Post 101!!! More Duluth! More Vintage Cards!

Welcome to Post 100 part 2... 

Or post 101... 

Which sounds much less cool...

Either way, if you haven't read post one (Post 100!!!), you should do that now. Otherwise you wont know what I'm talking about here...

When I last posted something, it was a recapping the first three days of Laura and my Two Harbors vacation. Part two will exclusively cover the last day of that vacation, and a whole buncha more cards I picked up at Globe News in Superior, Wisconsin.

Cards such as this one...

1976 SSPC Rod Carew

Minnesota Twins at Shea Stadium in 1975? That is just weird... Well, if Yankee Stadium is closed for renovations, the Yanks gotta play somewhere...

Picking up a complete set of 1976 SSPC from my favorite closed-up card store, for a bargain price of $60, back in 2011 remains one of my favorite card purchases of the last decade. While some of the photos tend to get redundant, there are so many great ones that this set needs to be displayed in an album. While I was only a year old when this set came out, it had to be a refreshing alternative to the familiar style of Topps Baseball.

Or this one...

1967 Topps Twin Terrors (Bob Allison & Harmon Killebrew)

Another need for the team set. I found very few Killebrew cards at Globe News, but this was one I'd been looking for.

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Monday 9.17.2018

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I had set a 9am wake up alarm, to prepare to go home today. It's a sunny and breezy morning outside, which is a contrast to how the weather was the last three days...

A large cargo ship was sitting at the south end of the bay. In it's honor, I toasted a bagel, scribbled some more notes down and watched CNN. Then took a shower and packed the rest of our stuff that wasn't done the night before.

Our room had a VCR!!! 

Talk about a relic of the past...

But not as old as this...

1970 Topps Philadelphia Phillies

Another intentional duplicate pick-up, and one of the few non-Twins, Expos or Pilots cards I bought. That team picture in the outfield of Shibe Park (in it's final days) is one of my all time favorite cards. It ended up being a throw-in because of the tack hole above the S in Phillies. Since that tack hole wasn't through the scoreboard, free was a price I couldn't turn down!

Once we packed up and loaded the car, we drove back to the resort office. I walked around and took property pictures while Laura checked out.

1966 Topps Sandy Valdespino

Where Mr. Valdespino wasn't staying on this day... 

I have a good chunk of the 1966 team set, but Valdespino crosses a need off my list.

Lotsa waterfall pictures were taken in front of the entrance. It was the best water available, since you can't actually see Lake Superior from the main complex. Which is really strange to me...

(Laura had to go back in to tell them that we didn't intentionally steal their blanket from room F-410.)

1972 Topps Gene Mauch - Dan McGinn

Think I pretty much completed Mauch's run as the Expos first manager in cards today... And it looks like McGinn has been regulated to pitching in the vacant lot down the road...

1972 Topps Expos Rookie Stars

I'm sure the Expos logo was a nightmare for Topps airbrushers, but whoever drew Lampard's hat for him, didn't even try...

Look alive road crew flagman! We're trying to get to Two Harbors! Road paving on highway 61 had it down to one lane going into town. We sat here for far to long not moving...

I'm hungry damat!

1971 & 1972 Topps George Mitterwald

George liked his pose so much, he did it two years in a row!

We at our breakfast/lunch at Judy's Cafe, on the north side of town. Good cheap, greasy eats!

I opted for another Patty Melt and potato chips, with a recommended and highly delicious side of Hash Browns covered in cheese and onions. Laura chose an Omelet and uneaten Corned Beef hash, which was too overcooked and dried out to eat.

Also a big fan of the old school scribbled food order ticket!

1970 Topps Rod Carew All Star

Such a great old school card design...

Much of Two Harbors is under construction. Just don't take away the charm of the town. Though it seems like some of the old buildings are being cleared for new. And that's never a thing I'm fond of...

In addition to the rumored abandoned Hardees that is now gone. Pizza Hut is now closed as well. Had there been fewer people around, I would have stopped for better pictures of the property. Actually, I really wish I would have regardless...

