Showing posts with label Bernie Carbo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bernie Carbo. Show all posts

Monday, February 21, 2022

Christmas in Februrary


Secret Santa stuff from @Fixxxer37 in the @CrackinWax holiday gift exchange. 
 
We've reached the point in the year where I start to wonder why I'm still talking about last year. One of the best things to wrap up 2021 was my participation in the annual Crackin' Wax gift exchange. I waited until Christmas Eve to open up my package as I was flying out of town the next day, and couldn't believe the motherload of cards that awaited me.


I stared at this one for a bit and thought that there had to be something different about it. I finally remembered that 2018 was the year that Allen & Ginter had put some glow-in-the-dark minis into the set (some sort of monsters theme?) If you look closely, there's a slight pattern in the background of the card that becomes more noticeable if you turn off the lights, as one would expect from a glowing thing. I had never seen one of these before, so it was cool to see.
 

I decided it was time to give on the scanner at this point. I tried scanning this card awhile back (for TCDB) but wasn't happy with the way it looked. I don't think I have the type of scanner that can accurately scan anything with some depth to it.


I've been a fan of the Archives Signature Series cards for awhile, but as I'm always at odds with myself over whether or not collecting autographs makes sense, I've never pulled the plug on buying any of them for myself. (The plug, it seems, has been pulled for me.)


Here's a few more "hit" cards. Walmart exclusives are always welcome because I don't really Walmart, and I've always loved Topps Heritage signed cards.


A large, large chunk of the holiday package was dedicated to my Topps Heritage want lists, and not the low-hanging fruit. These are stacks of inserts and short prints, those thorny thorns stuck in the side of everyone who collects these sets.

This was a very considerate lot of cards for my collection. I hope everyone else got something fun for Christmas -- assuming you can still remember what happened two months ago.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Airbrushed Fridays: 1974 Topps #621


Baseball is a thing again! This is my favorite time of the year.

Bernie Carbo was a journeyman outfielder who had some pivotal moments in the 1976 World Series as a member of the Red Sox. He also notoriously battled drug abuse throughout his years in MLB and beyond. All told, he logged 12 seasons in the majors, often returning to teams for which he had previously played for a second go around.


Why did Topps airbrush Bernie's photo? Carbo was traded by my beloved Cardinals along with Rick Wise for Reggie Smith and someone named Ken Tatum in the offseason prior to 1974. Mostly, though, I think they just wanted to use this picture of his moustache.

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? It looks like someone took a dark felt tip marker to the brim of Carbo's cab and those stripes around his collar. Whenever you see someone looking skyward, it's pretty much a no-brainer that it's an airbrushed card. It makes me wonder if they specifically took extra photos of players in case they needed something easy to airbrush in the future.

If you are interested in obtaining a card featured here, please send me an e-mail. If you have a card you would like to nominate for Airbrushed Fridays, please get in touch as well. I will require that I am able to see the card in person, either on loan or as a donation, so that I can examine the card and experience it in all its cruddiness.