Why?

This week's topic form League members to blog is another one word topic. Why? Now, when I saw the topic, I initially was going to pass on writing a blog on it, but then I thought about it and realized I can go several different ways with it. I ultimately decided to make this blog a rather personal.

The question I am hit with from a lot of people is why, at 42 years, do you still collect toys and read comics. Now usually when I am asked this question, the words have a ring to it. Like the person asking is shocked and appalled that a grown man would still rather read a Spider-Man comic than the latest best seller on the New York Times Best Seller's List. I usually just keep it simple and say "because I want to". Now, since this Why has become this weeks topic, I had a chance to sit down and think about why I collect.

Honestly, there are really 3 main reasons why. The first one being that I really didn't have a lot of toys growing up. My mom got me Star Wars, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and other goodies, but since I was at a special school growing up, I wasn't home until the weekends and when I was home, it was usually baseball, baseball, baseball. I would watch the Yankee games as well as the Mets and the NBC Game Of The Week so my time with my toys was limited. I did play with what I had and I did watch all the Saturday morning cartoons. Since my mom worked long hours as a home attendant, money was tight and when birthdays or Christmas rolled around and I would ask for a new glove or the Star Wars Death Star Play set, she would go for the equipment every time. Her reasoning was I could get more mileage out of the equipment and she was right as I was using bats I had gotten when I was ten as a teenager. Plus, it got me out of the house. What sucked for me was my cousin got all the Star Wars play sets and figures, Mego dolls, Shogun Warriors and other toys I wanted and would be a bit of a jerk when it came time to share. I don't blame my mother for this. Maybe had I just chosen toys over baseball and, later, football, I would have gotten everything my cousin got and more. My mom was and still is an awesome mother and did the best she could which is more than anyone could ask.

I still haven't gotten this and I still want it!

That brings me to the second reason why I collect which is my fulfilling some childhood dreams and re-buying stuff I had as a child. Now, I'm sure that the amateur shrinks out there will say I have some psychological issues because after 36 years I still cannot let go of the fact that I never had the Star Wars Death Star Play Set or an X-Wing Fighter or a Land Speeder, or AT-AT and maybe I do. But when I pick up a piece, like the Spider-Man bank I used to own or the Batman hand puppet I have been wanting forever, it makes me feel very good. Almost like I accomplished something I have always wanted to. I realize there are a lot more important things in life to accomplish, but as long as I pay my bills and continue to be the best person I can be, I see nothing wrong with collecting toys as long as it makes me feel good.

Which brings me to my last reason. Collecting makes me feel good. When I see a package with my name on it at the post office or see a vintage toy at a toy show or flea market my heart races. To me, there is no bigger joy than to see a toy you have wanted on your toy shelf, proudly displayed in your collection. The thrill of the chase has a lot to do with it as well. I love surfing eBay, going to cons and flea markets and just hunting for something that is going to make me open my wallet and bring something home with me. I wish I could express just how I feel when I land an item that I have been wanting for a long time, but I'm sure my fellow collectors know what I mean. And this doesn't apply just to my toys. I feel the same way when I pick up a bobble head or find a baseball card or score an autograph I have been wanting for a long time. Collecting just makes me feel good.

Bottom line, I love to collect. I will continue to collect my toys, comics, sports items, sketch cards, autographs, bobble heads and whatever else I want. And I'm not the only one. Maybe other people collect things like first edition books or antiques or art. Whatever the reason, there is an answer for the "why" that is asked . Answers may differ, but there is always a reason and it's usually a good one.

If you liked this blog, you may like these from my fellow leaguers as well:

www.randomnerdness.blogspot.com

claymationwerewolf.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-this-not-that.html

www.diaryofadorkette.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-of-all-things-she-ra-fanfic.html

coolandcollected.com/why-do-hallmark-cards-always-make-me-cry/

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Snoopy Bobblehead Night-Yankee vs Toronto Blue Jays 9/19/2012

Last Wednesday I was able to attend the Yankees/Blue Jays game at Yankee Stadium. It was Snoopy Bobblehead Night and I wanted to make sure I got one for my Yankees bobblehead collection, so I took the day off from work. I was the first one through the gates and I was thrilled when I was handed my Snoopy bobblehead. Yes! I had to take the day off from work, but I got the bobblehead.

I went straight to the right field seats for batting practice. The Yankees played the first game of a day/night doubleheader earlier, so I wasn't sure if there would be batting practice. The last time I attended batting practice, I caught a ball. The time before that, I got a ball. I wanted to see if I could make it 3 in a row.

I got to the right field seats and saw Derek Jeter taking hacks along with Alex Rodriguez. During Arod's turn, he launched a ball toward my section. I ran to the spot where I was sure the ball would land and sure enough, I felt the painful slap of rawhide meeting the skin of my hand, causing it to turn red. I did it, I caught ball #3 and from Arod no less. What a moment. What a.... the next thhing I knew, this older gentleman came over and slapped the ball out of my hand. I helplessly watched bounce 3 feet away and into the hands of another adult.

