Putting the Car in Cards

Most years, my wife and I celebrate Valentines Day by attending the Chicago Auto Show.  We've been making our way downtown for this event almost every February since 2014 and it's certainly become an annual tradition for us, at this point.  Sure, it's not the "stereotypical" romantic, sappy setup and we're not hardcore "gearheads," but a few hours of wandering around McCormick Place while surrounded by the latest in automobile technology, pipe dream cars, delicious snack foods, and tons of free swag makes for a fun way to spend an afternoon.  Plus, it's the only way I can ever feasibly hope to sit behind the wheel of a Challenger or a Corvette and not get arrested for grand theft auto.

Not to mention, this annual experience can be quite productive, in the long run - our reliable and versatile, blue KIA Soul (named Clark), was the direct result of this tradition, as the first time we ever examined one of these toasters was at this show.

But, getting back to the free swag... that honestly might be our favorite part of the whole convention.  I mean, our reusable grocery totes are reliably replenished by this yearly event, courtesy of Toyota, Ford, etc..  Plus, free pens from this event fill my cup at work and at my home office.  But, it goes beyond pragmatism with the gratis giveaways, as our free totes are often also stuffed with funny stress balls (which my wife collects), stickers, decks of playing cards, posters, and the like.  Sure, it all serves as free corporate advertising, but at least it's FUN, free corporate advertising.

 The Sauber Formula One team brought a show car to represent their constructor, Alfa Romeo

Now, in years past, there's been unexpected cardboard connections, as well, leading to surprise blogging material.  Commemorative personal trading cards, hero cards of professional race car drivers, athlete autographing appearances are common at the Chicago auto show; but, these are all sideshow items, extra perks/premiums meant to draw you over to a particular branded booth.  After all, the actual stars of the show are truly the automobiles themselves, right?


With that in mind, there's also the slightly less fun swag - you know, the pamphlets, booklets, fliers, etc. that lay out the details of each brand's new models and why they're so much better than the competition.  Honestly, this information is much more important than a KIA-branded stress ball in the shape of a basketball.  But, that being said, these items almost immediately move from kiosk to waste paper basket, as passers by give a glance and move on to the next shiny object.
 
This year, Chevrolet finally noticed this pattern and changed up their giveaways accordingly.  When it came to the question of amusing but irrelevant or informative but dull, the bowtie boys went off the beaten path and asked themselves a very important question, "¿Por que no los dos?"

via GIPHY

Now let's think for a minute - what is a good way to get people to hang onto to something?  Make it fun and collectible, right?    Taking that a step further, what is an effective method of conveying information in a physcial format that plainly displays the content, while simultaneously creating something the "average Joe" would find appealing to the eye and feel compelled to hang onto.

That line of thought, ladies and gentlemen, is how we ended up with Chevy trading cards:

Printed on legitimate cardstock and not flimsy, glossy flier paper, Chevrolet stocked the counter of their booth with the above trading cards, which paid tribute to their famous pickup trucks of the past and the latest edition of the Silverado.  They're oversized and, while I don't have a ruler nearby, I would estimate them to be about the size of you average baseball "police set" of the late 80's/early 90's.  Unlike those vintage oddballs, you can tell a lot of thought went into this clean and crisp design, which features artful touches like artificial aging and simulated texture.  In fact, I think it would look pretty decent as the model for a Panini-branded NASCAR set.  

Obviously, their marketing gimmick worked on me, as I "picked up" the full set of three pickups as soon as I saw them, even though I harbored no interest in Chevrolet or trucks before walking through the display.  They got me good.

Of course, they wouldn't be true trading cards without proper backs and, as you can see above, Chevy did not disappoint.   While trucks do not have batting averages, on-base percentages, or runs batted in, they do have plenty of associated statistics of their own.  Channeling their inner Topps, the bowtie marketing department made sure to whip up a stat-line and "player" bio to complete the effect and, y'know, brag about how great their automobile is.  That is the ultimate goal, after all.

Chevy goes the extra mile though; they don't just want you to know how sleek and strong their 2019 Silverado is, they want to remind you of how great their trucks have always been too.

