It's All Her Fault

Without Mama Fuji's influence... I'm fairly confident I wouldn't be here writing a blog post about cards.  She bought the first packs of trading cards (1977 Topps Star Wars) I remember opening.  When I started collecting baseball cards in the early 80's, she was the one buying me packs of 1981 Donruss and Topps whenever we were at the grocery store or pharmacy.  By the late 80's... Costco was carrying cards and every now and then I'd come home from school with a box of Topps sitting on the counter.

Eventually she stopped buying cards, but she never stopped supported my interest in the hobby.  When my parents retired in Las Vegas, I'd visit them a few times each year.  I'd always set aside one day to hunt for cards at local card shops and Targets.  Mama Fuji was always there with me.

In an alternate world, is there a chance I'd still be collecting cards without her support?  Maybe.  But I doubt I'd be nearly as passionate about the hobby as I am today.  Thank you Mom!

Speaking of the hobby... here are a pair of cards for you (the readers):

1996 Upper Deck Olympicard #66

What's the significance of this athlete?  Well... Tracie Ruiz-Conforto won two gold medals in artistic swimming (solo and duet) for the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics.  Four years later, she would head over to Seoul and bring home a silver medal.

In between those Olympics, she met and married a Penn State football player.  Fast forward to March 1st, 1993.  On that day... Tracie, her husband, and their daughter would welcome the latest addition to their Conforto family:

2023 Topps #419

Thirty-one years later... he's the starting left fielder for the San Francisco Giants.

How do either of these athletes relate to Mama Fuji?  Well... Tracie was born in Honolulu, Hawaii... just like my mom.  And Michael shares the same birthday as her.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!  I love you and miss you so much!

And happy Mother's Day to all of the other moms out there... including Tracie Ruiz-Conforto!  I hope all of you enjoy your special day!

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #161: Dollar Deals

Walked around the Branham Flea Market last month and made three purchases from three  vendors.  For the sake of this post... I've decided to split up the first purchase into five one dollar purchases... since that's how it essentially played out.

The gentleman who sold me these items is a regular I've dealt with on numerous occasions.  He has a variety of stuff ranging from magazines to bobbleheads to 7-11 cups... with sports cards sprinkled in here and there.

Purchase #1a:  1990 Barry Colla Don Mattingly Box Set $1

This box set was the first item on his table that caught my eye.  Barry Colla is a local photographer who put out a bunch of player sets back in the late 80's and early 90's.   

Here's a look at the twelve card set that came in the box: 

A few well-cropped action shots... but overall these give off a Broder-like vibe.  Hard to complain though when each card costs less than a dime.

Purchase #1b:  1980 Dodgers Police Starter Set $1

Inside of his display case, he had some Dodgers Police cards in a Ziploc bag.  Half of them were cards from the 1980 set which features some really cool action shots: 

The cards are a little beat up, but the only player missing is the Pedro Guerrero.  I probably will just pull a few of the singles for my binders and pass the rest along to any Dodger collectors who need them.

Purchase #1c:  1982 Dodgers Police Starter Set $1

The other half of the Dodgers Police cards were from the 1982 set.  It contained all of the players, but the playoff highlight cards were missing.  The lot did come with a World Series trophy card... but it's pretty beat up... so I tossed it into the Damaged Card PC before I took the photos.

Here are my two cards that stood out from the lot:

Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela were two of my favorite pitchers from the 80's and pretty much the reason I purchased all of these Dodgers cards.

Purchase #1d:  1991 Marathon Chicago Cubs Lot $1

This stack of Cubs cards were also sitting inside of his display case.  I've never seen them before, but according to Beckett they're part of a twenty-eight card set that was handed out at a Cubs game in 1991.

Maddux was the key to me picking up this lot and was well worth the dollar.

Purchase #1e:  Cheap Vintage $1

The vendor had a small lot of vintage sitting in a box.  Each card was individually priced and I just couldn't pass up these three... 

1966 Topps #4

There's just something special about finding a miscut card like this in the wild.  Like a bruised banana at the grocery store, I'm guessing this card was passed up a few times.  Me?  I'm honored to own it for a quarter.

1971 Topps #544

This is one of those cards I remember wanting back in the 80's.  It's such a great photo of a Bay Area fan favorite.  Sure it has rounded corners and several creases... but the price (50¢) was right.

1976 Hostess #122

There probably won't be many shots of the Oakland Coliseum in the background after 2025, but luckily there are plenty of 70's quarter bin cards like this one to collect.

Purchase #2:  Billy Joel 52nd Street 8-Track $1

When I was a kid, my parents had an 8-Track player in one of their cars.  Not sure what happened to all of their tapes, but my eyes lit up when I saw a stack of them sitting on this lady's dollar table.

