unNATURAL Feeling

A few weeks ago I stopped by Savvy Seconds.  I had a big blog post planned for it, and will still show the rest of the stuff off, but one item in particular I want to dedicate an entire post to.  I was so happy I got it that I took a ton of pictures.  I should have tried to scan them, but maybe I will in the future.  Since I'm still resting a bit (I feel okay, but a bit tired still), I thought I'd have a mostly picture post.

I found this book and it didn't have a price on it.  When I grabbed it I just figured it was a team yearbook.  I didn't say anything at checkout about no price (books are normally a quarter or 5 for a quarter or something), but this one wasn't with the regular books.  I've noticed that they have started to put higher prices on certain books, and I figured this would be the same.   The checkout woman looked all over for a price and didn't see one so she said "Ok, I guess its a quarter."  To be honest I would have paid a buck for it, but I wasn't going to say anything.

I got some other items there that day that made me really excited, so it wasn't until I settled down later that night to look at the book did I realize what this was.

It's a documentation of a minor league team starting from scratch.  Notes from the city council, the ground breaking of the stadium, promotions to create buzz, and the recap of the entire first year of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals baseball team.  What caught my eye was the Naturals logo.  I like checking out minor league baseball on the internet at times (I try to listen to a game or two online a week), but I was very familiar with the Naturals.

The NWA Naturals as some call them, are the AA team of the Kansas City Royals!  It doesn't get better than this!  I even recognize the names in the book.  This book is really fascinating and I almost missed it because I was excited about other purchases I made that day and the fact it was in such a random place.

I will try to scan it in the future, and later this week, maybe tomorrow I will post the other items I bought.  As for now, I think this is enough excitement for one day.  I'm going to get some more rest and might actually get out of the house tomorrow and take stuff to storage.  I haven't wanted to do much since getting my tooth and all my wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday.  My drowsiness and sleep patterns are why I've been posting so late.  I hope to be back to earlier posting times soon.

Thanks for reading and have a great night.

Watching and Reading

I lost track of time, and now I'm really tired (I slept a lot yesterday, but not at all today), so as I still recover, I still wanted to write a blog, but this will be short.

I'm going to post a couple links for you to check out that I recently found on the interwebs.  One is a video about card collecting from 1989, the other is an article I read when someone retweeted it about maybe Ty Cobb wasn't as bad as we thought.  If I remember how to post it on here, you can enjoy it, if not, I'll post the link, and you can check it out.

Mel Allen narrates this program which I found a bit informative and also a bit laughable.  Then again, in the late 80's it really was thought that collecting tons of McGwire cards would make you rich.  Though it seemed odd if you think about it.  If everybody you knew was buying and trading cards, how did you plan to make money?  It should have seemed obvious from the get go that the supply was much higher than the demand, but oh well.  It's still a fun half hour of time wasting if you have the time.

Another interesting thing I saw recently was how this writer digs deep into the history of Ty Cobb, and how he might have got a bad rap just because nobody fact checked and tall tales became truths.  I can't post it here, but I will post the link.

Who Was Ty Cobb? The History We Know That’s Wrong

I apologize to the person who retweeted this originally that made it catch my eye, but I forgot who you was.  I've looked at a lot of random stuff in the last week to take my mind off things, and I can't always remember how I found it.

Anyways, as I probably fall asleep before round two of the NFL Draft starts, I thought I'd post something to keep up with blogging.  As odd as it seems, I really did forget about it for a couple weeks.  Now I need to get it back in my routine so the more posts the better.

Thanks for reading, and if you read the article, or watched the video, let me know what you thought.  Like I said, the video is kinda long (close to 40 minutes), and the article is well written so both take a little time, but I think they are well worth it.  Have a great weekend.

Garbage and Trolls

I'm writing this in advance of getting dental work done.  I don't normally pre-write blogs, but figured if I wanted to stay on track with writing one each day to end the month, it might be best.  By the time you read this I should be fine, as I will schedule it late and post it earlier if I remember.  In the meantime, let's get to today's post.

I mentioned I'm not big on Garbage Pail Kids cards, but I've been buying some packs partly for the Presidential cards, and partly to fill a card fix I have.  I think I'm done with GPK, but might as well show off what I did get.  Maybe I'll buy more, or even find some on Listia, but for now, these are what I have.

I don't have much to say about any of these to be honest, I just needed to post something.  The Missy America is kinda cool, same with Happy Mel.  The other Stinkin' Lincoln is nice to have too.  This one much nicer.  Not a bad pack.  I'll show the variation card in a minute.

Mountain Dewey and Libby Bell are my favorites here.  Though this pack did have better cards.  Could have done without the Barf Dag one though.   This might be my favorite pack I've gotten so far.

Here are the variations for both packs, I forgot which went with which pack.