 

This promotion features a pair of pickups from the brand's illustrious past - the 1988 K1500 Sportside (above) and the 1978 K10 Fleetside.  It does appear as though that Chevy named their set "Truck Legends," so it stands to reason that they would need to throw in a few retro players.  After all, it's a move straight out of the baseball card market - Topps has a hard time releasing any products without at least some vintage player representation these days.  Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

Like I said, I am far from a gearhead and definitely not a truck nut.  Furthermore, I grew up in a Ford household and I currently drive a PT Cruiser, which is indicative of my taste in cars.  Thus, in the end, these cards hold no long term interest for me, though I must applaud Chevy for their efforts.  These bad boys would make for fine oddball additions to the collections of anyone who enjoys automobile-themed cardboard.  Perhaps these are angled straight down the lane of Cardboard History's, Billy Kingsley?

Do car cards really rev your engine? Do you have a special affinity for Chevy trucks?  Have you ever been to the Chicago auto show? Would you too have felt compelled to pick up these oddball trading cards were you to encounter them like I did?  Please feel free to weigh-in through the comment section below!

In the meantime, it's time for me to log off.  I've got some branded tote bags to sort through before grocery shopping day!

Instant Karma

The pack you see above provided me a couple of good karma rewards, but more on that later.

Today marked one of the rare weekend days where both my fiancee and I are free - working in retail means that she often gets stuck working at inconvenient times.  As such, we both feel like we have to make the most of the time that we have together.  Today, she got to choose how we spent our rarefied co-mingling hours.

We began the morning with the annual Independence Day parade... yes, I realize that it's only June 25th; but, for some strange reason that's how my community has always done it.  I was mostly indifferent on attending, however, she was surprisingly gung-ho on the idea.  From there, we went dress shopping at the local Burlington Coat Factory so that she could find a nice outfit for her friend's bridal shower tomorrow, in lieu of the car show I secretly wanted to attend.

I wasn't complaining though, it was just nice to spend a few casual hours together.  After finally settling on a nice little number, she actually decided that she'd like to go to the LCS in order to pick up some vintage Garbage Pail Kids.

Yup, that's right, she willingly opted to go card-hunting - I knew I picked a winner!

So, we rushed right on over there, before she could change her mind and luckily, they had a nice stash of old school GPK and Wacky Packages to keep her entertained.  Here are a few of the gems that she ended up walking away with:

The Ronald Reagan goofing was a no-brainer, seeing as she is all about political study.  Meanwhile, "Marc Spark" was selected, in her words, "in honor of the fourth of July."

Moving on, the Wacky Packages weren't exactly vintage; that said, she was still able to find a couple which struck her fancy:

My better half is a major Lady Gaga fan and about the most strong-willed feminist I've ever encountered (a label which I also wear proudly).   I always say, if you can't laugh at yourself, you shouldn't be laughing at anyone else; if you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen and all that cliched jazz.

Also, that one on the right is obviously a parallel of some sort, but neither her nor I could possibly care any less about that fact.

Anyway, as you can see, it was a pretty fruitful afternoon for her - she got to take in a parade on a beautiful summer day, came away with a cute outfit with minimal struggle and found herself a few new treasured collectibles.  Combine that with the fact that we're finally going to see Finding Dory tonight and she was in a pretty damn good mood.

Of course, there was no way I was leaving that shop without grabbing a little something for myself, so I selected my very first pack of Series 2 from the gravity feeder at the counter and we were on our merry way.  This impulse purchase then promptly rewarded me for letting my fiancee select the day's festivities:

Hey - it's great to see that my favorite insert set from Series 1 has carried over into the second edition.  Bricks, ivy and the iconic Wrigley Field marquee make for an unequivocally beautiful design.  Not to mention, I love the uniqueness of press conference shots on baseball cards - they're infinitely better than crappy Photoshop/airbrushing monstrosities.

Hot damn - it's a Cubs hot-pack!  No base Northsider base cards; however, both of the "special cards" contained within were Boys in Blue flavored.  I'll certainly be marking this down as a win.

It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but that Cubs team card is some kind of rainbow foil parallel.  Now, I know I said I don't pay too much mind to parallels when discussing the Wacky Packs above, but this sure does look pretty.  The exuberant joy in the walk-off win celebration chosen for the photo sure doesn't hurt either.

So, there you have it - good karma immediately rewarded me for letting my fiancee take the reigns on our Saturday spent together.  That said, I think having a fiancee that willingly wanted to not only step into a card shop, but also wanted to do some shopping of her own is truly enough of a reward!

