A Few of My Favorite Things: The 80's

Four weeks ago, I hopped on board the latest Blog Bat-Around that involved bloggers sharing their favorite baseball sets, movies, and songs from the 1950's to the 2010's.  The Collector shared his responses here and got the ball rolling.  It didn't take long for me to make the executive decision and turn this into a series... rather than cram everything into a single post.

Today I'll be sharing my favorites from the 80's... which is officially the halfway mark in this BBA.  This decade played a pivotal role in the development of who I am today.  I was in the second grade when the decade started.  By the time it was over, I was a senior in high school.  That's why I have always associated my childhood with the 80's instead of the 70's.


Favorite Baseball Card Set: 1983 Topps

Before the 1956 Topps set became my favorite Topps baseball card design of all-time, the honor went to the 1983 Topps set.  Ever since I started opening packs of this stuff back in 1983, I loved the dual image design.  And the fact that my favorite player's best rookie card is part of this set is a nice bonus.

I think 1983 was the first year my mom purchased rack packs for me.  I didn't open a bunch, but every now and then she'd let me pick one out when we'd go to Long's Drug Store.  I would have snagged the one pictured above quickly... but back in 1983... it would have been for the Billy.  I didn't start chasing Gwynn until 1985 or 1986.

I purchased this rack pack off of eBay back in 2014 for $48.77... which is around the same price they sell for today.

Favorite Movie:  The Breakfast Club (1985)

Vacation.  Sixteen Candles.  The Breakfast Club.  Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Pretty In Pink.  Weird Science.  These are just six more reasons why I loved the 80's.  And each of these movies have one thing in common:  John Hughes.

I could sit down right now and watch any of these films again and be entertained, but The Breakfast Club has always been my personal favorite.  In fact, I'm tempted to throw in my DVD and watch it before I head back into the classroom in a few weeks.

Favorite Song:  Just Like Heaven (The Cure 1987)

When it came down to choosing a favorite song from the 80's, I ran into the same dilemma as I had with the 70's.  There are just way too many great songs to choose from.  Heck... even narrowing it down to a band/artist proved to be challenging.  Should I go with The Police?  Maybe Def Leppard?  Metallica?  How about Journey?  Or U2?  Honestly... on any given day any of these groups would suffice.

I decided to go with The Cure, and their 1987 hit "Just Like Heaven".  It sort of called out to me while sifting through songs for this post on my 80's Spotify playlist.

Well... that wraps up the 80's.  As of today... I haven't even thought of my 90's selections.  The selection process won't be easy.  The 90's were filled with awesome movies and innovative cardboard.  As for music... I'm thinking it'll be a Beastie Boys song.  Although... I am a huge fan of 90's alternative and hip-hop.

Hope everyone is enjoy their week.  Happy Tuesday and sayonara! 

On the Brightside

Whenever I sit down with other teachers and reminisce about former students, it always seems easier to remember the ones who were more challenging than the ones who were the teacher's pet.  I think it has to do with the number of positive student experiences far exceeds the negative.  Or maybe I just think I'm an optimistic guy, but really I'm pessimistic.

2017 Topps Definitive Autograph Relics #DCAR-RH

Why am I questioning myself?  Well... whenever I think of Rickey Henderson... one of the first things that pops into my head is the trade that sent him to the New York Yankees back in December 1984.

However I rarely even think about the trade the sent him back to the A's in the Summer of 1989 which helped the Athletics win the World Series that year.

This morning I was reading an article about some of the biggest MLB Trade Deadline deals of all-time which refreshed my memory.

Hopefully from this point forward I'm going to focus on the positive and remember what Rickey brought to A's fans... instead of dwelling on the trade that broke the heart of a twelve year old Oakland A's fan.

Speaking of heartbreaking... please send positive vibes out to the victims of yesterday's tragic event at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.  I wasn't there... and haven't attended in decades... but each year thousands of people attend this famous festival.  As of right now, I haven't heard of any friends or family members who attended, but my heart goes out to anyone who was directly affected by this tragedy.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Christmas In July

Earlier in the week, I received a padded envelope filled with cards from Brian a.k.a Collecting Cutch who happens to own one of the most insane player collections I've ever seen on a blog.  But don't take my word for it, head over to his blog right now and see for yourself.  You won't be disappointed.

Okay.  Now that you're back, let's get to the goodies Brian sent my way:

2004 Fleer National Pastime American Game Patch #AG-DW

Boom.  I was speechless when I saw this patch.  Brown and yellow are two of my least favorite colors, but when you put them together on this card they're breathtaking.  The fact that this patch was part of a jersey worn by one of three players who chose to wear a Padres hat on their hall of fame plaque makes it that much cooler.

This card is gonna be hard to follow up, but don't tell that to the Swinging Friar:

2019 Topps Opening Day Mascots Autographs #MA-SF

Was it signed by one of the people who dresses up as the Swinging Friar?  Or was it a San Diego Padres employee?  Maybe it's a Topps employee?  Who cares?  It's awesome!

Next up are a pair of cards for my Altuve collection:

2018 Topps Update Postseason Manufactured Patch #PSL-JA

2018 Chronicles Holo Silver #29

Here are some new additions to my Japanese Athlete PC:

Bandai Owner's League Cards

2018 BBM Grateful Days #19

And this awesome low #'d rookie card of Nerd Power:

2011 Topps Chrome Red Refractor #184 (#'d 2/25)

When Kurt Suzuki signed with the Minnesota Twins back in 2013, Sogard became my honorary favorite Oakland Athletic... especially after the whole "Face of the MLB" contest.  I went out and picked up a few of his autographed rookie cards.  This card isn't autographed, but it's now my best Sogard rookie card.

