BBA: The Blogger National 2026

There was a time when I would have jumped at the opportunity to attend The National Sports Collectors Convention.  The only thing holding me back was money.  These days it's way more than finances keeping me away from the largest card show of the year.

It's the timing.  The NSCC is always scheduled right around the time I'm getting ready for the new school year.

It's my back.  I've heard that this show is huge.  Standing around at a local mall show digging through boxes starts to wreak havoc on my lower back after 3 or 4 hours.  I have no idea what the NSCC would do to me.

And it's the crazy crowds.  Based on what I've heard, the NSCC crowds are insane.  Thinking about it gives me anxiety.  Bottom line... the older I get... the less I enjoy standing shoulder to shoulder with people.

Thankfully Matt over at Cards over Coffee started a Blog Bat-Around for collectors who aren't attending the show.  He wants us to show off some of our coolest cards or recent mail days as a way of us getting together in our blogosphere instead of in a large showroom floor.  This is much more my speed.

Let's start off with something that's right up Matt's alley:

2006 Rittenhouse Battlestar Gallactica

Season One Autograph #NNO

Not sure if he's a Battlestar Galactica fan, but I know he enjoys collecting autographs of celebrities.

One of the things I did over summer break was binge watch the entire four seasons.  It's definitely one of my favorite television shows and Grace Park is one of my biggest celebrity crushes.  When I finished the show, I wanted to add her Season One signature to my collection.  It pairs perfectly with the Season Three autograph I purchased years ago:

2008 Rittenhouse Battlestar Gallactica

Season Three Autograph #NNO

I've made a few eBay purchases over the summer, but I'm hoping to write dedicated posts for them.  However I do want to show off this blog-inspired purchase:

1977 Sertoma Stars Puzzle Backs #NNO

I saw someone post a single (or a few singles) from this set.  It's one that I had never seen before, so I started doing some digging and it led me to purchasing the Joe Jackson.

There are a few others cards from this set that I'd like to add to the collection like Satchel Paige and Lou Gehrig, but for now Jackson will suffice.

The card backs are puzzle pieces that when put together feature the 1913 Pittsburgh Nationals.  I did some digging on the internet and the gentleman on this puzzle piece is Fred Clarke, a hall of famer and the manager of the Nationals that season.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to remember where I saw this set.  If you recently blogged about any 1977 Sertoma Puzzle Backs, please comment down below and I'll give you credit.

Switching gears... I want to show off another present from Ryan's (@ SumoMenkoMan) advent calendar.  However let's take a peek at the haiku riddle first:

I immediately knew he was referring to these gachapon balls, which come out of vending machines (that are really popular in Japan).  

Here's what I ended up pulling:

The first three contained key chains.  Two were mini Star Wars action figures and one featured Mt. Fuji.  Inside of the 4th ball was another Mt. Fuji related item:

It's a draw string pouch that I'll probably use to hold spare change in my car.

This might seem like a weird time to show off these gachapons, but I recently opened up them as part of my summer sort.  I also wanted to note that if I ever actually attend the NSCC, chances are I'd be meeting up with Ryan and hopefully a few of you.

If you check out Matt's post, he shared some stuff that Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders recently sent him.  Dennis also sent me a care package (back in December) that I opened up this morning.  I was going to use it as part of this Sunday's Sort, but this post seems more appropriate.

Here are the highlights:

1982 Fleer Stamps #123

Let's start with the oldest item in Dennis' care package.  It's a third year Rickey oddball... and it's fantastic.  Rickey loves stamp collecting.

Later in the decade, Sports Illustrated decided to produce a new magazine titled Sports Illustrated for Kids.  Each issue included trading cards like these:

Sports Illustrated for Kids Series 3

Technically these nine football cards were released in the early to mid 2000's.  The first series cards looked like this:

2004 SI for Kids Series 3 Throwback #341

This card is a reprint of Emmitt's Series 1 card that was released back in 1991.  The key difference is the original SIFK logo was replaced by the silver SIFK 15th logo in the bottom left corner.

As we transition into the 90's... we're gonna see some truly special cardboard.  Card companies competed with each other to win over collectors and what transpired was an explosion of ingenuity and creativity that ultimately reshaped the hobby.  I understand and respect that it's not everyone's cup of tea... but I truly love 90's trading cards.

I'll let the cards explain why...

1999 Skybox E-X Century E-X-Quisite #7

This is one of those cards that you need to hold in your hand to appreciate.  This gorgeous insert set combines up and coming MLB stars with acetate and cardboard.

Here's another card that utilizes acetate:

1997 Upper Deck Amazing Greats #AG3

Companies also started printing trading cards on wood too... like the above A-Rod.  I wasn't sure why Dennis sent me this card, but upon closer inspection, it revealed this tiny flaw:

Yup.  This is another nice addition to my Damaged Card PC.

Getting back to the 90's...

1995 Pinnacle Museum Collection #201

This card blew me away when I saw it in the stack.  Pinnacle's dufex parallels might not be as shiny as refractors from the era, but they are still attractive... especially when paired with stellar photography.  I don't usually like to pick favorites, but today this card claims the title.