At least the chicken statue on the south end of town was still intact!

Goodbye Two Harbors... We will be back!

1972 Topps American League RBI Leaders

Another of the few Killebrews added from Globe News... This one with a bonus second Hall of Famer. I'll let you figure out who that is...

Turning onto the scenic route of highway 61, I missed the marks in the road for the start of the Grandma's Marathon. Also missed every mile marker painted on the road that we passed. I need to get quicker with the camera clicker while driving...

In addition to the giant lake to our left, my favorite feature of North Shore Drive is the railroad tracks that run mostly parallel through the area. Laura does not share that opinion...

Today saw a series of tanker cars sitting on the tracks for a good stretch of road...

1973 Topps Jim Strickland

But we didn't see Mr. Strickland... Who was just hanging out at the neighborhood park in full Twins uniform....

1969 Topps Cesar Tovar

Of course I picked up some more Twins from Globe's ample supply of 1969 Topps... Like this Tovar...

But that elusive 1969 Topps Billy Martin card was nowhere to be found. I'd still like to beat the kid who ripped it off from my collection senseless, back in 1994...

It certainly wasn't on sale at the (local) legendary Tom's Logging Camp!

Time in our day was running short, so we weren't able to do the hike through the site. Still, I wanted to see it, so we crossed the railroad tracks into the North Shore's most well known tourist trap!

Tom's Logging Camp really hasn't changed much at all in the last 40 years...

That is the same horse statue I did indeed climb on as a kid. Despite likely the same sign sitting there warning me not to...

Tom's Too is a snack bar on the property, that was not open. My friend Tracy raves about their sammiches, but we could not partake on this afternoon... To the left of the snack bar is an outhouse. That would serve as the incredibly cold public restrooms on site. I took a picture of the creepy toilet hole, but decided it might be in poor taste to put it up here...

You can thank me later!

1969 Topps John Kennedy & Rich Rollins

The Montreal Expos were 1 of 4 expansion teams in 1969. Another was the Seattle Pilots. About a decade ago, I became obsessed with researching the Seattle Pilots single Major League season. I spent $60 on an out of print book detailing the team's history, spent another $10 on a Xeroxed copy of the 1969 Pilots Team Yearbook, I downloaded every picture I could find on the internet of Sicks Stadium, and found a well produced fan DVD documentary on the Pilots.

At Globe News, I bought a copy of EVERY 1969 Topps Pilots card they had.

At some point in the future, I plan on writing a lengthy story about the Seattle Pilots, so I'm done talking about them for now...

Rich Rollins was an expansion draft pick from the Twins, after several productive seasons in Minnesota.

And I made it all the way through writing this without making a single JFK joke!

1969 Topps Larry Haney

Another duplicate for my collection, but I needed another copy because it's story. As with the Expos cards in the set, Topps didn't have a whole lot of images of actual Seattle Pilots in their uniforms to choose from. In Haney's case, they took the same picture that was used on Haney's 1968 Topps card (when he was with the Baltimore Orioles) and reversed the negative. So Haney is indeed not one of the rarest of rare in baseball, a left handed throwing catcher...

I bet Larry would have liked Tom's Logging Camp...

After all, look at what they have to offer...

For a nominal fee, you can walk the grounds of the logging camp to see a replica of a 19th century... uh... Logging Camp! Had we the time, I wanted to do that walk through for pictures' sake. One of these days I will. I haven't seen it in close to 30 years...

Oooooh!! They have an Ishing Museum!

The outer walls of the Trading Post have a bear skin in really poor condition...

And a broken penny-a-ride horse...

And a supa old-timey and rusted wood cooking stove!

And with that, we have to head on into Duluth!

Goodbye Tom's!

Hello Twins!

1971 Topps Minnesota Twins

Blurrier than I'd like, but that's some quality Met Stadium going there!

