2017 Post-National Dollar Box Giveaway

Following my luck with dollar boxes during the 2017 National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, I'm trying a new kind of blog giveaway. If you guess it, you get it.

Lots of interesting stuff shows up in show bargain boxes and I gravitate to the HOFers, oddballs, and oddball HOFers. Here's three more from this year:

WHAT: I have two 800-count boxes of duplicates from the 1950s to 1970s. Many are bargain box finds, including high numbers and stars, not just your run-of-the-mill guys.

HOW: Add a comment with five cards you'd like to get, if they're in my boxes. They can be from the same set or multiple sets. For example:

• "My guess: 1957 Topps 52, 1964 Topps 105 / 299 / 350, 1972 Topps 600"

One five-card entry per person! I already gave away the bargains pictured from 2017 National Sports Collectors Convention recap, so don't count on those! Your best bet's to pick cards you need for your own sets that reasonably show up in 50c/$1 boxes. :-)

WHEN: Contest runs through end of Wednesday, August 16. After the contest closes, I'll check each of the posts and if you guessed a card that's in my dupes box, it's yours! As a helping start, I don't have any duplicate Mantles or 1952 high numbers. Beyond that, you might get lucky!

World Series 2016 Giveaway Winners!

Gonna sneak this post in before game 7 ends to avoid the rush. :-)

Remember this guy? I sure do.

WHO WON: My recent World Series giveaway wrapped up neatly. Run totals for game 4-5 (7-2 and 3-2) were 14 runs. Congrats to John Hogan, who got closest at 13!

Runners-up:

Madding (12)
gcrl (11)
arpsmith (10)
Richard (9)
Jon (8)
Admin (7)

Not gonna leave anyone out, so let's get team lots to all six runners-up. :-)

Everyone above, please email me your account name, choice of team lot, and mailing address to glidden dot matthew at gmail for prizes! As always, thanks for reading.

New Kids On The Bench Contest Winners

Lots of great submissions in last Friday's freshman name contest. Let's catch them in a rundown.

• Didi Gregorius, Reds SS (Greg Z)
• Brian Omogrosso, White Sox P (gcrl)
• Jeurys Familia, Mets P (Don)
• Adeiny Hechavarria, Blue Jays INF (Buckstorecards)
• Rougned Odor, Rangers minor league INF (Angels In Order)
• Miguel Socolovich, Cubs P (Nick)
• Adron Chambers, Cardinals OF (Madding)
• Jurickson Profar, Rangers INF (Night Owl) -- a man of in-game strategy!
• Xavier Avery, Orioles LF (Jeff)
• Brock Holt, Pirates 2B (Robert) 
• Chuck Fick, Astros P (The Dimwit)
• Yusmeiro Petit, 6'1", 250-pound Diamondbacks P (Chunter)
• Al Alburquerque, Tigers P (High-Five Man)
• Tanner Scheppers, Rangers P (Mad Guru)

Every one of these entries meets or exceeds my personal baseball name standard-bearer, Biff Schlitzer.

In awarding prizes, I disqualified three (in italics) for being either not rookies (Petit and Alburquerque) or not in the bigs (Odor). They're still winners in My Book of Winners, just not winners in My Book of This Contest. :-(

Top 5 Winners in My Book of This Contest

• Didi Gregorious, which multiple people (deservedly) wanted to choose
• Adieny Hechavarria, which got bonus points for the lineup backstory
• Adron Chambers, who sounds like a Victorian-era action hero
• Jurickson Profar, who I've nicknamed "Jurickson Profar Blondes" (tm) (lol)
• Tanner Scheppers, which should also be a beer

Greg Z, Buckstorecards, Madding, Night Owl, Mad Guru: send your preferred vintage team and mailing address to glidden period matthew at gmail! Thanks to all for reading and kicking in so many great names.

New Kids On the Bench (aka, Roster Expansion Giveaway)

Now that we're safely into September, it's time to discuss one of my favorite baseball things, player names.

Each new roster expansion means tons of new players in MLB uniforms. Long-term fans probably remember guys like Chili Davis, Bump Wills, and Biff Pocoroba. More recently, there's this guy.

