Animal Themed Post

Back in 2021-22 in the midst of the hobby boom... I decided to sell off the bulk of the sticker autographs I had accumulated over the years.  I also stopped searching for new ones for my personal collection.  If the athlete didn't hold the card and sign it, I wasn't interested.

Then I heard that Topps inserted Goose Gossage autographs into their 2025 Topps NPB products and I wanted to add one to my NPB collection.  Unfortunately... Topps had him sign stickers which forced me to decide.  Live without one of these autographs... or make an exception to the on-card autograph rule.

2025 Topps Chrome NPB Autograph #AC-GG

After patiently waiting for one to fall into my price range, I ended up adding this Goose to my collection.  It features him pitching for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks back in 1990, before he returned to the MLB the following season.  

He is one of four former NPB baseball players to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  Larry Doby, Ichiro Suzuki, and Andruw Jones are the other three.

While I'm on the subject of NPB trading cards, Kenny over at Torren' Up Cards sent me a pair of PWE's back in April & May that contained a few 2025 Topps NPB singles:

He also included some Bandai and Calbee cards:

Franmil Reyes' name popped out.  He played for the Padres a few years ago.  I was also happy to see a pair of Fujis within the Calbee cards.

But the card that stood out the most was this shiny Munetaka Murakami:

2024 Dream Order #CBP01-S02

His MLB start was pretty impressive with 20 home runs in his first 200 at bats, but he's currently recovering from a hamstring strain.  Hopefully he returns to the batter's box soon... and his home run tear continues.

Kenny sent one more item:

Signed Cheki

I have no idea who this lil' bunny is, but I was very excited to add her to my Japanese Model PC:

Thank you Kenny!

Last month... Brendan over at The View from the Third Floor also sent me a PWE filled with some Japanese athletes:

Hachimura is currently the Laker's starting power forward, but this Gonzaga Bulldog made history in 2017 when he became the first Japanese national to play in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

He also sent me this SI for Kids card of Vicki Huber:

1990 SI for Kids #136

Huber is a Villanova Wildcat who won multiple NCAA indoor championships as well as the Broderick Award (given to the top female collegiate track and field athlete) in 1988 and 1989.

Thank you Brendan!

I'll wrap up this post with one more PWE with some Japanese athletes:

2006 Fleer Ultra #176 and #169

This pair was sent to me by Greg over at Crocodile Sports Cards a few weeks ago.  Not sure if Godzilla qualifies as an animal, but Matsui was truly a beast during his NPB and MLB career.

He also send me this trio of Hawks:

1991 Action Packed #259, #256, and #260

And this autograph of the 2008 Texas League ERA leader:

2011 Topps 60 Autographs #T60A-VM

Mazzaro dominated Texas League batters in 2008:

He kicked off his MLB career in Oakland and ended up pitching for eight seasons in the Show... including one in Miami as a Marlin.

Thank you Greg for these cards and this very cool sticker:

Started off with a Goose.  Couldn't think of a better way to wrap up an "animal" themed post than with a crocodile.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara! 

Hero, Role Model, & Friend

Happy Father's Day to all of the card collecting fathers out there!  This post has been in the works for several weeks now as I finally get a chance to show off some eBay purchases related to my personal hero: Papa Fuji.

However before we get to them, let's show off my Sunday Sort:

This morning I opened up over fifteen packages ranging from PWE's to bubble mailers.

Some of these were eBay purchases, but the majority are care packages from fellow bloggers.  I've sorted them by date.  The oldest is a padded envelope from Dennis (over at Too Many Verlanders) that back to last December.  Not included in this photo are three packages from Rod (over at Padrographs).  The plan is to blog about these care packages over the next few weeks.

Okay... let's get back to Pops.  Back in 2022, my father and I spent a few hours hanging out over the hill on the Pacific Coast Highway.  One of our stops was at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse:

2025 Topps A&G Light The Night Mini #LTN-6

Last year, Topps included it in their Light The Night insert set and I've been targeting a copy ever since.  I honestly was hoping to find one in a card show quarter or dollar bin, but I eventually gave in and paid $2.50 (+ 25¢ tax) for this mini on eBay.

Here are two more photos from our trip:

Another card I purchased with my father in mind was this card commemorating Super Bowl I:

1977 Fleer Teams in Action #57

On Sunday, January 15th, 1967... the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in front of 61,946 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.  My parents were two of those fans.

They had recently moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Southern California and were big Green Bay Packers fans.  As you might have guessed, they're the reason I'm a Packers fan.

They eventually became San Francisco 49ers fans when they moved to the Bay Area a few years later.  They were season ticket holders during the 70's, when this guy was still running the offense:

1997 Upper Deck Legends Auto #AL-81

John Brodie was one of the guys my father enjoyed reminiscing about.  So when he passed away earlier in the year, I wanted to add an autographed card featuring him with the 49ers to my collection.

