A Bit of A Rant And An A&G Comedian With My Name

 Wow I should do Blogiversary posts every other month. My Blogiversary post got over 400 views (414) in the first week. I olny have 116 followers so that is a lot of either new people or people who unofficially follow. Amazing!. Actually some of my numbers are helped a little bit by being on the blog roll at TCDB that tracks whenever I make a new post on my card blogs.

Now onto whatever this post is going to be about.

Lately more pressing things in life have forced my blogging to take a back seat. At times I'm not even sure if I'll get around to doing any blogging from now on out. I used to bust my butt trying to make sure I had a monthly post for all 3 of my blogs. Now I can't even guarantee that for myself let alone even one of the blogs. Life goes on and now maybe sometimes the blog.

Enough about that here is a card I got from a group box break. I wonder if it was a legit random card or if the host remembered that I collect cards of people with my name (and similar names) either way I like this card.

2023 Topps Allen & Ginter - 221 Daniel Van Kirk Comedian

One thing I don't like about this card is the pattern of the shirt Daniel is wearing. I didn't notice it at first, it was only when I looked at the scanned image that I noticed how the shirt design looked like the scan was bad. This time it wasn't the scan image doing crazy things. It is probably time to get a new scanner I forget how many decades I've had my current Epson flatbed scanner. But it continues to work well enough and I hate having to get new electronic and computer equipment. 

TCDB Trade With A Canuck

 Hello and welcome to my standard "I don't know what I'm going to post about" post, until I come up with something that is fairly easy to scan and yack about.

Since I only have about a dozen regular readers and one or two regular commenters , no one but me would notice if I skipped a month in posting. I have made several posts about my self-regulating posting quota of at least one post per month, per blog.

Long story short this post might end up being one of my worst posts with very very minimal views. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'm not sure but I might have to sometime soon think about reevaluating my collection and draw a line somewhere about acquiring "new" cards. There are just too many things currently in the industry that take away the fun of collecting. One of the many things is the endless and pointless parallels. It seems every card now needs to have at least a dozen parallels. Now sometimes it is fun to collect the variants and go for the "rainbow" but usually it is just another gimmick to fall for. Cheap in the sense that it is low quality or literally no brainer as in it takes no brain to come up with the idea. However it is expensive in the fact that it adds to the overall cost of the cards and sometimes adds in the materials used to make the cards.

Well that didn't solve a damned thing.

Alright so I had a recent trade with a member over at TCDB from Canada. The trader supposedly originally sent the cards within a day or two of the trade being confirmed, but a week or two later he sent me a message saying the cards had been returned because the stamp fell off, so he resent. I didn't complain because Canada. About a week or two later the cards finally arrive. Sent  of course via PWE with a stamp. There was thin cardboard from a "Coors Light" box nicely painter's taped around a 3 pocket section from a 9 card sheet. I noticed the stamp cancellation was 3 days before arrival, so his sending time honesty wasn't entirely accurate. Again no complaints everything was safe. I sent five Topps 1978 Battlestar Galactica cards, the last of my original dupes from that set for 6 hockey cards (I might already have some of the Caps cards but didn't have them marked in my collection online) and a 1978 Topps Superman: The Movie card I needed for my set (a card I thought I had, maybe I have the sticker with the same photo). My ship out day was a week after the trade confirmation because the trade was confirmed on a Saturday afternoon.

Here are the cards I got.

1991-92 Upper Deck Hockey 41 Ken Hodge Boston Bruins

1991-92 Upper Deck Hockey 402 Ken Baumgartner New York Islanders

1991-92 Upper Deck Hockey 585 Donald Audette Buffalo Sabres

1994-95 Parkhurst Hockey 254 Dale Hunter Washington Capitals

1992-93 Pro Set Platinum Hockey 242 Dimitri Khristich Washington Capitals

1990-91 Upper Deck Hockey 109 Kevin Hatcher Washington Capitals

1978 Topps Superman: The Movie 10 Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen with puzzle back

Washington Wednesday: RIP Redskins HTTR

WASHINGTON WEDNESDAY:

RIP Redskins: HTTR4LIFE

Redskins Super Fan Chief Zee crying (date unknown)

Well they went ahead and did it. The NFL's Washington Team The REDSKINS gave into the pressure to change their controversial Nickname. I won't go into all the history of the name and the periodic attempts from outside entities to force the team to change the name they have held for 87 years. all that can be found on the interwebs. Along with all the Pros and Cons. Sure some people are now not offended but now a different group of people have been offended and some angered.