The 90's opened the floodgates for other parallels, like these color bordered ones: 

2010 Topps Opening Day Blue #115

2011 Bowman Green #174

These two parallels might not have the same eye appeal as the Rickey, but honestly that can be applied to 99% of the parallels from the 2000's moving forward.

They also introduced memorabilia cards to collectors in the mid 90's.  At the time, it was kind of a big deal to have a company purchase game used uniforms, cut them up, and insert swatches into cards, because it allowed collectors to own a piece of the game:

2003 UD Authentics Star Quality Game Used #SQ-HN (#'d 027/350)

2005 Bowman Sterling Jersey #BS-EC

2006 Bowman DP&P Futures Game Relics #FG39

The 2000's saw the memorabilia card market boom.  I feel like card companies have shot themselves in the foot with vague COA's and event-worn jerseys.  Thankfully the Nomo and Suzuki both state that the embedded jersey swatches were indeed worn in a game.

A few years later (not exactly sure when), card companies started creating manufactured relics like this cool commemorative coin card:

2020 Topps Player Medallion #TPM-MC

Although some manufactured relics can come off as being cheesy... I actually like this particular coin card.

Thank you Dennis for this generous care package.  I apologize it too me so long to open it up.

I'd also like to thank Ryan for the very cool gachapons.  If I ever go to Japan, I could see myself going crazy at these vending machines.

And a special thanks goes out to Matt for inspiring this Blog Bat-Around.  Hopefully a few of you will decide to join in on the fun.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Garage Sale Grabs #1: Private & Personalized

When it comes to shopping for collectibles locally... I prefer flea markets over antique stores, card shops, card shows, social media, or garage sales.  That being said... there's no way I'm passing up the opportunity for a private garage sale with items specifically catered to me.

That's what happened back in April when this woman was helping out with her friend's estate sale.  She had invited me to a street sale, but by the time I arrived, some of the sports related items had already been sold.  She told me there were still plenty of boxes that hadn't been sorted or organized at her house and invited me to come over the following weekend to see for myself.

When I arrived, she had four tables spread out in her driveway and garage with a ton of sports and card related items.  The gentleman's collection was truly impressive.  Unfortunately most of the interesting stuff was more than I was willing to pay.  I did find a few items within my budget...

Purchase #1:  1967 Topps Posters Lot  $50

This was the item I was most excited about.  I really love the design of the 1967 Topps Posters and when I saw that the lot included Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron, I immediately set aside the lot.

1967 Topps Posters #6

1967 Topps Posters #11

The posters were stored in two pocket PVC pages (the thicker gauge plastic pages that people used in the 80's), which made removing the posters a challenge.  They're printed on very thin paper (like newspaper), so they're very fragile (especially along the folds).  

1967 Topps Posters #12

1967 Topps Posters #15

As a result, more than half of these posters are torn or have missing pieces.  I should have examined them at the garage sale.  If I had, I would have asked her to reduce the price or put it back.

Purchase #2:  Ticket Stubs  $40

Giants vs. Dodgers 9/30/99 Ticket Stub

This ticket stub is from the last San Francisco Giants' game at Candlestick Park, which is one of the ballparks from my childhood.  As much as I wanted to add this to my collection, her asking price was a little steep.

I asked her if she'd toss in this ticket stub:

Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran 6/20/80 Ticket Stub

She had a stack of these at the flea market.  This was another situation where I should have paid closer attention to what I was buying.  I thought this was an actual ticket stub to attend the fight.  However the fight took place in Montreal, Canada... not Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In other words, this was a ticket stub to watch the fight on CCTV at the Sioux Falls Arena.  At least it's content for a blog post.

Purchase #3:  Vintage Lot  $70

The third and final purchase ended up being the best deal... with a pretty cool surprise.  It consisted of ten vintage sports cards:

The key card was the Willie McCovey rookie card:

1960 Topps #316

This is a card I have wanted to own for a long time.  I always assumed it was a high valued card (even in poor conditions), but lower grade copies like this one can be found for under $50... sometimes under $25.

I also added this reasonably priced HOF rookie card to the stack:

1952 Bowman #5

Hidden among the eight remaining cards was this interesting surprise as this card ended up being worth more than the McCovey and Minoso combined:

1963 Post Cereal #119

At first glance, it looks like your standard 60's Post Cereal card.  However after doing a little digging, I discovered that Willie Davis is one of the short prints in the set.

There's also a Jello version of Mr. Davis which is more common and affordable.  The easiest way to spot the difference is look at the red line in the stats area.  If it ends where the blue stars end, then the Davis is from a Jello box.  If the red line extends well past the blue stars, then it's a Post Cereal card.

Well that wraps up my first trip to a garage sale in years.  Not sure if I'm gonna start seeking them out on a regular basis, but if I do... I'll start a Garage Sale Grabs series.

It's not high on the priority list, but you never know.

Until then...

What's the coolest item you have ever found at a garage sale?

I look forward to reading and responding to your comments down below.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!