Too Good To Pass Up

After hitting up the Branham Flea Market on Saturday, I made a pitstop over at my buddy Ben's house.  He asked me if I wanted to buy the rest of the low-end baseball rookies, inserts, and parallels.  I honestly did not.  I'm still sorting through the stuff I bought off of him back in September and October.

But this was one of those "too good to pass up" cases.  I haven't done an exact count, but I'd estimate that there are 3,500 to 4,000 cards here and I paid $100 for the four boxes.  That breaks things down to less than 3¢ per card.  In terms of value, it's a great deal.  But when you factor in how much time I'll need to sit down and sort... the deal loses its luster.

I spent three hours on Saturday going through this stuff... and three more hours yesterday removing these cards from the penny sleeves.  I'm sure I've mentioned my OCD before on this blog.  But if I haven't, I'll just say that I have a thing about using old or dirty card supplies.  Anyways... I'm only about halfway through the penny sleeve removal process.  I'll try and wrap things up this afternoon when I get home from work.

Until then, here is today's question of the day...

If you bought some cards that came in old or dirty penny sleeves, would you keep them in there or swap them out?

I'd say 90% of these cards will be put into one of the new 5,000ct. boxes I picked up two weekends ago without the use of a penny sleeve.  The nicer and more valuable cards will be definitely be re-sleeved.

Well that's it for today.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Saturday Night Five: Current Events

This post a quick look at some of the random items I have laying around my office that I normally wouldn't write about.  But put them all together, and I figured I'd be able to pull off a Saturday Night Five post.

First up is this decal I picked up last weekend in Japantown:

Sumofish is a San Francisco based t-shirt company that sets up at all of the different Japanese festivals in the Bay Area.  I bought this decal at the JAMsj Winter Boutique, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to stick it on.

Post MLS cards are back!  I found this box at Target on Monday.  The cereal is pretty good, but I've gotta admit... I never would have bought this stuff if if weren't for the cards. 

The holiday season is just around the corner and I recently used my friend's Nordstrom discount to pick up the 2019 Lego Harry Potter Advent Calendar:

I watched a video review of this on YouTube and thought it would be fun to build during the month of December.

I know it's early to start talking about Christmas, but here's another holiday item:

I stumbled across this in a box in my office while cleaning last weekend.  I'm not sure if I purchased this at a flea market or if it was a gift from one of my friends or students... but I'll probably take it into my classroom after the Thanksgiving break and put it on my Star Wars shelf.

And I'll wrap things up with a PS4 game I bought a few weeks ago:

Video games used to be a big part of my life.  It started with my Atari 2600 and lasted until around the PS2.  Right now I have a PS4 hooked up to my television, but I rarely turn it on.  However every now and then, I'll get into a game.  Over the summer I played Red Dead Redemption 2 for a week straight and right now I'm into Tom Clancy's The Division 2.

I won't bore you with the details, but if you like shooting games, it's pretty cool.  In fact, I'll probably play it at some point this weekend in between sorting cards and taking naps.

What about you?

Anyone else sorting cards or playing video games this weekend?

Well that's it for today.  Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Piggybacking On Another Blogger's Idea

What happens when you aren't motivated to write a blog post, but you feel obligated to give your readers something to read?  Well... if you're like me... you just piggyback on other blogger's post.

A few days ago, Night Owl wrote about his latest published article in Beckett Vintage Collector which talks about subsets.  I can't wait to find a copy of this issue at my local Barnes and Noble, so I can plop myself on the floor and read it.  He mentions in his post that this issue should be arriving in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few "subset" cards I have sitting in my collection:

1974 Topps #201

One of my favorite things to collect are vintage league leader cards, because you're often able to add big names to your collection at a fraction of the price you'd spend for their base card.

I purchased this card back in August off of eBay for $43.42 (+ $4 shipping) with one of my eBay gift cards that I received through a credit card bonus.  By the way, I still have three $100 eBay gift cards that I've been saving for a 1973 Topps baseball set that I hope to buy one day.

Anyways... getting back to this card... I was happy to add it to my collection since it features two of the best hitters from the 70's.  According to this Reds Zone thread, Pete Rose led the National League in hits during the 70's... while Carew led the American League during the decade.

The fact that this card was once held and signed (assuming the signatures are legit) by each of these guys is a nice bonus.

I realize that some of you aren't fans of autographs, so here are a pair of cards from one of my favorite subsets of all-time:

1976 Topps #341

1976 Topps #345

And for those anti-graded card collectors, here's one last subset card from the 70's:

1974 Topps #479

I've never taken the time to sit down and pick a favorite World Series subset card, but this has to be right up there.  It features a perfectly timed (and well-cropped) photo which gives the illusion that Ray Fosse is lifting Sal Bando and Darold Knowles.  Add a sea of Green and Gold in the background at the Oakland Coliseum and this creates one heck of a card.  Well... at least for this Oakland A's fan.

I'd like to give a shoutout to whoever featured this card on their blog a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately, I can't remember whose blog it was.  If you're reading this, feel free to leave a link to your post down below.

Well that's it for today.  Thank you Greg for giving me something to write about.  I'm looking forward to reading your article in the upcoming Beckett Vintage Collector.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Nomo Energy

You'd think that after a three day weekend, I'd be reenergized and ready to write.  I'm not.  I'm running on fumes.  Sorting cards was actually harder and more tiring than teaching middle schoolers.

