Cleaning Some Clutter

My classroom is cluttered with cards right now.  The eighth graders are wrapping up the civil rights trading card projects... while the seventh graders are designing trading cards of themselves, the teammates, and for me.

Part of the 7th grade assignment is to interview me.  This gives them an opportunity to learn about me while helping them fill the card back with biographical information and other facts.  Almost every group add strengths and weaknesses... along with an assortment of "favorites" to their list of questions.

I'm not exactly someone who is particularly strong or good at anything interesting to kids... so I have been giving them very vanilla responses like "sorting", "organizing", and "cleaning".

Coincidentally... that's how I spent my Saturday morning.

The goal was to clear my desk, scan some cards, and knock out a blog post.  Let's see if I achieved it.

First up are two stacks of cards... which contain stuff from flea market and card show purchases as well as stuff from bloggers.  In an effort to keep this post short and simple, I'll only be showing off a handful of those cards... all of which are either customs or legendary Japanese baseball players.

Let's start off with this custom card of Shohei Ohtani:

Last year... Nick over at n j w v created a series of home run celebration hat cards utilizing the 1981 Topps baseball card design.  I'm not surprised that Ohtani's kabuto made the checklist.

In addition to Ohtani, he sent a pair of Padres customs.  I'm going to save them for the Cinco de Mayo post.  Thank you Nick!  Great job on these customs.  Very impressive.

Next up is a custom of the legendary Sadaharu Oh created by Gregory over at Nine Pockets...

I'm not the first blog to show off this beauty and I'm sure I won't be the last.  I purchased a few copies from his eBay store last year and was hoping to share it when I unveiled my copy of Oh's 1975 Menko Rocket Robot card.

Unfortunately... I still don't own that Rocket Robot card yet... so I decided to pair it with Nick's Ohtani instead.

The card is printed on clear plastic and doesn't contain any printing on the back:

This allows you turn Oh into a switch hitter... or scan his card with different colored backgrounds:

If you're interested in picking up a copy for your own collection, click here.  It's perfect for any Oh PC.

Last, but not least are some singles for my Japanese PC from Bob over at The Best Bubble.

Here are the three new additions to the Ichiro binder: 

2002 Topps Pristine #10

I took a break from collecting right around the time Ichiro stormed the hobby... so I never got a chance to experience Topps Pristine and its unique three packs within a pack concept.  It was cool to see Topps bring this product back.  Unfortunately... with triple digit price tags... it looks like I won't be experiencing the thrill of tearing into Pristine anytime soon.

2002 Upper Deck #123

Ichiro looks like he just took a shot to the groin... but the photo is well-cropped and all body parts are intact, so no complaints here.

2022 Stadium Club Box Topper #184

This might look like your standard sized base card... but it's actually an oversized box topper.  Some collectors might frown upon these, but I embrace them.

The next two cards are a pair of die-cut Nomo's from the 90's that look way cooler in person...

1997 Pacific Crown Collection Fireworks Diecuts #FW-16

This card combines jagged edges and colorful foil (similar to 90's Fleer Metal) to produce a really attractive card.  Plus this was produced in the 90's... which means they were reasonably tough pulls (1:72 packs).

1996 Select Claim to Fame #10

Here's another cool die-cut insert from the 90's.  It references Nomo's stellar rookie season and the fact that he was the starting pitcher in the MLB All-Star Game.  But personally... I feel like his claim to fame is the fact that he paved the way for other NPB players like Ichiro and Ohtani to cross the Pacific Ocean and play in the MLB.

The final card for today is this memorabilia card of Nomo's teammate that was also part of Bob's care package:

2005 Donruss Champions Impressions Materials #141

Kaz Ishii was a starting pitcher for the Dodgers from 2002 to 2004.

Thank you Bob, Nick, and Gregory for these generations additions to my Japanese player collections!

And thank you to those of you who stuck around to find out whether or not I accomplished my Saturday goal.  I didn't.  There are still about 20 cards I need to scan that are sitting on my desk... and I wasn't able to finish writing this post until this morning (Sunday).  That being said... I made a step in the right direction and cleaned up some clutter.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Maybe.  Maybe not.  Seems like baseball card posts receive at least twice as many views as non-baseball card related posts.  That's why I typically stick to writing about baseball cards.

However.... I have enjoyed collecting a variety of sports since the late 80's/early 90's.  And over the past few months... several people have donated some football cards to my collection.  I figured I'd kick off the 2022 NFL season with a bunch of them today...

Let's start off with this gorgeous looking Favre insert:

2020 Panini Mosaic Old School Mosaic #OS15

Not a fan of Panini MLB cards... but if I ever find a blaster of Panini Mosaic football on Target's website or store shelves, I'll be adding it to my cart.  I'm actually tempted to build this shiny stained glass looking set.

John over at Johnny's Trading Spot sent me that card... along with these other Mosaic parallels:

2020 Panini Mosaic Reactive Blue #283

2020 Panini Mosaic Camo Pink #292

2020 Panini Mosaic Reactive Green #294

None of these scans do these parallels any justice.  These are essentially Panini's version of refractors and when the light hits them, they shine.  Yup.  Call me a fan.

Here are a bunch of other football parallels and inserts John sent my way:

2021 Panini Prizm Draft Picks Orange Ice Prizm #12

Goff is Cal's all-time passing leader... and it's not even close.  This is a nice addition to that PC.

Love me some acetate...

2020 Panini Illusions Clear Shots #13

Marino was one of my favorite quarterbacks back in the 80's and 90's.  Shame he never won a Super Bowl.

