BBA: The Blogger National 2026

There was a time when I would have jumped at the opportunity to attend The National Sports Collectors Convention.  The only thing holding me back was money.  These days it's way more than finances keeping me away from the largest card show of the year.

It's the timing.  The NSCC is always scheduled right around the time I'm getting ready for the new school year.

It's my back.  I've heard that this show is huge.  Standing around at a local mall show digging through boxes starts to wreak havoc on my lower back after 3 or 4 hours.  I have no idea what the NSCC would do to me.

And it's the crazy crowds.  Based on what I've heard, the NSCC crowds are insane.  Thinking about it gives me anxiety.  Bottom line... the older I get... the less I enjoy standing shoulder to shoulder with people.

Thankfully Matt over at Cards over Coffee started a Blog Bat-Around for collectors who aren't attending the show.  He wants us to show off some of our coolest cards or recent mail days as a way of us getting together in our blogosphere instead of in a large showroom floor.  This is much more my speed.

Let's start off with something that's right up Matt's alley:

2006 Rittenhouse Battlestar Gallactica

Season One Autograph #NNO

Not sure if he's a Battlestar Galactica fan, but I know he enjoys collecting autographs of celebrities.

One of the things I did over summer break was binge watch the entire four seasons.  It's definitely one of my favorite television shows and Grace Park is one of my biggest celebrity crushes.  When I finished the show, I wanted to add her Season One signature to my collection.  It pairs perfectly with the Season Three autograph I purchased years ago:

2008 Rittenhouse Battlestar Gallactica

Season Three Autograph #NNO

I've made a few eBay purchases over the summer, but I'm hoping to write dedicated posts for them.  However I do want to show off this blog-inspired purchase:

1977 Sertoma Stars Puzzle Backs #NNO

I saw someone post a single (or a few singles) from this set.  It's one that I had never seen before, so I started doing some digging and it led me to purchasing the Joe Jackson.

There are a few others cards from this set that I'd like to add to the collection like Satchel Paige and Lou Gehrig, but for now Jackson will suffice.

The card backs are puzzle pieces that when put together feature the 1913 Pittsburgh Nationals.  I did some digging on the internet and the gentleman on this puzzle piece is Fred Clarke, a hall of famer and the manager of the Nationals that season.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to remember where I saw this set.  If you recently blogged about any 1977 Sertoma Puzzle Backs, please comment down below and I'll give you credit.

Update:  Red Cardboard is the one who opened my eyes to the 1977 Sertoma set.

Switching gears... I want to show off another present from Ryan's (@ SumoMenkoMan) advent calendar.  However let's take a peek at the haiku riddle first:

I immediately knew he was referring to these gachapon balls, which come out of vending machines (that are really popular in Japan).  

Here's what I ended up pulling:

The first three contained key chains.  Two were mini Star Wars action figures and one featured Mt. Fuji.  Inside of the 4th ball was another Mt. Fuji related item:

It's a draw string pouch that I'll probably use to hold spare change in my car.

This might seem like a weird time to show off these gachapons, but I recently opened up them as part of my summer sort.  I also wanted to note that if I ever actually attend the NSCC, chances are I'd be meeting up with Ryan and hopefully a few of you.

If you check out Matt's post, he shared some stuff that Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders recently sent him.  Dennis also sent me a care package (back in December) that I opened up this morning.  I was going to use it as part of this Sunday's Sort, but this post seems more appropriate.

Here are the highlights:

1982 Fleer Stamps #123

Let's start with the oldest item in Dennis' care package.  It's a third year Rickey oddball... and it's fantastic.  Rickey loves stamp collecting.

Later in the decade, Sports Illustrated decided to produce a new magazine titled Sports Illustrated for Kids.  Each issue included trading cards like these:

Sports Illustrated for Kids Series 3

Technically these nine football cards were released in the early to mid 2000's.  The first series cards looked like this:

2004 SI for Kids Series 3 Throwback #341

This card is a reprint of Emmitt's Series 1 card that was released back in 1991.  The key difference is the original SIFK logo was replaced by the silver SIFK 15th logo in the bottom left corner.

As we transition into the 90's... we're gonna see some truly special cardboard.  Card companies competed with each other to win over collectors and what transpired was an explosion of ingenuity and creativity that ultimately reshaped the hobby.  I understand and respect that it's not everyone's cup of tea... but I truly love 90's trading cards.

