I’ve Moved!

I moved my baseball card blog from Kimaloo.wordpress.com over to kimaloocards.wordpress.com.  Please update your blogrolls if happen to still be on there…  I know I’m bad about blogging on a regular basis so please forgive me for my lack of content. ;o)

And just a little FYI, I used the WordPress feature to transfer everything from one blog to another with an XML file.  I apparently did something wrong because the pictures didn’t transfer over.  I re-loaded some of them into the posts but quite frankly, I’m too lazy to do all of them which means there will be broken links in some of my older posts.

But at any rate, here’s the new home of Kimaloo Cards!

- Kim

The Grieving Process: A-Rod Edition

There are 5 stages to the grieving process: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Right now I think I’m somewhere between depression and acceptance.

Denial: When I first heard that A-Rod was accused of using the roids, Pete had came into my office and asked if I had looked at ESPN lately. I told him no and asked what was up. He simply said “You just need to look.” and walked out. I pulled up the sight knowing it had to be something negative by his response. In big, bold letters across the screen it read “Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids”. What? No! Not A-Rod… he’s one of the best players in modern times. There has to be some sort of mistake.

Anger: As the hours went by and follow up stories were posted, my denial quickly ran it’s course into anger. How could he have done this to all his loyal fans? To the Yankees and the Rangers? He had to have known better and his claims about being naive?? PLEASE! Even I know better than to use that sort of stuff!! He’s so stupid! I even went as far as to put my loose A-Rod cards into my bottom desk drawer. I couldn’t even bare to look at him! The rage!

Bargaining: The bargaining phase was short lived, especially considering he had spilled the beans and confessed everything to ESPN by this point. All I could think was maybe the fans can forgive him since he has been so forthcoming and apologetic about what he did. Honesty can account for a lot when someone’s in the wrong… that might work for him!. But the reality of it is that he was a grown man, far from naive, and he made the choice to use for 3 years (that he openly admits to). That’s more than a slip in judgment. He knew what the type of steroids he took did… I mean, why else would he take them? Seriously.

Depression: Once I realized what was done, is done and there’s nothing that I, or anyone else for that matter, can do about it, I went into the depression mode. This sucks! My favorite player of all time… my future ex-husband… He’s a user and now he’ll get the asterisk just like Bonds did. Yeah, he’s one hell of a player and has more natural talent than most but because he used “performance enhancing drugs”, all that means nothing now. No Hall of Fame and no respect. The depression part is rather sucky.

Acceptance: I’m slowly working my way into accepting the whole thing. I’ll be watching the news the next few days to see what else comes of the story but as for right now, I’m still upset… I guess A-Rod’s turning out to be a heart-breaker in more ways than one.

Sigh. What douchery….

2009 Topps American Heritage

Cardboard Junkie and Matt at HBCOSG have already blogged about this set and gave the rundown on what it contains so I’m going to skip all of that.

I really like these cards. I’m still learning about all the old school sets prior to my interest in collecting so this is a two-fer for me. I get to learn about the some of the old styles and get my history fix in the same breath. Here is the countdown of my top 3 favorites from the 3 packs I’ve bought thus far.

#3. Walt Whitman. I loved some Walt Whitman when I was in school. The card lists Leaves of Grass as his most popular work, which is true, but I prefer his Memoranda During the War. Both are good reads.

#2. Next, we have a very awesome Chrome Alexander Graham Bell. The scan doesn’t do the card justice at all… it really pops in person. And as with most shiny things, that pleases me a lot. Besides the sparkling goodness, I really like to talk on the phone. So much so, that I even do it for a living. Thanks for getting the ball rolling on that technology, Mr. Bell!

#1. And last but not least, we have the marvelous Harry Houdini. I like his under-roos. They’re very risque for the day and age of vaudeville. I also approve of the 1975 multi-color design. Pink and purple are pretty hawt. P

So that’s my fave so far. I plan on buying a few more packs or maybe ordering some off of eBay. We’ll see what wondrous little gems I get next time.

The Raleigh Card Show: Results!

