Frame Job

Recently, my wife hosted a big fundraising gala.  Without divulging too much personal information, she works for a local non-profit that benefits adults and children with mental disabilities, providing schooling, work, and social services.  With such lofty and wide-reaching goals, a large budget is required, as it works with families all across the county.  Thus, each year, the company holds an annual, year-end gala at a local country club to raise the majority of the funds needed for their noble goals.  Complete with fancy food spreads and a three-course dinner, live and silent auctions for tempting prizes, multimedia presentations showcasing the company's work, a raucous live band, and a black tie dress code, an incredible amount of work goes into making this happen.  Most of this stressful work falls squarely on the shoulders of my wife and her department, though I do volunteer when and where I can to alleviate some of the load.

On the plus side, this year's gala was a rousing success, earning rave reviews from attendees and the board of directors, as well as reaching the fundraising goals.  Plus, needless to say, my better half is in a much better mood with this event fading in the rear-view mirror.  So too am I, both because when she's stressed, I'm stressed and because I got a nifty souvenir out of the whole process.

In the lead up to the big night, a lot of storage space was needed to stash the live auction prizes, silent auction baskets of goodies, and props/decorations/equipment that made up the gala.  As such, my wife and her fellow co-workers had to completely clear out their nearby storage unit to make room for the deluge.  Over the preceding years, this unit had been treated the same way as the closet in our spare room has - as a catch-all for any and all overflow that's largely ignored until some odds and ends need to be hidden away and is then promptly forgotten again. 

Most of these cobweb-covered castoffs were earmarked for Goodwill or the dumpster out back.  Old promo materials, stacks of files, and miscellaneous junk made up the majority of the disused junk - nothing particularly useful. Clearing out storage units actually sounds like a  good time to me, seeing as you have literally no idea what you might find; however, I had to sit this one out.  Nevertheless, I ended up with some re-discovered treasure:

Mark this down on the lengthy list of reasons why I love my wife.  Even as she was digging through junk, tired from planning a stressful event, she was looking out for me and saved this intriguing find from the scrap heap.  Also, holy moly... the possibilities as to what these cards could be!!

While visions of T206 team sets danced through my head, I knew that was the longest of long-shots.  I knew it was far more likely that my spouse and her cohorts had dug up a set of reprints or some kind of retrospective set.  As it turned out, that line of thought was absolutely correct - however, there was yet another surprise to be had:

I was certainly not expecting these re-discovered pasteboards to come collated in this manner!  As you might be able to tell from the boxscores at the center of the piece, this frame job pays tribute to the World Series Championship team of 1908.

As far as the cards go, they aren't technically the 1908 Cubs, as my wife and the party which assembled the piece had posited.  Rather, these sepia-toned beauties showcase the 1907 World Series Championship team, a Cubs squad which is given far less notoriety since a century plus title drought did not follow that World Series win.  That being stated, the main players on the back-to-back championship roster are mostly the same, so the sentiment still works.  Of course, I still had to point this out to my wife, who now thinks I'm an even bigger nerd than she did before.

Without any further ado, let's take a closer look at the cards, which come from the TCMA portfolio and were originally released in 1987:

First, here's a side-by-side comparison which shows how these cards originally look, as opposed to mounted on foam board.  As you can see, the fancy, embossed, blue and gold piping is not part of the original look.

Meanwhile, as far as the set goes, all the major players are there:

The most recognizable names of the bunch, a "trio of bear cubs, fleeter than birds" are there...

... plus the rest of the starting infield.  These two are oft-forgotten, seeing as they didn't have a legendary poem written about their exploits on the diamond.  Although, fun bit of trivia, Johnny Kling was a championship billiards player when he wasn't calling pitches for the Chicago Cubs.

Only one outfielder gets the nod, Frank "Wildfire" Schulte, perhaps because the grassy part of the field was something of a timeshare on that legendary club.  With Schulte having won the National League's Chalmers Award (basically the MVP trophy) a few years later - in 1911 - his name carried the most weight out of the five men who split time chasing fly balls.  Thus, "Wildfire" spread into the TCMA checklist.

