Indiana Jones and the Emerald Panda

Ha!   I couldn't resist.   That title totally works though, doesn't it?   And it would probably be WAY better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls or whatever that was......what a bomb.

Anyways, I tried my luck at some 'ol Bowman Platinum again, this year.   I told myself not to after last year's dabble - but you know me.   There's just that craving to rip some crinkly wrappers that is inescapable.   I also saw everyone posting beautiful relics and signatures on the blogs and Twitter so I figured I should go and remove some of the non-hit packs from getting in their way.

I succeeded, as always.

BUT, I still pulled some decent "non-hit" cards.   The cards are very reminiscent of last year's Platinum.   Yes, they're beautiful - but they just don't seem like baseball cards to me.   Oh well.   I'm an old fuddy-duddy, I guess.   They DO still come complete with that sweet maple-syrup scent, though.

Here are a few of the highlights.   I also pulled my FIRST Manny Banuelos card but couldn't find the top-loaded Manny for a picture......I'll snag him later.   (If you wanna see you some Manny, I'm sure The Lost Collector can satisfy your need!   Tell him Ryan sent you.....)   Manny has been out for most of this season with elbow trouble.   I'm hoping it resolves itself.   Ah-hem......here are the other cards of note, in no particular order:

He's dirty, you can see the ball and he's blowing a bubble.....Pablo Sandoval, everybody.

Funny.   The further along in the season we get, the less and less excited everybody is to pull a Yu card.   I like the card, though.   It's a perfectly balanced photo of Mr. Darvish with a great look at the Texas flag on his sleeve and a tidy little "RC" logo in the corner, just so there's no confusion.   In today's world of infinite variations, it's nice to know when you have a rookie card of somebody.

JP has cooled off a wee bit lately, along with some of the other young, A's pitching sensations.   But their collective talent as a whole, along with Mr. Parker's, is unmistakable.   I kind of hope that Oakland keeps these guys together and that the A's can make a return to greatness.   While I am a Yankees fan through and through, the A's were my other favorite team as a kid.   The Bash Brothers, Rickey, Dave Stewart, Eck.....loved 'em.   So seeing this staff and their brethren in the field (Cespedes, Reddick, etc.) would be great.   This card is another winner, too.   Great balanced shot with the ball hurling towards you and the RC logo in the corner.   This one might be TTM worthy, yes?   How do signatures handle on the Platinum glossy finish?   Any advise or warnings?

I think this one is a special chrome version or something?   All I hear about every day is how many SB's Billy Hamilton has on the season.   Probably because he has....as of today, 8/10/2012.......FREAKING 133 SWIPED BAGS THIS YEAR!   The record is 13 away, set by Vince Coleman in 1983.   Rickey Henderson set the major league record of 130, which could certainly be in danger one day after Billy is called up.   Wow.   Hamilton also had a great showing in the future star All Star Game.   I think he will do great things for the Reds and is a nice compliment to the power of Votto and [not lately] Bruce.   If Latos and Bailey and Chapman and all the others get the pitching together.....Cincy could be a Big Machine for many years.

SO, I'm glad to pull this (yet again) well-balanced, shiny, nice looking card of Mr. Hamilton.   I'll tuck it away and we'll see what happens.   I just wish I knew whether or not it was a rookie card?

:)

So there's some Platinum for you.   Everybody have a great weekend.   I'll be heading to the coast with the family tonight for a few nights of guaranteed fun.   I have, with great fortune, managed to land a pass to Sunday's final round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah.   I will go watch golf while Mrs. Ryan's Pitch drives the wee ones back home.   Let me be clear: I love her and she is perfect.

As far as the PGA is concerned, I am hoping for Bubba to win his second major of the year - though at +3 after yeaterday's 1st round, it's not looking good.   My other wish is to smoke a fine cigar and eat M&Ms with John Daly in the parking lot while sipping Diet Coke out of the Wanamaker Trophy.

Take away Daly and the Trophy and it could happen.

Thanks for Reading!

Steve's Old Yankee Stickers!

Reader Steve recently reached out to offer some help with a few of my sets, including the infamous 1991 Fleer set, 2011 Heritage and 2012 Series 1.   I was able to swap out for some '12 Series 1 that he needed and a few other odds and ends.

And, as is quite common practice for the great collectors I've met out 'here' in the Internet ether - he knew I was a Yankees fan and sent along a great smattering of bonus Yanks!   Here were my two favorites, sticky mini's of Rickey and Rags!

Left to right: John Olerud's closest friend and a Cool Cajun

The Henderson is '88 Topps and the Righetti is '84 Fleer, if I remember correctly.   So very cool.   Here are the rest of the Yankees and the very helpful singles from my Sets NEEDS lists.

Bucky!

The Gardner that you can barely make out was one of a few 2010 Heritage that Steve sent that are my first, since I had only gotten back into the hobby last spring.   I instantly loved them, of course - but I am a Heritage lush and it's probably for the best that I just.....leave that set......alone......

Shiny future for Lind and the Jays foretold by the cards? 

"DAR-RYL! DAR-RYL! RUS-SELL! RUS-SELL!"

Not sure why the last caption went right-to-left.   Martin and Strawberry are both Yankeedodgers and they are both in my VERY small collection of certified autograph cards (neither of which show them as Yankees).   What's up with that?   A good idea for a post.   Love that All-Star game photo of Straw Man's leg-kick!   OH, what might have been for Mattingly's fellow "Slugger from the Left Side".....

The Set NEEDS lists are updated, folks.   Thanks for the great trade, Steve!   I look forward to our next opportunity.

Thanks for reading!

"That's How We Roll..."

Another generous member of my new fraternity went above and beyond the call of duty when he answered my S.O.S. call for help in completing my '91 Fleer base set. That's right, Captain Canuck, our favorite Waxaholic, snuck an entire box of cards off my bloated NEEDS list across the border - and I understand the proverbial postal dogsled completed this run in record time!

Hey, wait a second!   What are those?

Oh yes....can't wait to file and cross off those bad boys.   But, wait?!   What's that?   WAX PACKS - from my era.   What a nice surprise.   '90 Fleer and '91 Score to be exact:

I've been here before....

A lot of fun.   I couldn't wait to tear into them (as you might be able to tell, I couldn't even wait until I snapped that picture).   Here were the highlights from each one:

Frank and George!

This was also Mussina's 1st Driver's License picture.   Go Rickey, GO!

Fantastic fun.   Thank you, Canuck!

Asking for nothing specific in return beyond a "just take a look through my lists", he single handedly brought my '91 Fleer quest into its final leg. It should also be noted - his selfless, LONG DISTANCE shipment of those base cards undoubtedly exceeded the 'cost' of what any of us could probably pay for a COMPLETE '91 Fleer set off of Ebay or the local flea market. The effort was completely illogical, BUT - like the Captain quipped to one of Waxaholic's faithful Lieutenants after one of his posts -

"That's how we roll."

I concur, Cap'n.......this is how we roll and I am enjoying every second of it.   Collectors helping other collectors with their pursuits.   Card by card (or in this case, box by box).   Because the story and 'players' involved in the 20+ year completion of this '91 Fleer set will be so much more colorful than a non-competitive bid on some junk wax from the Bay of E.   Indeed, this is how we roll.

Thank you for your generosity!  Another example of what I love about this hobby.  There will be some cardboard headed north SOON.   The dogs just wanted to grab some BBQ before they turned around.

Thanks for reading!