Monday Medley

Good morning.  If you're here to check out my card show haul, I've got some bad news.  That post won't be ready until tomorrow.  Until then I have a medley of random cards for your viewing pleasure.

First up are two 2019 Topps base cards that represent the two wildcard teams I'll be cheering for tomorrow and Wednesday:

2019 Topps #64

2019 Topps #654

Laureano and the Oakland Athletics shouldn't be a surprise if you're familiar with this blog.  As for the Washington Nationals, I don't have an allegiance to them.  However... Kurt Suzuki is still my favorite player in the game, so I'll be rooting for him.

Next up is this 1989 minor league card featuring Sal Maglie Stadium:

1989 Pucko Niagara Falls #29

You're looking at Night Owl's rookie card.  Back in May, he featured this card on his blog and explained that he's the guy sitting in the press box (fourth window from the right) talking to the radio broadcaster from the other team.  My original thought was I needed a copy of this card, so I could send it to him and get it signed.

Well... I forgot.  Then a few weeks ago, Gavin showed off his autographed copy and it motivated me to purchase this card (actually, I ended up buying a team set on eBay).  I've already emailed Greg to see if he'd be willing to sign my copy.  He is.  Now I just need to get off my butt and ship it across the country.

Last up for today is my school identification card for the 2019-20 school year:

If it looks altered... that's because it is.  Even though I've told a few of you the name of the school I teach at and you could probably find me fairly easily online... I prefer to have some privacy.  That's why I've painted over my full name as well as my school's name and mascot.

And normally I don't post too many photos of myself... but this one is one for the ages.  So enjoy.

What about you...

Are you giving any wildcard teams your support?  If so, who?

Okay that's it for today.  Time to get ready for work.  Happy Monday and sayonara!

My Card Show Shopping List

The big day has finally arrived.  It's the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys, & Collectibles Show which takes place in Daly City, which is just south of San Francisco and about an hour north of my place.

At the time of publishing, I'll probably be wrapping up my day there so you can expect a recap either tomorrow or Monday.  In the meantime, I figured I'd share my card show shopping list for today, which was written in no particular order.

1.  1973 Topps Baseball Set 

1973 Topps #142

This is the last set I need to complete my 1972 to 1986 Topps run of baseball card sets.  

2.  An Interesting or Cool Mike Schmidt Card

1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures #MS

I still owe Mr. Haverkamp from the previous Serramonte Mall Show.  He's not gonna be there today, but I'm planning on seeing him next month at a Sacramento card show.  I'd like to have something for him by then.


3.  2019 Topps Chrome Singles

2019 Topps Chrome #203

I'd love to wrap up this set by finding cheap singles at this show, instead of going out and buying more blaster boxes.


4.  Graded Derek Jeter Rookie Card

Scan Courtesy of COMC

I'm looking for one or two graded Jeter cards (preferably PSA 8 or 9) for my Time Capsule Project.  I'll also be on the lookout for any affordable 90's Jeter inserts and parallels.


5.  Cheap Autographs and Relics

2003 UD Sweet Spot Classic GU Memorabilia #SJ-TG

I'm always on the lookout for affordable memorabilia cards and autographs for my personal collection as well as care packages for many of you.

Honestly, I wouldn't bet money that I'll be crossing off any of these items on my list... with maybe the exception of #2 and #5.  I didn't even bother adding things like a 1956 Topps graded hall of famer to this list, because I'm on a budget.  The only exception would be if I somehow stumble across the 1973 Topps set.  Then I'd be willing to run to the ATM and pull out some cash.

What about you?

What's currently on your hobby shopping list?

By the way... just like your typical grocery store shopping list, I'm sure I'm leaving off something important from it.  However I wrote this post at 6am this morning after getting less than four hours of sleep, so I was a tad bit exhausted.

Well that's it for today.  I hope all of you enjoy your weekend.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Out of My Control

Work is a little crazy right now... and the Oakland A's aren't helping.  A few days ago, it looked like they were gonna stroll into the playoffs.

2019 Archives Signature Series

2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects #DP21

But back to back losses along with a 9th inning heroic home run by Matt Chapman have made things a lot more interesting... and a little more stressful.

Oh well... it's out of my control.  All I can do is see how things play out over the next two or three days.

Speaking of control, here's one of the most accurate pitchers to ever play the game...

