Let's Go Oakland!

Oops.  I mean Sacramento.  When I started writing this post three Saturdays ago... I was pleasantly surprised to see the A's and San Diego Padres sitting on top of their divisions.

Obviously it's been a few weeks and there's a reasonable chance neither still are, but regardless I wanted to show off some of their cards I have recently acquired, sorted, and added into my personal collections.

So grab your favorite beverage, sit back, and get ready for this scan heavy post that was brought to you by Reader X and John over @ Johnny's Trading Spot.  When it comes to care packages, these guys don't mess around.  They're heavy hitters.  Their care packages aren't measured by ounces.  They're measured in pounds.

I couldn't find any photo evidence of John's care packages, but they were similar in size to the one Xavier sent me in January:

John used a large flat rate box to ship his cards.  Xavier's preferred method is a shoebox stuffed with baseball card boxes:

Inside of each of these boxes weren't actual packs.  There were stuffed with team bags filled with cards.  Here's a peek at the contents of those team bags after I sorted them on my office floor:

Although the shipping packages were different... each of these guys sent me hundreds of new cards for my collections and students.

Today I'm only going to focus on my two favorite baseball teams.  Let's start off with the first place Athletics...

Reader X sent me a variety of stuff including this Gold Star parallel team set:

2023 Topps Gold Stars Oakland A's Team Set

He also included almost seventy rookie cards and parallels featuring hall of famers, fan favorites, and current stars:

A's Hall of Famers & Legends

Former & Current A's Parallels

More Current Stars

Reader X also tossed in a pair of buybacks:

And this Lazaro Armentaros super collector starter kit:

Not sure if Mr. Armenteros is currently playing baseball, but back in 2019 he peaked as the Oakland A's #5 prospect:

Last, but certainly not least... Xavier sent me this oversized Matt Chapman:

2017 Bowman Prospects 5x7 #BP110 (#'d 05/10)

Big and low numbered!

Next up are some of the A's John over at Johnny's Trading Spot sent my way:

Let's start with the three of the A's brightest stars:

Brent Rooker, Nick Kurtz & Jacob Wilson

All three of these guys have had some struggles at the plate this season, but they seem to be picking up steam.

Next up is a giant batch of Big Mac and The Pizza Man:

McGwire Oddballs & Piazza Inserts

1987 Barry Colla Mark McGwire Set

1987 Barry Colla Mark McGwire #10

Like Xavier, John also included a parallel team set in his care package:

2025 Topps 582 Mongomery Oakland A's Team Set

And what better way to wrap up a post, than with a six pack of Billy Martin cards:

Billy Martin Collection

Although I was watching and playing baseball by the late 70's, my earliest memories of attending games were from the Billy Ball Era.  His 1982 Donruss card captures a great shot of him having a calm discussion with Blue.  Some of my favorite baseball highlights from the 80's involved watching managers arguing with umpires... especially when fingers were pointing and dirt was flying.  Good times.

Thank you Reader X and John for these awesome additions to my A's collection.  I was originally going to show off some Padres cards too.  Unfortunately I've already been sitting on this stuff for over two weeks and this post is already running a little long, so stay tuned for the Brown & Gold cardboard.

Until then...

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

By the way... the A's are indeed still in 1st place.  Yee haw!  Billy would be proud.

I'm a TRU Kid

When I was a kid back in the 70's and 80's... Toys R Us was the greatest retail store in (my) existence.  I only got the opportunity to go there a few times a year on special occasions like finding a birthday present for a friend.  But when it happened, it was like thirty minutes of pure happiness.  Action figures, video games, and model kits were my favorite sections, but I'd make sure to spend time in the Lego, board game, and bicycle areas as well.

By the late 80's and early 90's, they also became a source of sports cards.  They collaborated with Topps to produce their popular Baseball Rookies boxed set from 1987 to 1991.

1993 Topps Toys R Us Factory Set

Then in 1993, they teamed up with Topps again and produced a special Stadium Club set featuring young baseball stars from the era.  That year I had walked away from the hobby to focus on college, so I had zero interest in purchasing this set at the time.

However fast forward thirty-three years and I found myself purchasing this set at the De Anza Flea Market for five bucks.  The key to this purchase was the set of 5x7 Master Photos that was included in the box:

1993 Topps Toys R US Master Set #NNO

Scan of Card Back

1993 Topps Toys R US Master Set #NNO

I feel like these twelve oversized cards are worth the five bucks alone.  But Toys R Us also included a 100 card box set as a bonus.  Here's a peek at some of the bigger names from that set:

In an era where blaster boxes containing seventy-two cards will set you back $25 at Target, I feel like boxed sets from the 90's like this one are a better bargain.  But that's just my two cents.

Don't worry... I'm not hating on current sets.  Heck I'm building a bunch of Topps sets from the past few years.

One of them is the 2023 Topps flagship baseball set.  John over at Johnny's Trading Spot recently sent me over 200 cards for my set build:

I originally scanned a few nine-pocket pages with highlights, but I've misplaced them or accidentally deleted them.  Anyways... this huge lot left me with only needing ten cards (which I'll just grab off of Sportlots) to complete the Series 1, 2, and Update sets.

Thank you John!

Greg over at Night Owl Cards also sent me some set help:

These four cards completed my 2025 Topps Holiday base set:

Greg also passed along some A's and Padres cards that John had originally intended for me:

I'm guessing they were originally intended for the huge care package that John sent me a few months ago that included the above 2023 Topps cards.  I'm still in the process of sorting it, but as soon as I'm finished I'll be showing off some of the goodies from that box.

