Roll Out the (Card) Barrel

The expression on Jose Rijo's face pretty much equals my expression when I received my first order from Card Barrel.

With with whole pandemic going on, I was having the itch to get some cards from 2020 so I could get caught up on what I missed out on while I was on my card hiatus. 

A while back, everyone was touting the Baseballcardstore.ca site so I looked there. I just couldn't get past how difficult the site was to use, so that wasn't for me. Then, I remembered that Dimebox Nick always mentioned the site Card Barrel. So I checked them out. 

And ... WOW!

Suffice to say they checked every box I was looking for ... good selection? Yes. Easy to use site? Yes. Low prices? Yes. Fast shipping? Yes. 

My goal was to put together and order over $25 to qualify for free shipping. I ended up spending more than that. Just over a week later my cards arrived and I was very happy with the end result.

The first thing I had to start digging for was 2020 Topps. I'm definitely more of a "visual buyer" meaning I have to see what the card looks like in order for me to determine if I want to buy it, that's the one downside to Card Barrel, there are no images. But, I figured out a way around that buy having COMC open in a separate window and once I saw a card I liked, I dropped it into my Card Barrel cart.

The prices on Card Barrel are very reasonable. Most of the 2020 singles I bought were less than a dollar a piece, with many of them hovering at around 20 to 30 cents each. For less than the cost of several hanger packs or even a blaster from Target, I managed to get a ton of 2020 Series 1 singles I wanted.

I tried to run the gamut of different things as you can tell by the previous scans. Yes, I went for the Reds cards but I also grabbed some of players I like, some throwback uniform cards, and just some generally fun cards.

Horizontal cards are always really cool. So cool, in fact, I made the collage of horizontal cards my new iPad background.

I tried to get a little bit from every 2020 set released so far. Opening Day cards are really my thing but I do dig the mascot cards and the "Opening Day" card of Great American Ball Park last year is just awesome.

When I placed my order a while back, Big League had just come out and Series 2 was on it's way. I nabbed a few Big League cards and I'm definitely planning on going back for more. The Mike Moustakas card is my first of him in a Reds uniform. I had to get the David Price Dodgers card as well. 

My main draw for wanting to buy cards was to pick up Heritage singles. I grabbed 15 Heritage singles I wanted, again for less than the price of a hobby pack.

Obligatory Reds cards. 

Here's a sunset card of C.C. Sabathia and Jurickson Profar sporting the new Padres threads.

Here's a number of Stadium Club singles from last year that I missed out on. I'm a sucker for old ballparks so my favorites of these are the Nolan Ryan and the Hank Aaron.

Last bit of the 2020 cards I ordered were a few singles from the Donruss release this year. I don't mind the design all that much but they just look "meh" without logos. The Rated Rookie cards are really nice though.

This years "throwback" design was the 1986 set. I'm guessing this will be a recurring trend in the Panini products, kind of like Donruss version of Heritage. These are fine and it's nice to see Kevin Mitchell on a 2020 card. But they're nothing like the real thing from 1986. 

Speaking of which ...

I loaded up on 1986 Donruss. Why 1986 Donruss you ask? I have no earthly idea. It was just one of those 80s sets that popped in my head when I was browsing around. I will never complain of getting an Andres Galarraga Rated Rookie card for less than a dollar.

Diamond Kings? Yes please.

Random cards of random guys. One of these days I'm planning on a Donruss appreciation post. Stay tuned for that.

Whenever I try a new card site, I always like to try out their vintage selection. I meant to order a bunch of Pilots cards but I mistakenly ordered this Jim Weaver card. 

The rest of the vintage cards I ordered were actually Pilots cards. I can cross these three off my want list. Skip Lockwood was the most expensive card in my order at $2.49. All four of these cards (including the Jim Weaver card) were categorized as EX/MT on the site and I have to say I was very impressed at the condition.

I didn't just cherry pick cards from sets. Oh no, I attacked my COMC watch list too. I found several cards from there on Card Barrel for a nominal fee, such as this Bronson Arroyo card.

And these "short term stop" cards of Eddie Mathews and Scott Williamson.

And Orioles cards of ... Chris Sabo? Gosh, he looks weird in any uniform other than a Reds uniform.

And here's the Jose Rijo card from the beginning again. This isn't quite his sunset card (that's in the 2003 Topps set) but it's close. Rijo retired for good after the 2002 season after making a triumphant return to the Reds after being out with shoulder injuries for six years. It was a bright spot on some otherwise dismal teams.

My card collection has a gaping hole in it from the late 90s up through 2012. I attacked some of that as well and went after some 2001 Topps. This is a set I always liked for the neat design both front and back (of which I forgot to scan). Of course I grabbed a few Reds cards.

And some former Reds with some very strange teams ... Eric Davis with the Cardinals? Joe Oliver with the Mariners? Willie Greene played for the Cubs?

More random cards of random guys. These are cards I just couldn't pass up at all.

Remember when the Devil Rays went out and tried to purchase their way to a title by signing heavy hitters like Greg Vaughn and Fred McGriff? Yeah, that didn't work out too well did it.

Ok, finally, I also got a few cards from the 2002 Upper Deck Vintage set. I haven't fully committed to putting this set together but I am grabbing cards from it when I can so I can eventually have a starter set for if/when I commit to it. I'm also going to put this into a blog post I'm planning about 1971 Topps and all the sets that have used that design since.

So, that's my first order from Card Barrel. I'm very, very pleased with how it turned out and I'll definitely be going back and ordering again here soon. 

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.