Junk of the Month - February 2012

Easy JotM - ok if your a Cardinals Fan, I am sure this card is fine. 

But if your a Phils Fan, the above Chris Carpenter NLDS game 5 is definitely Junk of the Month.

Honorable Mention 

Hate these - and check out the backs.    

 Half of these guys aren't even in the AL anymore. 

JOHAN SANTANA HASN'T PITCHED IN THE AL SINCE 2007!!!!


Pull of the Month

Any of the above cards featuring Phillies is a good pick for Pull of the Month.

Not a big fan of the 87 minis, but I suppose I would have to go with the Victorino as the favorite of this months picks.

Looking Back

Junk of the Month - January 2012

Junk of the Month - January 2012

I am attempting to resurrect Junk of the Month for 2012.  We will see how things go....

I didn't open up any 2012 Topps until Wednesday, therefore none of that dreck qualifies for JotM 2012-01. To be fair I like 2012 Topps more than most opinions I have seen - promised thoughts on this hopefully will be published in the coming week. 

So in January I didn't open many packs, but still manage to find some junk.  One of the things I found was a pack of the bargain bin ubiquitous 2006 Fleer Ultra.  You think 2012 Topps has a lot of inserts - go out and grab a $1.59 pack of 06 Fleer Ultra. 

Junk of the Month

2006 Fleer Ultra Home Run Kings #HRK15 Mike Piazza

What the hell is this? Piazza hit a grand total of 22 dingers for the Padres.  Does anyone remember his bit 06 season for the Fighting Friars?  The card is actually commemorating Piazza's two 40 home run seaons from last century, 1997 with the Dodgers and 1999 with the Mets.

Pull of the Month

2011 Topps American Pie Walk of Fame Leslie Nielsen

For the fun of it, Team Phungo picked up a pack of Topps American Pie last month.  The otherwise worthless pack (that contained both the Twitter and the Google cards and No Frank Zappa) did yield this gem.

This is a nice looking insert set that I think I could get behind. All kinds of whacks have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame so I am sure there is some variety in this set.

And in a release that is not baseball product, we do get a baseball related card in the form of Lt Frank Drebin.  

Sources and Links
Mike PIazza HoF Index

Pull N Junk of the Month - February 2011 - Mostly Catchers Edition

I had intended to do a whole Retail v Hobby comparison of 2011 Topps, but sort of lost my momentum on that one as I (and many others) seemed to be suffering from new release fatigue.

I picked up three packs each of Topps Retail and Topps Hobby this month plus 1 rack pack.  Out of those seven packs I was pretty happy to come up with this pull:

2011 Topps Legends Variation #198 Johnny Bench

Amazingly enough this came out of a Target gravity feeder.

Apparently the Legends Variations are pretty rare, with a 1:80 seed ratio for HTA boxes according to BaseballCardPedia.

The #198 Bench Variation shares #198 with the San Francisco Giants fine young catcher Buster Posey.

(click to enlarge)

My question to you is if you only bought 3 packs at a retail outlet and got a hit, would you:
A) return to the same store and pick up another set of packs
B)go to another retail outlet knowing that the first store was tapped out of hits
C)quit while you were ahead?

2011 Topps Phillies

2011 Topps Carlos Ruiz

Six packs plus a rack pack and I come up with 1 stinkin Phillies card. But we have a Catchers theme posts going so The Ruiz card is appropriate

Junk of the Month

(click to enlarge)

The team cards all have season highlights on the back, unfortunately one of the BoSox Highlights happens to be a Phils low-light when Joe Blanton through a clunker of a game which included giving up a Grand Slam Home Run to Daniel Nava in Nava's first career AB on the first pitch the rookie saw at the major league level.

Honorable mention:

Yet another Catcher themed card - These are CYMTO 2011 to me.  who needs them.   

2010 Pull of the Year
 
I also wanted to take the time to note the 2010 Pull of the Year.  And we have another great pick featuring one more catcher - but he is a very special catcher.      