I will say that I am far from happy about the whole thing. I've been a life-long fan of the team, growing up with an older brother who was a super true blue fan, even my father who wasn't much of a sports fan enjoyed watching the occasional Redskins game on the telly and kept track of them during the season from time to time (mostly I think to please his fan family). What ticks me off the most is it appears to be that the owners were being blackmailed by FedEx one of their biggest financial supporters, investors and others. The delivery service sent a letter saying basically "Change the name or move to another stadium", they have about 7 more years on the stadium's lease so that isn't really one of the pressing issues. Also several big named merchandise retailers such as Amazon, Target and Walmart to name a few have pulled all Redskins merchandise from their shelves and have stopped selling them.

A couple of weeks after announcing that the name was going to be changed and the old name dropped the team now has a temporary name for the 2020 season "The Washington Football Team". They will keep the maroon and gold colors, but will be logoless. The helmets will be plain maroon with large gold numbers on the sides. Apparently they will have a permanent as yet unannounced new name and logo starting in the 2021 season.

I guess to a non-fan the best analogy would be if the high school you and your siblings graduated from, maybe even one of your parents and their siblings graduated from as well, was forced to change their mascot's name and/or even the entire school name. That is how it has affected me. After several generations of history.  It just "always was the way it was". It is part of the fandom intangibles. You don't know exactly what it is unless you have it. Even then it seems to be different for every fan.

As a fan of the old team I am not in the mood to attempt to become a fan of whatever the new team will be. Collecting cards for this year/season will be bittersweet. I'm not sure what I will do for next season. Do I stay with the team trading group I am a part of once the new team is established and cards baring the new team name and logo are made? A big part of me doesn't want to. 

OK rant over for now here are some historic DC Football cards that are sure to offend some people.

Lets start with one of my fave QBs of ALL-TIME Sonny Jurgensen. This one is from 1991 a special Quarterbacks set. I chose to show it because of it's original old school looks, especially the back pic with the original arrow helmet design (not the 1990s retro version)

1991 Quarterback Legends: 24 Sonny Jurgensen Washington Redskins

These next two cards I picked to show are of the same Player Jim Lachey. Both are very cool photos the first is a portrait from the 1991 Pro Set Football set, 

1991 Pro Set Football: 381 Jim Lachey Washington Redskins

Next Card. Check out the cool up close and personal pic. I picked this card to show because of the peeling of the stripe stickers on his helmet. Thought it was very cool looking.

1991 Upper Deck Football - 102 Jim Lachey Washington Redskins

This next card I chose because of the retro looks with the airbrushing/photoshopping (or maybe it is just unbranded spring training gear). It is also close to what the "temporary" helmets of this 2020 season will look like, with the exception that the new temporary helmets will have the player's uniform number in gold on the sides.

2004 Score Football: 330 James Thrash Washington Redskins

The final card I'm showing is one of the cool retro cards from 2004 Fleer Tradition Football set. Not only is the card design retro but this was the year the Redskins were sporting an anniversary retro uniform with the Arrow Helmet and a retro looking jersey and their return to the mustard colored pants.

2004 Fleer Tradition Football: 196 LaVar Arrington Washington Redskins

*UGH Due to the recent formatting updating changes that Blogger did, on my ancient computer at home I can no longer edit posts on blogger. It just gave me a blank page, well it had part of the editing "frame" of the page but the part where content was supposed to be it was blank. An incomplete page. I think it is because of something with my outdated Chrome browser. I didn't think about checking with Firefox (or Internet Explorer) until after I had shutdown my ancient Windows XP laptop/notebook. I'll try seeing if my ancient Firefox or IE works sometime later. Probably not because I think they had problems ages ago preventing me from using them then. So I won't be able to directly upload from my laptop to Blogger. I will have to use other sites or do what I did this time and transfer the images to a thumb drive and do it old school. Not to mention I will have to use my work laptop to do all the post editing, not just some of the last minute corrections before the scheduled Noontime posting. Yeah Yeah Yeah I need to get a new up-to-date home 'puter/laptop.

