A Trio of BIPs (Blogger Inspired Purchases)

A quick post with a back update and some recent blogger inspired purchases.  Let's start with the back.  I'm still in a lot of pain, but at least it's not constant.  I've had to burn a handful of sick days and a couple of half days, but it's slowly getting better.

One of the most comfortable positions is laying down flat, pillow under my neck, legs bent, feet flat on the ground, with a heating pad under my lower back.  As luck would it... I'm able to still use my laptop (which lays on my belly) to create Google Slides and lesson plans, do some online Christmas shopping, read blogs, and of course buy cards.

Most of my recent card purchases have been inspired by fellow bloggers.  Let's get to it...

BIP #1:  Beastie Boys Custom

2024 Nine Pockets 1982 Topps In Action #3

Regular readers know that the Beastie Boys are my all-time favorite group.  So when I saw that Gregory over at Nine Pockets created a new card for them, I immediately headed over to his eBay store and purchased four copies.  I asked if he'd sign one of them which he graciously did.  Here's a scan of the back:

He also offered to include a free copy of his original Beastie Boys custom:

2020 Nine Pockets 1982 Topps Future Stars #5

I already own a copy, but told him I'd love an extra for my buddy who is also a huge fan.

Thank you Gregory!  And keep up the creation of sweet customs!

BIP #2:  Iconic Hockey Set

1990-91 Upper Deck French Hockey Set

Not a lot of hockey fans out there, so I'll keep it short (not really... so if you need to... just scroll down).  This set was huge back in the 90's and I've always wanted to own a copy of the French version.  It was once considered much rarer than the English version.

1990-91 Upper Deck French #525

The set is loaded with hall of fame rookie cards including guys like Mike Modano, Ed Belfour, Mats Sundin, Pavel Bure, and Sergei Federov.  Plus it's only a matter of time before Jaromir Jagr gets inducted.

As for the blogger that inspired this purchase, that honor goes to this trio.

#1 Gregory @ Nine Pockets (Again):  He got the ball rolling with a post showing off his complete 1991-92 Upper Deck hockey set back in October.

#2 Bulldog @ Nothing If Not Random:  Bulldog wrote a post showing off three packs of 1991 Upper Deck football that reminded me how awesome early 90's Upper Deck products were.

#3 Joseph @ CrazieJoe's Card Corner:  The day after Bulldog's post, Joe showed off a 1990-91 Upper Deck Tom Barrasso hockey card in a post and the search was on.

Two weeks later, I won an auction on eBay for $21.62 (+ tax & shipping).  Two of the cards (#92 & #93) were English versions.  Unfortunately the seller didn't have either of these cards laying around, but he did refund me a few bucks to cover the cost of me tracking them down for my set.

BIP #3:  Barry Sanders Oddball Rookie

1989 Detroit Lions Police #11

Two weeks ago, Greg over at CROCODILE SPORTS CARDS showed of some recent purchases that included an oddball rookie card of one of the greatest running backs of all-time.

That same day, I purchased a copy of my own off of eBay for $11.75 (tax & shipping included).

Anyone who had the pleasure of watching this guy run in the 90's understands his greatness.  It's just a shame he played for the Detroit Lions.  Can you imagine what his career would look like if he was running behind the Dallas Cowboys' offensive line?

Speaking of the Detroit Lions, I'm quietly rooting for them to beat the Los Angeles Rams today.  Not sure if that'll happen, but if it does and the Seahawks can take down the Colts... the Hawks would own the best record in the NFC.  Let's go Lions, Hawks, and Packers!

Thank you Gregory, Bulldog, Joseph, and Greg for inspiring me to add these cards to my collection!

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Quality Customs (& Customer Service)

A few weeks ago, Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown showed off some cards he purchased from a fellow custom card creator and retired blogger:  Mark @ Stats on the Back.

The stuff he showed off was super impressive, so I visited Mark's online store and added a bunch of items to my cart.  Gavin had mentioned that he used a promotional code and received free shipping, but when I tried it... it didn't work.

No biggie.  When you want something bad enough, you're willing to pay for shipping.

The first item I added to my cart was this set of Beastie Boys cards:

When it comes to any Beastie Boys trading cards, I'm typically willing to open up my wallet as long as the item is reasonably priced.  This was definitely the big ticket item in my order, so $8 for this trio of customs was a no-brainer.

The rest of my order were singles picked out of his awesome dollar bins:

He has dollar bins for decades running from the 50's through the 80's, along with a special section of current stars.

I was very excited to see his interpretation of my all-time favorite baseball card:

I also picked up a few other cards for one of my friends and another card for myself that I'll share over the holidays.