2020 Panini Illusions Living Legends #LL12

The 49ers on the other hand... won a bunch during that era.  I couldn't stand them when I was a kid.  Still don't.   But Rice is one of only a handful of 49ers I enjoy collecting.  Doubt I have ever mentioned it on this blog, but I actually have a small PC of his.

2020 Select Purple Prizm Die-Cut #118

Although... I disliked him as much as the team he played for.  Over the years I've grown to admire him and his contributions to the sport and was happy to slide this into the Montana section of my football insert binder.

And here are three new cards for my Ray Lewis and Ed Reed PC's...

2020 Panini Phoenix Fire Forged #2

2020 Panini Select Unbreakable #U14

2019 Panini Illusions Living Legends #LL-ER

Thank you John for sending me all of those football inserts and parallels.  My football collection thanks you too.

Next up are some Prizm cards... which seem to be one of the most popular football products out there.  Greg over at Crocodile Sports Cards sent me the entire Seattle Seahawks team set over the summer:

This team set is loaded with familiar names... and I love the inclusion of guys like Bosworth and Alexander.  I also like that it fits perfectly into a 9-pocket page.

He also sent me a new single for the Ed Reed PC:

2020 Panini Prizm #46

And rounding out this football card post are two "mask" cards sent by Woody over at CCW a while back:

2021 Donruss #29

2021 Donruss #155

Both of these are photo variants.  More importantly these two are arguably the two best players on my two favorite football teams:  the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.

I've been pretty spoiled as a football fan as both franchises have had a taste of success over the past decade or so.  But the Seattle Seahawks will be lucky to win five games this year.  I'd be very happy with one win over the San Francisco 49ers.

As for the Green Bay Packers... anything less than a trip to the playoffs will be a disappointment.  The loss of Davante hurt, but my expectations for the Packers haven't been this high in years.  Hopefully high expectations doesn't lead to heartache.

Thank you John, Greg, and Woody for these generous contributions to my football cards collection.  I actually have one more football card post that's in the process of being written.  I'm going to try and hammer that out and publish it this weekend.  Here's a hint... with the help of some bloggers I've reached a very cool milestone on my hobby timeline.  Stay tuned.

And for all of those baseball cards fans... I should be back to writing posts for you in the upcoming weeks.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

The Lazy Susan of Baseball

It's not always easy being an Oakland A's fan.  As soon as their young talent begin to bloom, we know it's only a matter of time before they ship them off to teams willing to actually pay them their worth.  That's why I refuse to buy an A's jersey with any player's name on the back.  It's truly sad.

2021 Topps Factory Set Gold Stars #392

I have no idea why any A's fan would be willing to invest in any current player's jersey.  Whether it's the A's trading away their talent or refusing to resign free agents, there's a good chance any given player will be gone within a season or two.  Today... I figured I'd use the 2021 Topps Gold Stars Oakland A's team set to legitimize my claim that my favorite team should be nicknamed: The Lazy Susan of Baseball.

Let's start off with two of the biggest fan favorites on last year's A's roster:

2021 Topps Factory Set Gold Stars #3

2021 Topps Factory Set Gold Stars #218

This Gold Glove Award winning duo are entering their primes... and three years ago... I was crossing my fingers that they'd lead Oakland back to the World Series one day.  Silly me.  Everyone else knew it was only a matter of time before they were spun around the lazy Susan and offered up to the highest bidder.

Here are the next six players in the team set:

The only guy from this six pack that is still with the A's is James Kaprielian... who is currently injured and probably won't pitch until May.

The next six isn't much better.  Four out of six are no longer with the team.  It hurt to watch the A's let Semien walk.  It hurt even more to see him have an MVP caliber season with the Blue Jays last year.  On the bright side, Gold Glove Award winning Sean Murphy is still with the team (for now).  He's entering his prime too... so I wouldn't be surprised to see him claimed off the lazy Susan by the end of the season.

The final six is the biggest argument against my lazy Susan theory.  Chris Bassitt was the only player shipped out during the off season.  Piscotty, Puk, Andrus, and Jefferies are all currently on the active roster.  As for Laureano, he's wrapping up the 80 game suspension for PED use.

Along with Murphy, he's one of the lone bright spots remaining on the roster.  He's been my favorite player on the team the past few seasons.  But there's no way I'll pony up and buy his jersey.  Not his.  Not anyone on the current roster.  Not until the owner (John J. Fisher) stops the lazy Susan and starts caring about the team's future and the fans.

And just in case you weren't keeping track... twelve of the twenty guys in this team set are gone.  I know that every team set features players no longer with the team, but I can't imagine there are many teams with as much movement as the A's.

Okay... enough negativity.  Let's wrap things up on a positive note.  This team set was generously donated to my collection by Reader X.  It was part of a large care package sent to me back in February that also contained this very cool rookie card of Sean Murphy:

2020 Topps Clearly Authentic Autographs #CCA-SM (#'d 48/75)

I'm a big fan of acetate trading cards... and an even bigger fan of on-card autographs.  It'd be cool to see Murphy continue developing into a solid MLB player.  It would be even cooler to see him do it as an Oakland Athletic.  Unfortunately... I know he's on the lazy Susan and it's only a matter of time before he's shipped off to another team.

Thanks Xavier for this awesome team set and autograph!  This post might have come off as a little "sour", but I assure you that lazy Susan or not... I'm a devoted fan of the Green & Gold... who will continue collecting Oakland A's cards for the rest of my life.  I appreciate each and every one you sent my way.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!