There's that one again!  This is under a different name and a green variation.  I guess they have two different names for each card.  I don't follow enough to really know all this, but I guess its cool to have both versions.  The Leaky Lou one is okay I guess, I just don't care for it.

I bought one other pack, and this one wasn't bad either.  I like the Spitball Paul, Phony Phil, Self Fifi ones.  The Monster Chuck one is nice too, but it doesn't really stand out.  Overall another nice pack.  Here is the rest.

Sock Hope and Poodle Skylar in the same pack, one a variation. That's kinda cool, but its not the best card.  I don't fully get some of the cards though, so some go over my head or just don't make sense.  The Broadway Jay I get rhymes, but don't know why he's decapitated.  Oh well.

Overall not bad cards.  If I had a checklist on Trading Card Database, I'd add what I have and see what I have left.  I don't want to be the one to add the checklist because the numbering on these cards are screwy and I don't want to mess it up.  Once its added (it might be haven't checked in a few days), I'll scan and add the cards to the base.

I also got a couple other packs of "silly cards" recently on Listia.  Originally I planned on giving them to my friend for his birthday, Happy Birthday to the proprietor of Talkin' Truman on Facebook (his spring game pictures are amazing), but kept them instead.  I still need to find a gift for him.

These are troll cards if I ever saw one.

These were cheap is excuse number 1 I give for why I actually bid on them.  However as plain as they are, the set isn't too big so I could see myself bidding on more if they are still cheap.  The packs were randomized though which was odd.  Pack one had cards 1-6 or something all in order, and the second one had cards 13-18 or to some extent, again all in order.  That's nice when seeing what you have, but sucks when buying blind packs as you'll get all new cards or all doubles.  Oh well.

Not sure what to say about the cards themselves though.  They are pictures of toy trolls in front of things.  I guess its ok, but nothing real spectacular.

Here is the rest.

More of the same, the checklist might be the back of all the cards I can't remember.  Also got two stickers, but I don't really plan on using them.  I would keep them on card, but they are really small (like a cracker jack prize size) so they could get lost easily.  I might keep them on there.  Also included in each pack was an application form for the Trolls Trading Card Club.  I showed the front and back in case anyone wants to join.  I doubt they are still taking applications as these are 25 years old, and I think this was the only set they made.

Not real flashy, but like most companies in the early 90's Collect-A-Card was trying to cash in on cards of whatever was hot, and they tried their hand at this.  It really shows they made cards for anything.

In some ways I guess they still do, but with limited shelf space at places like Walmart (at least in my store), I don't see too many non-sports cards anymore. Its usually a couple boxes of whatever is in season, and a ton of Pokemon and Magic cards.  Sometimes I see Walking Dead metal tags, but not a lot.  They show a box of wrestling cards too sometimes, but not a lot.  Maybe when I get time and feel better I might make a trip to the closest card shop.  I might do it during the next card show and knock out both at once.

That wraps it up for today.  I've scheduled this for late at night so if its posted earlier then I am feeling fine.  If its posted late, it just means I'm not up to doing much online (it might be best to stay off the internet today if I'm on something), and hope to be back to normal on Friday.  If for some reason I don't return Friday, have a great weekend.  Thanks for reading!

More Spring Cleaning (Non-Card Edition)

Finishing up a few things before I get some teeth pulled tomorrow, and I figured I better write a post.  I wanted to do it earlier, but oh well.  Tonight I will show off more stuff I found while cleaning.  Some I think I've shown before, and none was really lost, meaning I knew about these, I just had to move them.  So let's begin.

I must admit, I did forget about this.  I had it in a shed for a few years, so when I found it I was a little excited.  Sure I have a nice stereo, but I used this for many years.  I didn't find the cord, but luckily I found one that fit nearby (it was an old DirecTV receiver cord), and the radio works just fine.  I couldn't get the CD player to work though.  It's a bit of a bummer, but my computers can play CD's so I'm not too mad.

Now where do I find some cassettes to see if that still works?

WHAT'S THIS?  A random mix of cassettes to try out?  Sweet!  I tried one out and it worked perfectly.  The fast forward and rewind seemed a bit slow, but it worked, thats all I cared about.  I didn't test any of these cassettes, but I think the blank ones are still unused.  The Stryper one I don't know if I ever listened to.  I somewhat joke about Stryper a lot, but to be honest, I like them.  I also have a vinyl album of theirs too (the not so hard to find cover of To Hell With The Devil).  I believe my computer has their discography on it and I even have a Michael Sweet solo CD as well.  AND NO, TED CRUZ WAS NEVER IN STRYPER!  Don't diss them like that!

