Hiatus Is Such A Dirty Word

I am sad to announce that Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius is going on indefinite hiatus starting today.

Here's the back story. Last June, I graduated from the University of Washington with a Master's Degree in Health Care Administration. Shortly, there after I moved to Lawrence, Kansas to be with my fiancé as she is attending the University of Kansas. Call it wishful thinking but I never anticipated finding a job in my field would turn out to be so difficult.

I sat around unemployed for months last year and started Heartbreaking Cards in September in part to help fill my days. I eventually found a job with a company that contracts with the Department of Education. It's a fine job, I guess, but I have no real passion for it or even a passing interest in doing it for much longer.

It all sort of came to a head this past Saturday. I work Monday-Friday so the weekend is spent essentially doing nothing. All day I was packaging up trades, posting, and scanning cards for future posts. I made a lot of progress on what I wanted to do but I wasn't anywhere near done. I could have been looking for a better job. I could have been getting my "life together." Instead I spent it doing something I really love doing but until I figure out how to make a living from that it's got to go on the back burner.

I'm hoping to be back by Christmas. I will be like a little Christmas present for me...and you, come to think of it! I still have a couple of trades to send out and I'll still be reading every one's blogs like crazy and will still post on A Pack To Be Named Later now and again. For the most part though this will be it for a while.

Cheers,

Matt F.

The Road To Twenty: All-Star Game

Documenting Zack Greinke's quest to be the first Royals pitcher since Bret Saberhagen to win 20 games in a season.

2008 Topps Triple Threads #239 0119/1350

Zack pitched the forth inning for the American League and set down batters 1-2-3 and in the process struck out David Wright and Shane Victorino. Shoulda started.

Show and Tell #26: More Surprises From Jeff

Every time I come upon a unique Ernie Banks card, I scoop it up and sent it to Amarillo Jeff, a huge Banks collector. In return, Jeff sends way too many great cards to me.

I've liked these cards from afar but never really thought of collecting them because the Sterling boxes are so expensive.

#213 2008 Topps Sterling Ty Cobb TC1

#214 2008 Topps Sterling Ty Cobb TC2

#215 2008 Topps Sterling Ty Cobb TC3

#74 2009 Upper Deck Legendary Cuts Alex Gordon

I sent one of these cards of Chippa! to dayf and even tried to have the fascist at the Post Office "cancel" the card...she refused to do it! I didn't want to end up on a watch list so I slunk off defeated.

#51 1972 Topps Harmon Killebrew

By all accounts that bat should break through the flimsy orange border and break the protective plastic protecting this card.

I think with these four cards I have a '72 Topps Royals team set!

#109 1972 Topps Jerry May

#205 1972 Topps Dick Drago

#68 1972 Topps Jim York

#10 1972 Topps Amos Otis

Trade Updates

In the past week and a half I've sent packages to:

Beardy (1 + 1 coming soon)
Dayf (2)
Fan of Reds
Crackin' Wax (2)
Thorzul
Democratic Roadkill
Cardboard Problem
Dinged Corners
Justin G.
Lonestarr
madding
Slette
Daniel W.
Blue Jays Cards

Some are trades...some are just cards for fun...who can say no to cards for fun? If for some reason I've overlooked a trade please accept my apologies and send me an email and let me know what I'm missing. Thanks.

Two Pafkos: One Chrome and One Floating Head

I've recently added two cards to my collection of my favorite old-time baseball player, Andy Pafko. Here's a little background...

1960 Topps #464

This card combines two of my card collecting loves...floating head cards and Andy Pafko.

2002 Topps Chrome 1952 Reprint #1

This is as close as I've come to getting my Whitest Whale. As is the case with nearly every type of Chrome card, these cards look infinitely better when holding it in your hand.

The Continuing Saga: 1971 Topps

#83 Tim Foli/Randy Bobb Mets Rookie Stars


Although you probably haven't heard of either of these players, these two couldn't be more different in their MLB experiences. Foli [who was the 1st pick of the 1968 draft] played for 16 seasons with six teams and was on the '79 World Series champs Pirates team. At one time he held the record for fewest walks with players playing over 150 games in a season.

Robb played a total of ten professional games...all with the Chicago Cubs. He never played for the Mets in the bigs.

A Rare Yankee Related Post

I realize I'm about two years behind the game here but I recently rented the ESPN mini-series The Bronx Is Burning and really enjoyed it despite my predictable displeasure of everything Yankee related.

Here are some Burning related cards:

Reggie Jackson:

Catfish Hunter:

Willie Randolph:

Gossage wasn't on the '77 season but he joined the next season and was part of the 2nd of the back-to-back championships.

Upper Deck's New Selling Point

Yesterday when I was picking up my Magic Football pack, I noticed something new about the Upper Deck Timeline display.

