Trip to the Card Shop From 2 Weeks Ago

I told you I was behind.  Anyway, I bought several packs of cards when I went to the LCS a couple weeks ago.  Two of the packs I picked up were 2012 UD Goodwin Champions and 2012 Panini Golden Age.  I also got some other stuff, but what I pulled out of those was unremarkable.  So, one of the cooler cards I got was the above Deacon White out of the pack of Goodwin.  White was one of three people elected posthumously into the Hall of Fame this year by the Veterans Committee.  White was one of the original stars of the game and played in the first game of the first professional baseball league.  He was also a 'barehanded' catcher.  I think that alone should have earned him a ticket to Cooperstown.  Go ahead and try catching barehand.  I'll wait.  Ouch, right?  Can you imagine having to catch Bob Feller or Randy Johnson barehanded?  That makes my hands swell up just thinking about it.

Something else that I pulled, even thought it is non-baseball, was this Gordie Howe signed card out of 2012 Panini Golden Age.  Golden Age has a mixture of subjects and sports, just like Goodwin, and normally, I don't gave a crap about hockey, but...  A RED WINGS PLAYER!  I was able to hand this over to my wife to justify my spending some money on cards.  Woo Hoo, things work out!

Seriously, though, this is a really cool card.  Even I can recognize that Howe is one of the all-time greats in Hockey.  Add in the fact that the auto is on card, makes it that much better.  Plus the wife is happy.  For once.

Thoughts on 2012 Panini Golden Age

I went to the local card shop today to pick up some team bags for a project Ryan and I will be working on this weekend and I just couldn't get out of there without buying some packs.  So, I picked up a pack of Bowman Platinum and Bowman Chrome.  I also was intrigued by a product I hadn't heard of before, 2012 Panini Golden Age.  I was a fan of Panini Cooperstown when it came out, so I figured I'd give this a shot and picked up 2 packs.

Golden Age features a retro theme (I feel like it is much like Topps 206 or Gypsy Queen) with an assortment of older ball players as well as other celebrities, etc.  Kind of Panini's answer to Allen and Ginter or UD Goodwin.  I was very happy when the last card in the second pack was Brooks Robinson.  So, right away, I had something to add to my PC.  Scored some points in my mind, haha.  The Brooks was the above Stand UP insert.  I love the sepia tone on the card.  Really sharp, and nice looking, in my opinion.

The above Dizzy Dean was a nice base card that I pulled.  I also pulled two mini cards, Eddie Cicotte (Croft Candies back) and Russell Johnson (who?) (Broad Leaf Tobacco back).  Always a good day when you pull a Dizzy Dean card.  I feel like there isn't enough Dean stuff.

Finally I got this moustache/chest hair card of Tom Selleck, er, I mean Thurman Munson.  He kind of looks like Magnum P. I. or John C. Reilly.  I always enjoy pulling a Munson card, though.

In my opinion, I think Panini is doing a great job with their products.  I loved Cooperstown and I definitely like Golden Age.  I'm not too big on the non-sports folks in the product, but again, this seems to be Panini's answer to Allen and Ginter or UD Goodwin.  Golden Age stacks up very well to Goodwin, that's for sure.  I've always been partial to Topps and A&G, but I do believe there is room in the MLB licensing wars for two brands and I would definitely not have a problem with Panini joining the fray.