Saturday, February 14, 2026

Still Celebrating the Holidays

While a lot of sports fans are focusing on this year's NBA All-Star Weekend, the Winter Olympics, and pitchers & catchers reporting to Spring Training... I'm still coming down from my Super Bowl high.  But I did open up a padded envelope yesterday that's getting me back into the spirit of baseball.

Pennsylvania Mike left a comment on my 2025 Topps Holiday advent calendar post.  He offered to help me out... and he wasn't joking.  It's probably easier to let this visual do the talking:


After combining the singles from my advent calendar and my buddy's duplicates, I needed 59 cards from the 200 card setMike crossed off thirty-five of them:



That's a jump from 70.5% to 88% complete.  He included some key cards including the Jacob Wilson & Roki Sasaki rookie cards, plus the batting version of Shohei Ohtani and a bunch of other MLB superstars.

My set needs are down to twenty-four cards:


Oh wait, there's more.  He also sent me these three A's parallels:

2025 Topps Holiday Gold Lights #H48

2025 Topps Holiday Light Blue & White Glitter #H80
2025 Topps Holiday Gold Lights #H80

The Topps Holiday advent calendars only came with the holiday green plaid parallels, so these two parallels were new to me.  I haven't been this excited about one of these holiday sets in several years.

Thank you Mike for helping me out.  I have a stack of Tigers from the 2025 Topps Update that I'll be sending your way this week.  I still have this wicked cough, but other than that... I'm pretty much back to normal.  Plus I have this week off from work, so I'll definitely schedule time to hit the post office.

As for the rest of y'all, here is today's question of the day:

Anyone watching the Winter Olympics or NBA All-Star Weekend events?

If so, which ones?

Although I won't be watching any of the Olympic events live, I will definitely watch all of the snowboarding highlights.  I'm also interested in seeing the highlights from both of Team USA men's hockey games.

I hope all of you enjoy your Hallmark holiday!  Happy Valentine's Day and sayonara!

21 comments:

Batting Out Of Order said...

Wow, nothing like getting a big chunk all at once. Nice.

Chris said...

I bet I have some of your Topps Holiday needs. I’ll check tonight and get back to you this weekend.

My daughter and I have been watching the Olympics as much as we can. She was not happy with the ice dancing results 😑

bbcardz said...

Gotta love it when your set build is going in the right direction. Also gotta love it when baseball season is approaching and 2026 baseball cards are released.

John Sharp said...

Thats pretty cool of him.
I watch the Winter Olympics every 5 years, especially Team USA Hockey, lots of Michigan guys, and that's always cool. USA πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Go Blue?m!

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

Not watching either:
Now, I thought I had hit up your needs list for that set but I guess I didn't. Cross these off too, and they along with your "package" will be en-route next week.

26, 44, 87, 126, 182.

night owl said...

I have a handful of 2025 Holiday and not attached to it at all, I'll see if there's anything you need.
Been watching some of the Olympics, the time difference works out as I'm home in the morning and afternoon and can check out events live rather than the canned NBC stuff in the evening.

Ginko-5 said...

Congrats to you and your Seahawks for the Super Bowl victory! They played one heck of a game.
Good luck completing the Holiday set!
Paying attention to hockey in the Winter Olympics, though I haven't found them without having to pay for them yet.

Dennis said...

Wow, lots of help from Mike, very nice! I hope Chris can knock even more off for you. I haven't been watching too closely but I like a lot of the winter events, especially hockey, so I catch stuff when I can.

Chris said...

I have these for you: 16, 37, 48, 72, 105, 111, 119, 123, 153, 170, 173. If you still need em I’ll get a PWE out to you this week

Anonymous said...

No basketball or olympics for me.

RR said...

It sure is nice when a fellow collector helps with ones card wants this is what makes the hobby more enjoyable. I have a Vicky Sunohara autograph card if you still want her autograph. My Wife and I are enjoying the Winter Olympics. We watch snowboarding, Skating and the downhill skiing and of course Ice Hockey.

Fuji said...

batting out of order - for sure. sometimes i wonder if a set build is going to take years. this group makes me think that i'll be done by summer

chris - thanks buddy. i'll update this post as soon as i get done commenting. as for the ice dancing, i heard about the controversy... but haven't watched it.

bbcardz - this set build is coming along much faster than anticipated. i'll probably hold off on 2026 topps until i finish the 2025 stuff.

john sharp - team usa hockey looks really good. hopefully both bring home medals. best of luck to your michigan guys

johnnys trading spot - thank you john! i've updated my wantlist.

night owl - thanks for checking. haven't watched anything live yet. but if there's a canada vs. us gold medal hockey game on thursday, i might stay up and watch

ginko-5 - thanks. it was pretty exciting. gotta take my wins where i can. i hope you can find a streaming service that shows the olympics. i use peacock (only b/c i did a black friday deal).

dennis - looks like john and chris are gonna make a few more dents. this set build is coming along fast

anonymous - how about golf? i forgot about the pebble beach pro-am

rr - saw your email. i'll reach out to you about the vicky sunohara this morning. the snowboarding stuff is my favorite. when i was a kid, i enjoyed watching the ice skating and downhill skiing with my mom.

Robert said...

Will be watching both of the hockey tournaments for sure. Best of luck finishing that holiday set.

Brett Alan said...

Don't care at all about the NBA all-star stuff, except I watched a couple clips from the dunk contest which were mostly fails. But I'm glued to the Olympic men's hockey and all curling, especially when Team USA is involved.

Matt said...

Not watching either, but I am rooting on Shiffrin from afar!

The Lost Collector said...

I've been watching some Olympics here and there. I was able to attend the NBA All-Star Saturday festivities, but came home before the game on Sunday. The Intuit Dome is really cool!

Kin said...

Something I've missed while being out of blogging is seeing the kindness of so many bloggers. Great package to add to your set. I have a few boxes of these to open and work on my frankenset but if/when I ever get around to it, I'll help you out if you haven't finished your set.

Chris said...

Cross off #172, I said 173 initially but that was a typo.

Fuji said...

robert - big week for hockey this week. should be pretty awesome.

brett alan - excited to see highlights from this thursday's gold medal game between canada and usa.

matt - that was a nice shiffrin you posted earlier on your blog

the lost collector - yeah, the intuit dome looks really cool. my co-worker has been there and he was telling me about all about it.

kin - have fun opening up the boxes. i'm hoping to have this one complete in the next month or two. but i have a small stack of dupes, so if you need help let me know.

chris - thanks buddy. i'll update it now.

Elliptical Man said...

I've been watching some winter Olympics.
Just what's on when I turn the TV on if it's interesting.
Pairs ice dancing, women's curling, skiing.
I'll probably watch women's ice skating if it's on at a convenient time for me.

Elliptical Man said...

I can send you a few.