Sports Card Trifecta #24: Barry Bonds

First off... congratulations Kris Bryant and Mike Trout for taking home this year's National League and American League MVP Awards.  Bryant's plaque will go nicely with his 2015 NL ROY Award and the 2016 World Series ring he'll receive sometime next season.  Trout's has plenty of accolades himself as his 2014 AL MVP Award and 2012 AL ROY Award will need to make room in his ever growing trophy case.

With two under his belt at the tender age of twenty-five, Trout is already on pace to break Barry Bonds' record of seven MVP Awards.

Will he actually break the record?

It's easy to bet against him, but it's not impossible.  In his first five full seasons, he's won the award twice and has been the runner-up the other three seasons.  Assuming he stays healthy... it wouldn't surprise me if he won the award six more times over the next ten to twelve years.

I guess only time will tell.  Regardless he'll hopefully be entertaining fans with his bat and glove for many years to come.

While we're waiting to see if Trout (or even Bryant) can approach Bonds' record... let's check out the Sports Card Trifecta I built of Barry.


Rookie Card: 1987 Topps #320

This card is without a doubt my favorite rookie card of Bonds.  The perfectly timed and centered action shot go perfectly with the wood grained border to make a great looking rookie card for one of the best hitters I've had the privilege to watch.

Autographed Card: 2001 Topps Gallery Autographs #GABB

The second cog of the trifecta is an on-card autograph from one of my favorite products:  Topps Gallery.  I had been looking for a Bonds autograph for years, but they were always a little too pricey for me.  Then two years ago, I ended up snagging this card for less than the price of an unopened wax box.  The insane thing is... this card was an insanely tough pull back in the day.  Topps inserted the Group A signatures (Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, and Barry Bonds) into packs at a rate of 1 per 1,066 packs.  That's one of these cards in every 44 boxes.  Gotta love the days when pulling an autograph was something special.


Memorabilia Card: 2002 Topps 206 Relics #BB2

I own eight different Barry Bonds memorabilia cards, but to be honest... none of them are that rare or unique.  I decided to use this one for my trifecta, because I do have a soft spot for framed relics.  The downside?  It's a piece of game-used uniform... which means it's likely a piece of his pants instead of his jersey.

Well there you have it.  This is officially the twelfth baseball Sports Card Trifecta in my collection.  If you'd like to check out the other eleven, click here.

Okay... now that the election hype has died down... let's get controversial:

If you had a Hall of Fame vote, would Barry have your support?

Whatever my response is... there's gonna be people who don't agree.  That's what makes this such a great topic to discuss.  With that being said... I'd let him in.  Plenty of players used PED's during that era and if Cooperstown allows guys who used greenies or doctored balls into their club then I feel that they should let one of the greatest hitters of all-time in as well.

As usual... I look forward to reading and responding to your comments.  I hope all of you are having a great week.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #114: Junk Wax Era

The first weekend of every month is my favorite weekend, because that means it's time for the De Anza Flea Market.  Imagine an art and wine festival version of a swap meet.  There are a lot of crafts, antiques, and collectibles with a handful of sports memorabilia sprinkled in here and there.

Unfortunately... you don't find a lot of hidden treasures since the vendors typically know what they have.  But every now and then, you'll find people who are trying to clean out their garages.  This month's flea market didn't disappoint.

Purchase #1:  1991 Topps and 1994 Score Wax Boxes $10

If you're a fan of unopened wax boxes and factory sets from the late 80's and early 90's, then you would have been in Cardboard Heaven on Saturday.  I ran across a couple who had four bins filled with the stuff.

After I handed over the ten bucks, I immediately started having buyer's remorse.  Do I really need more overproduced Junk Wax Era cards cluttering my office?  Not really.  But... $10 is a small price to pay for an hour's worth of entertainment.

Preview:  Another Junk Wax Era purchase down below.


Purchase #2:  Venom Figures $5

Crowds usually mean something of interest.  And that's exactly what gathered around an elderly couple with a ton of comic books and comic book action figures.

Normally these kind of vendors don't command a lot of attention.  But they were selling comic books for 10¢ each and figures for $2.50 each.  Unfortunately most of the stuff had been picked through, but I did manage to secure these two Venom figures which will end up being displayed in my classroom.


Purchase #3:  Basketball Binder $10

I rarely pick up basketball cards anymore... but when I do, it usually involves Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.  This binder has both.  There's a complete 1996/97 Fleer Metal set which contains two Kobe Bryant rookie cards and a rookie year insert:

Plus there are a bunch of other inserts thrown into pages.

