Thursday, November 28, 2024

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  First and foremost... it means a week off from work.  I enjoy my job, have really good classes this semester and a very cool principal, and am blessed to work with people I consider friends.  But... a week off is a week off... and I love it.

2024 Topps Now #760

The second best thing is the holiday itself which involves family, friends, football, and a feast.  My oldest brother and his wife hosted it again.  That's the brother that took me to ball games when I was a kid... and the one who went with me to the final game at the Coliseum.  

Topps created cards honoring the event and I made sure to preorder them on eBay for a few bucks each.  But before I get to the other two cards from that game, I want to show off five cards my other brother recently gave me:



Everyone in my family knows that I collect cards... so when these arrived in the mail (possibly as part of a donation inquiry), he set them aside for me.  I don't specialize in military trading cards... but they were a gift from him, so they'll be treasured.

Unfortunately, he hasn't been feeling well since our trip to Hawaii... so he missed the family gathering today.  But we're planning on getting together again for Christmas.

Okay... here are the other two Topps Now cards from September 26th:

2024 Topps Now #762

If you're wondering how Topps could have produced 762 different Topps Now cards for one MLB season... it's because they create cards like this one which honors Mason Miller for throwing the fastest pitch by an A's pitcher during the Statcast Era.  Unfortunately the photo on this card isn't related to 103.8mph pitch.  It was captured after the A's recorded the final out of the game.

I'm not complaining though... because it's another card for a very special collection.  The third and final card features Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart:

2024 Topps Now #761

These two Oakland A's legends tossed out the ceremonial first pitch.  My first memories of attending baseball games was going with my oldest brother to the Coliseum to watch Rickey Henderson.  I'm truly thankful to have two brothers and a sister that are all still a big part of my life.

I'm also very grateful for all of you who have taken the time to read and comment on my blog postsReading and responding to your comments is arguably my favorite thing about being a part of our blogosphere.

A very close second would be the care packages that we exchange.  The past two days, I've been focusing on opening up, scanning, and organizing a bunch of them in hopes of getting around to including them in this Thanksgiving post.

First up are some Dave Stewart cards from Tom over at The Angels, In Order:


Back in early October, he showed off some 1988 Classic Travel Edition cards... including the Stewart.  I mentioned that I've been thinking about starting a collection of his cardsThanks to Tom... I'm off to a healthy start.

Next up is a prize package from Brendan a.k.a. Elliptical Man over at The View from the Third Floor.  He sent me some Pokemon cards that I'll be passing along to my students:



For every student that is interested in sports cards... there are five students interested in Pokemon cards.

I also won a set of 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes over at S.R. '75 Cards:


Stuart started his card blog over the summer and in that short amount of time, he's shown off some really cool cards in his collection.  If you haven't done so already, please check it out.

He also held a contest in September and October... and my pick was the Last Card Standing... which meant I got to choose between a 1991 Pacific Senior League set or the black bordered beauty shown above.  The plan is to show off this set in a little more detail in a future post.

Stuart also tossed in a 1987 Hygrade All-Time Greats starter set:


Along with these singles for my PC's:


Stuart's blog might be new, but I've been reading about him for years over at The Collective MindStuart and Greg are buddies... and last month Greg sent me some Rickey Hendersons:


He also tossed in this really cool Tyler Lockett rookie relic card:

2015 Topps Platinum Rookie Relics #PRR-TL

Did you know that Lockett is #2 on the Seattle Seahawks all-time record list for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns?

But the highlight of his care package was this awesome card:

2021 Topps Archives Movie Posters Cards #MPC-10

The Swingin' A's were playing together... just a few years before I started attending games.


But they're one of my favorite things to collect.

I will round out my Thanksgiving post with some cards from the other Greg in our blogosphere:


When it comes to card blog popularity, there's Night Owl Cards at the top... and everyone else fighting for second place.  He's also published a bunch of articles for Beckett... so within our hobby, he's kind of a celebrity.

So I'm very grateful that I'm on his radar for cards like this:

2024 Topps Independence Day #647 (#'d 43/76)

I realize we're eight months away from July... but this is my very first Independence Day parallel.

Thank you Tom, Brendan, Stuart, Greg, and Greg for these generous gifts and prize packages.  And thanks again to all of you who have stuck around to read this holiday post.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by family, friends, or both.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

15 comments:

SumoMenkoMan said...

Awesome cards! Thankful for card collecting friends as well! Happy Thanksgiving!

Ginko-5 said...

Happy Thanksgiving! Better late than never, I guess.
Sweet cards. If you've got some kids interested in Pokemon I'd be happy to send a few cards your way. I used to collect them, but don't have much of a need for them now.

The Lost Collector said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Fuji!

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

Enjoy what is left of that week off my friend!

POISON75 said...

Just don't forget to complete the deal & feedback & I look forward to seeing what future players to be named later package from you arrives & glad you liked received from me.

night owl said...

Happy Thanksgiving week! Always happy when I see a new Chronicles of Fuji post. ... That A's set is wild.

Fuji said...

sumomenkoman - how was thanksgiving in japan? were you able to eat some turkey?

ginko-5 - lol. my students would love them. hope you and your family had a nice thanksgiving

the lost collector - hey aj! hope you had a nice thanksgiving

johnnys trading spot - i plan on it. gonna do some more card stuff today... and probably tomorrow. but sunday is all about rest and relaxation

poison75 - i will pull some stuff over the christmas break and send them your way hopefully in time for the new year. thanks again for the cards

night owl - thanks greg. appreciate the kind words. i'm going to enjoy it all the way until monday morning.

Jeremya1um said...

Glad you got the Topps Now card of the last game. Any way to tell if you are in the crowd somewhere in the photo?

gregory said...

Many of us are thankful for your blog, Fuji! This sure is a great community, isn't it?

Uncle Charlie's Shoebox said...

Happy Thanksgiving! Glad to count you among one of my blog friends!

My grandpa flew C-47s in World War II, dropping soldiers all over Europe. He was actually shot down in Holland behind enemy lines and saved several paratroopers before landing...

John Sharp said...

Great read, great cards, great bloggers.
Happy Thanksgiving!

The Angels In Order said...

I hope you can use some of those Stewart cards. You received a lot of nice stuff there. Happy Thanksgiving break. I don't go back to work until Tuesday!

sg488 said...

May 1972,I went to my first As game,Vida Blue had just come back from a month long holdout after a MVP/CYYOUNG AWARD WINNING YEAR.,I was able to get his autograph ,great memory I was 11 years old.

Big Tone said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Fuji! Thanks for taking time out to peep my action figure posts! Looking forward to X Mas break as well.

Fuji said...

jeremya1um - you can see the section in (along the 3rd base line, but way out there), but i can't see me or my family

gregory - it truly is a great community.

uncle charlie's shoebox - a huge thank you for your grandpa's service to our country.

john sharp - thank you john! hope you had a great thanksgiving

the angels in order - my stewart collection is off and running thanks to you. enjoy your extra day off.

sg488 - that is awesome. i wish i could pinpoint my first a's game. i probably would start a collection around it

big tone - hope you had a happy thanksgiving. keep up the great photography. i wish there were more bloggers showing off their action figures.