To Cut or Not to Cut

There's no shortage of Shohei collectibles out there for collectors to collect.  That's what happens when a once in a generation type of athlete comes along.  Unfortunately his collectibles are usually attached to high price tags.

But every now and then, they're part of generous care packages.  Today's post features two huge additions to my Shohei Ohtani PC.

The first one is a uncut rookie card from a box of 2018 Topps Big League:

Angus over at Dawg Day Cards sent me a large padded envelope back in December that I finally opened up over the weekend.  It was filled with a few nice additions to my collection that I'll share over a few posts.  

2018 Topps Big League Box Card #B3

My first thought was to cut the Ohtani out, but there's no way I could do it as cleanly as my photo editor.  So I ended up keeping it intact.  Here's a look at the other side of the box:

As soon as I saw this box, I knew it would pair perfectly with the large store display shown above that was part of Ryan's advent calendar.  I placed it with Ohtani's 2025 Topps flagship card to give you some perspective:

I'm still figuring out the best way to display this cool collectible.  I could hang it up in my classroom, but honestly I'd love to find some wall space for this in my office.  We'll see how things play out.

While I'm showing off new additions to the Ohtani collection, I figured I'd show off an action figure of him that has been hanging up in my office for a few years:

2021 Topps Big League Super 7 1959 Variation Figure

I still have a bunch of items from Ryan's advent calendar and Angus' care package.  I'll be sharing them here and there over the next few months, so stay tuned.  Thank you Ryan and Angus!

Here is today's question of the day:

When it comes to box bottom cards or uncut sheets of cards, do you tend to keep them intact or do you cut them out?

Although I have cut out cards, if the box bottom or uncut sheet is in good condition, I'll usually keep it intact.  In fact I have several boxes dedicated to storing oversized items like these.

That's it for today.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #168: Plates, Cups, and Cards

Last week was the first week of the second semester and things at work were a little busy which prevented me from writing this post in a more timely manner.  But now that things are settling down... I finally found some free time to sit down and write.

Back on Saturday, January 18th... I checked out the Branham Flea Market.  The chilly weather scared a few of the regular vendors away, but there were still forty to fifty vendors set up.

I had almost walked around the entire flea market before finding something I was interested in purchasing...

Purchase #1:  Bicycle License Plates  $10

There are a few regulars that set up at this flea market with some cool antique items.  One of them had a wooden box filled with old Wheaties license plates.  I wasn't too familiar with these, but the first two plates appear to be part of a promotion back in 1953 and 1954.  

1953 Wheaties #NNO

1954 Wheaties #NNO

The third license plate I purchased is much newer...

1980 Post #NNO

I'm not quite sure of the history behind these plates, but based on an eBay listing I found... it looks like people could purchase a complete set of these plate directly from Post.

Anyways... I thought these were pretty cool and the guy's asking price was fair... so I purchased them.

Purchase #2:  ALF Collectible Figure  $5

2023 Neca Alf Gordon Shumway w/Saxophone Figure

On the back row of the flea market, I came across a new vendor with a bunch of action figures.  He had purchased a huge collection and was trying to recoup some of his money.  One of my buddies is a huge ALF fan, so I picked this up for him.

Purchase #3:  Junk Wax Era Packs  $2

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk Set #1

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk Set #2

This is one of my favorite oddball sets from the 80's... right up there with the early 80's Granny Goose and Kellogg's sets... and the mid 80's 7-11 Slurpee Coins.

I already own an entire set of 40 unopened packs, plus another compete set stored in four pocket pages.  However, I can't pass up packs of this stuff when they're a buck each.

If you're not familiar with this set, they're oversized cards that utilize the 1989 Topps baseball card design:

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk #84

The backs feature a record:

Collectors who owned the special player could insert these cards and listen to interviews and highlights about each player.  If you're interested in listening to some of these cards you are in luck.  daclyde has recordings of all 164 cards in the set... including the Willie McGee.

Purchase #4:  1973 7-11 Slurpee Cups  $5

Let me preface this purchase by stating that I am not starting a collection of cups.  I'm just a sucker for older ones featuring players from my favorite teams.

