3D Fireworks

During my heyday of collecting cards (the 90's) there was no shortage of gimmicks. In the mid-90's Pinnacle Brands brought back the SportFlix brand. At least to me these sets never really gained much of a following within the hobby, but I have always enjoyed things that were a bit different.

Lenticular cards are nothing new. However there are certain sets that use this card technology that I like and the 1995 Detonators set found in SportFlix is one of those. I'm not sure why as it tends to have a gaudy design, but it's a set I started building years ago when I was hosting group breaks on a regular basis.

For years I only had one card from the set (Frank Thomas), but it was enough to make me want more. However like many things, this set fell on the back burner, so much that I forgot about it. Recently however I had a few virtual bucks burning a virtual hole in my virtual pocket so I decided to see what cards from this set I could find. My results yielded 3 cards shipped for less than 3 bucks.

So there you have a few more pure 90's cheese I've added to my collection. The insert set is only 9 cards deep so that leaves me with 5 cards left. My want list has been updated.

Prepping some mail

Just because I haven't been as active on my own blog doesn't mean I haven't been active in other ways. Two particular bloggers have sent me some stuff in the last month or so and it's time I return the favor! I never want anyone to think I take others for granted or I'm "that guy" never sends anything back.

Let's just say if you are a fan of certain red bird or a west coast friar, you'll have a little package on it's way to you after Memorial Day.

I also hope to resume trading on my end very soon as well. If you've contact me about a trade, just hang in there. I'm still working 60+ hours in my new position, but I'm starting to figure everything out and hope to have at least a few moments where I can pull and mail some cards. Maybe if I'm lucky I can even scan some cards too!

Just when I thought I was back in the swing of things, life happens

As the title of this post says, life happens. At the beginning of this month my employer was acquired my a larger competitor. I went from wondering if I was going to have a job moving forward to receiving a promotion! While I used to work primarily by myself in an office, I now find myself covering quite a bit of ground. This means I'm not sitting in front of a computer anymore and when I am the last thing I have time for is blogging.

This leaves me to jumping online on my laptop after my wife and kids are in bed...a la the Night Owl. However this also means that I'm usually tired and not on my A game. While I'm not ready to hang it up by any means, I won't be able to post with the same frequency. I still hope to continue trades and posting new acquisitions, but I know I won't be around as much as I'd like.

Isn't it funny that the more money you make, the less time it seems you have to enjoy it? While I'm not making significantly more money in my new position, I've found myself working way more than the 40 hours I'm accustomed to working. I hope I can use a few extra dollars in my pay check come this summer to pick up a box of Allen & Ginter. I figure now is a good time to place a pre-order before the prices start to rise the closer we get to release day. So the question is, which online vendor should get my money? Who has the best prices?

One of the perks of the job is a new iPhone, laptop and printer/scanner. Once I get those set up then perhaps I can scan some of my recent pick ups. So until then I'll drop in when I can and try to keep up with so many of the great blogs I've become familiar with over the last 8 years or so.

A proud moment

OK, this isn't cardboard related. It is baseball related however. Tonight my 3 and 5 year old daughters had their 1st t-ball practice!

Winnie, 3, was up first. Her first swing was more tee than ball, but she didn't get upset. She dug in and got ready for her next swing.

Watching the kids stand there watching their ball roll into the infield, only for the ball to be swarmed by a mob of kids is hilarious. I had to yell to Winnie to drop the bat and run to first!

Winnie loved running the bases. Here she stands on 3rd base watching her sister warming up in the batters box.

Olivia, 5, was next. She is a leftie, one of the few out there today. She squared herself up to the ball as she saw others do before her.

Contact! The ball rolled up to the pitchers mound and poof! Here comes the mob.

Livi patiently stands on first, waiting for her chance to run to second base.

Livi already has the fielding pose down...however a few balls went right underneath her glove and between her legs. Guess I know what I'll be working on with her this weekend.

Winnie seemed a little more "distracted", however she was right there in the thick of things trying to get the ball.

