Keep the Bologna

According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans are expected to consume around 150 million hot dogs tomorrow in celebration of America's birthday.  Considering Oscar Mayer is one of the best selling hot dog brands, I figured I'd take the time to share a baseball card set the company produced back in 1994 to honor some American and National League baseball's superstars.

However before we start breaking down the set, I wanted to quickly thank Peter over at Baseball Every Night.  Last Friday he wrote about the John Kruk in this set... which inspired me to head over to eBay and purchase the complete 30 card set.

1994 Oscar Mayer #14

Based on what I read in the Sports Collectors Digest 2008 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, Oscar Mayer included one of these discs (2.5" in diameter) into specially marked packages of bologna.

I originally fell in love with this set, because it's an oddball food issue with a nice design and well-cropped photographs.  Plus there's a creative action feature built into the card that I'll share in a little bit.  Before we check it out, let's look at the two boxes this set came in:

Oscar Mayer also offered collectors the opportunity to purchase American League and National League boxes which contained 15 cards (half the set) each.

Based on the order form included in each of these boxes, collectors could send in 3 UPC's and $1.95 for a box with a limit of 5 boxes of each league for every household or address.  Attached to the order form were a list of the players included in each box as well as directions for the previously mentioned action feature:

The same information was included on the back of the boxes:

Although each league was given their own box, the checklist is numbered as one set of thirty discs.  The first fifteen discs feature American League players and the National League players make up the final fifteen discs.

Here's a look at the set in its entirety:

At the time, each league had 14 teams... and Oscar Mayer made sure to include one player from each franchise.  With a 30 card checklist, that meant two lucky teams had two players representing them in the set:  Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.

Although all thirty players on the checklist were indeed familiar names in the league... only ten of these guys went on to be inducted into Cooperstown:  Ken Griffey Jr., Paul Molitor, Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, Tony Gwynn, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, and Ryne Sandberg.

If you're a player or team collector... singles are pretty affordable on COMC.  Personally I wanted the complete set, so I opened my wallet and pulled out $10.45 ($4.90 + $5.10 shipping + 45¢ tax).

One of the cards I picked up from the 8 for $1 card show box was an extra Frank Thomas... which allowed me to do this:

This is the pop-up feature that's built into each card.  As you can see, in addition to the card becoming three dimensional... statistics and player trivia are also revealed.  

I didn't photograph it, but the answer to the trivia question appears on the back of the question.

In case you're wondering... once you decide to utilize the pop-up feature, the card will never be the same.   The other major flaw is the lack of team logos on the player's photographs.  But personally, I think the pros outweigh the cons and was very happy to add this 90's oddball set to my collection.

What about you?

Any thoughts on these cards?  Anyone planning on eating hot dogs tomorrow?

I'm more of a burger guy myself.  Have a safe and fun 4th of July!  Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Not Just for Kids

Last week, Daniel over at It's like having my very own Card Shop asked his readers "what other cards do you have in your collection that pair with other cards?".  Nomar Garciaparra's 1992 Topps Traded Team USA rookie card and Mia Hamm's 1994 Upper Deck World Cup card was my response.

Unfortunately... I ran into a problem.  I don't own the 1994 Upper Deck World Cup card.

Then on Monday, I read about a graded 1992 SI for Kids card of Mia Hamm selling for $34,440 over the weekend.  The little mouse wheel in my brain began to spin, so I grabbed my SI for Kids binder off of my shelf in hopes of finding the card.

Unfortunately... I don't own that single either.  But I did discover an uncut sheet:

SI for Kids August 1992

Here's the athletic couple's rookie cards paired together:

1992 Topps Traded #39T

1992 SI for Kids #71

Here's a peek at the card backs...

Now some of you might be wondering... why I'd have a binder full of Sports Illustrated for Kids cards sitting on my shelf.  Well... actually I have three.  I've been a fan of these cards since the 90's and have been actively trying to put together a master set for almost a decade.  How close am I?  Not close.  But people like Rod over at Padrographs send me singles and sheets from time to time... and of course I'm always on the lookout when I go to the flea market or card shows.