Finally, the pitching staff is represented by three big horses of the starting rotation.  Ed Reulbach was shown already and his buddies Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown and Orval Overall fill out the checklist.  This trio of hurlers led the team in pitching wins, splitting 68 victories between themselves with Mordecai accounting for 29 all on his own.  Boy oh boy, how the game has changed!

In addition to the cards, as I alluded to earlier, the frame job also includes the box scores of the 1908 World Series as a centerpiece, as well as the complete batting and pitching statistics for the victorious Chicagoans.

So, if you're like me, you might be wondering who put this crafty display piece together.  Was it some intrepid Cubs fan? A rabid baseball card collector?  Perhaps it was even TCMA themselves, as a clever way to market their oddball cards?  Well, the answer is stamped right in the middle of the bottom row of pasteboards:

Dream Team Collectibles based out of St. Louis Missouri, in case you can't read the gold embossing on a green background.  They were a big name in the hobby around this time, largely on the strength of these very sorts of items - fancy, themed frames and plaques involving sports memorabilia.  Starting in 1986, Ed Gaines and his wife Barbara and by the start of the 90's, these items were almost ubiquitous in local card shops, card shows, and wherever one could purchase sports ephemera. 

Speaking of big names, it was while researching my 1908 Cubs frame that I came across an eye-popping piece of trivia about Dream Team Collectibles.  This mom and pop company once took on a corporate behemoth and came out on top.  That big corporation was even one of the leagues that their products, no doubt, celebrated - the NBA.  That's right, that NBA - the National Basketball Association.  Wild, right?  And what was the lawsuit about?  The usage of the name "Dream Team."  Holy crap - possessive much?

In May of 1995, Dream Team Collectibles sued NBA Properties Inc., which is the licensing arm of the NBA, and later USA Basketball to try and stop them from using and licensing the term "the Dream Team," which of course was a term used to refer to the famous Team USA Olympic basketball squad, featuring the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, etc.  It's hard to view this as anything other than an advantageous, headline grabbing cash grab, as I don't believe anyone was going to confuse the two entities.  If that were the case, it worked out quite well for the Gaines, as the case never made it to court and DTC received an undisclosed cash settlement for their troubles.  

What a bizarre story.

All in all, this delightful display came with beautiful sentiment, cool cards, and a fascinatingly odd bit of trivia.  Now, all it needs is a new frame and it will definitely be going up on a wall in my office in the near future.

Do you have any of these Dream Team Collectibles displays in your collection or perhaps something similar?  I can't find any current information on this company, so it seems like they may have passed by the wayside in the last couple of decades, though there's no shortage of similar products on the market today.  Just stop by your local mall and pop into Plaques Plus if you don't believe me.  Do you find these items to be as charming as I do through my rose-tinted, nostalgia-riddled glasses or do you think that they're simply tacky?  I encourage you to make your opinions known in the comment section below. 

One thing that is not up for debate though is the fact that my wife rocks!  In the throws of preparing for one of the largest and most important events in her professional life, she stepped back, thought of me and went out of her way to save a trinket that she knew I would enjoy.  I would sing her praises and defend her to ends of the earth, even if Dream Team Collectibles themselves came after me with a frivolous lawsuit to get me to stop.

Whose Blog is it Anyway?

For almost as long as I've been blogging, I've been following the wonderful Oriole-centric blog known as The Five Tool Collector, featuring the musings of the world's biggest Billy Pierce fan, CommishBob.  For a little over three years now, I've subscribed to his posts about Pierce oddballs and Baltimore Colts ephemera without ever making contact with the man behind the keyboard, beyond a comment here and there.  What can I say - I'm a bit of a wallflower.  Thankfully, not everyone on the blogosphere is as reserved as I am.

A couple of weeks ago, the Commish reached out to me on Twitter and let me know he had something that he wanted to send my way.  I'm never going to turn down free cards, especially from such an established blogger; however, this mailing had a very clandestine aura around it.  Without divulging exactly what he was sending, the Commish informed me that the first part would actually be for my wife.  Hmmm...

