Some of the Sweet Stuff

Happy Easter!  I know today is a very big religious holiday for many of my friends and family members.  When I was a kid... it was more about decorating eggs, baskets of candy, and spring break.

I know this year Topps released some Easter themed parallels in their flagship Series 1 boxes.  But since I haven't opened any... nor have I acquired any of those parallels... I decided to celebrate with some candy related collectibles in my collection.

As an added bonus, I will rate the candy and players featured on the cards/collectibles using a scale of 1 to 10... with 5 being average.

1987 M&M's #23

Candy Rating: 7/10

Player Rating:  10/10

Peanut Butter M&M's are my favorite, but I don't usually go out of my way to buy them.  On the other hand, I am always looking for new cards of my all-time favorite athlete.

1984 Nestle #300

Candy Rating:  6/10

Player Rating:  7.5/10

Not a fan of Nestle Crunch Bars... but I do enjoy 100 Grand... so I'll rank it slightly lower than M&M's.  As for Charlie Hustle... not a fan of the person, but a fan of the player.

1984 Nestle Dream Team #21

Candy Rating:  6/10

Player Rating:  9/10

Another Nestle card produced in 1984, but a different set.  I prefer the one that parallels the flagship design.  As for the player, Lefty was my favorite pitcher when I was a kid.

1993 Upper Deck Clark Bar Reggie #C2

Candy Rating:  ?/10

Player Rating:  7.5/10

Can't remember buying or trying a Clark Bar, but it sounds interesting.  Not sure I'll waste my money or the calories on trying it out though.  On the other hand, I will occasionally go out of my way to buy a new Reggie for the collection.

1992 Topps Triple Headers #NL9 Bonds/Van Slyke/Bonilla

Candy Rating:  ?/10

Player Ratings:  8/10 Bonds, 3/10 Van Slyke, & 4/10 Bonilla

You're probably wondering how is this candy related.  Well... according to the box it once contained candy:

I'm guessing it contained those Smarties-like tart candies... which I'm not really a fan of.  But since I don't know for sure, the jury is out.  The ball contains two players I don't really collect and one that I do.  Not sure if this ball was ever corrected, but Topps mixed up the facsimile signatures for the Killer B's.

1991 Topps Superstars Stand-Ups Candy #18

Candy Rating:  2/10

Player Rating:  10/10

This plastic box featuring Mr. Padre once contained candy too.  Unlike the ball... I've seen the candy that was originally inside of this container.  Yup.  It's those Smarties-like tart candies that I don't like.  It's not quite as bad as Circus Peanuts, but they're pretty bad.

1987 Leaf Candy City Team #H3

Candy Rating:  5/10

Player Rating:  6.5/10

This card was part of a collaboration between Leaf and the Special Olympics back in 1987.  Although these cards weren't packaged with candy, people could obtain a three card pack with the purchase of two Leaf candy or gum products.

I had to look up what types of candy Leaf produces.  The only one that I've tried before are the Astro Pops... which were rainbow colored, cone shaped suckers.  I remember buying these as a kid, but don't really have any interest in eating them as an adult.

Roy Campanella is a legend, so I'll add his cards to my collection from time to time.  But to say that I actively seek his cards would be a stretch.

1990 Pacific Chocolate Bar Promo #NNO

Candy Rating:  ?/10

Player Rating:  10/10

Can't have a candy related post without showing off this candy related card of Gwynn.  Unfortunately, I've never tried one of these.  But if it's equivalent to your standard Hersey's chocolate bar... than I'd rate it a 6/10.  

Well that's all the candy, cards, and collectibles I have for today.  I probably could have dug out a few more, but I'm heading over to my brother's house in less than an hour and don't have the time to dig anymore up.

Happy Easter and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #161: Small Haul

It's a truly glorious day.  The 2024 MLB season has started... and I'm officially on spring break.  The bulk of it will be spent cleaning, resting, running errands, scanning and sorting cards, and possibly building a few Lego sets while binge watching Shogun.  But I also have a pair of day trips planned.