The Here's To The Irish cassette has tradition Irish music on it.  On a school trip once, we stopped at a mall and they had cassettes for a quarter or so.  I bought this one mainly as a joke, but from then on when I went on school trips, I would bring this along and listen for a bit.  This was around the time CD's already surpassed cassettes but I had very few CD's so I still had a cassette player I'd bring along.  I would listen to this, and a mix CD which included Peaches from The Presidents Of The United States of America on every trip.  I have a very diverse taste in music.  In fact today I've listened to everything from Gram Parsons to Sir Mix-A-Lott (Posse On Broadway) to now some P.O.D. (The Fundamental Elements of Southtown is currently playing, current track is Set Your Eyes to Zion).

You may think at this point I'm nuts.  You may be right....

I showed this off last year, but this is the actual one I have, not a photo lifted from the internet.  It makes me think back to the fun times I had working at Wendy's but it also reminds me that though it was fun, I don't miss it.  I think everyone should have to work in fast food for six months (and at or near minimum wage).  It really makes you think twice about how you treat the workers and understand how little they get paid.  I'm not saying they deserve 15 bucks an hour, that's insane, but something closer to 10 I can accept.  People say its a job for teenagers, but many adults work there too as a means of paying bills.  Some can't find work elsewhere, others just need to get back on their feet, some use it as a way to move up the ranks, and others just need to do something so this give them something to do.  When I started working there, I had applied to 65 jobs and not one callback.  I almost passed on Wendy's because like a lot of people I was too good for fast food.  However, since it was a new store, I knew they would hire just about everybody.  My goal was to work there a couple years at most and move on.  I lasted just shy of 9 years (actually I turned my uniform in on the 9th anniversary of their opening day), but I wanted out long before, but was so grateful for being hired I didn't want to screw them over.  When I got out though, I knew it was the out I needed, and I don't plan on going back, unless I absolutely must, but at this point, nothing and nobody is the same, so I'd have to basically start all over, and I'd rather not do that.

Sorry about that long look into my life, I tend to veer a lot, I'm sure you figured that out by now.  Let's move on, here's another fast food item.

I HAVE GIANT HANDS!  Naw, that is just a really small mug.  It's from A&W and I'm not sure the history of it, I just know I've had it for years.  It's kinda cool, but I can't really do anything with it but display it.  Since I have no room to really display it (or rather much more stuff I'd rather display), it goes into a box with other stuff for now until I find a spot for it.

Remember a while back I said I hated mice?  The funny thing is my favorite cartoon is Speedy Gonzalez.  It's a shame you never see his cartoons on anymore.  Yes a mouse that's likely on crack isn't the best portrayal of Mexicans, but then again, Speedy was a really hard worker, and to me thats not really a bad thing.  Oh well.  At any rate, I have no room for this Pez dispenser so it also goes in the box to display later (next to a Pez dispenser of Taz).  I hung a shelf recently, and have another one or two that I might hang, so if I do, maybe I can display them, but for now, they are safely packed away.

I'm a little sad I have no room to display this.  I found this tiger at a Dollar Tree a few years back, and it fits well into my old (more or less) mancave.  I had extra room, so I guess it was a mancave, but its moot now since I no longer have the room.  Once another shelf is hung, this will be displayed.

Look how vicious he looks!  There is also a button under him that you push and he really roars.  It might have been the best dollar I ever spent at Dollar Tree.  I've had dreams of one day having a mancave with walls in Tiger stripes, and the main focus would be Mizzou, but would also pepper the room with other Tiger items  (maybe a lifelike stuffed animal).  Now I think if I had room, a mancave would be more devoted to the Royals than Mizzou, but who knows, maybe I could win the lottery and have two mancaves, one for baseball (all Royals), and one for basketball and football (Mizzou with a mix of other teams).  I'll keep dreaming for that.

I had a few diecast racecars, but knowing I needed to downsize, I gave most away to my nephews.  However, they are mixed in with their other cars, and they are still house here, so I could dig them out again if I ever wanted to.  None are really spectacular, but I did keep this Jeff Gordon one.  It was one of my favorites.  And yes, I usually never kept them in packages, the only exception is the Dale Earnhardt one I got after he died, and a Delorean Hot Wheels car.

The Mizzou ball, I guess I got out of one of those quarter machines.  Its a light plastic ball, but its cool to have, but really all you can do is display it.

I think I've mentioned this a few times, but not sure if I ever showed it.  I made this after the Mizzou basketball perfect Big 8 conference schedule in 1993-94 season.  In art we got to make plates where they would send off and actually make them.  I bet anyone could make these now, but back then it seemed really cool to make your own plate.  I thought this turned out really great.  I should have made the Tiger head a bit smaller and have less words on it, but oh well.  My favorite parts are the Tiger's head and the names of all the players on there.