That's why I was absolutely stoked to find a bunch at the card show on Saturday in the guy's 8 for $1 box.  Here's what I picked up:

He had probably 100 to 200 singles, but my stack was already toppling over... so I focused on some of the bigger names in sports or people I collect.  My favorite find was this guy:

1990 SI for Kids #152

You don't have to know anything about skateboarding to recognize this guy.  Not sure if skateboarders have rookie cards, but if they do... this is it.

In regards to bargains... this card was by far the best deal I found.  Graded copies sell for hundreds.  A raw copy fetched $175 on eBay last week.  There's even a reprint that SI for Kids created back in 2004 that sells for $10 to $25.

When I checked my binder for Mia... I looked for Tony too:

SI for Kids May 1990

This is the oldest SI for Kids sheet in my binder... although I own a handful of complete issues with intact sheets that are older than this one.

Well there you have it.  Another day.  Another card show purchase.

But before you go, here is today's question of the day:

What are you thoughts on Sports Illustrated for Kids cards?  Do you collect them?

Personally... I'm drawn to them, because of these key reasons:

#1:  They feature women athletes.

#2:  They feature a wide variety of sports and athletes.

#3:  They are magazine cards... which I think are totally awesome.

As usual... I look forward to reading and responding to your comments.  I truly appreciate all of you who take the time out of your busy schedules to read these posts.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

A Three Hour Tour

Adrenaline.  That is exactly what was rushing through my body as I stepped through the doors and into the Bay Area Sports Cards & Collectibles Expo this past weekend.  It was without any exaggeration the best card show I had attended in years.

The promoter advertised 200 tables... and I believe it.  It was held in an old Forever 21 store, so the venue was huge and dealers were plentiful and spaced out really well.

In fact, the only downside were two problems I encountered.  The first one involved a brief five minute period when some people joined me at a table and had zero regard for personal space or common courtesy.  The vendor had six to ten super shoe boxes lined up and these people decided to start digging into the same box as me.  Had I not been in the last box... I would have moved... but I only had two rows left and refused to budge.  I stood my ground as one of them bumped my elbow multiple times.

The other issue wasn't anyone's fault... but my own.  The show might have been the largest I attended in decades, however I only managed to check out five or six dealers' booths.  Why?  That's because I spent three hours with one dealer.  and by the time I was finished, I was tired and my back was sore.

I'm not complaining though, because he was the first dealer I stopped at and I'm glad I spent most of my budget with him.  This is the image that caught my eye and made me stop at his booth:

I'm a sucker for bargains and right off the bat, I noticed a dollar table with complete sets, Kenner SLU's, stadium giveaways, and other knick-knacks.  I ended up picking up eighteen items for $15:

  

Outside of the Hank Aaron media guide, I don't have plans to write about any of these dollar items in the near future.  However if there's anything you'd like to see in more detail, leave a comment down below and I'll try to accommodate you.

The vendor had a bunch of cards too.  I ended up focusing on his bargain boxes which were broken down into three categories: 8 for $1, 5 for $1 (or 25¢ each), and 10 for $4 (or 50¢ each).

On Sunday, I showed off this shoebox filled with goodies I picked up from his bargain bins.  There is honestly way too much to show off in a single post, so I'll be writing about the contents of this box throughout the summer.

However, here's a sampling of what I picked up...

The cards featured in the above 9-pocket page were pulled from the dealer's 8 for $1 boxes.  If you wanted to know how I could spend three hours at one booth, it's because I sifted through every single box this guy had.

Here's a look at some of the stuff I purchased from his 50¢ bin:

These boxes were mainly serial numbered cards, but there were some other items like rookie cards, autographs, and memorabilia cards.

Honestly the 8 for $1 and 5 for $1 boxes held way better bargains, so I focused most of my attention and money on those.

