Highs and Lows

Today has been one helluva emotional roller coaster.  Woke up excited to kick off my holiday break with a trip to the Branham High School Flea Market.  However when I arrived... there were only a handful of vendors set up.  I didn't even bother to park.

No biggie... because I had seven days worth of presents from Ryan's advent calendar to rip into.  Yeah... I know it was supposed to be opened on a daily basis, but the holiday season can be a little hectic around here.

So without further ado, let's get into it...

Day #15:  Surf & Snow Combo

Surfing has always been a part of my life.  I just haven't been the one doing it.  But I grew up watching it on the television... and my cousins in Hawaii doing it... while I boogie boarded or body surfed. 

I have also seen a ton of people wearing Ron Jon shirts since I was a kid.  I've never owned one... but now I have their sticker.  It'll be added to my slowly growing sticker collection.  Not sure I've ever written about it... but it's really blossomed since companies started tossing them into online orders.

Getting back on track, Ryan also tossed in these two Chloe Kim cards:

2018 Topps U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team and Hopefuls #USA-33

2018 Topps U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team and Hopefuls #US-36

I've never surfed... but I snowboarded for years.  And when it comes to the Winter Olympics, it's one of my favorite events.  Chloe Kim is one of the best female snowboarders right now.  She has won a pair of gold medals at the Olympics... and six X-Games gold medals.  The bottom line is she's amazing. 

Day #16:  The Other Cool Sport

Ryan followed up that action packed present with another action sport:

1978 Donruss All-Pro Skateboard #1

I might have been a poser when it came to surfing... but I've been riding skateboards since elementary school.  Okay... so maybe I wasn't dropping into pools or performing manuals across the playground.  But my friends built a halfpipe back in middle school... so I have ridden a ramp before.

These stickers were produced a few years before I owned my first skateboard, but the card collector in me was absolutely stoked to see these in the Day #16 envelope.

Day #17:  Pieces of History

The next lot of gifts date back to the 1940's, 50's, and 60's:

Let's start with some vintage (I think Japanese) stamps.  It might be a little hard to see... but there's a stamp featuring Mount Fuji from the 40's.  The other stamps that caught my eye were the pair of 1964 stamps honoring the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The plan is to research ways of removing these stamps without damaging them and putting them into my Japanese binder.

Next up are these three receipts from the 50's:

All three appear to be candy purchases made by the William F. Brockmeyer Cigar Company.  I tried to research the company a little... but nothing really popped up on Google.

Day #18:  Olympic Trading Card Box

While organizing the advent calendar a few weeks ago, this box stood out... and I was excited to rip into it.

2023 Epoch Team Japan Box

The box contains eighteen packs with five cards in each pack.  But before I get into the packs... let's quickly take a peek at Day #19...

Day #19:  One More Olympic Trading Card Box

Yup.  Another box.  This time there was an extra pack.  The plan was to open packs until I completed the base set which contains 37 cards.  I honestly figured I'd complete the set within the first box... and save the other box for a rainy day.

Unfortunately... about ten packs in... I discovered that each of the 37 cards have a photo variation.  They aren't short printed (at least I don't think they are), so I decided to build both thirty-seven card sets.

Epoch makes it easy to spot the variations, because they printed the card numbers in different colors:

2023 Epoch Team Japan #20 (Black)

2023 Epoch Team Japan #20 (White)

Before I continue with the box break, Akari Fujinami won the gold medal in the women's freestyle wrestling at 53kg at the 2024 Paris Olympics.  I don't know a lot about wrestling... but I watched her gold medal match.  The announcer stated prior to the match, she hadn't lost in 136 straight matches dating back to high school.  That's pretty impressive.  Okay, back to the cards...

I ended up opening both boxes:

And still came up three cards short:

#11 (Black) Ueno Yukiko

#14 (White) Honda Tomoru

#24 (Black) Gunji Riko 

I was a little bummed that I wasn't able to keep one pack sealed for my unopened pack collection, but that's how it goes sometimes.  Not sure if there are any other card collectors who opened up this product and are building this set... but I have plenty of duplicates.  Maybe we can help each other out.

Day #20:  A Slam Dunk Set

The next present also got me excited:

1991 Foot Locker Slam Fest Set

I've come across singles from this set, but this is the first time I've seen a sealed set.  I considered keeping it closed, but I couldn't resist the temptation.  Here's what the complete set looks like:

I meant to scan the back of the Griffey or Bo card to let you see what they look like, but in the midst of scanning I received a text from one of my friends that Rickey Henderson passed away.

At the time, none of the major sports websites had confirmed it... so I kept moving forward with the advent calendar.  However... every five to ten minutes... I'd pause and check to see if ESPN or MLB would confirm the news.

Anyways... I forgot to scan the back of one of the player cards, but I did scan the backs with the checklists:

This is a really cool set with athletes from a variety of sports: baseball, basketball, football, and Olympians.

Day #21:  Another Box of Cards

The last present of the day was this vintage tin:

Not sure how old this box is... but it's really cool.  I love the seafoam green color and the fact that my name is featured on it.

Inside there was a bag of cards:

1997 Epoch Formula Nippon

1997 Bandai K-1 Fighters

On top were some Japanese racing and fighting cards from the 90's.  And hidden below them were a pair of Menkos:

I'm not sure how old these are... but they're awesome.  There was also this baseball toy in the tin:

I've actually seen Ryan show some of these off on his YouTube channel.  I love vintage things like this.

Last, but not least, there was this pog sized card featuring wrestlers:

I tried to figure out what set it was from, but my Google search came up short.  I'm guessing it's from the 80's or 90's though.  All of these items will be added to my Japanese binders.