Bye Bye Mail-day Tracking Bye Bye Bye

OK so this post story will probably be two-fold. The main subject will be mail days tracking. I guess I'll start with what I used to do up until a little over a year ago. I think I have described the process in detail before so I'll try not to get too deep into this time. Basically until around mid January of last year (2019) I used to keep pretty detailed records of what cards I got in the mail, from where how much I paid for them etc. Since last January I haven't updated any posts or files, but still stupidly have been keeping all the packages and envelopes separate in their piles and marking the outer envelope with the receiving date, but often not keeping track of prices especially the shipping costs. So I have a few boxes of padded envelopes and PWEs with assorted cards that I know exactly when I got them but may or may not have what I paid for them. Sometimes Sportlots sellers include all the details, but often if they do include a packing slip the shipping fees are not listed. Sometimes they don't include anything so there is not even the record of what I paid for the lot or the singles or what have me. At one time I thought about trying to catch up and have a word file with some stuff that came in early 2019 but it is far from complete I think there are 3 or 4 padded envelopes left from January 2019 and some of the other months I have some packages listed here and some PWEs there. So That stuff came to a screeching halt sometime around this January. Except I have still been marking the envelopes with date received.

I used to keep track of all that stuff in two places first on the community site Trading Card Central (TCC) that was my main "storage" area for my mail day posts. I would then cut & paste my TCC post onto Trading Card Zone (TCZ) which a few years back changed it's name to Sports Card University. Sometimes the TCZ version I would tweak some to cater to that forum's platform. Usually I would draft my posts as a MicroSoft Word file or just a plain Windows Notepad file. Sometimes I would save the original file sometimes not. Well now long story short TCC seems to have finally bought the farm and bit the bullet, and formerly TCZ merged with another site to become Sports Card Club. The TCC site seems to be totally dead now (since around early Mar) and Sports Card Club is currently blocked by my work network and I haven't bothered trying to connect when at home.

So yeah I no longer keep detailed records of what I have gotten, when, or from where, or for how much. I can look at my buying history on COMC and Sporlots and Ebay (to some extent) but I'm not going to bother any more. Trying to do my previous card inventory logging delays the organizing and cataloging of my collection too much. So those days of being super detailed (or anal retentive) are over. I still have some records and I have my Check Out My Cards records that I have been meaning to make some "MailDazed From The Pazt" posts with those. I'm stalled on finding the dang Football cards from my very first order that were mostly from the 2009 Donruss Classics football cards. Maybe sometime I'll get around to that and scanning all the cards from my various orders there.

Well that is all that I will talk about that for now lets look at some cards:

OK so I'll show two cards that it turns out I got from a Sportlots order that I received on 19 Jul 2019. Two 2019 Panini Score Football cards both parallels, both Rams. First one is card 296 Todd Gurley Red parallel and the other is card 299 Brandin Cooks Gold parallel. Neither is a serial numbered card. I only know that information from the little paper slip I put in the penny sleeve that one of the cards was in. Part of my old system that sort of ended last year, except I have still marked the envelopes with the date I received things. I could look in my Sportlots buying history to find out about the order but I'm not going to bother.

 2019 Panini: Score Football: 299 Gold Brandin Cooks Los Angeles Rams

 2019 Panini: Score Football: 296 Red Todd Gurley II Los Angeles Rams

I really like the design of the 2019 Score Football. Especially the helmet in the corner. I wish the backs had more complete stats and didn't repeat the front photo. I'd rather have all stats like in the 1960s and 70s Topps monopoly days. I probably have the normal base versions of these cards from my Sports Card Forum (SCF) team trades but I'm not sure. I should also get the Red Cooks and the Gold Gurley to have those rainbows. Oh well a collectors life is never done, or his collection never complete or dead or something.

