Retirement is still at least eleven years away. But that hasn't prevented me from starting to plan where I want to land. Five years ago... I thought about settling down in Las Vegas. Sacramento has also crossed my mind. Then I started thinking about the Pacific Northwest. But I always seem to come back to the Bay Area. I love the weather, the diversity, and it's been the place I call home my entire life.
A lot will depend on finances... but even if I'm forced to move out of the area it'll always hold a special place in my heart.
That's why I recently started a small collection of defunct Bay Area sports teams. It started a few years ago with the California Golden Seals. Then back in June, I read a post over on Card Hemorrhage where Jay showed off some Pacific Coast League cards... which inspired me to head over to COMC and pick up this card the very next day:
1950 Remar #NNO
Remar was a baking company based out of Oakland that started their business a little over a century ago. Information on the company is limited. In fact when you look them up on Google most of the hits involve these trading cards.
According to my research on Beckett, the company produced Oakland Oaks trading cards in 1946, 1947, 1949, and 1950. If I remember correctly, this Billy Herman popped up quickly in my search. I shot the seller a $13.75 offer and he/she accepted. Six months later it finally returned to the Bay Area.
Why Billy Herman? I'm not gonna lie. Outside of the name, I didn't really know anything about him. But according to his National Baseball Hall of Fame page, he's a 10-time All-Star who collected 2,345 hits and finished his career with a .304 career batting average. He also served two years in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
The same day I purchased the Herman, I also grabbed this hall of famer for my California Golden Seals collection over on eBay:
1970-71 Topps #72
Harry Howell played before my time... but it seemed like he primarily made a name for himself with the New York Rangers. That's probably why I was able to land this card for $16 (shipping and taxes included).
Most people aren't going to remember either of these athletes for the tenure in Oakland... but that's the only reason I went out of my way to add these cards to my collection.
What's next? When I have some free time... I'll look into possibly adding a San Francisco Seals minor league card from the 50's and maybe an Oakland Invaders card from the 80's. But I'm not in any rush. The goal is to have this collection displayed in my office by the time I retire. But as I stated at the start of this post... that's not going to happen anytime soon.
Happy Thursday and sayonara!
Odd balls are great (speaking on the Remar).
ReplyDeleteAny ideas on what you are going to do with all that free time when you retire?
ReplyDeleteI'm old enough to remember watching the Golden Seals play. Those white, or Gold skates were pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteOakland Invaders got players from the Michigan Panthers when the USFL melded teams. Anthony Carter would be a good start.
Good Job. 👍
That's a really neat niche of cards you're building! The ones you showed today and beautiful and I cannot wait to see future acquisitions. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteNice idea for a collection. To think there was at one time a serious chance that the a's would become a defunct bay area franchise.
ReplyDeleteI have a defunct team post in the pipeline as well. I just started drafting it in my head yesterday when I was scanning the cards needed for it.
ReplyDeleteIf you start collecting San Fransisco Seals cards there are actually quite a few vintage Japanese sets with them, from their tours of Japan.
ReplyDeleteCool stuff!
ReplyDeleteOh man! The fact that you cam perhaps see the small light of retirement makes me jealous.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of defunct sports teams. Were any cards produced for the San Francisco Deltas soccer team?
ReplyDeleteGreat cards, especially that Harry Howell hockey card. Defunct teams are fun to collect - I have complete sets of the old WHA San Diego Mariners hockey team. We went to several of their games in the mid-70s when we lived there. I'll help keep my eye out for you for cards along these lines.
ReplyDeleteRetirement sounds quite nice right now! Nice card!
ReplyDeleteLove those cards, especially the hockey card. Defunct teams are always fun to collect. I love finding old Browns and Hawks cards. Need to find some St. Louis Spirits cards one of these days.
ReplyDeleteLOVE that Harry Howell card. Saw it a couple days ago but couldn't comment at the time so wanted to circle back. The Golden Seals ruled!
ReplyDeleteNot sure why I remember this, since it was long before my time, but Billy Herman also managed for a few seasons.
ReplyDeletejohnnys trading spot - can't argue with that
ReplyDeletejeremya1um - sort cards?
john sharp - anthony carter was the guy i was thinking about grabbing. figured either him or bobby hebert
peter k steinberg - it might be awhile. i'm targeting a few cards, but i'm trying to stick to my budget
gcrl - i know. just thinking about it is depressing
billy kingsley - can't wait to read it.
sean - i'm won't start collecting them. just wanna track down one for my collection of a recognizable player
matt - thanks
the lost collector - well... it's still over a decade away. so i can see the light... but it ain't close ;D
jongudmund - don't see any on comc... but that doesn't mean there are any in existence.
comatoad - the goal is to one day build all of the seals team sets eventually. hasn't been a priority though
sumomenkoman - it does. shame it's ten years away.
the snorting bull - it's another way to collect. i just want something to remember the bay area by if i end up leaving it
shoeboxlegends - i do too. so much yellow!
adam kaningher - i actually came across that info whild doing research for this post. doesn't look like he had much success.