mellencamp or Springsteen or even Duran Duran. In the end, I went with my favorite Joan Jett song. It's loud, it rocks really hard, and has some great drums in the beginning to kick it off. Play this one loud for maximum enjoyment.

1990s

Scan courtesy: COMC.com

Favorite card set: 1992 Upper Deck
I considered a few sets for this spot, 1991 Donruss Series 1 and 1992 Topps, but in the end, 1992 Upper Deck won out. The main thing I always liked on this set as a kid was the funky script the team name or city was used in. It wasn't the team logo. It was like Upper Deck created a script logo for each team themselves. I think it makes it unique.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Favorite movie: "The Big Lebowski" (1998)

And so stops the string of horror films. This movie is definitely not for everyone ... there's bad language (lots of it), nudity, drinking of White Russians, and bowling. I'm not sure what draws me to this movie but its one I always enjoy putting it on when I need something funny and mindless to watch since I've seen it literally hundreds of times.

Favorite song: "Faded Love" - Asleep at the Wheel w/ Shawn Colvin and Lyle Lovett
The 90s was the decade I grew up in and with that was being watched by my grandparents while my mom was working. They listened to a lot of country music which in turn led me to listen to it. While a lot of it now is too twangy for my tastes, this is one song that has stayed with me all these years. 

2000s

Scan courtesy: COMC.com

Favorite card set: 2001 Topps
2001 was about the time I started to fall out of collecting but the one set that I remember from that time is 2001 Topps. I always liked the design of it with the green borders and the team logo. I also like the fact that it captures legends like Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn at the tail end of their career while also including the next generation of stars like Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Wainwright on multi-player rookie cards.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Favorite movie: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000)
The first time I watched this movie I didn't like it. I didn't get the whole story, the music, anything. However, it slowly grew on me and now it's one of my favorite movies ever. The music from this really hits home to me too as two songs from the soundtrack were played at my grandfather's funeral in 2012. The movie itself is weird, quirky, and really fun.

Favorite song: "Downfall" - Trust Company
This song came out right around the time I was a sophomore in high school and a lot of the songs from this time period remind me of working with my friends at a run-down movie theater, having my first summer of freedom after graduating high school, and just generally having a good time. Nowadays, I'll put a playlist together of songs from this period and just jam out with a big smile on my face.

2010s

Scan courtesy: COMC.com

Favorite card set: 2016 Cryptozoic Ghostbusters
I'm guessing this may seem like a bit of a surprise, considering the other sets have been all baseball so far but I have yet to find a card product or set that I've liked as much as this. I actually purchased a whole box of the thing and it was one of the most fun products I've ever opened, especially considering I'm a fan of the original movie.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Favorite movie: "Wonder Woman" (2017)
I had a hard time picking a movie from this decade, especially considering that a lot of the "big" movies have been of the MCU/comic book variety. This movie though was just fantastic and is actually one I ended up getting on blu-ray last Christmas.

Favorite song: "Take Me Down" - The Pretty Reckless
Most of the music on my phone is not from this decade so I really had to search through and find a good song. I settled on this from the Pretty Reckless. It's a good jam and sounds like the band is just having fun playing it. I still can't believe that the singer from this band played little Cindy Lou Who in "The Grinch" from 2000.

So, that's a bunch of my favorites. Hope everyone enjoyed it. 

Retail Repack Adventures #16

As I was putting some cards away the other day, I took inventory of just exactly how many of these 100-card bricks I have sitting around. Not including this particular one, I've got two baseball oness and two hockey ones left. I guess this is a good a time as any to tear into this.

As usual, the cover card. This time is a 2017 Donruss Optic of Freddie Freeman. I bought a box of Optic back in 2016 and wasn't impressed with it. I don't mind getting Optic (or Chrome) singles here and there but I'm not going to be buying any packs of it.

The one thing I like about these repacks is that you find little random cards like this. How this card of factory set limited edition card of Albert Pujols would up in this re-pack at a Walgreens in the middle of the country, I'll never know.

