Godzilla Lands in Cali

My collection of Japanese baseball players has expanded exponentially over the past decade.  The main push for this growth has been fellow bloggers sending me care packages featuring guys like Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki, Shohei Ohtani, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and today's featured athlete: Hideki Matsui (also known as Godzilla).

Kenny over at Torren' Up Cards recently experimented with some PWE's to see how long it would take for them to travel across the Pacific Ocean.

I'm sure glad I was one of the guinea pigs, because inside the first PWE was this signed Matsui card:

2010 Topps Heritage #310

According to Kenny this was signed in Staten Island about ten years ago.  Now normally a card of this magnitude would be the highlight of most care packages, but there was another card that just might have trumped it:

2012 Sega Card-Gen #J12-EX-R06

Matsui only played in Oakland for one season, so you don't see too many cards with him wearing the A's logo.  That in itself makes this card a treasured item in my collection.

But when I flipped it over, I saw the word "Congratulations" written on the back and figured this might be a prize card handed out at a Sega-Gen tournament.  I looked all over the internet to find more information about this card, but couldn't even find it on TCDB.  Well Kenny confirmed it for me.

The first PWE also contained a pair of WBC cards from 2009 featuring Yu Darvish and Hisashi Iwakuma:

The second PWE contained the same duo, but in Card-Gen form.

Thank you Kenny!  When it comes to testing out the postal service, you can use me anytime.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

Earlier in the year, I had planned on doing a series called Monday Munchies where I'd test out a bunch of Japanese snacks that Ryan (also known as SumoMenkoMan) sent me.  Well I got distracted and a few of these snacks expired over the summer.

Figured I'd open them up and see if they were still edible.  They were.  The first three snack packs contained vanilla wafers.  The fourth package contained a very similar wafer snack, but it was strawberry flavored.  And the package on the far right contained two grape flavored gummies.  All were yummy... and all contained cards.  Here's what I pulled:

I'm guessing all of these are anime shows or manga titles.  I have heard of Demon Slayer, but haven't watched or read it.  The only one I have seen is Sakamoto Days on Netflix.  It's pretty entertaining.

I still have a few more snacks to try out, so hopefully I can get back on track and post at least one Monday Munchies post each month to end 2025.  Until then...

Thank you Ryan for these snack packs!

A Strange Photo

Here's my yearbook photo for the 2025-26 school year.  Two of my friends are the yearbook editors and they informed our lunch crew that Stranger Things was going to be this year's theme.  So I dusted off my old costume and pulled out my Dustin sticker for picture day.

That morning I realized that I still needed a few cards for my Stranger Things set build.

That afternoon I placed an order on eBay and crossed off three cards from the Character Card insert set:

2018 Topps Stranger Things Character Cards #ST-4, ST-8, and ST-9

My goal is to wrap up this set before the final season comes out in late November.

Sorry the number of published posts on here have dipped.  Things are still crazy at work.  I've got Back to School Night in a few hours.  Figured I'd write a quick post to catch up with all of you.

What Are The Odds?

A few weeks ago, one of my friends published his first book.  He's one of the most creative and energetic teachers I had the pleasure of working with.  So I'm super excited to support him and read this book.

On a sadder note, I heard about Robert Redford passing away while driving into work yesterday morning.  Here's the only card of his that I own:

Roy Hobbs Broder Card

Not 100% sure I ever watched The Natural, but I know I have seen a few of his other films.  The two most recent I've watched were Captain America: The Winter Soldier and All Is Lost.  Although the news of his passing was sad, I'm happy to hear that he lived to be eighty-nine years old.

Well that's it for today.  I still have a Flea Market Finds post in the works with plans to hit up another flea market this Saturday.  If I'm lucky, I'll finish writing the first one over the weekend and publish it next week.  Cross you fingers.

Until then...

Are you a fan of Stranger Things?

Do you have a favorite character?

Do you have a favorite Robert Redford film?

I look forward to reading and responding to your comments.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Gone Fishing

Not really.  I haven't fished in years.  But I have been forced to take time off from the blog in recent weeks to focus on school related stuff.  As luck would have it... I caught a set I've been seeking for several years. 