1972 Topps Twins Team

Better shot of Met Stadium than most Twins team cards (though none are better than team photo featured in the 1980 Topps set).

1967 Topps Jim Merritt & Sam Mele

Both needs for a team set nearing completion... And I absolutely love the batting cage at Met Stadium, shown on this card.

North Shore Drive continued on to the south, with Lake Superior much closer in this area.

I would have liked to have taken a better picture of this weathered abandoned shack...

Maybe as good a picture as I got of this semi-abandoned structure...

Soon we met back up with Highway 61, and found an advertisement for Outdoor Yoga at Glensheen Mansion. I don't recall outdoor yoga being a thing up here when I was a kid...

Once back on the main road, we enjoyed creeping along in 30 mph traffic through Duluth.

1970 Topps Dave Boswell - Frank Quilici - Tom Tischinski

1970 Topps had a design that I've always liked. Slowly but surely, Topps was also upping it's photography game. Where even the posed shots were starting to show a little more character with their backdrop. (interested to see how 2019 Topps Heritage matches up...) Unfortunately for my Twins collection, 1970 was sorely under-represented until visiting Globe News. The Quilici card has been a long desired addition. So much that I bought two of them!

1970 Topps John O'Donoghue - Greg Goossen -Gene Brabender

Though I wonder if Topps took that approach a little too literal with these Pilots at "Yankee Stadium". Not to question a near 50 year old piece of cardboard, but it looks like the Law Firm of O'Donoghue, Goossen and Brabender appear to be posing in front of a picture of the House That Ruth Built. Especially Goossen...

Once we entered Duluth, we pulled off the road into the Holiday gas station. 

I walked up the block to snap a picture of where the North Shore Drive accompanying railroad tracks entered town. Below street level as shown here. Really like this picture...

Holiday was actually across the street from Holiday... (And Lewis Black thought Starbucks was bad...) I stupidly didn't get a picture of this phenomenon...

1970 Topps Jerry McNertney

McNertney is my favorite Pilots card of 1970 Topps. You've got batting cage, catchers gear, a teammate/manager/coach cameo, and he's yelling at the photographer. The only thing that  would make this card rule more would be if it was shot at Sicks Stadium, instead of Generic Spring Training Field.

Laura and I chose to take London Road to Lake Shore Drive, instead of the beginning point of Interstate 35. Today was a great day cloud cover, as far as pictures are concerned. I wanted to see the downtown area on a grey, overcast day. Which has always been what comes to mind when I think of Duluth. There were several desired targets along the way. And a brief glimpse at revisiting memories of some old landmarks of vacations years ago.

Like the NEW Perkins Family Restaurant...

The second Holiday, a block away from the Holiday we stopped at... Could have swore I took a picture with both of them in it...

The Edgewater Motel. Which is several blocks from the water...

An abandoned BP Gas Station, that I regret not stopping at...

Or the OLD Perkins Family Restaurant... I have distinct memories of playing in the sandbox, located under the staircase to the basement restrooms...

Or this highly awesome old abandoned school...

London Road in downtown Duluth is still paved with old cobblestones. I would have expected this to have been converted by now...

Here, some Duluth cops are taking to a guy outside an antique store... Seemed interesting to me, though it really isn't...

1970 Topps Seattle Pilots

Just a little more interesting is this... Another duplicate in my 1970 Topps Pilots team set... But I simply could not turn this one down for the price tag of 50% of what I paid for a copy in 2009 via ebay. It's in similar condition, but a high number in the set, so a premium was to be expected.

While I'm not sure, I believe this is the only appearance of Sicks Stadium on a regular issue Topps card. That team photo is well represented in every fan-made web site I found during my phase of Pilot's research.

1970 Topps Tommy Harper Booklet

Of course the Pilot's lone representative in the 1970 Topps Booklet set would be the first of it's kind in my collection.

Canal Park looks very different from 18 years ago when I last visited. The whole area is much more populated with tourist attractions than it used to be... And what happened to the Canal Park Burger King?

