When I was a kid, I always had mixed emotions about going back to school. Sure part of me was excited to see what friends I had in my classes... and whether or not I got the teacher(s) I wanted. But there was also the fact that summer break, sleeping in, chilling out in the neighborhood, cruising around on bikes and skateboards, and staying up late were all coming to an end.
The same thing still applies to me as an adult. Only now I'm checking to see how large my classes are and which prep period my friends have at work. And although I'm no long chilling out in the neighborhood or cruising around on bikes and skateboards, I still enjoy sleeping in and staying up a little later than usual.
That's all over though, because the Summer Break of 2025 is officially coming to an end. This Thursday I officially report back for my 28th year in my current district. But I've actually been going in the past two weeks and working in my classroom.
Not sure if I've ever done this, but here's a peek at some before and after shots:
One of the biggest projects every year is taking all of my toys and collectibles out of storage and creating my display. This is a collection of items I have accumulated over the years. Some of the stuff are things I bought... while others are gifts I have received from students, parents, fellow teachers, and others.
Here's a peek at my collection of sealed collectibles:
Dave Parker
Congratulations Dick, Dave, Billy, CC, and Ichiro!
Here's a peek at my collection of sealed collectibles:
Luckily my principal doesn't make me take these down every year. In fact, I don't think I've messed with these in six to eight years.
Anyways, there were three things I wanted to accomplish with this post. First... I wanted to honor a few people who passed away recently. Although none of these gentleman were personal favorites, they each played a role in my childhood.
Ozzy Osbourne
1985 AGI Rock Star #2
(December 3, 1948 to July 22, 2025)
It's hard to say what stands out the most about Ozzy. The story about the "bat" or his MTV show. Both immediately come to mind when I think of him. Wasn't the biggest fan of his music when I was little, but I learned to appreciate his stuff from the 70's with Black Sabbath in high school and college.
Hulk Hogan
1987 Topps WWF #3
(August 11, 1953 to July 24, 2025)
There was a time when WWF was more important to me than the MLB. It was right around 8th or 9th grade... and if it was on... I'd do whatever I could to watch it. Hogan played a big part of my fanfare. Today he would have celebrated his 72nd birthday. Happy birthday Hulk!
Ryne Sandberg
1983 Topps #282
(September 18, 1959 to July 28, 2025)
As a Gwynn fan, Sandberg was always one of the other two big rookies in the 1983 baseball sets. Their names along with Boggs always seem to go together when you discuss that awesome rookie card class.
Rest in peace Ozzy, Hulk, and Ryno.
Next up... I wanted to honor the Cooperstown Class of 2025:
Dick Allen
1966 Topps #80
1982 Donruss #95
Billy Wagner
1997 Topps Gallery #178
CC Sabathia
2017 Topps NYY Factory Team Set #NYY-10
Ichiro Suzuki
2023 Stadium Club Red Foil #72
And finally... I wanted to show off the final care package of the summer. The same day I receive'd Matt's PWE, I also received a flat rate box from John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.
He filled it up with a bunch of stuff, so let's dive in and check it out. Let's start with a huge stack of Ichiro cards (including the Stadium Club card above):
A large percentage of the box were new additions to my Japanese Athlete PC. Here are a few of the highlights...
Very happy to add five to my binder. I'm debating on picking up a few more over on COMC before I request shipment later in the week.
The second half of his care package were a ton of Wacky Packages. Let's start with two vintage tan backs:
Within the starter set was a complete puzzle:
These are smaller than your standard size cards. Here's a size comparison with the album sticker on the left and a standard Wacky Packages card on the right:
Thank you John for another generous care package! I had a lot of fun going through and organizing the stacks of Ichiro, Reggie, and Wacky Packages. It was a fantastic way to wrap up my summer.
In addition to the the sixty to seventy cards in this photo, he also sent me these nine:
Plus there were these three cards from a Topps On Demand Ichiro set:
2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #16
2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #19
2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #20
2008 SP Legendary Cuts Destination Stardom Memorabilia #DS-AI
2024 Topps Now Off-Season #OS-13
2025 Topps Stars of Japan #SOJ-6
2021 Donruss Optic Signature Series #SS-JY
2023 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Autographs #MA-FS
And here are a few other Japanese athletes who don't play baseball...
John also sent me a stack of Mr. October...
Here are a closer look at nine of them...
He also sent me a a few other A's for my collection...
In addition to baseball cards, he also sent me some MJ's...
1994 Action Packed Minors #23
This card stood out, because I liked how Action Packed kept it real in their scouting report. 
1973 Topps Wacky Packages 4th Series Brute 88
1974 Topps Wacky Packages 9th Series Windstun
He also tossed in a nice starter set...
2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Starter Set
2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Quacker Oats Puzzle Backs
I pulled out a few of my favorites:
2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Favorites
And rounding things out are some album stickers from the mid 80's:
1986 Wacky Packages Album Stickers
1986 Wacky Packages Album Stickers Size Comparison
I hope all of you had a great summer. After a reasonably mild summer in regards to weather, things are starting to heat up around here. I might be ready for the students, but I'm not ready for triple digit temperatures.
Happy Monday and sayonara!
4 comments:
Hope the triple digits don't reach you. It has been one hot summer for me and I don't like it one bit.
I'm not sure if I ever tried to search for Kobyashi cards but now I might have to. I use to love watching the Hot Dog eating contest and it was when he was competing that I got hooked. I never cared for Joey Chesnut, so I was disappointed when he started winning every year.
Looks like a very nice care package, and you're classroom looks awesome. It's almost like a man cave. Hope you have a great school year.
I have the same feelings now that I did as a kid when school was starting up: Sadness. Summer sure flew by! I often think what it's like not to have a job that hinges on the school year -- both me and my wife do, yet neither of us are in the classroom or a school building.
Johnny sure got you some good stuff.
Wow thats a big classroom. Love your decor.
Here is to a GREAT school year!
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