The Magic Johnson refractor and the Bird/Magic rookie reprint were the two cards that sealed the deal for me.

Purchase #4:  1990, 1991, and 1992 Upper Deck Factory Sets $5

Remember the guy with $5 wax boxes?  I went back a few hours later and he dropped his prices even more.  He told me I could have any box/set for $4 each or 3 for $10.  When I didn't bite, he said make me an offer.  I jokingly told him I'd buy 3 more items for $5... thinking he'd never accept the offer.  He said "okay" before I could finish my sentence.

I picked out these three sets, because it fills the gap between my 1989 and 1993 Upper Deck factory sets.


Purchase #5:  1978 Donruss Sgt. Peppers Wax Box $15

If there was one purchase I made this month at De Anza that could be considered a hidden treasure... this would be it.  I have never seen the movie... nor have I had the desire to watch it.  But it's still an unopened wax box from the late 70's that cost me about the same price as a modern day blaster.

The next day I also walked around the Capitol Flea Market, which is the exact opposite of De Anza.  It's dirty... but it has tons of vendors with piles of garbage.  The good news is that every now and then, you'll hit the jackpot and find something of use among the trash.

Purchase #1:  2003 Oakland A's Babushka Dolls $3

This isn't exactly worth tons of money.  But when I discovered it, it kinda felt like I had found a hidden treasure.

It was sitting in the original plain white box handed out at the Oakland Coliseum on Father's Day back in 2003.  I'm sure most people could care less about Oakland A's Russian nesting dolls, but even if there was someone out there looking for these, they'd have a helluva time finding them.  They were sitting at the bottom of a Rubbermaid bin with a bunch of random items like picture frames and photo albums.

Three dollars seemed like a fair price for a unique stadium giveaway featuring The Big Three and Ramon Hernandez.  Not exactly sure where I'll end up displaying these guys since there's no room left on my Oakland A's shelf in my office.  I might need to bring them into my classroom and give the students another reason to tease me for being an A's fan.

Well that's it for now.  I didn't go out to flea market last weekend.  It was too cold and I wanted to sleep in.  Next Saturday is the Branham Flea Market.  Hopefully the "box bottom" guy is there.  He always has at least a few pieces of cardboard I'm interested in.

Until then... Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Little Kid Stuck in an Adult's Body

One of my closest friends told me that I'm a little kid stuck in an adult's body, because I'm so attached to my childhood.  At first, I was a little annoyed.  Then it started to sink in.  Maybe she's right.

Today I wanted to share some of my favorite things from my childhood outside of sports cards and Star Wars.

Without sounding like too much of a nerd, I was always the kid who loved it when the annual book fair arrived at my elementary school.  My mother volunteered almost every year and I'd hang out and create a list of all of the books I wanted.  But the thing I look forward to the most was buying new posters for my bedroom walls.

While the girls fought over cute puppy posters... the boys were all about the sports cars.

My personal favorite as a prepubescent boy was the Lamborghini Countach.  What amazes me is that thirty years later these cars still look way ahead of its time.

Another thing I enjoyed growing up were video games.  Every year my family would take two or three ski trips to Lake Tahoe.  During the day, we'd go to Sierra Ski Ranch, Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, or Heavenly and hit the slopes.  At night... my parents would drop me and my cousins off at the Harrah's arcade with a two or three rolls of quarters while they gambled.  Today's parents use iPads and YouTube videos as baby sitters.  My parents used casino arcades.

If I got good grades and did my chores, I also earned TV time.  I've always enjoyed a wide variety of shows ranging from sports to comedies to dramas to cartoons.  One of my all-time favorite cartoons has to be classic 80's Transformers.  I owned a few of the toys, but they came out right about the time I was transitioning into a teenager.

Right around my middle school years, VHS rental stores were in full swing and my parents started letting me watch PG-13 and R-rated movies.  I'm sure my memories are exaggerated, but it seemed like I always rotated between Faces of Death, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Enter the Dragon.

Bruce Lee was the man.  Who am I kidding?  I'm still a huge fan thirty years later.

I've watched most of his mainstream movies multiple times each... although, I have to admit... I've never seen a single episode of The Green Hornet.  Maybe I'll track down some episodes online and check it out.  But for now... I have plenty of other comic book shows like The Walking Dead, Arrow, Daredevil, and Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D to keep me occupied.

Before I wrap up this post, I want to thank Ryan over at Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko for sending me all of the wonderful cards featured in this post.  It truly took me on a trip down memory lane... which is never a bad thing.

