Real Heroes and Silly Times

When it comes to blogging, I've been kinda in a funk.  It stems from Blogger's recent issues with sharing our posts on reading lists.  Thankfully a few of you shared the TCDB blogroll... which is an excellent companion to the Blogger reading list.  Combined they have pretty much resolved the issue, but I'm not sure all of the wrinkles have been ironed out.

I caught my first bug of the school year and ended up taking yesterday and today off.  Figured I'd get back into blogger mode and write something... since I'm just laying around with DayQuil flowing through my body.

The past week or two, I've had anniversaries on my mind and they're all tied to 2001.  Here are a few cards that are related to each of them.  Let's start with the obligatory baseball card:

This might not feature a baseball player, but it features the 1988 Topps baseball card design:

2009 Topps Heritage American Heroes #49

Two weeks ago marked the 25th anniversary of 9/11.  That dreadful day David Lim was working at the World Trade Center with his K-9 partner, Sirius.

When the towers were struck, Lim secured Sirius in his kennel before rushing to the aid of others.  Although he survived, Sirius tragically did not.  If interested, you can read more about it here.  And if you're interested, here's an interview with Mr. Lim I found on YouTube where he discusses that morning.

I have heard plenty of definitions of what it means to be a "hero".  I've gotta imagine David Lim and Sirius fit most, if not all of them.

Two days before 9/11, HBO released the first two episodes of Band of Brothers.

2009 Topps Heritage American Heroes

American Heroism Relic #AH-WWII7

If you've never watched it, it's a miniseries that tells the story of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.  Simply put, it's one of favorite television shows of all-time.

HBO is celebrating the 25th anniversary of this show, so I decided to rewatch all ten episodes over the past two weeks.  World War II was before my time, but this show gives people a tiny peek into what some soldiers faced in Europe.  It's also a reminder that love trumps hate... and that we as a society should avoid war as much as possible.

2001 Wizards of the Coast Harry Potter #8

Gonna wrap things up with one more anniversary from 2001.  Back in August of 2001, Wizards of the Coast released their first Harry Potter TCG set.  I'm going to guess that most of you could care less about this.

However while laying in bed yesterday, I had YouTube playing in the background.  One of the videos mentioned these cards, which reminded me of a purchase I made ten years ago at the Santa Cruz Flea Market.  I wouldn't call myself a Harry Potter fanatic, but I did enjoy the eight movies.  And at the time, I figured $5 for a box of cards was a great deal.

2002 WOTC Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets #28

2002 WOTC Harry Potter Diagon Alley #26

2001 WOTC Harry Potter Quidditch Cup #11

2002 WOTC Harry Potter Adventures at Hogwarts #13

Well recently fans of the franchise (or maybe the game) have rediscovered this forgotten TCG and this has sent some of the singles soaring in sales over on eBay.  We're talking about triple digits for raw, completed sales.

I don't know much about this game, but it looks like this Albus Dumbledore is the Harry Potter version of Charizard:

2002 WOTC Harry Potter Adventures at Hogwarts #1

 

Last Saturday, an ungraded copy sold for over $1000 on eBay.  If you happen to have any singles from this game, you might want to dig them out.  These are silly times... especially in regards to trading cards.

Okay... I'd better heat up another bowl of chicken noodle soup and finish catching up on some of your blog posts.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Another Sort, Another Blogger Issue, & Another BBA

Another Sunday.  Another sort.  Another issue with Blogger.

This time... blog posts aren't popping up in Blogger reading lists.  Hopefully they resolve this issue as quickly as they did with the commenting one.

Can't worry about that right now, because it's time to sort some care packages from John (@ Johnny's Trading Spot) and Kenny (@ Torren' Up Cards).

Let's start with a flat rate box that John sent me two weeks ago.  The majority of the cards he sent my way were for my Japanese Athlete PC.

He sent me a good mix of retired and current players as well as a mixture of base, inserts, and parallels.

After sorting them into player lots, Masataka Yoshida's stack stood taller than everyone else combined.  Here are nine that stood out:

The cherry blossom card in the #3 spot is my favorite, because it's a Japanese Edition exclusive.  However there was another insert that stood out:

2024 Topps 1989 Topps The Real One #89B-14 (#'d 32/89)

At first glance this card looks like any other 35th anniversary insert.  Only this card lacks the usual glossy finish.

It's hard to tell in the scan, but Topps tried to mimic the original 1989 paper stock and added serial numbering to this insert parallel.

The other large stack contained a bunch of Masahiro Tanaka cards:

John also sent me some A's cards.  Unfortunately I misplaced the scan containing some of my favorites.  But here are two new Barry Zito jersey cards:

2003 Fleer Showcase Baseball's Best Jersey #BB-BZ

2003 Fleer Platinum Portraits Jersey #PP/BZ

The last time an A's pitcher won the AL Cy Young Award was twenty-four years ago.  Zito was the guy. 

Dave Stewart finished in the top 4 voting... four years in a row (1987 to 1990)... but never won the award.

1991 Baseball Card Price Guide Monthly #44

Stew was rewarded with this cool magazine card in 1991... the same year he led the MLB in earned runs allowed.  However A's fans will always remember his great run with the team more than those earned runs.

John also sent me a stack of 80's Topps Glossy All-Stars:

I've been putting together a collection of these sets from 1984 to 1991.  None of these were needed for the project, but five out of the six went into my player binders.