I'll try to have something worth reading up by Thursday.  That gives me two days.

In the meantime here's a card that's been on my wantlist for awhile now:

1997 Bowman Bowman's Best International Preview Refractor #BBI5

Like millions of other baseball fans, I was swept up by Nomomania back in the mid 90's.  My Nomo collection is right up there with Ichiro in regards to size.  This particular card isn't very expensive.  I've just held off on picking it up in hopes of finding it in a quarter or dollar bin one day.

What about you?

Are there any cards on your wantlist that sell for a few bucks, but you resist the urge to purchase them in hopes of finding it in a bargain bin somewhere?

Well that's it for today.  Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Commanders of the Hill

This weekend I spent over ten hours in my office going through boxes and sorting cards into stacks.  There were stacks all over the floor.  I thought about taking a picture, but the mess wasn't something I'm too proud of.  And I'm not even close to being finished.  That was really only the first phase of the sort where I pulled cards out of grimy penny sleeves, sorted them by sports, and separated the ones I plan to keep, the ones I intend to ship, and the ones I plan to drop off at Goodwill.

I've put everything back into boxes, so that I'm able to move around.  At some point the next level of sorting needs to take place.  That's where things are broken down into teams, players, rookies, inserts, base, etc.

However that's gonna happen another weekend, because I'm taking today off.  My back is sore and the goal is to relax as I have the day off for Veteran's Day.

In honor of this federal holiday, I thought I'd dedicate this post to all who have served or are currently serving in our country's armed forces and show off an oddball issue that was distributed exclusively on military bases.

Back in 1993, Topps produced a set consisting of only pitchers called Commanders of the Hill.  I was introduced to this set back in March when SumoMenkoMan reviewed these cards on A Pack To Be Named Later.  It inspired me to head over to eBay and purchase some packs (which unfortunately were never shipped).  As luck would have it, SumoMenkoMan would hook me up with twenty-one packs in a care package that I finally got around to opening yesterday afternoon.

Each pack contains five cards... so I knew I had a pretty solid shot at building the thirty card set.  I was right.  In the sixteenth pack, I pulled the Melido Perez and Dave Stewart which completed the set.  Here the entire set for your viewing pleasure:

#1 Dennis Eckersley   #2 Mike Mussina   #3 Roger Clemens

#4 Jim Abbott   #5 Jack McDowell   #6 Charles Nagy

The first sixteen cards in the set represent the American League.  The first card in the set honors Eckersley for winning the 1992 AL Cy Young Award, while the next fourteen cards feature each team's 1992 ERA leader (among starting pitchers with a certain number of appearances). 

#7 Bill Gullickson   #8 Kevin Appier   #9 Bill Wegman

#10 John Smiley   #11 Melido Perez   #12 Dave Stewart

#13 Dave Fleming   #14 Kevin Brown   #15 Juan Guzman

#16 Randy Johnson   #17 Greg Maddux  #18 Tom Glavine

Randy Johnson closes things out for the AL with a special American League Strikeout Leader card, while Greg Maddux kicks things off for the National League with the NL Cy Young Award card.

#19 Greg Maddux   #20 Jose Rijo   #21 Pete Harnisch

#22 Tom Candiotti   #23 Denny Martinez   #24 Sid Fernandez

Maddux is the only player who appears twice in the set, since he was also the Cubs' ERA Leader as well.

#25 Curt Schilling   #26 Doug Drabek   #27 Bob Tewksbury

#28 Andy Benes   #29 Bill Swift   #30 John Smoltz

John Smoltz closes things out with his National League Strikeout Leader card.

Here's a closer look at the three different types of cards in the set...

Cy Young Award Winner

Team ERA Leader

League Strikeout Leader

Although I don't think this design would work for a flagship series, it definitely gives off the oddball issue vibe.  I like the use of camouflage on the front and red, white, and blue on the backs.  I also think it was cool to have at least one player from each team represented in the set.  And the game by game record on the team's ERA leader was a nice touch.

The set is obviously loaded with big names.  There are six hall of famers on the checklist:  Dennis Eckersley, Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.  Dennis Eckersley, Jim Abbott, Dave Stewart, Kevin Brown, and Dennis Martinez are all members of the No-Hitter Club.  And these eight guys each took home at least one Cy Young Award:  Roger Clemens (7), Dennis Eckersley, Jack McDowell, Randy Johnson (5), Tom Glavine (2), John Smoltz, Greg Maddux (4), and Doug Drabek.

But I also think it's cool that this set provides an opportunity for Tigers fans to add a Bill Gullickson oddball issue to their collection.  Or there's one more Billy Swift card for San Francisco Giants collectors to track down. 

Oh and before I forget, here's a look at an unopened pack, which according to Baseballcardpedia originally sold for 25¢ with the purchase of a fountain drink at Army and Air Force Exchange restaurants or snack bars:

Well that wraps up my Veteran's Day post.  A special shout out to Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders.  His Sportlots post reminded me that I had these packs laying around waiting to be opened.  Thank you to Ryan (aka SumoMenkoMan) for supplying these packs.  And of course a huge thank you to all of the veterans and people currently serving in our country's armed forces.  You truly are real American heroes.

Happy Veteran's Day and sayonara!