Memoirs of a Hoarder: Catching Gators

Some athlete's deaths hit harder than others.  When I read about Mike Greenwell passing away on Thursday, it took me back to the late 80's.  There was a brief period in my life when I was opening boxes upon boxes of baseball cards purchased at my local Costco/Price Club.

1987 Topps #259

I was obsessed with mimicking the shops advertising in card magazines and building player lots of rising stars.  One of those guys was Mr. Greenwell.  As long as I can remember, I've had a deep appreciation for guys who hit for average and that's exactly what he did.

The days of hoarding his cardboard ended when I sold off my collection in the early 2000's, but I have a copy of his Topps rookie card sitting in my set.  I also found this card sitting in a box of cards labeled "cheap, cool cards":

1991 Fleer Pro-Vision #8

This single is on the blogosphere's hot list.  Just saw it pop up over at Diamond Jesters in his Greenwell tribute post.

But my favorite card of his is this on-card autograph I purchased back in 2013 when I was putting together the set:

2013 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autograph #FFA-MG

Rest in peace Gator.  Although the bulk of your cards that once resided in my collection have moved on to other collectors or landfills, I still treasure these three cards.  They'll always remind me of that special period on my hobby timeline.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

A few weeks ago, I received a care package from Adam over at Thoughts & 🧦.  Like Matt over at Diamond Jesters, he's a fan of the Boston Red Sox.  I figured since I was honoring Greenwell, I I'd also use this post to thank one of Greenwell's fans.

Adam sent me a variety of cards, but I'm going to stick to the unique items in his care package.  Let's start with some Oakland A's and San Diego Padres cards from the 2000 APBA MLB game:

I feel like I've seen these floating around at card shows or flea markets, but I'm not sure if any have actually landed into my collection.

I definitely needed this card for my Gwynn PC:

2000 APBA MLB #NNO

Here are a pair of 70's Oakland Athletics buybacks:

1977 Topps #261

Phil Garner kicked off his career in Oakland, but I remember him more for his time in Pittsburgh and Houston.  That being said, I absolutely love adding 70's and 80's Oakland A's buybacks to my collection.

1979 Topps #224

I'm definitely familiar with Dave Revering.  His mid-season trade to the New York Yankees in 1981 led to him have a very rare card in the 1981 Granny Goose set.

Moving along, here are a pair of cards for a set I'm building:

2018 Sport Kings #14

2018 Sport Kings #17

Adam actually sent me a fairly fat stack of Sport Kings singles ranging for the 2018 to 2022 sets, but these were the two I was most excited about.

Technically, I only need one more card... but Sport Kings created variations for Cobb and Payton.  The good news is neither of these cards are rare.  It's just about being patient.

He also sent me a stack of Japanese baseball players:

You're looking at almost the entire 2006 Upper Deck World Future Stars Japan team set.  I'm pretty sure I have the Dice-K which is the only card missing from the scan.  It's also nice to add three Japanese pitchers who played on playoff teams this season.  Although Yoshinobu's team is the only one still around.

Let's move along to a galaxy far, far away:

2024 Topps Chrome Star Wars Refractor #4

Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the most interesting characters in the Star Wars Universe.  Adam included a few of these refractors, but this one was my favorite.

I was also surprised and excited to see this slide out of the padded envelope:

2022 Topps Chrome Black Star Wars Autographs #AB-MBJ

Based on my memory, Ranzar Malk only appeared in one episode of The Mandalorian.  However I am very familiar with the actor who portrayed him.  Mark Boone Jr. played a major role in Sons of Anarchy, which is a top 20 television show for me.  I've also seen him in Momento, Batman Begins, and The Last Man on Earth.

I'll wrap things up with the final three hits from the care package:

2002 Donruss Studio Private Signings #143

I wasn't familiar with Mr. Pena and his tenure in Oakland.  According to his Baseball Reference page, he never pitched for them.  I've added him to the Men of Mystery section in my Oakland A's PC.