And this guy.

So who are your favorite fresh-faced freshmen?

WHAT TO DO: Nominate your favorite baseball name from 2012 rookies or September call-ups in the comments. I'll accept nom-de-plume-inations through Sunday and pick five Best New Name winners from all players mentioned.

WHAT YOU WIN: Pre-1980 cards (team of your choice), as selected from my dupes box. Good Lucky Lohrke to all!

Favorite (Vintage) Baseball Card: 1956 Topps #30, Jackie Robinson

Fellow blogger Fuji's running a "favorite card" survey over at his Chronicles that asks readers to pick their top vintage or 90s insert. I won't keep you in suspense, mine's this classic right here.

The above Jackie Robinson card made an easy pick, as it's the card that sparked a pursuit of 1956 Topps, my overall favorite set. I originally bought two of this #30 to get both grey and white back variations, but traded one away some years ago--probably to land another star from the same set.

Thanks to today's many reprints, you can find both originals and modern versions at shows or online. The second scan's nicked from 2001 Topps Archives #410 on COMC and costs a fraction of Jackie's vintage cards. Almost everyone can afford a dollar, right?

Got a favorite card to call out? Stop by Fuji's blog and chime in.

Fourth Anniversary HOF Winners

Thanks to all thirty-eight people who entered last week's contest and every one who reads my blog. A search through the card box turned up a bunch of vintage HOFers as prizes (with two *), including the clean-cut character below.

Feel weird saying it, but Roberts looks sharp in that Orioles cap, even if it's not Philly pinstripes. Let's warm up my dice-rolling hand!

• 1951 Bowman #46 George Kell: The Dimwit
• 1957 Topps #25 Whitey Ford: Jason
• 1959 Topps #408 Luis Aparicio / Nellie Fox: Matt (Tenets of Wisdom)
• 1960 Topps #1 Early Wynn: FISHLEGBOOTS
• 1961 Fleer #57 Heinie Manush: Rhubarb Runner
• 1961 Topps #380 Minnie Minoso (*): BA Benny
• 1961 Topps #440 Luis Aparicio: Josh D
• 1963 Topps #125 Robin Roberts: Mark A
• 1964 Topps #38 Harmon Killebrew: Reds Card Collector
• 1964 Topps #342 Willie Stargell: Mariner1
• 1969 Topps #410 Al Kaline: The Diamond King
• 1971 Topps #50 Willie McCovey (*): arpsmith

Let's explain the asterisks. First, Minoso is a member of the Hispanic Baseball Hall of Fame, but makes for a terrific baseball card, so couldn't leave him out.

Second, I originally rolled up arpsmith and Mariner1 near their favorite players, so swapped in a 1971 McCovey and (ideally) made them both happy.

Winners, please email me (glidden period matthew at the gmail) with your address for card delivery! Thanks again to everyone for reading and look forward to more giveaways soon.

Baseball (and more) Blog Contest Roundup

Thanks for all the entries so far in my Fourth Anniversary Giveaway! The contest ends Friday, so there's about 30 hours left to throw your name in the hat. Here's another vintage HOFer that'll be part of the fun, confused expression and all.

Don't forget these other sites running concurrent card contests--enter everywhere and you're pretty much guaranteed to end up with cards. ("Pretty much" = not based on actual statistics or math.)

Fuji's running his 3rd annual The Chronicles of Fuji, requesting your flea market finds. How can you ignore a prize package with samurai headband cats? You can't.

Visit the buffet of BA Benny for Legends of the Hall (and a contest), whose prize includes HOFers Clemente and McCovey.

SportsCardBlog.net is gifting a pair of autographs for fans of the NBA (Bob Sura) or NHL (Colin Greening).

"You did WHAT with the cup?" a.k.a. dgreen1899's LA Kings-themed giveaway.

Did I miss any? Add a link below!

Fourth Anniversary HOF Giveaway

The first #5 type card profile went up four years ago yesterday. Big, cardboard-y thanks all who've read my blog, follow tweets @Number5TypeCard, or just enjoy a nice vintage set from time-to-time.