This flock of ducks flew into town a little bit quicker than part two.  I don't have his note in front of me right now, but, as I recall, this mini, key chain water fowls were part of a charity function at the school where the Commish works when he's not waxing nostalgic about baseball cards.  If you've been paying attention to this blog, you know that my wife collects rubber ducks with the ferocity that I do Cubs trading cards.  Thus, these duckies were an awesome, unexpected gift that made her quite giddy.

I should take this opportunity to mention that this is the SECOND envelope in recent weeks that's included something for my wife as well.  I forgot to properly thank him in my trade wrap-up post last week, but Adam from Cardboard Clubhouse also threw something in for my better half;

That is a Batman Lego set, something that Adam correctly surmised that my wife would like, based on this post.  Batman is certainly one of her favorite superheroes of all-time (however, Wonder Woman ultimately wears the tiara for that honor); plus, we both agree that Lego Batman was the best movie of the year, so far.  We're childish - okay?

To bring this all back together, the wife just so happened to have the perfect place to store her new mini-figure and bat-gadget:

On the back of her Joker rubber duck.  Yes, that is a thing.  It all comes back to rubber ducks with her.  Adam, thank you for including that Lego set in with your latest round of cardboard - it was greatly appreciated and my wife is tickled pink that people keep mailing her stuff with my cards.

At this point, I'm starting to wonder if my blog is being slowly taken over by the lady...

Anyway, back to the Commish's mailings.  While part one was exclusively for my lovely wife, part two was promised to be exclusively for me.  Rubber ducks are cool and all, but I definitely prefer my cardboard rectangles.  The Commish certainly did not disappoint on that front.  On Monday, the second bubble mailer arrived on doorstep and it started off with a bang:

Normally, Chapman would be brought in to close, but he's going to lead off the baseball content in this post.

This shiny, chrome parallel from the latest version of Topps Heritage looks quite nice in hand, even considering my distaste for Aroldis as a person. Interestingly enough, while Chappy appears as a Cub in this flashy parallel, his base card features him in his new-again Yankee pinstripes. You might be wondering to yourself, how does that happen? Well J Meeks from My Cardboard Habit actually has a nice write-up with an answer on his blog and you should check it out when you get a chance.

Accompanying the mercenary Cub was a further sampling of Heritage:

I haven't bought much Heritage this time around, even though I'm one of the seemingly few who like the "burlap" design.  Thus, I'm thrilled to have so many singles popping up in trades over the past few weeks. 

I already had that League Leaders card on top of this column (thanks, Stealing Home!); but, now with two, I can include one each in my Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lesters PC's.  Plus, as you might have guessed, anything with World Series folk-hero Kyle Schwarber or reigning MVP Kris Bryant on it might as well be gold in Chicago; so, any time they roll into my mailbox, my wallet feels a little bit safer.

Speaking of recent products that I haven't opened much of in 2017...

I've opened two packs of Opening Day since it was released - the price point is phenomenal, but the parallel/repeat nature of the base set really dulls the enthusiasm.  At least the inserts show some creativity.

The Incredible Eats set is certainly unique and showcases signature concessions from various ballparks.  For the Cubs and Wrigley Field, we get hot dogs & onions, which I don't recall actually being a thing; I was just discussing this matter with JediJeff from 2x3 Heroes a few days ago.  Of course, I am boring and usually eat my hot dogs plain or with a touch of mustard, so I may be the wrong person to ponder.  That said. wouldn't a Chicago style hotdog been a more apt choice?

Continuing on the "fairly new products that Tony hasn't done much with so far" vein:

This is the very first '17 Topps Sticker to make it's way into my hands.  If we could just blend the Sticker set with Opening Day (original design, bargain basement price point), we'd have one heckuva product.  As it stands, the mini stickers do look quite nice, on their own.  In fact, they almost seem more like a Flagship base design than Flagship.

I especially like that Rizz is doing his best Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli impression here, with the finger guns a blazin'.  Eyyyyyyyyyy!

And now, for some more singles from relatively recent releases:

Here we have Rizzo again with his fellow co-founder of the Bryzzo Souvenir Company - they put the ding in dinger.

