Introducing PolarPhungo Cards - Cubs @ Phillies 2011 06 10

Okay, I admit a week isn't very instant, but things have been crazy at Phungo HQ and I have had this idea floating around in my head for a while. 

I wanted to create some sort of Instant Card for the Phungo Game Reports.  There has also been a bit of a  Polaroid revival happening, which I thought would be a great backdrop for i-cards, which I have dubbed PolarPhungo.

 2011 PolarPhungo #1 Roy Halladay

2011 PolarPhungo #2 Carlos Zambrano

Both cards above were created using the FREE Photo Editor Pixlr, which I learned about a few months back from Dave over at the prolific custom card blog Goose Joak.  There are all kinds of great things going on in the custom card department and it is fun checking out the creativity of different collectors. 

The first three editions of Phungo Cards were all produced using MS Paint, which has sufficed for making simple cards from the photos I have taken. I have definitely been thinking of moving on to Photoshop in order to get a more professional look.  Thanks to Pixlr I hope to come up with a more updated look for the 2012 Phungo set.


Game Report

Both of the above photos were taken at the Cubs v Phils game a week ago Friday.  The Phils won the game 7-5 thanks to another good pitching outing from Roy Halladay and a Placido Polanco Grand Slam.  A couple of Phils relievers let the Cubs back into the game via some sloppy pitching with a big lead, but Michael Stutes and Antonio Bastardo were able to come in and nail down the win.

The Polaroiding of the photos covers up some sins in my out of focus photography.  It is a shame, We had some great seats at the game, but were seated beside a rather annoying "young" woman (actually in her 40s) which cut into our enjoyment of the game and limiting picture taking opportunities. 

Philly Sports Author Event Tonight - Willow Grove PA

The Willow Grove Barnes and Noble is hosting a Huge Philadelphia Sports author signing tonight.

The authors include:

Glen Macnow, Ray Didinger, Jayson Stark, Sal Paolantonio, Adam Kimelman, Mike Missanelli, Randy Miller, Reuben Frank, Steve Bucci, Paul Kurtz, Matt Leon, Mark Eckel, Merrill Reese and James Andrew Miller

Link to B&N site for more info.

I don't think Team Phungo will make it out but I would recomend any Jayson Stark book and Ray Didinger is in the football HoF for his NFL coverage.  Sal Pal's "Football as America" book has always interested me although I have not gotten around to picking it up yet.  Randy Miller wrote what is considered the definitive Harry Kalas bio.  Merrill Reese is the Eagles play by play guy.

Added:  Bernie Parent - Flyers Ambassador and Hockey Hall of Fame Member will also be part of the festivities.

Presenting Team Phungo - Pull of a Lifetime

If you have been paying attention you may have noticed that there hasn't been much output from Phungo Headquarters recently.  There hasn't been a posting in three weeks, and that wasn't even baseball related.

You may have heard me refer to Team Phungo in this column from time to time.  Well, Team Phungo made it official this past week as We were joined in Marriage in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Fiancee Phungo has made me very happy and has graciously agreed to become Mrs Phungo.


It was a great day and week made possible by lots of work by our friends and families.

2011 05 30 Team Phungo

2011 Phungo Cards - Charlaine Harris

Part of the fun of creating Phungo Cards is finding interesting subjects.  I typically try to put together a checklist that has a touch of Allen & Ginter.  This means throwing in some non-baseball cards.  

 

Last year I accompanied Fiancee Phungo to a reading and book signing by Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Author Charlaine Harris.  I have never read any of the books but I have enjoyed the season or so of the HBO True Blood Series that I have been able to watch.  It's not baseball but it is still fun Television. 

 

To my surprise Harris filled the sizable Philadelphia Free Library auditorium to overflow(The Sookie Book "Dead in the Family" had just been released that week) - We got there 15 minutes early and sat in the last few rows of the theater.  You could tell Harris was a veteran of the signing circuit and was comfortable in the environment.  As I recall she spent about 15-20 minutes giving background on herself, her career, and her books including the discussing "True Blood".  I am not sure if she did a reading but she did have a substantial and entertaining Q&A session - Half perhaps more of the Questions were regarding the TV series, but this did not bother the author.  Harris had many a funny and interesting anecdote about herself as well as her books, characters, and family.  She kept the evening moving and drew many laughs from her young and enthusiastic audience.

 

 

2011 Phungo #41 Charlaine Harris

 

I took the photo for the above card during the book signing.  The line for the signing wrapped through and perhaps halfway around the Philadelphia Free Library - That is a good size line - This is not a small buidling.  But the weather was pleasant and the line moved quickly.   It was worth it, briefly meeting Ms Harris was a noteworthy and fun experience.

 

The newest Charlaine Harris/Sookie Stackhouse book "Dead Reckoning" came out last week ready for the Summer reading season - I know this because Fiancee Phungo has ger head buried in the new book while I, Mr Phungo, Check out card blogs, write postings, and follow the Phils.  The next installment of True Blood will be season 4 and will air later this summer.

 

This link will direct you to a Podcast of the Charlaine Harris event at PFL.  

 

Say Hey! 1959 Topps Willie Mays Foursome

In Celebration of Willie Mays 80th Birthday today we present the 1959 Topps Willie Mays FourSome. 

