Padrographs #1125-1127

Friday, Saturday and Monday were good mail days.  In addition to my eBay purchases I got these cards.  Trey Wingenter, came in on Friday.  I had mailed this to him at the tail end of the 2018 season and got it back from Montgomery, Alabama.  It is a custom I made, I decided that the guys who don't have cards I would make in the style of the Heritage cards for the present year.  So extra cards this year will be in the style of 1970.   I am getting ready to send some of them out tomorrow.  Saturday brought the Jordan Lyles card I had made a Heritage card of him last year and haven't gotten it back so I picked this one up on eBay.  Monday brought last years free agent acquisition, Eric Hosmer in the mail.  I had also made a Heritage card of him and sent it to him, but had not received it back either so I picked this up on eBay.  I have a bunch of other customs out of players from the 70's and 80's so I hope I get them back this year.

Chirstmas Pack #45

I tried fixing my computer the other day and I mucked  it up and just got a new computer yesterday.  Scott Ian's picture is one I have seen multiple times. The next person I know is Jon Bon Jovi , then Graeme Edge of Deep Purple.  I have met Melvin Brannon, he and the rest of the Dan Reed Network were at a radio station the same time I was at one point.  The sticker is a dupe and I still like Motley Crue. 

I 

Christmas Pack #44

This  pack only featured one band that I hadn't heard of.  Patti LaBelle was big when I was in high school.  Run-D.M.C. broke ground in many ways, but in collaboration with Aerosmith on Walk This Way.  Janet Jackson an awesome string of hits in the 80's and 90's.  Sanctuary is the one band I haven't heard of.  The Clash's London Calling album is one of my favorites.  Led Zeppelin of the overplayed rock anthem.  What happened to Inxs after the death of Michael Hutchence. Hall and Oates were blue eyed soul and had a string of hits.  One of their songs is currently the theme song for a TV show.  Jefferson Airplane was also known as Jefferson Starship and Starship as they refashioned themselves throughout the years and We Built this city on Rock N Roll.  Yngwie Malmsteen is a guitar god.  

What is your favorite overplayed classic rock song?  

Christmas Pack #43

Only four cards in the pack were not duplicates.  Bocephus or Hank Williams Jr.  is the middle of what could work out to be a family dynasty of singers.  He is coming to Oregon this summer for a jamboree.  Billy Dean has had many hits as has Suzy Boguss.  She is coming to Oregon with Teri Clark and Pam Tillis as Chicks with Hits at one of the casinos.  Finally we have our first crossover card.  The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, also had a card in the American Bandstand set.  

Christmas Pack #42

A pack where the majority of cards were not dupes.  I got my den arranged to a point where I can sort cards into sets.  So after this week I will be opening packs to complete sets.  Frankie Valli was popular in the 50's and 60's and has made a comeback of sorts with the Broadway play and a movie Jersey Boys.  Dick Clark was often referred to as the Eternal Teenager, til he passed away at 82 in 2012.  His name still graces ABC's Dick Clark's Rockin New Years Eve.  Most of The Coasters hits were written by the team of Leiber & Stoller.  American Bandstand ran for 37 seasons, all but 5 of those seasons were hosted by Dick Clark.  Melissa Manchester has had a string of hits for years, although I know her acting better than her songs.  Gloria Gaynor had a big, big hit with the song I Will Survive, which seems to appear in lots of movies, TV, commercials and even video games.    Ray Stevens is mainly known as a singer of novelty songs, although he has had a few songs that were not.  Lou Rawls had a great voice for R & B, he also appeared in films and TV.  He is featured as a backup singer for B.B. King in Blues Brothers 2000.

Christmas Pack #41

Does this pack expose the identity of the second spitter?* 
We have a pack in which I have heard of everyone, which features two Hall of Famers, two Padres players and a Padres coach.  Keith Hernandez is featured with hometown favorite Dale Murphy, while Tony Fernandez (Padres player) Cal Ripken (HOF) and Alan Trammell (HOF, Padres coach) are featured on another card.  Andy Hawkins represents the third Padrograph that is represented in this pack.  