Ok, I realize it was just batting practice, but I will admit I lost it. I yelled I had that. The guy, smugly told me he didn't see my name on the ball. I held up my palm to show the redness so he could see it was in my hand when he smacked it out. He said I didn't close my fingers so it was fair game. I could see I wasn't going to win this arguement, so I walked away. Had that been a home run ball in an actual game, I might not have been so quiet.

It was close to game time and my buddy sent me a text message that he arrived. I wanted to see the look on his face when he saw how cool this bobblehead was and maybe he would think he should have taken a day off as well...until I saw him carrying the box as well. Oh well. Maybe I should have gone to work as well.

The game was a good one. Both the Yankees and Blue Jays scored a run each in their halves of the 2nd inning. That score held until Ichiro singled in Curtis Granderson with the go ahead run in the botom of the 8th. A half inning later, Raphael Soriano closed out the game and we all untucked our shirts for a 2-1 Yankee win.

Now, a look at the goodies

Snoopy looks great in Yankee blue, with pinstripe pants and Yankees cap. I realize it's the same bobblehead that was given out by the San Francisco Giants a year or 2 ago. As a huge Peanuts fan, I am hoping we get Charlie Brown and Lucy as well in the upcoming seasons.

 I think the only difference from the Giants give away, aside from the uniforms, was that Snoopy had a number, which I think was 07 on the back of his unifrom, while the Yankee one just has the MetLife logo. The 07 on the back of Snoopy's uniform was to signify the year the bobblehead was given out.

I also went to the Yankees Clubhouse store and picked up a Mickey Mouse figurine I have been eyeing for the last season or two. Yes, I am a fan of Disney and wanted this figurine to go with the Mickey Mouse All Star figurine I already owned.

Back of the box.

Here's Mickey decked out in the home pinstripes. Like the base he comes in with a small home plate with the Yankees logo on it.

Back of the statue has Mickey sporting 01 and his name on the top. Doesn't Mickey know there are no names on the back of the Yankee uni's? Shame on whoever issued that jersey to you. Now, I need to hunt down the Disney bobbleheads, which would make my Disney Yankee collection complete.

Would have been great to have bought home that Arod ball, but I think I did pretty well regardless. These new additions are going to look great in the Yankee bobblehead/figurine collection. No, they aren't players, but I love adding these to my collection as it diversifies the Yankee shelves and as a collector, I want my collection to differ from another Yankee collector's collection. I think one's collection is an extension of the personality of the collector and my love for cartoons is pretty well represented with Snoopy, Mickey and Woody before them. Now, if only they made Marvel or DC Yankee figurines/Bobbleheads....

Recent Through The Mail Autograph Successes

On Thursday, I had a nice 2 ttm mailday. The maildays are still not as frequent as I would like them to be. But for now, any mailday is a good mailday for me. Ok, enough dawdling. Time to show ff the goodies.

Dan Jurgens signed and sketched my Artist Card for me in a couple weeks time. I sent to him in care of DC Comics, but the postmark came back from Minneapolis. I know he is a Minnesota native, so I'm guessing he has a studio up there where he works out of.

Jurgens has worked on titles such as Superman, The Sensational Spider-Man, Teen Titans, Thor, and Booster Gold. He has created characters such as Doomsday, Cyborg Superman and Booster Gold. Booster Gold is the character he sketched on my card. Another solid return for my Comic Book Artist PC.

This was a huge add to my Yankees PC. Wade Boggs signed my baseball in a weeks time. Sent to his home, I included the baseball as well as a 20.00 donation to his charity, which I think helps inner city kids build baseball fields in the Tampa area. This is a great success for me as he was on my favorite Yankees team, the 1996 Yankees, which won the World Series that year. I might send another request out to him soon.

Another week is starting, so I hope my mailbox is full this week. I will be getting out some more requests this week. Sports stars, actors and artists are who I am targeting this week.Hope you guys who share in this hobby have your mailboxes full as well.

Autograph Mailday

Ok, well these didn't come in today. They came in Monday, but Monday Night Raw was on and I being the WWE geek that I am, I try not to miss an episode. Yesterday, I killed myself at the gym and wasn't even looking to do anything but lie down and read comics. I finished Iron Man: Extremis. Excellent graphic novel if you guys haven't read it, I urge you to do so.

As of late, I have been cranking out a lot of autograph request letters and I have a bunch out there waiting to come back. I already sent out 10 letters this week and will try to get another 10 out by Friday. The requests are out there. They just haven't been coming in. I'm wondering if the post office is getting lazy as I have only been getting returns 1 day a week, Mondays. The rest of the week, zip, zilch, nada. Hmmmmmm...