Well, once you're in Duluth, you are obligated by law to take a picture of the lift bridge. (Which was posted to facebook as such...)

Here was my legally obligated photo, shot back in January 2001, when I drove up here with my dad.

And another down the walkway towards the lighthouses...

And here's a couple of 1964 Topps Twins in really good condition...

1964 Topps Lee Stange & Zoilo Versalles

Stange is a high number and has great color. Someone took good care of this card...

Since it had been nearly 30 years since I was last inside, I made a quick run through of the museum...

I hesitated at the display for the Edmund Fitzgerald...

Including a scale model of the shipwreck...

Was startled by the Albino mannequin in the replica of a first class passenger cabin...

Spent a few moments looking at the classic relief map of the Great Lakes depth...

Looked at the big replica engine by the elevator, as I took the stairs down to first floor...

With quick jaunt up the walkway lined by old ship placards and photos.

And right back outside in front of the retired Bayfield, spending it's recent years floating in the bushes.

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1971 Topps Chuck Manuel

Who doesn't love 1971 Topps? I'd forgotten the long time manager of the Phillies and Indians first broke into the majors as an outfielder for the Twins. Add a batting cage and this was purchase was a no brainer...

I stood on the rocky beach of Lake Superior, and snapped this picture of town, along with that flooded brick building that has been half submerged as long as I remember. At one point I read about what it's purpose had been, but I can't remember today. In the summer, you'd see kids that had swam out to it, climbing up on what ever was left of the roof, and jumping off. Probably too cold for that today.

It definitely was too cold in January 2001...

The small George Hindman building was looked pretty worse for wear... For years it sold souvenirs to Canal Park visitors, and always seemed busy . Today it was sitting empty, and .

I didn't go up close to it for better pictures (I should have), but from behind it a few broken windows...

Also didn't make a planned stop at this building. It was closed on the day I took this picture, in January 2001, It was very much open today. This was notable to me because of the toy store on the second floor. My mom recently told me it was still open. I'd not been here since the late 1980's. She said it hadn't changed much.

Oh! There's the Canal Park Burger King!

Back then, I made it a point to buy dice at this toy store for Dungeons & Dragons gaming sessions, when the family would be up here on vacation. Which I did play (kinda) for a couple of years back in the late 1980's. (I wrote a brief story in Wasted Quarter -issue 23, I think?-about the D&D days, but didn't feel like dusting that off for this. Happy 25th Anniversary Wasted Quarter!). Since it was still open, I was going to buy a new 20-sider for old time's sake...

The entire Canal Park parking lot was now reserved for handicapped drivers. This wasn't noted very well, but policed heavily. Quite a few Non-Handicapped people got parking tickets in the now handicapped lot this afternoon...

Instead, we did what you should do in Duluth (besides go to the bar), pick up some popcorn and feed the seagulls!

Taking pictures of the birds fighting over popcorn! Video as well! 

While feeding them, Laura played Duluth by Vinnie & the Stardusters from her phone. 

I'd hope we were not the first people to do this...

One of the seagulls, we named Gracie, after our cat. She acted like a seagull version of our feline friend.

1972 Topps Twins Rookie Stars

Future inaugural General Manager of the Colorado Rockies, in an ill-fitting hat!

1963 Topps George Banks & Rookie Stars

Nice shot of old Yankee Stadium on the Banks card, but there are no stars on the 1963 Rookie Stars... Though the phrase Elmo Plaskett Pitts Pirates amuses me...

1963 Minnesota Twins Team Card

A nice upgrade to my 1963 Team card I already had. My first one was a part of the 2010 Topps Million Card Giveaway promotion. The copy that Topps sent me was a mutilated, cornerless, wrinkled and faded piece of paper that looked to have been someone's wallet card since about 1967... This one is pretty good shape.

Wow... The Fetus is still open!

Up next was Superior, which I was dying to see...

And you should always take the Richard A. Blatnik bridge across the bay, It's tall and scary!

