Memoirs of a Hoarder: Catching Gators

Some athlete's deaths hit harder than others.  When I read about Mike Greenwell passing away on Thursday, it took me back to the late 80's.  There was a brief period in my life when I was opening boxes upon boxes of baseball cards purchased at my local Costco/Price Club.

1987 Topps #259

I was obsessed with mimicking the shops advertising in card magazines and building player lots of rising stars.  One of those guys was Mr. Greenwell.  As long as I can remember, I've had a deep appreciation for guys who hit for average and that's exactly what he did.

The days of hoarding his cardboard ended when I sold off my collection in the early 2000's, but I have a copy of his Topps rookie card sitting in my set.  I also found this card sitting in a box of cards labeled "cheap, cool cards":

1991 Fleer Pro-Vision #8

This single is on the blogosphere's hot list.  Just saw it pop up over at Diamond Jesters in his Greenwell tribute post.

But my favorite card of his is this on-card autograph I purchased back in 2013 when I was putting together the set:

2013 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autograph #FFA-MG

Rest in peace Gator.  Although the bulk of your cards that once resided in my collection have moved on to other collectors or landfills, I still treasure these three cards.  They'll always remind me of that special period on my hobby timeline.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

A few weeks ago, I received a care package from Adam over at Thoughts & 🧦.  Like Matt over at Diamond Jesters, he's a fan of the Boston Red Sox.  I figured since I was honoring Greenwell, I I'd also use this post to thank one of Greenwell's fans.

Adam sent me a variety of cards, but I'm going to stick to the unique items in his care package.  Let's start with some Oakland A's and San Diego Padres cards from the 2000 APBA MLB game:

I feel like I've seen these floating around at card shows or flea markets, but I'm not sure if any have actually landed into my collection.

I definitely needed this card for my Gwynn PC:

2000 APBA MLB #NNO

Here are a pair of 70's Oakland Athletics buybacks:

1977 Topps #261

Phil Garner kicked off his career in Oakland, but I remember him more for his time in Pittsburgh and Houston.  That being said, I absolutely love adding 70's and 80's Oakland A's buybacks to my collection.

1979 Topps #224

I'm definitely familiar with Dave Revering.  His mid-season trade to the New York Yankees in 1981 led to him have a very rare card in the 1981 Granny Goose set.

Moving along, here are a pair of cards for a set I'm building:

2018 Sport Kings #14

2018 Sport Kings #17

Adam actually sent me a fairly fat stack of Sport Kings singles ranging for the 2018 to 2022 sets, but these were the two I was most excited about.

Technically, I only need one more card... but Sport Kings created variations for Cobb and Payton.  The good news is neither of these cards are rare.  It's just about being patient.

He also sent me a stack of Japanese baseball players:

You're looking at almost the entire 2006 Upper Deck World Future Stars Japan team set.  I'm pretty sure I have the Dice-K which is the only card missing from the scan.  It's also nice to add three Japanese pitchers who played on playoff teams this season.  Although Yoshinobu's team is the only one still around.

Let's move along to a galaxy far, far away:

2024 Topps Chrome Star Wars Refractor #4

Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the most interesting characters in the Star Wars Universe.  Adam included a few of these refractors, but this one was my favorite.

I was also surprised and excited to see this slide out of the padded envelope:

2022 Topps Chrome Black Star Wars Autographs #AB-MBJ

Based on my memory, Ranzar Malk only appeared in one episode of The Mandalorian.  However I am very familiar with the actor who portrayed him.  Mark Boone Jr. played a major role in Sons of Anarchy, which is a top 20 television show for me.  I've also seen him in Momento, Batman Begins, and The Last Man on Earth.

I'll wrap things up with the final three hits from the care package:

2002 Donruss Studio Private Signings #143

I wasn't familiar with Mr. Pena and his tenure in Oakland.  According to his Baseball Reference page, he never pitched for them.  I've added him to the Men of Mystery section in my Oakland A's PC.

2008 SPx Rookie Signatures Silver #131

On the other hand, I'm very familiar with Mr. Blevins.  He played seven seasons in Oakland and was a key piece of their bullpen in the late aught's and early 2010's. 

1994 Signature Rookies Tetrad Autographs #XCII

I just commented on Johnny's post about my history with Signature Rookies back in the 90's.  There's a good chance I pulled a copy of this card at some point back then.  If I did, I would have recognized this name because Adam Hyzdu was with the San Francisco Giants organization and briefly played in San Jose.  Although I haven't dove into collecting every single athlete born in San Jose, if I do this card will be part of it.

Thank you Adam for sending me this very generous care package.  I don't have a ton of Red Sox or Virdon cards, but I will try to dig up some stuff for your collection.

Flea Market Finds #177: Stuff from the 70's, 80's, and 90's

It's official.  I'm finally caught up on writing flea market posts.  Perfect timing too, because in a few days I'll be heading out to the De Anza Flea Market in hopes of finding some hidden treasures.

In the meantime, here's what I picked up two Saturdays ago at the Branham Flea Market.

Purchase #1:  80's Baseball Sets  $100

Remember the guy with the Laughlin sets?  Well... he was back again.  Sadly he didn't have any 70's oddball issues this time around.  But he did bring a few 80's sets.  I picked out these four:

First up is a 1983 Donruss factory set:

1983 Donruss Factory Set

This was the first set I noticed (he had these sets spread out over a few tables).  Although they aren't rare by any means... it's not really something I come across at the flea market on a regular basis.

