The Proper Attire

In order to more readily fill otherwise vacant slots in my respective all-time roster collections, I accept any card of any player, regardless of team affiliation listed on the rectangle.  Often times, that player doesn't have a Cubs/Bears/Blackhawks card to be obtained, or a card with the proper uniform is exceptionally rare and/or prohibitively expensive.

Sometimes, it's just a question of what's available and when.

Over the past couple of days, I was able to "Cubgrade" and "Hawkgrade" a couple of players who had otherwise slipped by in the uniforms of other clubs.  These cards weren't rare, they weren't expensive; our paths just were not crossing:

For instance, this simple base card from 1977 Topps of an otherwise un-notable player had been sitting on my to-get list for a long time.  For whatever reason, it just never showed up in my LCS, dimeboxes, or at a price I was willing to pay online.

Seeing as Joe only pitched for one, partial season in Chicago (1976), it's not surprising that this is his only Cubs card.

Until a couple of days ago, when I finally found a cheapie online, this "pitcher at the plate" shot had been the representation for Casey Coleman's father in my CATRC.  It had been part of Christmas gift when I was still in high school, so it's been keeping the spot warm for a proper Coleman for many moons.

Meanwhile, this "Hawkgrade" didn't take nearly as long, mostly since Artem Anisimov only blew into the Windy City last year, as part of the much-maligned Brandon Saad deal.

I'd picked the original, Rookie Anthology card from a dimebox at one of my local card spots to temporarily hold down the fort.  I mean, at a dime, you just can't beat that price.

Lucky for me, my hookup on Ebay for virtual dimebox shopping on hockey singles had this 2016 UD Series II Anisimov plucked and ready to go.  In the end, it cost me a bit more than a dime - 11 cents;  although, I think I can live with that uptick in price.

Also, it should be noted that tonight is a win or go home game for my beloved Blackhawks - game 7 against the damn Blues begins at 7:30pm in St. Louis.  They sure haven't played like the Blackhawks machine of seasons previous this year; however, they still have some fight left in them!

Image courtesy of Victoria Kendzierski of SDI

That's it for today - a short and sweet post showing off the proper attire for my collections.   After having taken the weekend off, I didn't want to slip into a slump.

Thankfully, blogging inspiration should be on the rise in the next few days.  At home, I have a massive padded mailer sitting on my counter, courtesy of Andy at Ain't Nobody Got Time for Cardboard, that I have yet to tear into.  Not to mention, just today, I sent off my very first TTM autograph request.  I know some of you out there did that in grade school and hundreds of cards later have this down to a science; please try to contain your laughter.

Speaking of TTM, it's time for me to TTFN - tata for now!