Not a Bear, But a Fan...

When I was a kid, I dreamt of attending either Stanford or Cal.  Based on my grades... Stanford was never going to happen.  And by high school... I realized Berkeley wasn't going to happen either.

I was off to De Anza... and eventually San Jose State.  Let's go Spartans!

2012 Upper Deck College Mascots Patch #CM-12

However I was really stoked when my nephew decided to go to UC Berkeley.  Last weekend, he graduated as part of the Class of 2024 and today is his graduation party.

I won't be able to attend... as I caught something yesterday.  The last thing I want to do is be that guy who goes to the party and gets everyone sick.

That being said... I wanted to celebrate by showing off my favorite items in my Cal PC:

#1:  1982 The Big Game Program

Controversial and/or crazy... this is one of the greatest sports events in Bay Area history.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can watch the final play of the game by clicking here. 

#2:  2003 Sports Illustrated for Kids #315

Natalie Coughlin won two gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.   The following spring... she graduated from UC Berkeley.  

In 2008 in Beijing, she'd bring home another Olympic gold medal.  By the time she hung up her swimsuit, she had been to three Olympics and finished with 3 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 5 bronze medals... which ties her (with Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres) for most Olympic medals won by U.S. female athletes.

#3:  2007 Sage Aspire Autograph #12A

Marshawn Lynch is Cal's #2 all-time leading rusher.  But I didn't turn into a big Beast Mode fan until he played a big part of the Seattle Seahawks success from 2012 to 2015.  It's also important to remember that he was born and raised in the East Bay.

#4:  2012 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Autograph #A-SW

Okay.  This isn't technically a piece of Cal memorabilia... but Steve Wozniak graduated from Berkeley in 1986... right about the time I was graduating from middle school.

#5:  1995 Classic Superior Pix Autograph #NNO

I'll wrap things up with a guy who single handedly lured me back into the hobby.

Back in college... I sometimes rode VTA's light rail to school.  Situated in between the Paseo de San Antonio station and SJSU was a small card shop.  Sometime in the fall of 1994... I started buying packs of 1994-95 basketball in hopes of pulling Jason Kidd cards.  This wasn't a card I pulled back then... but it is a reminder of the part Kidd played on my card collecting timeline.

Okay, it's your turn...

Do you have any college PC's?  If so, who?

Congratulations Kobe... and to the rest of the Class of 2024!  Go Bears!

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Maybe.  Maybe not.  Seems like baseball card posts receive at least twice as many views as non-baseball card related posts.  That's why I typically stick to writing about baseball cards.

However.... I have enjoyed collecting a variety of sports since the late 80's/early 90's.  And over the past few months... several people have donated some football cards to my collection.  I figured I'd kick off the 2022 NFL season with a bunch of them today...

Let's start off with this gorgeous looking Favre insert:

2020 Panini Mosaic Old School Mosaic #OS15

Not a fan of Panini MLB cards... but if I ever find a blaster of Panini Mosaic football on Target's website or store shelves, I'll be adding it to my cart.  I'm actually tempted to build this shiny stained glass looking set.

John over at Johnny's Trading Spot sent me that card... along with these other Mosaic parallels:

2020 Panini Mosaic Reactive Blue #283

2020 Panini Mosaic Camo Pink #292

2020 Panini Mosaic Reactive Green #294

None of these scans do these parallels any justice.  These are essentially Panini's version of refractors and when the light hits them, they shine.  Yup.  Call me a fan.

Here are a bunch of other football parallels and inserts John sent my way:

2021 Panini Prizm Draft Picks Orange Ice Prizm #12

Goff is Cal's all-time passing leader... and it's not even close.  This is a nice addition to that PC.

Love me some acetate...

2020 Panini Illusions Clear Shots #13

Marino was one of my favorite quarterbacks back in the 80's and 90's.  Shame he never won a Super Bowl.

2020 Panini Illusions Living Legends #LL12

The 49ers on the other hand... won a bunch during that era.  I couldn't stand them when I was a kid.  Still don't.   But Rice is one of only a handful of 49ers I enjoy collecting.  Doubt I have ever mentioned it on this blog, but I actually have a small PC of his.

2020 Select Purple Prizm Die-Cut #118

Although... I disliked him as much as the team he played for.  Over the years I've grown to admire him and his contributions to the sport and was happy to slide this into the Montana section of my football insert binder.

And here are three new cards for my Ray Lewis and Ed Reed PC's...

2020 Panini Phoenix Fire Forged #2

2020 Panini Select Unbreakable #U14

2019 Panini Illusions Living Legends #LL-ER

Thank you John for sending me all of those football inserts and parallels.  My football collection thanks you too.

Next up are some Prizm cards... which seem to be one of the most popular football products out there.  Greg over at Crocodile Sports Cards sent me the entire Seattle Seahawks team set over the summer:

This team set is loaded with familiar names... and I love the inclusion of guys like Bosworth and Alexander.  I also like that it fits perfectly into a 9-pocket page.

He also sent me a new single for the Ed Reed PC:

2020 Panini Prizm #46

And rounding out this football card post are two "mask" cards sent by Woody over at CCW a while back:

2021 Donruss #29

2021 Donruss #155

Both of these are photo variants.  More importantly these two are arguably the two best players on my two favorite football teams:  the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers.

I've been pretty spoiled as a football fan as both franchises have had a taste of success over the past decade or so.  But the Seattle Seahawks will be lucky to win five games this year.  I'd be very happy with one win over the San Francisco 49ers.