I finally completed my 2008 Allen and Ginter set a couple of weeks ago when Pete, my brother, and I went to the card show down in Raleigh. It was a long, hard road. I honestly can not tell you how many blasters of Allen & Ginter cards I bought over the past few months. I would literally get a box just about every time I set foot in a Target and if they didn’t have blasters in stock, I’d buy a few packs. I just couldn’t stop myself. I even went as far to skip pedicures to by baseball cards. It was borderline obsessive compulsive disorder! I just had to collect them all. But this was the first set I ever I built from scratch and man, was it tough! I have about 800 duplicates. (Please do not calculate that into dollars… I just might throw-up.) I had to purchase 14 cards at the show to seal the deal and the final card I needed was none other than… Drum roll please…. Jason Giambi! I had a dealer search high and low to get this bad boy for me.

I apparently lacked the mustache power to pull it from one of my umpteen packs I bought. I did, however, manage to pull at least 6 Ryan Howard short prints. I joke around that he haunts me because he’s in everything I open. (Seriously, if you need one, just let me know. I have plenty.)

One of my favorite things about the Allen and Ginter brand are the non-baseball cards included in the set. I know a lot of collectors despise that sort of thing but I really love it. I think Topps got it absolutely right with this. I never collected baseball cards prior to this year and the unique look and styling of the set really drew me in. I’m a fan of a lot of other sets now and have started collecting some of them, too. For me, A&G cards were the proverbial gateway drug to hard-core card collecting! But back to the non-baseball cards. I’m an all around geek so the cards that have historical and scientific significance really regaled me. I’m almost ashamed to admit that the Pluto card is in my top 5 faves from the set. I can’t help it though… just look at his dwarf planetary awesomeness! You can’t deny it!

But moving on! In addition to completing the A&G set, I picked up a few really nice A-Rod cards. I won’t say much else about him at the moment though because I’m still mad at what I read on ESPN.com today, if you know what I mean. And I think you do. (Say it ain’t so!)

Well, That Was Different.

Well, the game went a lot different than I expected! I still called the Steelers score and I was within the spread for the Cardinals so that’s good. But man… that shizzle didn’t get interesting until the last 5 minutes of the game. What the hell was that?? lol.

The only excitement in the first half was James Harrison’s interception for a 100 yard touchdown. I though his heart was going to explode the way he was laying there. And upon further review, I think that Gandy guy needs to learn to keep his hands to himself. He was racking up the penalties for holding like it was going out of style.

I’d like to type more but I gotta drive my little bro home. Yay! So later you guys!~

Superbo… uh… Wait, I Can’t Say That Word….

I think its pretty amusing to hear all these commercials on the radio advertising their products for the “biggest game of the year” or the “last game of the season”. Apparently, someone got a stick in the bum about businesses saying Super Bowl when advertising. But I digress.

My wings are cooked and the veggie tray is ready. We’re into the 8th hour of the pre-game show and I’m here with my projection for the big game.

Kimmy’s Prediction: 27-17 Steelers

I think it’s going to go down like this: The Cardinals are going to take lead in the first half but the Steelers will make a come back in the third quarter and then take the lead in the 4th to win the game. I’m pretty sure this is what’s going to happen. Kurt Warner can’t save them now… muahahahaaa.

Yep… so we’ll see how right or wrong I am in a few hours.

On another note, I completed my Allen & Ginter set at card show we went to last week. I plan to post an official blog about that later when I have time to scan some cards and what not so until then, enjoy the Super Bowl!~

Goin’ to the card show…

I’m goin’ to the card show,
goin’ to the card show!
I’m goin’ to the card shooooow,
to see what I can buy!~

*does the dance*

Maybe a handful of sexiful A-Rod’s or the rest of the 2008 A&G’s I need? Oh, it’s gonna be a B-E-A-U-tiful day!~

Before There was A-Rod, There was Ariel.

When I was kid, there was a card shop in my hometown called Hot Shots. It was maybe a mile from home and was well within walking distance for us youngins. At least once a week, my gaggle of friends with my little brother in tow, would walk to the shop to spend our allowances on cards and comics. That shop has long been closed for many years but I can still distinctly remember the smell of the old, dusty store and the sound of the miniature HO scale train as is made its rounds through the stores model terrain track. Years before I ever thought about collecting baseball cards, Hot Shots inspired me to collect random sets of cards based on current events, movies, games, or T.V. shows and I vaguely remember collecting music cards at one point. (Yo! M.T.V. Raps, anyone?) But one set that held a special place in my heart was my Little Mermaid collection.

