Thursday, October 31, 2019

Out of the Ordinary

Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays of the year when I was in elementary school.  If you know me, then you know that 90% of it was the candy.  Man I enjoy my sweets... and I was way worse when I was a little kid.  I'd pretty much eat everything except for the candy corn and peanut butter taffy that came in the brown and orange wrappers.

Then there was the part of showing off your costume at school.  My mom would always want to make me a costume, but I insisted on buying the cheap plastic, store bought ones.  Damn.  I was such a fool.  Oh well.  It still allowed me to wear something out of the ordinary for one day without being judged or ridiculed.

I figured in the spirit of Halloween, I'd show off some memorabilia cards that feature players wearing costumes.  I mean... wearing uniforms of teams they aren't typically remembered for.  Well... not by me at least.  For example, Rickey reppin' the Red Sox...

2003 Topps Bazooka Blasts Bats #BB-RH

It's one thing to see Rickey wearing Yankee PinstripesThat's scary.  But it's not every day you see him wearing a Red Sox jersey.

It's probably even rarer to see him donning a Mariners jersey...

2001 Pacific Private Stock Game-Used Gear #158

Here's another speedy ballplayer wearing a costume...

2002 Topps Traded Tools of the Trade #TTRR-TR

It's also kind of weird to see the Tools of the Trade moniker being used on a Topps card instead of a Playoff card.

Moving along, here are a few more...

2005 Bowman #135

I just started to notice a pattern here.  These cards are all game-used bat cards.  I guess there probably aren't a lot of Sosa Baltimore Orioles game-used jerseys floating around out there.

Okay... here's an obligatory jersey card for you...

2005 Donruss Throwback Threads Throwback Collection #TC-22

And here's even a manufactured relic for all of you as well...

2010 Topps WS Commemorative Patch

I might have remembered seeing Sosa with the Orioles or Raines with the Marlins... but I honestly had no idea Mathews played for the Tigers.  He actually played two seasons in Detroit.  Then again... I wasn't even born yet.  That's why seeing Mathews without a Braves jersey is a little out of the ordinary for me.

What about you?


What are some players and teams you'll never get used to seeing together?

Happy Halloween and sayonara!



Extra Innings

2010 Topps Chrome #212

Congratulations Washington Nationals fans!  What an awesome World Series.  One of the best I ever listened to.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The $20 Card Show Challenge

It's no secret that I've been struggling the past few months, but I try to focus on something positive to motivate me to keep pushing forward.  Right now I'm setting my sights on Thanksgiving break.  Before that it was last weekend's Cardboard Day Trip.

Originally Ryan (aka SumoMenkoMan) had planned on flying into San Francisco International Airport and attending the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys, and Collectibles Show back at the end of September.  But that didn't end up working out, so we started looking at other possibilities.  That's when the Crowne Plaza Hotel Sports Card Show revealed itself.  We both circled the date on our calendars, Ryan made his travel arrangements, and voila a much needed break from reality came into fruition.

After picking up him up at SFO, we headed east towards Sacramento and a little under two hours later we arrived at the show.  I'm going to estimate there were fifteen to twenty dealers set up with a little bit of everything for the modern collector.  Although Ryan pointed out that the non-sports selection was a bit lacking.

Personally... this trip was much more about hanging out and talking shop than buying cards.  However Ryan had suggested a few weeks ago that we see who could get the most bang from a $20 bill.  I happily accepted that challenge.  Let's take a look at what I bought...


Purchase #1IP/TTM Autographs  $7



Within five minutes of our arrival, I ran into famous blog supporter... Mr. Haverkamp.  We caught up for a few minutes, then suggested I take a look at this one dealer's stuff.  He had a bunch of boxes of autographs and you know how much I love collecting ink.  I spent probably thirty minutes digging through his stuff and pulled out ten to fifteen cards.  Part of that time was searching up certified signatures online to see if the autographs were worth the gamble.

I eventually narrowed things down to these five which set me back seven dollars.  In hindsight, this was my least favorite purchase, but you gotta start somewhere and get the ball rolling.


Purchase #21986 Meadow Gold Milk Pete Rose  $2


The same dealer with the autographs had a table filled with oversized items and oddballs.  That's where I found this milk carton featuring Pete Rose:


I feel like I've seen someone blog about this set before.  Even if I didn't, I like these kinds of items.  This is a really cool pickup for my Pete Rose collection.


Purchase #3Quarter Bin  $1



After purchasing the Rose, I spent the next forty-five minutes to an hour walking around the show looking for something to buy.  I even told Ryan that I might not be able to complete my end of the challenge.

While telling him this, I was standing at a guy's quarter bin where I found these four cards.  The purchase centered around the 1979 Topps All-Time Record Holders card of Sisler and Cobb.  Once I found that card, I was on a mission to find three other cards.

Darling is one of my favorite childhood pitchers.  The Castillo is super shiny and Griese is rocking awesome glasses.  Plus I was one dollar closer to completing the challenge.


