It Was 1980something...

It was 1980something and not only was I was born in it, but it was also a time when Garbage Pail Kids were first introduced (1985) and it is the setting for the show, The Goldbergs that is on TV Wednesday nights on ABC. And no, I am not a commercial.

Those three things play a role in today's 1980something post.

I recently found out that Topps included a Goldbergs subset in their latest Garbage Pail Kids release and I knew I had to have 'em. Not only is there the subset, but there is also parallels to them along autographed versions from the cast. Yes, autographed versions. I really want to collect some of those but I have heard the odds of finding them is the odds of being hit by lightning twice in a day. They are extremely rare is where I am going with this.

When I had asked Topps on Twitter about the set and told them how much I loved the show, a really nice guy I had never talked to on Twitter before asked me if I wanted the complete subset set of cards out of nowhere. How could I turn down that deal? So I gave him my info and a few days later my mail day from @CoachDaveOski arrived. Really cool of him and he packed them nicely and even sent some parallels along. Huge thanks to David for his generosity.

Now let's take a trip with these cards. So, if you haven't seen The Goldbergs yet, you are really missing out and you need to tune in. Just putting that right out there. If you have, kudos to you. But, if you haven't I will use the cards as a quick guidance of the show.

The cast is amazing, the show is hilarious, the characters are quite interesting, there is tons of nostalgia, memorable songs and plenty of touching family moments. It's everything you would want in a TV show wrapped up into one.

The show premiered in September of 2013 with my high anticipation on it and it did not disappoint. I even got to tweet my thoughts on the show with the real Adam F. Goldberg on Twitter and he responded. He doesn't anymore but I still tweet my thoughts on episodes just to let him know I am still watching and haven't missed one yet.

The show is loosely based on the Adam Goldberg's childhood, during which he videotaped events from it, and those events have been reenacted/re-imagined on the show. The cool thing about it is you get to see the actual clip from the real taping at the end of each episode and it's pretty darn near spot on.

The series is narrated by an adult Adam Goldberg in present time, well Patton Oswalt,

and showcases the 80's through child Adam's eyes in which you get to know his family, friends and the faculty at the school. You also see the struggles of each of the characters and how they in the end as a family sort out each situation.

Barry "Big Tasty" Goldberg is Adam's high strung/bit dim-witten big brother who likes to pretend he is either the next sports or rapping superstar. He tries so hard to dominate at everything he does but usually fails. He is a good kid however.

Erica Goldberg, who in real life didn't exist in Adam's life as he had two brothers, is the oldest sibling and is extremely talented at singing. She at times can be a bit rebellious especially if Beverly tries to overprotect her from something.

Speaking of Bev, Beverly Goldberg is the smother, I mean mother. She smothers her kids in kisses atan alarming rate and goes to the ends of the earth for them including marching in at school and letting the principal and teachers know her thoughts and opinions. She usually gets her way. She is overprotective, but she loves them.

Murray, the grumpy old furniture salesman, but sensitive dad, likes calling all of his kids morons but you can tell he loves em. He also enjoys sports and lounging in his favorite chair in his underwear. My kinda guy as I have gotten older.

Pops is Adam's right hand man and who Adam considers his best friend. Adam gets him to do crazy stunts for his videos and uses him for advice whenever possible. Pops is also Beverly's widower father.

I don't know why Topps didn't tackle more of the teachers but they did focus on Coach Mellor who really likes to wear the tightest shorts possible as Gym teacher. He is a no nonsense kinda guy who teaches kids lessons through sports.

 

I would have liked to have seen a card of Tim Meadows as Jonathan Glasscott the schools hapless Guidance counselor. His character is extremely funny when he appears. Maybe they will do a follow up set to include even more characters since there are so many fun ones.

So once again, if these cards and little tidbits on the show haven't enticed you yet, I encourage you to do so. I also encourage you to check out the newly released this week spinoff to The Goldbergs called,  Schooled, which covers the 1990somethings. I really liked the premier episode and hope it carries on as many of you know how much I love the 90's.

To end this post, I wanted to show off the parallels David nicely sent me as well,

 

I Really need to find myself some autographed versions of these somehow now that I have all of the subset cards. If you see any, feel free to send a trade my way!

Another thanks goes out to David for these and if you have seen The Goldbergs, let me know your favorite character or episode in comments and your thoughts on Schooled.

Cramer Vs Me

My never ending sorting project, I posted about this project last year, has me sorting my entire collection by teams and key players now after years of sorting by brand, number and year. Sometimes when you go back through everything you find some cool pieces you had forgotten about. One of the many cool things I found were these 1980-1983 Pacific Cramer baseball cards.

This product was issued over a period of four years by Cramer Sports Promotions, who was the forerunner of Pacific back when they existed. From 1980-1983 you could buy packs of these and try to put sets together. Every year had a section of the set to put together, cards 1-30 were issued in 1980; #'s 31-60 in 1981; #'s 61-90 in 1982; #'s 90-124 in 1983 and finally cards #121-124 were issued on the 1983 wax box. The set consisted of mainly big namers and Hall of Famers.

As for design, the cards have a sepia-toned photo on front with a black frame. Some had a brighter tone then others, almost a  yellow look to them. Overall they had a very old appeal front and back.

Here is the handful of them I found in the boxes. I also later on found some in a binder that went in a trade with Project Pedro Blog.

Some of the key players I found in the stack

Maris in an Athletics Uni.....


The real Home Run King!


 

Can't go wrong finding these kind of names in a box. They are worth much in terms of value, but they are something I plan on holding onto just because. I like the oddball kinda finds and you will see that when I roll out other things I found in my sorting project that is never-ending.

How many of you collected these? Anyone put a set together?

What's In The Mail Box?

In this edition of What's In The Mail Box?, I recently was up late scouring eBay when I found this lot.

It had no bids with the starting one at .99.Then I noticed a card that really stuck out to me, one that I have wanted for some time, this card:

This wasn't just any ole card, IT WAS A PHIL SIMMS ROOKIE CARD! At that point I bid on the lot and kept paying close attention not wanting to lose out. The rest of the cards were nice added bonuses but the sugar in the pot I really wanted was the Simms.

Two hours passed and still no bids but mine. Was I honestly going to get this for .99? Sure enough the final 30 minutes counted down and in my possession soon would be a Phil Simms rookie card (among 8 others) all for .99! Wow! What a steal! I have since then gotten the Simms in the main and now the Simms is officially in hand and in my Giants PC where he will stay for many years to come.