At the end of practice the coach had them huddle up to say a prayer. My girls put their hands on each other's shoulders.

Seeing their smiles on their face and watching them have fun was awesome. It brought back so many memories of when I played ball. They are already to hit the field again next Friday and this proud dad will be right there cheering them on!

More Gypsy Queen - Braves and Trade Goods

The local Walmart near my work restocked their Gypsy Queen hanger boxes so I grabbed two more. Still haven't landed a auto or anything good like that, but at least the first box I opened up had several Braves!

Two base cards of two Hall of Frame Braves pitchers, Smoltz and Glavine. Even scored the Pearl Framed Paper parallel of Smoltz! One of the 6 minis between the two boxes was of new outfielder, Nick Markakis!

Knocked off 4 more inserts from the want list as well - two for Glove Stories and two for Walk-Off Winners.

Here are the cards (minus the base) that went up earlier on my trade list. Still plenty I need so hopefully someone will come along and need something above.

Today's post features 1 (struggling) Brave and 2 guys I wish were still Braves

The 2015 baseball season, both on the field and in cardboard for the Braves has been interesting. On the field, the team got off to a red hot 6-1 start, before running into problems with both starting pitching and the bullpen.

On the cardboard front, many of the early 2015 cards feature players that aren't even Braves as of the start of the season. This is in large part because of the many late off season trades the club made. However I still try to acquire new Braves cardboard when I can and here are a few of my latest acquisitions.

The smattering of colored parallels for Gypsy Queen has begun. I was able to snag this Gold parallel of Alex Wood's mini (#05/99) for around $3 shipped.

While I miss seeing Heyward in a Braves uni patrolling left field, his replacement (Nick Markakis) has done an admiral job at filling his shoes. What I don't get is why so many of Heyward's inserts still feature him as a Brave when he's a Cardinal in the base set?

I've actually been trying to pick up this 2014 Panini Immaculate Collection card of Hudson for several months now...but the price was always more than I wanted to pay. However this low serial numbered card (45/49) finally became mine for just a few bucks last week. Like Heyward, this one has him as a Braves player too.

Pack Break: 1989 Topps Nintendo Game Pack

In a recent retro video game purchase I made came one sealed pack of 1989 Topps Nintendo Game Pack cards. I've seen packs of these cards at throwback stores and at card shows, but I've never purchased a pack, yet alone opened one. I've been meaning to share the contents of this pack for some time, but just have been busy with work and such. However the time for procrastinating is over!

I haven't opened a vintage wax pack in some time! Just opening this brought me back to my beginnings with baseball cards. Alright, 5 cards total - 3 scratch offs and 2 stickers...with top secret tips! 

It appears the scratch off cards are actually some type of game...fitting considering the overall Nintendo theme. Scratch off 3 bats and you lose, but if you can find 1 arrow plus either 2 kicks, 3 elbows or 4 punches and you win and advance. I guess there are multiple Double Dragon scratch off cards as it says Screen 4 of 10 underneath the game logo.

Super Mario Bros. 2 scratch off up next. Same premise as above. Scratch to reveal certain items to win the game and advance. This is Screen 3 of 10.

Wouldn't be a complete pack without something Zelda related. This game seems pretty forward. 3 swords and you win or 3 fireballs and you lose.

The stickers come with these hideous, yet cool all yellow backgrounds. Billy Lee here of Double Dragon fame. On the flip side is one of these Top Secret Tips the pack mentioned...however it's for Super Mario Bros. and not for Double Dragon?! Did you read the tip? That's not a Top Secret Tip! That is common sense!

The last card in the pack is a sticker card for Punch-Out!! I must have been the one kid growing up in the 80's that could have cared less for Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. Just never could get into the game. This card's tip is for the Legend of Zelda. At least this is something that not everyone may have known about when originally playing the game back in the day.

Overall this was a fun pack to open and now it's got me wondering how hard it'd be to find a sealed box of this stuff. Being that I'm a retro gamer and all it'd be fun to build this set. What do you think about these cards? Have you seen them before? Have any in your collection?