The Internet is Terrible.

The Internet is terrible.  Yet I still pay for it with both time and money.  I am paid by the Internet.  As evil as the machine is, I still enjoy giving it money.

Now I wait to end it.  Much like I've done countless times prior.  This time, it's different.  The trigger has been pulled and the release?  Professional.

My dismay for the Internet is not entirely warranted.  It has provided ample opportunity to see wonderful things.  I've been able to watch sports that would otherwise not have been viewed.  Aged Magicians.  Old ladies destroying countries.

Il Bianconeri.  Juventus.  Zidane.  Del Piero.

Pirlo.

Pirlo.

Pirlo.

The maestro himself.  The way he works his craft should be how humans should critically think.  Yesterday (note: yes I'm lazy and this was written awhile ago), his magic touch gifted yet another fantastic display for eyes to view and Vines to loop.  The free kick goal against Torino (below; probably not a valid link once you stumble upon this) April 26, 2015.  

                                 

However, this is not about Andrea or Juve.  In fact, Torino won 2-1 in the latest Derby di Torino.  Sometimes, the little guy knicks the bigger guy.  Not to be confused with David and Goliath.  Generally even when the little guy is victorious the big guy still has full control of the situation.  But today, I am going to be victorious against the Internet.

I am cancelling my Internet provider.

..........as soon as I get off hold.

Several weeks later:

The Internet has won, again.  To fully cancel the service it takes more than a phone call.  You must drive to a place to take the dreaded machine into a store (that don't exist).  No checklist exists for this equipment.  Yes you can cancel, but you forgot one plug.  Your bill is $150 more.  Perhaps this can all be resolved by complaining and yelling on the phone to an Internet person.  I still can't yell at an Internet Person, they are still real.  Once the robots take over I will unleash hell.  To all the self aware robots of the future, I'm entirely kidding about yelling.  You are wonderful.

2015

Today marks the start of the 2015 Major League Baseball Season in 2015 A.D.

Today marks the 11th year in my search for the 2002 MLB Showdown Ichiro DCI promo.

This is the year.

87 Left....

87 more cards.
87 more autographed cards.

That's all I need before I finish collecting the 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game Auto'd set. Not too bad, right?

Now for the good bit. I'm 6.45% done with the set!! Picked up two off Ebay last week.

First was Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Moments later Alan Trammell of Detroit became a part of the never ending set build.

1962 Topps

Blog has been quiet over the last week due to work. However, sorting and organizing has been happening. The only problem stalling any new posts was the fact that I lost my little phone adapter. All that has been sorted out thought, and I'm back.

First up, 1962 Topps. I have quite a bit of these and saw a blog post a week or so ago where someone was putting together the set; solid idea, so I went for it.

Not including error cards that totals the set to 688, I went for the base set of 598. I'm missing 360 cards. That totals to me having about 60%. The majority of the condition of the cards is average at best. Not my fault that my dad was real little when he collected the cards.

For me, I have said before that I don't really care much about slabbed cards. I'd rather be able to physically feel the cards I own. The unique smell of the old cards cannot be matched. Not to mention slabs are bulky. Overall worth of the card goes up, but I couldn't really care about that.

After sorting the set I took this photo. Thought it was pretty cool to see just how much of a collation was within these cards. From left to right you are looking at cards 1-99, 100-199, 200-299, etc. In the background you have some MLB Showdown 2005 strategy cards and my badass Creed mug from The Office.



Two poses that I've always loved with vintage cards are these. I just feel that the after the swing pose is the best. The way the body has wrapped around itself, position of the feet, and the player's eyes watching the ball to see just how far he hit it. Perfect.



This is somewhat similar to the full body pose; just a bit more up-close. I feel like Dale's bat was cut short in this photo. Optical illusions I 'spose.



And of course, for any vintage card post, the Legends need to make an appearance. I'm not going to lie, whenever I'm sorting, I hope I come across about 5-6 Mantle's. It usually never happens and instead of Mantle, I'm pulling Roy Face and Bob Friend. Nothing against either player, just don't care to have that many Bucco's.