Christmas Pack #40

Proset Musicards come through with a pack containing only two bands I had never heard.  I would think that if you haven't heard of  most of these people you weren't a fan of contemporary music in the 90's.  Bobby Brown helped found New Edition when he was nine years old.  He went on to a solo career and married Whitney Houston.  Vanilla Ice costarred in a Ninja Turtles movie.  I will always remember Simple Minds because of Don't You (Forget about Me) from The Breakfast Club.  Eric Clapton was featured in the movie, Tommy and is a legend amongst guitar players and music fans.  He has sung in many bands and had more hits than I can think of.  Al B. Sure was a hot R&B singer.  Madonna was the favorite musical act of one of my coworkers. Madonna has had more hits and more personas than many people.  She has reinvented herself many times to stay relevant in the music industry.  The Alarm started as a punk rock band called The Toilets. They opened for U2 and Bob Dylan and built a following.  Off the top of my head I can't name any of their songs.  U2 was introduced to me by my younger brother, he is seven years younger.  He got to see them for 92¢ when they were first coming to the states as a promotion with one of the local radio stations.  I have liked most of their music, some of the stuff in the middle years I didn't like so much.  I have never heard of the final two bands perhaps they should tour together and it would be the Giant-Trouble tour.  

Christmas Pack #39

I have decided to only show the cards that are not dupes that I receive in each pack.   I have heard of everyone here and the were big in country music in the 90's.  Clint Black, Shania Twain, Diamond Rio and Lee Greenwood got major play time on the radio.  Riders In the Sky and Clinton Gregory were a little less popular.  
I was attending a citizenship naturalization ceremony a few years ago and was surprised that a music video was played which featured the song, "God Bless the U.S.A.".  It seemed an odd choice given the diversity of the group being naturalized and the political correctness of so many things.  

Christmas Pack #38

I have already started stockpiling blasters and packs for next Christmas.  I have decided that I will open a complete blaster or box, try making a set and then document what I got.  Opening a pack a day is not working with my other card activities and this thing called life.  I am going to continue with this project, until I get my den set up and can sort the cards instead of just piling them up.  
In this pack I had heard of everyone but Bob & Justine.  The Big Bopper had a big hit with Chantilly Lace, he perished in the plane crash with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens.  Bill Haley had what many consider to be the first rock and roll hit with Rock Around the Clock.  Smokey Robinson has solo hits and with the Miracles.  He just performed Sunday at the 2019 Grammy Awards.  Simply Red had multiple hits during the 80's.  Donna Summer, had many hits including an awesome rendition of one of my favorite songs, MacArthur Park.  Andy Gibb, was the younger brother of the Bee Gees.  He died just five days after his 30th birthday from a combination of depression and drugs.  Dee Dee Sharp a hit with The Mashed Potato and in the disco era with a cover of I'm Not in Love.  

Christmas Pack #37

 I bought this online to see what it was, it came directly from Topps.  It was well packaged, first in a cardboard box, then in a 50 count box with a Topps sticker wrapper sealing the plastic box.  Then inside the plastic was a pack that had been hermetically sealed on Funk & Wagnells porch.  It is very shiny as you can see, my fingers have never shown in a photo on here before.  All the cards are mini reproductions of the 2018 Topps cards, from series one and two and the update set. 
There were two one of one cards, Willie Calhoun and the 1983 All Star Insert of Chipper Jones.  There were three cards that were serially number out of twenty five.  Brian Anderson, Wilmer Flores and Jose DeLeon, are 3/25, 34/25 and 25/25. 
Then there are the rest of the cards.  Wouldn't you know I didn't get a single Padres card out of the whole bunch.  The two 1/1 cards are going on eBay everything else is up for trade. Eagle eyed reader Brett noticed that 34/25 should not exist, so I went back and checked and the Wilmer Flores card is actually 3/25.  Thanks, Brett. 

Christmas Pack #36

That top row of players rings no bells at all.  Everyone else I had heard of or remembered.  Andres Galarraga was one of my sons favorite players for awhile.  I think I read a book by Frank Tanana once.  Walt Weiss was the third AL Rookie of the Year for the A's back in the '80's.  Tony Gwynn I had the pleasure of meeting once or twice.  I got to sit and hand him stuff for a couple of hours at a card show in the early 90's.  John Kruk ain't an athlete, he's a ballplayer.  He and Tony were roommates in rookie ball. 