He also sent me some vintage non-sport singles:

1957 Topps Robin Hood #5

1954 Bowman US Navy Victories #21

1957 Topps Isolation Booth #14

I'm not building any of these sets... but each of these will be added to my non-sport sampler binder.

John gives away nine Greg Maddux cards every week.  I've won a few times.  Here are my latest winnings:

The Topps 206 Mini in the middle is the one I was most excited about.  Maddux is probably the 2nd largest player collection behind Tony Gwynn.  So anytime I can add a new card to the binders, it's a reason to celebrate.

I also won one of his Wacky Packages giveaways:

I was absolutely stoked to see this in the box.  John is the blogger responsible for getting me into collecting Wacky Packages and I'd say 80 to 90% of the ones sitting in my collection were gifts from him.

This particular sticker takes me back to my college years:

My buddy and I drove down to TJ a few times and one of the key memories is walking across the Tijuana River and instantly getting smacked in the face by the smell of raw sewage.  Good times.  There are a few other memorable moments... but those stories don't really fit into a card blog post.

Thank you John for the generous giveaways and the thoughtful care package.

Rounding out this post is another care package.  This one arrived the same week as John's... but from the other side of the planet.

Kenny hooked me up with a pack of 2026 Topps Series 2 Japan Edition:

Although there are cherry blossom parallels and koi fish versions of the 1991 insert set... the odds of pulling them aren't very good.  That's why I've decided to add this to my collection of unopened Japanese trading card packs.

Don't worry... I do have a pair of Japanese Dream Order game cards to show off:

2025 Dream Order #TBP01-G21

First up is Toronto's Kazuma Okamoto.  Next is Chicago's Munetaka Murakami:

2024 Dream Order #CBP01-S02

Each of these MLB rookies have hit 31 home runs this season.  And I'm excited to add both to my Japanese binders.

Thank you Kenny!

Not sure how many people will have the opportunity to see this post, but hopefully Blogger fixes the issue sooner than later.  If not... this could pose a huge problem for everyone who works hard to write blog posts about the hobby we love.  Only time will tell.

Fingers crossed.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

I just discovered on Night Owl's blog that Kenny has started a Blog Bat-Around.  He wants us to share our proudest collecting moments.

#1:  Becoming a blogger.

Before starting this blog, my hobby world revolved around card shows, card shops, message boards, eBay, and flea markets.  However the blogosphere has introduced me to more collectors than all of those areas combined.  Sure most are strictly online interactions, but I have met a fair share of bloggers in person.

#2:  Collecting 19+ on-card, pack pulled autographs of Mr. Padre.

2007 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius #SG-GW

This wasn't too challenging.  However after Rickey Henderson passed away two years ago, I realized that I probably won't be able to obtain 24 on-card, pack pulled autographs of him due to the rising cost of his signatures.  This also made me realize that I was very lucky to chase Gwynn autographs while they were plentiful and affordable.  It would never happen today.

#3:  Attending the final A's game at the Coliseum and owning the Topps Now card that commemorates it.

2024 Topps Now #760

This might be more of a fan accomplishment, but considering how important the A's are to my collecting focus... I felt like this should make the list.

The Struggle is Real

Anyone else struggling to comment on blog posts?

I've tried to comment on several blogs this morning and every time I get the "Publishing..." box without the comment actually being published.  I was able to leave a comment on a Word Press blog, but not on any Blogger blogs... including my own:

I'm hoping this is just a temporary glitch on Blogger's end... or a simple fix on mine, because commenting on your posts and responding to comments on my blog are a very important part of my hobby.  If anyone has any insight, please let me know down in the comment section below (assuming you are able to).

2026-27 School ID Card

Switching gears, I apologize for the lack of posts.  I was hoping to hammer out some Flea Market Finds, but the start of the school year is typically hectic.  Plus I've been more tired than usual, so when I get home I've been recharging my batteries watching tv rather than playing with my baseball cards.

I even missed out on publishing my annual birthday post.  Here are the trio of cards I've added to my Birthday PC since last year:

2017 Topps Now #547

Back on September 1st, 2017... Clayton Kershaw returned from the DL to help the Dodgers snap a five game losing streak.

Unfortunately the victory came at the expense of my favorite National League team.

2019 Topps Now #778

On September 1st, 2019... Justin Verlander pitched the third no-hitter of his career.

After walking Cavan Biggio in the bottom of the first inning, he shut down the final twenty-six batters he faced in the game (14 by strikeout).

2022 Topps Now #825

On September 1st, 2022... Spencer Strider struck out 16 against the Colorado Rockies to set an Atlanta Braves single game franchise record.

Warren Spahn holds the all-time franchise record with 18 strikeouts in a single game back in 1952.  At the time the Braves were in Boston and the Cubs were their opponents.

Speaking of birthdays, here's a cool present I received on Wednesday from one of my students:

1996 Collector's Edge President's Reserve #375

Stubblefield is one of his defensive coaches, so he got me a signed card for my birthday.

Well that's it for today.  I'm really hoping that the "comment" issue will be fixed soon.  Although reading blog posts are a huge part of my interaction with fellow collectors... exchanging comments is equally important.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Update

Don't have a solution to the problem, but Angus, John, and Greg have reached out to me to let me know that they tried to comment on this post without success.  However Jim was able to comment on this post.  Looks like it's impacting some people, but not everyone.