The 1959 Topps Set features Four Willie Mays Cards (plus the Giants Team Card)

We lead off with a card that Connects a Phillies Legend with Mr Mays.

1959 Topps #317 N L Hitting Kings Ashburn & Mays

Mays Base Card from the classic 1959 set

    

1959 Topps #50 Willie Mays

Mays was also featured in the Hi Numbered All-Star Subset.

1959 Topps #563 Willie Mays All-Star

We finish One of my all-time favorite cards is this one which honors a catch you will see repeatedly this weekend if your a baseball junkie.

1959 Topps #464 Baseball Highlights Willie Mays 

How can you not love this card.  I have been seeing the grainy footage of this catch since I was a kid and here it is on a 50 year old baseball card.

For the Collector

One of the oddities about the 1959 Topps set is the All-Star set.  Despite being part of the High Number Series the All-Star cards of stars are typically much cheaper then the more common base cards.  The Hi Number May All-Star has sold recently on eBay for $9.33 (rough) to $13.01 (more passable).  Low Recent auction for the other special cards was $7.00 for Ashburn/Mays and $7.03 for the Mays Catch.

The lowest price I found for the #50 Base card in reasonable condition was $31 for a Graded (VG) card, Although the card is available via BIN for $28.  

The cards featured in the above post were acquired at the following prices

$21.50 - #50 Willie Mays

$4.50 - #317 Ashburn/Mays

$7.00 - #464 Mays Catch

$13.59 - #563 Mays All-Star 

All prices listed include S&H, The Cards that I actually picked up were likely part of a larger lot and there may be a slight volume discount reflected in the purchase price.

  

Other Voices
Cardboard Connection - Willie Mays Baseball Card TimeLine 


Sources
ebay.com

2011 Topps Heritage NOT Hot Box

As usual, I am a little behind - everybody is checking out Gypsy Queen and I am busting Topps Heritage, but at least I am busting a box from the current year.

Backstory

I was initially on the fence about building 2011 Topps Heritage - A recent Posting by A Cardboard Problem speculated on the rumour that the Hot Boxes (containing green tint chrome cards) were packaged differently.  At the CSA show in Oaks PA a few weeks back I found one of these Potential Hot Boxes.  In the name of Trading Card Research I was compelled to break the box.

Unfortunately, The Box was not a Hot Box but remained a fun box to open and I am happy to be building 2011 Topps Heritage.  It is the first Topps Baseball Set I have elected to build since 2008 Heritage.  I am pretty sure that at some point I will look into 2009 Goodwin Champions, but right now that project is still in the thinking about stage.

Box Toppers

The Box had two toppers - A 50th anniversary of Don Clendennon and a David Price Baseball Fiver. 

Not sure how I feel about Topps QC on this one, The Clendennon card is in reasonable shape if I was picking it up at a show as a 50 cent common, but this card is in fair shape and horribly cut.

Don't get me wrong the Anniversary cards are my favorite box topper, I just think that at 1 in every other box Topps could do a little better on the buyback end.  I was also hoping for a baseball buck and Price is a nice one to get.

Base Set

Low Numbers 194/425 (45%)

Phillies 7/17 (41%) 0/2 Hi Number

Hi Numbers 8/75 (10%)

Babe Ruth 5/10

checklist 3/6

Hits

CCR-JJ - Josh Johnson Clubhouse Collection

#143b - Jackie Robinson Story SP

Chrome

C12 Batting Leaders (Refractor 212/562) 

C27 Omar Infante (1941/1962)

C35 Casey Blake (1690/1960)

I don't get including the leaders cards in Chrome.  It is only a 100/200 card set why bother with duping a couple of floating heads on a single card.
 

Baseball Flashbacks

BF-4 Robin Roberts - would of liked him more in a Phils Uni for this one. 

BF-5 Yaz

New Age Performers

NAP-2 Jim Thome

NAP-7 Joey Votto

I love Thome, but I don't think of him as a New Age Performer at this point in his career.  Votto might be my favorite non-Phil young player of the moment.

News Flashbacks

NF-4 JFK/Cuban Embargo

NF-9 Jamaican Indepence

gotta love any card that celebrate Ganga and Reggae Music

 

Then and Now

TN-5 Mantle & Prince (this is a dupe of a retail I already pulled)

TN-7 Killebrew & Bautista 

every year this is my least favorite insert in heritage - although they are the easiest to make fun of. for example I refer to the Mantle/Fielder card as a celebration of Drunk Vegetarians - which reminds me of every "art student" I knew in college.

 
Phungo Says

 
Yes I was disappointed this was not a Hot Box, but I am happy with my decision to build 2011 Heritage.  I remain a fan of heritage,  and have always enjoyed the 1962 Topps set.  For the most part the inserts are interesting and the 50 or so Heritage cards I already picked up had enough unique cards to get me over the half way point in the set.         

 

2011 Phungo Cards - Big Ben

2011 Phungo #7 Big Ben

I am not getting up at some crazy hour to post something about some rich people getting married, so I am posting this tonight. 

Big Ben is within sight of Westminster Abbey and is by my reckoning just to the right of where I was standing when this shot was taken. 

The photo was taken while ago on a vacation over Christmas break.  I chose #7 for the card number as a nod to a certain NFL quarterback - even if I find the teams fans pretty annoying.