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Topps MLB Sports Talk Player Box

Topps Of The Pops. The Sports Talk Player & The Future Of Card Collecting.

Posted on December 15, 2017

“Got. Need. Got. Got. Got. Need. Got. OH NEED! OH MY GOD NEED!”  and “The Man Utd foil badge is the hardest one to get” are a couple of lines that may resonate with those of you old enough to have been right there amongst it in the school playgrounds of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.

Long before spotty oiks with YouTube and Twitch channels screamed blue murderous delight at opening a loot crate or an EA Sports card pack for a reaction video, there was the humble card or sticker collection.

Here in Europe, the market was lead by card and sticker super behemoths Merlin and Panini. US ultra leviathans Topps and Fleer really paled in comparison this side of the pond (somewhat ironically Topps would later acquire Merlin Publishing in 1995 and ultimately drop the Merlin name from products outside the USA to become Topps Europe in 2008).

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Giants vs Tigers Baseball Super Record Game

They Might Be (Yomiuri) Giants. Or Tigers, The Choice Is Yours.

Posted on September 29, 2017
Audio samples i’ve recorded are available at the bottom of the page!

No sooner had I finished discussing the wonders of parallel records and mentioning that there is an extremely rare Baseball Super Record Game vinyl in my recent blog entry, than the inevitable happened. A copy of said extremely rare record shows up for sale. And yes, I bought it.

As it turns out, this rare little ball yard beaut is quite the handsome offering.

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Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Heroes 3DS

3DS Baseball. Where the beer comes in 72oz tubs.

Posted on August 15, 2017

“I can’t think of a better place to spend a balmy summer’s night than the old ball yard. There’s just the green grass of the outfield, the crushed brick of the infield, and the white chalk lines that divide the men from the little boys”. Lisa Simpson makes a wonderful, and wistful, poetic articulation about America’s favourite pastime.  “Lisa, honey. You’re forgetting the beer. It comes in 72-ounce tubs here”. Homer Simpson makes a blunt, if somewhat equally valid point.

Construe this for when you think of baseball video games, the Nintendo 3DS isn’t exactly the first platform that springs to mind. And, like 72oz beer, they’re not that easy to find. Especially in the west. Especially outside the USA too.

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The Simpsons - Homer At The Bat

Silly boys rounders. It’s the kind of game guys like me and Stephen enjoy…

Posted on June 11, 2017
Stephen: Yeah, same here. I've gotta be up early in the morning, playing baseball.

Del: Oh, baseball! Yeah! No... I love it. I always watch it on Channel Four.

Rodney: You don't like baseball! You've always called it silly boys rounders!

Del: Yeah, that was before that I knew it was 'in'! Nowadays it's the sort of game that guys like uh, me and Stephen enjoy.

Stephen: How d'you mean? Guys like me and Stephen?

Silly Boys Rounders

December 25th 1989. Another traditional Christmas special of Only Fools and Horses has just aired on BBC1. I was literally a couple of days from my 10th birthday and yet now, and with fast approaching nearly 30 years having passed since that day, I still recall that gag being recited on the television screen as I struggled to muster a belly laugh amongst the vast quantities of turkey, vegetables and chocolate scoffed throughout the day. I recall it so vividly because a) the episode in question The Jolly Boys Outing is a timeless classic. Endlessly revered and in many circles touted as one of the greatest episodes of televised comedy ever. Oh and b) I chuckled hard because I knew at the time that American sports such as gridiron and baseball, and to a different extent the short lived airing of kabaddi were popular on British television network Channel 4.

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