The Brookstone of Care Packages

Years ago... when I was still teaching at the elementary school level... I bought some raffle tickets for a PTA auction and ended up winning a Brookstone roadside emergency kit.  It was one of those things that I was really excited to win, but wouldn't actually go out and purchase on my own.

Rod over at Padrographs sent me a prize package that contained some really cool items that I'm happy to add to my collection, but like that roadside emergency kit wouldn't consider buying them for myself.

Confused?  It's probably easier if I just show you what I mean...

2016 Topps Now #87

2016 Topps Now #297

2016 Topps Now #512

2016 Topps Now #124

2016 Topps Now #454

2017 Topps Now #19

2017 Topps Now #34

Topps Now has been popular with collectors for a few years now, but I've never actually ordered any for myself.  That being said... I was excited to see these seven Topps Now cards.  I only own a handful of these.  And out of all of them, I've only gone out of my way to purchase one.  It was for a game I attended back in 2016.

Next up are a pair of Topps Total cards:

2019 Topps Total #59

2019 Topps Total #71

First off... these are great looking cards.  I like the white borders and the simplicity of the design.  It's just a shame that Topps decided to make these an online exclusive item with a high price point ($10 per pack).  There's a good chance that these will be the only two 2019 Topps Total cards I ever acquire... unless they start popping up in dime boxes in a few years.

The final group of cards that I'm absolutely stoked to see, but probably wouldn't purchase are these Fernando Tatis Jr. cards:

2019 Topps #410

2018 Bowman #Bowman Trending #FT

2018 Bowman's Best Top Prospects #TP-24

2017 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP160

2018 Bowman Prospects #BP114

Tatis is tearing it up this season and I'm going to assume that his card values are skyrocketing.  I love collecting rookie cards, but I've already missed the boat with this guy.  I might try to grab a graded rookie card at some point if he ever decides to cool off.

Moving along... here are some items that I'd have no problem paying for:

1986 Topps Rack Pack

If I stumbled across this pack at a card show for a buck or two, I'd buy it.  The question is whether or not to keep it sealed since I already own a complete 1986 Topps set.

Rod also sent me this set of flash cards:

69¢ for a set of oversized Presidential trading cards?  Yes, please.

The Ronald Reagan alone is worth that price.

Rod has spoiled me over the years by sending me his Sports Illustrated for Kids cards.  This time he sent me three more issues, which means three more sheets of cards:

I love collecting these sheets.  Every one contains so much variety.  That's why I'm always excited to stumble across these at flea markets and card shows.

Well that's it for today.  Thank you Rod for yet another awesome care package.  You sure know how to pick stuff.  This was the "Brookstone" or "Sharper Image" of care packages.

Wait.  I almost forgot.  It's also suppose to be a prize package as well.  Rod held a contest on his blog last month.  Here's the card I picked from his contest list:

2018 Panini EEE Quad Materials #QM-BH

I've never heard of Mr. Hernandez, but he's a centerfielder in the Miami Marlins farm system.  He's not considered one of their top prospects, but you never know.  Maybe he'll be the next Christian Yelich.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Beer, Chips, and One Stunning Lady

Last weekend was the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys, and Collectibles Show.  When it comes to card shows, it's really the only one I look forward to and clear my schedule for.  It's mostly toy vendors, but there are at least ten to twenty vendors set up with cards, so I'm always excited to look around for good deals and pray I stumble across a reasonably priced 1973 Topps baseball card set.

The show also gives me an opportunity to hang out and talk shop with fellow collectors.  Many of you are familiar with one of these gentlemen:  Mr. Haverkamp.

I've had the pleasure of meeting and knowing Jim for several years now, so it's always nice to catch up.  This time around we talked about how rough of a year it has been for a few card bloggers who have lost loved ones, including myself.

He cheered me up by pulling this out of his bag:

AleSmith is a San Diego based brewery that specializes in handcrafted ales.  According to their website, Tony Gwynn reached out to them about producing a distinctive beer for the baseball legend that was "light with a kick".  The final product resulted in a golden pale ale full of American hop flavor and aroma, with a subdued bitterness and a malty sweet finish.  I'm not really a beer guy, so this bottle will end up becoming a display piece in my office.  However the next time I'm in San Diego, I am looking forward to having one in honor of my all-time favorite baseball player.

Jim also threw in the beer carrier:

AleSmith did a great job with the design.  Gwynn and the Padres were wearing completely different colors the year he hit .394, but that's okay.  I absolutely love the use of the brown, gold, and orange color scheme.  The early 80's Padres home jerseys have been my favorite since I started rooting for them.

The next thing he pulled out of his bag was this 1977 issue of Sports Illustrated:

Sports Illustrated: August 15, 1977 

When it comes to Japanese baseball players, Sadaharu Oh reigns supreme.  He hit 868 home runs during his twenty-two seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in the NPB.  That's 106 more than Barry.  113 more than Hank.  And 154 more than Babe.

This issue came out a few weeks before Oh broke Hank Aaron's home run record.  It's an awesome piece of baseball history and an excellent addition to my Japanese Athlete PC.  As an added bonus, Jim mentioned that he is the original owner.  I've edited it out, but you can still see his name and address from the 70's on the label.

The third item he pulled was a biggie... 

1981 Granny Goose A's #13

I've written about this card on a few occasions.  Most recently on May 18th of this year.  To make a long story short... it's a short printed card in this regional oddball issue set and they don't pop up too often.  I picked up my first copy a few years ago, but this one is definitely an upgrade.