1973 7-11 #NNO Catfish Hunter

1973 7-11 #NNO Bert Campaneris

1973 7-11 #NNO Nate Colbert

I purchased these from a regular vendor I have dealt with on a regular basis.  He had purchased a large collection of these cups and talked me into looking through them.  They're over fifty years old and pretty scratched up... but I couldn't turn down his $5 offer.

Purchase #5:  1981 Topps Scratch-Offs Set  $5

Just as I was about to leave the "cup" guy's booth, I noticed this set sitting in a box with some magazines.  Now if you're unfamiliar with the 1981 Topps Scratch-Offs there are two ways to define a complete set.

There are 144 different three-card panels that people can collect... and there are 108 different cards in the set.

A few years ago, Jim (cards as i see them) sold me a complete "panel" set for $25.  I knew right away that the above set wasn't big enough to contain every panel.

However for $5... I couldn't pass up the 108 card set.  As I started flipping through it, I found three panels containing two hall of famers each:

47.7 + 30.4 + 68.5 = 146.6

I decided to see which trio compiled the highest WAR.  Jim Rice, Mike Hargrove, and Jim Palmer had the lowest total.

88.6 + 46.2 + 70.6 = 205.4

George Brett and Alan Trammell's combined WAR was higher than Rice, Hargrove, and Palmer.  Willie Wilson was icing on the cake.

46.5 + 64.9 + 109.9 = 221.3

But in the end... Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson, and Tom Seaver came out on top.  It would be fun to go through and compare all 144 panels... but I just don't have the time to research that right now..

I did look up one other panel of note though...

36.0 + 66.4 + 111.1 = 213.5

I knew Rickey would carry any trio he was partnered with... but was blown away by Buddy Bell's career WAR... which happens to be higher than Dawson or Rice.

Anyways... sorry I got off track.  Just thought this was an interesting way to look at these panels.

That wraps up another trip to the flea market.  I'm planning on hitting up the De Anza Flea Market on Saturday.  Hopefully the cold weather doesn't scare off more of the vendors.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #158: A Starter Set, Some Singles, & a Pair of Supras

Over the weekend, my buddy and I set up at the De Anza Flea Market as vendors for the first time in years.  I'm guessing it's been five to seven years and it will like be another five to seven before I go back (as a vendor).

In short... it was hot and I spent more money than I made.

That's on me though... since the only thing I brought were six boxes of sports cards I wanted out of my garage.  I ended up selling one box for $5... and giving away the rest to a guy who walked up.  He was excited to get almost 20k cards for free.  I was happy that I didn't have to lug those cards to Goodwill.

Let's check out what I bought...

Purchase #1:  2002 Topps Archives Starter Set $10

As you can see, someone opened up one of these retail blasters and just tossed the cards into it.

Actually it must have been multiple blasters, because there were almost 200 cards in the box.  

After sorting the cards, I discovered the box contained exactly 60% of the set which is right around the mark where I decide to scrap the set build... or go for it.  For now... I'm going for it.

If anyone else is building this set, maybe we can help each other out.  The right side of the box are my duplicates... and the left is the starter set.

Purchase #2:  Die Cast Replicas $6

2021 Hot Wheels #178 (Speed Graphics #5)

2021 Hot Wheels #241 (Then & Now #8)

Whenever I walk around local flea markets, in addition to cards and vinyl... I'm always on the lookout for die cast versions of the MK5 Toyota Supra.  I picked up the yellow version over a year ago... and now I have the white and red versions too.

As for the one sitting in my garage... it's still my favorite toy.  I only recently hit 1,000 miles on my odometer, but actually drive it at least once a week.  Just haven't taken her on any extended road trips or anything.

Purchase #3:  2023 Topps Singles $5

We set up a few stalls down from some friends who are regulars at the two local flea markets I walk around.  One of them is Tony, who is this older guy who is really nice.  He's so nice that I almost feel obligated to purchase something from him whenever I see him.

2023 Topps #471

2023 Topps WBC Stars #WBC-34

The only new baseball he had since I last ran into him were some 2023 Topps singles.  Since I haven't started that set build... I picked out the trio of Yoshida rookie cards and a Roki Sasaki insert.

Well that wraps up the last flea market trip of my 2023 Summer Break.  I'm already back in my classroom setting up.  The school year officially starts next Thursday and the kids will be arriving on the 21st.  But I'll write about that a little more next week.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Plastic & Packs

One of my favorite holiday memories involved flipping through Sears and Service Merchandise catalogs and circling all of the toys I wanted.  These days I'm a little too old for toys.  Or am I?

