Saturday, December 25, 2021

The COOLEST Advent Calendar Ever!


Our hobby community is pretty darn special.  All you have to do is read a few blog posts or watch some YouTube videos to witness just how remarkably generous collectors are to each other.  I find it even more fascinating that we often sent these care packages to each other knowing there's a good chance we'll never even meet the recipient in person.

But every now and then, I'll have the pleasure of meeting a fellow blogger in person.  One of these guys is Ryan (a.k.a. SumoMenkoMan) over at Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko.  We haven't hung out in person since the start of COVID, but that will hopefully change sooner than later.  In the meantime, we keep in touch through text messages.


A few weeks ago, he let me know about a box he was sending my way and explained that this care package was a little different.  There were twenty-five mini packages inside designed to be opened one per day during the first twenty-five days in December.  In other words... a sports card advent calendarHow cool is that?

Unfortunately... the first few weeks of December were crazy busy and I didn't get around to opening the box up until a few days ago.  Without spoiling the surprise, let's just say I was blown away by the generosity and creativity of this care package.

Let's kick things off with the note that was sitting on top...


In the digital age we live in... I truly treasure hand written notes like this one.

Now let's start tearing into those PWE's.  Since it's probably hard to see what he wrote on each of the envelopes, I summarized it...


Day #1: A Little Ho-Ho-Ho to Kick Off December

2016 Panini Black Friday #SC

I'll happily add a new card to my Santa Claus PC.


Day #2Close Enough to Your Birthday


Twenty-six days after my 1st birthday, Nolan Ryan set the single season strikeout record which still stands today.


Day #3From One Fuji to Another


A New Mount Fuji Collectible = Pure Awesomeness


Day #4Old-School Prospecting

1988 Score #640

Score sure made Tony's little brother sound like a future star on the back of his rookie card.  Unfortunately anyone who hoarded copies of this card won't be getting rich off his career anytime soon.


Day #5Ultra Pro Goodie... Protect Your Cards


You can never have enough protectionNever.


Day #6New School Prospecting

2021 Leaf National VIP #VIP1

Pretty sure your future is bright if you're a YouTube sensation named Blaze, you're 19 years old, and you already have a trading card.


Day #7We Gotta Get You to Chicago...

2021 Leaf National VIP #VIP2

Blaze might have a cooler name, but I'm guessing Spencer has a brighter future.


Day #8Time to Read & Relax


These are probably the coolest looking bookmarks I've ever seen.  It's hard to tell from the scans, but these colorful bookmarks depicting kabuki actors are printed on "refractorish" paper stock.


Day #9Rare Air & Big Cards

2020 UD Goodwin Champions NSCC 5x7 #NSCC-1

Not often I receive Michael Jordan cards in care packages... especially oversized ones.  And a National Sports Card Convention exclusive to boot.


Day #10Higher Learning According to Rickey

1990 Donruss Learning Series #7

I vaguely remember seeing one of these Learning Series cards on someone's blog.  I'm very happy to add this to the Rickey binder.  This acquisition has also opened my eyes to a Tony Gwynn card missing from my collection.


Day #11He's Always Watching...

1991 Kicks #98

The early 90's were the heart of the Junk Wax Era... but it can also be considered the Smorgasbord Era because there was a trading card set made for just about any topic you could think of.


This card was part of a karate set... and it's super unique.  I've never seen this card before, because if I had... I would have remembered it.


Day #12Amazing... Enough Said.

2019 BBM Amazing! #A08

Yeah.


Simply speechless.


Day #13Not Sure What's In This...

2021 Panini The National Pack

This appears to be a VIP pack from the 2021 NationalRyan wasn't sure what was inside, so here are the contents:


I love show exclusive stuff and can appreciate multi-sport checklists.  It'll be interesting to see which of these athletes eventually become superstars.


Day #14Just Because...

1958 Australian Stamp?

No explanation necessary.  I will happily add this to my growing collection of stamps.


Day #15Bet You Don't Have One of These...

1958 Japanese Stamp?

You're right, Ryan.  Never seen this stamp or anything like it before.  And I scoured the internet and couldn't find out anything about it either.  One thing is certain... it's awesome!


Day #16Japanese Women's Pro Wrestling Rocks!!!!

2020 BBM True Heart #005

She's straight out of a Japanese horror film and going straight into my Japanese PC.


Day #17Holder Value > Card Value

2018 Bowman Draft Chrome Sky Blue Refractor #BDC-49 (#'d 213/402)

I guess Hiura's card values have softened since he's struggled the past two seasons... but I haven't given up on him yet.


I'd much rather have this shiny refractor than ten brand new magnetics.


Day #18Let 'er Rip!

2015 CPBL Pack

Sorry Ryan.  I didn't have it in me to rip open this very unique pack.  It's headed into my unopened pack collection.


Day #19Good Luck.

2021 Topps Series 1 Pack

This pack on the other hand was meant to be busted.  Inside was this low numbered parallel:

2021 Topps Mother's Day Pink #160 (#'d 03/50)

I'm very happy with this pull... even if I know little to nothing about the guy featured on this card.


Day #20Pack Fresh!!