2009 Goodwin Champions Black Border Mini Gypsy Queen Back #62 Yogi Berra

Thanks all for helping me pick out the 2010 Pull of the Year via a series of Poles - And also Junk of the Year.

2010 was the year of the mini for me - so it is very appropriate that the Pull of the Year was a mini and a 2009 Goodwin, which is one of my favorite sets that I discovered in 2010.

Previous 2011 Pull N Junk Posts
2011 January

Pull N Junk of the Month - January 2011

I always think that Junk of the Month is more interesting then Pull of the Month, So I am going to start with that:

Junk of the Month

 2010 Obak #108 Tinkers-Evers-Chance, Baseball's Sad Lexicon



First off - I am having a PC issue at home so pardon the Pix instead of Scans approach.

I actually am very happy with what I have seen from 2010 Obak.  I was a bit disappointed with the physical aspects (cereal box card  quality) of the cards, but I did like the look and the checklist of the cards.  Much better than either edition of Topps 206.

But this card made me shudder - He we have the subjects of a 1910 poem juxtaposed with the Wrigley Field Marquee - Lights added 1982.     

Pull of the Month

2010 Topps Updates & Highlights #PPA-JCA Jason Castro


Jason Castro was named the Astros #1 Prospect by Baseball America in 2010.  His debut was unremarkable, but I will be keeping an eye on him.  This card was pulled from a retail pack at my local Wawa a block from my house - Retail Mojo! 


Contenders

2010 Obak Mini #10 Hank Greenberg
2010 Obak #63 Eberhard Anheuser

As I mentioned above I am a fan of Obak - here's your proof.  I am still on a mini kick and a Mini of any Hall of Famer is a Win.  Ok, I am not a Bud fan, but if it is the only beer that they are selling at a game, I am not afraid to admit I will overpay for it.  A Hall of Fame mini and a Beer related Trading Card are your Runners Up for January 2011 Pull of the Month.

2010 Pull N Junk Playoffs: Best Pull Finals

We are down to the Final Four of the Phungo Pull of the Year competition.


Here are the four Finalist, one from each quarter of 2010.

2009 Topps T206 #138 mini Elvis Andrus (SP)/Base

2008 UD Baseball Heroes Copper #10 Brian McCann (#d100/149)




2009 Goodwin Champions Yogi Berra

2010 Topps Chrome #192 Chris Heisey

A good collection of choices, oddly no Phils made the list.  The choices show some of the things I found exciting in 2010, notably Minis.  The Two minis are both Short Prints - The Andrus is an alternate variation.  The Yogi is a nice black bordered mini.  The Chris Heisey card gets in as a local player making it big.  


There you have it, No Autos, No Relics, just a couple of minis, a serial numbered card and a local fave.

Help Team Phungo pick the first pull of the year card by voting at the pull on your right.

2010 Pull N Junk Playoffs: Best Pull - 4th Quarter

We are down to the final Quarterfinal for 2010.  I was on the road for most of the quarter and didn't open many new packs here are the contenders.   


October Pull of the Month

2010 Topps Chrome #192 Chris Heisey
Heisey is from back home area and Team Phungo has been keeping tabs on him.

Honorable Mention

2010 Topps Chrome Orange #7 Mickey Mantle
Parallel Mantle Cards cannot be dismissed - This card is ticketed for BA Benny as soon as I get my trade hat back on.   

November Pull of the Month

2008 Topps #533 Kyle McClellan
How the heck does a 2008 Topps Series 2 card get into the Pull of the year Playoffs?  First off you have to be building the 2008 Topps Set and down to your last couple of cards.  Secondly you have to travel half way around the world to visit your fiancee who is working abroad, and finally she has to be thoughtful enough to have purchased a few packs of cards for you before she left. 


All these things happened!!! and the pack she got me had one of the two cars I needed to finish the set.  Coco Crisp Your Next! 


