Shoulda been Sundays - Card #3

Since I am still on vacation, this week's shoulda-been card is one from the vault.

1982 Kellogg's 3-D Cal Ripken:

Rest in Peace, Scott.

I was lucky enough to have met Scott Zensen last year. Sadly, Scott passed away unexpectedly yesterday.


Scott meant so much to the San Diego music scene. He was an avid photographer, tremendous fan of the scene, and published My Week in Music. What began as a myspace blog, turned into an amazing online chronicle of San Diego music. I hope someone can carry on his work. Since he took most of it on by himself, sadly, I find it unlikely that dozens of people working together full-time could keep it going.

I am thankful that I knew Scott Zensen.

I made this card a couple of months ago. It is one of my favorites. I don't know if he ever saw it. The Post cereal cards from the early 60's are some of my favorites. Scott was one of my favorites.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42...

I am thankful to be with my family this Thanksgiving. Spending a week away from the office is a blessing as well. I am usually grateful for mass quantities of food. Unfortunately, I started a diet a couple weeks ago. Turkey day will be a test of my will power.

My strategy for cutting back on Thanksgiving is to adopt the losing game plan of many teams. I will look past this week's opponent. Not unlike what the Chargers have done for the first 13 weeks, I will simply look beyond my adversary. It won't be that hard. Thanksgiving is nothing compared to the biggest danger to my belly...

No, not christmas cookies... Not boozin' it up on New Year's Eve... I need to be very careful of the enemy that arrives in 57 days...

LOST is coming back in 57 days! I just wanna be like Hurley! I may have misled you when I said that my two passions were baseball cards and music. Those two should only be classified as hobbies. LOST is my passion. If it seems strange to you that someone might be passionate about a TV show... you have never seen this show.

December 9th through December 11th there will be no posts due to a pending illness.

Shoulda been Sundays - Card #2

We received quite a few requests for "shoulda-beens" this week. I have quite a few ready to roll, but this post is titled "Shoulda been Sundays - Card #2" not "Cards #2-14".

This request was one of many Dodgers (yecch!) from the good folks at the garveyceyrusselllopes blog (gcrl for short.) I presented all of the cards that I had finished to our editorial department; she chose this one. So, in the spirit of National League West unity, I present to you the 1970 Topps Don Drysdale:

This photo was, once again, brazenly stolen from Steve's Baseball Photography Pages.

Keep sending those requests in to punkrockpaint@gmail.com. PunkRockPaint will be in the Pacific Northwest this week to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. If we get the chance to hop down to Portland from Seattle, we hope to bow at the alter of Padrographs.

I would like to thank everyone that has sent packages o' Padres my way in the last couple of weeks. Parcels shipped yesterday to Thoughts and Sox, The Nennth Inning, Dinged Corners, Indians Baseball Cards... and then some, Thorzul Will Rule, and Eric Slette.

I still owe a HUGE debt to John in the UK and Rod in Portlandtown, Oregon.

PS- If anyone comes across a color photo of Juan Marichal in a Dodgers uni... let me know.

Field Trip...

If you are ever in Illinois, do yourself a favor and visit Uglee, Inc.

I have always been a big fan of their work.

For my friends at Dinged Corners...

It is good to know that Lucy could grow up to be anything she wants to be...

Shoulda been Sundays - Card #1

First card for a new series - 1977 Topps Hank Aaron:

Photo borrowed from Steve's Baseball Photography Pages (Awesome!)

I am accepting requests for future posts. Please submit your requests via email punkrockpaint@gmail.com

Requests via the comment section will NOT be accepted.

Hope is the last thing to go...

I had to go to Wal Mart yesterday. I had to. I needed... stuff. The lines to check out were ridiculously long. Luckily, they opened a new lane just as I walked by. I barely noticed that it was the aisle with the sports cards. It was merely coincidence that I happened to be standing near that aisle, and even more coincidental that there was one lonely blaster of Allen & Ginter on the shelves.


Sure I picked it up. Maybe I stared longingly at it. I may have held it under my nose and inhaled deeply. It is entirely possible that I caressed the plastic wrapped tightly around its sharp corners.




I have completed the set, but the memories remain...