2021 Topps Series 2 Pack

Very cool to see Tatis Jr. on the front of this pack.  Here are the two key cards I pulled from it:

2021 Topps #357
2021 Topps DH Debuts #DHD-10

Pretty sure this is my first Darvish card with him featured with the Padres.  And I'm not the biggest fan of the Braun, but I scanned it for those who like current Topps inserts.


Day #21Almost There...

2021 Topps Update Pack

Rounding out the unopened packs of Topps is this Update series pack.  I was happy to pull a shiny parallel of a guy I've actually heard of:

2021 Topps Update Rainbow Foil #US265
2021 Topps Update Platinum Players Die-Cut #PDC-60

Cheesy or not... I won't complain about adding another hall of famer to my insert binder.


Day #22She's Such a Badass!

2021 Topps WWE Pink Women's Division Roster Auto #A-AS (#'d 011/150)

Yes she is... and so is this card.  I just hope the WWE starts utilizing her on a regular basis.  She's the only reason I have any interest in the sport.


Day #23A Little OC, But I Had to Rescue It for You!

1983 Fleer #360

Nice.  Off-centered or not, I will rescue any and every Tony Gwynn rookie card in existence.  This card is awesome!


Day #24One of the Greatest!!!

1991 Star Pics #65

For most of the 90's and 2000's... Brett Favre held the title of being my favorite NFL player.  These days he still ranks in the Top 3 of all-time.


Day #25The Grand Finale


I gotta admit, I caught a glimpse of what was under the wrapping paper as I pulled it from the shipping box.  That being said, I was super excited to see this:

1996 Topps Baseball Set

I totally wanted one of these sets back when they were first released twenty-five years ago.  Then last weekend, I was reminded of this cool product on Pepino Man's YouTube video.  And a few days later, I had these four mini Mickey Mantle cereal boxes sitting in front of me.  It's a Sports Card Christmas Miracle!

Hey Ryan... thank you so much for this sports card advent calendar.  The thought and creativity you put into this Christmas present will forever be appreciated and never forgotten.  Not only did you add some fantastic cards to my collection... it also provided me with several hours of entertainment.

My only regret is not opening this package back on December 1st... and slowly revealing the presents as originally intended.  Regardless... this has to be one of the coolest ideas I've ever seen in regards to our hobby.

Hopefully this also provided entertainment for anyone who took the time to read this post as well.

Merry Christmas everyone!  Happy Saturday and sayonara!

16 comments:

The Diamond King said...

Yes, that is very very nice! I might have to do that for someone next year.

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

Merry Christmas Mark.

defgav said...

Some super cool stuff in there! Merry Christmas.

Jon said...

That might be the most thoughtful gift that I've seen one blogger give to another. Merry Christmas, Fuji!

Elliptical Man said...

Good stuff.

I'm thinking it's Fields vs Franco.

Shlabotnik Report said...

What a fun package of packages!

As someone who used to watch "Scrubs", I've started calling Spencer Torkelson "Dr. Turkleton".

As someone who used to watch "Lost", I'm amused at anyone with the last name of "Workman".

...Now I want some Japanese cards. :-D

Fuji said...

the diamond king - it's a very creative idea. whoever receives your custom advent calendar would be very luck and entertained.

johnnys trading spot - happy holidays john! hope you and your uncle had a very merry christmas!

defgav - happy birthday gavin!

jon - can't argue with you there. the amount of time and thoughtfulness that went into this care package was mind blowing. i'm very lucky to have ryan for a buddy.

elliptical man - i'll have to trust your picks. i just hope it isn't lance, b/c that would mean the 49ers are doing well.

shlabotnik report - never watched scrubs and only watched lost for the first season or so, so i don't remember names. as for japanese cards, i have a few dupes. email me your address and i'll send them your way.

Billy Kingsley said...

Very cool! Ryan really outdid himself this time!

gregory said...

That's such a cool idea from Ryan. And some fantastic contents in the envelopes, too! I think the stamps are my favorites of the bunch.

Jeff B - Wax Pack Wonders said...

That's really awesome. Loving the Musial stamp!

The Lost Collector said...

That is very cool. My son had a lego Harry Potter advent calendar this year and basically lost interest after Dec 9. On the 24th I opened all the doors and built them all. If they had a Pokemon card advent calendar he would have been a lot more into it.

Trevor P said...

That's really cool! Kudos to Ryan for pulling off a great, generous idea.

Daniel Wilson said...

That is so cool!

Matt said...

What an awesome Advent Calendar! Blaze Jordan is a Red Sox prospect I've been keeping an eye on for exactly the reasons you mentioned. Here's hoping his future "burns" bright! Merry Christmas!

Matt said...

W0w!! What a great idea!! Love the Panini Black Friday santa, its on my needs list!

Fuji said...

billy kingsley - yeah. i owe him at least a couple nice dinners.

gregory & jeff b - the stamps are awesome! ryan texted me and told me the musial stamp was for musial and the cardinals visit to japan in 1958

the lost collector - i bought the harry potter advent calendar at costco back in october, but was so busy i never opened it. i'll save it for next year and add it to my harry potter christmas scene (which i didn't set up this year)

trevor p - glad everyone is enjoying this advent calendar with me. ryan is super creative

daniel wilson - no arguments there

matt - thanks for the heads up on blaze. he's in my (very small) prospect box. hope he becomes a superstar or at least plays well against the yankees

matt - that santa is cool... but i actually think the kung fu santa is even cooler