1992 Topps #40

As I approach the big five-oh... I still enjoy the occasional Lego build.  This Christmas I received a few sets from my best friend, her niece, and her nephew.  Figured I show off one of the sets and tie it into some other plastic items that have recently entered my collection... along with a quick pack break for those readers who only care about cards.  Spoiler alert... the Ripken shown above (used to lure readers) was the best card I pulled.  But before we get to the packs, let's show off the plastic first.

Here's the Lego set I received and built on Christmas:

Lego 75312: Boba Fett's Starship

This is the third Slave I Lego set I've owned (also have Lego sets 75243 & 75060), but it's the first one I've taken the time to build.  Although it's too small to be considered minifigure scale, I think the Lego designers did an amazing job with this set.

The build itself went smoothly and provided a little over two hours of entertainment.  My only concern is the brick built stand that comes with this ship is pretty flimsy.  I hope it doesn't tip over and knock over some of my other Lego Star Wars ships.

As for the other two Lego sets I received... I haven't built them yet.  One of them I plan to take into my classroom.  I'll build and display it there, since I think some of my students will get a kick out of it.

Let's move along to some other plastic items I received recently...

First up are some new decorations for my team shelves in the office:

These trinkets were part of a much larger care package sent to me by my buddy Woody who I met on the card forums back in the day.  I'll share some of the other goodies in a future post, but for the time being... these mini-helmets and TeenyMates were more appropriate for today's post.

These remind me of items you'd find in those quarter machines at the grocery store back in the 80's and 90's.  Although these days, I'm sure they'd charge a buck or two for these novelties.

And rounding out the plastic items are these fantastic looking samurai models that Ryan (SumoMenkoMan) sent me last week:

When I was growing up, my parents would go to this small grocery store in Japantown called Dobashi where they sold little model kits that would sometimes contain a piece of candy.  This appears to be the modern day version of those model kits.

According to Ryan, he found them at the flea market and he generously sent me the duplicates from this purchase.  Each model came with a little sign and a trading card.

Dobashi closed their doors back in 2006, but the next time I go to Nijiya (another Japanese grocery store) I will definitely see if they have anything like these plastic samurai warriors.

Thank you Woody and Ryan for these cool display pieces that have already been added to my office.

And rounding out the post are six packs of baseball cards for all of the card collectors out there.

The first one was included in the box from Ryan with the samurai figurines.  It's a 2021 Leaf Holiday Bonus Pack:

I'm not sure how these were distributed this year, but in the past Leaf would offer collectors these packs as a bonus when they purchased Leaf products.  According to Blowout, each pack is guaranteed to contain either an autograph, a relic, or a printing plate.

Here's what I pulled:

2020 Leaf Ultimate Draft #BA-RS2

It's an autograph of Raimfer Salinas, who appears to be a prospect in the New York Yankees organization.  I'm not familiar with him, but maybe Kenny can give us a prospect report in the comment section.

The final five packs are Junk Wax Era packs that I picked up back in November when I purchased a small collection from my buddy.  He originally purchased this collection from a guy at a card show, pulled out the nice cards he wanted, and sold me the leftovers.

One of these days, I'll sift through the box and pull out some of the more interesting "stuff".  Until then, here are the five packs I chose to open:

Before opening the packs, I thought about the one card I was hoping to pull from each pack.  Here's my list:

1.  1988 Topps:  #360 Tony Gwynn (Pulling a playing era card of my favorite player would be cool)

2.  1989 Donruss:  #33 Ken Griffey Jr. RC (Figure this is a pretty obvious choice)

3.  1990 Fleer:  #74 Jose Uribe (This will probably be the only way I'll ever acquire this notorious card)

4.  1991 Donruss:  #NNO Nolan Ryan Legends Insert (I've never been afraid to dream big)

5.  1992 Topps:  #380 Barry Bonds Gold Parallel (Hard to believe that I still need this card)

Did I pull any of them?  Of course not.  Here is my favorite card from each pack:

Out of all of them, the Fisk and Ripken are the two I'm happiest about.  They'll be going towards a project that I will eventually reveal.

Until then... happy Monday and sayonara!