Friday, August 2, 2013

The Joy of a Completed Page*...

My quest to own one of every Bip Roberts card ever made is nearing completion. I think I might be the only person to own these ones:


*My little tribute to @cardjunk

Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Terrible Ten...

Last week, Rod Richards of Padrographs fame made a trip to San Diego from his home in Portland. We had met once before, when I was a roadie for a couple of my musician friends on a West Coast tour in 2010. He came to a show in Portland, hung out for a few hours talking Padres, and exchanged some baseball memorabilia.

He drove down to San Diego with a couple of friends that were going to a conference in town. Rod had let me know far enough in advance, so I was able to clear my busy blogging schedule. We planned to catch a Padres game and maybe head out to a couple local card shops for some Bip hunting.

If you are familiar with Rod or Padrographs, you probably know that he is the foremost collector of Bip Roberts baseball cards. His collection of Bips is legendary. You can see it here.

Amazing. Simply stunning.

Rod and I did manage to get to a Padres game at Petco Park. Turns out it was a tribute to the 1998 Padres that night. Rod was able to get Donnie Wall's autograph. Normally, getting Donnie Wall's autograph wouldn't be worthy of a mention, but since Wall was one of only a handful of Padres autos he didn't have on a Padres card (re: the purpose of Padrographs,) it was pretty monumental.

I got to spend a great couple of days with Rod. He brought me a dozen bottles of Portland craft beers. I'm working my way through those at a pretty good rate. The beers were more than enough of a gift, but he didn't stop there...

Rod gave me the greatest baseball card gift that I have ever received:

 

His Bip Roberts collection! I am now the owner/custodian of the world's most amazing Bip Roberts baseball card collection! I'M KING OF THE WORLD!!!

I was able to fill in a couple of holes in the collection (with cards I had meant to send to Rod months ago,) but there are a still some gaps. I call these gaps THE TERRIBLE TEN...

#10- 1990 Coca-Cola Padres #10 (Part of 8-card panel given out to Jr. Padres Club members)
          Every member of the Junior Padres Club got one of these, so I figure I should be able to find one here in San Diego.

#9- 1997 Pacific Light Blue #110 (1 per Wal Mart/Sam's jumbo pack)
          If Rod found one of the (1:73 packs) silver versions, I can find this bad boy.

#8- 1998 Pacific Paramount Platinum Blue #50 (Insert - 1:73 packs)
          This one seems like it will be fairly easy to obtain. There are a lot of these floating around. I expect to see one of these on eBay or COMC sooner rather than later. They are more common than the Holographic Silver one already in the collection.

#7- 1998 Leaf Fractal Matrix Z2 Axis #119 (#d /20)
          The only reason this one is further down the list than some of the less rare cards is the fact that this set was confusing as heck. I figure I may stumble across it. Maybe.

#6- 1989 Coca-Cola Padres #10 (Distributed to Jr. Padres Club members at a specific game)
          Unlike the 1990 version, this card wasn't distributed as part of a sheet to every member of the Junior Padres Club. Kids had to attend a specific, designated game to obtain this card. Still, in San Diego it shouldn't be impossible.

and then it gets tough...



#5- 1991 Padres Smokey #31 (???)
           Well... I've never seen these. I've seen ones from the middle 80's. This may be a postcard and not technically a baseball card. I'm pretty sure it exists. Rod wouldn't have left a spot for it if it didn't exist... Right?

#4- 1998 Pacific Online Winners #283 (In concept, this could be won by inserting a code off of a gold card - 1 per pack - on the interwebs.)
          I found an unopened box of these cards at a toy store that was going out of business at an outlet mall. Absolute crap. I almost hope these don't exist. There is no mention of them in the 2011 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. If Bob Lemke doesn't know about it, I'm assuming it doesn't exist. Rod says it does... Damn. I'll keep looking.

#3- 1991 Coca-Cola Padres #8 (No idea.)
          If this was anything like the other Coca-Cola cards, it should be reasonably easy to find in San Diego. Unfortunately, I've never seen singles or full sheets. Oh, it isn't listed in the Standard Catalog either. Yay! Mystery set!

#2- 1998 Fleer Ultra Masterpiece #452 (One of One)
          There's a chance this is still sitting in an unopened box somewhere. I actually bought a box in '98 and pulled a Masterpiece of Travis Fryman... My name is Travis, so I'm thinking it isn't an impossible find. The Bip 1-of-1 could have been destroyed by a tornado-earthquake-cyclone-typhoon. Actually, Come to think of it, the chance of me finding this one is the exact same as it having been destroyed in a tornado-earthquake-cyclone-typhoon.

#1 1995 Padres CHP (???)
                 Few have ever heard of this set. Nobody has ever seen it. I'm assuming it is a cruel joke. If I haven't seen a Tony Gwynn card from the set. I have to assume the set is a figment of Rod Richard's imagination.

If you have seen/heard of/have a clue where I might find ANY of these cards hit me up at travis@punkrockpaint.com. I'll pay cash money, or trade you whatever you might want.

In retrospect, Rod has cursed me with a horrible burden. I understand completely why he would want to get rid of it.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Call the guys at Olan Mills...

The concept was really funny to me: What if Leaf had made their Studio line of cards back in the '80s. There would be a whole bunch of silly backdrops, and a mess of composite "glamour shots." You know the marketing guys over at Donruss/Leaf would have been on the intercom hollering at a secretary, "Get the Olan Mills people on the line! We're gonna try and work a cooperative crossover!"

 
1984 Studio - Gary Pettis
 
1984 - Tony Gwynn
 
 
The finished product is less than stellar, but it has been a while.
 
(Yeah, I know it's Pettis' little brother - and a photo from '85. It was the first classic Olan Mills pose I thought of.)


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Oscar Night Potluck...

We are bringing drinks to an Oscar party tonight. Kerri wants to bring mules. I'm not a fan of the vodka and ginger beer concoction, but I like that we have copper mugs in which to serve them properly.

The fact that our potluck is Oscar themed isn't stopping us from bringing Kerri's choice of drink:


We are a pretty clever couple (if I do say so myself.)


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sets Are Printed...

I am still boxing sets, but shipping will start soon. For everyone who ordered a set, I'd like to thank you for your patience. This is a lot more work than I anticipated.

(If you ordered a set, please stop reading. Skip to the picture.)

For anyone that didn't get a set: I am sorry, but at least you aren't waiting like these poor suckers. I've got some pretty good ideas for future sets. I'll make sure to give plenty of heads-up before I start selling them.


If slow and steady wins the race, I am probably gonna come in third. Sorting and boxing is tedious.

Thanks again for your patience.


Friday, January 4, 2013

Old Hoss 100...

6:22 pm 1/9/2013 - ONE SET LEFT!

Sets are ready to order! There will only be 84 sets printed, so order soon.* Since you read this rarely updated blog, you receive first chance to order. If you are interested in a set, send an email to travis@punkrockpaint.com with OLD HOSS 100 in the subject line. Include your address, and I will send an invoice within 48 hours.

 
Checklists? Yup. Got 'em right here.
 

 



So, yeah. Price includes shipping. Just shoot me an email (Don't forget "Old Hoss 100" in the subject line.) We can arrange payment via PayPal or whatever. Give them a week or so for delivery.

* By ordering soon, I mean some time in the next year or so.