As for the Green Bay Packers... anything less than a trip to the playoffs will be a disappointment.  The loss of Davante hurt, but my expectations for the Packers haven't been this high in years.  Hopefully high expectations doesn't lead to heartache.

Thank you John, Greg, and Woody for these generous contributions to my football cards collection.  I actually have one more football card post that's in the process of being written.  I'm going to try and hammer that out and publish it this weekend.  Here's a hint... with the help of some bloggers I've reached a very cool milestone on my hobby timeline.  Stay tuned.

And for all of those baseball cards fans... I should be back to writing posts for you in the upcoming weeks.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

The Price Was Right

Don't worry.  The Chronicles of Fuji isn't turning into a football card blog.  I realize there have been a lot of posts lately focused on football, but this one should tie up some loose ends so I I can get back to writing about baseball.

One of the loose ends were some dollar box cards I purchased at the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys & Collectibles Show that took place earlier in the month...

1997 Skybox Autographics #NNO

1997 Skybox Autographics #NNO

First up are a pair of on-card autographs for my Bay Area PC.  Neither of these guys had long or memorable NFL careers, but I do remember Pat Barnes.  Brian Manning?  Never heard of him.

2004 Playoff Honors Game Day Souvenirs #GS-1

Ahman Green is the Green Bay Packers' career rushing leader.  He also has the second most rushing touchdowns in franchise history behind hall of fame running back, Jim Taylor.

2014 Topps Valor Jumbo Relic #VJR-EL

Eddie Lacy rushed for over 1,100 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Green Bay Packers and won the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2013.  Injuries hampered the rest of his time with the Packers.  Haven't heard his name in years, but this is a pretty cool looking relic card for a buck.

2018 Donruss Optic Rookie Threads #RT-RP

Rashaad Penny wrapped up the 2021 season with three monster games.  Not sure he'll be back with the Seahawks, but I'm hoping he (and Russell) will be in the Hawks huddle in 2022.

By the way... the title of this post stems from a post over at cards as i see them last week.  Jim mentioned that he finds most relic cards these days irrelevant.  I think most collectors feel like him, but I commented that I'm still intrigued by them if the price is right.  In the case of these three memorabilia cards, they were.

The second half of this post are highlights from 4 PWE's I received from Elliptical Man over the course of a few weeks.  Two of them were for two separate NFL Playoff contests he held over on his blog, The View from the Third Floor.  I'm guessing the other two were just generous mailings.  If I'm mistaken Elliptical Man, please let me know in the comment section down below.

Let's start off with some football he sent my way...

1983 Topps #389

If you're sensing a little déjà vu, it's because I showed off another 1983 Topps Steve Largent in a post a week ago.  I'm totally okay with receiving duplicates when it involves Topps base cards of my favorite players... and this was hands down the coolest card out of the four PWE's.

Here are four other cool Seattle Seahawks cards Elliptical Man sent my way:

I grew up rooting for Dave Krieg during the 80's.  Did you know he connected with Steve Largent for 46 touchdown passes?  Krieg was the quarterback who threw the most touchdown passes to Largent... and Largent was the receiver who caught the most touchdown passes from Krieg.

The Topps base card of Beast Mode was much appreciated.  I may or may not eventually get to him one day for the Topps Base Card Run Project.  And I'll gladly provide a loving home for any unwanted Russell Wilson cards... even if there's a chance he's not with the Seahawks next season.

Up next are some Green Bay Packers...

2011 Topps #247

This card commemorates the Green Bay Packer's last Super Bowl Championship and features a WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt cameo.  Ahhh... good times.

Charles Woodson is arguably one of my favorite defensive players of all-time.  I've never created a list, but he's up there in the Top 5.  The 2011 Topps base card of Rodgers is awesome... for the same reasons I sited for the Beast Mode card.  And just like Russell Wilson, I will never turn down Aaron Rodgers cards.

Okay baseball fans... thank you for your patience.  Elliptical Man also sent me four cards for my Japanese PC:

And he hit a grand slam, because I needed all four of these cards.  Not going to lie... usually when I receive cards of Japanese MLB players, I'd say 50% end up going into my duplicate box.  Not this time.  All four made it into the binders.

By the way... if there's anyone out there who also collects Japanese baseball players, please comment down below.  I have hundreds of duplicates that I'd love to pay it forward.

Last but not least were some cards for my Damaged Card PC.  Let's start with the card that made it into the binder:

1983 Donruss #4

It's hard to tell from the scan, but this card is pretty mangled.  Here's another view:

I'm pretty picky about which cards make it into the binder, but ultimately this card made it in because of my love for 80's Diamond Kings and hall of famers.

The other card that caught my eye was this Maury Wills:

1972 Topps #438

This card is very off-centered and has a printing mark running down the middle of the card, but I decided it fit my vintage binder better than the Damaged Card PC.

The back of the card is interesting, because I was expecting to see a blurb on Wills or one of those Topps advertisements.  Instead it talks about Graig Nettles and his single season record for double plays turned as a third baseman (which still stands to this day).

After doing some research (with the help of COMC and Baseballcardpedia), I discovered that 11 of the 12 In-Action cards from 1972 Topps Series #4 feature these highlights from the 1971 season.  The lone exception is card #444 Ken Henderson which has an advertisement for the Series 5 & 6 puzzle backs.

Thank you Elliptical Man!  Not only for sending me these cards, but for always taking a few minutes out of your day to comment on my posts.

February Break is over... and it's back into the classroom again.  Happy Monday and sayonara!