If you're familiar with Collecting Cutch, then you're familiar with this color:

2014 Topps Tribute Pink Autographs #TA-JC

Each October, Brian celebrates National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by showing off some pink McCutchen cards.

Canseco might not be the most popular guy among baseball enthusiasts... but he'll always be special to me.  Believe it or not... there was a time when I had more Canseco cards in my collection than Tony Gwynn cards.

Rounding out this post are a pair of customs created by Brian:

Don't worry Sport Card Collectors and Night Owl, Brian drew on a penny sleeve and not on the actual card.

Unfortunately... I can't say the same for this sweet piece of artwork:

2012 Topps 1987 Topps Mini "Santa Sketch Card" #TM-40

This painting is sweet!  It's one of the most interesting and creative Christmas cards I have ever received.

Thank you Brian for this super generous care package!  Stay tuned... I'm on a mission to find some Pirates for your collection.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #140: Cards, Cards, Cards

The days of stumbling across guys dumping their collections for pennies on the dollar are few and far between.  However that doesn't mean I've completely given up on the thing this blog is best known for:  my flea market finds.

This past Saturday was the third one of the month... which meant that the Branham High School Flea Market was going to be open for business.  It's small, but has at least three to five guys with sports memorabilia.


Purchase #1:  80's Sports Card Case  $5

The cards are in poor condition, but they were just a bonus.  The main thing I wanted was the case.  Anyone else use one of these back in the early 80's?

As soon as I have some free time, I'll sit down and sift through these cards. 

Next up are three purchases I made off of my buddy Tony...


Purchase #2:  Fernando Tatis Rookie Cards  $2

Fernando Tatis Jr. is the first Padre in years that I've been excited about.  I'm going old school and hoarding as many cheap rookie cards as I can get my hands on of this guy.


Purchase #3:  Three for a Buck Singles  $7

I've been thinking about doing a "time capsule" experiment, which involves locking up a few cards for a set period of time, then opening it up and seeing how much the card and player's popularity fluctuates.  I figured that some of these would make excellent candidates for this experiment.

Tony included these two cards in the purchase:

2019 Diamond Kings Blue Framed Parallel #113

2018 Heritage High Number Action Variation #716

I figured I paid $7 for these two short prints and got twenty-one rookie cards for free.  I'm always trying to convince myself that I got a good deal.  ;)

By the way... while I was going through these boxes, legendary card blog supporter... Mr. Haverkamp walked up.  He reached out to me last week and was interested in checking out this flea market, so I emailed him the details.  I'm pretty sure he purchased a few items from Tony's boxes too.

After looking through the cheaper stuff, I started looking at his "hits" and picked out a few memorabilia cards for the collection...


Purchase #4:  Player Worn Memorabilia Cards  $10

Yeah... yeah... yeah.  I know the odds of these actually being game worn are slim.  But I still enjoy collecting memorabilia cards.  Two bucks each is a little more than I usually pay, but Tony took care of me on the rookie cards, so I didn't mind digging a little deeper into my pockets for these.

A lady with a bunch of random stuff was set up right next to Tony's spot.  She had this tub of baseball cards sitting on a table:

It contained a bunch of 2011 Topps, so I immediately started searching for the famous Trout rookie card.  It took me over twenty minutes to figure out that she didn't.  But I did manage to find a few cards for my collection.


Purchase #5:  Four Cards for a Dollar  $3

The Votto is in really bad shape... and honestly none of these are worthy of sending in to get graded.

2013 Topps Update #US290

However... there was no way I could pass up these Yelich Update rookie cards for a quarter each.  I was also happy to find this Harper:

2012 Topps #661

The two Trouts at the bottom are second year cards.  Plus there were two overproduced 2013 Topps Griffey inserts that I had added to my binder before scanning them.

The final two purchases came from another regular vendor... although it had been a few months since the last time I had seen him.


Purchase #6:  Two Shoeboxes Filled With Cards  $5

Like the Sports Card Case... I haven't even bothered looking through these yet.  The last thing I need is more cheap base cards cluttering my office.  However I figured it'd provide one or two hours of entertainment with the chance of finding a handful of cards for my collection.  Worst case scenario, it'll give me something to write about.


Purchase #7:  Two Small Sets  $2

The guy had a few sets sitting on his table which he offered to sell me for two bucks a piece.  I asked if he'd take two dollars for the pair and he accepted.

1990 ProCards A and AA Minor League Stars

This was the main set I wanted.  It features early cards of three hall of famers:  Jeff Bagwell, Frank Thomas, and Jim Thome.  

2001 SP Legendary Cuts

This is a 90 card set featuring some of the greatest baseball players of all-time.  At a little over a penny a card, this was just too good of a deal to pass up.

Well that wraps up my July Branham High School Flea Market purchases.  I also went out to the Capitol Flea Market the previous weekend.  Didn't find any sports memorabilia, but I did grab a pair of CD's for a buck each:

The Beatles Anthology #1

The Beatles Anthology #2

I haven't listened to these yet, but it's The Beatles.  I'll put them on at some point.

Well that's all for now.  I hope all of you are having a great week.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!