The Struggle is Real

Anyone else struggling to comment on blog posts?

I've tried to comment on several blogs this morning and every time I get the "Publishing..." box without the comment actually being published.  I was able to leave a comment on a Word Press blog, but not on any Blogger blogs... including my own:

I'm hoping this is just a temporary glitch on Blogger's end... or a simple fix on mine, because commenting on your posts and responding to comments on my blog are a very important part of my hobby.  If anyone has any insight, please let me know down in the comment section below (assuming you are able to).

2026-27 School ID Card

Switching gears, I apologize for the lack of posts.  I was hoping to hammer out some Flea Market Finds, but the start of the school year is typically hectic.  Plus I've been more tired than usual, so when I get home I've been recharging my batteries watching tv rather than playing with my baseball cards.

I even missed out on publishing my annual birthday post.  Here are the trio of cards I've added to my Birthday PC since last year:

2017 Topps Now #547

Back on September 1st, 2017... Clayton Kershaw returned from the DL to help the Dodgers snap a five game losing streak.

Unfortunately the victory came at the expense of my favorite National League team.

2019 Topps Now #778

On September 1st, 2019... Justin Verlander pitched the third no-hitter of his career.

After walking Cavan Biggio in the bottom of the first inning, he shut down the final twenty-six batters he faced in the game (14 by strikeout).

2022 Topps Now #825

On September 1st, 2022... Spencer Strider struck out 16 against the Colorado Rockies to set an Atlanta Braves single game franchise record.

Warren Spahn holds the all-time franchise record with 18 strikeouts in a single game back in 1952.  At the time the Braves were in Boston and the Cubs were their opponents.

Speaking of birthdays, here's a cool present I received on Wednesday from one of my students:

1996 Collector's Edge President's Reserve #375

Stubblefield is one of his defensive coaches, so he got me a signed card for my birthday.

Well that's it for today.  I'm really hoping that the "comment" issue will be fixed soon.  Although reading blog posts are a huge part of my interaction with fellow collectors... exchanging comments is equally important.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Update

Don't have a solution to the problem, but Angus, John, and Greg have reached out to me to let me know that they tried to comment on this post without success.  However Jim was able to comment on this post.  Looks like it's impacting some people, but not everyone.

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!

Particular & Peculiar

Collecting birthday related items is nothing new to the blogosphere... but to friends and family it can come off as peculiar.

This year I added a few items to my Birthday PC...

Let's start off with an Olympic ticket stub from the day I was born:

1972 Olympic Volleyball Ticket Stub

According to Wikipedia there were two women's and three men's matches held that day.  Although all of these matches were part of the preliminary rounds, it did feature a pretty notable match.  In men's volleyball, Japan beat East Germany.  Eight days later, they'd meet again in the gold medal match.  Japan won again.

This is my second Olympic ticket from that day.  Last year, I won this one on eBay:

1972 Olympic Rowing Ticket Stub

I attempted to look up which rowing events took place that day, but there were just too many to keep track of.  And honestly... I doubt anyone reading this post really cares.

The next two items are cards I picked up on eBay back in February:

1996 Playboy Chromium Cover: Edition 2 #138

1997 Playboy Centerfold Collection: September Edition #55

Both cards feature Susan Miller and the Playboy cover for the September 1972 issue.  According to her IMDB biography, she had a brief acting career and eventually became a massage therapist.

There's one more card I purchased recently for this collection, but it hasn't arrived yet.  And since it's very particular and peculiar... I'll probably just wait until next year to show it off.

In the meantime, here are a pair of Nomo cards I purchased over the summer:

1995 Cal League Bakersfield Blaze #4

1995 Cal League Bakersfield Blaze #29

Hideo Nomo shares the same birthday as my best friend... which happens to be the day before mine.  We celebrated our birthdays together with her family on Saturday.

There weren't any cards or collectibles involved... but the food and company were amazing.

That's it for today.  Hope all of you are enjoying your holiday weekend.  Stay safe.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Birth Month Cards & Comics

The year I was born... Topps released their flagship baseball card set to kids and collectors in six different series.  The sixth and final series... often referred to as the high numbers... can be challenging to track down and tend to be more scarce than the first five series.

I had heard about the dreaded high numbers back in the early 90's when I worked at my local card shop, but was reminded first hand back in 2013 when I attempted to build the 1972 Topps Oakland A's team set.  There was no way I was going to pay $5 to $10 for commons and minor stars... so the idea of building my birth year set for my favorite team was immediately shelved.

It also killed any hope of me attempted to build the entire 1972 Topps baseball card set from scratch.  On a positive note it motivated me to purchase a complete set off of eBay that very year for a fraction of the price they are selling for today.

As for the team set... I eventually completed it with help from Wes over at Area 40 (formerly known as Jay Barker Fan's Junk).  He sent me these six high number cards approximately nine months after I purchased the complete set:

1972 Topps #691, 692, and 715

1972 Topps #735, 753, and 780

Last week or the week before, I stumbled across a comic book in my office which I purchased for my Birthday PC, because it was released the same month I was born.  That made me wonder whether or not these 1972 high numbers were released back in September of 1972.

I couldn't find an exact release date, so if you know... feel free to comment down below.

According to TCDB, collectors were able to get them late that summer.  That means it's possible the 1972 Topps high numbers were in stores the day I was born... just like this Dr. Strange comic book:

Marvel Premiere #4 (featuring Dr. Strange)

The discovery of this comic book in my office is strange, because I have zero records of purchasing it.  I'm pretty good about keeping emails for every eBay purchase I've made over the past ten-plus years.  Oh well... it's a nice addition to my Birthday PC... which contains these three other comic books released in September of 1972:

The Invincible Iron Man #50

Avengers #103

Archie #221

I'm slowly adding the different Marvel comic books released during my birth month.  It's not something I actively hunt for, but I try to add one each year for my birthday.

What about you?

Do you collect anything related to your birthday?

I'm pretty sure there's at least one other blogger out there who collects comic books from their birth month, but I can't remember who it is.  Anyone know?

Happy National Comic Book Day and sayonara!