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Large and in charge


How about that? I follow up the first post that did not receive a comment since November with a post that received the most comments (excluding contests) since the blog began.

Some stuff sticks to the wall and some doesn't. I'm glad I'm not in the programming business, because I'll never figure that out.

Anyway, amid all the posting, I've also been carting packages into the house. This week has been an exceptional one in the card-receiving department. I have scads of cards to show, but I'll save most of them for later.

Right now I want to show three in particular. I have been receiving a number of oversized cards lately. Cards on steroids. And I don't mean cards the size of the 1984 Donruss Action All-Stars Dusty Baker item at the top of the post. That's a puny 3 1/2-by-5 card. I'm used to that stuff. I bought a bunch of those back in '84.

I don't mean the late '90s Super Chrome cards -- about 4 1/4-by-5 3/4 -- either. They fit nicely in an oversized top loader.

These are bigger.

Here is the first one:


That is a 5-by-7 Mike Piazza from 1998 Pinnacle Zenith. This was sent to me by one of the very few Canadian baseball card collectors I know, Captain Canuck. After consulting my handy Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, I know there is a smaller, regular-sized card inside the oversized Piazza. But I would have to tear apart the Piazza to figure out what was in there.

Here is the second mega-card:


This is 5-by-7, too. It's a terrific oversized version of one of my favorite cards from 2007 Masterpieces, showing Koufax commemorating his four no-hitters. It is a box-topper. It looks fantastic. This was sent to me by Joe M., who has been very kind with his cards.

Here is the last one:


This is a 5 1/4-by-7 3/4 bat swatch card of my most favorite athlete ever, the Penguin. I have never seen anything like it. Who knew there were bat swatches that big? OK, probably a lot of  you did. Know-it-alls. Apparently, Flair produced these in 2002 and 2003. This card was sent to me by GCRL. He did a good job of packaging it, too.

But these cards leave me with a question. Well, two questions. The first is, do I tear up the Piazza card? (I really don't want to). The second question is related to the post title, "Large and in Charge."

You see, these cards are "in charge" because I don't know what to do with them. They're untameable. How do I store them? Does anyone have any good ideas? Do you hang them up on a wall like mounting a hunting trophy? Up until now, I've stored cards not nearly as big in a cardboard box, because I don't know what to do with them. I have only so many 5x7 pages.

But these are too impressive. They would barely fit in some of my cardboard boxes. There's got to be a good way to display them.

Besides, they're so big that if I put them in a cardboard box, I'm afraid they'd beat me up.

Comments

TheRealDFG said…
I have all my over-sized cards in a metal blaster tin from last years O-Pee-Chee hockey set. It seems to do the trick. Although, if you are looking to display them then you stumped me on that one.
Dinged Corners said…
Are you going to frame these?
BA Benny said…
I have a few of the over sized cards that I wanted to display so I went to my local 99 cent store and got super cheap picture frames for them. They can be hung on yhe wall or put on a desk or dresser.It worked out great. I spent 7 dollars and displayed 5 oversized cards.
¡El Roberto! said…
if you really like them spend the money to have them matted and framed. otherwise purchasing some frames and doing it yourself should suffice to protect it and display it at the same time....my 2 cents
Anonymous said…
Dollar store frames. I do it for original artwork I buy now and then.
Anonymous said…
I wish I knew, Sir. I wish I knew.

http://firstngoal.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/dealing-with-oversized-cards/

I was going to be really original and creative and say that you could frame them since a standard 5x7 frame would seem to do the trick...but then I read the comments above...turns out I'm not all that original and creative....
AdamE said…
You know how many times I have checked the comments on this post to see if someone had a good idea I could steal yet...
dayf said…
There are large sized top loaders out there. If you can't find any online let me know and I can pick some up for you.
dayf said…
Also: large size top loader + sheet protector + binder = bee-you-tee-fool
Orioles Magic said…
Great ginormous cards! I don't think I have ever seen any of those 5x7 cards. And that Cey bat has to be really great in person.
Offy said…
I'd say to leave the Piazza intact. I pulled two out of my box and kept them both the way they were after slicing everything else open. I figure that there isn't anything that I can possibly pull out of there that I can't buy on eBay for a couple of bucks.