Mighty Morphin' Wrigley Roster Jenga

The other day, while perusing the card selection of my local Dollar Tree (which is something I've been doing more and more of lately), a particular pack of cards caught my attention.  Among the 5 card, sample packs of 2015 Donruss/Topps Series 2 and the incessant supply of football and baseball junk wax repacks was a non-sports product that I had never seen before, yet still appealed to my nostalgic yearnings:

While some kids my age were all gung-ho about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I was squarely in the corner of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.  For those of you who don't know, the Power Rangers were a team of teenagers chosen by an alien force to protect the planet earth from whatever galactic villains attempted to invade it.

The show itself was culturally appropriated from Japan's long-running Super Sentai shows, which borrowed not only the concept and the costumes, but was often made up of mostly Japanese footage for action scenes.

When I was in elementary school, they started out as the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and the show was a cultural phenomenon for several years.  However, as ratings dipped, in order to spice things up, they adopted a new set of costumes (again, all borrowed from Sentai) and alternated actors every season in order to drive up interest.  Mighty Morphin' gave way to Zeo, which gave way to Turbo, which gave way to Space and so on and so forth.  By the end of that run, I was already on to bigger, more adult things (like baseball cards).

However, for a good five years there, I lived and breathed everything Power Rangers.  So, seeing this product on the shelves caused a little twinge in my heart and I couldn't help but sample a pack - I mean, it was only a buck after all.

The product itself is some sort of card game (like I'll ever learn to play it) in the vein of Pokemon and makes use of Rangers from every corner of Power Rangers lore.  Thus, I was really, really, really hoping to pull at least one card of the original show.

These two definitely were not.  I'd never heard of RPM Rangers, which means they came long after I or my little brother (who's interest went several years after mine ended) stopped paying attention.  I'm guessing they had something to do with cars, which was a theme already used for Turbo (and it's accompanying major motion picture) during my childhood.

However, green and blue are my two favorite colors, so they've got that going for them.

Furthermore, there's a lot going on in the design here - I have no idea what the numbers on the sides indicate, though I assume they're entirely related to the gameplay.  I guess there must be some sort of technological aspect to the game too, judging by the bar codes found on top.

The backs of these cards are all the same, featuring the over-arching Power Rangers combination mark over a "techy" red background.  Like it says, these are for a "action card game," so like playing cards, they have to have a boiler plate backside.

Megaforce is another season of which I am not the least bit familiar with.  However, the artwork is pretty cool - the lighting bolts on that red ranger are quite intense.

Ah - Zords.  Zords are the Power Rangers giant vehicles that combine to form a giant robot.  Think of them like human-operated versions of Transformers (esp. the Dinobots of Constructicons).  The Rangers would call on these bad boys when their evil opponents were enlarged to gigantic proportions.

Also, they called Zords in honor of the Rangers alien creator and guiding force, Zordon.

Again, I sound like a broken record here, but these don't look or sound the least bit familiar to me either.  That said, a "High Octane Megazord" sounds like something an RPM Ranger might pilot.  At this point, I was starting to worry that my nostalgic itch wasn't going to be truly scratched.

Ah ha - crisis averted!  Here we have two of the original five Mighty Morphn' Power Rangers, in all of their retro glory.

Zack the Black Ranger, who was coincidentally of African-American heritage (or not so coincidentally, the Yellow Ranger was also Asian...), was always the cool guy in group.  Meanwhile, I think every kid in my age bracket's first crush was Kimberly the Pink Ranger (played by Amy Jo Johnson).

Even better - Tommy the White Ranger!

Tommy originally joined the original five as the Green Ranger, after being created as an evil counterpart and then breaking free from his puppeteers.  Later, as his powers were wearing down, he was reborn as the White Ranger you see above.

Bottom line, Tommy was always the most popular Power Ranger, be it as Green or White; he was definitely my favorite too.  While, I definitely prefer his Green incarnation, this will do just fine.

Can you figure out which one is the real one and which is my Halloween costume from a 

of couple years ago?

Closing out this package of Power Rangers Action Card Game cards, we have the shiny foil version of the Red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger.  So, after going half of the pack without pulling single Ranger I was slightly familiar with, I ended up with four.  Not bad (the collation though, might be).

What's really cool about this card is that, as you can see, he is wearing the same shield as the Green Ranger seen above.  However, Jason (the Red one) didn't normally do so.  In fact, Jason only wore that extra protection in one episode of the show, one that I can clearly remember, so I can attach this card to that specific memory.  How's that for nostalgia?