There you have it.  Your 3 choices for the last quarter final of 2010 are:
A) Chris Heisey
B) Mickey Mantle
C) Kyle McClellan


Please Vote in the Comments.

There is still time to vote in the other Pull of the Year Quarter Finals: 

1st Quarter  2nd Quarter   
3rd Quarter

2010 Pull N Junk Playoffs: Best Pull - 3rd Quarter

For the 3rd Quarter of 2010 we have a couple of Hall of Famers a future Hall of Famer and a bunch of non-baseball cards.

July

2010 Allen & Ginter #73 Avery Jenkins

I am a frisbee fanatic so Mr Jenkins makes it into the playoffs.

2010 Allen & Ginter World's Wordsmiths mini # WGWS8 John Milton

Milton was a bit of a literary hero for me and my mates when I was younger and gets a shot in the Pull of the Year playoffs.
 

August

 2010 Allen & Ginter World's Wordsmiths #WGS1 Homer

If you blogging about Baseball you got to love a Writer named Homer.

2010 Topps Peak Performance #PP-60 Mike Schmidt

Phils HOF insert Mojo!

September

2009 Goodwin Champions Mini #112 Robin Roberts


More Phils HOF Insert Mojo.  I always enjoy minis and was very happy to pull this one of HOF Robin Roberts from a Blaster


Other qualifiers from September



2009 Goodwin Champions Black Mini Yogi Berra

 2009 Goodwin Champions Relic Chipper Jones


There you have a very competitive field from the third quarter of 2010.  Please vote in the comments.


A) Avery Jenkins
B) John Milton
C) Homer
D) Mike Schmidt
E) Robin Roberts
F) Yogi Berra
G) Chipper Jones


And Looking back there is still time to vote in the 2nd Quarter and 1st Quarter Best Pull playoffs.

2010 Pull N Junk Playoffs: Best Pull - 2nd Quarter

The Best Pull Tourney Turns the page to the best pull of the 2nd Quarter of 2010.  Here are the candidates.

April
Two Topps Heritage Inserts make the cut for April 2010.   

2010 Topps Heritage Chrome #C90 Troy Tulowitzki (#d 288/1961)

2010 Topps Heritage Then & Now #TN10 Shutout Leaders Whitey Ford & Roy Halladay

click Here to find out more about these cards. 

May
May features a trio of entries that came out of UD bargain packs I picked up this past spring.  


2008 UD X Xponential 2 #X2-JT

2008 UD Baseball Heroes Copper #10 Brian McCann (#d100/149)
 
2009 UD 20th Anniversary #638 Steve Carlton

A couple of favorite players and a serially numbered McCann Card. 

For More Info on the May Cards click here.

June

1988 Donruss #539 Greg Maddux

Even Junk Wax can yield a Pull of the Month.  This is a Pre-Cy Young Greg Maddux.  At the time of issue Greg Maddux had a career W-L record of 8-18, He would go on to win 347 more games.

More info here. 

Vote

Please Vote for your favorite Phungo Pull of the 2nd Quarter in the comments:

1) Troy Tulowitzki
2) Roy Halladay/ Whitey Ford
3) Jim Thome
4) Brian McCann
5) Lefty
6) Greg Maddux

2010 Pull N Junk Playoffs: Best Pull - First Quarter Final

Ok now that the Junk Playoffs have reached the Finals We will start up the Best Pull Playoffs.  These aren't quite as much fun, and I will hopefully run through them much quicker then the Junk Playoffs.

We have four cards from the first quarter of 2010

January

2009 Topps T206 #138 mini Elvis Andrus (SP)

The first mini is the SP, the latter card is the Base, shown here for reference.  I like Andrus and this SP mini is even cooler after the Rangers got into the World Series. 

For more information on these cards click:

2010 January

February

1963 Topps #318 Gene Mauch

I actually just traded this card away MCG tradeathon over at Play at the Plate.  I still have 2 codes to redeem - and meant to prior to the tradeathon closing but haven't gotten around to it.  