2008 SPx Rookie Signatures Silver #131

On the other hand, I'm very familiar with Mr. Blevins.  He played seven seasons in Oakland and was a key piece of their bullpen in the late aught's and early 2010's. 

1994 Signature Rookies Tetrad Autographs #XCII

I just commented on Johnny's post about my history with Signature Rookies back in the 90's.  There's a good chance I pulled a copy of this card at some point back then.  If I did, I would have recognized this name because Adam Hyzdu was with the San Francisco Giants organization and briefly played in San Jose.  Although I haven't dove into collecting every single athlete born in San Jose, if I do this card will be part of it.

Thank you Adam for sending me this very generous care package.  I don't have a ton of Red Sox or Virdon cards, but I will try to dig up some stuff for your collection.

Quality Customs (& Customer Service)

A few weeks ago, Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown showed off some cards he purchased from a fellow custom card creator and retired blogger:  Mark @ Stats on the Back.

The stuff he showed off was super impressive, so I visited Mark's online store and added a bunch of items to my cart.  Gavin had mentioned that he used a promotional code and received free shipping, but when I tried it... it didn't work.

No biggie.  When you want something bad enough, you're willing to pay for shipping.

The first item I added to my cart was this set of Beastie Boys cards:

When it comes to any Beastie Boys trading cards, I'm typically willing to open up my wallet as long as the item is reasonably priced.  This was definitely the big ticket item in my order, so $8 for this trio of customs was a no-brainer.

The rest of my order were singles picked out of his awesome dollar bins:

He has dollar bins for decades running from the 50's through the 80's, along with a special section of current stars.

I was very excited to see his interpretation of my all-time favorite baseball card:

I also picked up a few other cards for one of my friends and another card for myself that I'll share over the holidays.

But before I close out this post, I want to show off some generous bonus items that Mark included in the order.

First off, he included these two awesome cards:

One of my favorite cards in the 2009 Goodwin Champions set is the Ichiro Suzuki card.  The card on the left is Mark's version of this card.  The other card is so iconic... it needs no explanation.

If these two freebies weren't enough, he also refunded me the seven dollars I paid for shipping.  This was a surprise and a very kind gesture.  It's customer service like this that makes me want to head back over and place another order.

If you're interested in supporting Mark and purchasing some of his custom cards, click here.  I'm not sure if there's an expiration date, but if you spend $10 or more, feel free to try and use his FREE10 code to receive free shipping.

Well that wraps up today's post.  I just received my COMC order, another custom card purchase, and a pair of blogger care packages, so I've got lots of material for future posts.  Now I just need a little more free time.

Until then...

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

From Oakland to Sac Town

One year ago, I wrote about the final A's game at the Oakland Coliseum.  Today I'm covering my first game at Sutter Health Park... which is the temporary home of the A's.

Since it's a minor league ballpark, it seemed like most of the seats had solid views and were close to the field.  Here's a panoramic view from our seats:

Here's a photo of the likely 2025 AL Rookie of the Year:

Nick Kurtz

And a trio of popular Kansas City Royals:

Bobby Witt Jr. & Mike Yastrzemski

Salvador Perez

Seated on the first base side of the ballpark, there were plenty of loyal Royals fans sitting around us.  Most were pretty cool, but there were a handful of guys who became more obnoxious as the game progressed.  Things got a little nasty when they caught a balloon that fans were tossing around and intentionally popped it.  The crowd erupted (even other Royals fans) and things started to get out of hand.  Eventually they were tossed and everyone settled down.

An inning later, Shea Langeliers hit a walk off double to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.  Sadly Topps didn't reward him with a Topps Now card.

But it was a great way to wrap up an overall awesome evening at the ballpark.  I really enjoyed the small ballpark atmosphere and minor league vibe.  It only took us about 20 minutes to get from our seats to our car.  And traffic after the game was way less crazy than at the Coliseum or any other MLB ballpark I've attended.