Plus, it's shiny and who doesn't like shiny, right?

All in all, that made for a pretty fun, warm and fuzzy pack ripping experience.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with these now, but that wasn't the point in buying them.  Sometimes, it's nice to just kick back, while letting your inner child break free and run wild.

Anyway, that's enough Rangers talk - this is a Cubs/baseball card blog after all.  Hopefully you all found this little tangent to be at least slightly entertaining.

Sacrificing a Card to the Spirits

*If all goes as planned, you should be reading this scheduled post while I'm taking in the spectacle of speed that is the Indy 500 time trials.  In the meantime, I thought you might find the ghostly story of my Saturday afternoon sorta interesting... it even has a cardboard tie-in!*

So, my fiancee and I rarely have weekends off together - such is the nature of one of us working a retail schedule and the other being a salaried employee.  Therefore, whenever we are blessed with this "nothing on the schedule" overlap, we feel obligated to do something fun and make the most of it.

While munching on our lunch, the lovely lady randomly exclaimed, "let's go to Bachelor's Grove!"  This was something quite unexpected and, frankly, it made my blood run cold for a second. 

You see, my hometown doesn't have much notable about it, it's pretty well blended into the blur of suburbia.  The only thing that might perk up a stranger's ear about the village is the fact that we play host to one of the most haunted cemeteries in North America:  Bachelor's Grove.

As you can see from the picture above, my initial fear did not prevent us from making our way to the quiet, secluded spot.  The little cemetery was first used in the 1840's, when the first settlers started moving through the area, gained heavy use during the building of the I&M Canal and saw active burials through the middle half of the previous century.  

In the year since, it's become a bustling hive of paranormal activity (and teenage mischief).  Some of it's most famous phenomena have included the disappearing caretaker's house, the moving headstone, the nearby lagoon being used by Al Capone as a body-dumping site, and the ghostly Model-T.  If you want more on the haunted history of the site, I highly recommend checking this link out.

Perhaps you've seen this famous ghostly image before?

The Model-T legend stems from the fact that the path that leads from the main road, into the woods and past the cemetery gate used to be the Midlothian Turnpike, but was bypassed at about the same time the cemetery ceased being active.

Seeing as we were walking down the former turnpike in the middle of the afternoon, I wasn't too scared to be paying a visit - I mean, it's a well-know fact that ghosts don't come out during the day time, right?  Although, once I remembered that last time I'd been there that my camera began behaving erratically, I did feel myself paying an awful lot of attention to my surroundings.

As a direct result of this, I noticed a rectangular, shiny object cast aside on the cracked blacktop being reclaimed by mother nature.  In the middle of a thatch of weeds, I found this little guy staring back at me:

Okay - this wasn't such a ghostly encounter.  I mean, it's not even a ghost-type Pokemon like Haunter or Ghastly.  In fact, this a Pokemon that I don't recognize at all - it clearly dates from after I stopped paying attention (which was shortly after the release of Gold and Silver for Gameboy Color).

Anyway, like I said, while it is a famous haunted location, it's notoriety makes it a breeding ground for teenage mischief.  Looks like one of those little hooligans left this game card behind... as they were running away from a ghastly ghoul or something, I'm sure.

Being the scavenger I am, I picked it up and carried it with me as a souvenir through the cemetery gates:

The fellow in the red shirt isn't a ghost... I don't think...

Much like the roadway, nature has reclaimed a lot of the grounds and what mother earth hasn't taken back, vandals have destroyed.  Beyond the legends and all that stuff, it's truly a shame that human beings' final resting places are being treated with such disrespect.

However, not all of the grove has been eroded away in this manner.  In fact, one headstone, in particular, has actually been treated with great reverence:

The unidentified infant daughter buried in this family plot has been largely left alone by the trouble-makers who frequent these parts.  As you can see from the picture above, the child has even been left a great many gifts from curious adventurers in search of thrills and chills.

Accordingly to local lore, anybody who leaves a gift for the infant daughter will be bestowed with good luck in the near future.  Therefore, baseballs, children's sunglasses, pens, beaded necklaces, etc. decorate this child's final resting place.  There was even a lucky penny key-chain that made it here all the way from Las Vegas, clearly placed there by someone trying to double-down on their good fortune.

