The Big Dope

The Evening Independent - June 21, 1959

2010 University of Tennessee pocket schedule

Football time in Tennessee. Sweeter words were never said at the beginning of September. I've lived here for 14 years now. And I've grown to like the Vols. I'm not a rabid fan, but I do enjoy watching them. My wife likes them. We've got a good coach in Derrick Dooley. He might not have the experience of Phillip Fulmer, but he's got quite a bit more class than Lane Kiffin.

So far, UT has a 2-2 record, knocking off UT-Martin and UAB.  Truthfully, UAB should have beaten them.  Ah, the fickleness of Field Goal kickers.  The Vols have a tough schedule.  It isn't easy playing in the SEC.  This isn't whining, just fact.  There are some very good teams in that conference.  We'll pick up a few more wins and hopefully finish at least 6-6 on the season.

I picked up this pocket schedule at my favorite local card shop in Knoxville, Sports Treasures.  I was killing some time, bought a pack of 2010 Topps, Series 2 and found this at the checkout register.

Huggins and Scott Auction

Time for another auction catalog run through.  This time, Huggins & Scott sent me their latest.  The auction will run on September 29 and 30.  Plenty of time to get a second mortgage.

This catalog contains some interesting items.  It seems that someone is selling their Rogers Hornsby collection.  Lots 47-72 are all Rogers Hornsbys.  Old and modern.  Cards and Relic Cards.  All Rogers, all the time.

So, what am I going to feature?  See if you can find a theme...

Lot #: 81
Item: 1961 Nu-Card Scoops Complete Set of (80/80) with Wrapper
Description: Diamond achievements for games, seasons and careers are celebrated on the offered 1961 Nu-Card Scoops complete set of eighty cards. This crisp collection averages (EX-MT to NM) with many better. Keys include #422 Mantle Homer (NM), #439 T. Williams .406 (NM) and #447 Ruth 60 Home Runs (NM). Also included is an original five-cent wrapper (NM-MT).
Opening Bid: $150
Current Bid: $240

Lot #: 128
Item: (7) 1951 Topps Connie Mack All-Stars with Ruth
Description: Diamond immortals of the past and (then) present are portrayed on these seven 1951 Topps Connie Mack All-Stars. Each card is technically “Authentic” due to portions of the original tabbing being absent. Additionally, varying degrees of creasing is found throughout. Included are Cochrane, E. Collins, J. Collins (missing name portion), Mathewson, Ruth (piece of bat torn), Speaker and Wagner.
Opening Bid: $200
Current Bid: $210

Lot #: 206
Item: 1961-1965 Montreal Allouettes 6-1/2 Inch CFL Bobblehead
Description: Nodding affirmatively sporting his “North of the Border” gridiron wear, this 1961-1965 Montreal Allouettes 6-1/2 inch bobblehead doll stands on a square base and shows minimally (EX) quality with a smooth jaw line and a hairline crack at the back of the helmet. This is the full-size version, as opposed to the miniature version.
Opening Bid: $100
Current Bid: $110

Lot #: 384
Item: 1949 Leaf Football Complete Set of (49)
Description: Presented in its entirety, this hand-collated 1949 Leaf Football set has an approximate overall breakdown of: 5% (EX or better); 45% (VG-EX); 45% (VG); and 5% (GD or lesser. Keys in the skip-numbered set include: #1 Hendren (VG-EX), #15 Luckman (VG), #16 Trippi (VG-EX), #22 Dudley (VG), #26 Baugh (VG-EX), #28 Pihos (VG-EX), #40 Connor (VG), #41 McAfee (VG-EX), #49 Conerly (VG), #56 Lujack (EX), #67 Layne (VG), #79 Van Buren (VG-EX), #89 Waterfield (VG), #134 Bednarik (VG-EX) and #150 Turner (FR).
Opening Bid: $400
Current Bid: $800

Lot #: 560
Item: 1911 T9 Turkey Red Cabinet Sam Langford Checklist Back Card PSA 4
Description: Graded VG-EX 4 by PSA. The presented 1911 T9 Turkey Red Cabinet #65 Sam Langford card with checklist back displays some corner and edge wear, and the back shows small areas of surface discoloration.
Opening Bid: $150
Current Bid: $190

That's what I'd bid on, if I were a bidding man.  Yeah, I've got no theme this time.

