Box Busting Bonanza

When it rains, it pours.  That's the best way to describe my recent box busting experience.  Earlier in the season, I picked up three 2024 Topps super boxes.  You know... the ones that have a bunch of packs and an oversized box topper.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's what they look like:

2024 Topps Super Box Series 1 ($39.99 @ Fanatics)

2024 Topps Super Box Series 2 ($37.74 @ Target)

2024 Topps The Flagship Collection ($33.99 @ Costco)

I've been sitting on these (along with two from 2023) for months.  Just waiting for the right time to open them.  Well... my buddy gave me a 660ct. box filled with 2024 Topps Series 1 and 2 duplicates, so I decided to pop these open and build myself a flagship set.

Collation must suck this year, because I still fell sixty-two cards short:

Part of the issue is there are two or three inserts or parallels in every pack.  I love inserts and parallels, but I miss the days when you pulled two or three in the entire box.

Anyways, here's a look at five cool pulls from my boxes:

#1:  A Short Printed Rookie

2024 Topps #700

The only reason I caught this card was because the set build required me to sort the cards.  And when I did... I noticed two #700's and two different players:  Wyatt Langford & Jose Altuve.

Outside of a handful of guys, I haven't really keep tabs on rookies this season.  Had I heard of Langford?  Yeah.  But I couldn't tell you if he was having a solid year or not.  Overall... it seems like he had a decent year, but not good enough to earn AL ROY considerations.

I've already handed this card over to my buddy who hooked me up with his 2024 Topps duplicates in hopes of putting it towards the Jackson Merrill short printed rookie card.

#2:  My Very First Elly

2024 Topps Flagship Collection Box Topper #OTCSP-1

This was a really nice surprise.  This is the first Elly De La Cruz card I have ever owned and it's a short print.

These box toppers are a pain in the butt to store, but I ran out and bought a package of 6x9 top loaders just for this one.

#3:  The 1st Female Full-Time Coach in MLB History

2024 Topps Women in Baseball #WIB-4

I have wanted this Alyssa Nakken card since the first time I saw it on one of your blogs.  Now that I have this card out of the way, I'm planning on picking up the other four cards in the set.

#4:  Obligatory Oakland Athletic

2024 Topps Black Foil #599

Nick Allen may or may not be in the MLB two years from now, but regardless he can tell his grandchildren he had a nice looking 2024 Topps flagship card.

#5:  Needle in a Haystack

2024 Topps Chrome Stars of the MLB #CSMLB-20

Holy cow.  Topps flooded the hobby and my boxes with these inserts.  However, I actually really like the look of this Soto.  The Padres City Connect colors are perfectly paired with this design.  This particular one is of the (rarer, but not really rare) "Chrome" variety... so the refractor technology takes this card to the next level.

Well that's it for today.  Sorry I haven't been publishing posts the past two weeks.  It's been a little hectic around here.  Obviously... I had a chance to open up some boxes.  Just didn't have enough time to write about them until now.

That being said... I will be publishing several Flea Market Finds posts over the next two weeks... using a slightly different format in an effort to help me catch up with those posts as well.  Please stay tuned.

And I know I'm several months late to the flagship set building party, but if you need singles, shoot me an email.  Maybe we can help each other out.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Hits A Little Differently

As a collector who entered the sports card collecting hobby in the early 80's... I'm getting to the age where guys I pulled out of packs of cards are starting to get up there in age.  Unfortunately... it means that every now and then I hear the sad news about an athlete from my childhood passing away.

Last week was a rough one as two guys I admire for the contributions they made on the field/court died on the same day.

Monday afternoon I saw the news about Pete Rose pop up on ESPN.  Although I really only got a chance to see him play towards the end of his playing career, it was when he was chasing and breaking Cobb's all-time hits record.

1986 Leaf #260

He wasn't only the MLB Hit King... he was also one of the most popular athletes in our hobby.  I didn't really have my fingers on the hobby pulse back then, but the card collecting kids in my neighborhood sought his cards.

When he broke the Cobb's record at the end of the 1985 season, I only owned a handful of his cards.  Most notably... this one:

1982 Fleer #640

This card has stood out to me since 1982.  Back then, I just thought it was a cool father-son photo.  Later on this card took on a different vibe as there was a chance that Pete Jr. might end up having an MLB career himself.

Here's another 80's card of Rose that I really like:

1986 Fleer Future Hall of Famer #1

I never pulled a copy myself from a pack, but I did eventually add the complete set of six cards to my collection.  Out of the six guys on the checklist, five of them were first ballot hall of famers.  Part of this card's allure is Fleer all but guaranteeing collectors that Rose would be inducted one day.

I'll wrap up the Charlie Hustle portion of this post with five cool cards of him sitting in the collection:

Let's start off with an oldie, but goodie...

1970 Kellogg's #2

Outside of the cards sitting in my Topps sets, I only own a handful of vintage Pete Rose cards.  This one is my favorite.  I absolutely love the 1970 Kellogg's design.

Pete Rose's signature will never be considered rare.  He's right up there with Bob Feller in regards to baseball players with the most autographs floating around out there.  But that's not a bad thing.  It means you add his signature to your collection without breaking the bank.

