Mascots, Mustaches, and a Mystery

Sometimes collectors collect the craziest things.  I know, because I'm one of those collectors.

Back in March, Topps released their Celebration mega boxes which contain cards of one of my favorite side collections: mascots.

When I found out they inserted mascot relic cards into packs, I knew I had to own a copy of this card for my A's PC:

2026 Topps Mascots Relic #MAS-ATH

A few weeks ago, this card popped up for auction on eBay.  I entered my $5 bid with a few seconds remaining in the auction and discovered I was the only guy interested.  After paying $3.50 more for shipping and taxes, it finally arrived in the mail last week.

Yup.  You're staring at a mascot relic card.  Is this thing silly or what?  I mean... does anyone really believe that Topps cut up Stomper's jersey or pants and embedded a swatch into this card?  It's highly unlikely.  But as an A's and Stomper fan, I had to add a copy to my collection.

Right around the time I started searching for this relic card, Bob over at The Best Bubble sent me this:

2008 Topps Opening Day Tattoo #NNO

The 2008 Opening Day Tattoos were inserts featuring team logos and mascots.  I might have to look into finding a nice starter set of these on eBay.

He also sent me some other cool items for my A's collection.  Let's start by checking out some autographs:

This card appears to be a custom created by or for Mr. Jones:

Doug Jones Custom Card #NNO

It contains his full career stats, so this card was created sometime after 2000.  I honestly don't remember Jones playing for Oakland.  I mostly remember him for his mustache and his years in Cleveland.

Here's another memorable 'stache:

1984 Fleer #453

My facial hair game is weak.  Davey's was not.  Rest in peace Mr. Lopes.

Bob also tossed in a few oddballs and inserts:

The shiniest was this Tim Hudson refractor:

2000 Topps Chrome Refractor #275

This card is gorgeous.  These days Topps has drowned collectors by flooding the hobby with refractors.  Things were different back in 2000.  Back then, you'd find one refractor in every twelve packs.  In other words, when you pulled one... it was worth celebrating.

The final card in his bubble mailer was this vintage oddball:

1971 Fleer Quiz #NNO

I had seen a few singles from this set pop up on blogs, but I've never owned one until now.  According to The Fleer Sticker Project, there's another A's card with a different set of questions, so I'll be on the hunt for that one too.

Okay, now it's time for the mystery portion of this post.  I found these sitting in a stack of mail: 

1984 Oakland A's Pocket Schedule

I'm pretty sure they were from a different care package from Bob.  However if I'm mistaken and you sent me these cards, please let me know down below.

This vintage Kellogg's decal was also with the schedule:

1970 Kellogg's Litho Fusion Decal

Thank you Bob for all of these cool A's collectibles!  Let me know if you also sent me the pocket schedule and Kellogg's decal.

Everyone else, here are today's questions of the day:

Who is your favorite sports mascot?

Who has the best mustache in sports history?

I look forward to reading and replying to your comments.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Love/Hate Relationship

A large majority of the posts on this blog feature sports teams and players that I love to root for.  Today's post focuses on the opposite end of the spectrum.  I'm going to rank my least liked sports franchises of all-time while sharing a card featuring a player on that team that I actually admire and/or rooted for.

But before I begin, I want to give credit to two bloggers for inspiring this Blog Bat-Around post:  Joe @ The Shlabotnik Report and Mike @ Not Another Baseball Card Blog.  The blogosphere could use more interesting Blog Bat-Around ideas like this one.

Let's get started...

Honorary Mention #1:  Larry Bird

1993-94 Finest Refractor #2

Had I written this post twenty years ago, the Boston Celtics would have cracked the Top 5.  However my interested in professional basketball has tapered off since the early 2010's, so they're now just an honorable mention.

The one Celtic that immediately popped into my head for this post was Larry Bird.  He's one of those legends that I truly respect and admire.  I couldn't stand him while he was in the league, but these days I have no problem adding his cards to my basketball collection.

Honorable Mention #2:  Gordie Howe

1968-69 O-Pee-Chee #29

Back in the 90's, I hated the Detroit Red Wings.  They were essentially the New York Yankees of hockey and one of my buddies was a huge fan.  The Red Wings have plenty of legends and fan favorites worthy of collecting, but if I was going to go out of my way to collect one, it probably would be Mr. Hockey.

Chris over at Diamond Cuts & Wax Stains sent me that vintage Howe over a decade ago.  It's one of the most attractive hockey cards in my collection.

I couldn't write about Gordie without showing off his SLU:

1995 Kenner SLU Timeless Legends

Back in 1996, he was signing at a local card show for only $5, so I went out and purchased this SLU for him to sign.

Moving along, here are my five least favorite sports franchises...

#5:  Barry Bonds

2002 Topps Autographs #TA10

I've always had a love/hate relationship with the Giants.  Being born and raised in the Bay Area, the city of San Francisco will always be special to me.  The memories of attending their games at Candlestick Park with my brother are something I cherish as much as the A's games we attended at the Coliseum.

In fact, down inside... I don't really hate the San Francisco Giants.  It's the fans.  Giants fans outnumber A's fans and when they win, the team climbs these rankings.  Thankfully, they have been struggling lately... so they've fallen down to #5.

As for Barry... he has a love/hate relationship with baseball fans himself.  Personally, I loved watching him play.  And these days... I enjoy collecting his cards too.