The shipping yards of Superior, Wisconsin.

The Best Western Bridgeview is still here!

Here I am swimming in the Best Western Bridgeview indoor pool, at some point in the early to mid 1980's. Pretty sweet goggles I'm rocking!

Despite efforts to clean up the area, there are still a good amount of abandoned buildings along Tower Avenue in Superior. I wished I had more time to explore... The town did look a lot better than it did 15 years ago...

We found Globe News fairly easy and parked by the front door, on Belknap Street.

1970 Topps Gene Mauch - Howie Reed - Gary Waslewski

I bought a bunch of 1970 Topps Expos, not remembering which cards I already have. Pretty sure I needed Waslewski, but I'm also pretty sure I have the other two...

1970 Topps Mack Jones Scratch Off

An Expo marks the first Topps Scratch Off card in my collection.

1968 Topps Ted Uhlaender

As I mentioned, I don't have a whole lot of 1968 Topps, and I wasn't able to add many more to my binder, but Uhlaender was a need. Interesting choke-up on that bat...

1971 Topps Rich Reese - Danny Thompson - Bill Zepp

Three more Twins (Triplets?), all needs!

1972 Topps Bill Rigney - Jim Nettles - Steve Luebber

The most 1970's of all 1970's Topps sets is also an underrepresented set in my Twins collection. And I picked up some great ones today!

But since my vintage card shopping made us stay too late in the afternoon, we had to cross the Mariner Mall off our to-do list...

Mariner Mall was shopping mall I remember fondly from childhood trips to Duluth/Superior. 30 years ago, the Mariner was at full capacity, with tons of touristy customers. Predictably, the mall has fallen on hard times. Lost it's anchors (see what I did there?) and was sinking in vacant storefronts.

Sounds like a perfect blog entry right?

No time today... 

So I didn't get to pay a visit to the building that sold me a copy of Weird Al's Polka Party album. Back in October 1986...

Or Rodimus Prime from the toy department at Prange Way...

Or a 70 cent Going for Goldberg book in 2003, at a bookstore that was going out of business...

Instead, we did a quick gassup at the Kwik Trip and a supply run at Super One Foods.

Then crossed the Bong back into Minnesota.

1965 Topps Bernie Allen & 1965 Rookie Stars

I have very few 1965 Topps Twins in my collection. That year, along with 1963 and 1968 are my least represented sets of the 1960's. Bernie is a welcome addition. Joe Nossek and Dick (Rich) Reese went on to play several seasons in the major leagues, so this is a quality card to own.

Not sure about Sevcik though... What exactly is going on with his picture? Red pinstripes?

1965 Topps Twins Team Card

A little worse for wear as far as the corner and creases go, but a needed card...

Before leaving town, we hit the Thompson Hill Rest Area, for some pictures of Duluth from high up the hill. 

Where Mr. Rux and I were some 30 years ago this month!

A final photo of Duluth before we hit yet another Holiday before the interstate... Complete with needed restrooms and a Nathan's Hot Dog dinner!

1966 Topps Rub Off Jimmie Hall

The first "card" from this set to make my collection! I'm starting to look for more of the oddball issues of the 1960's and 70's to add to the Twins and Expos binders. Stuff like this is novel and innovative for it's time, and absolutely has a home here...

Oh sure... Now you tell us!

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The sky had gotten too dark for any more photographs as we drove home. Since there's nothing to represent that, I'm going to re-show one of my favorite pictures from Post 100...

A shot of the Silver Creek Cliff tunnel from the access road.

Here it is in January, 2001!

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As soon as Laura and I got back to Crapids, life became insanely hectic (and has yet to really calm down...) as we bought a house, and have been overwhelmed in trying to get everything moved in and set up.

Which we are still working on...

But one of the first things I wanted to do in our new home, was to establish the new home of my collection...

I present the province of New Baseballcardland!

Located in a 20' x 8' windowless storage room, adjacent to an unused bedroom, which will become my office!

And it's time for shorter posts...