I'll be driving down to San Luis Obispo one day... and headed over the hill to Capitola another day.  Both trips revolve around food.  I've got a couple of lunch dates and Easter dinner on the calendar.

But the thing I'm looking forward to the most are a pair of flea markets on the tail end of my break.  Mother Nature will ultimately decide whether or not this happens.

She's the reason I've only taken two trips to the flea market in 2024.  The first one was back in early February.  The other took place two Saturdays ago at the Branham Flea Market.

I invited my brother.  He's been thinking about clearing out some clutter and I thought the flea market might be a possible option.  This would give him a chance to see if setting up at one would be worth his time.  I don't think it was his style, but we did have fun hanging out and looking at other peoples' junk.

Although we spent over an hour walking around... I only spent eight dollars on three purchases.

Purchase #1:  1982 7-11 Cup  $1

Ironically... I didn't buy any cards from the lone regular "card" dealer.  He did have some new stuff... but I didn't want to make my brother wait around while I dug through it.

I did grab this Rod Carew cup for a buck though.  He had maybe 15 to 20 of these from various years sitting on his table.  I remember seeing these when I was a kid, so I grabbed it without really thinking if I actually needed it or not.

Purchase #2:  Dollar Box Duo  $2

There's a guy who sets up a the De Anza Flea Market every month who specializes in posters.  He kind of reminds me of that mall store from the 80's with Ansel Adams and Costacos Brothers prints.

He was out there that Saturday (first time seeing him at this flea market) with his poster inventory... but off to the side he had some boxes with a bunch of random stuff in it.  There were a few stacks of cards, so I quickly flipped through them.

After seeing this card, I asked him how much he was asking.  He replied one dollar per card.

1997 UD Legends Autograph #AL-57

I ended up pulling this card and one more:

2001 Star Wars CCG Reflections III Foil (UR)

I'm a sucker for foil CCG cards... especially when it comes to Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or Star Wars.  I've never played any of them... but for some reason I enjoy collecting them.

When I got home... I was pleasantly surprised that this particular card of Qui-Gon Jinn sells for a decent dime.

On the other hand... I was bummed to discover that the Otto autograph was damaged:

It's a little hard to see, but there's a crease running down the side of the card.  Can't complain too much though.  It only cost me a dollar... and it's a nice addition to the Damage Card PC.

Purchase #3:  Baseball Guides from the 70's  $5

The final purchase of the day was from a book vendor.  He had a bunch of vintage baseball guides for $2 each.  This isn't usually something I'd stop and look at, but while walking by I noticed two with 1972 written on the spines:

1972 The Sporting News Dope Book

1972 The Sporting News Baseball Guide

I collect periodicals from my birth month... or annuals from my birth year, so I pulled these out.

My buddy SumoMenkoMan is a Nolan Ryan fan, so I grabbed this too:

1974 The Sporting News Baseball Record Book

Out of the three books, this one is the coolest.  A fifty year old book... with two baseball (and hobby) legends on the covers.  In fact... I liked it so much, I went out and bought another copy for John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.  Figured he could use it for his Atlanta Braves collection.

By the way... I recently got around to opening up three flat rate boxes he sent me over the past ten months and inside there were a couple of baseball books:

The Samurai Way of Baseball by Robert Whiting

Slugging It Out In Japan by

Warren Cromartie & Robert Whiting

Figured this would be a good time to show them off.... along with this very cool Canadian baseball card that was included in one of John's boxes... which has direct ties to my Japan PC:

1984 O-Pee-Chee #287

Although I don't read a lot of books, I do want to read Slugging It Out in Japan to get an idea of what an American baseball player goes through playing in the NPB.

By the way... my goal is to write at least one more post highlighting some of the stuff from the boxes while I'm on spring break.  So stay tuned.

Until then... have a happy Good Friday and sayonara!

