It's a Celebration Sensation!

School trumps sports cards... especially at the start of the school year.  There just aren't enough hours in the day.  So if you see a blog post published here during the work week, there's a pretty good chance I wrote the post over the weekend and scheduled it.

Not this one.  Today we're celebrating a special occasion.  It's Chris The Collector's 10th Anniversary... which he celebrated by busting open boxes and building special gift packages for supporters of his blog.  I was fortunate to be one of the recipients.

The padded envelope he sent included several team bags stuffed with cards and packs.  It took me just under two hours to sort and scan, so without further ado...

Let's start things off with a nice stack of A's cards:

He was able to get his hands on some popular products like Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary.

As you can see, he sent me singles from each of the first three sets in the product line.  As much as I love these cards, the Rickey Henderson 1955 Rails and Sails insert is my favorite card in the lot.

2010 Sportkings Series D #180

I was also excited to see this uncirculated Gwynn card.  Technically I already own this card, but this particular copy is still in the original top loader pulled from the pack.  In other words... I'm considering this to be a variation and keeping it.

He also sent me some nice shiny cards for my two favorite football team collections:

Plus four San Jose Sharks:

Thornton, Pavelski, Couture, and Burns are 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th on the Sharks all-time points leader board.  Anyone know who's #1?

He also sent me a four pack of Japanese baseball players, including the very popular Munetaka Murakami:

I don't write about them often, but for decades the Los Angeles Lakers were my favorite basketball team.  This guy was a big reason I became a fan:

1981-82 Topps #20

Kareem would go on to play eight more seasons with the Lakers and score over 12,000 more points than depicted on the back of this trading card:

This is arguably the coolest card in his anniversary package.  It's kind of hard to see, but this card has a wax stain on the front.  Back in the 80's, I would have been bummed to pull this card out of a pack.  Four decades later, I consider it to be an under-appreciated parallel.

Speaking of parallels, check out this color-matched Elway for my Stanford PC:

2024 Prizm Draft Picks Ruby Wave #37

And here's my latest addition to my Ray Lewis PC:

2025 Donruss Optic Light It Up #17

He also tossed in a pair of Joe Montana cards:

2009 Topps National Chicle Mini #C46

2024 Topps Chrome 1974 Refractor #74TF-18

These may or may not have been intended for my students, but both went into the Montana section of my hall of fame binder.

Rounding out the gift package were three unopened packs.  The first two will be added to my rainy day pack stash:

1991 Stadium Club 2nd Series Pack

2025 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary Hobby Pack

Back in 1991, this Stadium Club pack would have been a very hot commodity... as collectors were ripping into them in hopes of pulling Jeff Bagwell or Phil Plantier rookie cards.  Today... the 2025 Chrome Platinum Anniversary is the much hotter product.

Chris also included this 1986 Topps rack pack:

1986 Topps Rack Pack

It may seem like just a random pack, but he sent this specific pack to help me get one step closer to completing my 1986 Topps Glossy All-Star set:

Okay... technically I haven't opened it up.  Like I stated earlier in the post... my free time during the week is limited.  But don't worry... I'm going to tear into this pack on Sunday and when I do... I'll show off the highlights.

And after reading Jim's post this morning, I realized that I accidentally left out some left-handed pitchers.  Sorry about that Chris.  Don't have time to scan them before getting ready for work, so I'll show them off on Sunday with the Garvey.

Until then...

Happy anniversary Chris!  And thank you for this very generous giveaway.  Although I think it's sad that you made the decision to retire from collecting cards at the end of the year... I understand that we all must make big decisions that are best for ourselves and our families.  I'm glad that you plan on keeping your blog alive... as I always look forward to reading the different series you written.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Animal Themed Post

Back in 2021-22 in the midst of the hobby boom... I decided to sell off the bulk of the sticker autographs I had accumulated over the years.  I also stopped searching for new ones for my personal collection.  If the athlete didn't hold the card and sign it, I wasn't interested.

Then I heard that Topps inserted Goose Gossage autographs into their 2025 Topps NPB products and I wanted to add one to my NPB collection.  Unfortunately... Topps had him sign stickers which forced me to decide.  Live without one of these autographs... or make an exception to the on-card autograph rule.

