A Blogger Inspired Purchase w/an Update

Are you ready for some flea market posts?  I hope so, because I have two to three posts worth of purchases that I'll be sharing soon.  There's even a card show purchase I made that hasn't been scanned and put away.

On a more productive note, I did scan two care packages containing forty-six cards for my 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter set build.  The first one was a PWE from Bo (@ Baseball Cards Come to Life!) containing eighteen cards for my set:

Greg over at The Collective Mind sent me thirty-nine cards.  Eleven were cards that Bo also sent.  Twenty-eight were unique:

The two bloggers helped bring my 2006 Topps A&G wantlist from 130 cards down to 84.  

Before

After

Thanks to Bo and Greg.... the set build is 76% complete (266/350) with 25 of the 84 missing cards being short prints.  My Sportlots focus will be on my 2011 Topps Update set, but as soon as that is complete I'm gonna try and wrap this one up.

In the meantime... here are a trio of Magic the Gathering Doctor Who cards I purchased off of eBay last week:

2023 Magic The Gathering Universes

Beyond Doctor Who #0148

2023 Magic The Gathering Universes

Beyond Doctor Who #0005

2023 Magic The Gathering Universes

Beyond Doctor Who #0003

I remember seeing Doctor Who pop up on PBS when I was a kid, but I never stuck around to watch it.  Then in the mid 2000's, I started watching the show when The Ninth and Tenth Doctors were piloting the Tardis with Rose Tyler.

Joe over at The Shlabotnik Report showed off The Fourth Doctor on his blog, which motivated me to pick up these three.

Well that's an update on my 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter set build as well as my latest blog inspired purchase.

My next post will most likely be the first half of my flea market finds from three weeks ago.  Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Buy Dirt

One week left.  This time next week, I'll be on summer break.  It's not technically a break... since I'm sharing a summer school contract... but the stress of the regular school year is behind me and it's time to focus on me, things around the house, and of course... cards.

But I still have one week left.  Until then, I wanted to share a quick song inspired post.

On my way into work this morning, I was flipping through radio stations and this song was on.  Not sure how many of you appreciate country music, so I'll just get to the point.  The song is called "Buy Dirt" and it immediately made me think of a purchase I made back in December:

This 2 ounce jar is filled with Oakland Coliseum dirt from the final A's game back on September 26th, 2024.  I bought it from an online store called Last Dive Bar which celebrates baseball and memories at the Coliseum.

According to the original ad, one of the owners collected a bunch of the dirt which he shared with their customers for (cough, cough) nominal price.

1984 Mother's Cookies Oakland A's #28

2019 Topps #126

Fifty bucks sounds like a ridiculous amount of money for a small amount of dirt that may or may not be from the last A's game at the Coliseum.  However most of you know how memorable this game was to me as an A's fan who grew up attending games there.

2024 Topps Now #760

2024 Topps Now #761

So when this item became available back in December during my prep period... I immediately added it to my cart and checked out.  I'm glad that I did, because they quickly sold out within a few hours.

The Last Dive Bar still sells these jars and Coliseum dirt, but they've updated the product description.  I'm glad they did, otherwise I'd be way more skeptical about the authenticity of the dirt.

I know this isn't exactly what Jordan Davis and Luke Bryan meant when they sang "Buy Dirt", but I appreciate the reminder to finally write about this purchase.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Best Day Ever!

Three months ago... I won the Banana Ball Ticket Lottery and purchased tickets for my friend and her mom.  A few weeks ago, the plans changed and I was going in her mom's place.

Part of me was excited, because I have wanted to go to a Savannah Bananas game since I heard about them two years ago.  On the other hand, as I have mentioned in previous posts... things are a little hectic with end-of-the-year activities... so I was feeling a little anxious.  But if the title wasn't a hint... it ended up being a really awesome experience.

I was going to document the entire trip in this post, but after realizing most people don't care about where we shopped and what we snacked on during the drive... 50% of the original post ended up on the cutting room floor.

Let's get to the interesting stuff (well the stuff I find interesting)...

We arrived at Angels Stadium... about five hours before the game.  Temperatures were in the low 90's, but we were stuck standing around on the black asphalt with hardly any shade to be found.  The first hour or so wasn't too bad, but thing got a little heated from about 3:30 to 6pm.  Literally.

While everyone waited to enter the ballpark, the Savannah Bananas provided fans with lots of entertainment like singing contests, music, and interactive games.  However standing around on black asphalt in the extreme heat really took its toll on us (especially me).  There was a point where I thought I might pass out.  Thankfully after they opened up the gates... we found a place to hang out in the shade and cool off.

However before we went into the stadium, we grabbed we some Banana merch:

The first time around, I bought a hat (to provide me with some shade), a shirt, and a set of their trading cards (see down below).  A little later in the evening, we got back in line because my friend wanted to exchange her shirt for a different size.  That's when I grabbed foam fingers for each of us.

After recharging our batteries, we started walking around the stadium and eventually made our way to our seats:

It might be a little hard to tell... but we were in the last row of the upper deck.  Even though I have been to this stadium before (back in the 90's), I didn't remember how steep those steps were.  It kinda freaked my friend out.  Outside of the Star Spangled Banner and a few tributes... her butt was firmly planted in her seat.