I put down the A&G and grabbed a 16 pack "cold shower" repack. If anything can make you forget your addiction, opening 16 unwanted packs of cards will make you quit cold turkey... Or will it?

The first pack was 1989 Donruss... Mmmmm, Donruss! I snapped some photos of the "unopened" packs, just in case you don't believe that they would really put such rare and valuable packs in a "repack" box.

I am pretty sure I have a few of these packs hiding around the house. You never know when you'll have to pay your electric bill with a Ken Griffey Jr. Rated Rookie.

Before you ask... I don't have a Tupperware container for brown rice.



They say microwave cooking tastes like cardboard...



I always thought the '89 design was cool...





Clean lines, sparkling design, with no caked on food or grease...


Okay... That was lame. Sorry.





I will show you the best card that I pulled out of each pack too! Try to contain yourselves!



"Flash" Gordon rookie! Sweeeeeet!











Next came a pre-opened, unopened pack of 1990 Topps. Those darn pack searchers broke my gum!










Wow! I am bummed. If they left these cards in the pack, they must have stolen a Frank Thomas NNOF rookie card. I always wanted one of those... So I could write his name in the box

















Awesome! Another pack of 1989 Donruss!













This Would have been a great pull in 1989. Now... Meh.

Nowadays, this pull is pretty awesome... for Dayf, at least.

Ooh! I never opened any of these... I heard that they are so red they have been banned at the bullfights in Tijuana for fear of inciting stampedes. In Mexico, these cards are supposedly called "Los Tarjetas del Dia Primero." Which loosely translated means "The Devil's Cards."

Don't quote me on that. My spanish is none so bueno.








Man! How does Eric not burst into flames? Oh, wait. He's a Sundevil... Mt. Carmel High School Rules!!! Suck it, Poway!

I like the Big Papi puzzle.












Topps 2007 Updates and Highlights: Not much to say...

What is this??? A patch card??? Cool!

2007 Upper Deck. Boring.

Well this card is anything but boring! That is an action shot! Sorry, Justin. No matter how much you kick your leg up or lean backwards, that ball is leavin' the park.

1990 Upper Deck Series One. No Reggies for me to find :(

WHAT IS THIS??? The SUPER-RARE 1990 DALE MURPHY REVERSE NEGATIVE!!!

I can't find it in my price guide... It must be priceless!




On to the next pack... 2005 Leaf. I bought a box of this stuff back in ought-five and pulled NOTHING!!!

Okay. That is freakin' cool! Downright awesome... I guess I should have waited a couple years before buying that box. Is that TWO patch cards in one "repack" box??? So much for cold turkey. I am goin' back to Wal Mart tomorrow!!! (or maybe I just beat the odds.)

And it is numbered... TO HIS MOM'S FAVORITE NUMBER!!! Woo Hoo! 1 of 1!!!

Next pack: 2007 Bowman. Let me guess... Chrome Superduperfractor Autograph...

Nope. Larry.

2006 Upper Deck Series Two:

I feel stupid for not reading the fine print. Why have I been buying these things?

Hey, Arod. Your speed's not the only thing that'll burn if you keep hangin' out with Madonna.















Sorry it is a little dark, but this is a pack of 2005 Donruss Leather and Lumber. The way this box is going, I am almost excited to see what I pull from this pack...

Yup. The blank anti-search card was the best thing in the pack. I was actually kind of surprised it wasn't some kind of autographed, game used, one of one, insert card. Oh, well.

Next up, another dark pack. This one is 2004 Donruss Team Heroes. They claim it is the "Ultimate Set." Hmmmm.

Well, that is cool... Ultimate? Not so sure.

After a couple of Donruss sorbet to clense the palate, back to Upper Deck- 2005 version.

I guess I never bought any Upper Deck cards in 2005... Strangely unfamiliar. Not much in this pack.

TOPPS 2007 BATTLE: SERIES ONE vs. SERIES TWO

12 cards each, best card wins!!!

Does a gimpy Mantle beat Joe D's streak? Or does a shiny Biggio win? Or do I care?

This is my free bonus. Um, thanks... I guess.

The final tally: 6 Padres - 147 Non-Padres
Two came from the '90 Topps pack and two from the '90 Upper Deck.
That was the year the Padres had a 600 man roster, apparently.