2025 Topps Chrome NPB Autograph #AC-GG

After patiently waiting for one to fall into my price range, I ended up adding this Goose to my collection.  It features him pitching for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks back in 1990, before he returned to the MLB the following season.  

He is one of four former NPB baseball players to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  Larry Doby, Ichiro Suzuki, and Andruw Jones are the other three.

While I'm on the subject of NPB trading cards, Kenny over at Torren' Up Cards sent me a pair of PWE's back in April & May that contained a few 2025 Topps NPB singles:

He also included some Bandai and Calbee cards:

Franmil Reyes' name popped out.  He played for the Padres a few years ago.  I was also happy to see a pair of Fujis within the Calbee cards.

But the card that stood out the most was this shiny Munetaka Murakami:

2024 Dream Order #CBP01-S02

His MLB start was pretty impressive with 20 home runs in his first 200 at bats, but he's currently recovering from a hamstring strain.  Hopefully he returns to the batter's box soon... and his home run tear continues.

Kenny sent one more item:

Signed Cheki

I have no idea who this lil' bunny is, but I was very excited to add her to my Japanese Model PC:

Thank you Kenny!

Last month... Brendan over at The View from the Third Floor also sent me a PWE filled with some Japanese athletes:

Hachimura is currently the Laker's starting power forward, but this Gonzaga Bulldog made history in 2017 when he became the first Japanese national to play in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

He also sent me this SI for Kids card of Vicki Huber:

1990 SI for Kids #136

Huber is a Villanova Wildcat who won multiple NCAA indoor championships as well as the Broderick Award (given to the top female collegiate track and field athlete) in 1988 and 1989.

Thank you Brendan!

I'll wrap up this post with one more PWE with some Japanese athletes:

2006 Fleer Ultra #176 and #169

This pair was sent to me by Greg over at Crocodile Sports Cards a few weeks ago.  Not sure if Godzilla qualifies as an animal, but Matsui was truly a beast during his NPB and MLB career.

He also send me this trio of Hawks:

1991 Action Packed #259, #256, and #260

And this autograph of the 2008 Texas League ERA leader:

2011 Topps 60 Autographs #T60A-VM

Mazzaro dominated Texas League batters in 2008:

He kicked off his MLB career in Oakland and ended up pitching for eight seasons in the Show... including one in Miami as a Marlin.

Thank you Greg for these cards and this very cool sticker:

Started off with a Goose.  Couldn't think of a better way to wrap up an "animal" themed post than with a crocodile.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara! 

Summer Goals

It's been a few years since I have sat down and hammered out some hobby goals.  But since I won't be teaching this summer, I wanted to get three hobby related things accomplished before the start of the 2026-27 school year.

#1:  Target a handful of set builds.

Whether or not I actually complete any sets this summer, I want to at least make the effort to cross as many numbers off of my set needs as I can.

#2:  Inventory my collection.

Two to three times a decade, I like to go through my collection and update my inventory.  This project will wreak havoc on my back, but when I'm finished... I have a better understanding of what I've been hoarding the past few decades or so.

#3:  Clean up my office and catch up on blogging.

I have stacks of cards all over my office.  Some are sitting on my desk.  Others are laying in 5,000ct. boxes.  Plus I have unopened mailers dating back months.  The goal is to sort, scan, and blog as much as I can over the next two months.  Sundays will be reserved for farmer's markets, laundry, cleaning, and sorting.

Being the first Sunday of my summer break, I'm going to hammer out this sorting tray filled with the remaining cards from Reader X's January care package.

Let's start with some baseball players I collect:

Next up here are some PC additions for my favorite team collections:

Xavier always sends some San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Golden State Warriors for my students:

Plus he tossed in some San Jose Sharks and a few other hockey cards:

I'm honestly not familiar with any of these guys, but the three Las Vegas Knights autographs are dedicated to my mother who rooted for them in their inaugural season.

Xavier also tossed in some football stars, rookies, and inserts:

Most of these will eventually be passed along to one of my students, but I did end up holding onto the Select rookie card of Caleb Williams.  

Thank you Xavier for another generous care package.  Sorry it took me six months to document it on here.

And thank you to everyone who took the time to read this post as I document the first Sunday Sort of The Summer of 2026.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!