A Tour of the Cave

For the past few years I've had posts on this blog talking about purchases for the "Man Cave". This included anything from tin signs to posters and memorabilia. Essentially, anything that's been spoken about on this blog is in the Man Cave. While it's not 100% finished, I thought it was about time to take you all on a tour of the cave. I still need to frame and hang my World Series newspapers, but either than that, the room is essentially finished.

Here's the view if you're looking from the back of the room. While there is a foosball table and television in there for entertainment, it would have been nice to have a pool table in there as well. Unfortunately, there's just not enough space.

 

To the right of the foosball table are my seats from Riverfront Stadium. I refuse to call them Cinergy Field seats because I still don't agree with the whole stadium naming rights thing. Above the seats is my tin Louisville Slugger sign.

At the far end of the room are two additional tin signs (Topps baseball and a Shoeless Joe Jackson shoe sign), an autograph card display of some of my favorite former Reds players, and my autograph Joey Votto jersey.

To the left of the jersey is my desk where I scan most of the cards you see on my blog. On the top shelf of the desk you'll notice my trifecta collection (Rookie card, printing plate, and certified autograph) for Jay Bruce, Aroldis Chapman, Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, and Joey Votto.

To the left of the desk are a couple of Reds signs. The large street sign fits perfectly above the access doors on the knee wall. The Reds felt logo sign is just a neat piece detailing the various logos the Reds have had throughout their existence. 

To the left of that is where the heart of my collection resided. I have two bookshelves that are completely stocked. In between the bookshelves is the futon with a Reds felt blanket my wife and daughter made for me a few Christmases ago. Behind the futon are panoramic prints of Riverfront and Great American ballpark.

The bookshelf to the right of the futon contains all of my Reds autograph baseballs, a few bobbleheads, my Pete Rose autograph glove, my World Series tickets and all of my Reds Team sets. I also like the old school pennant behind the Big Red Machine bobbleheads.

To the left of the futon is my other bookshelf that contains the rest of my Reds bobblehead collection, a display of my old Reds player's ball gloves, and binders containing the few sets I have in my collection.

Finally, across from the futon is the TV, guitars and amp. Hopefully I can eventually add one more Fender guitar and another amp. But this is a baseball card blog and I won't bore you with that.

So, that's it... my "Man Cave". With a collection that's taken more than 15 years to put together, I enjoyed every moment of this hobby and I'm glad that I'm part of a blogging community that enjoys the sport as much as I do.

I saw the sign!

And it opened up my eyes!  Here's the latest purchase for the man cave. This Louisville Slugger tin sign is fantastic on so many levels. It's the same color as my baseball team, it looks old, and it's a representation of the true American pastime (I still don't acknowledge football as holding that title). With this addition, there are only a few more items left to purchase and I'll be ready to show off the room. Just bear with me as I wrap it up and have it ready to show in the coming weeks.

A Change of Scenery

For the past month I haven't purchased much in the realm of baseball cards. I have picked up a few Pete Rose cards here and there that I needed for my Rose PC, but nothing worth blogging about. I've also made some strides in getting my man cave set up. Hopefully that will be something that's finished in time for Opening Day. So, what have I been up to lately? I decided to get into learning guitar. I've been playing around with a Squier the past few years, but recently a buddy of mine at church was looking to sell his Fender VG Stratocaster. To say that I've been having a blast playing it would be an understatement.

It's a black Mexican Strat with a maple fret board. The biggest thing that made me ultimately buy the guitar was the emulating options this guitar can do. I've posted a video below if you're interested. There were a couple of things I wanted to change on the guitar. I recently added some locking tuners and swapped the strings out to 9s so that it would be easier for me to play. I'll probably also replace the neck plate with a Fender logo plate just because I don't like the blank plate. I'd also like to swap the gig bag out for a nice tweed case, but that's not high on the priority list. I'll probably keep the rest of the guitar the way it is because I think it sounds great and the pickups are fantastic. I would eventually like to purchase an American Strat sunburst but that won't be until I've gotten decent enough playing to justify the cost. I am kicking around the idea of possibly modifying my Squier strat (adding locking tuners, new pickups, new bridge and block, adding an lsr nut) but I'm not sure I want to sink a lot of money into it. Anyway, I hope to put some finishing touches on the man cave and have photos for you before April 1st.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