To commemorate, I'm giving away several vintage HOFers from the years when Yogisms sprang fresh from the mouth of Berra himself. Cards like this guy...

1964 Topps Giants #38, Harmon Killebrew

TRIVIA: Killer didn't wear #29, so that bat belonged to Julio Becquer (1961), Wally Post (1963), or Chuck Nieson (1964), depending on the photo year.

WHAT'S UP FOR GRABS: 1950s-60s HOFers, including the above Killebrew. Exact number of cards depends on number of entrants and links, as below.

June 19 UPDATE: Winners are picked and posted!

(For the record, my first post was 1952 Topps Larry Jansen on Things Done to Cards. I later updated the set's profile here with intact back scans.)

Winner for Minnesota Twins giveaway

Six readers entered last week's final spring training giveaway for a fistful of Twins cards, including stars like Puckett and Killebrew.

I assigned all six names to a die and rolled for the winner.

1. Matt
2. Captain Canuck
3. Mad Guru
4. Rhubarb_Runner
5. Superduperman99
6. pgree327

The die came up 3, so congrats to Mad Guru and thanks for his stories about Minnesota's custom usher shoes and his personal significance of scoring the 1987 World Series.

"When I interned at the Hall of Fame, there was a fellow there who was a diehard Twins fan. He was in the summer after his junior year of college and had been an usher for the Twins for years. The Twins apparently give their ushers white sneakers with the Twins logo on the side. The Hall didn't have usher shoes in their collection and they asked him if he'd donate his shoes at the end of his internship which he did.

Also, the first ballgame I ever scored using the Project Scoresheet methodology was a 1987 Twins World Series game which caused my interest in baseball to explode a gazillionfold. One of those things where I wonder how my life would have turned out had I not done it."

Bring on the regular season!

Spring Training Baseball Team Giveaway Bonanza

...because, like Crazy Eddie, my prices are INSANE.

Baseball cards qualify as "home entertainment," right? Just look at the teams left on our show floor! No price is too low for these cardboard beauties, especially when the only price is free.

WHAT TO DO: Add a comment naming your Top 5 Teams from those listed below. I'll leave the comments open through Friday, Mar 16th and will use the rankings and flip some coins to pick between multiple claimants.

WHAT YOU GET: Fistful of cards from 1981-2010 and some vintage if I have 'em! Team cards for you, more space for me. It's a super deal all around. Available teams thus:

• A's
• Angels
• Astros
• Blue Jays
• Braves
• Brewers
• Cubs
• Diamondbacks
• Giants
• Indians
• Mariners
• Marlins
• Mets
• Orioles
• Padres
• Phillies
• Pirates
• Rangers
• Rays
• Red Sox
• Reds
• Rockies
• Royals
• Senators
• Tigers
• White Sox
• Grag bag (minors, non-sports, etc.)

UPDATE: OK, entries are closed! I'll summarize them and send out cards starting Monday, March 19.

Off-Season Giveaway: New York Yankees

Let's not beat around a bush with these giveaways. It's time to send someone several dozen Yankee cards.

As with the first giveaway, these cards are from all over the place, and cover quite a range of players. Even guys with famous elbows.

Some of the Donnie Baseball cards include mustaches, but others do not.

There are also several Jeter cards, including this 2009 OPC Black Border.

UPDATE: Congrats to winner AstrosFreakCam, who picks up this lot of 70 Bronx Bombers.

MY FAVORITE GAME: By mid-July of 1979, both Seattle and New York sat several games back in their division standings, though at least the (defending champion) Yankees were above .500.

Dad and I went to a Mariners home game on July 11, expecting to see Tommy John pitch and Reggie Jackson swing. We did not expect for Seattle to knock New York pitchers around for 9 runs in the first inning, the final two scoring on an upper-deck homer by Ruppert Jones, which itself followed a two-run triple by Mario Mendoza.

Mariner starter Floyd Bannister spun a complete game 3-hitter, limiting the Yankees to a single run: a homer by future NYY/SEA manager Lou Piniella. Final score, 16-1. (In all the years since, I've never attended such a lopsided game.)

