30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Super Sweet Box of Cards

My summer vacation is off to a great start.  Not going to be able to make it out to the National Sports Collectors Convention this year.  But I was able to spend the past six days in Portland hanging out with friends and eating tons of food.  One of the first things I did when I got home was hop onto the scale where I discovered I gained five pounds in less than a week.

Today, I finally had some time to bust open a huge box sent over by Ryan a.k.a. SumoMenkoMan who runs the blog:  Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko.  One quick look inside of the package and I knew my "back to school" diet would have to be put on hold.  Inside there were a bunch of treats from Germany...


I'm a huge fan of Ritter chocolates.  They're super smooth and come in a variety of flavors.  Ryan hooked me up with brownie and caramel mousse.  Both of these sound delicious.

He also sent me a box of these Ferrero Duplo white chocolates:


I've already eaten three of these and I'm not really a white chocolate kind of guy.  They remind me of Kit Kat bars and are pretty good.  If you look closely at the packaging, you'll notice it comes with trading cards.  Here's what the pack looked like:


I'm a sucker for food issues.  These take it up an notch by being a German food issue that celebrates their national football team.  Here are the three cards I pulled from my pack:



Although with each passing year, I'm getting into soccer more and more... I don't anything about Hummels or Plattenhardt.  I definitely recognize the third guy in the pack.  ter Stegen is the current goaltender for FC Barcelona.

That wasn't the only ter Stegen I found in the package.  Ryan also sent me a bunch of unopened packs, including these...


I'm not exactly sure what these packs are from, but it says Kinder on the back, so I'll assume this is another food issue.  I collect unopened packs, so I'll probably open two more and keep one sealed.

Continuing with the German football theme, Ryan also included this glass cup featuring Thomas Muller:


I have no idea the story behind this cup, but this is one sweet collectible.  Muller has scored ten World Cup goals for Germany and won the Golden Boot (top goalscorer) back in 2010.  I'll have to clear a spot on a shelf in my office for this.

Ryan paired it with this Sanwald beer glass:


I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I'm thinking about buying a SodaStream.  If I do, I'll use this glass to drink my sparkling water.

Getting back to the box... Ryan also included twenty packs of Edeka World Wildlife Fund stickers.


Here's a closer look at the packaging:


I haven't opened any of these packs yet... but I will eventually.  One of my nieces is a huge fan of pandas and hippos, so I'm hoping I'm able to pull one of those.

Back in March, Ryan wrote a post on some Chuck Norris rookie cards that I had no idea existed.  Obviously... it was love at first sight.  

Well... now I can officially say I own a few Chuck Norris cards too.


The cards came in a special 1974 Yamakatsu folder that Ryan sent:


As a huge Bruce Lee fan, this folder is a huge addition to my collection.  I'll definitely showcase some of my favorites in a future post.

Moving along... there was a giant stack of baseball cards featuring a ton of Japanese baseball players, some Tony Gwynns, and a handful of Athletics and Expos.


I haven't had time to actually sort these, but there are at least ten cards I don't recognize, which is always a good sign.

He also included this August 1992 issue of Tuff Stuff:


Tuff Stuff was one of my favorite magazines of the 90's.  I've already read a few of the articles in this issue.  Plus I've cut out the free stadium cards that were included:



Based on the card numbering, these seem to be part of a series of cards.  I'm pretty stoked this particular sheet includes the stadium I grew up attending as a kid:  The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

It's also been entertaining looking at all of the ads in this issue.  Maybe one day, I'll do a post on some of the things in it.

Until then... I'll wrap things up these five sumo wrestling cards...


I've actually left at least one (maybe two) comments about the 2018 BBM Rikishi design on Ryan's blog.  These cards are beautiful.

Thank you so much for another generous and delicious care package.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

12 comments:

Mike Matson said...

Those Stadium Cards are awesome.. Absolutely love stadium cards like those.

Rod (Padrographs) said...

Next time you come to Portland, let us know, I, Baseball Card Breakdown and Cards on Cards would like to get together with you

Nick Vossbrink said...

Wait are you an FC Barcelona guy or do you just know the players because of media saturation?

The Shlabotnik Report said...

Ha! I love the "German" on the Duplo packaging... "Mit drei Team Cards in jedem Big Pack".... Interesting that the other cards say "Sammelkarten" (or "collectible cards") instead of shoehorning English in there.

All "Denglisch" aside, that's a very cool and very generous package from Ryan!

Steve at 1975BaseballCards.com said...

Portland's got some fantastic food. I just got back from a trip and had the same scale problem :-)

Look forward to the Bruce Lee post. Have you visited his grave in Seattle?

P-town Tom said...

Food issue cards from another country? That's awesome!

Matt said...

Awesome the friendship you guys have!

SumoMenkoMan said...

Glad the box arrive safely. With the World Cup going on, products with the German National Team were everywhere. The glass was just one of those random things. The cards with the black wrappers were given away at a local grocery store with a 10€ Purchase.

Jafronius said...

Graded Chuck Norris Rookie cards cannot be put in a hard case...nobody traps Chuck Norris. Awesome cards...perhaps you'll bust a couple on A Pack To Be Named Later?

Commishbob said...

Ryan is a very generous guy. Those are terrific items. I'm a white chocolate lover so that part of the package made me very envious. To say nothing of the soccer cards. Great stuff.

Oh...you definitely should pick up the Soda Stream. I got one last year and enjoy it very much. Although I'll admit my new Cold Brew coffee pitcher has all my attention this summer.

Fuji said...

Mike Matson - Me too. I tried to find a checklist to see how many different cards Tuff Stuff released, but couldn't find one.

Rod - I usually schedule one or two trips a year and would love to meet you guys in person. I'll definitely reach out the next time I'm in town.

Nick Vossbrink - Lol. Media saturation for sure. I actually don't follow much soccer outside of the World Cup and MLS. Go Quakes!

The Shlabotnik Report - I guess I now how two guys I can turn to when I need some German translated. :)

Steve at 1975BaseballCards.com - Every time I go, my friend takes me to at least three or four new places. I honestly don't know what I enjoy more... the beautiful scenery or the delicious food. I've been to Seattle a few times, but I've never gone to his grave. Maybe I'll pencil that in the next time I go there.

P-town Tom - Pretty cool, right. Especially since he sent the candy along with the cards. :)

Sport Card Collectors - The blogosphere is truly amazing. I'm hope to one day meet Ryan in person, so that I can buy him a nice steak dinner and thank him for all of the delicious treats and amazing cardboard he has sent my way over the years.

SumoMenkoMan - Thank you so much for the super generous care package. I've got a care package that I'll be sending your way soon and like I replied in SCC's comment... if you're ever in the Bay Area... please hit me up. I'd love to get together and take you and your wife out to dinner.

Jafronius - I'd never even consider locking Chuck up. He's staying inside of the special folder. I'll have to email SumoMenkoMan to make sure he's not planning on writing any such reviews for APTBNL. If he isn't planning on doing it, I surely will.

Commishbob - I'm much more of a milk chocolate guy, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a little white chocolate from time to time. I'm excited about purchasing the SS. The Cold Brew coffee pitcher sounds intriguing. The only problem is I purchased a Nespresso machine a while back... and my kitchen countertop is way too cluttered for two coffee machines.

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