Whatcha Doon these days?

I feel like the only thing Quarantine is missing is a return from Napkin Doon. We can all dream, right? Napkin Doon has not blogged since March 4, 2014. But I can assure you he's still an active collector, building up a very impressive Topps Project 2020 run. You should all encourage him to stop being so selfish and sell his cards and take his family on a cross-country road trip.

The king of the Doon-boggles sent me a really nice package recently. Knowing I am a "card crafter", he's been setting aside boxes from blasters for me to make coasters out of. Admittedly, I need to a do a better job with my coasters using cardboard. They cardboard cracks and looks a little weird. There must be a better way. Here's an example of some I've made in the past:

Doon sent a whole bunch of blasters, showing that he's been actively collecting and even Zion hunting.

Very cool! And not the easiest thing to ship.

He also included a team bag of Yankees, including an awesome Gleyber Torres Finest. I never get Finest in trade packages, so I was pretty pumped!

He added to why Gerrit Cole collection as well. Can this guy finally take the mound, please?

A couple more fun Yanks from products of yesteryear! Flair, Heritage, and Gallery?! That's the good stuff.

Thanks, Doon. Feel free to fire up the blog any day now.

Non-sports cards?

Do any of you collect non-sports cards?

Personally, I don't. They've never really interested me. It's why Allen & Ginter isn't something I enjoy. Back in the day I definitely got into some of the GI Joe cards for a while. But it was always a pretty quick thing for me.

While making my bookmarks and coasters, I've been doing some eBay searches for wax wrappers, and I was very surprised to see how many non-sports trading cards their used to be. Check out this assortment of wrappers!

Basically, if it was in the theater or on TV, there was a card set, it seems.

What's weird is that at CVS or the grocery store, I never remember seeing anything other than Topps baseball! Or maybe I just never noticed?

The wrappers are cool though.

What are some non-sports sets I should focus on for my bookmarks and coasters? I'm open to suggestions.

Oh there's no place like Doon for the holidays

Blogging legend Napkin Doon recently went on a Topps Holiday binge, and he was kind enough to send me an early holiday package.

Last I knew, he was building the 2019 Topps Holiday set, but was closing in on completion. I'm not sure if he's 100% there or not. To help his cause, he joined Trading Card Database. You can find him here.

Santa Doon's package consisted of a few items, including two broken down blaster boxes of the product itself. Doon has noticed I'm a crafting geek and make some coasters out of old blasters, so he helped send me some supplies. These will go to good use.

And if you're wondering, here was my first dabble at coasters. More to come.

I saw a lot of critics of this set from the whiney card collecting community on Twitter. Me? I think it's great. The design is a lot better than the snowflake pattern of the last few years. I don't even mind the gimmicky present and candy cane short prints and all that. To me, this is the perfect time to be gimmicky in a fun product like this.

Doon sent me my first sampling of them, and I like them in person as much as I hoped I would. Well done here, Topps.

While I remember the pattern of the last few years, I didn't remember this one from 2017. The snowflakes are embossed and sparkly. I thought that was cool. 

Nap also sent me a nice team bag of cards, included some Clint Fraziers. I still like Frazier a lot and seems like he always get a raw deal. He'll hit 40 HRs for the Pirates one of these years.

A nice numbered card of Yankees HOFer Mike Mussina! No logo on his cap if fitting!

And here's a lazy photo of a stack of cards. There was a nice Judge Bowman, and a vintage Bobby Richardson.

Thanks, Nap. As for everyone else, feel free to flood his TCDB was trade offers and pleas to come back to blogging.

Coastin' through life

Increasingly, I feel like I’ve fallen into a rut of boredom.

Now, that’s hard to fully do with a 5 and 3 year old, I just mean me, personally. I love watching the Yankees each night after work, even when they stink as they do now, but I’ve started to realize it’s too easy to just come home, help get the kids to bed, and then just retire to a night of laziness on the couch and repeat the next day.

In order to try and motivate myself and just spice up my work/life balance a bit, I’ve taken on a few card/hobby-related projects. There is an upcoming massive reorganization of my collection, but in the meantime, this is helping me get off my butt…or at least relocate my butt.

First and foremost, for the first time in several years, I started a baseball painting. I’m definitely rusty, but it does feel good to be doing this again. Here’s a little sneak peek at the progress. I’m not saying who it is just yet – hint, it’s not Aaron Judge.

Second, I started a smaller project which has always interested me. Eventually, I want to take an old coffee table and redo the surface with baseball cards finished with epoxy resin. I’ve seen a lot of photos of these, and think it’s a great way to display some cards with a unique piece of furniture. I’ve assured my wife I’ll hide it in the attic or something.

However, I don’t trust myself to start this with no practice, so I’m trying to get used to the process and materials by making some coasters. These were easy, although I definitely don’t have the gumption to try the epoxy resin mixture yet. I simply made these by using a few pieces of standard bathroom tile ($.16/each at Home Depot), a few layers of Mod Podge glue, and a clear acrylic spray sealant.

I don’t love how these came out. As expected, the newer cards (notably the Mantle from 2012 Topps) were a little too thick and the edges started to come up. I also can’t seem to get the brush ridge marks off of these, and feel like there must be a way to get surface a little smoother (note: some research has shown that adding some water to the mixure will smooth it out). I also think I need to spend more time pressing the card down so it adheres in the corners, versus just putting the card down and sealing over it quickly. Unsurprisingly, the ’87 Topps stuck best, and I feel like more traditional, thin cards without much gloss will probably work best.

So as to not have a bunch of “samples” laying around, I’m sending these home with my little brother, who is in town for a few days. I have four gray spray-painted tiles waiting in the garage, and will try a few more cards this weekend – likely of Tino. Eventually I’ll get to making the table, but for now, it’s all about trial and error and trying to make these look good.