Let me know what NYY-connected games you've enjoyed, from either side of the ledger.

Winner of St. Louis Cardinals Giveaway

Thanks to fellow bloggers Ryan G (Cardboard Zoo) and Matt (Tenets of Wilson) for adding their stories to my St. Louis Cardinals giveaway. They made it easy to pick a winner; I gave Ryan heads, Matt tails, and went to Random.org's coin flipper.

Spanish 5 Pesetas piece; love the on-coin soccer ball

Congrats, Matt! Here are just two of the cards headed your way.

2007 Fleer Ultra Swing Kings, Albert Pujols

2009 OPC black border #579, David Freese

Look for another giveaway later this week!

Off-season Giveaway: St. Louis Cardinals

Congrats again to the Birds on the Bat on their 11th championship. My Missourah-based aunt didn't send a commemorative six-pack of Budweiser yet, but I bet one shows up in a stocking at Christmastime.

Budweiser's 2006 Championship Bottle

Speaking of times for gifting, this blog will spend the off-season shipping out variety packs of team cards, starting with the title-holding Cardinals. Each will contain a mix of extra #5s, 2009 OPC, 2008 Allen and Ginter, oddballs, and who knows what else. I'm excited and intrigued just speculating what they might contain.

MINOR SPOILER: I'm pretty sure that the St. Louis assortment will have an OPC box panel with Albert Pujols, though not the one shown above (an image borrowed from elsewhere).

WHAT TO DO: Interested in receiving the St. Louis pack? Add a comment with your earliest memory of the Cardinals, a favorite game, or moment that's special to you. I'll pick a winner from entries this Saturday, so you've got a few days to percolate.

MY FAVORITE MOMENT: Former STL greats Lou Brock and Stan Musial attended a Boston-area card show several years ago, the first time I'd seen either HOFer in person. The car carrying them both arrived before show opening, with a bunch of us gathered at the entrance waiting to get in.

Stan got out first, pants hitched up high enough to be a grandfather's grandfather. He sort of shuffled through the doors without much acknowledgement, but who knows how much he could see or hear at the time.

Lou came next and departed the guest van like a president stepping off Air Force One, resplendent in suit, tie, and fresh coiffure. He smiled big, waved big, and acknowledged just about everyone within sight. It was a cool experience, just seeing how much Brock wanted to let us know he was feeling good and happy to meet fans after traveling halfway across the country. Just one of those times that makes collecting fun and memorable.

Two more player wantlists and a sketchy giveaway

Added two more wantlists to my player collection last night and posted links to all four on the blog sidebar, just below "Top 5 Posts."

Jamie Quirk caught and played utility man for nearly two decades in KC, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland, Oakland, Baltimore, and New York (but mostly KC). He did a little of everything for everyone and switched to coaching after retirement, currently on staff with Houston (Jamie Quirk wantlist).

Spike Owen was my favorite Mariner during the 1980s and I was bummed when his Seattle tenure ended with a trade to Boston in 1986. Spike went on to play good-glove shortstop for Montreal, New York, and Anaheim. He continues in baseball as manager for the Texas AAA affiliate Round Rock Express (Spike Owen wantlist).

I've got a variety of low-grade vintage cards to trade for hits to my player collections; just leave a comment on their wantlist pages or send an email through my Google profile!

CONTEST: This pair of 1960s cards received a virtual gravestone rubbing, very sketch-like. First to identify the set, year, and players via blog comment wins them. (Please guess only if you actually need/want the cards. :-) Both are HOFers.

1973 Topps Baseball Want List Giveaway

After some card reorganization yesterday, I confront an insoluble problem: my dupes box contains way too many 1973 Topps. We're talking 400+ cards, with occasionally 5 of the same player...

...and those 5 copies aren't of awesome guys like Bob Gibson. Instead, I've got a fistful of airbrush specials like Jose Arcia. (At least the position backgrounds match their team colors: red for Bob, blue for Jose).

TRIVIA: Arcia last played in the bigs as a Padre in 1970, so this is an old picture airbrushed for 1973. He signed a minor league contract that spring with KC and Topps probably thought he'd make their squad, but Jose spent the remainder of his career at AAA and AA (minor league stats).

