Flashback 1970's

I've been working on scanning pictures a few days last week, and when I finished I realized I had a few more to scan.  Last month for my birthday, my best friend brought me a few gifts and among them were some pictures.  He is a really good photographer, but he didn't take these shots.  These were from before he was born.  These were from before I was born.  He got some pictures from a Milwaukee Brewers fan that would visit Kansas City to see the Royals and the Brew Crew battle.  Back then most remember they were division rivals, and I always think they paralleled each other while they were rivals.  Both had some success, and both had life long players that debuted around the same time and retired the same time, both went into the Hall of Fame at the same time.  I'm talking about Robin Yount and George Brett.

So the pictures were a nice gift, and I've been wanting to scan them for a bit and finally did it.  After I did I took a deeper look at them and did some research.  If I really tried I could have researched more and found out more, but I'm happy with what I found out.  So today let's look at some old pictures, and you'll be glad that you did.

Let's begin the trip at the airport.  While researching I found out that the terminal was rebuilt in 1972 and was pretty much a brand new airport when this was taken less than a year later in July of 1973.

You'll have to forgive me if these photos are out of order.  The person told my friend they were all from the early 70's but some were from later years.  I'm still fine with that though, as it still tells a history of the stadium.  It sure has changed from then to now.

So I did a little digging to find out when these could have been taken.  1973 narrowed it down a lot, and looking at the pictures gave me some clues.  In the outfield beyond the fence you can see writing.  I forgot that in 1973 the Royals hosted the All Star Game.  Which narrowed it down to July.  I found out Milwaukee played Kansas City as the final series before the All Star Game, so this was July 20-22,1973.  The one picture I thought was maybe a band setting up for a concert which threw me off because they did host concerts, and Three Dog Night did a show there in early August.  I think it was after the Sunday game  and they were preparing the field for the All Star Game.

1973 was the debut of the Royals Stadium.  While doing research, I found out something really interesting though.  These photos mean a lot more to me now.

At first I was like, eh not the best shot of the fountains, but through research I found out the fountains weren't completed in time for the stadium to open, and was delayed.  They were finally completed and debuted on the Saturday night before the All Star Game.  Meaning these photos were from when they first were turned on.  These could be the first photos when they came on.  I really like these now.

I don't have an idea when these were taken, but judging from other pictures, I think these were taken in 1977.  At least you can see the fountains better in these photos.

Here is more of the photos.  Again, I think most are the late 70s.  The top left photo is from 1977.  The game is from September 3rd, 1977.  Thanks to baseball reference I figured it out.  I assume the other borderless photos are from the same weekend.

My friend pointed out the photo of the press box shows the chairs that he and I now have.  I've show it before, but since I'm working on sorting cards I might take a photo of my setup and show my chair again soon.

Here is the final photo, and there's not much to say.  I do remember a few time riding past the Stadium and trying to get a photo like that.  I always smile when the few times I've been on I-70 riding past the stadium.  The other photo is the dugout.  It would be fun to stand in the dugout one day.

So with that I guess we'll wrap things up.  Before I do I'll show a few links for my research.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA197709030.shtml
https://www.mlb.com/royals/history/ballpark-milestones-1970s
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197307200KCA
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197307210KCA
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197307220KCA

I had a lot of fun looking at these photos, and had even more fun researching them.  I have to thank my friend again for the photos, and I didn't even show the other gifts he got me, but unfortunately didn't get photos yet of the other items (they were too big to scan).  Once I clear some space I'll take some photos and include it in a future blog.

I hope everyone is doing well in these tough times, and hope you enjoyed reading this blog.  I'm not sure when I'll post next, but when I have time or something to post, I'll write some more.  Thanks for reading and have a great day.

New Old Stock, An Ebay Order

In 2016 I really liked the Topps design of their base set.  So much so that I'm slowly working on finishing the set.  However in 2017 I didn't really like their design and money started to get tight.  I decided at that point that I would likely stop buying new packs unless I needed to scratch an itch and rely on just getting Royals cards through trades, or online sales, or card shops and shows (least likely since I never go to any).  Since then I've mostly stuck to it and have only bought a few packs.  I did buy some wrestling and such but held off on baseball.

A couple months ago my sister gave me a gift card for Ebay.  Since then I've looked on Ebay off and on trying to find something to buy.  It's funny when I have no money I find stuff I want, but when I get the chance to get it, I'm more tight with the money.  Most of my watched items aren't card related, but a few are.  Then a couple weeks ago I got an email saying I got a $5 credit to use on Ebay.  Combine that with the gift card, I was able to find something I'd really want.  So I looked a little more and nothing really stood out.  A week later I looked at the email again and I had 4 days left to use it (I thought I had a month).  I frantically starting to search for something but if not, I had a couple ideas.  Anyways, I found a nice auction that was cheap and if I read it right seemed like a steal.  My only worry was getting sniped.