The last item that Jim pulled out of his bag is this Ginter mini of my boy Kurt Suzuki:

2012 Allen and Ginter Mini #69

Jim seems to be a good source of information when it comes to Ginter minis.  He mentioned that this particular back was tougher to pull and that I probably didn't have it.  He was right.

Thank you Jim for this awesome care package!  I'll definitely dig through my collection and scour the internet for a few nice Mike Schmidts for your collection.

 

I also got a chance to hang out with my buddy Mike, who brought the autographed Asuka Funko Pop I bought a few months ago:

 

This is actually the second signed Asuka Pop he's given me.  The first one he gave me has a smeared signature, so he ended up giving me two for the price of one.  Before he went to ToyCon Las Vegas (where Asuka was signing), I also asked him to get me a signed 8x10 as well:

He hooked me up with a pair of free Funkos too:

I'm slowly putting together a respectable Stomper PC.  I've already picked up a two or three bobbleheads and ten different cards.  Thanks to Mike... I've added my first Funko Pop too.

Next up is this signed Jason Voorhees Funko Pop: 

If something looks off with the signature, it's because Ari Lehman (the actor who played the first Jason) accidentally signed the Funko Pop upside down.  

Here's a better look at his signature:

Well that's it for now.  I'll try my best to get the rest of the card show pickups scanned over the weekend.  Until then...

What's your favorite beer, potato chip, and/or horror movie?

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Poetry In Motion

Last weekend was the Serramonte Mall Sports Card, Toys, and Collectibles Show which is my favorite show to attend out of the limited amount of ones I have to choose from.

After a few days, I'm still sifting, sorting, and scanning items from my haul.  Actually about half of the items were for fellow bloggers on my hitlist.

In addition to the handful of items I purchased for myself, I'm excited to show off some of the fantastic goodies Mr. Haverkamp and my buddy Mike hooked me up with.

Hopefully I'll have that post up by Thursday.  Until then, here's a quick one card post featuring one of my latest graded card pickups:

1973 Topps #380

The 1973 Topps baseball card set features some excellent photography and recently I stumbled across this Bench over at Cardboard Greats.  I had seen the card before, however this time around it inspired me to track down a graded copy.

I recently cashed in all of credit card points for five $100 eBay gift cards and this was either the first or second purchase I made with one of those gift cards.  It also represents my final eBay purchase from Probstein which took place just before I heard about their involvement in our hobby's latest scandal.  But that's not the focus of today's post.

Today let's just soak in the beauty of this Bench as he chases down this pop up at Candlestick back in the early 70's.  It is the 16th addition to my Classic Cards Collection, which is made up with affordable graded cards with either stellar photography or cool stories behind them.

Well that's it for today...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Spontaneous Six Degrees of Separation

Last month, Chris... also known as... The Collector held a contest over on his blog that involved the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  He had his readers choose one of the playoff teams and every time that team won a game, they'd receive one entry into his contest randomization.  I was fortunate enough to pick my beloved San Jose Sharks, who happened to have the most wins out of the playoff teams claimed in the contest.  Although that didn't guarantee me a win, it gave me the best odds.

Unfortunately the San Jose Sharks came up short AGAIN in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  But after Chris randomized his contest entries four times, my name came out on top.  The prize package included four team bags packed with hockey cards that I'll eventually show off.

However my hockey posts rarely draw readers, so I lured you in with this lone baseball card included in the prize package:

1973 Topps #310

This diamond cut Dick is awesome!  I'll happily accept any vintage Dick Allen collectors want to send me.

Okay... here's a peek at the stacks of hockey cards Chris sent my way:

If I'm not mistaken, there were 72 hockey cards and the Dick Allen.  Here are a few of the cards that stood out:

2014-15 Ultra #154

It's only fitting that I kick off the hockey cards with a San Jose Shark.  Joe Pavelski is our fearless leader.  Hopefully he'll be skating for the Sharks again next season.

2008-09 Ultra Gold Medallion #40

I'm not sure if I've ever announced this... but I actually PC a few hockey guys.  Brodeur is one of them.  Joe Sakic is another:

2000-01 Stadium Club #182

Here's proof that beautiful photography wasn't only limited to Stadium Club baseball.  This is an awesome action shot featuring Sakic and (his former teammate) Valeri Kamenski.

I'm not trying to do six degrees of separation or anything... but here's a card of Kamenski's 2000-2001 teammate:

1990-91 Score American #100

If you don't collect hockey and want to pick up an awesome and affordable hockey card set, then I'd like to suggest the 1990-91 Score set.  It's filled with a bunch of awesome rookies, features a solid design, and has some nicely cropped action shots.

Okay getting back to the spontaneous six degrees of separation...

1996-97 Metal #51

Messier and Steve Yzerman won a gold medal together in the 1984 Canada Cup.  I wasn't a hockey fan back then, but I sure wish I had been.  That Canadian team was loaded.  Here are just a few of Messier and Yzerman's teammates:  Wayne Gretzky, Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Mike Bossy, Michel Goulet, Grant Fuhr, Mike Gartner, Larry Robinson, and Doug Wilson.

Speaking of the Canada Cup...

1991-92 Upper Deck #26

Chris also hooked me up with this Niklas Lidstrom rookie card.  And guess what... he was Yzerman's teammate in Detroit.

Okay... enough six degrees of separation.  I'll wrap things up with the two relic cards that Chris included in this prize package:

2011-12 In the Game Enforcers Instigator Jersey #I-25

2014-15 Ultra National Heroes Manufactured Flag Patch #NH-ZP

Thank you so much Chris for hosting this contest and sending me this very generous prize package!  It sure helped distract me from that fact that the Sharks came up short AGAIN in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!