THE GIVEAWAY: Are you working on 1973 Topps baseball? Add a comment that links to your wantlist and I'll do my best to hit it! Unlike other randomized contests, this one applies to everyone and will continue until my dupes return to a normal level. ("I want to start" is also an acceptable answer; if enough cards remain after hitting lists, I'll send someone a starter set of what's left.)

I'd be remiss to not mention 1973 Topps Photography here. It's covering the whole set in full, chain-link-fence glory.

Favorite Card Goofs (and Winner) of Friday's Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who nominated card goofs for last week's contest! Here's your roll call of infamy.

Spiegel83: Billy Ripken's many bat handles (original FF, black box, blanked).

1989 Fleer, "black box" variation

Ryan G: Reverse negatives (and Billy Ripken).

1957 Topps #20, Hank Aaron (reversed)

Chris Stufflestreet: Gimme some Topps Joe Rudi, but hold the Rudi.

1973 Topps #360, Joe Rudi not pictured

Hackenbush: The bonus card of Ron Santo.

1963 Topps #113, Don Landrum not pictured

The Lost Collector and Mad Guru: Now pinch-pitching for Al Leiter, Steve George.

1998 Topps #18, Al Leiter not pictured

Play at the Plate: Billy Martin, who may or may not be flipping off the cameraman.

1972 Topps #33, Billy Martin (autographed)

Matt: Juan Gonzalez bats lefty (and Billy Ripken).

1990 Donruss #33, Juan Gonzalez (reversed)

Mark A: "Double threat" Uecker can strike out from both sides of the plate.

1965 Topps #519, Bob Uecker (as lefty)

Greg Zakwin: Topps releases Alex Gordon rookie "by accident."

2006 Topps #297, Alex Gordon (withdrawn)

Night Owl: The younger Pettis brother stands in for Gary.

1985 Topps #497, Gary Pettis not pictured

Jason Shoemaker: George W. Bush and Mickey Mantle can pop up where you least expect them.

2007 Topps #40, Derek Jeter (Bush in stands, Mantle in dugout)

THE WINNER: I threw everyone into the Random.org hopper and it decreed that Mad Guru takes home the duplicate of my 1948 R346 Johnny Mize card (and his oddball hat)!

Congrats, Guru! And thanks to everyone for nominating their favorite cardboard shenanigans; you turned up some mistakes I'd never seen before.

UPDATE: Someone asked about the Dale Murphy reversed negative, so here you go! Note the backwards "A," "Braves," and bat handle number.

1989 Upper Deck #357, Dale Murphy (reversed)

Vintage Giveaway Friday!

Soon after this year's National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, I won an eBay lot of R346 Blue Tints. This obscure 1948 set's one of the last strip card issues sold by coin-op machines at candy stores or along boardwalks and players on its checklist run the gamut from superstar (Ted Williams) to posthumous (Lou Gehrig) to "wearing an unexpected hat" (Johnny Mize, sporting STL as a NY Giant).

Obaks.com pointed out that Jefferson Burdick's R346 catalog number for these "Blue Tints" gets an "R for recent" prefix instead of "W for strip cards" because they're a postwar release and thus a generation removed from their 1920s progenitors. By the 1940s, kids expected packs of gum with their baseball players; based on modern scarcity, I assume these didn't sell very well. (See my #5 profile for more, including a "mirrored ink" example.)

Card companies sometimes confuse teams or player photos; Mize hadn't played for St. Louis since the early 1940s, so this card uses an image that's both several years old and sports a curious team logo.

WHAT YOU CAN WIN: My R346 lot from eBay included a duplicate of the aforementioned Johnny Mize, so I'm sending the extra to one lucky entrant. (Then we can both be stumped by the origin of his STL hat.)

HOW TO ENTER: Add a comment to this post with your favorite card goof. It could be Frank Thomas's missing name, Billy Ripken's bat handle, Lew Burdette pretending to be left-handed in 1959, or any other shenanigans preserved forever on cardboard. [UPDATE: Contest is over; find the nominated cards and winner of the Mize here.]