3.....2.....1.........2......1....0!  I'm not sure why the hiccup but I ended up winning the auction.  I had to raise my bid once, but did realize that the other buyer maxed out his bid, so I didn't have to overspend much.  After using the 5 buck credit, it cost me $8.01, which I took care of with the gift card.  Now, did I really read it right?  2018 Royals team sets.... 15 sets total.... over 100 cards?

We'll see.  I saw pictures, and honestly I thought I was reading it wrong and it was only 15 cards.  I'd have been mad if that was the case.

The package arrived a few days later (I figured it might be delayed due to, well, you know the news about a virus going around), so I was excited.  I opened it up, and that looks like 100 cards!  Things are looking great!  However, Jim Gantner as the top card worried me.  Did they give me the wrong package?

Uh, I think I have these already, and besides them not being Kansas City Royals, they are most definitely 2018.  This isn't looking so good.

Turns out, they used those older cards as protector cards that separated the real cards from the packing peanuts.  Full disclosure, I didn't really look into 2018 sets all that much so not only will 99% of these be new to me, I also don't plan on recognizing any of the sets.  The Donruss card doesn't look bad besides airbrushing the logos, but I still like it.  The Big League cards are ones I heard about, but never looked into.  I like this one, so maybe I'll like the rest.

I haven't scanned or photographed cards in a while, so I wasn't sure which was the better way to do it, so I tried it both ways.

While I scanned or photographed every card, I won't comment on every one.  I was surprised to find the black and white George Brett card as I'm sure its a short print.  I shouldn't expect Short Prints in a package like this, but I think I got it on accident.  I actually didn't get one of the regular base cards, so its fine.  I think I am missing a couple base cards total from the sets I got, and the other sets just missing the Short Prints.  I can't complain since I got 100 cards for under 10 bucks.

It's nice to get some of the younger stars, and think that is my first Jackson Kowar, and Brady Singer, so that was nice.  I was really surprised to get so many Bo Jackson and George Brett cards.  I was torn on it because it either means the Royals can't develop new stars, the card companies rely too heavily on old stars, the card companies produce too many sets and need to fill the sets somehow.... or  a combination of all.

I still like Archives cards, my favorites of this set are the Perez and Gordon cards. The bottom I had to crop Brian Flynn and Trevor Oaks and Eric Stout off a bit, but you get the idea of what the cards look like.  I have to admit the 2018 Topps design looks a lot better than the 2017 set.

So I went ahead and took pictures of the rest.  They aren't the best quality, but here they are.

The Heritage cards look pretty nice as well.  The Big League cards are pretty good as well.

Overall, I was really happy with the purchase.  I actually completed a few team sets, and only missing a couple cards on the rest (multi team cards and short prints mostly).  It was likely the only way I would have got Bowman Platinum, Donruss Optic, or A&G so it was worth it.  I don't really have plans to work on 2018 much more right now, and the same can be said for 2017 (which I have some), 2019, or even 2020, but I still have money on my gift card, and if I find a good deal I'll possibly bid on some.  If I don't it will likely be spent on a random mix of other stuff I don't need.  There are a few cards on my wantlist I'm watching, so its possible I go ahead and get them.  Speaking of which, its been a few years since I did my most wanted cards, maybe a future post will be an updated version.

Since the World is a little crazy right now, my priorities aren't exactly on cards, but I haven't been in the mood to do much else, so its possible working on cards is, well, in my cards.  If not I have more computer cleaning to do and some more VHS tapes to convert, so I should be busy for a while.  I hope everyone finds a way to deal with the extra burdens you may be facing, and I hope the few extra minutes you spent reading this took your mind off the more troubling issues we are facing.  Thank you so much for reading, and have a nice day.

Computer Clean Up- Cards and more

I get in spells where I start working on something then just stop.  As of late I've worked on cleaning up my computer and trying to make copies of my movies.  I've been successful but the last few days, I've stopped doing it.  Now I'm trying to scan old photos again, as I'm months behind on it.  I've put it off for a bit because I've wanted to clean my hard drive first, and my pictures folder has gotten a lot smaller, eliminating doubles.  So its about time to start scanning again, and I've done that for a couple days, scanning around 200 or more photos.  At times I wish I had a scanner that would feed through photos and I could knock them out faster, but getting 200 photos scanned in about 2 hours, I can't complain.

Today I took a break from that as I had to go do some shopping.  I went to my local second hand store, but came out empty handed.  I also came out of Dollar Tree empty handed.  Not a surprise since all they carry is Pokemon stick packs anymore.  I did buy food at Walmart, but passed on anything extra.  Since the weather was nice, I went to storage and cleaned up a bit and found some stuff for another day.

