Off With Their Heads!

Tonight I took a few hours off of work to head over to Endicott to check out a great pop punk band Off With Their Heads. Every tune has a great hook, sounds like the singer is chewing on gravel - pretty sweet tunes. Here is my favorite song by them - enjoy!

Hail Troll! Hail Troll!

I think by now each of us bloggers have had an experience with another blogger that really blew your mind as far as generosity is concerned. Whether it be rookie cards, autos, memorabilia, the giving level of this community (without asking much in return often) is by far above and beyond that of any other community I have ever been a part of.

When I returned recently, I made a mention in a post about Robin Ventura being my all time favorite player. Well our favorite bridge-dweller the Collective Troll told me that I had won a contest that nobody else even entered! Holy Shit! While his description of the prize was a bit vague - I thought I knew what was coming - "I may have a sweet spot auto of a former Mets third baseman I was going to use for a contest prize that you may have just won". Now - this could have been HoJo or Edgardo Alfonzo - 2 of my other favorite all time Mets - but I was really hoping for Robin.

I go to my mail on Saturday and I find this.

Robin Ventura sweet spot auto on official American League Baseball - looks like the ball was even practice used (small smudges of dirt) which I love that totally gives the ball more appeal to me! That means that maybe - just maybe - Robin actually did more than sign this ball, he may have actually played with it. Pretty fuckin' awesome if you ask me.

So Troll - I have you on the list for some major repayment as soon as I can come across some sweet Rays stuff to get you back. Or you can take any of the following

1) third born child

2) Topless photos of me eating pulled pork sandwiches

3) a ZJ (if you have to ask you can't handle it)

Let me know and thank you!

Strike Anywhere/Blacklisted

So just putting this out there as a quick something before I have to clean a house, do laundry, and who knows what else will come up. Next Thursday the 11th I will be heading down Wilkes Barre PA to catch my first non Binghamton punk/hardcore show in a long time. I believe that Blacklisted is headlining (2nd video) my buddy is really into them, I think its okay.

I am going for Strike Anywhere - These guys I've been fans of since 2001 when I almost booked a show for them, but had to cancel when it would have been up against Hellfest (legendary hardcore metal show in Syracuse). As a promoter cancelling this show is my biggest regret seeing as I've grown to really love this band. Intelligent, often political punk rock with a definite catchy pop edge to it. check it out and if you dig it, check out the tour dates.

Audio Bipping?

Saty tuned - someone's gonna get it.

Hell Yeah Upper Deck

So after getting (finally) a good look at the 2010 Upper Deck over @ the Cardboard Junkie I am willing to put round one of the base set battles to Upper Deck. I will not steal Dayf's scans, I'm sure everyone looks there first anyway - so I will just say this -

1) UD has once again done what it always does well. Full bleed photo, clean, non-obtrusive design, focus is on the player and the photography once again is better than Topps - even while somewhat not showing any logos....sometimes?

- Note - I thought that being unlicensed would make the set lame - totally wrong - I wish I wasn't poor as shit until my next paycheck of I would be grabbing a box or two - maybe come tax time?

2) Inserts - I feel like a dickhole because I don't remember where I just saw these and have to go to work in a few minutes, so I am not going back to look - sorry sir! Anyway - I think for the most part we all agree that the inserts in the Topps base set this year are a snore - yeah some of the tales of the game are cool - but the design is like the English Patient - boring as shit. However, a die cut Joe Mauer engulfed by flames? Fuck yeah!

3) Lastly - with all the hullabaloo going around with the lawsuits and such - Topps is your wife - you love her and things are great - She has almost everything you look for in a woman - she's a classic, she's familiar, she has logos. Upper Deck is like your girlfriend - exciting, dangerous, a little more limber... I don't think that any of us are going to leave our "wives" (Topps) for our "girlfriends" (UD) but I know this is one guy who is going to be "working late this year" (ie...buying UD boxes and just grabbing a complete Topps set off the bay).

I'm sure by now you have all seen the scans, some probably have the cards in hand - what do you think? Will you be ignoring UD (again for a lot of you - seems that UD has not always been a really popular base set on the blogs) or will you say what the hell - I'll just put the tip in? Let me know!

Kings of the Common Box - Cory In the Sky With Diamonds

One thing I wanted to do on my break was learn to appreciate the smaller things on the hobby - I often found myself building the set, pulling the hit, but not really taking the time to look at and really learn to appreciate the card.

It's a lot like dating. At first you love the girl with the sweet rack and that's enough, but eventually, when she keeps making cat noises, you realize that you'd rather be kicked in the dick by a toddler then spend another minute with her. Once you get over that plain white swatch in a card (which turns out to be that crazy laugh every time she watches "The Nanny"), you realize that you are probably not holding anything that special.

So, one of the reasons that my collation has been taking so long is that I have been making a concerted effort to really take the time to appreciate what I have - the kings of the common box you.

Our first "King of the Common Box" is non other than Cory Snyder. Cory had himself a very nice career on the strength of having good pop from the right side and a hell of an arm from the outfield. While never being a superstar, Cory enjoyed a very nice career. Unfortunately for Cory, the best parts of his career happened before his time in Major League Baseball. Cory was

a 3 time All-American @ BYU and was named to the Olympic team.

Cory did finish in the top 10 in homers a few seasons during his peak, but never fully realized all of his potential. Another reason to be a fan of Cory is that he does sign through the mail, and you can bet for sure that eventually this card will be making its way to him.

Now what is it that makes this card so kick ass? Well first, Cory is a doppelganger for Clay Morrow (or whoever the actor is that plays him) on the incredible FX show Sons of Anarchy. Next is the super obvious photo shopping of a beautiful summer sky behind him. They took what would have been a nice sliding shot of the man, stuck up a few clouds, and made themselves a very memorable card.

All Hail Cory! Hopefully the first of many.

That's Clay for the record - compare for yourself!

Redeemed

The problem with redemptions, and really pulling hits from boxes/packs is that the likelihood you are getting anything you really care about - is quite slim. It's always a thrill to pull something you love - I've been lucky enough to pull a David Wright relic before - that was pretty sweet - but usually I end up with Melvin Mora or Aramis Ramirez - (really, I've pulled 3 Aramis relics - what the hell). Now this are nice players, and there is a part of me that wants to keep these cards and just have a super relic/auto collection of anyone I can get. The rest of me says thats a super whack idea.

I've found since I have been collecting, that I value my TTM autographs a lot more than I do my certified issues. I am not sure why this is, maybe its because the TTM graphs are more personal. With that said, in the past 4 months I have gotten these 2 redemption cards back from Topps - both are totally available to anyone - I would like get a similar Mets item in return if at all possible!

First we have Jhoulys Chacin Red Hot Rookie from last years Topps set. This guy has some good buzz, and I am partially inclined to hang onto it - then I remember he pitches for Rockies. He may as well be a one legged man in an ass kicking contest - not gonna work out. I also need to dust my scanner as a 4 months of inactivity have taken its toll it appears. I promise the card is in perfect shape and not dustier than that ladies giner in Beetlejuice.

Next up is a Jed Lowrie photographer's proof auto 78/99 from 2008 Stadium Club. this is a really nice card - Simple design, nice photo, nice looking auto - problem is - it's Jed Lowrie - hell even if it was David Ortiz or Dustin Pedroia I still wouldn't be overly enthused about it.

So please - anyone interested in these cards? I would like to find them a better home where they will be loved! Looking for anything Mets (Game used, relic, redemption) or Robin Ventura in return if you have it!