If you haven't seen these advertisement spots yet, you simply must take a couple of minutes out of your day to watch them:

#ThisSeason on Baseball: The #Bryzzo Souvenir Company is getting bigger and better. pic.twitter.com/WzwUhB1ScB

— MLB (@MLB) March 31, 2017

You're welcome!

A couple more recent cards, featuring heroes of the young season, so far.  Jake the Snake hurled six strong innings in the Cubs' first win of the 2017 campaign and appears on a Bunt single from late last year (and my favorite product in '16).  Meanwhile, Willson Contreras smashed a three-run homer in the ninth inning to tie their season opener against the Cards, although that game was eventually lost.  Appropriately enough, this Heritage Now & Then insert highlights his first ever MLB home run, which just so happened to occur in his first at-bat, on the first pitch.

Here's hoping these guys create a few more highlights in the games to come.

Wrapping up the baseball portion of the package, we go backwards in time a couple of decades, to the early 1990's.  1991 Donruss might be one of those ubiquitous junk wax era sets, but I'm fairly sure that I didn't have the Ryne Sandberg from that collation yet.  Along with Ryno, the Commish also included a Stadium Club Shawn Boskie from 1992.  Look at all that crisp, green grass; Stadium Club has always been an aesthetically pleasing set.

That was of the baseball content found within the Commish's second bubble mailer; however, that was not the last of the cards to be found.  He was also able to add a few new names off to a pair of my other sporting collections:

The Commish graciously upgraded the Paul Gillis slot in my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection from a Nordiques artifact to a proper Blackhawks card.  I tell ya, Paul looks absolutely thrilled about this development on the updated card, doesn't he?

Paul only played 15, unproductive games across two partial seasons with the Chicago ice hockey brigade; so, I'm actually kind of surprised that he shows up on a O-Pee-Chee card in an Indianhead sweater, at all.  I love surprises!

Now, it's time that we transition from the ice to the hardwood:

I have not been pursuing my Bulls roster collection nearly as passionately as my Cubs, Bears, Blackhawks, or even my NASCAR collations.  I'm going to blame that on the fact that Da Bulls have been so painfully underwhelming over the past few years.  That said, I'm still more than happy to add new names to that binder when they come my way, especially when they're member of those legendary teams of the 1990's

Randy Brown was a key component off the bench for the second three-peat and, while he only played one year in the Windy City, Corey Williams earned a ring (coming off of the bench, as well) in 1993.  Those teams were absolutely stacked!

With that, we have finally come to the end of CommishBob's two mailings - there many ducks to bring a smile to my wife's face, several new Cubs cards, a new addition to my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection, and two new additions to the Bulls All-Time Roster Collection.  Bob sure knows how to make an introduction, huh?

I know you said not to worry about sending anything back, but I don't know if I can let such good deeds go unrewarded. Although, if , before that happens, this blog makes a full shift over from sports cards to rubber ducks in the near future, just assume that my wife has completed her hostile take over of my blog.

We shall see.

Custom Cars and Custom Cards

This is about a week and a half late, but a couple weekends ago, the wife and I made our annual pilgrimage to the mechanized circus that is the Chicago Auto Show.  Neither one of us are what you might traditionally refer to as "gear heads," though I think everybody has a certain affinity for fast cars.  Not to mention, in years past, it made for a handy setting to preview potentially purchasable automobiles, which is how we ended up with a 2016 KIA Soul in our driveway, last summer.

Plus, there's tons of free swag.

Seriously, with all of the tote bags that the manufacturers hand out every year, we haven't had to buy a reusable grocery bag in three years.  Instead, Toyota, Ford, KIA, etc. all get free advertising while I do my shopping at Aldi.  It's not just tote bags though; this year, I also ended up with pens, stickers, coupons for Chicago street parking, a deck of cards and my own, custom baseball card:

Wait, what?

Yup, this year, the Chevrolet, the official vehicle of Major League Baseball had a photo booth set-up in order to create custom trading cards for show-goers.  I found one of these customs, lost and trampled on the sidewalk, while we were making our way up to McCormick Place and I instantly knew where our first stop was going to be.  What can I say?  I'm just a giant man-child.  Also, I'm nowhere near as intimidating of a mound presence as Randy Johnson, try though I may.  I only wish that I had opted to wear my Cubs jersey that morning, instead of a beat up, old Sex Pistols t-shirt.