Batting Around: Questions

QUESTIONS

A semi-recent Bat-A-Round got me to thinking about a few things. I decided not to participate in that particular Bat Around at this time maybe later, but it got me to thinking. At first I was going to ask others Why they participate in these blogiverse Bat Arounds? Then I thought about When do they participate? Well then I decided to cancel that idea since the answer(s) is(are) obvious. The reason "why" is they like the subject or idea of that particular BBA. As to the "when" it is at the time they decide to do one. Some people bloggers seem to participate in all the BAs, others only on the rare occasion. I'm somewhere in between. It depends on the subject for me, the level of difficulty, and quite frankly if I feel like making the effort to come up with a slightly entertaining response. Sometimes if the BA is just a sort of question then instead of participating by making my own post I will just make a comment of my views or thoughts on the idea on whichever BA post I saw from that question/round. Some bloggers intentionally start a Bat-Around, while others just make a post that inspires someone else to blog about the same subject or idea. Then a third person will make their own take on the idea and you have a Bat Around. So my original stupid questions I managed to answer just now.

I have another question or two about Bat-A-Rounds.

... and just because he says "I've Got Some Questions" Howie Mandel - Do The Watusi

Screen capture from end of "Do The Watusi" video by Howie Mandel

Anyone know who made the post that became the first Bat Around?

Which blogger coined the term Bat Around? - Had to be a baseball fan, as are most card bloggers especially from when it first appeared. If a football (American Football NFL) fan had coined it the title would be something like Ball Return, or the End Around, Basketball would be Rebound Around, Pass Around? (Good for almost any sport), Hockey Skate Around?

Who made the graphic that has become the BBA logo?

Has anyone thought about keeping track of the Bat Arounds and making a Bat Around Blog? - I think if one is started, it should be sort of an all hands style like "A Pack to be Named Later" so it would live beyond the person who starts it up. I don't blog often enough and have 3 blogs to begin with so I'm not volunteering to tackle that monumental task.

Life is just filled with little mysteries ain't it?

I probably should show a card shouldn't I?

1992 Upper Deck Baseball: 250 Billy Ripken Orioles

Trying To Make Things Right and Organization?

A huge part of collecting cards, for most collectors is also trading cards with other collectors. It is not necessary, but it adds to the fun. In today's high-tech world most trading now seems to be done through trading card forums, social media like Facebook and Twitter, and also through the Blogiverse. In some areas the LCS (Local Card Shop) might be another place for trading, many have some kind of activity night like a "pack war" night where collectors gather and open packs of cards. The collector who pulled the most hits gets some sort of cool door prize.

Another big part of collecting is having one's collection ORGANIZED in some logical fashion. Sadly I have been very delinquent in both these areas. More so with the unorganized part.

My organization of my collection has been off for several years, pushing at minimum 10 or more. I've been in my apartment for 9 years August 1st (today). Sometime before my move, at least a year possibly two or three earlier, I had started a re-organization effort but didn't ever finish it. Basically my card collection was about 90% organized and partly in binders partly in boxes. Some of the boxes were made for trading cards some not.

I had my Baseball cards organized by player's last name (from a previous reorganization using the standard organized by year, brand, card number). Team cards and team leader cards with multiple players under the team nickname. Multiple player cards of different teams I had under whatever the reason for the grouping was. If it was a picture of two Pitching Aces then the card was usually under whatever the title on the card was or "Pitchers - Aces", checklists were prominently in the "Cs" under "Checklist" Obviously. Adding cards was letter-by-letter and some letters I didn't have to shift over every update, but letters like "M" and "S" almost always had several additions and a lot of time spent shifting all the "S"s from sheet to sheet, card by card. My collection was so big I didn't have binders for the second half of the alphabet. I forget which letter my binders ended and the boxes began. Well I then decided to re-organize the Baseball to the way it used to be and my other sports cards were by year, brand, set, card number. Non-Sports was sorted by set name, card number. I had only gotten about half way done with that project when I gradually just stopped working on it and then a year or two later I had to move. The collection has been more like a hoard ever since. Often I have given up on ever getting organized again. (and not just with my trading cards)

Lack of organization of course has lead to unintentionally buying duplicates of cards all the time. Discovering website based collection tracking databases like Zistle and TradingCardDataBase have been extremely helpful in KNOWING what I have and in some cases what I need. It hasn't stopped the duplication completely but the times I keep current with updates to the collection at the website(s) the duplication is at least paused slightly. Buying duplicates from Sportlots doesn't seem to be affected by this factor though. When buying card lots from Sportlots or from Ebay one almost always has to buy duplicates to get some of the cards you actually want and think you need.