#4:  Dallas Cowboys

1992 Beach Sports Autographs #AC1

This is another case of me disliking the fans more than the actual team.  I couldn't really think of any Dallas Cowboys that I would go out of my way to collect, so I went with this autograph of Michael Irvin that I pulled out of a pack back in 1992.  I'm not 100% certain, but I think this is the first autograph I ever pulled out of a pack.

#3:  Jackie Robinson

1956 Topps #30

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants will always be in my Top 5 list of least favorite sports teams.  But neither creep into the Top 2, because those teams are practically untouchable.  Right now the Dodgers are higher than the Giants, because they're better.  Much better.  Fifteen years ago, the rankings were flip-flopped.

Over the years, I've collected a bunch of different Dodgers:  Fernando, Nomo, Kershaw, Freeman, and Ohtani.  But my favorite Dodgers card sitting in my collection is my favorite card of all-time.  Jackie's 1956 Topps card.

#2:  Lou Gehrig

2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection Relics #CL-LG2

I really, really, really dislike the New York Yankees.  But I loved watching Pride of the Yankees when I was a little kid.  It converted me into a Lou Gehrig fan.

This particular bat card was the highlight from a group break I joined over at Cardboard Collections.  I'm normally not into joining group breaks, but when I looked over the product checklists and noticed that the Yankees were still available... I immediately sent Colbey my money.

#1:  Jerry Rice

1986 McDonald's #NNO 

The San Francisco 49ers are arguably the most popular Bay Area sports team and it feels like they're always good.  And there's never been a shortage of family members, friends, and colleagues reminding me about their 80's and 90's dynasty.  To make matters worse... both of my favorite teams are their rivals.  Damn... I can't stand the 49ers.

That being said... I truly admire Jerry Rice and his career accomplishments.  This particular card is special to me, because I received it in a trade with my buddy Mike.  If you're new to this blog, Mike was a longtime hobby friend who passed away in 2023.  Ironically... he was a huge fan of the #1 and #2 teams in this post.

Well that wraps up this post.  Thank you Joe and Mike for kicking off this blog bat-around!  The Blogfather (Night Owl) himself was the first to respond to Mike.  I sure hope a few others join in on the fun.

Until then...

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Down in the Dumps & in the Books

This has been a pretty rough start to the year.  I'll take my father's advice and avoid discussing politics, but I will say these are scary times and it's hard for me not to stress over what's going on.  The good news is that I can distract myself sometimes and talk about other stuff.

Today I wanted to show off a pair of books and some baseball cards that were recently sent to me.  Let's start with a Christmas present from my nieces in Oregon.  One of them is a huge Lions fan who happens to hate the Packers.  She made me this lovely tree ornament.

Her favorite author is Alan Gratz and they recently had the opportunity to meet him at a book signing.  I don't read a lot of books.  In fact, I'm lucky to read one a year.  But last year, I ended up reading two... and they were both historical fiction stories written by Gratz.   One of them covers the Battle of Okinawa from two perspectives: a young Okinawan boy and an American Marine.  The other one is about three young kids and their families from different countries and time periods forced to leave their homes and seek refuge somewhere else.

Refugee: The Graphic Novel by Alan Gratz

My nieces bought me the graphic novel version of the latter and had him sign it:

Thank you T & K!  I absolutely love it and plan on reading two more of his books by the end of 2026.

The other book I recently added to my collection was a gift from Jim @ cards as i see them:

1969 Topps Stamp Album #18

Here's a peek inside:

He also included a few Oakland A's inserts and parallels:

2025 Topps Chrome RayWave Refractor #67

The stamp book is a huge addition to my collection.  I'm planning on purchasing the final four stamps and fill the book as soon as possible.  I was also excited to see this Butler refractor.  I've really grown to appreciate the 2025 Topps design in recent months.

Matt over at Cards Over Coffee added to the collection of 2025 Topps Chrome refractors by sending me three more for my team set:

This six pack represents the core of the post-Oakland lineup.  I wasn't familiar with Tommy White, but it looks like he's one of their top prospects.

I'm gonna wrap things up with a Zippy Zapping from Kenny over at Torren' Up Cards.  He sent me this Calbee card of Shota Imanaga:

2023 Calbee #99

I'm always excited to add new Calbee cards to my binders... especially when they feature guys who have found success in the MLB.

While writing this post, Kenny sent another PWE with these three cards:

2025 Stadium Club NPB #180

2025 Bushiroad Dream Order #TBP01-L12

Not sure who Takumu Nakano is, but the card on the right features Tatsuya Imai.  He's one of the NPB stars who is bringing his talent to the MLB.  Back in December he signed a three year deal to pitch for the Houston Astros.

2024 Bandai Carddass Gintama

I'm not familiar with this character, but I enjoy collecting any Japanese trading cards... especially when they're shiny anime cards.

Thank you Jim, Matt, and Kenny for these cards.  They were a nice distraction from all of the drama going on in our country and around the world.

One of the things I'd like to do with this blog is return to my roots and begin ending my posts with questions like I did years ago.  So here we go...

Today's question of the day:

Outside of collecting cards, what do you like to do to reduce stress or help you take your mind off of things?

I'm not proud of it, but ever since I got sick back in December, I've been binge watching television shows like Stranger Things, Fallout, and Game of Thrones.  However normally, I enjoy going out for walks or riding my bike.  I'll also hop in my car and take it up in the hills.  If my back ever gets better, I'd love to start golfing again.  There is a really nice executive course a few miles from my place that is loaded with rabbits, deer, and turkeys.  It's about as therapeutic as it gets.

Well that's it for now...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!