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.

The View From the National

Greetings from a hotel room in Baltimore, Maryland as I rest my feet from standing all day looking through cards at the National Card show.  This is my first National and I have to tell you that it is amazing.  I was overwhelmed with all of the stuff to look at, all of the card tables, all of the memorabilia.  There is a lot of sick memorabilia.  By sick I mean, it makes me sick to think that someone is lucky enough to own some of the treasures that I have seen today.  See the above Thurman Munson.

Take a look at the stuff we saw right when we walked in this morning.  There is no good way to tackle the amount of tables and boxes of cards.  You just kind of have to walk around and pray that you find what you're looking for.

Take a look below at some of the amazing autos I saw, like the finest known Jimmie Foxx autograph.  Jeez that thing is amazing, isn't it?

Or how about this Babe Ruth?  From his last public signing.  Crazy!

All of the corporate brands are there.  Topps, Panini, Ebay, COMC, Blowout Cards, PSA, JSA, etc etc.  Something I found funny was that the Topps booth was packed but Upper Deck only had a couple people milling about.  Looks like they are just about done.

You have to keep your eyes open at the National.  I was chatting with my wife (who came willingly, mind you) and an old man walked by and patted Christopher on the head.  I turned and looked and it was only Tommy Lasorda.  No big deal.......  HOLY CRAP!

So, Chris took my wife's autograph pad and got it signed be Mr. Lasorda.  He was actually really nice.  I have heard so many horror stories about him at signings, so we were really pleased that he signed for Chris.

Since the show is in Baltimore, they had some memorabilia concerning the ball clubs founded there.  I like seeing all of that old stuff.

Got several thousand bucks burning a hole in your pocket?  Well, you can take care of that by buying one of these Mickey Mantles.  Mmm, 1952 Topps Mantle.  Very awesome.

While I was chatting with one of the ladies from the AAGPBL, Joe Christopher, formerly of the Pirates, signed autos for some folks who bought a good amount of stuff from their booth.

While I was waiting my whole 2 minutes in line for Jim Rice (more on that later), I caught a glimpse of Hall of Famer and Oriole great Eddie Murray.

Chris and I met and got autos from Hall of Famer Jim Rice.  I'd like to say that he was nice (I mean he was) but we really didn't interact much.  At least he smiled in the picture.  We moved through the line so quick, there really wasn't much time for anything more than "Thanks Mr. Rice."  He thanked us as well and we were on our way.

I'm completely enjoying myself, but I do have a couple issues.  We bought autograph tickets for Frank Robinson and Ralph Kiner and both of them canceled!  Both are having health problems, which is a shame, but Ryan and I checked the Tristar website last night and didn't see info on their cancellations.  Oh well, the folks at Tristar were really accommodating and allowed us to exchange for equal value tickets so we swapped for Jim Rice and Joe Morgan.

The other thing is that it is so hard to find what you are looking for.  There is just so much stuff to look at and take in, you really can't do it in one day.  I'm glad I gave myself two days.  I have had no luck finding my 2009 Topps Brooks Robinson letter patches.  I did, however, find some cards for several other bloggers. 

I went to the show with Ryan from O No Another Orioles blog and met Julie from Things are Funner Here.  Always nice to meet some fellow bloggers in person.  I've known Ryan for quite a while now and stayed at his place last night.  He and I stayed up til 12AM looking at O's cards.

Tomorrow, I plan on getting my Joe Morgan auto and maybe pick up one or two more HOF autos that I have seen around.  I also want to see if I can find some Nolan Reimold inserts so I can try to complete some more Reimold rainbows.  Maybe I'll find some cool stuff among the boxes and tables.  You never know.

Another Cheap Ebay Pickup - 1971 Topps Thurman Munson

Hey guys,
Here is another card I got off of Ebay last week. I got this one REALLY cheap as well; a 1971 Topps Thurman Munson. This card is one of the tougher cards in the set, and I was able to get it for less than $10. Not bad, huh?
As you can see, the card is not MINT, but I don't care. I really like it and the photo is a great shot of the former Yankee Captain blocking the plate.

It is a shame that we all know what happened to Munson. I still think his brief career deserves a better look for the HOF. Funny, isn't it? 2 Munson posts in a week from someone who definitely hates the Yankees... I have no problem giving players credit where it is due. I definitely appreciate hard nosed players who play the game the right way, and Munson definitely epitomized that in his brief career.

2010 Topps Tribute Thoughts

My younger brother Andy is not a baseball card collector. I've been trying to work on him for the past five years, trying to get him interested in them in hope that I would have someone else to talk about cards with. He has been coming to the card shop with me (pretty much weekly) over the past five years. I had complained that there wasn't much to open at the shop this week except for 2010 Tribute, which I surely couldn't afford. He chimed in that he could afford it because he had been earning money by cleaning out horse stables for my parents. I went online and showed him some of the things he could get from 2010 Tribute (Strasburg auto being the huge hit), but made sure not to put any kind of pressure on him (He's my brother, I'm not going to make him buy anything at the shop unless he wants to). He decided that he would go for it.

(I also decided to pick up a pack) I pulled this Thurman Munson triple relic. Andy picked this pack for me, he is always good at picking packs. Pretty sweet card.

One of the highlights of his box was pulling this Bobby Cox Auto/Relic. I had never seen any Cox autos, so this one was pretty cool. I know a bunch of Braves fans who definitely would sweat over this card. Andy was a bit underwhelmed, but I assured him that he got a good pull with this one.

I went ahead and gave Andy a dollar for this one, since it was a Murray. I had hoped that he would have pulled a Brooks, but Murray was the only Oriole that Andy pulled.

He pulled this sweet Phil Rizzuto bat. Once again he was a bit underwhelmed, and I, again, assured him that pulling a Rizzuto bat was a good hit. The box was very Yankee heavy, and I think he understood that he could maybe ebay most of the Yankee stuff and recoup some of the money he spent. He was starting to feel some buyer's remorse, for sure. I felt bad, but we kept on opening the packs, hoping for that blue Strasburg redemption card.

Redemption card? Strasburg? Nahhh. Just a Matt Kemp Auto Dual Relic. He was once again let down, but even he knew that this one would definitely be claimed, and quickly. His period of letdown on this card didn't last long once he realized how quickly he could sell this to get some money back. Of course, I'm going to help him out by listing some of the hits on Ebay, making trades, etc.

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I kind of feel a little bad, since he is 14 and dropped so much on the box, but he's a smart kid and definitely has busted enough boxes with me to know that when you set your heart on getting one card, you most likely will be let down. Shooting for the Strasburg was pretty bold, but in the end, I'm glad he had the balls to at least give it a shot. He also got some really good pulls (the Cox and Kemp for sure) and we had a good time opening the box.