As you probably know, the world of Muppets didn't begin with the Muppet Show. Many people will place Sesame Street as the origin of the Muppets. Sure, Kermit got his start as a reporter on Sesame Street, but there was a Muppet way before that. I may not be old enough to have seen it, but in the early '60s Rowlf the Dog was the first Muppet to become a star. He was cast member on The Jimmy Dean Show way before he played Dr. Bob in Veterinarian's Hospital on the Muppet Show.

Here is one of his few cards that pays tribute to his first gig:

While the big-money players in the baseball card industry have been in a bit of turmoil lately, the guys on the fringe have been quite industrious.

When I started blogging in 2006, there were two baseball-card-related books out there that you'd find with the normal books (not the hobby-specific catalogues): The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book by Harris and Boyd, and Card Sharks: How Upper Deck Turned a Child's Hobby into a High-Stakes, Billion-Dollar Business by Pete Williams. And that was it.

Since then, there's been The Card by Thompson and O'Keeffe, and a slew of others: Mint Condition by Dave Jamieson, Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker (which I haven't seen for sale anywhere), and my personal favorite: The T206 Collection: The Players and their Stories by Tom and Ellen Zappala.

I got an advance press packet for T206 and I have to say it looks awesome. The authors set out to document each player who appeared on a card from the original tobacco set, with a picture of the card and a short biography of the player. It's a huge undertaking, to say the least, and I've heard that the initial print run is going to be very low. It's going to be a coffee-table-type book: over-sized, full color on every page, the works. Sounds really cool.

Also, yesterday I got an email from Gary Joseph Cieradkowski, the graphic designer behind Oriole Park at Camden Yards, announcing Series 1 of his Infinite Card Set. And yes, I bought a copy immediately. Take a look at it here.

And speaking of baseball-card art, I've finally figured out how to present my "Casey at the Bat" project in a tangible form. I'm planning on offering the set as a poster and as individual cards (in their correct sizes). If you're interested in obtaining a copy of the finished piece (or pieces), let me know.