Quality Customs (& Customer Service)

A few weeks ago, Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown showed off some cards he purchased from a fellow custom card creator and retired blogger:  Mark @ Stats on the Back.

The stuff he showed off was super impressive, so I visited Mark's online store and added a bunch of items to my cart.  Gavin had mentioned that he used a promotional code and received free shipping, but when I tried it... it didn't work.

No biggie.  When you want something bad enough, you're willing to pay for shipping.

The first item I added to my cart was this set of Beastie Boys cards:

When it comes to any Beastie Boys trading cards, I'm typically willing to open up my wallet as long as the item is reasonably priced.  This was definitely the big ticket item in my order, so $8 for this trio of customs was a no-brainer.

The rest of my order were singles picked out of his awesome dollar bins:

He has dollar bins for decades running from the 50's through the 80's, along with a special section of current stars.

I was very excited to see his interpretation of my all-time favorite baseball card:

I also picked up a few other cards for one of my friends and another card for myself that I'll share over the holidays.

But before I close out this post, I want to show off some generous bonus items that Mark included in the order.

First off, he included these two awesome cards:

One of my favorite cards in the 2009 Goodwin Champions set is the Ichiro Suzuki card.  The card on the left is Mark's version of this card.  The other card is so iconic... it needs no explanation.

If these two freebies weren't enough, he also refunded me the seven dollars I paid for shipping.  This was a surprise and a very kind gesture.  It's customer service like this that makes me want to head back over and place another order.

If you're interested in supporting Mark and purchasing some of his custom cards, click here.  I'm not sure if there's an expiration date, but if you spend $10 or more, feel free to try and use his FREE10 code to receive free shipping.

Well that wraps up today's post.  I just received my COMC order, another custom card purchase, and a pair of blogger care packages, so I've got lots of material for future posts.  Now I just need a little more free time.

Until then...

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

From Oakland to Sac Town

One year ago, I wrote about the final A's game at the Oakland Coliseum.  Today I'm covering my first game at Sutter Health Park... which is the temporary home of the A's.

Since it's a minor league ballpark, it seemed like most of the seats had solid views and were close to the field.  Here's a panoramic view from our seats:

Here's a photo of the likely 2025 AL Rookie of the Year:

Nick Kurtz

And a trio of popular Kansas City Royals:

Bobby Witt Jr. & Mike Yastrzemski

Salvador Perez

Seated on the first base side of the ballpark, there were plenty of loyal Royals fans sitting around us.  Most were pretty cool, but there were a handful of guys who became more obnoxious as the game progressed.  Things got a little nasty when they caught a balloon that fans were tossing around and intentionally popped it.  The crowd erupted (even other Royals fans) and things started to get out of hand.  Eventually they were tossed and everyone settled down.

An inning later, Shea Langeliers hit a walk off double to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.  Sadly Topps didn't reward him with a Topps Now card.

But it was a great way to wrap up an overall awesome evening at the ballpark.  I really enjoyed the small ballpark atmosphere and minor league vibe.  It only took us about 20 minutes to get from our seats to our car.  And traffic after the game was way less crazy than at the Coliseum or any other MLB ballpark I've attended.

Wallet Card

Will I go back?  Possibly.  I don't really want to put anymore money into John Fisher's bank account.  Plus I'm not a huge fan of hot whether... and Sacramento gets really hot during the summer months.  I will say this... most of the seats were in the shade by the time the first pitch was tossed, so we didn't bake in the sun.  So if you're planning a trip out there, I'd plan on attending a night game.

Speaking of hot weather, ironically their stadium giveaway that day was this Sacramento A's sweatshirt:

As upset, annoyed, and disheartened I am over the A's leaving Oakland, I was happy to land this sweatshirt.  I feel like it'll be a cool piece of Athletics team history.

Well that wraps up my trip to Sutter Health Park and my one and only MLB game this season.  A special thank you to my brother and his wife for purchasing the tickets.  And thanks to my other brother for driving us to Sacramento.  It was a memorable weekend for the Fujimoto brothers.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #180b: The Rest of the Stuff

Here's part two of my De Anza Flea Market haul from earlier in the month.  If you're interested in seeing part one, click here.

This post has been delayed long enough, let's dive into it...

Purchase #3:  Action Packed Football  $15

1990 Action Packed Football Factory Set

I'm not sure why I'm so interested in Action Packed football cards, but I am.  A vendor had this set sitting on his table.  He was asking $10, which I figured was a fair price.

Here's a closer look at the set:

After I told the guy I was interested in the set, he dug out this box of cards:

1989 Action Packed Football

This was the test issue released by Action Packed in 1989.  I actually picked up a pair of factory sets of this product back in August.  This box contains unopened packs of the same cards.  He told me that if I bought the set, I could have this box for $5, so I grabbed that too.

Purchase #4:  One on One Video Game  $10

1987 Electronic Arts One-On-One Basketball (Atari 7800)

I never owned an Atari 7800, but I remember playing this game on the Apple IIe.  Even though I won't be able to play it, I figured it's a cool display piece and the $10 asking price seemed reasonable.