Seriously. Don’t laugh. Most of you fellas will probably roll your eyes but man, did I love The Little Mermaid! It was my all-time favorite Disney movie prior to the advent of their computer animated films and as an 7 year old little girl, it couldn’t be beat. I had forgotten all about my cardboard homages to Ariel, Flounder, and friends but on a recent trip to All About Sports, I found an almost complete set of Little Mermaid cards. William was kind enough (read as ecstatic) to clear some bargain-bin space and sell the whole lot for $1.00. I’m sorry Mario, but this is my favorite set from 1991!

When I was a kid, I would sit for hours with my “Ariel cards” and doodle my versions of the characters. I honestly can not tell you how many times I drew Ariel, Sebastian the Crab, or Prince Eric. I could easily say I owe at least half of my artistic talent to all the practice I gained just by imitating Disney. One of my favorite features in the set were the “Color-Ins”. They were just plain card stock with line-drawing images to color. Fortunately, who ever had these never flaunted their artistic muscle. Mine were a completely different story thanks to Crayola.

But really, I’m elated to have this little piece of history (no pun intended) back around to admire. So here’s to nostalgia and the warm, fuzzy feelings it brings us. )

Inconsistent much?

When it comes to blogging, I’m inconsistent like Jason Giambi. I can never seem to get myself together enough to post on a regular basis but that may change this spring though. Due to a wonderful clerical oversight at my college, I have the fortunate and unfortunate gift of a break from school. I was told at the beginning of the fall they only needed a copy of my high school diploma since it was so long ago that I graduated. When I went online to register for classes, their website is telling my I can’t register until they have copies of my transcripts. Unfortunately, the last day to register is January the 2nd but the registrar’s office is closed until January 5th. So unless, by some miracle of God, I can get them to let me register for classes sans my decade-old high school transcripts, I will be out of school this spring. But I digress. I have a lot of props to give and a lot of cards I want to talk about so onward to the good stuff!

Pete received a package before Christmas from Patricia and Lucy over at Dinged Corners and they included a little something just for me. (I squeed when Pete showed me I got something!)

I actually needed all of these cards! Not one duplicate in the bunch. All I can say is wow!~ How sweet and unexpected! You girls rock! I’ll be working on something special for you guys… maybe something shiny!~

Now on to William from Foul Bunt. He helps out on the weekend at card shop Pete and I frequent. (Plug: All About Sports in Winston-Salem, NC) He’s been very generous to us and man… do I owe this guy! A couple weeks ago, he hooked me up with a slew of A-Rod cards and one Piece of History that I needed.

I’m definitely digging all the numbered Moments and Milestones but I am loving the green framed Masterpieces. That is one sharp card and the scan doesn’t do it justice. Then, on our last visit just before the holidays, he gave us each a couple of packs as Christmas presents. I got two packs of 2008 A&G’s and I pulled this guy…

It’s the only Team Orange card I have ever pulled from this set which is kind of suprising considering the number of blasters, hobby boxes, and packs I have bought. The fictional baseball team is amusing to say the least. I’m sure some collectors are a little disenchanted with the gimmick but damn, I love it! Just read the back of this card. How could you not love Corny Franks’ Corny Franks?

Okay, so maybe I’m easily amused. With that being said, I’m going to wrap this up before I overstimulate myself before bed and we can’t have that. But thank you to everyone who has been generous enough to share with me and to make this an awesome hobby to come into and embrace!~ Also, if you have sent me something and I have failed to mention it, please remind me because good lord, you should see the stack of cards I have to go through. I’m still trying to get the hang of the organizational side of this and I’m a little O.C.D. so it’s been trying for me. Anyways, thanks again you guys and I’ll be back tomorrow with another post for sure!

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

This has absolutely nothing to do with baseball or cards; sorry to disappoint. But look what I found on eBay. It’s a robot dinosaur named D-rex. How freakin’ awesome is he? He’s so cute. He’s so ugly. I so want him.

I wish Santa Claus were real because this is what I’d ask for. I just look at his pointy little chompers and I get that joy-filled, childlike feeling. It’s great that I’m so easily amused by the simplest of things.