Well, my 1 return came in from Boston Bruins great and Hockey Hall Of Famer, Johnny Bucyk. He signed my 5x7 and bookplate for my future Hockey Book project in a few weeks.

I sent it to the Bruins Alumni Association and the return was from Spokane, WA. I'm guessing it was forwarded to him there. I already had Bucyk sign a Bruins Puck for my 500 goal scorers PC, but wanted a photo of him for my collection as well as the bookplate signed for the Hockey project.

I also got an ebay purchase arrive on Monday. I love Upper Deck Sweet Spot Signatures Autographed cards. If you don't know what that is, its a sweet spot of a baseball that has been signed, cut out and stuck inside a card. I have a few of these in my Yankees PC. Whitey Ford, Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina and Don Mattingly to name a few. I stopped collecting them when Upper Deck got cheap and used a synthetic rawhide that didn't hold the signature and it would fade. The Tino Martinez I have is almost gone. But I found a good one on ebay for a good price and pulled the trigger on it.

Don Baylor probably has one of the worst signatures I have ever seen. That aside, I wanted to get this to add to the Yankees Sweet Spot Collection. When Baylor was with the Yankees, he still could hit and was a feared pressence in a Yankee lineup that had Mattingly, Dave Winfield and Ricky Henderson in it. The man was also the most hit batsman I ever seen play. He finished with 267 hit by pitches, 4th all time.

The autograph bug has bitten me again. The only cure is more autographs. Gimme, gimme, gimme!

Finally, A Yankee Bobblehead SGA

When I heard the Yankees were having a bobblehead give away this season, I was beside myself. As The Rock might say, "Finally, Boobleheads Have Come Back To Yankee Stadium!" I  started the bobblehead collecting only a year ago, long after the Yankees stopped giving them out. The Yankee Legends bobbles were given out at Columbus Clipper games while the Yankees just stuck with the current player.

But on Wed, Sept 19th at 7:05pm, against the Blue Jays, The Yankees will be giving away a Snoopy Bobblehead, sponsored by MetLife. The Yankees just released a picture of it this past weekend. The booble looks like the one given away by the San Fransisco Giants, last year I think. The bat is magnetic, so it comes out of Snoopy's paw.

I do like the fact they painted him in the blue Yankee batting practice jersey, with home pinstripe pants and black shoes. He has the Joe Cool look with the sunglasses and Yankee cap. The past few years, The Yankees have been giving out plush Snoopy dolls, so this is a fantastic replacement to that.

I am definately looking forward to the give away and will be buying my ticket in advance and taking the day off work. You can bet there will be a lot of ebay'ers lining up early  as the bobblehead is limited to the first 18,000 fans in attendence. If the Snoopy bobbles given away by the Giants went for a lot on ebay, you can bet that this one might sell for as much, maybe more.

This bobblehead would look great in my collection alongside my custom Woody Yankee bobble and my Mickey Mouse Yankee All Star Statue. I hope the Yankees give away Charlie Brown and Lucy as well in the upcoming seasons to complete the collection.

Recent TTM's

 The past week, about 4 of my TTM requests came back signed. 3 that I'm thrilled to get back and 1 that came back damaged. Let's get right into it.

Barbara Eden signed 2 photos for me in just about a month's time. As a kid, I was a huge fan of I Dream Of Jeannie and watched it whenever it was on. Plus, I had a huge crush on Jeannie and often wished I was Major Tony Nelson. Of course, my young mind didn't get that the show was not first run and had been off the air for about 6 to 7 years at that point, but I didn't care. I needed my Jeannie fix. I later watched Eden in Harper Valley PTA, but to me, she will always be Jeannie.

This just arrived today. Mort Walker signed and sketched Beetle Bailey for me on my sketch card. This took under a week and I'm thrilled to get it back. I grew up, just like most of you reading Beetle Bailey or Hi and Lois in the newspapers. I still read Beetle Bailey to this day. I almost asked for Sarge, but I think Beetle was the wa to go.

I am a huge Kevin Smith fan. Seen just about all his films, save for Zach and Muri and Red State. I've read most of the comics he's written and I listen to his podcasts. I knew at some point I had to find a way to add him to my collection. I was in Nyack, NY at a comic store and found an issue of Evil That Men Do and bought it for a quarter, specifically to send it out. I also had him sign my Clerks dvd insert. At some point, I do want to buy a signed movie poster from Jay and Slent Bob's Secret Stash and start an autograph project. Just trying to figure out which movie.

And here is the disapointing return. I got Yankees pitcher David Phelps to sign 2 photos in under a week, right before they left on their current west coast road trip. I noticed the envelope was real dirty. when I opened it, I saw the pics and was upset. If you look closely, the color seems off on them and in the top one, it seems "streaked". The backs of these pictures were also dirty. I'm wondering if they got trampled on at some point and the fronts got dirty. I'm hoping it's not the paper I used. I usually use Staples photo paper, but Staples had a sale on HP paper, buy one get one free and I stocked up. Lets see if the others in this batch come back the same way. I'll have to get another request out to Phelps sometime soon.