Five years ago, I added this card to my collection for $21 ($17.50 + $3.50 shipping):

1982 Donruss #1

A few months earlier, I added this autograph to my collection:

1969 Topps #424

This card has some sentimental value to me, because it was purchased right after my mom passed away.  

Not sure how deep I covered it, but I was devastated emotionally at the time.  She was one of my best friends and was the main person who got me into the hobby.  Ironically... the hobby helped me deal with her death.

I know most of you aren't fans of slabbed cards, so let's wrap things up and transition back to 80's oddballs...

1986 Meadow Gold Milk Carton

I don't remember seeing these back in the 80's, but I did find this milk carton at a card show a few years ago for two bucks:

I'm such a sucker for food issue cards.  By the way... does anyone else kinda see Tom Brady in the Rose caricature on that milk carton?

Rounding out the Roses is this color matched box bottom:

1986 Topps Box Bottom #N

It's not quite as cool as Night Owl's O-Pee-Chee version, but it's pretty darn cool.

Rest in peace Mr. Rose!  I'll always admire how you played the game.  You remind me of my father... who always believed in giving his employers his best effort.  And like my mother, you definitely played a role in me becoming a card collector.  Thank you for that.

Eight hours before I heard about Pete, I heard about Dikembe Mutombo.  This one hit me a little differently, because he's only six years older than me. 

1991-92 Upper Deck #3

When he was a twenty-five year old rookie for the Denver Nuggets, I was a nineteen year old college student opening packs of 1991-92 Upper Deck basketball in hopes of pulling his slick looking rookie card.  Not having any prior knowledge of his brain tumor, the news of him passing away wasn't only sad... it was shocking. 

Rest in peace Mr. Mutombo!  I'm so happy that you played during the peak of my NBA fandom.  You will forever be remembered for blocking shots... and wagging your finger.

That's it for today.  Gonna try and hammer out a post highlighting my past three trips to the flea market before following the Seahawks, Packers, and Padres a little later in the afternoon.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Till Death Do Us Part

A week after the final A's game at the Oakland Coliseum... it's time to reveal my final wallet card.  But before I do... let's take a final look at the previous card that has resided in my wallet the past twenty months:

1992 Topps Kids #53

Normally I wouldn't swap out my wallet card after such a short time span, but I wanted to preserve the card I had stamped last Thursday's game:

The replacement is a copy of the card I originally wanted to get stamped:

2019 Topps #126

How cool would this card be with the addition of the date stamp?  Ugh.  I dropped the card (literally) in the worst way.

Anyways... in honor of the last A's game at the Coliseum... I figured this would be the perfect time to reveal my final wallet card.  This is the card that I will carry around the rest of my life... or God forbid... until my wallet gets lost or stolen.

I'm excited to see how long it takes for the Coliseum to fall apart like Bo's Mattingly over at Baseball Cards Come to Life!.

Happy Thursday and sayonora!

Extra Innings

Walk-up songs might not be too meaningful for some fans, but I gotta admit it played a pretty important role in the overall vibe of last week's game at the Coliseum.  I had originally planned on writing about it in last week's post, but forgot.

Here's a quick rundown of my favorite walk-up songs from the game and the players who chose them:

#3:  Ride Wit Me by Nelly

YouTube Link

This song came out back in 2001 and peaked at #3 on Billboard Hot 100.  I remember it being very popular with my 5th graders, which meant it received a lot of airtime in my classroom.

2024 Topps Trading Card Day Oakland SGA #OAK-1

Love it or not... it was blast from the past and pretty cool to hear the crowd shout "must be the money" in unison.

#2:  Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks

YouTube Link

Maybe it's because I've been a fan of Stevie since puberty... but I recognized this song within a couple of seconds of it blasting on the stadium speakers.

2024 Topps Trading Card Day Oakland SGA #OAK-5

I wonder why Rooker chose this for his walk-up song... since Nicks released it twelve years before he was born.

#1:  93 'Til Infinity by Souls of Mischief

YouTube Link

This is one of my favorite hip-hop songs from the 90's... so I was pumped to hear it come on each time this guy walked up to the plate:

2024 Topps Trading Card Day Oakland SGA #OAK-2

Gelof used Toosie Slide by Drake the entire 2024 season leading up to the final homestand, but changed it up to honor the city of Oakland where Souls of Mischief originated.

Honestly... as a current Oakland A's fan... it's not easy picking favorite players.  Because as soon as you do... they're typically traded for minor league prospects.  But if I were going to choose one, two, or three favorites today... these three would be a great place to start.

By the way... a special thanks to my co-worker who hooked me up with this pack of 2024 Topps Trading Card Day cards.  Her kids received two packs back in August at one of the home games and generously hooked me up with one of them.

Each pack contained five players and one advertisement card.  Here are the other two players:

2024 Topps Trading Card Day Oakland SGA #OAK-3

2024 Topps Trading Card Day Oakland SGA #OAK-4

Kudos to Topps for producing a special stadium giveaway involving cards.  And kudos to the Oakland A's for actually holding onto all five of these players for the entire 2024 season.

Okay.  Now this post is over.