Apparently, Topps was in on this game as well; as you can see, their logo appears on the upper right corner of my card.

The backside of these cards featured a boilerplate advertisement for Chevrolet; thus, their incentive for printing up these free goodies.  After all, they do now have a permanent advertisement in my baseball card collection, so I can't say that this was a bad idea by their creative team.  Not that Chevrolet truly needs to worry about brand penetration, anyway.

As quality of the giveaways, they were instantly printed onto thin cardstock (slightly thicker than normal computer paper, but not much), with perforated edges for quick separation.  In other words, about what you'd expect for something you didn't have to pay so much as a penny to obtain.

Here's a peak behind the curtain, as they ushered me in front of a green screen for my closeup.  Just off camera, there was a shelving unit and some bins filled with sporting equipment to use as props - I didn't just show up randomly with my own glove, after all.  In addition to baseball, other options included soccer, basketball, something else that I can't remember (probably football), and Batman... yup, Batman.

As you can plainly see, my wife opted to go the Batman route.  The day after our little excursion to the Auto Show, The Lego Batman movie was due to open in theaters, nationwide; therefore, they were promoting their film hardcore and, apparently, Chevy was a sponsorship partner.  In addition to their offering of Batman customs, they also had a full-scale replica of the Batmobile made entirely out of Lego bricks and the opportunity to construct your own mini-model.  In short, they were heavy on the Batman.

Also, I just have to say, The Lego Batman movie was absolutely hilarious and, if you're a fan of the Batman franchise or superhero movies in general, you need to see it.

A rule that my wife obviously believes in.

Now, as I mentioned, there were countless other giveaways, freebies and swag items strewn throughout the various manufacturer stations.  Unfortunately, there were no more trading cards to be found on the show floor, but there were some similar items.

One of the major draws for me at this event is the inclusion of race cars in some of the displays.  Most of my early teen years were spent watching NASCAR races religiously every Sunday and any other form of motorsport I could find on TV.  Furthermore, to this day, I still make it out to Indianapolis every May to take in time trials for the Indy 500.  Cubs baseball might be my favorite sport, but auto racing is definitely high on my list as well.

Therefore, I couldn't help but stop to fawn over the rallycross Beetle (driven by Scott Speed) at the Volkswagen spaces and the NHRA Top Fuel dragster (piloted by Tony Schumacher) that was part of the U.S. Army display.  Unfortunately, I did forget to snap pictures of these impressive examples of automotive and racing innovation; but, I was lucky enough to score the above Speed decal and Schumacher hero card, gratis.  I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but they were cool and free, so...

Anyway, that about sums up our experience at the Chicago Auto Show in 2017.  We saw some impressive automobiles, dodged and dived through thick crowds, ate some junk food, got tons of free swag and, most importantly, got our faces emblazoned on our very own baseball cards.  I'd certainly call that a successful afternoon.

Custom baseball cards at the Auto Show... life is just full of surprises.

A Cardboard Date

Ah c'mon - that's not the kind of cardboard date that I'm talking about.

I know you're probably all sick and tired of hearing about it my now, but my wife and I just got married a little over a week ago.  Time and time again I'm reminded that it's a damn good thing I locked her down because she is probably the coolest life partner that a guy could ask for.  After all, on one of our few and precious weekends where we are both off work and are otherwise unencumbered, not only did she allow me to sneak over to the card shop, she actually wanted to come with me. So, we had ourselves a little cardboard date.  This is the kind of thing that I dreamed about, as a kid.

Ever the documentarian, thanks to her, I now know exactly how I look when I peruse my favorite storefront:

Behold,  me with my awkward T-Rex arm, opening the portal to the land of treasures - Baseball Dreams and Memories in Crestwood, IL.  Of course, I allowed my wife to enter this cave of wonders first - chivalry ain't completely dead, after all.

Here I am, in deep and total concentration, as I gaze into each glass case in search of new cardboard rectangles to add to my various collections.  Also, apparently my wallet is about to burst out of my back pocket; I can say for certain that is not because it is fat with stacks of cash.  Rather, I think it's time for me to start breaking in a new pair of blue jeans.