Two weeks ago, this card was featured in an eBay auction and I was the highest bidder at $16.32 (+ $6.62 tax & shipping).

Love ya Pops!  Thank you for being such an amazing father, role model, and friend.  I hope you're enjoying your special day with Mama.  Miss you both.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Summer Goals

It's been a few years since I have sat down and hammered out some hobby goals.  But since I won't be teaching this summer, I wanted to get three hobby related things accomplished before the start of the 2026-27 school year.

#1:  Target a handful of set builds.

Whether or not I actually complete any sets this summer, I want to at least make the effort to cross as many numbers off of my set needs as I can.

#2:  Inventory my collection.

Two to three times a decade, I like to go through my collection and update my inventory.  This project will wreak havoc on my back, but when I'm finished... I have a better understanding of what I've been hoarding the past few decades or so.

#3:  Clean up my office and catch up on blogging.

I have stacks of cards all over my office.  Some are sitting on my desk.  Others are laying in 5,000ct. boxes.  Plus I have unopened mailers dating back months.  The goal is to sort, scan, and blog as much as I can over the next two months.  Sundays will be reserved for farmer's markets, laundry, cleaning, and sorting.

Being the first Sunday of my summer break, I'm going to hammer out this sorting tray filled with the remaining cards from Reader X's January care package.

Let's start with some baseball players I collect:

Next up here are some PC additions for my favorite team collections:

Xavier always sends some San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Golden State Warriors for my students:

Plus he tossed in some San Jose Sharks and a few other hockey cards:

I'm honestly not familiar with any of these guys, but the three Las Vegas Knights autographs are dedicated to my mother who rooted for them in their inaugural season.

Xavier also tossed in some football stars, rookies, and inserts:

Most of these will eventually be passed along to one of my students, but I did end up holding onto the Select rookie card of Caleb Williams.  

Thank you Xavier for another generous care package.  Sorry it took me six months to document it on here.

And thank you to everyone who took the time to read this post as I document the first Sunday Sort of The Summer of 2026.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

School's Out for Summer

Have you ever been tossed by a wave and struggled to catch your breath?  That's sort of how I've felt the past month or so at work.  Teaching, testing, grading, and classroom cleanup is part of the normal hectic routine that educators go through at the end of each school year.

It's all the other stuff like the final spirit rally, grad dance, graduation, end-of-the-year picnic, and creating next year's leadership roster that had me stressed out and overwhelmed on what seemed like a daily basis.  Each time I had a chance to come up for air, I'd get pounded with the next thing on the list.

But school's out for summer.  Yesterday was the last day of the school year.  Grades have been submitted.  Keys turned in.  And this morning I submitted all of the lingering paperwork (like overtime and rosters) online.  Summer break is officially here.

That means it's blogging season in my area and I have a ton of stuff to write about including a bunch of flea market finds, a few card show hauls, eBay pickups, and even an estate sale purchase.  But before I get to those, I need to wrap up a few more thank you posts.

Today's post highlights some of my favorite Japanese athletes included in Reader X's and John's (@ Johnny's Trading Spot) care packages.  Together they sent me over one hundred fifty new singles for my Japanese athlete PC.

Let's start things off with this video game legend:

2025 Cardsmiths Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors Dreams #27

I wasn't a huge Street Fighter fan, but I do remember fighting against this sumo wrestler when I did play:

I'm hoping to track down another copy of this card for Ryan (@ SumoMenkoMan).

Here are some other big names and cool cards that Xavier sent my way earlier in the year:

This is my third copy of Masanori Murakami's First Pitch card, but I'm hoping it's not the last.  That's one of those cards I'm hoping to eventually fill a 9-pocket page with.

Shota and Masataka are experiencing slow starts in 2026, but this next player isnt:

Ohtani is having another amazing season and collectors can't get enough of his cardboard.  Neither can I.

Thank you Xavier for this latest batch of Japanese athletes!

Let's move on to the stuff that John sent my way.  

He sent me so many base cards, inserts, and parallels... that I expanded my Japanese PC binder collection from 6 to 7 binders.

Seiya Suzuki and Kodai Senga were two of the bigger stacks.  Some of them I already had... but most were new.

I was also very happy to cross off nine Matsui Rookie Chronicles cards from my set build.

Thank you John for expanding my collection.  Now that school is out, I'll get those Star Wars cards shipped out to you.

As for the rest of you, I hope you have a great summer.

Do you have any fun summer plans?

I have a few short trips planned here and there, however my main source of entertainment will be organizing parts of my collection and placing some Sportlots orders to complete some set builds.  Plus I'm hoping to attend at least one or two card shows.  Depending on the weather, I may or may not attend any flea markets over the next couple of months.  But like I said at the start of the post, I have a few flea market posts sitting in the draft folder.

Happy Friday and sayonara!