I will be getting another batch of requests out this week. Hope this short week has a lot of great returns stuffing my mailbox.

League Of Extraordinary Bloggers Assignment: My Prized Possession

For this week's assignment, The League had to post which of their possessions is considered their most prized. Which would be the one thing that you would fight off a couple of killer ninja's for, or run into your burning home to retrieve or fight Freddy, Jason, Preditor, an Alien, Mike Myers and Adam Lambert over. For me, this was a pretty easy one.

No, dear readers, it's not a Spidey object or one of my Batman Megos or my Patrik Elias game used hockey stick. It's not anything from my Beatles, KISS, Monkees or Back To The Future collections either. This one item is something that can actually fit into my pocket so I can attempt to grab a few more things if need be. Heck, this is something I think EVERYONE would consider a prized possession.

For your consideration, I give to you my most prized possession. A Babe Ruth cut autograph from the 2005 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes set. I actually bought a tin of the product at a card show a few years ago. I went on line to get an autograph and decided to bust the tin. I was looking through the cards, saw the Ruth and actually passed it by thinking it was an insert. When I didn't get the 1 autograph I was promised, that's when I realized what I had. I went back to the card and looked it over and indeed, it was a cut signature card of Babe Ruth.

To say I was overjoyed would be an understatement. I was doing cartwheels, jumping jacks, running in place and whooting at the top of my lungs, drawing weird looks from people. Ok, I didn't do that. I did allow myself a Holy S#%t! The guy next to me saw what I pulled and said "This guy pulled a Babe Ruth Autograph!" A couple people asked to see it and congradulated me over the pull. I had a few offers for the card right there and then and I turned them down.

I didn't turn them down because the offers weren't high enough. They were plenty high. I turned it because I never really thought I would be lucky enough to ever own a Babe Ruth Autograph at any point in my life. As a Yankees collector, it's the Holy Grail of most Yankee fans and to say I own a Babe Ruth auto is actually something else. Plus, it's something that I would love to hand down to my son or daughter if I am ever lucky enough to marry and have a child.

So, I would let my Spider-Man Comics go up in flames. The Warlocks can take away my collection of Batmobiles and Dr. Doom can steal my Beatles Yellow Submanrine figures. The Babe Ruth? That's coming with me. Big Whoop. Wanna fight about it?

New League Topic: Holy Grails And White Whales

This week's topic is an intresting topic for me. Brian over at coolandcollected.com poses this question for the League:

We all collect something. What is a holy grail item you hope to find at a flea market, toy show, or comic convention? What else do you collect?

Let's start with what I collect. For those of you who read this blog on a regular basis, you will or have already noticed, that I have a few diffrent collections going. I collect New York Yankees, New York Jets, Spider-Man, Batman, bobblehead dolls, KISS, The Beatles, The Monkees, autographs, Back To The Future, Roddy Piper, Stone Cold Steve Austin and anything else I find intresting. I am pack rat and when I see something I like, I buy it. To me, picking just one white whale or holy grail was next to impossible since I want to add so many items to these growing collections. So, what I decided to do was pick the one item from each collection that I am working on that I would call my "holy grail" of that particular collection.

I also went with realistic white whales, meaning whales I can realisticly snag. Sure, I would love to add Spider-Man # 1 or a cowl used by Adam West during filming of the Batman tv show. But really, am I going to find a Mickey Mantle game used jersey at a flea market? No way. Will I be able to afford a 8 x10 signed by all four members of The Beatles? Not anytime soon. My plan to win the lotto will come to fruition soon, but until then, I will go cheap and choose the whales I can land without declaring bankruptcy.

This 1966 Batman puppet was made by Ideal during the height of Batmania, caused by the Live Action Batman tv show. These puppets were either sold in a box or a plastic bag. Ideal also made Robin and The Joker. Since I only collect Batman for the time being, I would consider this to be the holy grail for my Batman collection. I have either lost a bid on ebay or found it at flea markets/toy shows in less than desirable condition at outragous prices. This is one piece of Batman merchandise I know I can add to my collection without breaking the bank. I just need to be patient.

Another item I would love to own one day is a program from the very first game the New York Jets played at Shea Stadium. For the first 4 years, the Jets (known as the Titans at this point) played their home games at the old Polo Grounds in Manhattan. They played to very little fanfare as the Titans drew flies dispite fielding competitve teams. The team became the Jets in 1963, playing out it's last year in the Polo Grounds before moving to a brand spanking new Shea Stadium in 1964. On September 12th, the Jets played the Denver Broncos in their first game at Shea, beating Denver 30-6 before a crowd of 45,665 fans.

