An International Post

This was a pretty stressful week in the classroom, but the World Baseball Classic is off and running... so there's balance in the force.

2006 Upper Deck Inaugural Images #II-30

Figured I'd focus on the positive and use the WBC as an excuse to show off some international stuff.

International Item #1:  Japanese Magazine Cards

These uncut sheets of cards feature characters from a 70's Japanese television show called Kamen Rider.  I wasn't able to find a year or magazine title, but I'm guessing they're from the 80's.  They were part of Ryan's advent calendar, so maybe his haiku will provide a hint:

Unfortunately... no specific details on these cards.  That's okay.  I like a good mystery.

International Item #2:  Three Countries, One Card

2007-08 In The Game O Canada Autographs #A-VS

Vicky Sunohara is a former Canadian hockey player who has won a ton of gold medals including a pair of Olympic gold medals (2002 and 2006) with Team Canada.

Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of her.  However Ralph over at Divas Hockey Ink published a post featuring her.  As soon as I saw her last name, I looked her up and discovered she's part Japanese and part Ukrainian.

I commented on his post that I might look for a copy for my Japanese athlete PC.  He ended up having an extra copy which he generously sent my way.

International Item #3:  Italian Stickers, Japanese Skaters

1979 Panini Hockey '79 Stickers

These forty-seven year old Panini stickers feature Japanese hockey players from possibly the 1978 Ice Hockey World Championships. were sent to me as part of Angus' (over at Dawg Day Cards) December care package.

1979 Panini Hockey '79 Stickers

I tried to pair these puzzle stickers up and scan them, but they kept sliding around on the glass.  Ended up using these 1948 Bowman card sleeves and a 9-pocket page to keep them in place.

And if you're confused about the Italian ties, these stickers were printed in Italy:

1979 Panini Hockey '79 Stickers #244

Angus made another contribution for this international post...

International Item #4:  Canadian Cardboard

I'm an O-Pee-Chee fanboy.  

1972 O-Pee-Chee #169

It wasn't always that way.

1972 O-Pee-Chee #170

Back in the 80's and 90's, I would have traded them for their Topps counterparts.

1978 O-Pee-Chee #177

These days, they're equals... companions... counterparts.

1981 O-Pee-Chee #261

Simply put.  They're both awesome and highly cherished pieces of cardboard.

1985 Leaf #28

The same thing applies to Donruss and Leaf.

I'm grateful that something clicked in my brain, encouraged me to openminded and give trading cards produced outside of our country a chance.

Thank you Angus, Ralph, and Ryan for all of these awesome additions to my collection!

And here is today's question of the day:

Are you watching or following the World Baseball classic?

If so...

Who do you think will win it all?

I've watched a few prediction videos and it seems like the vast majority are picking one of three teams:  USA, Dominican Republic, or Japan.  My brain is picking the loaded Team USA squad led by Judge, Witt, Skenes, and Skubal.  My heart bleeds Samurai Blue.  But my gut tells me the Dominican Republic's bats are going to power them to the 2026 title.

Whoever you pick... it's gonna be a fun and entertaining two weeks of baseball.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #184: Sheets, Sets, and a SLU

After over a month away from the local flea market, I made my out to the Branham Flea Market on Saturday for my first haul of 2026.  Not sure if it was the cold weather or the holiday weekend, but there were less vendors than usual.  However I did manage to make a few purchases from a pair of card dealers.

The first one is a regular that I've bought from on numerous occasions.  He's located on the very first row and is usually my first stop of the day.  This time around he had a table filled with uncut sheets.

Purchase #1a:  Uncut Mother's Cookies Sheets  $15

There were some cool oddball sets from the early 90's, but I was mainly drawn to his Mother's Cookies team sets.  He had five different 1985 sets which featured the cards handed out at the stadiums.  I was tempted to buy them all, but I didn't want to blow most of my cash on my first purchase.  So I grabbed my two favorite teams:

1985 Mother's Cookies Oakland A's

1985 Mother's Cookies San Diego Padres

I'm not sure how these uncut sheets were distributed, but I've written about the SGA sets from the 80's and 90's a few times on this blog.  Each year my brother would take me to a handful of Giants and A's games and I'd always try to circle the Mother's Cookies Players Card Day on the calendar.

The guy had the Giants sheet too, but I picked my favorite team over childhood memories.

Purchase #1b:  Hockey Autographs $2

The vendor also brought out a box of oddballs for me to check out and there were two 9-pocket pages with these signed hockey cards.  Not sure how legit these are, the price was right, so I took a chance on them.  I was mainly drawn to the Pavel Bure cards, but there are some other notable names in the lot.

The guy was still setting up, so I told him I'd come back a little later.  On the second row, I found the other card guy.  Remember the guy I bought the 70's Laughlin and 80's Traded sets from last year?  Well before he left for Arkansas, he sold his remaining inventory to this vendor.  I've seen him set up a few times, but his prices were always too high.  This time around he was more reasonable...

Purchase #2a:  1985 Donruss Factory Set $15

His first table was filled with 800ct. boxes filled with cards from the 80's and 90's.  His asking price of $15 for this factory set was reasonable, so I started digging through his stuff.