And thanks to the pack searchers, I doubled my haul of gum!!!

Not Again!!!

I found this posted on a tree by my house:

Answers from the Mailbag

From time to time, I will answer important questions and reply to misguided statements left in the comments sections of my posts.

Yesterday's post gave us some good ones:

dayf said...
BACON SALT

My blood pressure and cholesterol just went up 50 points each!

PunkRockPaint says... Bacon Salt is cholesterol free and low in sodium!

thenennthinning said...
you live in sd too? dude, did you realize that there is no card shops in America's finest city??

PunkRockPaint says... There are a few card shops that aren't horrible. Clairemont Sports Cards is pretty good. I can't recall the name, and I have only been to the shop downtown once, but it used to be pretty cool. It reminded me of the card shops in Cooperstown.

--David said...
I told my wife the other day that the secret to all things good was to add bacon, cheese, or preferably, BOTH! Bacon Salt... Ahhh... Glad youthrew the graph out. I looked at it and went, "uuuhhh.." :-)

and...

Duuuude... bacon air freshener for your CAR

PunkRockPaint says... The fine folks that make Bacon Salt also make a cheddar flavor which is supposedly great on popcorn.

I don't need bacon air freshener... I just rub some Baconnaise on my upper lip. It not only keeps the smell of bacon in the air all day, but the glossiness makes it look like I am sweating profusely (so my boss thinks I am focusing on work diligently, instead of answering comments and daydreaming of bacon.)

A Couple of Quick Thoughts...

My 2008 Allen & Ginter set is complete!!! I had two gaping holes in my binder that are now filled! I have mixed feelings about the end. On one hand, it is great to accomplish a goal. On the other, it is a bit of a letdown. I am tempted to work on the mini set, but it seems a little daunting (read: expensive.) It could be fun.

I owe a huge thank you to the people who helped me finish the set: Dayf from Cardboard Junkie took out a big chunk of the cards I was missing. Luckily, I was able to help him finish his set; Tricia from The Hamiltonian graciously sent me the Ichiro I was missing. I have a few Josh Hamiltons heading her way (hopefully, I can dig up a few that she needs.); and Cliff from Capewood's Collections had the final two cards I needed and offered to send them to me.

As I was emailing back and forth with Cliff, a small package addressed to my sister arrived in the mail. It was kind of odd. She lives in Seattle, and I in San Diego. I called her up to let her know that someone got our addresses swithched up.

It turns out that my sister reads my blog. (Hi, sis!) She spent a while on the eBay one day last week and found the last two cards I needed and had them shipped directly to me as a gift for being such an awesome brother. (Well, she didn't use those exact words, but I am sure that's what she meant. :)

Once again, thank you to all that helped. You guys are great! As a special gift, I am giving all my readers a preview of the 2009 Allen & Ginter - PunkRockPaint Wish List.

I spent some time thinking about what insert sets I would want to see in next year’s offering of Allen & Ginter. My initial thirty-seven insert set concepts were narrowed to the top ten via random draw from a hat. I then ranked my choices based on seven criterion:

Theme- How well do the proposed cards match cards or subsets from previous years?

Style- Will the proposed cards fit the late 19th century look of the previous sets?

Likelihood- Would Topps consider producing the proposed cards?

Cost- How cost prohibitive would it be to obtain licensing for subjects in the cards?

Originality- How different are the cards from previously issued cards or subsets?

Popularity- Will the proposed cards create demand based upon their subjects?

Punkability- Is it possible for PunkRockPaint to “create” these new cards using MS Paint?

I gave each of my proposed insert sets a grade from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent) in each category. Rather than base my decisions on an average grade, I used a line graph to simplify the process. (see Figure A)

Figure A

I realized that the graph didn’t simplify the choices. So I chose the winners at random.
Here is the first inert set from the 2009 Allen & Ginter - PunkRockPaint Wish List:

Sporting Trophies:

The next one, chosen at random, was “Greatest Inventions.” Upper Deck stole a little of my thunder with their 2008 Piece of History set. I was more than a little upset by some of their choices for the set… Sure, the cotton gin was an important invention, but it pales in comparison with the most important invention of the 21st century:

Bacon Salt:

Everything should taste like bacon!