I try not to get into the vintage vs. high-end debate. I admit, my allegiance lies with vintage, and I do wince when I hear the astronomical amount someone paid for a pack of five high-end cards. But I prefer not to get into the reasons why I have the feelings that I do. It leads to messiness, and really, I turn to cards to get away from messy.
Truthfully, I can appreciate cards from all ends of the spectrum. Old cards. Shiny cards. Kid-oriented cards, 8-inch thick cards. I want them all equally.
I also find that collectors who don't deal exclusively in vintage or modern/high-end, collectors who can find beauty in all of it, are the collectors that interest me the most. I can relate to those folks the best.
One of those folks is the Wicked Ortega down in Florida. He seems to deal in all kinds of cards. I see vintage cards on his blog, My Past Time ... I Love It, and I see super intense fancy ones, too. He also seems to enjoy both the old-timers and the current players, judging by his crazy TTM success. And that is a man I can understand -- one who respects history but does not condemn the present.
Wicked has been going on some shopping sprees lately, and he actually tracked down some cards he thought I might want and sent them off to me! Awesome!
These cards are across the board as you'll see. All equally great. So, let's see some of them:
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Modern: First, a 2009 Topps Chrome Xfractor of Russell Martin. My scanner didn't pick up the Xfractor design very well, but it's there. I'm thinking this might be my first '09 Xfractor Dodger.
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Modern: I sort of salivated over this card when Wicked posted it. Since Jim Thome is a Dodger, I really want some new cards of his. The problem is that I'm never interested in Dodger players if they're depicted in a different team's uniform. But I make an exception for a) striped jersey relics; b) Allen & Ginter.
Vintage: What a great team card this is. The crazy yellow background almost overwhelms the photo on the card. And I love how the whole team is looking off to the right. 1967 Topps is probably my favorite set of the decade, but I doubt I'll ever try to collect the whole set. The high numbers are insane to track down.
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Modern: The first of three Hideo Nomo cards that were sent. This is from '04 Playoff Prestige. Nomo looks lost in the Mets uniform. The back says Nomo made his first career relief appearance with the Mets. That's all you need to know.
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Modern: This 2003 Studio is the first translucent card I have ever owned. It's another card I had to show my daughter just to get a reaction (it was a positive one). This is what the political types would call a "transparently clear" card.
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Modern: Is 1995 still modern? It sure looks modern. It's about as shiny as it gets. Even the "sample" stamped across it is shiny. This might be one of my favorite Nomo cards.
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Super Mega-Modern: You don't get more modern than a fat Prime Cuts jersey card from 2008. I saw this card on I Am Joe Collector, I believe, and thought how cool it would be to have it. And now I do. That's wicked, Wicked! By the way, Sutton is doing one, weird tongue thing in this photo.
Vintage: The BEST Vintage that there is, in fact. And this is the first 1975 Topps autographed card I have ever owned. If you know how I feel about 1975 Topps, then you know what a great job Wicked did with sending this card.
You also know that I owe him some Marlins! Great stuff, man.
Truthfully, I can appreciate cards from all ends of the spectrum. Old cards. Shiny cards. Kid-oriented cards, 8-inch thick cards. I want them all equally.
I also find that collectors who don't deal exclusively in vintage or modern/high-end, collectors who can find beauty in all of it, are the collectors that interest me the most. I can relate to those folks the best.
One of those folks is the Wicked Ortega down in Florida. He seems to deal in all kinds of cards. I see vintage cards on his blog, My Past Time ... I Love It, and I see super intense fancy ones, too. He also seems to enjoy both the old-timers and the current players, judging by his crazy TTM success. And that is a man I can understand -- one who respects history but does not condemn the present.
Wicked has been going on some shopping sprees lately, and he actually tracked down some cards he thought I might want and sent them off to me! Awesome!
These cards are across the board as you'll see. All equally great. So, let's see some of them:
_NEW.jpg)
Modern: First, a 2009 Topps Chrome Xfractor of Russell Martin. My scanner didn't pick up the Xfractor design very well, but it's there. I'm thinking this might be my first '09 Xfractor Dodger._NEW.jpg)
Modern: I sort of salivated over this card when Wicked posted it. Since Jim Thome is a Dodger, I really want some new cards of his. The problem is that I'm never interested in Dodger players if they're depicted in a different team's uniform. But I make an exception for a) striped jersey relics; b) Allen & Ginter.
Vintage: What a great team card this is. The crazy yellow background almost overwhelms the photo on the card. And I love how the whole team is looking off to the right. 1967 Topps is probably my favorite set of the decade, but I doubt I'll ever try to collect the whole set. The high numbers are insane to track down._NEW.jpg)
Modern: The first of three Hideo Nomo cards that were sent. This is from '04 Playoff Prestige. Nomo looks lost in the Mets uniform. The back says Nomo made his first career relief appearance with the Mets. That's all you need to know._NEW.jpg)
Modern: This 2003 Studio is the first translucent card I have ever owned. It's another card I had to show my daughter just to get a reaction (it was a positive one). This is what the political types would call a "transparently clear" card._NEW.jpg)
Modern: Is 1995 still modern? It sure looks modern. It's about as shiny as it gets. Even the "sample" stamped across it is shiny. This might be one of my favorite Nomo cards._NEW.jpg)
Super Mega-Modern: You don't get more modern than a fat Prime Cuts jersey card from 2008. I saw this card on I Am Joe Collector, I believe, and thought how cool it would be to have it. And now I do. That's wicked, Wicked! By the way, Sutton is doing one, weird tongue thing in this photo.
Vintage: The BEST Vintage that there is, in fact. And this is the first 1975 Topps autographed card I have ever owned. If you know how I feel about 1975 Topps, then you know what a great job Wicked did with sending this card.You also know that I owe him some Marlins! Great stuff, man.
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