I opened the set while I was there and noticed that one of the packs had been opened:

I still decided to buy it.  Unfortunately when I got home, I discovered that it was missing the Roger Clemens rookie.  I've added it to my saved eBay searches.  My hopes is to find a clean copy for under $10 delivered.

Next to his sets, he had a bunch of wax boxes with packs that had already been opened.  I found one I was interested in...

Purchase #2b:  1996 Sky Motion Football  $5

As you can see, none of these packs were sealed.  But within the box, there was a nice starter set that included a few big names:

1996 Skybox Sky Motion #SM17

1996 Skybox Sky Motion #SM15

1996 Skybox Sky Motion #SM48

There were 37 different cards for my set build... leaving me needing only 23 singles to complete the set.  I immediately went over to Sportlots and crossed off 16 more:

Considering I have already invested over $25 into this set build, I'm already regretting my decision to build this set.

At least there were two of the Hobby Exclusive Gold parallels included in the box:

1996 Skybox Sky Motion Gold #SM32

1996 Skybox Sky Motion Gold #SM32

These were inserted into every other box and can be quite elusive when seeking specific players.

At the other end of his tables, the vendor had a bunch of knick-knacks including programs, photos, card sheets, and smaller card sets.  I bought a few more items...

Purchase #2c:  1982 Cracker Jack Sheets  $8

1982 Cracker Jack AL Sheet

1982 Cracker Jack NL Sheet

This is a set that I've been looking for on eBay for a few years.  I like the Cracker Jack border paired with the 1978 and 1979 Topps card designs.  Plus each sheet features eight hall of famers.

I didn't want to spend more than $10 for the pair... and thanks to this vendor I didn't have to.

In the same stack as these uncut sheets, I also found this cool Upper Deck SGA sheet from the 90's...

Purchase #2d:  1993 Upper Deck Billy Martin Tribute Sheet  $2

Billy Ball played a big role in my childhood and Oakland A's fanfare, so I'm always looking to add new Billy Martin items to my collection.  Upper Deck made a bunch of these tribute sheets in the 90's.  I have a few sitting in my collection and one of them is framed and hanging up in my office.

But before Saturday, I had never seen this sheet before.  It was passed out on August 15, 1993 at the Oakland Coliseum.  Fans who attended that game were treated to this sheet as well as Kirby Puckett's career day at the plate.  He went 5 for 5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI's as the Twins destroyed the A's 12 to 5.

Purchase #2e:  1983 Stuart Montreal Expos Set  $5

Among the card sheets, programs, and photos, there were also a few sets I was interested in.  The first one that caught my eye was this Montreal Expos oddball set:

Based on what I found online, Stuart was a company that made snacks in Canada.  Based on a TCDB photo, these appeared to be inserted into boxes of snack cakes back in 1983.

The set features all of the early 80's Expos you're familiar with, including these three hall of famers:

1983 Stuart Montreal Expos #4

1983 Stuart Montreal Expos #8

1983 Stuart Montreal Expos #9

I'm happy to add this to my Montreal Expos PC.  And I'm happy to add the next set to my Green Bay Packers PC...

Purchase #2f:  1997 Playoff Packer Super Sunday Set  $5

When the Packers beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, it was the first time celebrating a Super Bowl victory.  Sure I had watched and rooted for teams every year leading up to this one, but they were never my own team.  I was very happy to find this set for a reasonable price.

Purchase #3:  Hot Wheels 2020 GR Toyota Supra  $8

After walking around the rest of the flea market, I didn't see any other deals on cards.  But I saw a guy with a bunch of diecast vehicles.  I asked if he had any GR Supras and he started digging through his boxes.  He found this one:

2024 Hot Wheels Green and Gold #3

I've been trying to track down all of the MK5 Supra die cast cars and this is one of the ones I needed.  I normally wouldn't pay this much for a non-premium Hot Wheel, but the guy did take the time to look for it.

Freebie #1:  1992 Tom Seaver Opened Kenner SLU

When I was done walking the entire flea market, I went back to the guy with the Mother's Cookies sheets.  We were talking about cards and stuff when he pulled this out of a box:

He told me I could have it for free, since the packaging was less than pristine.  The poster and figure are pretty cool:

1992 Kenner SLU Figure & Poster #NNO

But this was the thing I was excited about the most:

1992 Kenner SLU #NNO

He started pulling out other items from the box.  I wasn't really interested in any of it, but I felt obligated to buy something since he gave me this SLU.  So I bought this...

Purchase #4:  2016 Panini NFL Sticker Collection Album  $1

Out of the 485 stickers in the set, this album is only missing 16 of them.  I originally planned on tracking them down, but after wasting so much money trying to build that 1996 Skybox SkyMotion set... I'll probably just leave it as it is.

Well that wraps up my first flea market trip of 2026.  Although I wouldn't call any of these purchases "stellar deals", I am pretty excited about the oddball sets and uncut sheets.

Here is today's question of the day...

Do you collect uncut sheets?

If so...

Do you have any personal favorites in your collection?

Although I love these Mother's Cookies and Cracker Jack sheets, my favorite uncut sheets to collect are Sports Illustrated for Kids magazine cards.

Okay... this post has dragged on long enough.  I appreciate those who stuck it out.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!