North of the Border

Toronto swept the A's to open up the 2026 season.  It stung, but they're the defending American League champions.  Can't say I'm surprised.  In fact, if the A's aren't in the running in October... I'd be okay with the Blue Jays getting another shot at the Dodgers or whoever ends up representing the National League.

Today I'll be celebrating our neighbors to the north again as I update a recent project and show off some Canadian collectibles.

Let's start with my Dave Stieb O-Pee-Chee base card run that was kicked off a few weeks ago when Angus sent me four of Stieb's thirteen cards.

I found a seller on Sportlots who had five more for 20¢ each:

1987 O-Pee-Chee #90

1985 O-Pee-Chee #240

1984 O-Pee-Chee #134

1983 O-Pee-Chee #130

1982 O-Pee-Chee #380

With these in hand, I'm down to needing only his 1989 to 1992 O-Pee-Chee singles (which I purchased on Sportlots earlier today).

I'm debating on whether or not to complete Stieb's entire Topps base card run, which is identical to his O-Pee-Chee except for the addition of a 1993 Topps single.

Speaking of Angus, I wanted to highlight the final pieces of his December care package.  Let's start off with another Stieb:

1985 O-Pee-Chee Poster #22

These posters were inserted into packs of 1985 O-Pee-Chee baseball and are slightly smaller than a 5x7 print.

Next up is an 80's postcard featuring Youppi:

1988 Montreal Expos Photocards #NNO

There's no date printed on this postcard, but I found this image on TCDB.  Youppi was the official mascot of the Montreal Expos from 1979 to 2004.  When the Expos packed up and moved to DC, Youppi switched sports and became the Montreal Canadians mascot.

The final item he gave me is this really cool stamp booklet:

2019 Canadian Stamp Book

This is the view of the back and cover.  Here's a look at the stamps:

These are flippin' awesome.  Back in the Summer of 2013, my parents and I took a two week trip up to Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.  Vancouver left a great impression on me and my father.  We had talked a few times about going back up, but it never happened.  This stamp booklet is a nice reminder of one of my favorite travel destinations.  I'll be adding it to my small, yet sentimental stamp collection.

Last, but not least is a single O-Pee-Chee Empire Strikes Back card from John over at Johnny's Trading Spot:

1981 O-Pee-Chee Star Wars ESB #74

The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite movie from the original trilogy and this card captures one of the best scenes.  

I'm a big fan of Vader's bounty hunters... especially Boba Fett.

Like Angus... John has inspired me to track down more of my favorite singles from this set.  I haven't actually pulled the trigger and won any cards, but when I do... I'm sure it'll end up in a post.

Thank you Angus and John!

Here is today's question of the day:

Have you ever vacationed in Canada?  If so, do you have a favorite vacation spot north of the border?

If you live in Canada, have you ever vacationed in the United States?  Do you have a favorite vacation spot south of the border?

I look forward to reading and responding to your comments.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #187: Superfluous Stuff

Saturday's trip to the Branham Flea Market was picture perfect.  Great weather.  Tons of vendors.  And a guy with dime boxes.

Let's jump into my finds...

Purchase #2:  Old Newspapers  $5

I'm gonna start with my second find of the day, because my first purchase was arguably the best.  A vendor I hadn't seen before had a stack of 80's local newspapers.  This one was sitting on top and stirred my curiosity enough to take a peek: 

San Jose Mercury News (10/10/89)

The 1989 World Series will always be special to me.  It featured both Bay Area baseball teams which divided friends and family for a brief period.  

San Jose Mercury News (10/15/89)

San Jose Mercury News (10/16/89)

It's often remembered for the Loma Prieta Earthquake that was captured on live tv about thirty minutes before Game 3 was about to start.

San Jose Mercury News (10/29/89)

The Argus (10/29/89)

And it's the last time the Oakland A's were World Series Champions.

Why are these items superfluous?  Because I'll never really do anything with these newspapers.  If I owned the copy of the Oakland Tribune celebrating the A's win, then maybe I'd frame and display it on my man cave wall (when I buy my dream house).  But these will remain in a box in the garage.

Purchase #3:  Topps Card Locker  $5

Remember when Topps would offer up these sports card lockers on their wax wrappers?

I'm pretty sure I begged my mom for one, but I don't think I ever got one.

I had one of the knockoff brands you could find in those Sears and Service Merchandise catalogs instead.  It took me forty years, but now I can say that I'm the proud owner of an official Topps one.

