COMC vs. RSD: A Very Vinyl and Cardboard Weekend

It was a big collecting weekend.  At Record Store Day on Saturday I spent all the money I usually spend on music for the whole year in only a few hours.

In addition to that, I received a package from COMC containing a bunch of Griffeys I need for future posts as well as a few other fun cards that were priced right. 

So the collector in me has been torn between new cardboard and new vinyl all weekend long.  Which will win the day? 

Let's start with the new cardboard:

One of the best photos I've seen Ultra use for our guy, and who doesn't want to be on the Z-Team?

The Big Red Machine Topps card is a beast, am I right?

A lot of good ones here, too many to comment on. 

McGwire is trying to ruin my Griffey card....

I bought a bunch of these to give out as gifts.  We love Brees down here in NOLA, so this is a pretty universally desired card here even among non-collectors of cards.

A nice group of Griffeys with a Drew Brees center.  Heck of a weekend for cardboard.

Now for some new vinyl:

First, I landed both my big RSD wants:

Sigur Ros Agaetis Byrjun limited to 1000 copies.  These are already going on eBay for $150.00, so I'm relieved I landed mine.

Fela Kuti Sorrow, Tears and Blood. This has already ridden my turntable twice.


Here are a few more RSD releases I was able to pick up:

I finally found the Dave Brubeck Trio 10" which I noticed is the same size/design/packaging as the 2012 release:

I'm thinking when all is said and done, this will be a whole series released one RSD at a time.

Miles Davis Milestones.  Like some of my favorite Griffeys, this is individually numbered:

There are several other Miles Davis records I passed on, but I may end up going back and picking them up after all.

Deftones Live Volume 1: Selections from "Adrenaline"

Corn on Macabre - I bought this only because the cover artist, Daniel Danger, is one of my favorite artists out there. I have about a dozen of his prints on my walls, so buying the vinyl for a fraction of the cost of a poster makes sense.....

Rough Guide to Psychedelic Brazil.  I gave this one a spin as soon as I got home.  It was good, but I have no reason to keep it on vinyl - it will end up on the 'Bay.

I also found this Vitamin String Quartet Performs Sigur Ros record which sounds pretty good but which I also may not end up keeping.  Apparently this one is also a limited release.

Phish Junta.  This came out last year for RSD, but the store I went to had held one back and I was the lucky finder.  It is also individually numbered.

I like Phish OK, but I love this album more than anything else they've done.  It's probably the only Phish record I'll ever buy on vinyl.

I also picked up some non-RSD records including:

Beach House Bloom.  Probably my favorite record of 2012.

Dr. John Desitively Bonnaroo - I have three copies of the original release, but this one is a reissue.  I'd much rather put the wear and tear on the reissue.

I raided the used records as well:

 

Big Brother & the Holding Company feat. Janis Joplin Cheap Thrills.  This is the one with all the biggest hits, including my personal favorite "Summertime."  And check out the great Robert Crumb cover art!

 [I forgot to take a picture of.....]

Herbie Hancock Futureshock.  This has the famous "Rockit" and some other allegedly bizarre futuristic Jazz compositions I have yet to listen to.  I bought this as an oddity and because I love Herbie Hancock.

Portishead Third: Limited Edition.  This baby came with a lithograph, a beautifully-etched 12" single of Machine Gun, and a 1GB special edition flash drive containing Portishead videos and documentaries.  My wife and I are big Portishead fans and this is a $70 record for only $30, so I had to nab it.

The Who Sell Out.  It was a dollar and is featured in my Greatest Album Covers of all Time coffee table book.  I must admit I don't know what songs appear on this album, but the condition of the record itself is superb.

Wet Willie The Wetter the Better.  I bought this because it was 50 cents and I loved the cover art.  It's just so unapologetically raunchy - I had to have it in the collection.  We gave this record a listen as a goof, and believe it or not it was not bad.  Wasn't expecting that.

Weird Al Yankovic Self-titled.  I had this one as a kid on CD and used to listen to it all the time.  The record was in great shape and it was less than 5 bucks, so I pulled the trigger.  And I'm glad I did!  When I got it home, I noticed this:

Signed by the man himself.  It'll be worth thousands someday.....

The greatest thing I got was not a Record Store Day release, nor was it a limited or antique used record.  It was this bad boy:

The Fela Kuti Box Set Volume 2.  This thing contains six albums of Fela doing his thing.  I defy you to put some Fela on and not dance - the guy had a great band and a fantastic sense of rhythym.  One of my favorite artists of all time.

I picked up Volume 1 a few years ago.  We put it on for parties and while cleaning the house or cooking meals.  Now we have six more records to choose from!

The biggest Fela Kuti hit is "Water No Get No Enemy," so if you're looking to try Fela on for the first time, that's a good place to start.