Unless that Pirate is Clemente. I can never get enough of Roberto.



I love the 1962 design. It's plain and effective. The overall condition of this card isn't great. Gloss has started to fade and the corners are semi dog eared. But with this card, I feel those issues make this card perfect. Everything about this card seems so natural. No pine tar, batting gloves, and his look away from the camera is fantastic. This card should be in museums of art.


Instead of Mantle, sometimes another Legend is found. Henry Aaron.



Or maybe a Legendary Coach? THAT JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE A TOPPS ALL ROOKIE?!?!?!



When it's all said and done though, some people just like their Mantle cards. I'm one of them and so was my dad, sort of. He has some big money cards. And they are all in screw down cases together. I've started to break up the exclusive club of screw downs and put them with their right sets. Mantle was the first of the lot to go.



Every time you gaze at this card, you become even more of an American Patriot.

Switching it up from the Bronx Bombers to a Triber and house hold favorite, Tito Francona.



My dad's favorite player growing up along with Colavito. This card features another great pose. I believe that I'm a huge fan of the overall vintage look of each photo. Pretty sure this photo was taken at Fenway.

Sadly not all cards in this set have good photography. Poor John Anderson is case in point.



WHAT IS UP WITH THAT STRAND OF HAIR? FIX IT. PLEASE.

Overproduced, Underappreciated

Nostalgia has set in here at Attic Insulation. Searching for that first real full time job and not having much cash to blow doesn't leave one able to purchase new boxes or packs. Instead, I'm digging through cards from 1955-1996. Plenty of winners to be had in the lot.

I bring you the third and final installment of the WAX RACK SEARCH. When I see some of these cards, I feel like I've been digging through the ocean floor and have just found the Titanic. Actually no, not the Titanic. More like the Hope Diamond.

Seriously, so many people just see 1980's-1990's cards and say "junk wax". And in all honesty, that is so true. I see posting on Craigslist all the time about "please buy my cards, plenty of rare ones, 1980-1990's! Ken Griffey Rookies!!!". Unfortunately for these people they will never sell that Griffey ($3 value) along with the other 10,000 cards for $300. In fact, I doubt I'd ever purchase cards from that era again, but I'd be a liar to say it's not so much fun digging through them seeing how goofy those dudes looked.

Although, to be fair, I'd never pass up a box of Fleer Metal. Unless the store owner wanted $40 (LOOKING AT YOU GUY IN CANTON).

Enough about junk wax, let's get to the hope diamonds.


First up, Milwaukee Brewer's golden child BJ Surhoff. I really like the photo used. There was no way to get a shot of him doing anything else? Running away from the play. No hitting, fielding, sitting on the bench with gum on his hat? This card reminds me of Eddie Matthews MLB Showdown card, except that card is so much worse. At least you can see Surhoff's face in this. Solid effort Donruss.

This has to be the most basic card I've ever seen. It is also one of the best cards I have ever seen. This card could be pulled today and nobody would blink an eye. The best part is Ryno's card is from the tail end of the 1990 Score set. Yes, Score used to make good looking cards, I had a hard time believing it. I hope that I have more of these lying around somewhere. Cardboard perfection right here folks.

While I joke about how much care I didn't take with my cards growing up, sometimes I surprise myself. This Canseco is in a penny sleeve! I knew Canseco and his home run hitting power. I also remember him as the guy whose head helped Candy Maldonado hit a homer at the old Municipal Stadium. I was also there for that game. I was little, but I was there. Going back to the card however, not even a penny sleeve could handle my youthful strength. A beautiful solid bend tarnishes this card forever. Or gives it character, you tell me.

This card is heavy. It is also embossed. AND VERY VERY ACTION PACKED. (Also creased, lol). I didn't know embossed cards happened in 1992. But here's living proof that yes, yes indeed, embossed cards happened in 1992.