I too felt compelled to leave something behind in honor of this forgotten child, not to mention the fact that I could always use some good luck.  After all, my future mother in law has described me as a real-life Charlie Brown.  Thinking I had nothing to offer besides pocket lint, I suddenly remembered my trading card discovery from minutes prior:

Kids dig Pokemon right?  Of course, this child passed long before they were in the target demographic and decades before the pocket monsters were dreamed up, but whatever.  It was all I had to offer up and I didn't want to be a jerk to a ghost; that's bad juju mcgumbo.

After wandering around the cemetery and the surrounding woods for another 45 minutes or so, I pleased (and slightly disappointed) to experience nothing out of the ordinary.  That is, except for the scraggy old man who had been leading a group through the grounds who, when finished approached me asking if I was looking for ghosts and then disappeared back through the now-empty location alone.  That was a tad weird.  Also, if you notice a mysterious figure or ghostly orbs in any of the above pictures, please point it out immediately.

Anyway, that's the story of how I sacrificed a Pokemon card to the spirit of an infant child in a haunted cemetery located in the backwoods of Midlothian.  How was your Saturday?

Winding Down by Bearing Down

Yesterday was a day.  You know what I mean - we've all had those kind of days.  The ones where your running around like, as Charlie Daniels might say, your head is on fire and your ass is catchin', just trying to keep up with the amount of work, neediness and insanity around you.

Yea - THOSE days.

Well, after a looooong day at work trying to keep up at ludicrous speed (I now see that graduation time is almost more stressful for faculty than students), I was completely emotionally and physically drained.  Then, I still got up and ran 4 miles because I'm a glutton for punishment.  Anyway, what I'm saying is that I was exhausted yesterday evening and in desperate need for respite.

In steps Adam from Cardboard Clubhouse.

Well, not quite literally - it would be weird if the Ohio-native just walked into my house unannounced, threw cards at me and ran (though what a story that would be).  Rather, a padded mailer stuffed to the brim with neat, new cards for my collection showed up at my doorstep, sent off by the aforementioned Adam.

A good half of the contents of said package were 1980 Topps football, which is a-okay with me, seeing as my vintage football collection is sorely lacking.  Such awesome names as Golden Richards and Virgil Livers were sadly missing from my Bears All-Time Roster Collection binder, which is such a shame.  Thankfully Adam (figuratively) stepped in and corrected that misdeed.

You might know Golden best from his days as a Cowboy, but he also spent a couple of seasons in the Windy City (1978-790  towards the end of his career.  Virgil might have an organ for a last name; however, he is much more known for another part of his body.  That is, I'll put it this way, he's known for an injury that is often cited as why athletes should wear cups...

Yowie!

Tommy Hart is another guy best known for his work with another team (49'ers), but was also teammates with Golden in 1978-79.  Meanwhile, local boy Ted Albrecht (Harvey, IL) was a Bear through and through during his five year NFL career and currently serves as an analyst on WGN broadcasts of Northwestern football.  Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that I went to college with a relative of his.

Steve Schubert was a Bears wide receiver for a few years (nothing too notable about the guy) while Greg Latta was one of the few players to have ever played in the playoffs for the NFL ('77 & '79 with Chicago) and for the old World Football League, where he played for the Florida Blazers in the 1974 World Bowl.

WFL, USFL, XFL, UFL... the money-machine that is the National Football League really has crushed any and all challengers, hasn't it?

Now, I should also note, that the backs of most of these vintage pieces also have some inscriptions on the back:

After inquiring with Adam as to the pen markings on the back (they came to him as part of a lot, so individual info was lacking), we came to the conclusion that these are the workings of some 80's kid trying to impress his friends or some other such nonsense.  The handwriting seems pretty uniform on all of them, the pen is the same and the "autographs" don't even come close to other known examples for any of the players.

No matter - there's no love lost with me.

Meanwhile, as great as these vintage finds were, Adam sent more than just "oldies but goodies."  Also included was a sizable portion of the Bears 2014 Topps team set:

RIP Topps Football.

Gotta love Jared Allen plowing through the snow on the bottom right (that's about the only kind of plowing he did with the Monsters of the Midway) and the sweet catch by Alshon Jeffrey in the middle.  However, my favorite card of the bunch was definitely this one:

The reason being is that this is my very first card of Kyle Long, which will now slot nicely into that Bears All-Time Roster Collection.  Woot!

