Baseball Card Show Purchase #5 – Cal Ripken Jr, 2010 Tri-Star Obak

Baseball Card Show Purchase #5 – Cal Ripken Jr, 2010 Tri-Star Obak

I really am not a big fan of the Obak brand.  I find them to be a bit too ‘off’ for some reason.  Still, since they included Andre Dawson in the set, I found myself hunting for Obak.

And while leafing through the bargain bins on Saturday, I came across a healthy stack of 2010 Obak cards.  So, while I paid very little attention to most of them, I did stop so I could quickly pull out this one of Cal.

Oh, and I did manage to grab a few more Obak cards too.  Any guesses as to who they may be of?  Stay tuned…

Baseball Card Show Purchase #4 – 1990 Topps Ken Griffey, Jr.

Baseball Card Show Purchase #4 – 1990 Topps Ken Griffey, Jr.

Are you kidding me?  A second-year Ken Griffey Jr. baseball card for just ten cents?

I quickly added this card to my stack and kept a sharp eye out to see if I could find any more.  And while I didn’t add any other Griffeys to my stack, I am very pleased that I was able to rescue this one!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #3 – Modern Brooks Robinson Cards WIth Vintage Flare!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #3 – Modern Brooks Robinson Cards WIth Vintage Flare!!

I like collecting cards of Hall of Famer, Brooks Robinson.  Most of the stuff that I have seen of Brooks offers up very nice photographs, so grabbing them when I find them is a sure thing.

This time around, I found two new ones for my collection – and they are both reprints of cards that were issued decades prior.

Here they are:

The one on the left is from the 2010 Topps ‘Cards Your Mom Threw Out’ series and is a reprint of his 1967 Topps card.  The one on the right is a card from the 2001 Topps Archives set and is a reprint of Brooks’ card from the 1977 Topps set.

Which one do you like better?  If I were forced to choose, I would veer to the LEFT!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #2 – Dave Winfield 2002 Topps American Pie – ‘American Sluggers’

Dave Winfield 2002 Topps American Pie – ‘American Sluggers’

Far from stellar, the American Pie series issued by Topps in the early 2000′s don’t really do a whole lot for me.  In fact, I would probably rate them as mediocre as best.

But when flipping through the bargain bins, it was Winfield’s stare that halted my progress.

Not wanting to upset one of my favorite 5-Tool players, I quickly adding this card to the stack of goodies I was preparing to buy.

Baseball Card Show Purchase #1 – ’50 Years Of Topps’ Joe Morgan

Baseball Card Show Purchase #1 – ’50 Years Of Topps’ Joe Morgan

I love this card – and while the 1974 Topps set is far from my favorite issue from the decade, the card of Joe Morgan is one of the best, in my opinion at least.

The color scheme of the card is brilliant as the Red team banners work perfectly with the uniform that Morgan is sporting. 

And check out those sideburns!!!

Baseball Card Show Review

Well, as you know, I hit up an other card shows over the weekend.  And unfortunately due to my family’s schedule, I was only able to stay there for roughly 40 minutes.

But in that time, I was able to crush through some bargain bins.  In fact, that is all that I looked at.

And they were a special kind of bargain bin – the $0.10 version!!

Yes, every card that I reveal to you today was purchased with the price tag of 10 cents.  And I think that I did very well…

I’ll reveal the loot to you throughout the day today, so please keep it locked to ’30-YOC’ all day long.

Oh, also, two of the dealers that I have become friendly with promised to bring some more Dawson stuff to the next show.  It will be interesting to see if they have anything that is not already a part of my Dawson collection.  Only time will tell…

’30-YOC Top Ten Lists’ – ‘Top Ten Concerts Attended’

’30-YOC Top Ten Lists’ – ‘Top Ten Concerts Attended’

I love me some good music.  And it has been that way all of my life.  In total, I have probably been to between 50 and 60 live shows.  From 200-seat theaters to 70,000-seat stadiums and everything in between.  And the genres are just as vast – country, rock and roll, heavy metal, pop, and classic rock – I have seen it all…

And when I try to rank the ‘Top Ten Concerts’ that I have attended, it is much easier than I thought.  There are shows that I have seen and forgotten about, and then there are those that will never fade from my memory.

Ready?  Lets do this!!

Honorable Mention:  Phil Collins, Creed, Phish, Chicago, Crosby/Stills/Nash, The Rolling Stones, Traffic, Rod Stewart, and Bob Dylan.