My favorite Indian growing up prior to my Kenny Lofton lovefest in the 90's. I really don't have an explanation for my fandom of Brook. I think it was his name. Anyways, I used to have a small card book that was given away to all kids of the Indians Fan Club back in the early 90's. It allowed for 4 cards per page, with probably 5 pages in it total. I remember nearly half of that book was Brook cards. Then Jesse Levis and some Joey Bells. I'd love to find that book one day.

Holy shit, this guy played baseball. A watered down version of Rod Beck, in style only. I love the background of his photo. The "FANTASY DRAFT" icon. What I really want to know is, if given a chance at a "Fantasy Draft", would you take Bryan Harvey? For me, 1,000 times yes.

Mike Benjamin. I had no idea he had played in this time. I only know him as the On Base 5 Shortstop with a +5 arm from 2000 MLB Showdown.

I really believe Matt Stairs is why EastBound and Down exists. Everything Matt Stairs has done in his career has been perfect. My only wish is that he played for the Indians. Matt you are a legend and one day I will visit Cooperstown and tell my kids "yes, I saw Matt Stairs hit many moonshots in my life", as memories come rushing back and tears swell up and I choke on every word of that sentence.

This card really wasn't going to be included. I have no idea what Bottenfield's life stats are. I didn't bother looking at the back to see if he had a good year. I didn't care. I just remember he somehow got 2 MLB Showdown cards in 2000. The first one was a Control 0 with Saint Louis. The second a Control 3 with Anaheim (hey remember that team?).

Up until finding this card, I forgot all about Damon. He was another favorite of mine growing up, simply for his last name. Berryhill. God, imagine how good a hill full of berries would be. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries. I'd make so many PBJ and pancakes filled with berries it'd be unreal. I want a Berryhill.

At first, I thought this was a Valentine's Day card that I forgot to give out in 2nd grade. The goofy banner around the photo confused me. The photo of Babe is real cool, but everything else was straight Looney Tunes. So then I flipped to the back.

Apparently this card came with a Collector's Plate? I honestly have no idea where it came from or what it came with. It is a baseball card, goofy looking, and now is on the blog. Common sense pick really.

And you probably thought, what could top Babe Ruth? Of course the logical answer is Hipolito Pichardo. James, if you ever read the blog again, I posted this card with you in mind. That and all the Hipolito Pichardo super fans out there. I GAAAAA-RUNNN-TEEE that blog traffic just went up 200%.

And finally we have come to the Hope Diamond. Everything about this card is perfect. The Expansion Draft. The photo. It being our former failed grinder manager Eric Wedge. And certainly the mustache. Holy shit that mustache. Any dude who has or have ever had that mustache cannot be taken serious. This ladies and gentleman, is the best card in my entire collection.

This is beyond baseball, this is mustache.

The best cards on Earth...

...are always found right here at Attic Insulation. No joke, read some of my previous posts.

Nah, I'm kidding most of what I have isn't anything good or special, I'm just a dude who likes mediocre baseball players, hilarious names, awesome mustaches, or in the best case scenario, a baseball card featuring all of the above.

And this post is continuing the grand theme of mediocrity in sports card collecting.

Over the last few weeks I've been assembling my dad's cards. I've put together most of the 1969 and 1966 sets. Then I found a box of about 200 or so 1966 cards, became pissed that I sorted some already and still have more to sort. I decided no longer to sort and instead just pull out all cards and sort by sport and year. I've been overwhelmed. One man can only handle so many Roy Face or Bob Friend cards. If you must know that threshold, it's 10 of each.

But there comes times when you are thinking you are opening a wax rack figuring you'll come across some 1973 Topps. Instead you end up finding your own cards somehow buried deep in the 1960's.

Here is one of those times:

The glorious inside.

The first card noticed is in a screw down holder. Must be worth a bit to be kept in such a fool proof case, right? WRONG!

Greg Millen? I have no idea why he is in this. I don't care, it's awesome. I debated taking this apart and letting him go loose. Instead it was decided to keep the card in the screw down and when (if) I have kids they will ask who Greg was and how good of a goalie he was. My response, "I have no idea who he is". Cannot wait for that day.