See, there hasn't been much to cheer for or a lot of talent to speak of the past few seasons of Bears football - they're deep within a rebuild  Kyle Long is one of the few legitimate stars on the roster jenga'ing squad and thus, his cardboard comes at a premium in Chicago.  Being the cheapie that I am, I'm not going to pay a full buck for his base cards at my LCS; so, I've been holding out.

You might say that this addition to my collection has been a "Long" time coming!  ba dum tiss

The rest of the padded mailer was filled with other cool, miscellaneous singles.  Sadly, the disheveled, mentally exhausted version of me that was present last night forgot to take a picture of the rest before I sorted them away, except for this excellently-framed Alshon from last year's Prestige release.

Here's hoping that Panini has more of this sort of stuff up their sleeve now that they've got the exclusive license for physical NFL cards (Topps still has their digital-only Huddle).  Rather reminiscent of Stadium Club here.

With that, we've finally reached the end of Adam's chock full 'o' awesome trade package.  Seriously, after a pretty trying and tiring day at work, this was the best possible way to unwind; plus, seeing so many needed names for my Bears collection really turned my frown upside down.  Hopefully, at least some of this joy was reciprocated with my end of the trade; a sincere thank you, sir!

Is there any way better to wind down from a rough day than sorting through new cards?  Methinks not.

Sam I Am - a Guest Post

Hey there blogosphere friends! Sam, soon to be Mrs. Burbs, here. Your normal host, Tony Burbs, is sitting this round out and I’m taking a shot at it. 

"card" created with the Rookies App

So, let me introduce myself. I am not a baseball card collector, but I got a crash course in all things baseball about three and a half years ago when Tony and I got together.  We have a lot in common and about equally as much not. I am a retail manager, yogi, wannabe chef, part-time health and wellness coach, crazy cat lady, and book worm. Tony is an avid runner, baseball card collector, loves all sports but bleeds Cubbie blue, stand-up comedy is his happy place, and he loves late night TV. 

Since day one, we jumped into trying to share our hobbies with the other.  Some with success (LOL at Stephen Colbert!) and some with more of a lukewarm reaction (I’m still alone for my cooking show).  But recently we were in Target and he made his turn to the cards where normally I would stand and look at candy or my phone while Burbs mulled over his choices. 

BUT NOT THIS TIME!!!!!

I decided to buy a pack of Garbage Pail Kids because they looked fun and had a political theme. Burbs was so happy I thought he teared up a little and whisked me to the check out before I could realize how silly it was and boom… next thing I know it’s a few weeks later and I have a baby binder filling up with cards that make me smile. 

Let’s check the highlight reel:

Garbage Pail Kids- Hounded HILLARY

This lady graced my very first pack of cards and made me so happy I think I puked a rainbow.  I love politics and I love a good roast.  This card features the Democratic nominee wannabe kicking over a laptop with emails on display.  The play on the confidential emails gave me a giggle.  #HillYes

Garbage Pail Kids- Phony PHIL

This gem features a zombie who is still staring at his phone.  The social commentary cracks me up because my biggest pet peeve is probably the zombie like state of so many people all because of a little screen… to read about other people’s lives.  No.  Bad.  Are you reading this on your phone while hanging out with other humans in person? Then stop being a Phony Phil and come back to me when your alone.  I promise, I’ll be waiting right here. 

Topps- Gordon Beckham

Oh, Burbs didn’t tell you? I’m a White Sox fan (also number one in their division).  My favorite man is former second baseman Beckham, even if he's a Brave now.  I love his walk up (Your Love by the Outfield) and, even though there is no relation, I’m just a fan of any Beckham (Gordon, Victoria, and David). Burbs gave me this card when we created this binder and it was his little home run. 

Decision 2016- Barrack Obama

I’m not here to debate politics.  But I love me some Barry O.  So my collection wouldn’t be complete without his smiling face on a card (or three in full disclosure). 

Panini - Justin Bieber  

I’m a mild Belieber… and I have a friend who shares this small crush.  So we like to mail each other Justin Bieber themed holiday cards and even had temporary tattoos declaring our love for Valentine’s Day once.  My collection needed the Biebs.

Well I’m sure you guys miss Tony Burbs by now.  So I will go ahead and give him back his blog and everyone can enjoy some baseball card info. 

Bye!