Now if you've never heard of the Savannah Bananas, they are baseball's version of the Harlem Globetrotters.  It's baseball with a bunch of gimmicks built in to make things fun and interesting.

Here's a quick look at how things are different from the baseball we're familiar with:

Baseball traditionalists probably might not appreciate this style of baseball... but if you have kids and an open mind... then I highly encourage you to attend one of their games.  There's a minor league vibe with all of the mini-games and interactive events between the fans and the teams.

One of my favorite moments was the baby race right before the bottom half of the first inning (skip ahead to 13:30):

Oops!  I got a little ahead of myself.  One of the things I was most excited about were the special guests the Bananas bring out.  The first special guest was Southern California native and 2004 Heisman Trophy winner: Matt Leinart...

He was selected to throw out the first pitch of the game:

One of the quirky rules is that whatever the person throws (ball or strike) actually counts in the game.  Leinart pitched the football for a strike.

If you aren't familiar with Leinart, he spent most of his NFL career on the Arizona Cardinals as Kurt Warner's backup.

Here are a few of his rookie cards of his that I spent almost an hour looking for:

2006 Topps Total #484

2006 Topps #354

2003-04 Collezioni Firenze Campioni di Futuro #57

The other special guest was Anaheim Angels fan favorite: Troy Glaus.  He came in to pinch hit in the bottom of the 7th inning:

Assuming this YouTube video works, here is Troy's at-bat (skip ahead to 1:36:00):

And here are a pair of memorabilia cards of his that I dug up:

2001 E-X Behind The Numbers #NNO

2003 Upper Deck MVP Total Bases #TB-TG (#'d 060/150)

The 2002 World Series MVP singled, but was replaced by a pinch runner after receiving a round of applause.

In addition to the special guests, it was really cool to see all of the trick plays during the game... and entertaining events in between innings.  They went above and beyond to highlight the kids in attendance and get them involved.

But ultimately the Savannah Bananas are about baseball.  Here's a peek at this year's team set of trading cards:

The set was $15 and contains thirty-four cards.  Most of the checklist is made up of players and coaches.

Here's a closer look at the front and back of a player's card:

2025 Choice Savannah Bananas #16

At first glance, I thought this resembled one of the mid 2000's Topps flagship designs.  However I wasn't able to find any matches.

The back of the card features career stats, a fun fact about the player, and their social media accounts.

My favorite card is easily the team mascot:

2025 Choice Savannah Bananas #34

A huge thank you to my bestie for taking me on this awesome road trip.  During this hectic time of the year, it was nice to relax and not think about projects, grades, field trips, dances, or graduation.  Instead it was a day filled with fun banter, tasty eats, lots of shopping, and one of the most entertaining sporting events I have ever attended.  Hard to say whether or not this was truly the best day ever... but it was definitely one of the best days in recent years.  Thanks Jennifer!

As for the rest of you...

Have you ever attended a Savannah Bananas game?

If not, does it interest you?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts down below.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Find or Flop?

At the start of the month, I went out to the De Anza Flea Market and found a guy with sandwich bags filled with 50's, 60's, and 70's baseball cards.  He was asking $25 per bag or five bags for $100.  After sifting through about twenty bags, I grabbed these two and offered the vendor $40.  He accepted.

Each bag contained fifty cards... which breaks down to 40¢ per card.  After sitting for three weeks in my office, I finally got around to opening these up.  Let's see if this purchase was a flea market find or a flea market flop.

Obviously for the price, the bulk of the bags were commons.  However I managed to add a few notable names to my vintage binder.  I'll start with the bag of 1961's:  

1961 Topps #20

1961 Topps #503

1961 Topps #483

1961 Topps #80

1961 Topps #41

These five are keepers.  Here's a look at the other forty-five:

There were a few other semi-stars as well as some A's and an unmarked checklist that I added to the binder.  The rest are available if you are building this set (see list of #'s down below).

Next up are the 1959's.  I don't own a lot of singles from this set, so I was happy to add these five to my binder:

1959 Topps #268

1959 Topps #410

1959 Topps #392

1959 Topps #295

1959 Topps #428

Less star power compared to the stack of 1961's, but at least there were some familiar faces and names.

In addition to the first five, I pulled a few semi-stars from these nine pocket pages... along with all of the A's and a pair of unmarked team cards.  The rest are available to those who are working on either of these sets.

Here's a breakdown of what's available:

1961 Topps  :  100, 116, 131, 151, 182, 190, 193, 201, 206, 213, 216, 225, 236, 242, 253, 259, 272, 275, 283, 285, 334, 339, 352, 378, 418, 458, and 465

1959 Topps  : 29, 43, 72, 75, 84, 94, 167, 169, 170, 188, 196, 199, 207, 219, 223, 232, 242, 258, 277, 285, 299, 308, 323, 347, 370, 379, 386, 419, 434, 454, 479, and 501

In hindsight, this wasn't one of my better purchases (in regards to value), but I wouldn't classify this as a "flop".  I was able to add some singles to my collection.  The rest will either help some of you out with set builds... or go into my box of vintage.

What do you think?  $40 for fifty 1959 Topps cards and fifty 1961 Topps cards.  Find or flop?  You make the call.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!