I have never seen a copy of the program in person, but have bid on a few on ebay usually losing in the 50-65.00 range. Always looking to score sweet swag on the cheap, I always try to win this in the 30 dollar range. I'm usually winning until the last half hour. I guess next time, I'll just have to bid the the 50.00 range. I know, I know. I'm a skinflint.

Ok. A-I love KISS B-I love Megos. When these two teamed up in the 70's, I cruelly learned a new word to add to my young vocabulary: Drool. Back in the 70's, KISS was everywhere. Lunchboxes, radios, tshirts, belt buckles. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley never met a buck they didn't like and would sell their likeness to anything and anyone willing to pay. Fast forward to today and nothing's changed. Gene and Paul still sell out the Kiss name and likeness to make a buck and I still want these action figures.

Yes, they are made on bodies that the KISS members only dreamed they had. But that doesn't take away from how cool they look. The make up is pretty dead on as well as the costumes. The faces...wellllll. Gene is probably the best looking figure. Funny thing, the Ace figure looks like Tommy Thayer now. To own this set is pricey, but can be done.

Here's another pricey piece I'd love to own and it's a holy grail for both the Yankee and bobblehead collections. This bobblehead was made in 1961-1963. There were 2 versions of the Mantle: The square base pictured above and one that had a round base. Mantle was released with Roger Maris, Willie Mays and the very rare Roberto Clemente. There was also a mini version of this bobble that is very pricey. This bobble, I have seen on ebay for around 150-200.00. Pricey, yet affordable.

Here's something I have wanted for quite sometime. A Monkees puppet made by Mattel in 1966. The puppet has the heads of Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz and Mike Nesmith on four fingers and had a draw string that would "say" 10 diffrent recorded comedy bits voiced by the band. Finding a puppet that actually has a working voice box is the trick, because any auction I have seen or in person at a flea market, the puppet voice is silenced. Honestly, as much as I'd love to find one that works so I can sit on the floor, pull the draw string and giggle like a ten year, chances are slim. I would be happy to have a non working one to display with the rest of my Monkees collectables. I can usually find this anywhere between 60-80.00, but with the recent passing of Davy Jones, I'm betting the value went up a bit.

Yes, I know wrestling is fake, but I am still a huge fan. My all time favorite wrestler is "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. I was a huge fan back when he was causing havock in the old WWF, hosting the notorious "Piper's Pit". When LJN came out with these rubber wrestling figures in 1984, I got 2 for Christmas: Hulk Hogan and of course, Roddy Piper. First thing I did was take the WWF Title off Hogan and put it on Piper. I had that figure for years and forgot what happened to it. I've been looking for another for a while, but it has to have the kilt. I have seen way too many without it and, to me, no Piper figure is complete without it.

Last and not least, we have this 1970's Spider-Man bank which has driven me to the brink of insanity. Why? Because 3 times I have bought this bank and 3 times something bad has happened to it. The first time, it got crushed in boxes during a move. The second time, it got decapitated. Don't ask how. It just happened and it wasn't pretty. The third time crushed again. Those happened because I didn't have a place for it and tried to store it in places were it met fates worse than death. Now that I have my Spidey Shelves, this hunk of plastic would look awesome sticking out of the sea of Spidey toys. I just have to win one. I keep getting out bid on it. It's almost like a Spidey bank fairy is preventing me from winning one because of what happened to the others. Stop me? I don't think so. It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

There were 2 others I wanted to add, like the Beatles Flip Your Wig game or the 1970's Godzilla toy I used to have that had the firing fist I used to aim at my sister and conk her on the head. But even I had to have a limit. With all stuff I want, I better have a huge man cave to put it all in. Which I will because that fool proof plan to win the lottery will help pay for all this stuff and I will live an exsitance worthy of Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. Except better looking. But just as geeky and damn proud of it.

New Bobblehead and New Add To 500 Goal Scorers Collection

The past couple of days bought a new bobblehead and a new addition to my NHL 500 Goal Scorers signed puck collection. Was thrilled to get them in, especially since I have wanted both for such a long time.

Starting off with the bobblehead, this is an AGP Thurman Munson bobble. It's one I have been wanting to add to the Yankee bobblehead collection for some time, but the ones I had seen on ebay were well over 75.00, some even reaching over 100.00. This bobble only cost me 25.00. Probably because it didn't have a box. Thurman is flawless and at that price I was thrilled to pick this one up.

As you can see, he's decked out in the Yankees home uni along with his catching equipment, which AGP nailed, right down to the color of his chest protector, knee pads and shin guards.

Turn him around, and you have the familiar number 15, which has since been retired by the Yankees. You also have the interlocking NY on the cap.
The face sculpt is also pretty good. The bobble pretty much looks like Thurman. AGP always did an excellent job with the likenesses of the players. It's one of the things I liked about them as well as one of the things I dislike about Forever, although they are getting better at it.