10 – Billy Joel & Elton John.  Two classic performers with a ton of hits.  The show was full of their best songs and the crowd sang along the entire night.

9 – Jimmy Buffett.  Possibly the most fun show of them all.  The crowd takes over the show and Jimmy just leads them through all of his hits.  Lots of ladies, lots of beer, and lots of fun!!

8 – Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers.  This show was at a park in Miami and it was a very relaxed and fun day – all day.  Ziggy Marley is a fantastic musician and he throws in a bit of his brother’s music to please the crowd.

7 – REM.  At the peak of their popularity, REM put on a nice show with tons of lights and lasers.  Michael Stipe commands your attention while on stage and the bands plays very well live.

6 – Eric Clapton.  Just three days before REM, I saw Clapton.  It was part of his ‘Blues’ tour so he didn’t play any of his hits.  He sat on a stool for the entire show and changed guitars between every song.  He is a classic musician and it was pretty neat to see a different side of him in person.  Still would have like to have heard ‘Pretending’.

5 – Aerosmith.  Fun, Fun, Fun.  The summertime in Chicago at an outdoor venue with Aerosmith on the stage is nothing but a good time.  I have seen them play live three different times, but this show with great friends by my side was the most memorable.

4 – Guns-N-Roses.  Unquestionably the best band going at the time, GNR did not disappoint with their performance.  It just started 2 hors late.  Scheduled to go on at 9PM, they didn’t start until close to 11, and finished after 1AM with Paradise City.  Oh, and Smashing Pumpkins opened for them – before they hit it big…  And yes, I made it to school on time the next day. 

3 – The Jacksons.  Michael and his brothers were fantastic at the Orange Bowl.  I have vivid memories of Michael being left on stage to perform Billie Jean by himself and it was fantastic – easily the highlight for the 70,000 in attendance.

2 – The Grateful Dead.  I have seen 9 Grateful Dead shows from Chicago to Tampa to DC.  Each show is an experience and I have never in my life experienced anything close to it since.  Sting was a phenomenal opening act.

1 – Lenny Kravitz.  My favorite artist of all-time.  I have seen Lenny four times, and am looking forward to his 2011 concert tour.  This show was held at a small venue in South Miami and the seats we had were perfect.  Lenny is an absolute master performer and represents everything that a rock and roll musician should be.  His band is unreal – and the energy that they put into each and every performance is second to none!

So there you have it.  A pretty good mix of music and artists.  I have a ton of memories packed into these concerts – and I only hope that I am able to add some more to my memory bank in the future.

I am eager to hear what kind of music the ’30-YOC’ reader listens to.  Let me hear it – I want to know the best shows you’ve seen too.

For next week’s ‘Top Ten List’ I was thinking about ‘Top Ten Iconic Movies From The 1980s’.

See you next Sunday – but hopefully before that too… 

Thanks!

Dwight Gooden 1989 Donruss

Dwight Gooden 1989 Donruss

Oh, yeah, this one is a thing of beauty!  Come see:

Brilliantly designed, the 1989 Donruss baseball card design is not a jaw-dropping, eye-opening work of art.  It is however, very pleasing to the eye.

The picture used of Gooden is solid (although I would like it a bit more if it were zoomed out more).  And the fading and shading of the Green and Yellow top and bottom borders is a very nice touch.

Good work on this one, Donruss.

Did You Know…

Walter Johnson hit more batters than any other pitcher in the National Baseball Hall Of Fame.  Johnson hit 203 batters during his 21-season big league career.  His highest tally in a single season was 20 in 1923.

Happy Birthday Chipper Jones!!!

Happy Birthday Chipper Jones!!!

Chipper Jones turns 39 years old today.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been able to enjoy watching Larry ‘Chipper’ Jones play for close to 2 decades.  I remember getting his rookie cards in packs when I collected cards as a kid and being thrilled to pull the brightest star in the set.

19 years later, Chipper has been nothing short of spectacular.  His offensive dominance has been as consistent as any player in the game.  And his skills seem to sharpen season after season as he becomes a better hitter, a more powerful hitter, and a more disciplined hitter.

Chipper is on pace to join some relatively elite baseball groups if he can maintain his offensive output for a few more seasons.  He just eclipsed the 2,500 hits plateau this year – 3,000 is still within reach.  And he needs roughly 80 home runs to join the ’500 HR Club’.  Both goals are obtainable, we’ll just have to see how much longer Chipper wants to play the game that he has dominated for 19 years.

Happy Birthday Chipper!!!  We’re pulling for you!!