If that isn't bad enough I am delinquent on a several trades, going back two years now, possibly more. I recently made up one 2 year delinquent trade and the recipient seemed to like some of what I sent. I sent a huge lot of stuff. I helped them complete a few sets (thanks to Sportlots) one of which they apparently had been one card from finishing for quite a while. It feels good to do stuff like that. I try not to be like that (delinquent). I try to be a good trader and often try to overachieve by adding bonus stuff and a little bit more than expected when possible.

"I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."

I'm also delinquent on making some care packages for a contest I had a few years ago. Don't hate me because I have perfected the skills of procrastination.

Slowly I am trying to makeup for those delinquencies. Often times I made a commitment without being 100% positive that I had what was supposed to be sent, or partly agreed and that partial agreement was interpreted as a "go ahead and send your part". I need to stop saying things like "I think I have such-and-such" or "I might have that somewhere". I need to check my stock/hoard FIRST then make a comment that is interpreted as a commitment.

I've blogged a few times about Organization or the lack there of: In A Bind(er), Organizing Some Random Thoughts, Random Card Thoughts. It saddens me a bit that I am STILL not organized, and far from being at the point of organization that I would like. That goes for everything in my life not just my trading card collection. I have some wonderfully organized ideas, but getting them done is the rub.

I belong to a football team traders group on one of the card forums. My claimed teams are my Homie Redskins and Rams as my secondary team.Years ago I was with the baseball group also and at one time was foolish enough to take over the management of both of them (at the same time). But I digress. Each month members send trade packages out to 3 or 4 members of the group. They set up trades within the forum's Trade Manager so they get trading credits. There is a sort of organized schedule and members of the group are divided into six sub-groups. Each month an assignment schedule is posted as to which sub-groups trade with each other. On occasion members trade within their own sub-group. So members who participate long enough will eventually have traded with each member and sent out each team at least once. Right now there are 7 unclaimed teams. There are 3 or 4 members who have a couple of teams, me included.

I keep my trade fodder for the group in a monster box sorted by team. I use those "card saver" plastic pockets (like ID card holders) as dividers with a simple label for file folders at the top with the team name written on the label. They aren't much good for any long-term protection of cards at all. This makes them useful for something.

Of course I have had to reinforce the labels with tape on the sides, because a few of them were popping off their card-savers. The teams unclaimed by the group are beginning to fill the box up. Instead of a temporary holding area for those teams it is becoming a permanent storage area. Eventually the overflow I will store somewhere else or try to trade elsewhere. It is helping me keep up with those trades at least. I also have a smallish lot of Houston Oilers I'd like to trade away. It was published as a CK42 Trading Post post on Sunday (the post before this one).

Another thing that helped me get a little more organized, especially with the Football team trading group, was a purchase of two sorting hats trays. I learned about thee trays from someones card blog post about the things. Sorry I forget who it is that blogged about these trays maybe a year ago? I got them off Ebay last November for $20 each Free shipping. A bit more than I wanted to get them for. I think I had seen one at $10-$12 but it was only one and I wanted two. The cheapest I've seen them is maybe $10 but with high shipping and I've seen them go for $40 or more I think straight from BCW they are close to $40.

I got the photo of the stack of sorting trays by doing a general search for the sorting trays. It was on a blog that I think is mainly about Magic The Gathering. It seemed to be somebodies business blog and they were talking about sorting sets and needing x number of trays to do the sorting per set. What?

Where does that leave me? Still unorganized and bemoaning the fact I guess.

State of The Blog: June 2016

STATE OF THE BLOG:

JUNE 2016

OK lets see once again it is the very last day of the month and my damn procrastinating has got me fighting the very last seconds to get a post in on this month. Dammit. That also means the same thing for my Curly W Cards blog. FRACK!