I also finally got around to writting to Bobby Hull and sent him this sweet vintage looking puck, which he signed in silver paint pen. I sent the puck to him care of the Blackhawks and was returned to me in about 2 months. Glad I could knock Hull off my list of 500 Goal Scorers. Need to look at the list and see who else I can send a puck to. I was thinking of sending a puck to Jagar. Hopefully, he signs.

Things That Made Me Go Whoa!

This week, the League of Extraordinary Bloggers had but one simple mission. Write a blog about the things that made you go whoa. I've seen a lot in my 40 years on this earth and I considered few, like the Tim Burton Batman or the first time I saw Star Wars as a kid in the theaters. But instead, I went with these three that, as Darrell Sheets of Storage Wars would say, had the "Wow" factor for me.

First up for me is the the movie that is still the standard of all Superhero movies, Superman The Movie. While, Supes is not one of my favorite heroes, this movie is definitely one of my all time favorites. The film was well written, wonderfully acted and still stands the test of time. What got me as a kid was seeing Superman fly. It wasn't the George Reeves bounce on a trampoline 195o's style. He actually lifted off the ground. As a kid, seeing this blew me away.

Christopher Reeve's portrayal as Superman/Clark Kent remains the definitive one. He was terrific as the Man of Steel and equally great as Clark Kent, managing to totally separate the two with different styles of acting. Reeves played Superman as the quintessential good guy. The guy who you couldn't corrupt and you believed he really stood for truth, justice and the American way while playing Clark as a dorky, clumsy, reporter. He nailed what mild mannered was supposed to be. Plus, he showed his acting chops when he displayed rage, sadness and love all at once over the death of Lois Lane. The producers initially didn't go with Reeve as Superman because he was too skinny and not a known actor. They tried to get people like Robert Redford, Sly Stallone, Paul Newman, Charles Bronson (Charles Bronson?? Really?? Can you image him as Superman? Hey, scumbag. Drop the cash.). Thankfully, after bulking up a bit, Reeves got the part and the rest is history.

Any kudos to Reeve's performance has to have some left over for Gene Hackman's comedic performance as Lex Luthor. A bit over the top, yes, but it worked. Hackman, played Luthor as an intellectual smartass, but you knew this guy was pure evil. Surrounding himself with the beautiful Miss Tessmacher and the oafish Otis, Luthor set out to destroy California for real estate purposes with the use of nuclear missiles, one was aimed at California and the other was aimed at toward New Jersey. Superman could only save one and Luthor knew that. Luthor also managed to secure a bit of Kryponite to kill Superman. This was not a nice guy. Hackman's Luthor was obviously the basis for Kevin Spacey's Luthor in Superman Returns.

Superman The Movie had my jaw open throughout the whole movie. It was the first Superhero motion picture and in someways, still remains the best ever made.

My next wow moment, and probably my biggest one, came along in late 2001. Anyone who knows me knows Spider-Man is my favorite superhero (Batman being 1B). If you go back in my blogs, you can see the two shelves I have of Spider-Man stuff. So, you all can imagine the excitement I had when I saw this online



I was thrilled, tickled pink, beside myself with excitement and any other word you want to throw out there to describe how I felt that Spidey was finally coming to the big screen. Spider-Man had been trying to get on screen for years. In 1986, Cannon Pictures was supposed to have a Spider-Man movie with Michael Bean playing Spider-man and Tobie Hooper directing it, but never materialized. Then James Cameron had a script ready in the 90's and wanted Leonardo DeCaprio for the part and that was never done. Finally, Sam Rami bought it to the silver screen with Tobey Maguire as Spidey.

Spider-Man is not the greatest movie, I will admit (I think part 2 is a better picture). I never liked Kristen Dunst as Mary Jane nor was I fond of the armor Green Goblin had. He looked like a Power Ranger in this movie. But Wilem Dafoe's chilling performance as Gobby made up for it. Also, James Franco did a great job as Harry Osborne as did Rosemary Harris as Aunt May and J.K. Simmons as J.Jonah Jameson.

I was just happy that Spidey was finally getting a movie. I was at the first showing with my buddy when it opened and I had the biggest, cheesiest grin on my face through out the movie. It was so big it should have been surgically removed to get it off my face However, Spider-man 3 did that for me.

The last thing that made me go whoa happened in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS between the Boston Red Sox and my New York Yankees. I'm one of the biggest Yankees fans around and have been since I was a five year old. I saw Chris Chambliss send the Yankees into the World Series back in 1976, but was too young to appreciate the magnitude of that moment. I saw Bucky Dent's Home Run in the one game playoff between The Red Sox and Yankees back in 1978, but that only sent the Yankees into the playoffs. Aaron Boone did Chambliss one better.