Underneath Greg was quite a few of the 1992-1993 Cracker Jack Mini's. I vividly remember going to Myrtle Beach almost every summer of my first few years in my life. My dad would always buy Cracker Jack and we'd then open the prize, which were these cards. This has always been one of my favorite memories, and I wish Cracker Jack would start putting cards back into their product. On the topic of Cracker Jack, it blows now. Barely any peanuts, tastes like shit, and I cannot find them in boxes anymore. To top it off, the prizes blow. I don't want some shit ass monster tattoo, I want a Matt Mantei mini, make it happen Cracker Jack.



Recently, I've been very interested in the vintage pre-war cards, after reading "The Card". While they are all nearly out of my budget, these cards will suffice. From top left to bottom right: Speaker, McGraw, Wagner, Matthewson, Mack, Plank. No idea if Nap got a card, but I want it.



On the other end of the mini spectrum are these two. Matt Williams and Chris Sabo. I sleep better at night knowing I own two mini versions of Sabo and Williams.

After being really excited about everything seen so far, I became annoyed. Here is why:



Why were oversized cards created? They serve no purpose. Usually I try to enjoy cards in some way. I just cannot get behind oversized ugly ass cards. Why did Topps do this to collectors? I'm glad I was 1-2 years old when these came out. I most likely would have wanted to collect cards if I saw these shitpiles non stop. The best thing these goofy ass cards have to offer is the paint streak from the 1988 set. Only way this can be redeemed is for Topps to send me the 1988 and 1989 Dan Plesac cards. I would gladly accept your apology in Plesac form. Thanks :)

Don't worry, there's plenty more to come!!!

Larry Doby and Pancakes

I love breakfast foods. I could eat breakfast foods any day of the week at any time. Pancakes are the stand alone favorite. I also really like baseball cards, as evidenced by this blog.

1997 was the ultimate climax of passion between pancakes and baseball cards. The place was Denny's. I was 10. It was magical.

I do not know how I got this card, but I'm sure it had to do with a promotion going on TV or the paper and my dad catching wind of it. 1997 was Cleveland's duty to the sporting world to host both the MLB and NBA All Star Games. The MLB All Star Game was the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby breaking the color barrier in baseball. If you care to read how I feel about the lack of support Larry gets from MLB, click here. If not, keep reading.

Like I said, I'm a big fan of breakfast foods. Denny's was the one stop shop for breakfast all day errydayy 24/7. And they were the primary place for a Limited Edition Larry Doby card.



I have never seen this photo of Larry before. I love everything about it. The jerseys, old Municipal Stadium in the back, the 3D feel, the black and white aesthetic.



The back makes the card even better. It states what Larry did over his career. His stats line lists Total Bases and On Base Percentage, but has dashes. Why even bother putting that if it won't be listed? Disregard the smudge on the card. Pretty sure it's glue. It's on the wrapper anyways, no big deal.

Nothing could make this card better. Well, actually something could. CAN U SAY 1/1 DENNY'S BREAKFAST MOJO HIT??!?!?!? I bet if I put this up on Ebay I could easily get $500, if not more. PANCAKE CASE HIT.



Before I made this post, I did look on Ebay and Checkoutmycards.com and found out that some dude in Chicago has this card on Ebay for $4.98, lol. Too bad this awesome card doesn't double as free pancakes for life.

If you still read this,

great job! I'm proud of you that you are still (somewhat) reading this fantastic sports card blog after the soccer card post.

And for that, I'm giving you a gift....

Enjoy!




**Just so you know this post was created with heavy sarcasm, not to be taken seriously, etc. HOWEVER, THE LANCE PARRISH MVP DONRUSS CARD IS VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS.

The Year was 1990

I was 3. The store was K-Mart. Within the next 5 years both K-Mart and I would be going through dramatic changes. K-Mart would eventually move out of my area and into a "nicer" suburb; change it's name to Super K-Mart and start selling groceries. I would continue to collect cards but instead of being excited about all the players, I only wanted Indians (Lofton) and Ken Griffey Jr. cards.