OK real quick this is post number 16 for this year. That means a minimum of another 6 posts and not quite 2 posts per month on average. Oh and WOW I had 9 posts in January I was on a huge winning streak then. I need to do better dang it.

ACK! I've Got Nothing Of A Post

ACK!
Once again  have let a month slip by me and have to rush to get a post in before the end of the month to meet my own personal posting quota of at least one post a month. Even if it is a quick and dirty one. Well I do have a few things I really want to post but my damn procrastination of doing the necessary scanning for them prevents me from making those posts. Some of them are partly drafted up just waiting for their scans dontcha know.

In the quick and especially dirty. There is the world of politics. This being an election year and the choices we have are not very enjoyable. That reminds me I need to look out for the latest version of these things.

Since 1972 every election year there has been at least one company that has put out a deck of Parody playing cards that feature the popular political figures of the day. They are called Politicards. Somewhere around here I had mentioned the originals. Since this is a quick and dirty post I am not going to go hunting for my past post that barely mentioned the Original 1972 deck. My "Politicards" label should lead you to it.  To the best of my knowledge I have each of the decks except for this current 2016 set.  Which I think they went super cheesy on this year with making kid versions of the politico caricatures and calling it "PolitiKids".

This was just a quick and dirty way to slip in a card I had scanned at one time but apparently haven't posted about. Due mostly to discussing this card on a trading card forum for some all out bring em out drag em down throwdown contest I came in 3rd or 4th or something.

2012 Politicards - Queen of Diamonds Sarah Palin

300 Posts? You Are Kidding Right?

To take a little break from my group break I am making this Blog Milestone Announcement. This post is Post #300:

I don't normally even bother with post counts, but I do check it out from time to time along with some of the other stats of the site. Usually though it is disappointing. To reach #300 It only took 5 years, 7 months and 11 days to be exact. Well technically one of the posts in my draft queue is number three-hundred, but I won't get that technical especially since I'm not sure which one would be the exact number three oh-oh.

In thinking of what I was going to post for this announcement I first searched for some kind of generic 300 image to use but 99% of the pictures to pop up in a search for 300 are for that movie about the Spartans made a few years back about the Ancient Greek Battle of Thermopylae. If you don't know the movie I'm talking about lookie here.

Then I had to be a bit more specific in my searching and thought about modern baseball players and cards since this is a card blog. I thought maybe I'd show card number 300 from this years Topps Baseball but I didn't want to show the Mike Trout card. Then I thought about players who are in the 300 Home Run club. I didn't know who to feature then I looked at the Top 300 Home Run Hitters and sitting at number 137 with exactly 300 Home Runs is HOFer Chuck Klein. He is the only guy on the list right now with exactly 300.

Mr. Klein known mostly for being with the Phillies also played on the Cubs and Pirates. Looking to try to find a picture or a card of Chuck whetted my appetite for some vintage cards.

UStream UGH

I recently checked up on my account at UStream to review how to do stuff there. It had been several months seven to be exact since I had last "broadcast" according to my account. I discovered that with the changes I had noticed a few months back that now my archived videos were GONE. I don't recall getting any notice that things would disappear after the changes, if I did get them I just thought it was typical updating with no real action required. I was wrong. With my BASIC account after 30 days any videos are automatically deleted. If you pay for a premium account you can keep whatever. So now any of the box break videos I had done here and the pack breaks I had done, anything I had UStreamed is GONE. I never thought to save my broadcasts offline. Why should I when the server that broadcast them in the first place was storing them?

The thing that really sucks is all the links I had made on this blog, and on some of the trading card forums now lead to an error page. **Sigh** I suppose I should do something about the links on my blogs that I can fix. Everything else OH WELL.

This reminds me of a few years back when Yahoo got rid of the personal photo albums. I hadn't backed up all of the photos I had there (most of them were stuff from emails that had been long deleted and swimsuit pics I found on the web) and so after the shut down anything I didn't have saved any where else was gone. Occasionally when I remember an image and can't find it anywhere maybe it was something from there.