Here's something I never really knew I was searching for until I found it, that being this 1986 Topps Tom Seaver. His official "sunset card" would come the following year in the 1987 Topps set but 1986 was his last active year of pitching. For a White Sox squad that was on their way to finishing 4th in the AL West that year, he appeared in 12 games, going 2-6 with a 4.38 ERA. In June of that year, he was swapped to Boston for Steve Lyons where he appeared in 16 more games. Overall, in his sunset season he went 7-13 with a 4.03 ERA in 28 games.

2000 Topps I always think is a bit of an under appreciated set for a few reasons. First, the design was pretty clean both front and back. Second, there was a plethora of nice action shots (see the Barry Larkin card) and finally, it's the first set of the new millennium for gosh sakes! Now, all that being said, the Craig Biggio card certainly didn't Chrome up very well since it's a basic posed shot. And yes, that's my reflection you see at the bottom of the card. 

Man, this repack is rife with Hall of Famers. Here's a few from the middle of the junk wax era. Yeah, the 1990 Donruss set may be bowling shoe ugly, but the Diamond Kings card, well at least this particular one, are pretty nice looking. It almost makes me want to get a box of it on the cheap and tear into it.

Random minor league cards are always fun to find in these repacks and boy are these random. On the left, we have Bob Davidson of the Albany-Colonie Yankees, someone who literally was one and done in the majors. Not one season and done, but one inning done. He pitched one whole inning in his major league career, presumably at the end of the Yankees season in 1989, at left with an 18.00 ERA. As for the 1989 Albany-Colonie Yankees? They finished 92-48 in the Eastern League that season.

The other card of this duo was a mystery until I started doing research for this article. It turns out that it's a 1980 team issue card from the Nashville Sounds, which oddly enough, was a Yankees affiliate in the 1980. Anyway, Ted Wilborn played in 121 games for the Sounds that year, hitting .270 with 6 HRS and 63 RBIs. He also had a very brief career in the majors, appearing in only 30 games with the Blue Jays and Yankees over parts of the 1979 and 1980 seasons.

Here's something I found rather curious on the back of the Ted Wilborn card, it looks more like business card instead of a baseball card. Sure, it's got the vital info of the player but look at the bottom right, there is the photographer's name, address, and phone number. Also, there is no date or stats or anything. I don't think I've ever really seen a card like this before. For curiosity sake, I plugged the address into Google Maps just to see what came up ...

And wouldn't you know it, looks like the photographer is still in business after all these years.

There was plenty of 2016 Topps included as well, these are the best from the mix of standard base cards and team issues. Ben Revere was briefly with the Reds during Spring Training this year but obviously didn't thrill anyone as he was cut towards the end of camp.

2016 Heritage ... still meh.

Some gems from 1990 Fleer that were included. Being a card blogger has afforded me the opportunity to gain a nice appreciation for cards from this time as previously I had just overlooked most of them and kept only the notable stars. Kevin Appier was a fresh faced rookie for the Royals during 1990 and finished third in the ROY voting that season. The photo on the card looks like it was taken during spring training that year as why else would there be a scoreboard in the background. Pedro Guerrero was still going strong in 1990, finishing in the top 25 of MVP voting. He'd hang around with the Cardinals for a few more years after this and finally hung up his spikes in 1992.

Speaking of 1992, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for 1992 Upper Deck. While I'm not trying to complete the set or anything, the design was a favorite of mine as a kid, mainly because of the "alternate logos" (for lack of a better term) and the photography that Upper Deck used on the cards.

I'll close out this repack by showing off a smattering of random cards to finish this up. 1994 was the first year I really liked Stadium Club during its original run as the design was very MTV-ish and Topps tried to be hip and cool. The designs of the previous years I always get mixed up because they all look nearly the same. Also, there's a Carlos Delgado rookie card from Triple Play (did anyone else forget he was a catcher?) and a 1983 Fleer Carney Lansford, which I though was the oldest card in the box until I discovered what year the Ted Wilborn card was from.

I'd say this was one of the better repacks I've torn into in recent memory. Was there some junk? Yes. But for five bucks and a few minutes of enjoyment thumbing through cards that are new to me, I'll take it.

Retail Repack Adventures #4: Revenge of the Repack!

