Denny's! Mmmmm Holograms

Growing up, I had a family friend who frequently went to Denny's. Every summer, as part of their Grand Slam breakfast deal, Denny's put out a set of cards, usually a hologram or some sort of 3D Sportflics-esque card. This family friend presented me with a pack of these cards on a weekly basis or so. I think she went there with her friends after her pals after her morning bowling league. I always enjoyed receiving these. Each team was represented, so it meant I usually got a good player. Plus I loved (and still do) holograms. I even did my sixth grade science project on holograms and even displayed some of these baseball cards and the old team logo hologram stickers that came in packs.

The other day on eBay I was searching for the Yankees from these sets, and ended up finding two unopened packs from 1995 for quite cheap. I scooped them up.

Pack one contained Moises Alou of the Montreal Expos. This probably would have been a pretty sweet card at the time, as the Expos were terrific in 1994 and Alou was a rising star.

Pack two consisted of another young stud at the time - Tim Salmon.

I was hoping for a Yankee or Frank Thomas or Griffey Jr or Ozzie Smith, but no biggie. It was fun opening these packs and bringing back flashbacks from the summer of 1995 when I'd get one of these on a weekly basis.

Pinnacle Zenith

I don't think I ever came across a Pinnacle Zenith card I didn't like. This Tino is no exception. I find Zenith cards weren't really appreciated, but they came out with a lot of really nice sets in the mid to late '90s. If you never picked any up, I recommend them.

$.11

$.11 shipped. I figured if this was in a dime box I probably would have bought it, so when I was able to win it on eBay for $.11 total, I was pleased.

Fleer? 10 cents? Brilliant!

Remember the Guinness guys? Brilliant! That was a good marketing campaign. Memorable, which is all you can ask for really. Whatever happened to those guys? I haven't seen them in a while. I'm not even sure if Guinness has a campaign in the market place right now. You've got the Dos Equis guy, the Miller Lite unmanly dorks, the Heiny guy walking through that party, the Coors Light train on a crowded broken down subway. I'm sure there are more, but I can't recall a current Guinness spot.

Oh yeah, baseball cards. Well I picked up a lot of four 1999 Fleer Brilliants. I had never owned any of these cards, but I couldn't pass up bidding on this auction. The bid started (and ended) and $.01 + $.09 shipping, so I was out a whole dime. The lot consisted of four cards - Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Bruce Chen, and a David Wells blue parallel. The cards are very nice - thick and the coating is very smooth. They have a mirror-like effect which made them hard to scan. In a way, they were Fleer's version of Bowman Platinum.

Here are the Wells and Chen. If any of my Blue Jays or Braves friends want the cards below, let me know. For as sucky as Bruce Chen is, I'm impressed he's still pitching. Just goes to show if you are a lefty and can throw strikes, there is always a place for you.

New goal: 1968 Topps Game Set

I don't have the patience (or funds) to build a full Topps vintage set, as much as I'd love to. Perhaps one day when I have more time and space. I did want to add something to my collection that was both fun to track down as well as attainable. I have decided to pursue the 33-card 1968 Topps Game set.

This set consists of 33 cards that were inserts in the third series of 1968 Topps. I was never a huge fan of baseball card gamse - never got into Topps Attax or MLB Showdown or Donruss Top of the Order, amongst others. I just think these little cards are cool, have a some big-time HOFers in it (including Mantle), and will be a fun set to own.

I currently have one of these cards, so Mr. Joe Torre, thanks for starting off this set! Let me know if you have any others to trade. I'm not going to be picky on condition.

1. Matty Alou

2. Mickey Mantle

3. Carl Yastrzemski

4. Hank Aaron

5. Harmon Killebrew

6. Roberto Clemente

7. Frank Robinson

8. Willie Mays

9. Brooks Robinson

10. Tommy Davis

11. Bill Freehan

12. Claude Osteen

13. Gary Peters

14. Jim Lonborg

15. Steve Hargan

16. Dean Chance

17. Mike McCormick

18. Tim McCarver

19. Ron Santo

20. Tony Gonzalez

21. Frank Howard

22. George Scott

23. Richie Allen

24. Jim Wynn

25. Gene Alley

26. Rick Monday

27. Al Kaline

28. Rusty Staub

29. Rod Carew

30. Pete Rose

31. Joe Torre

32. Orlando Cepeda

33. Jim Fregosi

Vintage Rizzuto from across the pond

"Across the pond." Is that phrase over-used? Simon, do you cringe when you hear it? If so, I'll never use it again. Anyhow, I just completed my second trade with Simon of 7 Hours from Tampa Bay. In a previous trade, Simon ended up with two sweets vintage Yanks - a 1955 Bowman Phil Rizzuto and a 1952 Topps Gene Woodling. I commented that I liked them, Simon emailed me back saying he would trade them to me, and we made a deal.

I like to trade vintage for vintage, but I don't think Simon considers 1998 Rays cards to be vintage. So he said he prefers Brooklyn Dodgers in the vintage world. I could work with that. I was able to come across a few 1953 Topps Brooklyn Dodgers for him. Here are the sweet Yanks I got in return:

This is my second vintage Rizzuto. I also have the 1955 Topps. I scanned the back as well because Bowman's write-up was funny. This was Phil's first "really bad season." Somehow I don't think something like that would get written nowadays. I'm seriously contemplating starting a Rizzuto PC, so this card is a great addition.

The Woodling is just awesome. It's my second 1952 Topps I think. I definitely have the Charlie Silvera because I have it signed. I don't think I have any others. I've seen the Woodling on eBay many times, just never grabbed it. Love having it now!

Simon also had two cool Andy Pettittes. I evened out the trade with a 2009 Evan Longoria Topps Sterling #'d to 50 that I stole won in Napkin Doon's Big Fun Game. I had motives. I needed a good card for Simon. Hope he likes it because I think it's sweet and now I need to find some Yanks from this set.

This relic is sort of weird. It's from 2009. Pettitte had been back on the Yanks for like four years, but it's called a "Flashback Fabric." I thought the relic next to his Yankees picture would be a Yankee swatch, but both appear to be Astros jerseys. I'm guessing Upper Deck had a bunch of out-of-date jerseys they needed to cut up so they created a set to do so. Any other ideas?

This final card is just shiny and awesome. I think I could power a small village's electricity with it.

Simon, you're quickly becoming one of my favorite trading partners. Thanks again for this amazing Rizzuto, and I hope you like the Dodgers/Longoria.

TTM Success: Brooklyn Dodger Bobby Morgan - '53 Topps

I love the opportunity to get vintage cards signed. I get questioned a lot when I send vintage cards away in hope of getting it signed, but I never send anything I can't afford to lose. I recently read that Bobby Morgan still signs, so I picked up a cheap 1953 Topps of him and sent it off. Well, in just eight days, Morgan signed and returned my card. His signature still looks awesome!

Bobby was a light-hitting infielder for the Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals and Cubs in the 1950's. He never got a huge chance with Brooklyn, as he registered just under 200 ABs in each of the 1950, '52 and '53 seasons. While his average wasn't great, he did get on base a good amount of the time, including at an excellent .392 clip in '52. He finally got a chance to play more regularly with the Phillies in 1954 and went on to hit a combined 24 HRs over the next two seasons.