No idea where I originally saw it, but it has popped up a few times on my eBay saved searches.  Unfortunately each time I've been outbid.  Well a few weeks ago, this pack came up in an eBay auction with a $15 (free shipping) starting bid:

1997 Upper Deck Shimano Pack

As luck would have it... I was the lone bidder.  Emotions ran high... as I was absolutely stoked to win this auction at that price.  Then things went sideways fast.

The seller had marked the set as "shipped" with tracking, but whenever I tried to access the current location it was unavailable.  Finally it showed up in San Diego last Saturday which was a huge relief.  Unfortunately almost three weeks after the purchase date, the tracking number is still listed as "status not available".

However as you can see... the set arrived safely yesterday.  Here's a peek at the six card set in its entirety:

1997 Upper Deck Shimano Set

My fifteen minute Google search didn't reveal how these packs or cards were distributed, but I'm guessing they were likely part of a Shimano promotion.  Buy a rod and receive a pack of cards?

Most of you could care less about collecting cards of professional anglers.  Maybe that's why Upper Deck made sure to include two baseball players in the set.

If things weren't so hectic at work, I'd probably dive deeper into each of these athletes.  But I'm short on time, so here's a look at the back of the Gwynn:

How cool would it have been run int Tony and Rickey out on Lake Poway?

Anyways... I'm not sure when you'll see another post on here.  I'm working on a recap of last Saturday's trip to the De Anza Flea Market.  But this weekend, I'm hanging out with my brothers in celebration of our birthdays.  Hopefully I'll finish and publish it sometime next week (fingers crossed).

Until then...

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Birthday Card Project

Topps Now isn't for everyone.  I get it.  People should collect stuff they enjoy and enjoy the stuff they collect.

Today I'm celebrating my fifty-third year on the third planet from the sun and I wanted to share a new card project that centers around my birthday and the Topps Now product line.

A few years ago, I started collecting stuff related to my birthday.  It started with magazines and comic books.  Then I started collecting autographs of athletes who share my birthday.  After that I started collecting autographs of guys who hit a home run on the day I was born.

2021 Topps Heritage News Flashbacks #NF-BF

About a year ago, I discovered a card honoring Bobby Fischer's win over Boris Spassky in the "Match of the Century" which took place on my birthday.

This card got me wondering if there were any other cards featuring key events on my birthday... which eventually got me thinking about Topps Now cards over the years.  I started looking at checklists and was surprised at how many Topps has created over the years. As of right now... I'm only targeting one from each year to kick off the project.

Unfortunately they didn't produce a birthday card in 2016 and the representatives for 2017, 2019, and 2022 are waiting to be shipped from COMC.   In the meantime, here are the other years I have already acquired: 

2018 Topps Now #669

This card celebrates Betances who became the first reliever to record 100 or more strikeouts in five consecutive seasons.

Sadly he would only record twenty-nine more strikeouts the rest of his career and that includes the fifteen he had the rest of the way in 2018.

2020 Topps Now #191

Five years ago, Alex Dickerson, Donovan Solano, and Brandon Crawford each drove in six runs for the San Francisco Giants.

This was the first time in MLB history that three teammates collected 6 RBI's each in the same game.

2021 Topps Now #743

Four years ago, Max Scherzer tied Clayton Kershaw for the second most games with 9+ K's and 0 walks in MLB history.

At the time, Randy Johnson held the record with 41 games.  Since then... both pitchers have surpassed him.  Scherzer currently holds the record with 44 games.

2023 Topps Now #800

Two years ago, Aaron Judge hit his 30th home run of the season to become the fastest player in MLB history to reach the 250 home run milestone.

He became the fastest to reach 300 home runs less than a year later on August 14th, 2024.  And back in July, he became the fastest to reach 350 home runs.  This guy is truly amazing.

2024 Topps Now #634

Last year on September 1st, Bobby Witt Jr. became the first Kansas City Royals player to hit 30 home runs in consecutive seasons.

That's pretty surprising considering the franchise has had guys like Bo Jackson, George Brett, and Salvadore Perez playing for them.  By the way, it'll be hard for Witt to extend the streak this season.  That being said the Royals still have twenty-five games left to play.

Well that's my latest card collecting project.  Hopefully something eventful happens today, so Topps will add a card or two for me to chase down over the next 364 days.  If not, there are thirty-three more September 1st Topps Now cards for me to chase.

Happy Labor Day and sayonara!