This comes after I noticed that my Logitech webcam wasn't doing offline videos. Apparently as of 31 July 2013 Logitech no longer supported the software for my particular webcam for making videos. They suggest using Skype. Well I don't want to do Skype I don't even know how to use it. It is on my cellphone, not on my laptop. In someways with online videoing I am a super amateur newbie.

I toyed with the idea of using one of the box break services like UStream, but Blog.TV is now part of something else (YouNow?) and doesn't look like you can actually record what you broadcast. I looked into how to record on YouTube and it looks like that will work. I might need to do some practicing, and eventually I should get a better quality webcam. Who am I kidding so long as the cheap webcam works and as long as what I record isn't anything that would totally devastate me if it were lost I'm not going to get a new one.

This checking up on video making came about because I got word that a package I am expecting the sender wants the mailday opening to be video taped. The packaging has a surprise or a story or is in some special kind of order or some such nonsense like that. I was told the package was shipped out on Tuesday, so I should get it today or tomorrow (Saturday)

Washington Wednesday: Funny Sonny Mystery

A Funny Sonny Mystery

Some months back {looking in email history and saved text messages*} I had gotten an email from someone with an offer to sell me a card. I'll call him "Bob" to protect the guys identity and spare some of the embarrassment. In addition I couldn't remember his name until I located my communications with him. 

Out of the blue I get this email from "Bob":

"My grandfather left me certain baseball and football cards including a Sonny Jurgensen from the 1969 season. His # was 6 and was QB for the redskins. He was the leading passer in the NFL in 1969. The card is probably 1970 T.C.G. It also has an autograph on it but I doubt that its real. Would you like to purchase it? I can take pictures of it with my phone and send it to yours to prove that it's real or I can sell it to someone else. Its up to you."

OK he got my interest, one of my all-time fave players and a vintage card probably signed in person sometime within the last 40 years. I let his comment about Sonny being number six slip. Probably should have torn him a new one for that, but I'm a nice guy. Actually it turns out #6 was the card number, good thing I didn't go all Chuck Norris on the guy. OK so I had to find out what this was all about.

I replied:

"Yes I am interested in it and yes I would like to see pics of it first."

Bob:

"Took the pics just need a number to send them to

My number is  xxx-xxx-xxxx"

He sent a blank Message asking for me to send him my cell number.

I don't normally do text stuff like I said but I replied:

"My cell number is xxx-xxx-xxxx"

Bob replies:

"Hope u got the two pics. As u can tell they're in good condition and the real deal so whats ur offer cause I'm dealing with several people on this card"

The rest of this conversation took place with text messages.

"Bob" said:
"Good right?"
and
"What do u think?"

'Bob' sent a couple of pics of the card (I cropped them here a little).

Cell phone picks of the card, I got a kick out the back "dining room table w/Mom walking in" shot. That at least is what it looks like. Also looks like there is one of those weird white-fade-out dots on the back or it's paper loss. The black spot on the bottom I think is the shadow of his thumb.

Seeing these pics I said:
"Yes very cool. It is a 1970 Topps "Super" or Giant"
At the time I couldn't remember if Topps called them Super or Giant they call them Super.

So he says: "I know and there's only 35... Its in great shape so what do u think?"

My comeback that goes for the jugular.
"I have one already in just as good shape as that one. I have to burst your bubble there were way more than 35 made, and the "autograph" is one of those facsimile autographs. Its worth about $5-$10."

He concludes the conversation with a simple "Ok. Later"

Here is my copy of the card:

1970 Topps Football Super 6 Sonny Jurgensen Redskins

(Front and Back)

So yeah the guy thought that this card: was more special than it was. He thought it was number 6 of only 35 special Sonny Jurgensen cards, or he was playing me for the uninformed super fan who didn't know his card history.

*For the record I rarely text message. I receive text Messages from the Nationals for the game updates and I have entered the occasional contest via text like when NBC had that game show "Deal Or No Deal" and had a win from home thing where you picked a case (out of 4 they showed on the screen) and then text in the number with your guess and if you picked the right number you had a chance to be picked randomly from the right guesses. Oh and when I'm waiting for a tow truck I let AAA text the 4 digit call number for my situation.