That Boy Is P-Nuts!

I only know of two baseball players to come out of my hometown: former Dodger Gary Carter and former child actor Harry Lowrey. Well, there's a third - a friend I went to high school with - but he was drafted a couple of years ago and is working his way up through the minors. Lowrey is the less expensive guy to collect, and the only one of the two that has sweet vintage goodness featuring his mug.

Case in point, his 1949 Bowman offering ran me two bucks at the vintage shop I occasionally frequent in Beverly Hills. It's only the second piece of cardboard I own of P-Nuts, and as his rookie card, it's my favorite of the pair.

Harry wasn't actually born in L.A., as the card back states, unless you want to be vague and general in the matter. But it's cool, I know where he hails from. As the people I went to high school with used to say at football games I never attended: "Who's House? C-House!".

A Plethora Of Contest Wins and Thanks.

I wanted to say thanks to a few bloggers who recently held contests I was fortunate enough to win. First up, I won a week or two's worth of "hey everybody, guess the serial-numbering" over at Jaybarkerfan's Junk. Wes sent along some really cool stuff, highlighted by my newest Matt Kemp hit.

I really dig these All-Star Game relics. The next card of note is my second certified James McDonald auto, and my fourth overall (one a Dodgers' note-card, the other a TTM Ginter auto).

The best of the rest is below, and I love the variety of these great new additions to my collection. The Magill is a refractor and numbered /799, while the Blake Smith is a sweet blue parallel /500. Thanks for the great stuff Wes!

Next up is Kevin from The Diamond King. Kevin held a contest to keep us readers motivated, and I was the first to meet his requirement for victory.

Kevin sent along a ton of awesome stuff, beginning with the above Shawn Green relic, numbered 226/250. It has quite the thorough COA on the back with a picture of the jersey the swatch came from. Love it, as well as the overall card design.

 
A Claude Osteen TTM? Sweet. I was without an Osteen auto, and it was a most welcome surprise. The black sharpie really pops.

He sent along so much stuff I couldn't scan it all, so here's just a taste of it above and below this here paragraph. Arno, the Nomos are headed for your pile. I love the mixture of stuff I received: former Dodger backstops, some near-vintage, shiny. The Green "Danger High Voltage" card is NAILS and I love the Piazzas. Thanks Kevin!

Finally, the last round of awesome freebies. Ross from Sports Card Info sent along this cool two-color race-used flag piece, numbered 03/50, of Darrell Waltrip which I won in one of his many contests. Thanks Ross!

Thanks to the aforementioned fine gentlemen for their hospitality and giving nature!

The Cheapest Gary Carter Rookie Card Ever.

I mentioned a while back that I was undertaking a little side project: putting together a Trifecta of Gary Carter. I already had a pinstriped relic in my collection, and was in no rush to pick up the other two needs. However, I don't pass up good deals when they appear in front of my face, and this was certainly a good deal.

Quad RC! That's somewhat dangerously close to floating heads territory. Condition-wise, this has been through the wringer. Rounded, soft corners? Check. Rough and frayed edges? Check. Writing on it? Check. Off-center? Majorly. Two things save this card, however, and made it a must add to my PC. First, the Carter portion has the least damage. A big plus. And second, it ran me just 89 cents plus $2.50 to ship it my way.

An easy eBay purchase. The auto will eventually come. And damn, the back of the card is almost as beautiful as the front.

Putting Together A Gary Carter Trifecta.

The recent passing of Gary Carter alerted me to a fact I'm ashamed to say I did not previously know: Carter was born in my hometown, where I've grown up and spent my entire life. I knew he was a Dodger, though I don't remember his days in Los Angeles (seeing as I was three in 1991, his only season in Dodger blue), but not knowing he's a Culver City native is just shameful beyond belief. I also discovered he had committed to play football at UCLA before signing with the Expos and forgoing college. So, with this newfound knowledge, I've decided to put together a Carter Trifecta in remembrance of the Hall of Famer. Carter has also been added to the "Who I Collect" tab at the top of the blog.

I'm a third of the way there, as I scored this relic at my LCS some time ago for a dollar or two. It's actually been offered up in a trade or two previously, and nobody bit, which I'm happy about now, obviously. The full pinstripe from his Mets days is sweet. Now to track down an autograph and his rookie. I'm in no hurry to complete this Trifecta, especially considering the spike in prices for Carter cards with his passing.

R.I.P. Gary Carter, a great, great catcher, a wonderful person from what I've read, and one of the most successful people to ever come out of the tremendous city that is Culver City.