Thank you Greg and John for helping me out with these set builds!  And thank you to all of you who took the time to read this post.

Today's question of the day:

Were you a Toys R Us kid?

Do you have any fond memories of shopping there when you were a kid?

If so, please share them down in the comment section below.  I promise to read and respond to all of them.

Until then...

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

To Cut or Not to Cut

There's no shortage of Shohei collectibles out there for collectors to collect.  That's what happens when a once in a generation type of athlete comes along.  Unfortunately his collectibles are usually attached to high price tags.

But every now and then, they're part of generous care packages.  Today's post features two huge additions to my Shohei Ohtani PC.

The first one is a uncut rookie card from a box of 2018 Topps Big League:

Angus over at Dawg Day Cards sent me a large padded envelope back in December that I finally opened up over the weekend.  It was filled with a few nice additions to my collection that I'll share over a few posts.  

2018 Topps Big League Box Card #B3

My first thought was to cut the Ohtani out, but there's no way I could do it as cleanly as my photo editor.  So I ended up keeping it intact.  Here's a look at the other side of the box:

As soon as I saw this box, I knew it would pair perfectly with the large store display shown above that was part of Ryan's advent calendar.  I placed it with Ohtani's 2025 Topps flagship card to give you some perspective:

I'm still figuring out the best way to display this cool collectible.  I could hang it up in my classroom, but honestly I'd love to find some wall space for this in my office.  We'll see how things play out.

While I'm showing off new additions to the Ohtani collection, I figured I'd show off an action figure of him that has been hanging up in my office for a few years:

2021 Topps Big League Super 7 1959 Variation Figure

I still have a bunch of items from Ryan's advent calendar and Angus' care package.  I'll be sharing them here and there over the next few months, so stay tuned.  Thank you Ryan and Angus!

Here is today's question of the day:

When it comes to box bottom cards or uncut sheets of cards, do you tend to keep them intact or do you cut them out?

Although I have cut out cards, if the box bottom or uncut sheet is in good condition, I'll usually keep it intact.  In fact I have several boxes dedicated to storing oversized items like these.

That's it for today.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #181: Dime Box Cards

This year has been one of the best in regards to flea market finds, but after two poor outings in a row... I'm starting to think the hot streak is over.

Two weeks ago, I walked around the De Anza Flea Market and didn't purchase a single item.  A friend of mine made a big purchase involving hundreds of packs and as a consolation prize tossed me one.  I'll share its contents in a future post, because I'm too lazy to run out to my car.

Two weeks before that, I walked around the Branham Flea Market and had it not been for a guy with a dime box, I would have walked away with nothing again.

Although all of these items were purchased at the same time, it's easier to split them up into two categories...

Purchase #1a:  The Oversized Stuff  $3

They're a pain in the butt to store, but I will happily purchase any box topper I come across if the price is right.  Ten cents works for me.

Here are a few of my favorites:

2020 Topps Holiday Ornament #WHO-MB

Some of you might remember my metal Christmas tree.  Well I've slowly been accumulating some of the Topps Ornament box toppers from the past five years.  Just need a few more to decorate an updated version of it. 

2021 Heritage Box Topper #OB-VG

In the midst of preparing this post, Vladito was having a monster series against the New York Yankees.  Unfortunately he hasn't found the same success against Seattle's pitchers.

2011 Topps Lineage 1964 Topps Giants Box Topper #TG9

The 1964 Topps Giants is one of my favorite vintage oddball sets.  I'm a huge fan of the simple design and was very lucky to add the full sixty card set to my collection a few years ago.  I'm not building this box topper set, but I'll happily add affordable singles when I stumble across them. 

2013 Panini Golden Age Exhibit Box Topper #25

This is probably the least interesting card for the majority of you, but it's my favorite from the bunch.  I can't tell you much about Mr. Johnson that you can't look up on Wikipedia... but this card makes me think of my father who was a huge boxing fan in his youth.

Okay, let's check out the rest of the dime box purchases...

Purchase #1b:  The Standard Stuff  $7

Here's a heads up... there wasn't a lot of baseball in this guy's dime box and the stuff he did have I wasn't interested in.  That being said, there were a bunch of other sports represented and some non-sports too.

I was a pretty diehard San Jose Sharks fan for their first thirty seasons, but I haven't really followed them, the sport, or hockey card industry in several years.  I'll still buy some Sharks, hockey autographs, and 90's inserts from time to time.  But if they started skating in the past ten years, I have no idea who they are.  That being said, I know that the Upper Deck Young Guns are popular among hockey card collectors.  At 10¢ each, I figured I'd grab every copy this guy had.

The same 10¢ rule applies to any shiny Pokemon cards I come across.  The hidden treasure in the box is political trading card of Mark Takano.  Never seen these before, but it's an interesting addition to my Japanese Pc.

There were a bunch of these Disney cards in the guy's dime box.  I picked up a bunch for one of my co-workers who is a huge Disney fan.  However I held onto a few including the Beagle Boys and Goofy cards above.

I was also happy to find a bunch of new Jon Jones cards for my collection:

I don't consider myself a huge MMA fan, but I did enjoy following Jones in the UFC Octagon.

Here are a few more singles I found in the dime box.  Honestly there wasn't anything too mind blowing in this guy's box... but I had fun flipping through it.  Hopefully he'll be out there again this Saturday.  If not... I'm hoping to find at least something card related to purchase out there.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!