At this point, my personal paparrazo ceased her following and put her camera phone away to do some questing of her own.  You see, she too collects cards - which is something you might know if you've been reading Wrigley Roster Jenga for a while - just not the same way that I do.  More on that later.  First, I'd like to show off what I discovered during our little card shop date:

The first round pick out of the 2014 draft has been something of a disappointment in his first year of NHL action - in 32 games played, the center has just 7 points an a +/- rating of -3.  He's even been demoted to the AHL for a bit.  However, you have to consider that the 20 year old was skating with the University of North Dakota last season; he's got plenty of time to develop.  In fact, it wouldn't be hard to argue that he was brought up a touch too early.

Regardless, I still needed a card of the rookie for my All-Time Blackhawks collection and this single from the Walmart exclusive 16-17 Parkurst release will fill Nick's slot quite nicely.  Now, I also need to track down the Tyler Motte rookie, for the very same purposes.

The only other card that I was able to track down during our little adventure was this 2016-17 O-Pee-Chee card of short-term Hawk, Tomas Fleischmann.  The left winger was acquired prior to the trading deadline last season,  along with Dale Weise, as reinforcement for their playoff run. Unfortunately, that trade didn't work out particularly well, as Tomas contributed just 5 points, along the way, before becoming a free agent.  As of yet, he has yet to see further professional action.

I can say, with certainty, that this is (and will be) his only Chicago Blackhawks card.  Honestly, I'm fairly surprised that he got one at all, but here we are.  The OPC will be replacing the following card in my Blackhawks binder:

This Upper Deck single makes use of a phenomenal goal shot from Tomas' time with the Florida Panthers; nevertheless, Indian head sweaters will always take priority in my collection.  Plus, I prefer to use cards where you can actually see the player's face.  

Meanwhile, I made mention earlier in this post about how my wife spent a good amount of time sifting through cards, herself; you see, she too collects.  While I focus on the Cubs, Blackhawks, Bears, Bulls and NASCAR, she focuses all of her collecting energy on Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids:

It makes sense - she's a huge fan of biting social commentary and plain, old fashioned, juvenile humor.  What other trading card products blend those two qualities as well as GPK and the Wackies? We both agree that the answer is none.

We also both agree that the "Frisk Me" airport security sticker on the left was the best of the bunch; even if it has taken on a whole new meaning. this weekend.  Meanwhile, the "Franken Bury" isn't particularly clever, but the strawberry, monster cereal is her very favorite breakfast treat.

Some "Punkin' Donuts" to start your day off right - I especially enjoy the white pastry in the right front, sporting the Misfits' devilock, doing it's best Jerry Only impression.  I think I can also spot of Joey Ramone look-a-like in there.

Anywho, with as often as she runs to the real place for her morning coffee, I'm not surprised that she was attracted to this Dunkin parody.

Apparently, my sister-in-law has a compulsive issue when it comes to washing her hands and is a borderline germaphobe. In all of the years I've known her, this is something that I was not aware of.  But, my companion says it's true and that she bought the Wacky Pack on the left, just for her.  I wonder if I have to learn about the rest of my in-laws' quirks from old stickers?

Lastly, we have the only Garbage Pail Kid of the bunch, Mr. Tommy Gun, which is fairly self-explanatory.  I guess it's only appropriate for a Chicago resident to have a card featuring a Capone era gangster.

With that, we had finished exhausted our interests in the purveyors stock, so we payed the kind man and went about the rest of our day.  Of course, we had to pose for a picture with our spoils, in the parking lot, before we could do anything else.  Pics or it didn't happen, right?

In short, let me just say that I can't believe how lucky I am that I found a partner in crime who not only supports my, admittedly, somewhat childish hobby, but openly partakes in it herself.  Of course, that is just one in her long list of countless qualities that make her my favorite person in the world, but it's one that cannot be underestimated.  Is anyone else out there lucky enough to share this hobby with their significant other?

All I know that any day spent with my wife is a good day - add in a trip to the card shop and it instantly becomes a fantastically great, super awesome, fun day.