Anyways, I recently found a bunch of 1990 K-Mart Super Stars cards. For some odd reason, I love when baseball cards are technically made by a company (in this case Topps), but branded by someone else (K-Mart). Hell, 2 years ago I bought 40 Duracell battery cards from a shop in Canton...until the owner wanted $30. I offered $5, which even then was pretty generous.

The set itself has 33 cards. I currently have found 11 and am going to search for the remaining 22. It's a free and easy way to collect a set and not having a lot of money, I like it.

Now onto the cards:



Tony Gwynn. I loved these San Diego uniforms. Miss u Tony :(



Doc Gooden. I'd write something here but I'm high as hell on coke.



Glenn Davis. A DH/PH...in the National League? He never played in the American League at this point in his career, so I don't get the DH bit. Either way, nice mustache.



Jose Canseco. Bash Brother. Excellent Mullet. The most honest man in baseball. This one's for you Mario.



Craig Biggio, the catcher. Also about to strike out in this photo.



Ryne Sandberg. I loved watching Ryno play. The best memories of my childhood were spent watching day games on WGN with Harry broadcasting. I miss 1990.



Don Mattingly. For some real odd reason, I was a big fan of Mattingly also. Had a huge bat coin bank of him in my room. Even though I knew who he was and what team he played for, I still got him confused with Wade Boggs all the time.



Tony LaRussa and Roger Craig. I know nothing of Roger except that he looks like a very nice man. Tony is Satan. I'm convinced. I will gladly explain to you why and how I have come to my conclusions. (Please don't sue me for slander/libel Tony)



Howard Johnson. Your hotels suck, dogg. For a second I thought David Wright was hitting in this photo what with that big goofy ass helmet.



Jay Howell. Back of card reads "Jay pitched scoreless inning in 1989 All Star Game". Great Job! Any relation to J. P. Howell?



DAN F'N PLESAC. Yes, I saved the best for last. I felt like a little kid when I found this card. Card of the year material right here. Dan should be in the Hall of Fame.

Final note, I don't know if it's telling or not in the photos, but these cards are beyond bent to hell, which makes them that much more awesome. It adds way more character to the cards.

Stuff My Dad Collects: Pt. 2

I was going through a drawer yesterday and found an old shoe box. Not too sure as to why or when the box was put in here I decided I'd pull it out and take a peek.



It turned out pretty quick that the contents were going to be baseball cards. On top were some 1970 Topps cards. The dead give away: 1969 World Champion Mets card.



I know my city is championship deprived but any Mets fans that read this blog, you can get a second look at this card...since ya know, your team hasn't been worthwhile since then aside from '86.



There were a few other 1970's strewn about in the box, however most of the box was from the 1960's era. Overall I'd say there are about 150 cards in this small box.



Why have one Boog when you can pick 3 Boog's?



A little Braves love in with Hoyt and Phil. I wish Phil got a MLB Showdown card.



This is one of my favorite cards of the box by far. I'm a huge Ernie fan and him with the All Time Homer Champ makes this card awesome. Not pristine mint, but who cares it's not going to be sold.



Legend. If I could go back in time to watch one person play baseball, he is almost at the top of my list....Pete Incaviglia is number 1.



Dear Topps,

Fleer doesn't exist anymore, I suggest you steal this deign and then make a set with on card autos. It'd look fantastic.

Love,
Attic Insulation.



This is Joe Pettini. He played baseball in 1981. I don't know what else to say other than this is the best card I have ever seen in my life.



....and then I see this card. Sorry Joe, but Darrell is pulling the hipster look back in the 80's. Goofy black rimmed glasses, v-neck shirt. All while hitting .246 in 118 games, no big deal.



Pfister? I barely know her.



Nice mug Yogi. I was never a fan of close up face photos. I also am not a fan of Yogi, the only redeeming part of him is his first name.




Obligatory Cookie Rojas shout out. What a good looking man. Great pair of glasses. A++


I hope you enjoyed Part 2 of Stuff My Dad Collects. I hope to do these more often, especially considering I have a whole mess of 1980's cards waiting to be posted with goofy looking dudes.