In the battle of vinyl vs. cardboard, vinyl definitely won this round.  That's probably going to be the case for every Record Store Day weekend for as long as my wife lets me out of the house to spend money.

My First Card Show in 15 Years

It's Superbowl weekend in New Orleans - and someone decided to have a card show at the airport Days Inn in Kenner.  Admission: $1.00

Let's ride.

I hightailed it over there around 2:00pm, $22 burning a hole in my pocket, sporting my Rated Rookie t-shirt, a hard case full of patch cards in my satch, and a Beckett.  Mama didn't raise no fool.

Everywhere there was football stuff, mostly 49ers and Ravens cards and Superbowl memorabilia, signs advertising Kaepernick rookies and Baltimore mini-helmets.

The problem here was that while the hotel was fully booked with people from the intended markets, they were all out enjoying the city (Saturday was beautiful).  So, it was me, the 8 guys selling cards, and 3 other dudes.

And I still managed to not win the drawing.

Anyway, walking around this card show asking for Ken Griffey Jr stuff was like trying to order a Shirley Temple at Oktoberfest.  I just felt silly.  But the people were nice, and I tried to spend a little something at every table that made a semi-reasonable effort at salesmanship (two didn't).

One of the sellers was a nice old guy with four tables full of vintage cards.  I definitely spent the most money with him.  In the way of Griffeys he only had a single 1989 Upper Deck rookie, but he was such a pleasure to talk to I searched for lots of other stuff to buy.  Here's Don "the Sphinx" Mossi.  I love Mossi cards.  It's a unique look, you've got to admit, and his later cards are downright famous for Mossi's unmistakeable mug.  This is his rookie card - it was expensive at $6, but it had to be mine!

This Waitkus is a tough find.  It's been on my want list for a while because of the deranged girlfriend story on the back.  He was also a heck of a baseman.  I snagged this one for $2.

The guy was a huge Musial fan, and this card was just so cool I had to take it home.  Tommy Davis' squint is also pretty sweet.

 

I bought this card because Rusty Staub graduated from my high school in NOLA.  My Dad met him once when he was eleven and got his autograph.  He didn't have any paper, so Mr. Staub etched his signature into my Dad's 1962 Championship little league football trophy.

The statue broke when we were preparing to evacuate for Hurricane Isaac.  Don't tell him.

 

I wanted a McCovey for an upcoming Griffey card post, and I figured a '72 would be appropriate what with the minis from the Topps set sparking so many differing opinions.  I think it's a cool-looking set.  And McCovey is the man.

The guy was impeccably organized.  Doesn't somebody collect these things?

When they have the show again next month, I'll bring your want list, Night Owl.  Unless you finished it already.

These were $2.  Face value for a set from 1987!  Just mass produced enough to maintain it's value to within a penny.  I couldn't pass it up.  Super glossy, solid checklist.  Plus, free gum.

I bought 2 packs of 2013 Topps, but this pack of Panini Golden Age was far cooler.  Something about cards with hot chicks - I'm going to have to start actively collecting those....

This is a wrestling program from 1980.  The event it was made for featured a match that included Jesse "The Body" Ventura, a fact I didn't know when I bought this thing.  Those pants......

Some great Ozzie's (Smith, not Canseco) turning DP's on the likes of Eric Karros and Craig Biggio.  That's not my first flip card of his, but I couldn't pass it up.  These came from a quarter box, along with a lot a what you're about to see.  I grabbed some duplicates of one of these for a certain blogger who like double-play cards.

That Beckham is the best tongue shot I have ever seen.  But all cards pale in comparison to Ron "Specs" Kittle (no one called him that).

Some Klesko pre-rookies, one of the best Brett Butler pics ever, a wacky-fitting hat on Barry, and Stan the Man for a quarter.  Plus if you don't like Dan Wilson, I don't want to know you.

A nice addition to the president collection.

A very cool-looking card for a quarter.

LSU legends Pistol Pete and Y.A. Tittle.  Also, I was in a few classes with Michael Clayton back at LSU.  Neat seeing him on a card....

That guy's name is D'Brickashaw Ferguson.   Keep saying it to yourself, and eventually you'll want one too.  D'Brickashaw.  These are the guys Key & Peele were talking about.

JaMarcus has expressed an interest in returning to the NFL this coming year, so get in on the ground floor people!  'Cuz when he's not sippin' sizzurp, he's somewhere being terrible at football....!

Morten Andersen is a legend.

Finally, right?  Only three of these are new to my collection, but for 25 cents each, it was a no-brainer.  Here's hoping there will be more Griffeys next month.
 

I'm leaving you with a 1938 "Horrors of War" card.  The guy with all those vintage cards had a stack of these.  This was the goriest one.  I love how this was made right before Pearl Harbor and the U.S.'s entrance into WWII.

Coming soon - an actual Griffey post.  I swear!