Most of the oversized stuff you see in this box were from the vendor's 5 for $1 boxes.

In honor of today being National Camera Day, I figured I'd show case this awesome Vladimir Guerrero card I purchased for 20¢:

1998 Topps Super Chrome #3

Thanks to bloggers like Nick and Gavin, this image has been on my radar for awhile.  This Super Chrome version looks exactly like his regular base card, but is almost twice as large.  Unfortunately, I had to restore it a little as all of the Super Chrome cards I purchased were a little hazy out of the box: 

But it wasn't anything a microfiber towel, some water, and a little elbow grease couldn't handle.

Here are the other Super Chrome singles I grabbed from his box:

In hindsight, I think the dealer had a complete set.... but I only pulled guys who fit into my Player PC's.

My favorite from the bunch is this Clemente:

1998 Topps Super Chrome #21

The original plan was to show off a few more oversized singles, but I think I'll just wrap up this post on a high note.  If you want to see more goodies from this box, then you are in luck... because there will at least be a few future posts dedicated to them.

In the meantime...

When you think of great photography, is there any card in your collection that immediately comes to mind?

I look forward to reading your responses.  Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Memory Loss

The idea of losing my memory is pretty scary.  I've accepted the fact that many of my childhood memories have been lost over time, but I always figured that my brain was just clearing out room for new memories.  Then something happened to me yesterday that made me realize that even some of my newer memories are fading as well.

Yesterday... I attended my first card show in over fifteen months.  It was the best show I've attended since I returned to the hobby in 2008, but that's not really the focus of this post.  I'll recap it in a future post.

Today's post is about my meetup with Mr. Haverkamp.  I know some of you have made trades or have received care packages from him... but for those who haven't... he's a blog supporter who will comment on posts from time to time.  I've been fortunate enough to meet up with him on numerous occasions.

While walking around the show, I noticed him helping out his friend who was set up.  We started chatting and he pulled out some cards that he had set aside for me... and that's where the memory loss portion of this post begins.

The first card he showed me was this:

1964 Topps #352

I wasn't quite sure how this Red Sox card fit into my collection, but before I could ask... he mentioned that I had wrote about collecting cards featured in the Baseball Card Bible: The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book.

I had totally forgot about that post... which was written only 175 days ago.  However as soon as he mentioned the book... I remembered.

Then he pulled out another card:

1954 Topps #189

This time... I recognized the card... but couldn't pinpoint how I knew it.  Before I could start stressing over my poor memory, he asked me if I needed this card for my San Jose State PC.

That's when I pulled out my phone to search my blog which revealed that I own a signed copy of the 1994 Archives reprint in a post I wrote 427 days earlier... but had totally forgotten about it.

Thankfully he didn't.  If I ever needed motivation to continue blogging... this would be it.  I need to preserve my memories in writing... just in case I don't remember them later on down the road.

The third card he showed me was this signed minor league card of Kurt Suzuki:

2005 Grandstand California League Top Prospects #NNO

I think this is the first time I've ever seen this card before.

Then again... maybe I saw it years ago and forgot.  I'm going to try extra hard to keep this cool autograph in the memory bank.

Maybe I should keep this Post-It note that was attached to the penny sleeve to help me.

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini #309

2001 Bowman Heritage #239

Thank you Jim for taking the time to remember special collections that I'm working on... and for these three cards, the A&G mini, and the new Yoshii for my Japanese PC.  It was nice catching up and talking shop.  Now that I have your wantlist of Schmidts, I'll try to track something down for you.  If not... the next time we hang out, I'll buy you lunch and a beer.  Have fun at The National!  Hope you're able to finish the 1953 Bowman Color set build.

As for the rest of you...

Do you ever forget a set build, a card project, or a certain collection you're working on?

I look forward to reading your comments and responding to them.  And stay tuned... I'm going to try and recap some of my card show purchases on Tuesday.  Here's a peek at some of the stuff I picked up...

Happy Sunday and sayonara!