Someone has stuck a big old sticker advertising that if you buy a pack of Timeline you have a one in a million chance to pulling this:

Stephen Strasburg's USA Baseball Autograph

So I thought to myself, that sounds like good odds! Gimme one of those!

#16 Lance Berkman

#43 Alex Gordon

This is about the 107th copy of this card I've pulled.

#34 Nick Markakis

#130 Tyler Clippard

#16 Lance Berkman [Gold Version]

#255 Torii Hunter

So, no Strasburg but if you like Astros, and Lance Berkman in particular, then this was the pack for you.

Dream and Nightmare

As a Wisconsinite, let me just say that this is both our dream and nightmare.

On Newsstands In Lawrence

Interesting statistic: the Royals are the only team that does not have a batter hitting over .300 in their starting lineup.

El Sid

2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #290

I've recently been getting into collecting mid and semi star autographs...It's just too obvious to collect autos of the major stars. Who among us is actively seeking signed cards from Cecil Cooper, Kent Tekulve, and Tom Henke? Well, I am.

Interestingly Sid is fourth all-time in hits per nine innings. Ahead of him? Pedro Martinez, Nolan Ryan, and Sandy Koufax.

A Pack To Be Named Later Shut Down By Blogger

For those of you looking for A Pack To Be Named Later, it's not there right now. Blogger sent me an email that the blog has been labeled a "Spam Blog" and is sort of just gone until a human can verify that it's not just a blog full of spam. Here's what they sent:

Hello,
Your blog at: http://apacktobenamedlater.blogspot.com/ has been identified as a potential spam blog. To correct this, please request a review by filling out the form at...[edited out by me].

Your blog will be deleted in 20 days if it isn't reviewed, and your readers will see a warning page during this time. After we receive your request, we'll review your blog and unlock it within two business days. Once we have reviewed and determined your blog is not spam, the blog will be unlocked and the message in your Blogger dashboard will no longer be displayed. If this blog doesn't belong to you, you don't have to do anything, and any other blogs you may have won't be affected.

We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog like yours is flagged incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this error. By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to bloggers like you instead of to spammers. For more information, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577

Thank you for your understanding and for your help with our spam-fighting efforts.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

P.S. Just one more reminder: Unless you request a review, your blog will be deleted in 20 days. Click this link to request the review: [edited out by me]

I've sent the report to Blogger and so hopefully things will return to normal in the next 48 hours.

Just For The Record

I haven't opened a single pack to 2009 Allen & Ginter and I'm starting to feel a little left out. I was so desperate I bought some singles on eBay.

The Continuing Saga: 1971 Topps

Even more 1971 Topps! Can you handle it?

#82 Casey Cox

Besides have a pretty great porn star name, Mr. Cox shares a birthday with Franz Kafka [July 3rd].

After you get done reading the new Bob Brill book...or at least stop staring at the cover, check out The Trial which is one of my favorite books. Or, if you're lazy, check out Orson Welles' interpretation of the book with Anthony Perkins from Psycho as K.

The Continuing Saga: 1971 Topps

#81 Felix Millan

The Big Mitt is back! And man has this one seen some use.

"I'd like to thank Félix Millán for making all of this possible."

The Continuing Saga: 1971 Topps

#80 Bill Melton


This could easily have become a 1971 Topps version of 1989 Fleer's Billy Ripken card.

Bill's 1972 season was his best with him leading the league in homers and being selected to the All-Star team.

Show and Tell #25: R.I.P. 2008 Topps Series II

Reader Jeff C. thankfully put my 2008 Topps Series II set out of its misery by sending me the last couple of cards that I was looking for. Thanks again Jeff and be sure to send along your want lists...you'll get a nice little bonus for completing the set!

#580 Ken Griffey Jr.

#430 Ryan Braun

Show and Tell #24: Crackin' Wax Cracks Some Sets

Chris from Crackin' Wax made a big dent in my set need lists recently. He sent along some '08 Topps Series II, '08 Chrome, '09 Topps, and '09 Heritage. Here are some highlights:

#658 Kerry Wood

I enjoy this card but only if that is the real sky they have behind Kerry.

We've been having some really great sunsets recently and here is one from the other day. Now if only Kerry Wood would show up in the Target parking lot.


#404 Cecil Cooper

One Cecil Cooper cards deserves another or two or three.

Looking back now at the 2008 Topps sets you can really see the improvement that was made in the 2009 sets. These two cards of the Matsui Twins were some of the most "action packed" of the sets...at least Hideki is holding a bat...and these look down right boring to the shots from the '09 sets.

#118 Hideki Matsui [Chrome]

#153 Kazou Matsui [Chrome]

Thanks Chris!