He also had a 1982 Donruss factory set: 

1982 Donruss Factory Set

Not sure if Donruss released the 1982 sets in cellophane packs (like the other 1983 set above), but this one didn't come with any.  The set was in order though, so it was easy to check for the Ripken:

1982 Donruss #405

The centering is terrible, but I'm happy to add this set to my collection of 80's sets.  Speaking of centering, the key rookie cards in the next set are really clean:

1983 Topps Set

This is one of my all-time favorite sets.  I love the design... and it contains the rookie card of my favorite player:

1983 Topps #83

1983 Topps #482

1983 Topps #498

And rounding out the trifecta of 1983 flagship sets is the Fleer set:

1983 Fleer Set

Unfortunately when I got home, I discovered this set was missing two cards.  Plus Joaquin Andujar (card #1) was sun damaged.  I already ordered all three cards on Sportlots, but it might take a few weeks for them to arrive.

In the meantime, check out the Big Three:

1983 Fleer #179

1983 Fleer #360

1983 Fleer #507

There was another guy who came along and showed an interest in these sets, but the vendor said he'd give me first dibs since I've bought a bunch of stuff from him this year.  He was looking to get $40 for the Topps set and $30 each for the others.  I asked him if he'd take $100 for the quartet and he accepted.

After I paid for these sets, I hung out at his booth.  We talked about him moving soon and him heading out to Arkansas.  We also talked about each of our hobby histories and why he was getting rid of his stuff.  I also found two more sets...

Purchase #2:  More Baseball Sets  $20

1986 Sportflics Decade Greats Factory Set

This is a set that I have been actively seeking for over a decade.  The box wasn't sealed and was in pretty rough shape, but I still wanted it.

I know Sportflics aren't super popular, but they hold a lot of nostalgic value for me.  I never owned this set, but I opened a lot of 1986 Sportflics packs and owned the Rookies factory set.

This set covers the best players from the 1940's to the 1980's.  Here's what the cards look like:

1986 Sportflics Decade Greats #28

These lenticular cards feature three images for the price of one:

It's the trademark characteristic of 80's Sportflics cards.  But the card backs were pretty cool too:

Check out how much information they packed onto the back of this card.  Plus it's so colorful!  They only downside is they sacrificed the athlete's career stats and focused on a specific decade (hence the name of the set).

In addition to the 75 player cards, they also included 51 trivia cards:

1986 Sportflics Decades Greats Trivia Card #32

Okay... enough Sportflics talk.  Here's the other set I grabbed:

1993 Gatorade Detroit Tigers Set

I've never seen this set before, but according to TCDB it sounds like these were handed out as a stadium giveaway.

I thought about opening this set up and pulling singles for my binders (player collections).  I'm going to keep it sealed for now though.

As for the purchase price, there wasn't any negotiation this time around.  Like I said... I really wanted this Sportflics set... and his twenty dollar asking price seemed fair.

Okay.  I've rambled on way too much and we're only through the first two purchases.  It's time to speed up the process...

Purchase #3:  Sega Genesis Game  $15

1993 EA Sports Tony LaRussa Baseball (Sega Genesis)

My streak of picking up new (in package) 90's media continues.  This time it comes in the form of a video game.

While most of my buddies were SNES fanboys in the early 90's... I was a Genesis guy.  Never owned this particular game, but figured it would look cool on my A's shelf.

Purchase #4:  Three for a Buck Singles  $4

Back in May, I bought some cards off of a guy with 3 for $1 boxes.  He was back.  Here's what I picked up: 

You know how much I enjoy Star Wars and shiny cards.  I also found a huge stack of Jackass cards, but only grabbed the Tony Hawk.

He also had two unopened packs of Sport Kings.  I'm still searching for the Richard Petty card for my set build.  How cool would it be to pull one from these packs?

Purchase #5:  80's Wax Pack  $2

1981 Topps Raiders of the Lost Ark

Found this pack sitting in a bin with a bunch of non-sport Junk Wax Era packs and figured I'd save it.

I'll have to see if I already have one for my unopened wax pack collection.  If I do, I'll crack it open on a rainy day when I need some blog fodder.

The guy who sold me this pack, also had some random 80's team sets...

Purchase #6:  Yankees Team Set  $5

1985 Topps & Topps Traded

There were a handful of singles I needed in my 80's base card binder, but the key to this purchase was this card:

1985 Topps Traded #49T

I needed this for my Topps flagship base card run of Rickey.  I was hoping to find this card in a dollar bin, but I got tired of waiting.

Purchase #7:  Vintage Football Stamps  $10

The last purchase of the day was off of the guy I usually start with.  However the past two times he's had a group of guys digging through his boxes.  Anyways... I ended the day by grabbing these two vintage packs of NFL stamps:

1972 Sunoco NFL Action Stamps

Each pack contains 9 stamps.  At the time, I figured this was a killer deal.  How often do you find unopened packs from 1972 for $5 each?  The answer is... anytime you want.  They're listed on eBay for this price or even cheaper.  Oh well... win some, lose some.

Hopefully I'll find some winners on Saturday at De Anza.  Either way... I'll show off my finds sometime next week.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!