Ups and Downs

Only two more days until the De Anza Flea Market.  It's supposed to be sunny and cool... just how I like it.  Sadly, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to make it out there.  I've been dealing with lower back pains the past few days.  It's the same issue I've been dealing with for a decade, so I know it'll eventually feel better.  Just not sure I'll be ready to walk around a flea market carrying bags of cards (wishful thinking) by this Saturday.  Only time will tell.

It's also been several weeks since I've ridden my newly acquired bike:

My nephew has a weekend job at a popular outdoor sports gear store, so I told him to let me know if there were any good sales on eBikes.  He told me I could have his for free, because he moved into a new place over the summer in San Francisco and carrying this 83lb. eBike up and down several floors didn't fit into his new lifestyle.  Well I tried it out and loved it.  Don't worry... I paid him for it.

That was back in October when the weather was sunny and warm.  Unfortunately the Bay Area received some rain in November, so I wasn't able to ride it a lot.  And now that the weather is nice again, I'm too sore to ride.  Hopefully I'll be able to hop back on it over the winter break.

On the card front, I have a few packages piling up in my office.  A few of them are eBay purchases.  I just received two big boxes containing Christmas presents from my buddy Ryan a.k.a. SumoMenkoMan.

I also received a box filled with "bulky cards" from Kevin over at The Diamond King.

He's been holding some really generous giveaways on his blog and I was fortunate enough to win a box filled with thick cards including relics, autographs, and high-end base cards.

I started sorting the contents and putting all of the cards into new penny sleeves (don't blame me, blame the OCD) on Sunday, but the back issues flared up and I had to take a break.

But I'll definitely be sharing some of the keepers in a future post (hopefully this weekend).  The rest I'll be passing along to fellow bloggers.  Part of Kevin's "giveaway" involves committing to send out at least one care package this holiday season.  I will be sending a few.  Some were planned, but a few were inspired by Kevin's giveaway.

Thank you Kevin!  This was a really cool way to get people into the spirit of giving.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Giving Thanks A Day Late

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope all of you are enjoy the company of family, friends, and/or cards.  I'm celebrating with two out of three.  Any guesses on which two?  I'll reveal the answer at the end of the post.

In the meantime, let's check out some cards.  First up are some from John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.  He held a 350 card giveaway a few weeks ago where he shipped out thirty PWE's to collectors across the blogosphere.  Thankfully, I was one of the recipients.

My nine pocket page contained the following...

This is pumpkin pie portion of the post.  Pumpkin is one of the most under-appreciated dessert pies out there... just like magazine cards from the 90's are in the hobby.

1992 Topps Magazine #TM79

I might not crave pumpkin pie all the time, but it's an essential part of our Thanksgiving meal... just like 90's magazine cards are an essential part of my collection.

Next up, the stuffing...

These twelve cards were part of a contest prize package from Brendan over at The View from the Third Floor.  He gave the winners a few different options for prizes.   I went with 2023 Topps lot, because I'm building that set.

2023 Topps #437

This Lane Thomas got me one step closer to completing the set:

Stuffing is one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving dinner and it's generally what I fill up on.  The Thomas was a set filler.

Finally, I want to talk about two big surprises from yesterday's Thanksgiving feast.  First was the pumpkin soup, which tasted like split pea soup.

I had never tried it before, but was pleasantly surprised.  

The other surprise was the roasted brussels sprouts.  I've had it before, but only at Thanksgiving.  Every time I eat it, I'm blown away by how something so healthy looking tastes so amazing.

What's not a surprise is that the pumpkin soup and roasted brussels sprouts both featured bacon... which is one of my favorite things to eat.

How do all of these cards relate to pumpkin soup and roasted brussels sprouts?  Well all of them arrived awhile back as part of a care package from a fellow collector on Sports Card Forum.  Woody has sent me a bunch of packages over the years, but this one wasn't one I planned on.

It just showed up in my mailbox and was a complete surprise.  Thank you Woody for all of the Packers, Seahawks, Padres, and Japanese athletes you sent for my personal collections.

I also appreciate you thinking of my students with these stacks and stacks of 49ers, Raiders, Giants, and Warriors.

Thank you John for the generous giveaway on your blog.  And thank you Brendan for your contest and for helping me get one step closer to completing my 2023 Topps set.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  By the way, I started writing this post yesterday.  At the time I was at my brother's house with the rest of my siblings and a few of our friends.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any contact with cards yesterday.  I did however try my hardest to publish this post on Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately... once the football games, food preparation, and family time got started I got distracted and didn't get a chance to complete this post until today.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

John reached out to me and offered to help me with more of my 2023 Topps.  Here's the updated list of set needs:

Thank you John!