Unfortunately... I didn't have the energy to put them away today.  The rest of the afternoon... I watched some television while waiting to see if the news was true.  Sometime around 3pm... ESPN announced it.  A few minutes later I received an email from the Oakland Athletics.

I've been sitting around all afternoon thinking about Rickey, his career, and what he meant to me as an Oakland A's fan.

I wrote a few paragraphs... but ultimately ended up deleting them... because it was just me rambling about how great of an athlete he was.  However... if you're a baseball fan... you already know that.

So I'll leave you with a single card that holds a lot of sentimental value to me:

1979 TCMA Minor League #808

Back in 2019, my buddy Mike and I both purchased copies of his 1979 minor league card in anticipation of having him sign it at card show.  A few months later... he got both cards signed and authenticated.  Before today, this card stood as a memento to my friendship with Mike and our mutual fanfare of Rickey.  With both of them gone... it stands for a little more now.

Rest in peace, Mr. Henderson.

And before I forget... thank you Ryan for all of these awesome presents and your friendship.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Metal Meets MLB

The majority of my readers are here for baseball cards.  Don't worry... this post has them.  However there's a little music incorporated as well.  If you're familiar with Night Owl's Match the Song Title posts... this is a copycat version.  So if you just want to see baseball cards, then scroll down a little.  Otherwise, let's talk music...

Metallica was my favorite band in high school.  One of my friends bought Master of Puppets and we rocked out to it on a daily basis.  We worked our way backward to Ride the Lightning and Kill 'Em All.

Life was good.

I continued listening to their music all the way through their ...And Justice for All and the Black Album, but never really got into their stuff after that.

These days, they're still a big part of my life.  I routinely listen to a Spotify playlist I made for my classroom and long car drives.  And if I were to rank them among my all-time favorite bands, they would be up there with Fleetwood Mac, The Beastie Boys, The Police, Journey, and A Tribe Called Quest.

That's why I was excited to hear that back in 2021... December 16th was declared as Metallica Day in San Francisco by Mayor London Breed.  In honor of their special day, I figured show off a special sheet of cards I purchased awhile back:

The sheet was inserted into the 2011 September/October issue of Revolver:

The front and back of the cards utilize the 1986 Topps baseball design... which is perfect, because that's the year I started listening to the band.

The magazine included another sheet of cards featuring two more "thrash metal" bands:

Slayer, Megadeath, and Anthrax are the three other bands that make up what is considered the Big 4 of U.S. thrash metal.  Personally... Metallica was reason I bought the issue.  I have a couple of Anthrax albums and remember listening to Slayer back in high school, but labeling me anything more than a casual fan of either of these bands would be considered a stretch.

In an effort to entertain those who came here to read about baseball cards, here are nine baseball cards that are related to nine Metallica songs...

#1:  Enter Sandman

2011 Topps Chrome Refractor #42

When most of you hear this song, I'm guessing Mo is the first person you think of.

#2:  Fade to Black

1971 Topps #118

This is my favorite Metallica song paired with one of my favorite black bordered cards.

#3:  Master of Puppets

1986 Donruss #647

Beane was a master of puppets orchestrating some major changes to the way the Oakland A's approached the game we love.  It never paid off with a World Series title... but it entertained diehard fans until it didn't.

#4:  The Unforgiven

1987 Classic #1

Pete Rose was gambling right about the same time Classic released their first board game containing baseball cards and they honored him with the first card in the set.

Unfortunately... betting on games is considered the cardinal sin of baseball.  Although there were plenty of fans willing to forgive him... many have not... so I dub thee unforgiven.

#5:  For Whom the Bell Tolls 

2015 Topps Tier One New Guard Autographs #NGA-SDO (#'d 302/349)

Some people think of Jonathan Papelbon when they hear this song.  I think of Mr. Doolittle and the right field rockers at the Oakland Coliseum.

#5:  Seek & Destroy

1994 Kenner SLU #NNO

When I picked this song for this post, I knew I'd be featuring an intimidating pitcher.  Two came to mind.  Bob Gibson is arguably the most intimidating pitcher to stand on the bump.  Unfortunately... he was a little before my time.  So I'm gonna go with the Big Unit. 

#6:  Harvester of Sorrow

1989 Fleer World Series #5

Baseball cards bring joy to my life.  At least most of them do.  This card reminds me of the 1988 World Series... which conjures up feelings of sadness.  But it's still a part of my collection... which is why I spent over thirty minutes digging through boxes searching for this set.

#7:  The Shortest Straw

1984 Topps Traded Bronze Premium #NNO

Standing at 1.75"... this is the shortest Straw in my collection.  Actually... that's a lie.  I own all of Darryl's Topps Micro cards which measure only an inch in height... but they're sitting inside factory sealed sets.  So this is the shortest Straw that's been pulled for you.

#8:  Am I Evil?

1988 Kenner SLU #NNO

Great song.  Terrible human being.  I'd like to believe that people can turn their lives around and learn from their mistakes... but what this guy did is unforgivable. 

#9:  One

2017 Topps 30th Anniversary #87-11

I should have put this song at the top of the list, but that's too obvious.

As for the card... I went with the first guy that came to mind when I thought of players wearing #1.  Ozzie Smith wore that number his entire hall of fame career with the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.

It was a lot of fun putting together this list of songs.  Honestly... Metallica has so many classics, I could have easily put together two starting nines.  Maybe next December 16th. I'll create a list of B sides.

Until then...

Are you a fan of Metallica?  Do you have a favorite song?

Happy Metallica Day and sayonara!