The 63 Mauch is a great vintage card from my favorite team, but in the end I couldn't justify the cost of shipping the card.  

PATP running the Tradeathon is a great idea.  To me this is what the cardblogosphere is about - We share a common interest and can join together and get a couple of really great cards rather than a walking away with nothing.       

For more information on this cards click:

2010 February

March

2010 Topps Opening Day #13 Shane Victorino (#d 0782/2010)

2010 Topps Heritage #61RM-13 Maris Chase '61 13th Homer

For more information on these cards click:

2010 March

VOTE

There you have our four contenders for the first quarter of 2010.  Please vote in the comments.

2010 Pull of the Year and Junk of the Year

We are coming up on the end of the Year and if you have been paying attention, I have been nominating different cards for Pull and Junk of the Month - please save the Pulling your Junk jokes for your own blog..

Well now it is time to Pick Pull of the Year and Junk of the Year.

And I would like to enlist the help of Phungo Readers in Picking Pull and Junk for 2010.  I plan on breaking this years picks down by quarters and having a playoff - March Madness style sort of.

But the first order of business is taking card of the last couple of months

October Pull of the Month

2010 Topps Chrome #192 Chris Heisey
Heisey is from back home area and Team Phungo has been keeping an tabs on him.



Honorable Mention

2010 Topps Chrome Orange #7 Mickey Mantle
Parallel Mantle Cards cannot be dismissed - I do dismiss those HR cards though.  .

October Junk of the Month

2010 Topps Chrome #40 Cliff Lee
Nothing against Lee and this is actually a fine card and photo, but well there is no real reason to commemorate his very exciting 13 games with the Mariners.  That and the one time I made a special trip to Baltimore to see Lee shut down the hapless Orioles he got lit up for four dingers.  

November Pull of the Month

2008 Topps #533 Kyle McClellan

More on this later - it should suffice to say there is a reason this isn't a scan but that I was very happy to pull this card.     

November Junk of the Month


  

2008 Topps #500 Chipper Jones 

This is another nothing against the player post - ok not much against Larry except how he always finds away to beat the Phils.   But this is just another example of Topps garbage Photography from 2008 Topps.  They really mailed the pictures in on this one - was this picture taken from the back of a section down the first base line or something. 

Well if you guessed I only opened one pack each of the last 2 months you would be correct.

Be back with Pull n Junk 2010 Playoffs in a little bit.


Past Pull n Junk of the Month entries
2010 September
2010 August
2010 July
2010 June
2010 May
2010 April
2010 March

2010 February

2010 January

Pull of the Month - September 2010

2009 Goodwin Champions Mini #112 Robin Roberts

This is from a Blaster Break featured just a week ago. I have been on a mini-kick this summer and anytime I get one of a Phils HoF player that goes straight to the head of the class. There were a lot of nice cards in that break - basically a mini a pack. I suppose most other folks would consider the Black Yogi Mini or the Chipper Relic the Hit of the blaster, but for me it was Mr Roberts.


Junk of the Month

2010 Topps T-206 #257 Ryan Howard

There is nothing wrong with this Ryan Howard card. In fact as a Phils fan I am always happy to pull a Howard card from any pack.

But I do have an issue with the card:



2010 Topps T-206 #257 Ryan Howard (b-side)

Can you tell what it is? Apparently Topps is to righteous to mention a certain non-Hall of Fame Player. I suppose the unnamed player is contracted to another company and Topps isn't even aloud to name him in their copy. If so for goodness sake come up with another fun fact, maybe something to do with Home Runs or being an MVP having won a World Series. I don't think it's that tough.

Past Pull and Junk of the Month entries

2010 August
2010 July
2010 June
2010 May
2010 April
2010 March

2010 February

2010 January

Pull of the Month - August 2010

I open as much retail in the past four weeks as I have in any month in recent memory. They put in a brand new Target next to where I work and I have been finding excuses to jump over there whenever I can.