Bids Current as of September 28, 2010.

All images and descriptions liberally lifted from the Huggins & Scott auction website.

Used with permission.

Baseball Amusement Machines - part 2

Another set of ads for Amusement Machines from the page of Billboard, via Google Books.  Again, from the 1950s.  Compare and contrast from the previous blog post.

BUNTS - the cookie

At the Jerry Malloy Negro League Baseball Conference I attended back in July, they had a small goody bag for us.  Inside was a package of BUNTS.  Yep, little shortbread cookies in the shape of baseballs.  Flat baseballs, but baseballs nonetheless.

Cookies - yum

Since I just opened them the other day to take the photos, I was surprised at how good they taste.  I mean, I've had them for two months and who knows how long they've been in the package since they were baked.

You can find out more about the cookies at their website, Cooperstown Cookie Factory.

Cheapo Football Packs

I was at the Dollar Tree in south Knoxvegas on Sunday. I found their stash of trading cards. I selected three different packs to see what they might contain. A buck a pack? I can live with that.

First the Topps. Hmmm. Looks amazingly like the 2010 Topps Baseball issue. Doesn't really do anything for me. Especially since they use a cropped copy of the front photo for the back.
The 2010 Topps pack yielded the following:

#29 - Michael Turner

#32 - Amari Spievey

#86 - Yeremiah Bell

#150 - Aaron Rodgers

#161 - Mike Thomas

Next comes the HIT pack. They are billing themselves as "The Hobby's First Micro-Printer". Not quite sure what that means. I took a quick look at their website, but didn't read all the press releases. Maybe the meaning is buried in one of them.

I like the looks of them. Well, most of them. I'm not crazy about the Damian Williams card. It looks much darker in person. They use a lot of quotes on the backs. Psst... Pete Carroll isn't the head coach at USC anymore. Some other weasel is.

The 2010 HIT pack yielded the following:

#54 - Jevan Snead

#64 - C.J. Spiller - In Training

#74 - Damian Williams - In Training

#80 - Jahvid Best

#90 - Jason Pierre-Paul

The thing I really liked about this set is that it is manageable. There are 100 base cards in the set, essentially two series (a Low Series and a High Series). 20 Write Stuff Insert cards. 30 Prospectus Insert Cards. 6 Aspire Autograph Insert cards. 156 cards total. It could be done. Not by me, but by someone who likes their football cards.

I did note a bit of a mistake in their packaging. On the back, it states that the pack contains Low Series cards. Then it states that "Making fraudulent claims is punishable by State & Federal laws."

From the front of the package it clearly states that these cards are High Series. All of the cards in the package were High Series. I'll chalk this up to an editor's mistake. they probably used the existing copy and just missed it. Maybe, though, I could leverage it into something bigger. No. No I won't.

The third package is from Presstine Marketing. From their website: From Montana to Manning, Sanders to Tomlinson , you never know who you’re going to get in a PMI pack!! Because they repackage. I don't find anything wrong with this. They basically state that on the package. I wasn't looking for a hit. I was just curious to see what was inside.

I'm not going to take the time to type it all out, but suffice it to say that there were 20 cards, some from issues I've never heard of, all in very nice condition. No dinged corners, no drawn-on mustaches. A nice pack for a buck, especially if you want to give them to your nephews, or nieces, if they collect.

Overall, I'm ready for the weather to cool down and some good football to start up.

Baseball Amusement Machines

Google Books has again loosed its baseball goodness upon me. Looking through an April 21, 1958 issue of Billboard magazine I stumbled across the Amusement Machines section. What did I find? Baseball games. So I looked around at some different issues of Billboard. More games. These are all from the 1950s. I've tried to match up the press release or news article with an ad for the game. I'm sure that there are still several games that I did not find.





















I've got a second installment of these waiting for another post. Don't go far.