1987 Leaf #36

I had the pleasure of watching Maddux play on a fairly regular basis back in the 90's when he signed with the Atlanta Braves.  In 1992 he won the first of his four consecutive Cy Young Awards with his almost inhuman ability to place the ball wherever he wanted.  It didn't take long for me to become a huge fan and collector of his cards.

I purchased this rookie card off of eBay back in 2016 for just under $100.  Today this cards sells in the $170 to $200 range.  Who says graded baseball cards aren't a good investment?

Well that's it for today.  Hopefully you're enjoying your day.  I spent mine sitting in a district inservice.  Personally... I'm one of those teachers who prefer to be standing in front of students rather than be sitting in front of a presenter.  Oh well.  It was completely out of my control.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Four Out The Door

Some of you might remember me purchasing some cards off of my buddy who sold cards out of his garage.  Well... he sold his house over the summer and dumped most of the bulk cards he owned.  He recently called me up and offered to sell me a box of "hits" for a really good price.  As soon as I get everything sorted, I'll share them on my blog.

In the meantime, here are four cards he sold me as I was walking out the door...

2012 Topps Triple Threads Relic Combos #TTRC

As most of you know, Gwynn is my all-time favorite player... so this was the key card in the purchase.

Did you know that Gwynn and Boggs collected their 3,000th hits on consecutive days back in August 1999?  Did you know that the night before Gwynn accomplished the feat, he watched Mark McGwire hit his 500th career home run?  Speaking of home runs, did you know that Wade Boggs was the first MLB player to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit?  Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter eventually joined that club.  Only two guys have hit a triple for their 3,000th career hit.  Ichiro is one of the guys... and Molitor is the other.

Okay... enough baseball trivia.  Let's move along to the other three cards in the purchase...  

2003 Fleer Platinum Portrayals Jersey #PP-BF

Even though he stressed me out every single time he hurled that pigskin around the field, Favre was my favorite football player for years and is still one of my major football PC's.

2002 Fleer Authentix Jersey #JA-BF Ripped

Unfortunately, I don't add memorabilia cards of him to my collection very often.  These two represent only the 8th and 9th additions... and I've been collecting him since the mid 90's.  I was really happy to add these to my collection.

2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Collegiate Patches #CP-AP

Last... but not least is an autograph from the legendary Notre Dame head coach... Ara Parseghian.  I'm not a huge college football fan... and Notre Dame is one of my least favorite college football teams out there.  But I'm always happy to add the signature of a sports legend to my collection... even if this card was only an afterthought.

Like I said earlier, the triple relic was the key card in this purchase and my buddy knew it.  We just couldn't settle on a price.  He decided to list them on eBay, but in the bottom of the ninth with two strikes, he offered to sell me these four cards for $30 as I was walking out the door.

The way I broke it down was $10 for the triple relic, $10 for the Parseghian autograph, and $5 each for the Favre relics.  Those were prices I could live with.  And those were prices he could live with.  The rest is history.

Today's question of the day...

Who's your favorite 3,000 hit club member?

Gwynn is the obvious choice for me.  However Rickey Henderson is right up there with him.  After that I'd go with Ichiro and Carew.  And if we're talking about retired guys I never saw play... Clemente would be my guy.

Well that's it for today.  Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Miscellaneous Monday

Ugh.  It's Monday.  My least favorite day of the week.  It doesn't help that I've kinda been in a funk the past week or so.  It's even impacting my desire to write.  Hopefully things turn around sooner than later.

Until then... my posts might be shorter than they normally are.  Okay enough boring stuff.  Let's check out some more collectibles Woody sent my way...

This is a cool collectible I've never seen before.  It's a replica newspaper given away to 7-11 customers who purchased the Sunday edition of The San Diego Union-Tribune back in 2007 around the time Gwynn was being inducted into Cooperstown.

Apparently there are three different commemorative covers to collect.  This one honors Gwynn on his last day of his playing career with the San Diego Padres.  It comes with a little stand, but I think I'm going to store it in one of my Gwynn binders.

I've seen these coins before sitting in bins at the flea market, but never actually owned one.  From what I've found on the internet, this may have been given out at one of the Oakland A's home games during the 1993 season.