Christmas Pack #35

 Over to the left are the guys I haven't heard of.  If you haven't heard of Tommy Lee, I would like to know what rock you have been living under or how young you are.  The drummer for Motley Crue has been in the tabloids for dating everyone from Heather Locklear to Pamela Anderson, both of whom he has been married to.  Charlie Slade is the overlooked member of AC/DC but his drumming is awesome and is the backbone of the band.  Steve Howe of Yes and a couple of other bands is an awesome guitarist that I saw in concert once.
From 1976 to 1979 I was stationed at Naval Air Station, Alameda.  If you don't know where that it is it is adjacent and south of Oakland, CA. While I was there I attended several concerts at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum and Arena.  One of the most memorable was Donovan and Yes.  The curtains remained closed and someone put a chair in front of the curtain and Donovan came out and sat down and performed what was basically an unplugged set.  After a suitable intermission the curtain opened and Yes began.  Rick Wakeman had like 12 keyboards, each guitarist had upwards of 10 guitars, the drummer had a huge kit and a set of tymphony drums, Jon Anderson, the lead singer, had a rack of percussion and other instruments, plus a harp near the drum kit.  It was the sharpest difference I have ever seen between an opening act and the headliner. 

Christmas Pack #34

 I will never get all these packs documented if I just do one pack a day so I will try and get as many in as I can.  Today another of ProSet Musicards, legendary bands & solo acts.  The Doors, Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek and friends gave us too many hits to name.  Kool Moe Dee was one of the first rappers to win a Grammy and was the first rapper to appear on the Grammys.  He had a long time feud with LL Cool J, who KMD thought disrespected those who came before him.  LL is now more widely known as an actor having played former Navy Seal Sam Hanna on NCIS:LA for 10 seasons.  Vanilla Ice, will always be remembered for Ice, Ice Baby and (at least in our house) for Ninja Rap from TMNT.  Last time I saw him he was a contractor and had a remodeling show on HGTV, I think.  Janet, Miss Jackson if you're nasty, emerged from the shadow of her brothers, The Jackson Five to become a superstar on her own.  George Michael, left Andrew Ridgely and Wham behind to have a successful solo career.  Would he have been as successful with the success of Wake me Up before you Go, Careless Whisper and Everything She Wants.  Who knows for sure?  POCO came out of Buffalo Springfield and begat Loggins & Messina, The Eagles, and Richie Furay.  Jimi Hendrix, is one of the greatest guitar players of all time,  my personal song of his is the Star Spangled Banner, performed at Woodstock.  To me it embodies so much of the time.  I have never heard of Forbidden of Vio-Lence.

Christmas Pack #33

Pack #33 pretty much the same as Pack #6 this was the only card that wasn't a dupe in this pack.  The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band also performed as the Toot Uncommons on Steve Martin's King Tut. 

New Frankenset

I have decided to start a new Frankenset.  I might actually like this one.  It is going to be an all autographed set.  This is the first card in the set, #19, Tony Gwynn.
Here are my rules for this set.
1.  Real autos
2. Have a card number, not a couple of letters
3. Be numbered 585 or less.  585 is divisible by 9 so it will fit exactly in sheets.  (I upped the number to make sure I got the 88 Fleer Flannery in the set)
4. No dupes, unless it is Tony Gwynn, Tim Flannery or Bip Roberts.
5. All sports, non sports, signed custom.  So if you have a custom of your own and you sign it and send it to me I will put it in the set.


So far I have two cards in the set, #19 Tony Gwynn and #63 Huey Lewis from ProSet Musicards.

Here we go.

Christmas Pack #32

Another pack of Country Gold, it yielded the box's first duplicate.  The Billy Dean card is a dupe.  My wife and I got to see Lori Morgan in concert when she opened for George Strait at Memorial Coliseum years ago.   I remember I collected the singing Cowboy set at some point.  I really like the image on the Mark Collie Card.   I had heard of everyone in this pack except for Ricky Lynn Wagner. Hank Thompson and Whisperin' Bill Anderson are well known to us old time country fans.  Tracy Lawrence's song Find out who your friends are is the theme song for us and our best friend's family. 

Upgrading Padrograph #506, New Padrographs #1123 & #1124 and Christmas Pack #31

 Cameron Maybin, was one of my earliest attempts at a custom card.  I used a photo from Photoday and sent him the card on the right.  He signed it and sent it back.  Somewhere along the way it lost the back. When I had the opportunity to upgrade it I did.  I had the chrome card for awhile but it had fallen behind a book case and I just found it yesterday.




I was checking out the Padres card an autograph dealer had and somehow I found two cards I did not have. Richard Steik, played for 4 seasons in the Padres system between 2004-2007.  Played two games at AAA.  Chris Kolkhorst, played for 5 teams in two years (04 & 05) in the Padres system. 







This is my favorite pack of Rockcards so far, because it features Diamond David Lee Roth.  This pack also features more people that I have heard of than any of the previous packs.