Purchase #5:  A Friendly Purchase  $8

2024 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Swatches #RTD-JDS

Outside of some Packers and Seahawks, I don't own a lot of newer football.  That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the sport.  Jayden Daniels had a stellar rookie season last year, so I've been interested in adding a rookie card of his to my collection.

My buddy Tony had this card sitting in his display case, so I bought it.  He's taken care of me over the years, so I don't mind paying him top dollar every now and then to return the favor.

Purchase #6:  A Pair of Bruces  $25

Tony sets up next to Tom who primarily focuses on non-sports stuff.  A few months ago, he was selling these boxes of Bruce Lee cards.  Well he eventually opened a few and had them displayed in his case.

I picked out these two:

2024 Keepsake Bruce Lee 50th Anniversary #228

2024 Keepsake Bruce Lee 50th Anniversary #230

At the time, I thought it was pretty cool to own a pair of cards with swatches of clothing once worn by the legendary martial artist.  Unfortunately these are just swatches from modern keepsakes featuring him.

Had I turned the card over, I would have noticed the yellow Bruce Lee x Vans Half Cabs which I purchased a few years ago myself.  Oh well... at least the money went to a friend.

Purchase #7:  B&W Bo  $1

1990 Score #697

Found a lady with an entire binder filled with Bo Jackson cards.  She wanted $50 for the binder, which I had zero interest in.  But I was interested in this iconic card which she let me have for a buck.  It's not in mint condition, but this is one of those cards I'd love to fill a 9-pocket page with.

Purchase #8:  An 80's Oddball Set  $15

1982 Diamond Classics Set

I found this set sitting in this guy's display case with a $15 price tag.  I wasn't familiar with it, but the set was numbered to 10,000 and loaded with legends.  I discovered that if you're patient you can grab this set on eBay for under $10 shipped.  Guess not all of my flea market finds are winners.

That being said... I'm still happy to add this set and those silly Bruce Lee cards to my collection.

Well that's it for my De Anza Flea Market haul.  I'll be headed back out there in nine days.  

Until then...

I should have one more Flea Market Find post (from my trip to the Branham Flea Market) coming out next week.  Stay tuned.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #180a: A 15 Pound Collection

September has been rough.  But things at work are starting to settle into place... which means that I should be able to spend more time doing hobby related stuff like sorting cards, writing posts, and sending out some care packages that I've been sitting on.

In the meantime, here's a recap of my trip to the De Anza Flea Market back on September 6th.

Purchase #1:  A Box of Cards  $20

 

The flea market was packed with new vendors and tons of people walking around.  I even ran into an old friend while walking down the first aisle.  As luck would have it, he spotted this box of cards under a vendor's table.  He's not into cards, but knows they're my favorite thing to collect.

I probably could write an entire post on this box, but it took me about a week to sit down and sort it... so I'll just show off some of the highlights.

There were four stacks of inserts, parallels, and rookie cards from 2018 to 2022 baseball products.  Nothing too crazy, but the box helped me fill about forty slots in my star binders.  I also found some football and basketball cards scattered in the box.

2018 Topps Chrome 1983 Topps #83T-1

2018 Topps Chrome Pink Refractor #1

1994-95 Ultra Premier Pad Men #2

Under the scattered semi-rigid and top loaders were several rows of Pokemon cards.  I didn't bother counting, but there were probably two hundred hologram cards:

There was also an unopened pack with Will Clark in the box as well:

1993 Milk Bone Super Stars

Here's a peek at the back:

But there were two cards that stood out and made this purchase and me walking with a 15lb. box of cards around the flea market worthwhile.  The first one stood out immediately:

1990 Leaf #300

I have loved the look of this Frank Thomas rookie card since 1990.  This might not be worth the entire twenty dollar purchase price, but it's about half.

This card made the purchase worth every penny:

1988 Pro Cards Vermont Mariners #NNO

I wasn't exactly sure what this card was, but apparently it was a promotional card handed out after the 1988 Pro Cards Vermont Mariners set had already been released.

It sounds like there's a counterfeit version in circulation, but based on this blog post, they are usually well-centered and feature different fonts.  This particular copy appears to be legit.

I'm sure I'll sprinkle some of the other cards from this purchase into future posts, but this post is already starting to drag on.  In fact, I think I'll end up splitting this trip into two posts to keep these recaps a reasonable length.

But before I wrap up this part, here was my second purchase of the day...

Purchase #2:  Baseball Card Game  $3

1991 U.S. Games Systems Inc. Baseball Legends Card Game

The early 90's saw the release of a bunch of baseball related decks of playing cards.  I wasn't familiar with this one, but a quick search on COMC revealed that there are thirteen legendary baseball players featured.  Haven't decided if I'll keep this deck sealed or put the singles into my hall of fame binders.

Well that's it for today.  I'll try to get the second half written up and posted by the end of the week.  Plus I need to recap last Saturday's trip to the Branham Flea Market, but I'm that probably won't happen until next week or later.

Until then...

Feel free to share your thoughts on either of these purchases down below.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!