Wallet Card

Will I go back?  Possibly.  I don't really want to put anymore money into John Fisher's bank account.  Plus I'm not a huge fan of hot whether... and Sacramento gets really hot during the summer months.  I will say this... most of the seats were in the shade by the time the first pitch was tossed, so we didn't bake in the sun.  So if you're planning a trip out there, I'd plan on attending a night game.

Speaking of hot weather, ironically their stadium giveaway that day was this Sacramento A's sweatshirt:

As upset, annoyed, and disheartened I am over the A's leaving Oakland, I was happy to land this sweatshirt.  I feel like it'll be a cool piece of Athletics team history.

Well that wraps up my trip to Sutter Health Park and my one and only MLB game this season.  A special thank you to my brother and his wife for purchasing the tickets.  And thanks to my other brother for driving us to Sacramento.  It was a memorable weekend for the Fujimoto brothers.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #180b: The Rest of the Stuff

Here's part two of my De Anza Flea Market haul from earlier in the month.  If you're interested in seeing part one, click here.

This post has been delayed long enough, let's dive into it...

Purchase #3:  Action Packed Football  $15

1990 Action Packed Football Factory Set

I'm not sure why I'm so interested in Action Packed football cards, but I am.  A vendor had this set sitting on his table.  He was asking $10, which I figured was a fair price.

Here's a closer look at the set:

After I told the guy I was interested in the set, he dug out this box of cards:

1989 Action Packed Football

This was the test issue released by Action Packed in 1989.  I actually picked up a pair of factory sets of this product back in August.  This box contains unopened packs of the same cards.  He told me that if I bought the set, I could have this box for $5, so I grabbed that too.

Purchase #4:  One on One Video Game  $10

1987 Electronic Arts One-On-One Basketball (Atari 7800)

I never owned an Atari 7800, but I remember playing this game on the Apple IIe.  Even though I won't be able to play it, I figured it's a cool display piece and the $10 asking price seemed reasonable.

Purchase #5:  A Friendly Purchase  $8

2024 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Swatches #RTD-JDS

Outside of some Packers and Seahawks, I don't own a lot of newer football.  That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the sport.  Jayden Daniels had a stellar rookie season last year, so I've been interested in adding a rookie card of his to my collection.

My buddy Tony had this card sitting in his display case, so I bought it.  He's taken care of me over the years, so I don't mind paying him top dollar every now and then to return the favor.

Purchase #6:  A Pair of Bruces  $25

Tony sets up next to Tom who primarily focuses on non-sports stuff.  A few months ago, he was selling these boxes of Bruce Lee cards.  Well he eventually opened a few and had them displayed in his case.

I picked out these two:

2024 Keepsake Bruce Lee 50th Anniversary #228

2024 Keepsake Bruce Lee 50th Anniversary #230

At the time, I thought it was pretty cool to own a pair of cards with swatches of clothing once worn by the legendary martial artist.  Unfortunately these are just swatches from modern keepsakes featuring him.

Had I turned the card over, I would have noticed the yellow Bruce Lee x Vans Half Cabs which I purchased a few years ago myself.  Oh well... at least the money went to a friend.

Purchase #7:  B&W Bo  $1

1990 Score #697

Found a lady with an entire binder filled with Bo Jackson cards.  She wanted $50 for the binder, which I had zero interest in.  But I was interested in this iconic card which she let me have for a buck.  It's not in mint condition, but this is one of those cards I'd love to fill a 9-pocket page with.

Purchase #8:  An 80's Oddball Set  $15

1982 Diamond Classics Set

I found this set sitting in this guy's display case with a $15 price tag.  I wasn't familiar with it, but the set was numbered to 10,000 and loaded with legends.  I discovered that if you're patient you can grab this set on eBay for under $10 shipped.  Guess not all of my flea market finds are winners.

That being said... I'm still happy to add this set and those silly Bruce Lee cards to my collection.

Well that's it for my De Anza Flea Market haul.  I'll be headed back out there in nine days.  

Until then...

I should have one more Flea Market Find post (from my trip to the Branham Flea Market) coming out next week.  Stay tuned.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!