My Side Hobby

A few weeks ago, I went to a card show held at a local mall.  Like most card shows I read about on blogs, there were mostly dealers specializing in Pokemon cards and or modern graded sports cards.  Out of the 100 or so tables advertised, I only found one dealer with dime boxes and his table was swarmed with customers.

Normally I would have circled around the show and come back when the crowd thinned out, but I had purchased some cards at the flea market earlier in the morning.  I stopped off at my buddy's table instead, chatted with him for a few minutes, then headed home without making a single show purchase.

It kind of makes me wonder if card shows are still something I enjoy attending.  I have already cut out local shows that charge admission or parking.  Now the lone free show near my house is filled with dealers selling stuff I don't have a lot of interest in and the crowds are getting a little too large for my liking.

Maybe I need a change.

Last week, The Shlabotnik Report featured a post summarizing his trip to a postcard show.  Now I've shown off a few postcards on this blog, but there have plenty of others that I've kept to myself since there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest among my readers.

In spite of that, I figured I'd show a few that I have picked up in the last year.  Let's start off with a pair featuring Milwaukee Downer College:

After going to the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the early 50's, my mom transferred to Milwaukee Downer to get her degree in occupational therapy.  Less than a year after moving to Wisconsin, she met my father at a Hawaii club dance and the rest is history.

Another interest of mine is the Kintaikyo Bridge in Iwakuni City.  On my father's side of the family, I have relatives who were caretakers of this bridge.

My dad's uncle and cousin's husband helped with the reconstruction of the bridge during the Showa Period in 1953.

His cousin's son was the master carpenter for the Heisei reconstruction in 2005.  When my parents visited Japan in the mid 2000's, they met him for the first time and walked across the newly constructed bridge.

All three of these postcards have very similar backs.

The only difference I spotted was the small text printed on the lefthand side of each postcard.

I have one more postcard related item I'd like to share.  While searching for cards related to the Golden Gate Bridge, I came across the 1993 Skyline San Francisco set:

I purchased it on eBay back in October, but when I received it... I thought it might be a set of postcards based on the back of the packaging:

Actually... like the cover of the set states, there were actually trading cards inside:

Since this is more of a postcard related post, I won't spend too much time going over this set.  However here's a quick look at it:

Here's the card that inspired this purchase:

1993 Skyline San Francisco Scenes #1

Does anyone else think the borderless design resembles 1992 Stadium Club?

The back of the card features a write up on the famous bridge, which is a symbol of San Francisco.

Well that's it for today.  I know postcards aren't exactly trading cards.  But they're still photos printed on cardstock that people enjoy collecting.  And as luck would have it... I've discovered there's an event held three times a year at Golden Gate Park called the Vintage Paper Fair.  All of the 2025 dates have passed, but the promoter says he's planning on three more dates next year.  I'm hoping to attend at least one.  I bet I don't see a single Pokemon or graded sports card there.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

A Longtime Friend

The older I get, the less social I am.  Sure there was a period in my life when popularity was important, but once I got into college everything changed.  The switch from quality over quantity was made and I've never looked back.

As a teacher, I meet new people all the time and it's important for me to play the game and interact with other teachers, administrators, and parents.  But anyone who truly knows me... understands that I prefer small social gatherings with close friends over big functions like dances, weddings, or parties.

That's one of the reasons my buddy Cody and I get along so well.  We both taught at the same elementary school back in the early 2000's.  We were part of a big group of young teachers that enjoyed hanging out together.

But life happens.  We grew up and most of us went our separate ways.  Some transferred to other schools in our district, others moved out of the area, and a handful left the profession altogether.  As a result many of us are just Facebook friends these days.

Cody was one of those teachers who moved out of the area and switched careers.  However every year he comes back to the Bay Area to visit family and friends... and every year we go out to dinner at The Drying Shed.

This year he brought me a bag of ALF trading cards:

Now Cody isn't exactly a big time card collector like some of you.  He's just the biggest ALF fan I know.  So before we look at some of the cards he gave me, let's take a peek at part of his collection:

He has ALF wall decorations, plushies, figurines, and trading cards.  He even has Gordon Shumway plastered all over his refrigerator:

As you can see, like many of us... he has a sentimental soft spot for nostalgic stuff from our past.  Except instead of hoarding baseball cards and sports related memorabilia, he collects ALF, Winchell's, Fotomat, and Baker's Square related items.

At the same time, he does have a collection of non-sports cards including Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, and of course ALF.  He gave me a nice Series 1 starter set:

There were plenty of duplicates, so if anyone else out there is interested in building this set... email me your set needs.

Okay... let's take a look at some of my favorites from Cody's bag:

1987 Topps ALF Series 1 #27

1987 Topps ALF Series 1 #36

1987 Topps ALF Series 1 #39

1987 Topps ALF Series 1 #19

Thank you Cody for these awesome ALF cards, but more importantly for being one of my longtime friends.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!