Domo Arigato: Wes @ Jaybarkerfan's Junk

If a Most Generous Blogger Award existed... then I'd be hard pressed not to nominate Wes over at Jaybarkerfan's Junk.

He gives away free cards on his blog every Friday.  Plus he was one of the guys who introduced me to the Pay It Forward Project.

Over the past few years, I've received several care packages from Wes.  Sometimes they're for my students.  And sometimes they're for me.  A few days ago, I received a fat package in the mail and it definitely falls in the 2nd category.

He included a huge stack of inserts, parallels, memorabilia cards, and autographs for my PC.  I pulled out some of my personal favorites for you to see.

Ichiro PC

If you've never seen a 2002 Fleer Showcase Avant Card, I encourage you to track one down. These are one of the nicest subset cards I've seen.  And if that wasn't cool enough, Wes threw in a floating head Ichiro sticker.

Padres PC

I now have fifteen Jake Peavy memorabilia cards in my Padres collection.  But the card that really stands out is this awesome patch card of Brian Giles.  I own two other Padres patches, but neither one is in the same league as this one.

And it's impossible to leave out these two cool additions to my Tony Gwynn binder.

Athletics PC

Mr. Piatt = 1999 Minor League Player of the Year

Mr. Mitchell = A's 2012 Top Ten Prospect

Mr. Devine = ERA MLB Record Holder

Damaged Card PC

How well does Wes know me?  Well... he's one of the guys out there who actually remembers that I collect damaged cards.  The Rex and Boris have nice, obvious creases that will make excellent additions to my collection.

But the next card is the pièce de résistance:

At first glance, it looks like a sweet looking memorabilia card of one of greatest receivers to play the game.  But if you look at it from a different angle, you get this:

Wes, what the heck did you do to this card?  What did it do to deserve this?  And what did I do to deserve this AMAZING card?  I love it!

Thanks buddy for another amazing care package.  I shipped something out for you yesterday... hope you like it.

Happy Tuesday everyone and sayonara!

Domo Arigato: Spiegel @ Blog of Trade Bait

Last week, I jumped on board Blog of Trade Bait and Speigel sent over a very nice welcome package that included...

San Francisco Giants and 49ers for my students...

And a nice stack of cards for my collection as well...

Oakland A's

Believe it or not... these are my first Cespedes cards!

Japanese Athletes

Seriously lovin' the Darvish!


And a new addition to my Tony Gwynn binder:

Thanks again Spiegel for the cards.  Your Nomo care package is on its way.  Enjoy.

Everyone else... if you're looking to trade, I encourage you to check out Blog of Trade Bait.  The site's name is pretty self explanatory, so head over there and check it out.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

A.C. Green = NBA's Iron Man

Fifteen years ago... I was a diehard Los Angeles Lakers fan, Upper Deck dominated the NBA trading card market, MJ was preparing to win his final NBA Title, and on November 18th, 1997 A.C. Green tied Randy Smith's NBA record of playing in 906 consecutive games.

Talk about living in the past.  These days... I don't watch basketball, Upper Deck doesn't have an NBA license, and MJ has been retired for a decade.

But Green still holds the NBA's Iron Man record.  His streak ended at 1,192 games on April 18th, 2001 when he played the final regular season game of his career.

During his sixteen year NBA career, he played in an amazing 1,278 out of 1,281 games.  Is that insane or what?  Plus, it's been well documented that Green is one of the good guys.  In 2011, he won the Bobby Jones Award for his character, leadership, and faith on the court, at home, and in the community.

They sure don't make them like they used to.

Congratulations Mr. Green.  I may not support the current NBA regime, but I'll always be a fan of your game.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Upper Deck Was The Sheet!

In terms of collecting cardboard, I've always considered myself a Topps Guy, because they were my favorite cards to collect as a kid and they've been around for over 60 years.

But for the past twenty or so years, Upper Deck has been lurking in the shadows ready to steal my allegiance.  While Topps has the vintage and nostalgic feel that I love... Upper Deck has the cutting edge designs and the creativity my alter ego craves.

Back in the early 90's, Upper Deck began producing commemorative sheets for special events such as stadium giveaways and card shows.  I owned a fair share of these over the years, but dumped them when I sold off my collection in 2001.

Last week, I acquired this from Dave and Adam's Card World for $4.95:

The 8.5" x 11" sheet was handed out to fans attending the August 15th, 1992 A's game against the California Angels to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Oakland Athletics.

Most people wouldn't drop $5 on this overproduced collectible (UD produced 22,000 copies of this sheet for distribution).  But for this lifelong Oakland A's fan, it's a must have item.  How could I pass up an item that features five of the greatest old school Athletics to play in the East Bay?

Upper Deck, if you're reading this...

Please, please, please hurry up... get your MLB license... and bring your cardboard ingenuity with you.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Dick Perez + Jackie Robinson = Awesome

The WANTLIST.  Some collectors have big ones.  Others have small ones.  But if you collect cardboard, there's undoubtedly at least one card you're chasing.

In my case, I have a ton.  But I recently crossed off the #1 card on my top 10 list:

1985 Perez-Steele Great Moments #3

Back in 1985, Perez-Steele Galleries produced a 12 card set called Great Moments featuring some of the greatest baseball players to take the diamond.  If the design looks familiar, it's because it's modeled after the 1911 Turkey Red Cabinet cards and features the paintings of Dick Perez.  And like the originals, these too are oversized... measuring 5 3/4" x 8", which are much larger than the recent standard sized Turkey Red cards produced by Topps.

The set became a "living set" and over the course of 12 years (1985 to 1997) they produced 9 different series totaling 108 cards.  Each series was limited to 5,000 sets which back in the "Junk Wax Era" was considered relatively scarce.

These days you shouldn't have too much trouble finding singles and sets, but if you want a good deal... you'll have to be patient.  I waited around the past few years and eventually paid $6.69 (free shipping), which was more than I wanted to pay... but I grew tired of waiting.

Here is today's question...

What card(s) are on the top of your wantlist?  How long have you wanted it?

I won't bore you with my top 10 list, but now that I have the Jackie... a 1997 Pinnacle X-Press Bronze Metal Works Greg Maddux is my new #1.  If anyone has one of these laying around, I'd love to work out a deal for it.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!