But before I close out this post, I want to show off some generous bonus items that Mark included in the order.

First off, he included these two awesome cards:

One of my favorite cards in the 2009 Goodwin Champions set is the Ichiro Suzuki card.  The card on the left is Mark's version of this card.  The other card is so iconic... it needs no explanation.

If these two freebies weren't enough, he also refunded me the seven dollars I paid for shipping.  This was a surprise and a very kind gesture.  It's customer service like this that makes me want to head back over and place another order.

If you're interested in supporting Mark and purchasing some of his custom cards, click here.  I'm not sure if there's an expiration date, but if you spend $10 or more, feel free to try and use his FREE10 code to receive free shipping.

Well that wraps up today's post.  I just received my COMC order, another custom card purchase, and a pair of blogger care packages, so I've got lots of material for future posts.  Now I just need a little more free time.

Until then...

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #176: Cards & Stuff

The third Saturday of the month means another trip to the Branham High School Flea Market.  On Saturday, I walked around... but this post isn't about that trip.  It's a recap from my purchases on June 21st.

There's a bunch of random stuff, so let's get to it...

Normally I usually hit up the regular card guy that sets up on the end of the parking lot, but he had a crowd of people around him.  So I skipped him and continued down the row.

Purchase #1:  A Roman Coin  $3

Inquisitive Minds: Coins of the Roman Empire

That's where I found this item on a table.  I'm guessing this was a family doing some summer cleaning, because they were very organized and had everything labeled with price tags.  I'm not really in the market for blenders or tools, but I have always wanted to own a Roman coin.  I'll definitely conduct the dig at some point... and share the results in a future post.

Purchase #2:  Lego Brickheadz  $5

I met a guy who is part of the Lego Ambassador Network, who receives free sets from Lego to review.  He ran out of space to display all of the sets, so he brought the excess stuff out to Branham.  His prices were really good, but I resisted the urge and bought the cheapest thing he had: a bag of Brickheads:

Lego #75317

I actually already own this set, but haven't built it.  Now that I own it, I probably will just give away the new set to my co-workers kids.

Lego #40630

The Mandalorian and Grogu will be displayed at home.  As for Frodo and Gollum, I'll take them into my classroom in a few weeks.

Purchase #3:  70's & 80's Vinyl  $10

Not sure if the vinyl market is starting to cool off, but I've been able to find some good deals on albums from my childhood.  This guy had a bunch of them for $5 each, but I asked him if he'd take $10 for three and he accepted.

Here's what I grabbed:

Men at Work: Business As Usual (1981)

This album has some classics.  I memorized Down Under and Who Can It Be Now... which eventually became my go-to karaoke song.  Be Good Johnny was another favorite.

Pat Benatar:  Get Nervous (1982)

Pat Benatar is one of my favorite female artists... right up there with Stevie Nicks.  This was the first Benatar tape I ever owned and it contains my favorite song of hers:  Shadows of the Night.  I'm very happy to add the album to my collection.

Steve Miller Band:  Greatest Hits 1974-78

Grew up listening to my brother's copy of this album (which I inherited a few years ago).  It contains a ton of classics.  I added this to my stack, because the cover was in such good condition and the price was right.

Purchase #4a:  Dollar Cards  $2

When I walked back down the first aisle, everyone who was hanging around the card guy cleared out.  I stood around and chatted with him, while digging through his boxes.

Here are a pair of dollar cards I grabbed:

1996-97 Finest Bronze Refractor #162

I will never pass up 90's refractors of stars for a buck.  Oakley was part of those star studded New York Knicks teams of the early 90's.  The only downside to this card is the obvious "greening" that plagues 90's refractors.

2003 UD Authentics #102 (#'d 594/999)

The other card I grabbed was this numbered rookie card of Godzilla.  I was out of the hobby in 2003, but was still watching baseball.  Gotta imagine this card was a nice pull back in the day.

Purchase #4b:  Cheap Bin Cards  $1

The vendor also had cheap bin.  He had all three of these cards marked at 50¢, but gave them to me for a buck:

These are the kind of cards I'd prefer to find in dime or quarter bins, but this guy has given me some good deals over the years.  I figured I should buy more than a pair of dollar cards.

Purchase #5:  Baseball Masks  $7

1990 MLB All-Star Masks: Hot Rookies

This book contains four masks that can be punched out and put together.  I should have done a little more research, but I saw the word "rookies" and Ken Griffey Jr.'s face and wanted it.