Last week my co-workers were gracious enough to give me a $25 gift card to Amazon for Christmas. Although Amazon is sparse when it comes to card options, there are other items the online retailer offers that I've always wanted but didn't want to spend my card dollars on. This is one of them. It's a modern metal sign that's made to look old. Since I've always been a Topps fan, the sign made logical sense to add to my man cave. There were a variety of Topps signs to choose from but this one depicting the batter, catcher and umpire is by far my favorite.

A Sign of the Times

Not everything I have is related to the Cincinnati Reds. There are a couple of sets that I've been working on or have completed that deal nothing with the Reds. Case in point, I have a couple of Stadium Club sets that are the first issue of the brand in football and hockey. I also have a 1989-90 Hoops set and I'm close to finishing my 1986-87 Fleer basketball set (in a matter of speaking). Let's not forget that I'm chasing some Topps baseball sets that include other teams beside my beloved Reds. So it's no surprise that while I'm finishing up my Red's Man Cave that there will probably be a few items that are Red specific. The first is this tin sign my sister picked up for me years ago for a Christmas gift. I love the subject matter of the sign...Shoeless Joe Jackson selling shoes, that's awesome! I love nostalgia and these tin advertisement signs just ooze with it. There are a couple of other signs I would like to purchase for the cave but you'll have to wait another day to find out what signs I want to add.

Another MVP Jersy for the Man Cave!

With Christmas quickly approaching I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas gift, an autographed Joey Votto jersey! This stitched and signed jersey is the second Reds MVP jersey to grace my collection. I've spent the past year trying to balance my baseball card purchases with buying frames for pictures so that I can wrap up my Cincinnati Reds Man/Fan Cave. Unfortunately, I won't have the room completed by the end of the year but with the progress I've made I should have it wrapped up sometime next year. Stay tuned for pictures! Also, I've been mulling around the idea for awhile and I've decided that 2016 will be the final year of the blog. I started blogging in June of 2011 and I've just about covered everything regarding my collection. Hopefully I can wrap up my 1948-51 Bowman sets so that I can showcase those before the curtain closes. So, officially, 2016 will be the farewell tour of Reds Card Collector. I hope everyone sticks around while I wrap things up here and share the final pieces of my collection with you!

Pins

I've never been a pin collector. I never understood the appeal of sporting a hat with a bunch of pins covering it or, worse yet, wearing pins on my shirt. However, a few weeks back I came across a collector that collected pins and had them displayed nicely in a shadowbox on a wall. The pins were arranged nicely in rows and were not just clustered together in some hodge podge fashion. So that got me thinking about picking up some pins for my collection. I wouldn't go crazy in trying to obtain as many pins as possible, but rather keep it simple and only collect commemorative pins about the Reds and their ballparks. With the All-Star game this past week in Cincinnati, I knew I had to gave one of those pins, as well as a pin from the 1988 All-Star game at Riverfront. While looking on eBay for other pins to purchase I came across a set of pins given out at Riverfront in 1993. The set consists of seven pins detailing MLB 1st that the Reds were a part of (1st team in baseball, 1st night game, 1st televised game, 1st ladies night, 1st team to fly, 1st National League team to go wire to wire). The 7th pin in the series is a 125 year anniversary of the founding of the ball club. There are a few more pins that I'm on the hunt for including any World Series pins (1919, 1940, 1975, 1976 and 1990) as well as the first interleague game (watching one on eBay right now that I'll probably purchase in a few weeks). I'm even toying around with the idea of getting press pins from the All-Star games and World Series. Unfortunately those sell for $100+ and I can buy a lot of vintage cards for the price of one of those pins. Anyway, I think they'll look great when I get them displayed in the man cave.