The Yankees and Red Sox started their ace's for this game. Pedro Martinez for Boston and Roger Clemens for NY. The series was already highly emotional thanks to the bench clearing brawl between the two teams in Game 3 when Pedro first threw at Kariem Garcia and then Manny Ramirez charging the mound when Clemens pitched inside. That was also the game that Pedro tossed Don Zimmer to the ground, earning the wrath of not just Yankee fans, but people all over for tossing a man 40 years his senior to the ground. Heck, even the Fenway grounds crew got in it with the Yankee bullpen later in the game.

Clemens was out of the game by the 4th inning after giving up 4 runs. Mike Mussina relieved him and pitched 3 innings of shutout ball. By the 8th inning, it was 5-2 Boston. Pedro, dispite giving up 2 solo shots to Jason Giambi, was pitching a good game, but was tiring. He gave up a double to Derek Jeter and a single to Bernie Williams. At that point, Boston Manager, Grady Little came out. Dispite having a left handed Alan Embry ready to pitch to Hideki Matsui, he allowed Pedro to convince him he can continue. That move cost Little his job in Boston as Pedro gave up a double to Matsui and a bloop double to Jorge Posada to tie the game at 5. No one else scored until Aaron Boone came up in the bottom of the 11th when Aaron Boone launched the first pitch he saw from Boston pitcher Tim Wakefield into the October night to send the Yankees to the World Series.

I was watching the game at home with my mom and kid sister. After the 9th, my mom went to bed and my kid sister stayed with me to watch the game. I was on the edge of my seat after each half inning when no one scored. When Boone came up, I told my sister it's over. That was something that was said instinctly. I didn't even think about it when I blurted it out. Before my sister could respond, Boone had swung and was going up the first base line with his arms out stretched. I was jumping up and down in my living room like I had just hit the home run myself, much to my sister's amusement. To this day, I'm shocked I didn't wake y mom or the downstairs neighbor didn't bang the their ceiling with a broom to quiet me down. All I know is I was ecstatic that my Yankees were going to the World Series in one of the most dramatic fashions in Yankee history ending one of the most emotionally charged series in baseball history.

As you can see, each one of these events caused a level of excitement that no other event had. I'm sure the rest of the League members have different events that rushed the beat of their hearts like the three events I wrote about and I look forward to reading all about them. If you'd like to check out the other blogs, you can find a list of all the blogs here:http://coolandcollected.com/the-league-of-extraordinary-bloggers/league-members/. Tell them the Sexy Geek sent ya.

Its Finally Happened.

Right now, I'm in the laundromat, watching my clothes wrestle each other in the dryer, bored out of my mind. I decided to try to post a picture-less blog to give you all a quick update to what I've been up to the past few weeks. Plus, I get to test this Blogger Android app that I downloaded off the Android Market.

I finally decided that I've had enough of binders. I currently have close to 30 binders that house my Yankees, Jets, Devils, Knicks and Islander cards. I am running out of space to put more binder. Plus, to be honest, I'm thrilled with having to shell out 3-7 bucks a pop for binders, then 15 dollars for 9 pocket pages. With all the cards I pick up during a calender year, I will have to buy a home that has a massive library just to house the binders. Plus, I have close to 15 boxes of cards I have yet to organize. Sheesh!

So, I finally have joined the many masses that are puting their card collections into monster boxes, top loaders and penny sleeves. Not exactly what I wanted when I started collecting again, but with room at a premium, I have no choice.

So, I have started with Topps. I have made dividers from index cards and been moving the base into the box. I plan to keep the inserts in the binders as well as the player collections I have of Mark Teixeira, Martin Brodeur, Mike Bossy, Mark Teixeira and Patrick Ewing.

I'm hoping this works out for me. I'm tired of having to decide how I am storing my cards, especially between my Team Collectors group, trades, box breaks and ebay, I get a lot each month.

I also have been looking to build up my Knicks collection. Of all the teams I collect, they are the team I have the fewest of. So, I've been picking up a few cards as well as some Ewings. Its been coming along nicely and pretty soon, I should have a nice Knicks collection.

New Yankee Card pick up

Just to remind you all that I do still collect my Yankees, I just got this beauty in the mail. An ebay purchase, it is a 1998 Circa Boss Insert I needed for the Yankees PC.

This card is everything I love about inserts. The graphics, the colors and it's a Yankee.

Jeter has become even more expensive (If you can believe that!) since he joined the 3,000 hit club, but I was able to grab this one for a steal at 1.99, plus free shipping.

Now, I just have to put this bad boy with the rest of the 1998 Circa cards I have. That will be a task and a half. I still have piles of cards to put into binders. Anyone have any tricks of how you organize your cards?

Jeter Celebration Day #2

First off, I wanted to congratulate Robinson Cano for winning the Home Run Derby last night. Robbie put on a display of power that stunned everyone, including myself. Anyone see the expression David Ortiz gave when Cano launched one off the Miller Lite sign in straight away center? Priceless. I actually did not want to watch this year, but got hooked when I saw Cano launch ball after ball into the ball hawkers in the stands. I just hope this doesn't screw up his swing for the rest of the year.