Mark Adkins, Melvin Booker, Jevon Crudup, Julian Winfield, and more.  I wish I found this in time a couple years ago when the honored the team before a preseason game.  Most of the players from this team was on hand and signed autographs.  I went to that game and met most of them, as well as legendary head coach Norm Stewart.  That night Melvin Booker's son Devin visited Mizzou and the crowd did their best to try to get him to play for Mizzou, but he ended up going elsewhere.  I think he's headed to the NBA now or is already there.  Shows how little I follow the NBA now.  Maybe one day I will make another plate like this honoring some of the best Mizzou guys of the last 25 years.  If I do, not many from the last 5 years would be included.  Maybe a better bet is a football themed one.

I bought some Mizzou items online one day, and found this frisbee dirt cheap before I checked out, so I got it.  My hopes was to get it signed by some players, but then I never did.  I think I still could, but we'll see.  I'm hoping to go to fan day again this year, and if I do, this would be good to get signed, though I don't think too many can sign this.  Maybe just have some of the bigger names sign it, or maybe the coaching staff.

Speaking of signed frisbee's...

In 2001 or 2002 (the years tend to run together anymore) I went to the 6th (and final) Route 66 Music Festival in Joplin, MO.  I won free tickets and went with my cousin and one of my best friends.  We could have gone all the days, but decided not to (we did miss out on a then unfamous Larry The Cable Guy), and got they in time for the weekend.  When we got there, my friend and cousin were tired so I let them sleep at the hotel so we missed the Saturday shows (Journey was the Saturday headliner), but made it to the Sunday show, the one we really wanted to see.  We saw some great 90s bands that day.  We saw Sponge, Seven Mary 3, Spin Doctors, and the Gin Blossoms.  I ended up meeting Sponge and the Spin Doctors, and this frisbee is signed by a couple guys from the Spin Doctors.  As they signed it, I tried taking pictures of the band, but one of the members said "Don't you want to be in the picture?" He was nice, so I got a nice picture of him and me (I have it somewhere on my computer).  I also got a good group photo with the guys from Sponge and a couple friends of mine (another friend also won tickets to the show).  We left after those bands played, but as we left, I did get a photo of an up and coming band as they started to play.  That band was Montgomery Gentry.  Looking back I do wish I had gone to all the days, and seen Lifehouse play too, but oh well.

Once upon a time, if something involving wrestling was for sell, I'd likely buy it.  That was the case with this mini magazine.  It was near the checkout one day, and being a fan of Shane "Hurricane" Helms, I got it.  Not much is in it, but its cool to have.  These days I don't buy much wrestling related stuff, but I still keep up with the product, no matter how bad it keeps getting.  I think I mainly got this because I liked Helms when I first saw him in WCW, as a member of 3 Count.

Speaking of WCW...

VIVA LA RAZA!  This was a WWE release of some WCW wrestlers.  I bought this before Eddie passed away, which is odd since as I've stated before I didn't really buy a lot of action figures.  If I did I rarely kept them in their package, so it made it an odd case.  What's more odd is I never cared for Eddie's WWE run, but I think the reason I got this was because I really liked his stuff he did in WCW.  I wish the LWO would have gotten more of a chance (mainly bad timing with a car accident involving Eddie ruined that gimmick).

I even miss his WCW ring gear, and his mullet.  I am glad I now have this with the rest of my sealed action figures.  One day if I do get more room, maybe I will expand the collection and include more wrestlers I liked that have passed on like British Bulldog, Bam Bam Bigelow, Mr. Perfect, and a good batch of others.  I wonder if they made a Brian Adams one, I know he got one as Crush, but not sure about his WCW/NWO days.

Here is the back to show who else was in the set.

I wouldn't mind the Chris Jericho figure.  I have a Flair one from the early 90s.  I think I had a Kidman one at one point too.  Never had a Mysterio or a Benoit, but I don't care too much.  I was never a big fan of either (well maybe Rey a bit when he first started in WCW).

I don't think I'd want any of the ECW ones besides Stevie Richards, I really liked him for some reason.  I had a Rhyno one once, but lost it.  I never liked the Dudleyz too much (though I did like some of their stuff in TNA).  I was never real big on RVD either, but I might have had one of his too.  I had more action figures than I thought.  I got most on clearance though to be fair.  I didn't watch a lot of ECW, so I mainly saw those guys when they wrestled elsewhere.

Look at those straps! errr... I mean belts.... um whatever Vince wants to call them now days.  Those were real belts. Well the US title kinda sucked, but at least it didn't spin.  Too bad they didn't have some of the older belts or the WCW ones.  I think they do make them though.

The ring at the bottom though I did have too, but I was missing pieces of it so I tossed it recently.  I should have kept the ring mat (whatever you call it on the action ring, the white part), so if I ever went to another wrestling show I could get a few guys to sign it.

That wraps it up for tonight, I need to get some sleep, and then I go in tomorrow and might be out of it for a day or two.  So possibly no posts for a couple days, but if I feel okay, I'll post.  Thanks for reading and have a great night.