2015 Allen and Ginter Box Topper #B-11

This oversized trading card is awesome!  Woody hooked me up with a bunch of San Francisco Giants for my students.  Unfortunately... this one won't be headed into my classroom.  I'm going to offer it up to my brother.  If he doesn't want it, then it'll go into my insert and parallels binder.

Next up are some cards from Bru over at Remember the Astrodome:

He hooked me up with a nice mixture of 90's and current Oakland Athletics.  These three logo stickers immediately stood out:

The two on the left are Fleer stickers, while the silver foil one is a Panini album sticker from the early 90's.

I was also excited to see this card in the stack:

2019 Topps Chrome #46

I'm building this set and just posted my wantlist on Saturday.  This is one of the cards I needed.

I was also excited to see two sweet rookie cards in this package:

2019 Topps Allen and Ginter #207

2019 Topps Stickers #219

Both of these guys have had to deal with missing time this season, but when they're on the field... Laureano is fun to watch patrolling centerfield.  And Tatis was having one heck of a year at the plate before injuring his back in August.

Before I wrap up this post, Bru informed me that he has a new website:  marcbrubaker.com.  It's good to see that he's back at the keyboard... just in time for the Houston Astros postseason.  Best of luck to your team... unless of course they're playing against the Oakland A's.

Thank you Woody and Bru for these two very generous care packages!

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Sports Card Sets Smorgasbord

If variety and/or sets are your thing... then this post is for you.  Last week, Woody over at Card Collectors World and Sports Card Forum sent me this huge box filled with cards:

There was sixteen pounds worth of cool items for my team collections as well as over fifteen different sports card sets.  Earlier today, I spent over three hours going through the box and scanning cards from a few of the sets.  

My original plan was to do a Saturday Night Five post, but I changed my mind at the last minute.  It's just too challenging to narrow things down to my favorite five.  Instead, I'm just gonna show off a variety of sets in no particular order...

Set #1:  2005 Topps Update and Highlights

I was blown away when I saw this set sitting inside of the box.  Back in 2005, I wasn't collecting so I pretty much missed out on grabbing these rookie cards.


Set #2:  1986 Donruss Highlights

This is such a cool set.  My goal is to do a Set Showcase post on this set at some point.


Set #3:  1986 Topps Kay Bee Young Superstars of Baseball

Remember the thirty-three card box sets Topps produced back in the 80's?


Set #4:  1990 Pro Set Collect-A-Books

I know I've mentioned it either on my blog or other bloggers' blogs... but my goal is to one day collect all of the Collect-A-Books from the different sports and display them in a binder.  Woody hooked me up with all thirty-six NFL books from the 1990 set.


Set #5:  1988 Topps Glossy All-Stars

I'd love to one day collect the full run of Topps Glossy All-Stars that were distributed in rack packs from 1984 to 1991.  Each set contained twenty-two cards featuring the starters, managers, and honorary captains from each league.


Set #6:  1990 Topps Glossy All-Stars

The 1988 and 1990 sets combined... make up 25% of the run.  Only six other sets to track down.

Set #7:  1989 Topps Traded

Topps dropped the ball when they left out guys like Troy Aikman and Barry Sanders out of their 1989 football set.  Thankfully they ended up piling them into their Traded set.


Set #8:  1991 Score Rookie and Traded

What color are these borders?  Purplish maroon?  Whatever color it is, I like it.


Set #9:  1991 Upper Deck Final Edition

Another updated, final edition, rookies and traded type of set.  This one features three first ballot hall of famers.  Not too shabby.


Set #10:  1991 Topps Toys R' US Rookies

Much like those Topps Glossy All-Stars... the goal is to one day own the entire run of Toys R' Us Rookies sets (1987 to 1991).  Unlike the Glossy All-Stars, Topps released these as part of thirty-three card box sets and changed up the border colors each year.  Black borders were used in the 1987 and 1991 sets.

Well that's all I have for you today.  Thank you Woody for this very generous box of cards!  By the time I'm finished sorting them, I'm guessing it will have provided at least six, seven, maybe even eight hours of entertainment.

As for the rest of you, let me know if you'd like to see a Set Showcase post on any of these sets.  And speaking of sets... is there anyone else trying to build the 2019 Topps Chrome baseball set?  Here's my current wantlist:

I have about 100 doubles available for trade, so email me your wantlist if you're interested in trading.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!