Good News, Bad News

Bay Area sports radio tends to focus on the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors most of the year... but this past week... baseball got a chance to shine.

2020 Topps Opening Day Ballpark Profile Autographs #BPA-RBM

The week started off with news that Renel Brooks-Moon and the San Francisco Giants were parting ways after failing to agree on a contract.  I grew up listening to Renel on KMEL back in the 80's.  In 2000, she became the Giants public address announcer.  Although the split appears to be amicable, there are many Giants fans (and non-Giants fans... like me) who were very disappointed to hear this news.

2022 Topps Tier One Prime Performers Autograph #PPA-BS

At least Giants fans received some good news that same morning when it was announced that last year's NL Cy Young Award winner signed with them.  Personally... I was hoping the Padres would bring him back... so this along with the Brooks-Moon announcement was a double dose of bad news.

Then on Wednesday... fans of Sports Illustrated received some good news as the company will continue operations after finding a new publisher.  Back in January, Night Owl shared a link in one of his blog posts about massive layoffs over at Sports Illustrated.

After reading his post, I pulled out some of my favorite issues... scanned them... and then never got around to showing them off in a post.

Well here they are...

October 21st 1974

This issue was published right after the Oakland A's took down the Los Angeles Dodgers to win their third straight World Series title.  This was sent to me in one of Too Many Verlander's care packages last year.

One of these days, I'll get around to tracking down the other two celebration issues.

Next up is Michael Jordan's first cover appearance:

November 28th 1983

I had this issue when I was a kid, but recycled it at some point.  Picked up this copy in 2022 for $2 at the De Anza Flea Market.

December 1st 1986

Not sure how I acquired this issue, but it's Iron Mike's second appearance on a SI cover after becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history.

February 18th 1991

I remember when this issue hit the stands.  At the time I was still working at my LCS and the owner picked up a bunch of copies for the shop.  Pretty sure that's where I got this one.

December 23rd 1991

That's probably where I acquired this issue too.  This was the era where everything was collectible... especially when it involved Michael Jordan and holograms.

Even though neither of these Sports Illustrated issues from 1991 are considered rare... I loved them enough to hold onto them the past thirty-three years.  And they'll continue to be valued keepsakes until the day I stop collecting sports memorabilia.

The same thing can be said about these SI for Kids cards that Rod over at Padrographs sent my way:

1990 SI for Kids #168

Although I have a small collection of Sports Illustrated magazines, I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of the magazine itself.  I had subscriptions to it off and on throughout the 80's, but I was much more into periodicals with graphs, charts, and statistics like The Sporting News and Baseball Digest.

1991 SI for Kids #271

Sports Illustrated for Kids is a little closer to my speed... plus they offer cards with every issue.

1991 SI for kids #278

I've probably had six or seven subscriptions since the late 90's, but I missed out on almost all of the earlier cards like the stuff Rod sent me.

He has actually helped fill in plenty of gaps in my SI for Kids card collection over the years.  His donations involve individual cards like the ones he sent last week... to complete magazines with cards.

In addition to the SI for Kids cards, he also sent me some stuff for my Japanese baseball players, San Diego Padres, and Steve Largent collections.  But I'm going to hold off on sharing that stuff for a future post.

I'll wrap up today's post with some Oakland A's cards he included in his care package:

If you follow his blog, then you know that Rod received a bunch of baseball boxes for Christmas.  He generously passed along the A's he pulled which includes some really nice inserts and parallels.

He also opened up a blaster of 2024 Topps and sent me these:

Although I've seen plenty of blog posts featuring this year's flagship product, today was the first time I held the product in my hands.  They look awesome!

Thank you Rod for another generous care package.  Thank you Dennis for that World Series Sports Illustrated issue.  And thank you Minute Media and Authentic Brands Group for coming to an agreement which allows Sports Illustrated to stick around a little longer.  Let's just hope they will be able to hold onto as many SI employees as possible.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!