Since I don't have a lot going on at the moment, I thought it was time to write a blog.  I'm always behind on stuff, so this will be a random mix of stuff on my computer, but it will have cards included.  Some is a lot more recent than others, while some is over 2 years old.  I could probably do a week's worth of posts like this, so depending on my mood, I could be writing more.  However since my scanner is out, I could just scan more stuff and save it for later.  Anyways, enough talk, let's dig in.

The XFL IS BACK!  For how long who knows, but I got these in a pack a couple years ago, they are foam type cards, and I admit I like them.  They are from 2001, and even if the name isn't the best, I did like the Maniax.  Its not a set I'm going to chase down, but it was a fun pack to open.

Here is the back.  Again, not something I'll chase down, but it was fun.  I did open a few packs of the Topps set in 2001, and if I ever got back into collecting football more, I would maybe chase the set down.

We'll get back to cards later (okay, one more card), but let's look at other stuff.  While trying to clean up stuff one day I came across this lottery ticket from the late 90's.  I think 1997 or so.  It was a non-winner, and my dad seemed to keep every non-winner, but when we moved, we left most of them behind.  This one managed to slip through the cracks, and I'll keep it with my cards for now.

I was really excited to find this clock at my local thrift store a year or two ago.  It was the exact kind my mom had in her kitchen while I was growing up.  She had it for many years until it stopped working.  I gladly paid the 1.50 for it, and now is hanging in the hallway.  My mom didn't really want it, but later said she's happy I found it because it did bring back memories and she was surprised I remembered it.

This was 3 dollars at my local thrift store.  I never heard of Grace Digital before, but since I like electronics, I thought "hey, it has a cord to plug it in, and it said it works".  It also had a little flash drive plugged into the back.  I should be wiser about plugging in random flash drives, but luckily this one was fine, and it was empty.  I use it today for other stuff and is an 8GB, enough for what I use it for.

It's an internet radio.  I was a little skeptical at first, but after a while, I love it.  Maybe one of the better purchases I ever made.  The downside is it must connect to the internet (wireless though), even if you use the usb drive.  The upside is, I can use an usb drive to make a playlist of music, and listen to what I want.  Right now I have a 250 song playlist I turn on when I don't want to hear what is on the stations.  It has 10 presets, and I have a wide mix of stations.  While not every radio station is included, it has a nice enough variety for me.  It has an option to add more stations (aside for the 5-10,000 or more they claim), but since this is an older model, its a bit tough to get them to add it (it will only work for stations using http, not https).  That said, I listen to an alternative rock station out of Kansas City, and even can listen to Mizzou, Chiefs, and Royals games.  I found a throwback hip hop station (80's-early 2000's rap), plus a few 90's stations.  During Christmas, I found a lot of random stations as well.  It has almost any genre imaginable, some days I'll listen to Reggae.  They have made newer models, but even this one if I decided to sell it was going for around 50 bucks when I bought it, it might be cheaper now.

Most of these are more recent finds, but recently I've cleared my huge stack of VHS tapes, so I've slowly bought some more.  I usually go for random stuff, or stuff you won't find on DVD or Blu Ray.  I did get Renaissance Man because I like the movie and not sure I would ever buy it on DVD.  I'm a big fan of Amy Grant so I had to get that as well.  The others were random stuff.  The Ray Stevens I got because I like his stuff as well.  The Chiefs one I got because I loved the Martyball era of the Chiefs, so it was nice to find.

I will probably slow down on VHS for now, but I'll always be on the lookout for stuff.

I forgot a couple more.  The bottom one is only an hour long, and I can't find anything on it.  Though I grabbed it because on the back was a picture of Alex Karras, so for a dime it was worth a shot.

So now we'll look at another card to wrap things up.  This came in a box of wrestling cards I got last year or two, and its one I really like.

I've been a fan of Bobby ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODE! since his early years of TNA Wrestling, so it was a nice pull.  I haven't been into wrestling as much lately, but I still manage to watch a time or two a week, usually NXT on Wednesday nights.  I just can't get into AEW but I have to admit I've watched it more the last couple weeks.  I hope AEW well, and hope a new rival for WWE emerges, but I think it will take a while.

I think we'll wrap it up here for today.  I could have made this a Savvy Loot post, but I'd rather clear out my computer and once I get caught up, I'll do more of those.  Plus I haven't done too well on Savvy Loot stuff lately, so until I get a few good things, I'll hold off.  Thanks everyone for reading, and I hope to be posting more card related posts soon, but until I clear out some folders, it could be a while.  Have a great weekend everyone.