Raising the Flag

It's been awhile since I've posted any acquisitions for the Reds Fan Cave so I thought I would show off this stadium giveaway I picked up years ago. This flag of Mr. Redlegs measures over in at close to 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. I had considered getting this framed, but the costs would be astronomical. I really don't want to use thumb tacks to keep this on the wall because of the holes it'll leave in the flag, so if any of you have suggestions on how I can keep this on the wall without damaging the flag please feel free to share.

Here's Your Sign

This weekend I was able to get something new for the man cave, this 6" x 36" steel sign. It's an extremely nice piece and very heavy. I was able to find this on ebay for less than $30 shipped. I'm still having difficulty finding frames for my newspapers, as well as my panoramic prints. Once I get those framed then the cave will be finished. And for you Bill Engvall fans, here's one of my favorite clips!

It's Going to be a Banner Year!

I recently made another purchase for the man cave recently off eBay. A friend of mine has a banner similar to this depicting the logo changes of the Cleveland Indians and I thought that if the company made one that showed the progression of the Reds logo since their inception in 1869. As luck would have it, Iwas able to find one for only $22 shipped! The banner measures 8"x32" and made entirely out of wool. There was another wool banner produced by the same company that was white with red lettering that said "Cincinnati Reds Man Cave" but I thought this item was much nicer as it detailed the history and tradition of the organization.

Billy Hamilton Autographed 8x10

My latest edition to the man cave is this autographed photo of the 2014 National League Rookie of the Year (runner-up) Billy Hamilton. I love everything about this photo. Although the photo doesn't show him swiping a base, it's still a fantastic bunting shot. I have yet to watch Hamilton play in person but I'm hoping to this coming season. Perhaps I'll finally attend my first Opening Day and cross that goal off my bucket list.

McFarlane Johnny Bench

I sat on the fence for the longest time in making this decision. I've been collecting Reds bobbleheads for years now, but I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to venture out and chase retail figures. After going back and forth on this for well over a year I decided I would go after these McFarlane figures, but only those produced depicting members of the Big Red Machine. This would limit me on just two figures (Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan). A few weeks back I was able to grab this opened Johnny Bench on eBay for more than half of what I would pay if it were still in the packaging. It's very detailed compared to the Kenner Starting Lineup figures and the poses are great. Johnny leaning over a rail to catch a foul ball is great! I do have plans of acquiring the Joe Morgan figure sometime in 2015 (just in time for the 40 anniversary of the 1975 World Series Championship).

Sliding Makes for a Great Picture

My recent pickup is this autographed 8x10 photo of Reds Outfielder Chris Heisey. I feel this is one of the best photos of a ballplayer sliding that I've ever seen. The dirt spraying toward the camera, batting gloves flapping from the back pants pocket, tongue sticking out in utter determination...this photo has it all! This is the third autographed photo I've added to my collection and I would like to grab a few more for my (in process) fan cave. I've pretty much given up on the 2014 season as August comes to a close and the Reds are 10 games out. I didn't have high hopes for the season this year with this being Price's first year of managing and the injury bug plaguing the team the entire season. Here's hoping that next year will be better for the Reds than this season.

1960 Cincinnati Reds Scorecard

My latest round of buying on eBay netted me this amazing 1960 scorecard. It's been neatly scored detailing the match up between the Reds and Pirates on August 21 of that year.  I have always been enamored in the 50s and 60s when players such as Clemente, Snider, Mays, and Aaron played the game and this scorecard provides a snippet into those days of old. Although the Reds won this game, I like the fact that Clemente did hit a home run in the game. On a side note, I've found that these scorecards make a nice backdrop on the bookshelf that holds my Reds bobbleheads. There are five more scorecards that I would like to get from the 50s and 60s to add to my collection and once I have those I'll make sure to share a pic. 

The Grass is Always Greener....