I'll let the cards explain why...

1999 Skybox E-X Century E-X-Quisite #7

This is one of those cards that you need to hold in your hand to appreciate.  This gorgeous insert set combines up and coming MLB stars with acetate and cardboard.

Here's another card that utilizes acetate:

1997 Upper Deck Amazing Greats #AG3

Companies also started printing trading cards on wood too... like the above A-Rod.  I wasn't sure why Dennis sent me this card, but upon closer inspection, it revealed this tiny flaw:

Yup.  This is another nice addition to my Damaged Card PC.

Getting back to the 90's...

1995 Pinnacle Museum Collection #201

This card blew me away when I saw it in the stack.  Pinnacle's dufex parallels might not be as shiny as refractors from the era, but they are still attractive... especially when paired with stellar photography.  I don't usually like to pick favorites, but today this card claims the title.

The 90's opened the floodgates for other parallels, like these color bordered ones: 

2010 Topps Opening Day Blue #115

2011 Bowman Green #174

These two parallels might not have the same eye appeal as the Rickey, but honestly that can be applied to 99% of the parallels from the 2000's moving forward.

They also introduced memorabilia cards to collectors in the mid 90's.  At the time, it was kind of a big deal to have a company purchase game used uniforms, cut them up, and insert swatches into cards, because it allowed collectors to own a piece of the game:

2003 UD Authentics Star Quality Game Used #SQ-HN (#'d 027/350)

2005 Bowman Sterling Jersey #BS-EC

2006 Bowman DP&P Futures Game Relics #FG39

The 2000's saw the memorabilia card market boom.  I feel like card companies have shot themselves in the foot with vague COA's and event-worn jerseys.  Thankfully the Nomo and Suzuki both state that the embedded jersey swatches were indeed worn in a game.

A few years later (not exactly sure when), card companies started creating manufactured relics like this cool commemorative coin card:

2020 Topps Player Medallion #TPM-MC

Although some manufactured relics can come off as being cheesy... I actually like this particular coin card.

Thank you Dennis for this generous care package.  I apologize it too me so long to open it up.

I'd also like to thank Ryan for the very cool gachapons.  If I ever go to Japan, I could see myself going crazy at these vending machines.

And a special thanks goes out to Matt for inspiring this Blog Bat-Around.  Hopefully a few of you will decide to join in on the fun.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

To Cut or Not to Cut

There's no shortage of Shohei collectibles out there for collectors to collect.  That's what happens when a once in a generation type of athlete comes along.  Unfortunately his collectibles are usually attached to high price tags.

But every now and then, they're part of generous care packages.  Today's post features two huge additions to my Shohei Ohtani PC.

The first one is a uncut rookie card from a box of 2018 Topps Big League:

Angus over at Dawg Day Cards sent me a large padded envelope back in December that I finally opened up over the weekend.  It was filled with a few nice additions to my collection that I'll share over a few posts.  

2018 Topps Big League Box Card #B3

My first thought was to cut the Ohtani out, but there's no way I could do it as cleanly as my photo editor.  So I ended up keeping it intact.  Here's a look at the other side of the box:

As soon as I saw this box, I knew it would pair perfectly with the large store display shown above that was part of Ryan's advent calendar.  I placed it with Ohtani's 2025 Topps flagship card to give you some perspective:

I'm still figuring out the best way to display this cool collectible.  I could hang it up in my classroom, but honestly I'd love to find some wall space for this in my office.  We'll see how things play out.

While I'm showing off new additions to the Ohtani collection, I figured I'd show off an action figure of him that has been hanging up in my office for a few years:

2021 Topps Big League Super 7 1959 Variation Figure

I still have a bunch of items from Ryan's advent calendar and Angus' care package.  I'll be sharing them here and there over the next few months, so stay tuned.  Thank you Ryan and Angus!

Here is today's question of the day:

When it comes to box bottom cards or uncut sheets of cards, do you tend to keep them intact or do you cut them out?

Although I have cut out cards, if the box bottom or uncut sheet is in good condition, I'll usually keep it intact.  In fact I have several boxes dedicated to storing oversized items like these.

