Card of the Day: 2015 Reading Fightins Phils Holiday Set – Crazy Hot Dog Vendor

Card of the Day: 2017 Topps Pro Debut – Ben’s Biz – The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor #4

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2016 LLWS – The Crazy Tomato Pin

I’m really excited for the Little League World Series this year.  On August 20th, the Pirates and Cardinals will play a regular season game at BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport.  Only Little League players and their families are invited.  It would be great if Topps made a Topps Now card to commemorate this event.

The other great part of the Little League World Series is the endless amount of pins.  One of the wackier pins I own comes from a restaurant located in Williamsport called The Crazy Tomato.  They’ve been in business for 10+ years, but I can only remember their pins first popping-up in 2015.  I like their tomato mascot dude.  It reminds me of a monster the Power Rangers would encounter or Attack of the Killer Tomatos.

The 36th Ephrata Lions Club Sports Card Show

One of the longest running sports card shows in my area is held once a year by the Ephrata Lions Club.  Its held for one day at the Ephrata Rec Center, and they always have an autograph guest.  This was their 36th annual show, and the signer was former Phillies HOF pitcher Steve Carlton.  About 40-50 dealers were setup, and they had many items for their live auction.

The show opened to the public at 8:30 am.  I left around 6:15 am in the middle of a minor unexpected snowstorm.  On the way I passed six car accidents due to the snow.  Luckily none of them slowed down traffic when I was going by.  I arrived at 8:15 am and quickly got in line.  Once the show opened the line moved very quickly.  Inside the show you needed to purchase autograph tickets for Steve Carlton.  The Ephrata Lions Club was only selling 300 tickets, and they went like hotcakes.  After the autograph tickets were obtained, it was time to dive into the show.

During this particular show I was on the lookout for Harry Kalas stuff, bobbleheads, pins, and some 2015 wax to bust.  At first glance I didn’t see too much wax.  The only boxes I saw were some 2015 Topps Series 1, 2015 Topps Opening Day, and 2015 Topps Heritage.  Those products are great, but have way too many base cards for my taste.  My usual wax dealer wasn’t there, but then I came across VSM Sports Card Outlet.  This was the second time I’ve seen VSM Sports Card Outlet at this show.  I purchased a Harry Kalas UD Sweet Spot Auto from them last year.  In addition to some very high-end singles, they also had boxes just fit for me.  I ended up buying three boxes from them – (2) 2015 Leaf Metal Draft Football, and (1) 2015 Upper Deck Inscriptions Football.  I’ll be posting what I pulled from those boxes later, but lets just say I got some fantastic cards 🙂

While walking around a little more I found a 2009 World Series Phillies vs. Yankees pin, and a Reading Phillies Crazy Hot Dog Vendor bobblehead.  I ran into a lot of people I knew too.  That includes the owner of the first card shop I ever went to back in 1997.  I hadn’t seen him in over twelve years.

Overall, it was a great show.  I can see why its been around for thirty-six years.  Now check out the photos.

Phillies HOF pitcher Steve Carlton

Reading Phillies Crazy Hot Dog Vendor bobblehead.  He has to be one of the coolest mascots in all of sports.  Its a hot dog vendor riding an ostrich.  These all came unpainted as you’re suppose to paint them yourself.  I’m leaving mine like this.

THE SHOW!!!

THE SHOW!!!

What Else Do I Get Crazy About? – MLB Dugout Heroes

This post is a response to an article I saw on A Cardboard Problem yesterday.  Every weekend they have a Sunday question.  Yesterday’s question asked collectors whether they get crazy about something else other than baseball cards.  In my response, I can say I do.  Along with collecting sports cards and other memorabilia, I am a huge fan of the video game MLB Dugout Heroes.  I discovered this game last summer after seeing an advertisement on YouTube and I have been playing ever since.  You choose a team to play as (I picked the Phillies), then you just start playing online games with other people.  The currency in the game is “Nuts” and as you make more money by playing you can purchase upgrades for your team.  Some of the upgrades include sunglasses, gloves, bats, and shoes.  The best thing about this game is that its totally FREE!!

For years I was addicted to playing video games.  I had a bunch of systems ranging from the old NES to a PlayStation 2.  I sold every piece of gaming equipment a few years ago because I got bored and decided to do more collecting.  If your a baseball fan and a gamer, I highly suggest trying it out.  I like the way the players look.  Usually video game manufacturers try and make the athletes look as real as possible.  With MLB Dugout Heroes, the players look like cartoons.  If you decide to jump on board, my Phillies team name is SportsCardInfo.  I’m far from the best at it, but its still really fun.  My Phillies are more like last year’s Nationals.

This is suppose to be Ryan Howard 🙂

In case anyone was wondering.  I have almost 700,000 “Nuts”.