Purchase #4More Quarter Bins  $5



After circling the show a few times, I came across another dealer's quarter bins that were absolutely loaded.  Unfortunately we were short on time, so I had to rush through the monster box filled with rookies, memorabilia cards, inserts, autographs, and parallels.

I ended up pulling out forty-something cards... but quickly narrowed it down to thirty.  The guy told me I could have the stack for $5... which breaks down to six cards for a buck.  I could live with that.

Here's the card that originally got me excited about digging through the guy's box:

2005 Prestige Xtra Bases Red #131

Anytime I can add a Maddux card serial numbered to 150 to my collection for a quarter (technically less), I'm going to do it.

Here are a few other highlights:


I think the hidden treasure in the box was this rookie card of Charlie Blackmon:

2011 Topps Update #US231

And the oldest card in my five dollar stack was this Reggie Smith rookie card:

1967 Topps #314

Reggie Smith was one heck of a ball player who was a 7x MLB all-star and a career .287 hitter who hit 314 home runs.  I'll buy his rookie card for 17¢ any day of the week.


Purchase #51989 Topps Big Baseball Wax Box  $5


Just as I was handing over the five bucks for the thirty cards, I noticed the dealer also had boxes of Topps Big baseball cardsOne of the projects I'm working on is putting together a master collection of 1988 to 1990 Topps Big sets.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the 1989 Series 3 set is the only one I'm missing, so I decided to buy this box and build it the old fashion way.  Actually... I grabbed two boxes for $10, but for the sake of this challenge I only included one of these boxes in this post.

After the show we grabbed lunch at Del Taco.  I was looking forward to eating there almost as much as attending the card show itself.  Then we drove to a nearby card shop where I picked up a few more cards.  Unfortunately this post is starting to drag on, so I'll share my card shop purchase along with the cards Ryan brought me on either Thursday or Saturday.

Phew.  I'm exhausted.  The first quarter ended last Friday at my school and grades were due today.  I just finished filling out over 170 report cards.

Now it's your turn.

What grade would you give me on the $20 Card Show Challenge?

Which purchases were average or above average?  Which ones were epic fails?

I'm looking forward to reading your comments... and reading Ryan's post where he summarizes his $20 Card Show Challenge purchases.

Until then... happy Tuesday and sayonara!


Extra Innings


Click here to read Ryan's post which summarizes his $20 Card Show Challenge post.  He picked up some really cool non-sports stuff... and took photos of the card show to give you an idea of the size and number of people in attendance of the show, so head over there and check it out.

Monday, October 28, 2019

PG-13 Rated Card Post

If a picture is worth a thousand words... then this post will be my version of Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Kenny aka Zippy Zappy who is the founding father of the Luis Torrens Fan Club sent me a big box of stuff.  In order to keep my job, I'm gonna need to pick and choose what I share in this post.  Confused?  If you've ever been zapped by Zippy, then you probably know what I'm talking about.  If not, you should be able to put two and two together by the end of this post.

Let's get things started with the standard care package material...


There were tons of Oakland Athletic cards for me to sift through.  Kenny put them in recycled packs, so I could have the pleasure of tearing into packs.


Inside the packs were not-so-random hits, including this Team USA jersey card of James Kaprielian, who is a Top 20 prospect in the A's farm system.


I was really excited to see three more Sega CardGen cards for my collection.  I won't be putting these with my Padres stuff.  They'll be going into my Japanese trading card binder... along with a bunch of other cards from Kenny's care package... including some of these:


One card that really stood out was this shiny, book store special card:


I had no clue who Mr. Makita was... but after doing some research I discovered he plays in the San Diego Padres farm system.

Kenny also included some Seattle Seahawks and San Jose Sharks for my team collections:


Plus a few cards for my students:


Now for some cards that won't be brought into my classroom...


This set is pretty tame.  It features the Yomiuri Giants cheerleaders... and I took the time to scan the entire set... but forgot to upload the photos.  So I might end up having to do a Set Showcase post for this set eventually.

He also included four complete sets of trading cards featuring Japanese models.  I was originally planning on showing off the boxes, but my best friend didn't think it was a good idea.  I will however show off a few singles from these sets:


Kenny must know that I'm one of those collectors who still enjoys collecting memorabilia cards, because he included this costume card:


I'm not familiar with Mai Hakase, but according to a Google search she appears to be a Japanese actress and possibly an Instagram model.  Obviously she's very easy on the eyes and I'd have to say that this was my favorite card in the package.

He also included a pack for my unopened Japanese trading card pack collection:


And rounding out the package were a bunch of reading material that included some game programs for the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones.  Those will be passed along to my buddy Mike who is a New York Yankees fan.

He also included a few magazines that were borderline inappropriate for this blog.  Since there may or may not be students who stumble across this post... it's better to be safe than sorry.

One book that I will be bringing into my classroom is this one:


I have several students who play baseball this year.  I'm sure they'll get a kick out of this.


Thank you Kenny for this very, very generous package!  I'm really excited to open the unopened box of cards you included.  I won't be able to accept your challenge, but I'll definitely take scans and email you when I get around to opening it.

Until then I've added you to the hit list.  Happy Monday and sayonara!