That's it for today.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #168: Plates, Cups, and Cards

Last week was the first week of the second semester and things at work were a little busy which prevented me from writing this post in a more timely manner.  But now that things are settling down... I finally found some free time to sit down and write.

Back on Saturday, January 18th... I checked out the Branham Flea Market.  The chilly weather scared a few of the regular vendors away, but there were still forty to fifty vendors set up.

I had almost walked around the entire flea market before finding something I was interested in purchasing...

Purchase #1:  Bicycle License Plates  $10

There are a few regulars that set up at this flea market with some cool antique items.  One of them had a wooden box filled with old Wheaties license plates.  I wasn't too familiar with these, but the first two plates appear to be part of a promotion back in 1953 and 1954.  

1953 Wheaties #NNO

1954 Wheaties #NNO

The third license plate I purchased is much newer...

1980 Post #NNO

I'm not quite sure of the history behind these plates, but based on an eBay listing I found... it looks like people could purchase a complete set of these plate directly from Post.

Anyways... I thought these were pretty cool and the guy's asking price was fair... so I purchased them.

Purchase #2:  ALF Collectible Figure  $5

2023 Neca Alf Gordon Shumway w/Saxophone Figure

On the back row of the flea market, I came across a new vendor with a bunch of action figures.  He had purchased a huge collection and was trying to recoup some of his money.  One of my buddies is a huge ALF fan, so I picked this up for him.

Purchase #3:  Junk Wax Era Packs  $2

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk Set #1

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk Set #2

This is one of my favorite oddball sets from the 80's... right up there with the early 80's Granny Goose and Kellogg's sets... and the mid 80's 7-11 Slurpee Coins.

I already own an entire set of 40 unopened packs, plus another compete set stored in four pocket pages.  However, I can't pass up packs of this stuff when they're a buck each.

If you're not familiar with this set, they're oversized cards that utilize the 1989 Topps baseball card design:

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk #84

The backs feature a record:

Collectors who owned the special player could insert these cards and listen to interviews and highlights about each player.  If you're interested in listening to some of these cards you are in luck.  daclyde has recordings of all 164 cards in the set... including the Willie McGee.

Purchase #4:  1973 7-11 Slurpee Cups  $5

Let me preface this purchase by stating that I am not starting a collection of cups.  I'm just a sucker for older ones featuring players from my favorite teams.

1973 7-11 #NNO Catfish Hunter

1973 7-11 #NNO Bert Campaneris

1973 7-11 #NNO Nate Colbert

I purchased these from a regular vendor I have dealt with on a regular basis.  He had purchased a large collection of these cups and talked me into looking through them.  They're over fifty years old and pretty scratched up... but I couldn't turn down his $5 offer.

Purchase #5:  1981 Topps Scratch-Offs Set  $5

Just as I was about to leave the "cup" guy's booth, I noticed this set sitting in a box with some magazines.  Now if you're unfamiliar with the 1981 Topps Scratch-Offs there are two ways to define a complete set.

There are 144 different three-card panels that people can collect... and there are 108 different cards in the set.

A few years ago, Jim (cards as i see them) sold me a complete "panel" set for $25.  I knew right away that the above set wasn't big enough to contain every panel.

However for $5... I couldn't pass up the 108 card set.  As I started flipping through it, I found three panels containing two hall of famers each:

47.7 + 30.4 + 68.5 = 146.6

I decided to see which trio compiled the highest WAR.  Jim Rice, Mike Hargrove, and Jim Palmer had the lowest total.

88.6 + 46.2 + 70.6 = 205.4

George Brett and Alan Trammell's combined WAR was higher than Rice, Hargrove, and Palmer.  Willie Wilson was icing on the cake.

46.5 + 64.9 + 109.9 = 221.3

But in the end... Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson, and Tom Seaver came out on top.  It would be fun to go through and compare all 144 panels... but I just don't have the time to research that right now..

I did look up one other panel of note though...

36.0 + 66.4 + 111.1 = 213.5

I knew Rickey would carry any trio he was partnered with... but was blown away by Buddy Bell's career WAR... which happens to be higher than Dawson or Rice.

Anyways... sorry I got off track.  Just thought this was an interesting way to look at these panels.

That wraps up another trip to the flea market.  I'm planning on hitting up the De Anza Flea Market on Saturday.  Hopefully the cold weather doesn't scare off more of the vendors.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!