This is becoming a bad habit of mine. Not the fact that I can't leave these things alone whenever I step foot into Walgreens, but the fact that it seems that a new month of posts starts off with one of these! I bought this particular repack back towards the end of January and since then, I've been in a self-imposed drought in an attempt to stretch my card money as far as possible. Enough about me though! Let's dive in to this repack!

This repack was chock full of Topps from all eras, including these 2008 cards. My collection has a gaping hole regarding cards from 1994-2011 (I got back into collecting in 2012) and these repacks are helping to ever so slowly fill in that hole. I was pretty happy when the Mike Piazza card fell out of the box, especially considering that it's his sunset card.

As I mentioned, more Topps cards. The Cano was the cover card of the stack. I'm slowly learning to love the 2010 Topps design too.

Hey look! Parallels from the mid 90s! Bip is a foil version and big Cecil is from the Score Gold Rush line.

Here's something you don't see cards of every day, Wade Boggs in a Devil Rays uniform. This will get added to my personal stash as will the Pujols, even though I'm not a Cardinals fan at all.

Here's another 2010 Topps card, this one of Max Scherzer, before the Nationals backed up a Brinks truck to his front door a few years later. The Cabrera card is pretty cool. I remember Topps doing a bunch of the "Super Veterans" cards back in the day but don't remember many recently so this was a real treat to pull out of this package.

This 1992 Upper Deck pack I've already covered in the first edition of my new ongoing series called "Back Packs". Read about it here

Just like the last repack, this one was stuffed to the gills with 2012 Topps. I think I like these more than most people, simply because it was the first pack I bought when I got back into collecting. This was the best of the batch that was included, any duplicate will wind up in eventual trade packs.

Finally, the requisite Reds. Hatteberg played three seasons for the Reds at first and was Votto's backup during his final season in Cincy. To be honest, I'd kind of forgotten about him. Cairo was a solid player on the two Central Division winners in 2010 and 2012. It's also a sunset card as 2012 was his last season.

This was a nice solid repack and I'll be on the look out for another next time I hit up a Walgreens.

Back Packs #1: 1992 Upper Deck!

I seem to have accumulated a decent amount of junk wax packs recently and what better way to dig my way through them than to start up a blog series. It seems like every blog has some sort of ongoing feature with pack ripping, so I figured I'd start one up too. I'm calling this "Back Packs" because I'll be ripping into old packs of stuff I collect. While this will mainly be baseball, there will be some other stuff from time to time, but the main focus will be baseball packs. They may not be all from the junk wax era either, it just depends on what I find at the flea market, card shows, etc.

To start this off, I'm going to tear into a pack of 1992 Upper Deck. This came out of one of the Walgreens repacks I've been known to pick up on occasion. This is one of my favorite designs of the early 90s, mainly because of the fun team logos at the bottom right of each card and the awesome photography. There are 15 cards in a pack for this and I'll show all of them and comment on certain cards as I go. 

#667 - Bryan Hickerson RC
#691 - John Barfield

#522 - Dave Parker
#554 - Tino Martinez

Two good players here. I had no clue that Dave Parker was still playing in 92, let alone with the Blue Jays. The thing I remember Tino Martinez for is winning the Home Run Derby in 1997 at Jacobs Field.

#486 - Zane Smith
#427 - Von Hayes

#353 - Greg Maddux
#362 - Kevin McReynolds

I really like the Maddux card. It's rare that you find cards of pitchers doing something other than pitching.

#209 - Mike Devereaux
#252 - Tony Pena

#114 - Hubie Brooks

#102 - Hector Villanueva

#44 - Steve Avery PP

#71 - Jeff Plympton RC

Ted Williams Heroes insert card

This was a very bland pack, only three decent pulls in Parker, Martinez, and Maddux and I guess Tony Pena could be thrown in there too. Never was a big fan of the Baseball Heroes insert set. It's a good thing this came in the retail repack (review coming soon) as I wouldn't have bought this on my own.

Hope you liked this premiere edition of "Back Packs". It might still be a little rough around the edges but after a few of these, I'll get the hang of it.