Billy Joel isn't my favorite artist... but he's had a fair share of hits.  This might not be considered one of his iconic albums, but it has one of my favorite songs of his:  Rosalinda's Eyes.  Thank you Freaks and Geeks.

 

Purchase #3:  Not A Dollar Deal $8

The final purchase of the day almost didn't happen.  This couple must have bought a storage unit or something, because they had several tables set up and covered with everything from old books to cups and saucers.

My eyes were drawn to some new Panini World Cup sticker albums and comic books sitting on the ground which required me to walk around their tables to get to.  They ended up being kind of pricey, but as I headed out I noticed a shoebox filled with cards in toploaders.

They were $3 each or 10 for $20.  I pulled out these four and he accepted my $8 offer:

2023 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Relic #CCR-SP

This was the key card in the purchase and the first step towards my Perez sports card trifecta.  His 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospect card is pretty cheap... but an on-card autograph of his is going to set me back about $50.

In hindsight, I probably should have handed over the three bucks and passed on these other three cards:  

2019 Topps WWE Summer Slam Relics #MR-SN

But here are the latest additions to the Japanese Athlete PC.

2021 Goodwin Champions Autographs #A-KG

2021 Skybox Metal Universe Champions Autographs #19

I should have taken a few minutes to look up these autographs of Ken Gushi (auto racing)... since they only sell for around a buck on COMC.  Oh well.  Win some, lose some.

That wraps up my most recent trip to the flea market.  Not sure if I'll be able to make it to any flea markets in May.  Last weekend, I cancelled my trip because it rained.  There's another one in two weeks, but I have my nephew's graduation party.

Not too disappointed though.  I've got several Sportlots packages, a COMC package, and a few more blogger care packages waiting to be cracked open.

Until then... happy Thursday and sayonara!

The Destroyer and Snips

What do Tom Hume and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope have in common?  The both premiered on May 25, 1977.

1982 Topps Coca-Cola #9

Since most of you could care less about Star Wars, I had to lure you in with this oddball issue of former Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher.  Here's another baseball card for you:

1978 Topps #202

What's the significance of this card?  Well on the day Hume made his MLB debut, he got lit up by the San Francisco Giants and was forced out of the game after giving up four hits, walking one batter, and allowing five earned runs in one-third inning pitched.  He earned the loss and left the game with a 135.00 ERA.

On the bright side, the Reds fought back, but still lost the game by one run.  George Foster had a huge game... as he hit two home runs while driving in three.  That was the season he hit hit a staggering 52 home runs.

It was the first time someone cracked the 50 home run mark since Willie Mays hit 52 in 1965. And it wouldn't happen again until Cecil Fielder returned from Japan to hit 51 in 1990.  This might not seem that special, since twenty guys (three in the past five seasons) have done it since.  But from 1966 to 1989 (a span of twenty-four seasons), Foster was the only guy to accomplish this feat.  That's pretty special.

And in the spirit of May the Fourth, here are a few things for the Star Wars fans out there.

Let's start off with this Lego set I built this morning:

Meet Ahsoka Tano.  She was Anakin Skywalker's padawan during the Clone Wars.

Lego Brick Headz #150 (Set #40539)

I have a bunch of Lego sets waiting to be built, but I chose this one specifically because it's small.  At one hundred sixty-four pieces, this set took me less than thirty minutes to build.  Here's a look at the Brick Head next to a mini figure and standard size card:

Although I'm not the biggest fan of the Brick Headz line... I picked this set up because Ahsoka is one of my favorite characters.   This build motivated me to dust off and update my Lego shelf in the office:

I'll wrap things up with a few Star Wars cards that John over at Johnny's Trading Spot added to my collection:

1996 Decipher Star Wars A New Hope Expansion CCG #NNO

1999 Decipher Star Wars Young Jedi CCG #58

First up are a pair of CCG cards from the 90's that show off two of the franchise's finest females.  Who do you favor?  A New Hope's Princess Leia Organa or The Phantom Menace's Queen Amidala?

The next pair are two of my favorite characters from the original trilogy:

2022 Topps Chrome Star Wars Galaxy #7

2022 Topps Chrome Star Wars Galaxy #10

Who is your favorite Star Wars character?

Thanks John for giving me more blog post material.  By the way... any chance you have an extra 1995 Bowman Fernando Lunar card laying around?  He was an Atlanta Braves prospect in the mid to late 90's... and is the only MLB player to be born on the day Star Wars: A New Hope premiered back in 1977.

Happy Saturday and May the 4th be with you!