He also sent another nice addition to my unopened Japanese pack collection:

According to Ryan, it's from a 80's anime show called Bismark.  I've never heard of it before... but it looks like something out of Robotech... which is another one of my favorite 80's cartoons.

And finally... here's the final card in the care package:

I have no idea what year or set this card comes from, but it appears to be some sort of vintage Menko depicting a ninja.  And everyone knows that ninjas are cool.

Whatever it is... it's an awesome addition to my non-sports Japanese binder.

Thanks again Ryan for another generous care package.  Looks like I'll need to target some new Laird cards for your collection in the near future.

Until then... happy Sunday and sayonara!

Under Pressure

I've never had a single regret about becoming a teacher.  It's probably the best decision I've ever made.  Sure there are rough days... obnoxious students... and the occasional disgruntled parent.  But the pros far outweigh the cons... and I'm lucky that 99% of the time, I actually look forward to going into work and seeing my students.

With that being said... the past month has been insane.  I recently took over the Leadership class at my site while my administrator is out on maternity leave... and my workload essentially doubled overnight.

The good news is that they are the Leadership kids, which means they're independent and for the most part responsible, hardworking students.

The bad news is that I have to work much longer hours, which affects how much time I have to read blog posts, while publishing my own.

I have a pair of posts I've been working on during my free time.  One of them covers a very generous care package from Ryan over at Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko.  The other one summarizes my trip to two flea markets last weekend and involves thousands of Junk Wax Era cards.  I'm sure you guys can hardly wait... cough... cough.

Until then... here's a card I picked up back in September:

It's a 2012 Leaf Originals autograph of Hulk Hogan who was the biggest name in wrestling during my years of fandom back in the mid 80's.  Hogan's signature is the furthest thing from being rare, but this particular card has been sitting on my wantlist for a few years now.  I've always enjoyed this product and I thought today was a great day to finally write about it.

After all of the interesting conversations I overheard in with students, faculty, family, and friends about Tuesday's election... and plenty of them fishing for my opinion... I wanted to keep things simple for this post.  I believe in and support the current voting process.  I will support our 45th President... even if he wasn't the candidate I voted for... until he gives me a reason not to as our elected leader.  Like sports cards and most things in life... I try to give things the benefit of the doubt.

Who knows... maybe he truly does make America great again.  Whatever he does... I'm not envious of his new position.  I'm stressed out over teaching leadership.  Can't imagine the pressure of being one of the most powerful people on the planet feels like.

Last... and most importantly... I'm just proud to be an American.  Just like Hulk Hogan was back in the 80's when I cheered him on as a teenager.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Living Within Your Means

Digging myself out of debt back in the 90's was one of the greatest life lessons I ever learned.  It made me figure out how to manage my money and to avoid carrying a balance on my credit cards.  But most importantly... it taught me strategies to live within my means.

By the early 2000's, I was on the road to financial recovery and in 2001, I decided to sell the bulk of my collection to help pay off my debt and pad my savings, which I'd eventually use to buy my townhouse.

In 2008, I reached a point on the salary scale where I could afford to jump back into the hobby that was originally the center of my financial woes.  Only this time around... things were going to be different.  I had learned from my mistakes and decided to focus on being a "budget collector".  Instead of being the guy who busts tons of new product every week at card shops, I became the guy who loves standing around for hours digging through dime boxes at shows.

These days... I still enjoy an occasional dime box... but every now and then, I'll go out and add a big card to my collection.

Sometimes I'll go with a key vintage card like my 1956 Topps Jackie Robinson.  Other times I'll chase a highly desired rookie card like the 1984 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett.

Two weeks ago, I stumbled across this 2005 Sweet Spot Signatures card featuring Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera:

I've been trying to add another Pujols autograph to my collection, because I missed out on him during the early to mid 2000's and as soon as I saw this card, I immediately added it to my eBay watch list.

Both of these guys are probably first ballot hall of famers... and are considered two of the best hitters in recent years.  But until recently... Pujols autographs have been way out of my price range.  Patience paid off.  This card wasn't exactly "cheap".  When the bidding war ended, I paid $110 (+ $3.60 shipping).

Initially... I suffered some buyer's remorse, because that's what happens when you spend an entire month's card budget on a single card.  However... all of that went away as soon as it arrived in my mailbox last weekend.

In terms of dual signed cards, it's right up there with my 1999 Stadium Club Co-Signers card of Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones:

Both of these are nice consolation prizes... since owning the 1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr. dual signed card will never be anything but a pipe dream.   Owning the grand daddy of dual signed, packed pulled cards simply isn't living within my means.

Happy Wednesday, go Cubbies, and sayonara!