Now, on with day 2 of my Jeter Celebration.

Today, I'm showing off one of my Jeter bobbleheads. This one is from 2001 and it was given away at a Staten Island Yankees games. It was made by Alexander Global and given away to all who was in attendence. It was sponsored by Mortgage Links.

Done up in the classic bat pose, Jeter is sporting the classic Yankee home pinstripes, with blue cap with interlocking NY (as Michael Kay, the Yankee TV announcer, used to say when he was on radio). It's a very nice bobble, I think.

I actually was not there for this game. I bought this guy off ebay for under 17.00 dlvd. I got it for a steal as it didn't come with the original box or ticket stub, which is fine by me. I display these for my pleasure, not for profit.

Hope you enjoyed today's blog. Come back tommorow for day 3 of my Jeter celebration.

2003 All Star Bobblehead

Yesterday, the mailman bought me my newest pick up. This is a 2003 All Star Game bobblehead, painted in Yankee colors and theme. The base of the bobble has the years the Yankees has been in existance. 2003 was the Yankees 100th anniversary and this bobble proudly displays that.

As you can see, the 100th anniversery patch the Yankees wore that year is painted on the back of the bobblehead. The years the Yankees had won the World Series is painted on the blue part of the leg as well.

All in all, it's a very nice bobblehead. I have seen these go for upwards of 75.00 on ebay. Thankfully, I paid nowhere near that. This bobble is one of the more simplier of the set that came out, where as the paint and logos are kept to a minimum. I have seen ones from other teams were the colors and logos are all over the place. But I like the simplicity of this one and I'm glad I'm able to add it to the collection.

New Statue Add

With everything that has been going on recently, to my laptop getting a virus, to my grandmother being hospitalized, to work just getting backed up at the office, it was nice to be able to buy myself a few things that would make me smile as well as add to the Yankees collection.

It's not a bobblehead, but I will place this in my bobblehead bookcase. This is a 2010 All Star Mickey Mouse Statue, painted in New York Yankees colors and logos. This is a replica of the statues made for the 2010 All Star Game, which was played in Anaheim last year, home of Disneyland. For the past few years, MLB has been releasing replicas of the statues made for the All Star Game. In NYC a couple of years back, there were Statue of Libertys painted in the colors of every team in baseball, placed all around NYC. Those were made into figurines and sold to the public. Of course, I didnt get one, thinking I could get it later only to see them going for 30.00 and up on ebay. I have an All Star bobblehead coming in from a few years back. I'll post a pic of it when it arrives.

This was something I've wanted for a long, long time. I wasn't willing to shell out 50.00, plus shipping for it, so I bidded my time. I saw this one with a starting bid of 10.00. I made my bid and got it for 25.00, free shipping. Winner!

There is a Mickey figurine that was released this year and is selling at all ballpaks in the majors. I've seen the Yankees one at the Stadium and will be picking it up very soon. This one needs his brother to hang out with on the shelf.

New Adds to Yankees Autograph PC

I attended the Westchester County Sports Card show last weekend. I initally went just to meet former Yankee Stan Bahnsen. I didnt want to spend too much money and thanks to the dealers there, I didnt. Almost everything was overpriced so I didnt buy much of anything except vintage New York Jets cards from the 60's, 70's and 80's for 10 cents a piece. The most I spent was 2.00 on a 1969 Don Maynard card. I have been meaning to try and put together all the Topps Jets team sets and I'm now on my way to doing that. I also came to the conclusion that if I am going to come home with a nice haul, I better stay away from game used and autographed cards. Not that there arent any deals to be had. There are. It's just that the Yankees are always over priced, the Jets are on their way to being and finding Knicks and Devils stuff is pretty hard.

I did manage to add 2 hard to get (well, for me anyway) autographs to my Yankees autograph collection. First up is this signed Matt Nokes card.

If you have been a regular reader of my blog, you would have seen an earlier blog where I wrote about how Nokes had sent back my request RTS. It was the third time I had sent out to Nokes and he didnt sign. So I found this signed card in a pile with other signed cards for a buck. Now, I finally got you Nokes, mwhahahahahahahahaha!

In the same pile was this signed card by another former Yankees catcher, Don Slaught. He was another who I wrote to and never got back. With Slaught though, I wrote to him when he was coaching the Pirates and he got canned right after I sent in the request, so I'm guessing he just never got the request. I was never able to find another address for him, so I was happy to pick this up for the PC for a buck as well.

1 new add to the Yankees signed baseball collection, 2 new adds to the Yankees autographed card collection and a bunch of new Jets Topps cards. All in all, a pretty successful day for my collections and I barely spent 10.00 for the day.