A Quick Trip to the Islands

Over Veteran's Day weekend... I traveled 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean for Papa Fuji's celebration of life.

Ala Wai Canal

I've mentioned it a few times on the blog, but in case you missed it... both of my parents were born and raised on Oahu.  But they didn't meet there.  They met in Wisconsin while attending college... and spent the rest of their lives together on the mainland.  Earlier in the year, my father returned to Oahu and was laid to rest in our family's plot.

He didn't want to have a service, but thought it would be nice if we could get both sides of the family together for a small luncheon.  My siblings and I were blown away by the number of people interested in attending.  It ended up being a family reunion and an opportunity for many of us to reconnect and catch up.

One of the coolest things was seeing my mother's side of the family interact with my father's side.  It's such a small world.  One of my cousins (on my mom's side) discovered he lives just a block over from another cousin (on my dad's side).

I'm guessing that a lot of them could easily play the "six degrees" game considering the majority have lived their entire lives on the same island.

Personally... I hadn't been back in fifteen years.  It was a quick trip... but I made sure to eat saimin at Zippy's, malassadas from Leonard's, and shave ice from Shimazu's:

Here's a wallet card shot from my hotel room:

Ala Moana Hotel

Although most of the conversations at the party involved reminiscing and family related stuff... baseball made its way into a few of them.

One of my cousins asked me if I was going to continue supporting the A's after their move to Sacramento/Las Vegas.

1977 Hostess #52

I explained that I've been a fan since the 70's... so ultimately I would continue rooting for them wherever they played.

2020 Topps Chrome Refractor #160

I was also reminded that the Dodgers have a huge following in Hawaii.  I spoke with three cousins who were excited about their recent World Series win... and all three are big fans of this guy:

2024 Topps Now #1

All three of these cards were part of a PWE I received from Jim over at cards as i see them.  Thank you Jim!  Looking forward to getting together again for some burgers the next time you're in the Bay Area.

I'd also like to thank Nick over at njwv for inspiring me to purchase this card:

1893 Arbuckle's Coffee #27

Nick and I are both interested in collecting cards related to the Hawaiian Islands and the Bay Area.  Although his photography is much more artistic than mine.

Well that wraps up today's post.  The past few weeks have been really busy with this recent trip and parent/teacher conferences.  However this Saturday kicks off my Thanksgiving Break.  Although I'll be spending some time with family... the plan is to spend at least two or three quality days in the office catching up with care packages, two boxes from Sportlots, and my latest COMC shipment.

Until then... 

Happy Tuesday 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!

If I Could Turn Back Time

A large percentage of my life has been spent sitting around collecting and organizing cards.  That's why it is thoroughly embedded into my personal history.  It also explains my preference to read card blogs and watch videos about collectors building 70's baseball card sets, reminiscing about 80's rookie cards, and discussing 90's inserts they once pulled.

So it shouldn't shock anyone that I also enjoy flipping through old issues of sports card magazines.  In fact, I've been thinking about starting a blog series where I take a trip back in time and take a quick peek into some of these issues.

My collection of old Beckett Baseball Monthly consists of twenty to thirty issues, but only two were June issues.  I decided to go with the older of the two for this post.  Let's go back to 1993...

Beckett Baseball Monthly

June 1993 

Twenty-nine years ago, Beckett decided to put Jim Abbott on the cover of their price guide.  I figured they were capitalizing off of his amazing no-hitter, but that didn't take place until several months after the publication of this issue.

I'm guessing this issue was produced in April or May and the editors wanted to capitalize on Abbott's arrival in New York.  Bo Jackson was featured on the back cover:

He was returning from a hip replacement surgery and collectors were eager to see him back in the batter's box.  On April 9th, 1993 he returned to the diamond and in the bottom of the 6th against the New York Yankees, he pinch hit for Dan Pasqua.  The second pitch he saw, he launched over the right field wall.

Let's take a peek in between the covers.  Instead of walking you through it page by page (sorry, I don't have the time or patience to scan 132 pages), I decided to feature specific things that caught my eye and organize them by topic.

First up... a pair of advertisements:

I don't remember buying or eating Hostess Baseballs, but I've managed to add a few of these oddballs to my collection.  Here's a closer look at the Rickey:

1993 Hostess #23

The front design is kind of boring, but the back of the card isn't too shabby.

1993 Upper Deck is one of my favorite sets of the decade...

It's kind of a shame that they focused so much attention on the Mays Heroes inserts, instead of the set's greatest strength: photography.

Back in the late 80's to mid 90's, I picked up the current issue on a regular basis.  One of the first things I'd flip to was their Hot and Cold lists:

According to the readers, Frank Thomas was the hottest name in the hobby and Jose Canseco was the coldest.  In 1993, I was on a break from the hobby... so I avoided hoarding cards of David Nied and Cal Eldred.  Sadly this break also kept me from purchasing any 1992 Bowman either.  Which leads me to the price guide portion of the issue...