It ended up being manufactured in 1990, so it's not a rookie item.  Then again... even if it was... I doubt many collectors would care about these masks.

Purchase #6:  New Movies  $2

I've started stock piling new VHS tapes and DVD's of movies I love or ones I think I'd love.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

This is one of my all-time favorite movies.  I could watch it once every few years and not get bored with it.  I still own copies of my original VHS tape and DVD.  Now I have a sealed copy too.

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

I've never seen this movie, but I do own a collection of sports related VHS tapes.  This one has been added to it.

Well that wraps up another trip to the Branham Flea Market.  Like I mentioned earlier in the post, I just went again this past weekend.  I promise it won't take me a month to complete my write-up post this time around.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #175: Cheap Sets, Cards, and Other Stuff

I just can't seem to catch up on these Flea Market Find posts.  Today's covers purchases I made at the De Anza Flea Market back on June 7th.  It had been three weeks since my previous trip to the flea market and the weekend before my final week of school, so I was excited to get out there and find stuff to buy.

Well... it wasn't quite as memorable as the trip to the Branham Flea Market, but I did find a few things for my collection.

Purchase #1:  Pair of Kobe Rookies  $30

1996-97 Fleer Metal #181

It took about thirty minutes before I came across anything worth buying.  The gentleman with these two cards is a regular who has a variety of items ranging from trinkets to sports cards.  I hadn't gone through his boxes in a few months, so I flipped through them and found these.  He knew exactly what these were and offered me the pair for $40.  I countered with $30 and he accepted.

Purchase #2:  80's Comic Books  $4

I sort have been on a comic book binge.  Anyways... there was a guy with a 2 for $1 box.  I started with pulling out the Double Dragon and Samurai Squirrel books, but ended up grabbing seven more.  I'm starting to think I have a problem.

Purchase #3:  45's from the 1980's  $5

Another item I just can't seem to pass up is cheap vinyl.  This woman had a bunch of 45's from the 70's and 80's with different prices.  I grabbed five of the dollar ones:

Foreigner:  Feels Like the First Time

Gary Numan:  Cars

Timex Social Club:  Rumors

Salt-N-Pepa:  Push It

WHAM!:  Careless Whisper

I like the first four songs, but I'm not the biggest fan of WHAM!.  Pretty much picked this up because it reminded me of this guy:

2013 Topps #316

Reddick used Careless Whisper as his walk-up song back in the day.

Purchase #4:  Star Wars Blu-ray  $1

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I had just finished watching Andor when I stumbled across this Blu-ray.  Figured for the price, it was a good deal.  Unfortunately, when I got home... I noticed that I already own a copy.  It's not a problem, because I'll just bring it to my classroom.

Purchase #5a:  Magazine Lot  $5

My final purchase of the day was actually three small purchases wrapped into one from a lady I previously dealt with at the other flea market.

Back in April at the Branham Flea Market, I ran into a lady selling her son's card collection.  I bought two basketball sets along with an unopened box of 1989 Bowman.

This time she set up at De Anza and she brought out some new stuff including these magazines.  I sort of have a mini-obsession with the Topps Magazines from the early 90's, so when I find them cheap, I'll grab them.

I bought the entire box for $5, but should have taken the time to count them out, because I pretty much only wanted these ten issues.  There were some water damaged Sports Illustrated issues that I recycled when I got home.

I also discovered this cool Beatles print from the early 90's tucked away in an envelope:

Unfortunately if you look closely there's a crease above John's head.

According to the note inside of the envelope, this print was a Disney Channel sweepstakes prize.

Purchase #5b:  Cheap Sets  $5

She also had a bunch of sets at 1/2 off her sticker price, so I grabbed the 1984 and 1989 Topps Glossy Mail-In sets.  While looking over the others, she told me she'd give me a good deal if I bought more.  I packaged these six sets for five bucks.

I'm hoping to do a set showcase post on the 1982 Kmart boxed set.  If you'd like me to scan and show off any of these other sets, leave a comment down below.

Purchase #5c:  Cheap Cards  $1

The lady also had a nickel box.  Most of it was early 90's basketball commons, but there was a small stack of 1984 Donruss (maybe 40 cards) and some random cards like a McDonald's Shaq rookie card.

There were also six unopened food issue packs that I snatched up right away.  I only grabbed fifteen cards from the box, so technically these were closer to 7¢ each... but that's a price tag I could live with.

Well that wraps up another trip to the De Anza Flea Market.  I have one more flea market post to write up and then I'll officially be caught up with them.  I'm hoping to finish taking photos and writing up that post over the weekend.

Until then...

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!