When you have a Jim Greengrass Wilson Ball Hawk Signature Series glove! I picked this up last week on ebay for a decent price and I've very happy to add this to the man cave. I picked up a Wilson Smoky Burgess catcher's mitt a few months back and now I'm down to just one more glove I would like to add to my collection. I've always been a fan of old ball gloves for many reasons. The styles are very desirable to me because of their simplicity and they age very nicely. Just like baseball cards, each time I look at a vintage glove I wonder about it's previous owner(s) and everything it's been through. The countless sandlot games that it was a part of or perhaps it accompanied it's owner to games at a historic stadium, such as Crosley or Shibe or Ebbets, that no longer stands. Regardless, these gloves are over 50 years old and are great vintage pieces that I'm thrilled to have, and I'd love to hear the stories they could tell.

What a Catch!

It's been a while since I've picked up anything for my Cincinnati Reds man cave and although I do like adding some vintage cardboard to my collection, I'm always on the lookout for some great pieces that I would like to display in the cave. Last week I came across a listing on eBay for a vintage Wilson Smoky Burgess signature series catcher's mitt. I wasn't sure I would be able to land this since the listing price was right at the ceiling I set for what I was willing to spend on it. Needless to say, I was the only bidder so now it's part of my collection. I love old catchers mitts and I've been wanting to grab one for the longest time, unfortunately I had a long list of criteria for such a glove. I wanted to make sure it was vintage, it had to be in great condition, and if it was a signature series the player must have spent time with the Reds. I love the patina on this mitt and the piping is all original. I'm still on the lookout for a vintage Wilson Ball Hawk glove that will complement this mitt nicely!

Dirt

It's always a challenge for me to decide what exactly I want to buy when I get a gift card. For the past month I've had a gift card for Amazon.com burning a hole in my pocket and with no clue whatsoever as to what I should buy. After spending a week browsing through some of their Cincinnati Reds offerings I settled on this nice piece to add to my Red's man cave. This 4"x6" plaque issued by Steiner Sports has a great shot of Great American Ball Park with some infield dirt embedded. I wasn't sure what to expect when I finally received the plaque in the mail, but now that I have it, I'm glad that I ordered it. While some of you may say "It's just dirt", I would respond by saying, yes it's dirt...but not just any dirt. It's dirt that's been trod upon by my home team who I watch and cheer on every season as I too celebrate in their heartaches and triumphs. Dirt from a game that's as much a symbol of America as apple pie. Sure it's dirt, but it's also baseball.

Another Cincinnati Reds Man Cave

It's amazing what you can find when your browsing around online. Yesterday I decided to take a look on ebay for some game used Cincinnati Reds memorabilia and I came across a listing from cincykid-dan61 for a Ramon Hernandez autograph jersey and noticed some of the additional pictures he had posted. I can only assume that the photos are of a room in his house that he has dedicated strictly for displaying his Reds goodies. Very impressive if I do say so myself, especially the giant Mr. Redlegs statue. While I am working on completing my very own Cincinnati Reds Man Cave, I don't think that I'll pack it to the gills because, in my opinion, that's sensory overload. I don't think I could sit back, relax and watch a Reds game surrounded by that much stuff. Then again, I guess it all comes down to showing off your collection and your love for the team.

Batter Up!

Very excited that I picked up this item. I've always wanted a piece of baseball memorabilia that was game used (although not in the sense of being out on the field - but the dugout is the next best thing). I did some research on this card before pulling the trigger and found out that during the game Votto hit a 2 run homer and Chapman struck out two batters in his brief appearance on the mound. This would have been even sweeter had the Reds chalked up a "W" but I guess that's asking too much. Another score for my Reds collection and a nice addition to my man cave. Speaking of which, I found a nice video of a Detroit man cave that's nicely done. I hope I can have mine finished someday soon.

I Wonder...

 There are times when I look at someone's collection and wonder if that will be me in twenty years. For my sake I hope not. I like this hobby and I enjoy collecting but not at the expense of taking it to the extreme. I'm slowly working on a man cave, a place I can go in my home to watch a game, shoot a game of pool and just relax. However, when I see something like this I have to ask myself how someone could possible enjoy a space like that when it's crammed from floor to ceiling with stuff. Maybe I'm being a bit critical, but I feel that there's a point when someone's collection reaches critical mass and crosses the line to obscene.