Just look at all of those "up" arrows.  And if you look a little closer, you can see that the iconic Mariano Rivera rookie card once booked for only "25¢".  Twenty-nine years later, I still don't own that card.

On the opposite end of the spectrum...

Oh man... I'm sure glad I wasn't one of those collectors who dished out that kind of cash for a Brien Taylor autograph.

1992 Topps Gold #793

I picked up my copy in 2019 for $10 on COMC... which still seems a little overpriced.

Let's take a look at the values of the hottest and coldest player's key rookie card values...

I never would have guessed that Canseco's famous rookie card would still book for $60 by the time 1993 rolled around.

1986 Donruss #39

Then again... it trips me out to see current completed sales on eBay going for $10 to $20.  Pre-pandemic, I found a copy at the flea market for $2.  A year earlier, I picked up a copy for less than a buck at the Tristar Show.

The Big Hurt's key rookie also booked for $60:

This price makes much more sense as Thomas had become one of the hottest players in baseball.  In fact, he'd go on to win the AL MVP Award at the end of the season... and again in 1994.

1990 Leaf #300

These days, raw copies sell in the $10 to $20 range too which is a pretty steep discount from the mid 90's.  But there's one card of his that has soared in value over the past three decades...

Usually collectors shake their heads when they hear the words "collecting" and "Junk Wax Era", but if you were fortunate enough to target these No Name rookie cards (or Mariano rookies) back in 1993... then you hit the jackpot.

Let's switch gears and focus on a pair of articles.  These were the two I was most interested in:

When I took a break from the hobby after building a master set of 1992 Fleer Ultra baseball, Insert Mania was partially to blame.  The funny thing is... these days I enjoy collecting all of those 90's inserts.  Maybe thirty years from now I'll be collecting all of the silly inserts Topps and Panini produced these days.

My favorite article is about Dave Parker...

In a nutshell, this article highlights Parker's career while covering his "forced" retirement.  Although he had been working out and felt like he still had something to offer, no teams signed him.  As a result he failed to make the 3,000 Hit Club or eclipse 1,500 RBIs.

1974 Topps #252

And sadly, he's still waiting for his call from Cooperstown.

At least he has some company...

Not sure if the comic was a monthly thing, but this issue had one honoring Roger Clemens and his twenty strikeout campaign against the Seattle Mariners on April 29, 1986.

1986 Donruss #172

1986 Fleer #345

1986 Topps #98

It was the first time in MLB history that a pitcher struck out that many batters in a nine-inning game.  A decade later, Clemens would repeat the feat.  Since then Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have also joined the club.  Randy Johnson also struck out twenty batters in nine innings, but depending on who you talk to... it may or may not count... since the game went eleven innings (Johnson didn't pitch in the 10th or 11th).

Another one of my favorite segments in Beckett Baseball Monthly was Readers Write.  Each month Beckett would publish a bunch of letters from readers and collectors.

Here's one that I found interesting:

The author has a pretty cool first name, but that's not what got my attention.

1986 Topps #690

I can't believe it took me thirty-six years to discover that Ryne Sandberg's 1986 Topps card is missing the Topps logo.

This issue of Beckett also opened my eyes to this little tidbit about Vida Blue:

According to the article, Blue had a lucky hat that he wore in 1974, 1975, and 1976.

1975 Topps #510

1976 Topps #140

1977 Topps #230

 

That means there's a chance his lucky hat is pictured on all three of his baseball cards from 1975 to 1977.  Sadly on April 16th, 1977...  he was forced to change hats due to discoloration.  Not sure if the hat had anything to do with it, but he did lead the American League in losses that season.

In the spirit of Father's Day, which is just around the corner, here's a cartoon that was included in the issue:

Seeing this inspired a special Father's Day post that I'll be publishing this weekend.

The main article in this issue was dedicated to the College World Series.  Unfortunately, I was too lazy to scan all nine pages.  However if you're interested, here's a list of MLB players (back in 1993) who were College World Series alumni:

I'll go ahead and wrap up this copy of Beckett with a pair of ads for two West Coast cards shows that took place that summer:

If I could turn back time, I'd definitely suffer the long lines for a chance to meet iconic legends like Y.A. Tittle, George Mikan, Muhammad Ali, Sandy Koufax, and Roy Campanella.

Here is today's question of the day:

Were you collecting back in 1993?

Any favorite memories from that year?

Like I mentioned earlier... I was on a hiatus from the hobby that year.  The card shop I had worked at in had closed down in 1992 and was a little burnt out after Fleer Ultra master set build.  Plus I had just transferred to San Jose State and was focusing on getting my degree.

Sadly... there aren't any specific memories that stand out from that year.  I did attend a Beastie Boys concert held at a small venue, but can't remember if it was that year.

Well that wraps up another post.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!