Why is this item superfluous?  This is one of those items that can no longer function as it was originally intended.  The card trays inside are cracked and even if they weren't, there are much better ways to store your card collection.  But don't worry, it's not going into cold storage with the newspapers.  I proudly have it on display in my office.

Purchase #4:  Comic Books  $2

Image Deathblow and Wolverine #1 (1996)

Image Deathblow and Wolverine #2 (1996)

These two comics were actually part of an eight comic book lot.  These were the only two that I was semi-familiar with.  I knew the vendor and we were catching up for a few minutes.  The least I could do was buy some quarter comic books sitting on his table.

Why are these items superfluous?  I don't really collect comic books (unless they're too cheap to pass up).  I bag and boarded the two pictured comic books and added it to my comic book box.  The rest are headed into the classroom for my students to enjoy.

Purchase #5:  Signed Baseball  $10

Kurt Suzuki is one of my all-time favorite Oakland Athletics.

When I saw this sitting on this guy's table, I immediately recognized the signature and asked for a price.  The vendor wanted $15, which is probably fair.  But it was a little more than I wanted to spend, so I walked away.

When I came back down the row... I asked if he'd take $10 and he accepted.

Why is this item superfluous?  It's superfluous, because I already own a TriStar authenticated signed baseball of Zuk.  Do I really need two signed baseballs of his?  Of course not.  But for the price, I figure I'll bring this into the classroom with the comics and display it on my collectibles shelf.

Purchase #1:  Dime Box Cards  $35

I got to the flea market a little after 7am and found these dime boxes within ten minutes.  Unfortunately, another guy had already purchased all of the baseball cards.  Honestly this is probably a blessing in disguise.  As much as I would have enjoyed going through boxes of 10¢ baseball cards, I honestly don't have a lot of free time right now.

That being said... I found a little over 350 singles.  Most of them were NASCAR, UFC, WWE, and non-sports inserts and parallels.  Here's a look at a few of my favorites:

There was a ton of Japanese wrestlers:

My favorite?  This shiny yellow parallel of Asuka:

2021 Topps Chrome Attax Yellow Refractor #9 (#'d 63/99)

Why are these items superfluous?  Outside of a handful of cards for my collection and some care package filler for fellow bloggers, most of this stuff was purchased because they were too cheap to pass up.

But that's the thing about collecting stuff like cards, comics, signed baseballs, and newspapers.  It's all superfluous.  I can't think of a single thing in my collection that is a necessity.  It's all extra items in my life that aren't needed or necessary to survive.  But they're a huge part of my life and have the power to turn a frown... upside down.  So I'm going to keep hunting for superfluous stuff at my local flea markets.

The next one is less than two weeks away, so stay tuned.  Until then...

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Four Six-packs

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin... into the future.  But I finally had a chance to sit down in my office yesterday, open some packages, and sort some cards.

Today I'm gonna share four sports card sextets sent to me from three sports card bloggers.  First up are six new cards for my 2025 Topps Holiday set build:

Chris over at The Collector sent me these a few weeks ago... leaving me with four cards left:

As soon as I have a few minutes to update a few other sets, I'm gonna place an order on Sportlots and clear out my cabinet containing a bunch of sets in progress.

He also sent me these six cards:

The Griffey was sort of a head scratcher, since I haven't really advertised my collection of his cards.  But I'll happily add it and all of the others cards seen here into my collection.  Thank you Chris!

Next up is a six pack of cards from the other Chris in our blogosphere (Nachos Grande):

Most people know I collect A's and Padres, but not everyone knows about my Expos or Surfer PC.  Thanks Chris!

The final six cards were part of a jam packed PWE containing a bunch of Greg Maddux cards from John over at Johnny's Trading Spot:

Outside of my Steve Largent PC, I don't have any of my team or player collections listed in TCDB.  But I'm guessing Maddux is my third or fourth largest player collection (behind Gwynn, Henderson, and possibly Ichiro).  Out of the eighteen cards he sent, these six were new to my binders.

In addition to this PWE, John also sent me a medium size flat rate box that I also opened and sorted yesterday.  But it's going to take me a little more time publish the contents of that package.

In the meantime, you should head over to his blog and join in on his weekly giveaway.  Thanks John!

Well that wraps up another post.  But before I forget, here is today's question:

Most of us know each other's main PC's.

Do you have any smaller, lesser known collections?

If not, maybe there are other things you collect outside of cards.

For example, I collect cards featuring Bernese Mountain Dogs, athletes born and raised in San Jose, and a ton of non-card related stuff like LP's, Legos, and video games.

I look forward to reading and responding to your comments.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!