2010 Allen & Ginter World's Wordsmiths #WGS1 Homer

How can you beat a mini of a dude named Homer. Betcha he would have a blog if he was kicking today.

Homer wins this months Pull of the Month, but I did get one other fine insert this month - this was from Topps Series 2. Overall I think Peak Performance is a little Meh, but it is always good to get one from your squad especially when it is of Hall of Fame Third Baseman Mike Schmidt.

2010 Topps Peak Performance #PP-60 Mike Schmidt

Junk of the Month
2010 Topps NFL Football #286 Kellen Winslow

Damaged card - probably a pack searcher check the 2nd "L" in "KELLEN".

Past Pull and Junk of the Month entries"

2010 July
2010 June
2010 May
2010 April
2010 March

2010 February

2010 January

Pull of the Month - July 2010 - All Ginter Edition

2010 Allen & Ginter #73 Avery Jenkins

As I mentioned before, one of my other hobbies is Frisbee and Disc Sports. For more on this check out my Allen & Ginter blaster break back from earlier in the month.

Therefore any Frisbee Card is card of the month for me. I mean I am sure that there will be Inserts, Short Prints, Relics, Autos, and Serial Numbered Cards in my future. But any card celebrating the Frisbee and the Great God Wham-O is a true Rarity.

I must mention if anybody has any of the other variations on this card, lets talk trade!




2010 Allen & Ginter World's Wordsmiths mini # WGWS8 John Milton

I am thinking about putting together the World's Wordsmiths Subset. This is the one WWS that I got out of several sets of A&G. John Milton was responsible for penning the epic poem "Paradise Lost". Within the early part of the Poem Satan utters the phrase "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." This is the only thing I can remember from my HS English Lit class. The phrase became a bit of a mantra amongst my -mates during the years of my misspent youth.


Junk of the Month


2010 Allen & Ginter #54 Tony Hawk
2010 Allen & Ginter Monsters of the Mesozoic #MM10 Brachiosaurus

I actually like the Tony Hawk card. I lived in the town that Bam Margera (from Jack-Ass) hails from for about a decade. Regardless if you liked him or hated him, if you lived in that town during the Oughts you were going learn something about skateboarding.

Unfortunately this card came out of a retail pack bent. It was the top card of a pack from Target.

As I have stated before, I don't get putting big things on mini cards. The Dinosaur Cards perplex me. This one in particular bothers me because the Brachiosaurus has a waddle and looks like a chicken.

Past Pulls of the Month

2010 June
2010 May
2010 April
2010 March

2010 February

2010 January

Pull of the Month - June 2010

I don't care if it is from the late 80s junk wax era. An early Greg Maddux card is a keeper.


1988 Donruss #539 Greg Maddux

A few months back a picked up a buffet of mixed packs at a 6/$5. one of those packs was the 88 Donruss - which may have been the last pack I went for. The Maddux made the 15 card pack worth it, other semi-stars in there included Rick Sutcliffe, Garry Templeton, and Dave Stewart.

and of course if you have a Pull of the Month, one must have...

Junk of the Month

2009 UD Piece of History - Historical Moments #177 Microwave Oven Invented

Are they serious. And this is my insert for the pack. A stinkin Microwave Oven...And I am pretty sure this is not the one that was invented either, this one looks like the one down the hall in Upper Deck's Coffee Room. Piece of History my butt more like Piece of Snot.

B-sides

Click to enlarge these guys. Just wanted to point out Maddux's Rookie and Sophomore years. A collected 5.58 ERA and an 8-18 record. After that point, he was 138 games over .500 amassing s total of 355 wins. There are not many cards for which you can say after it was minted the guy won 347 games, this is one of them.

On the flip of the PoH Wave card we finally find out that Percy Spencer invented the Microwave. Still no picture of the guy but at least they mentioned him.

Past Pulls of the Month

2010 May
2010 April
2010 March

2010 February

2010 January