One Thousand Reasons

I could probably sit here and list twenty to thirty different reasons I enjoy collecting sports cards.  But I'm too lazy and don't feel like boring you to death, so I'll spare us the pain and list only a handful:

A.  I'm pretty sure I have a mild case of OCD, which explains my addiction to classifying and sorting cardboard.

B.  I love watching sports and supporting my favorite teams.

C.  It's a hobby that keeps me connected to my childhood.

D.  Flipping through a stack of cards or a random binder relaxes me and takes me to a better place.

E.  And finally, the simple fact is... I'm a huge NUMBERS guy.  I can sit and analyze statistics for hours without getting bored.

So today's post is dedicated to just that.  Numbers.

Be forewarned... this post is a little longer than my typical posts.  I tried to keep it straight to the point, but failed.  I'll stop wasting time and get things started: 

1972

That's my birth year and the year the Oakland Athletics won their first World Series since leaving Philadelphia.

792

If you collected during the 80's, than this number probably rings a bell.  It's the number of cards in each of Topps' standard baseball card sets from 1982 to 1992.  This time period took me from the 4th grade all the way into my sophomore year in college and was the peak of my collecting years.

1956

My favorite Topps baseball card design was produced in 1956.  The combination of action and portrait paintings creates mini masterpieces out of each of these cards.  I'll never be able to afford a complete set, but I definitely plan on picking up a few more to keep Jackie company.

130

Rickey loves Rickey.  And I do too.  It's hard to pinpoint exactly when I became a fan, but I remember monitoring his stolen base totals back in 1982 when he surpassed Lou Brock and eventually set the single season stolen base record with 130 thefts.

Intermission #1:  Let's add these four numbers.  1,972 + 792 + 1,956 + 130 = 4,850

5

That's how old I was when I acquired my first pack of trading cards.  It was a pack of Star Wars cards my parents bought for me at the Dobashi Market during our regular trips to San Jose's Japantown.

Intermission #2:  Now let's take the sum from Intermission #1 and divide it by 5.  4,850 ÷ 5 = 970

29

Last May, I purchased this autographed A's jersey in an MLB auction where the proceeds were donated to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.  The jersey contains twenty-nine autographs from the 2013 Spring Training roster.

19

This is the number Tony Gwynn wore for twenty straight seasons as a member of the San Diego Padres.  He is without a doubt my favorite athlete of all-time.


Intermission #3:  Next we're going add 29 and 19 to the quotient from Intermission #2.  29 + 19 + 970 = 1,018

18

That's how old I was when I started working at National Pastime, a baseball card shop less than a mile from where I grew up.  I worked there for three years and it was one of the coolest jobs EVER.


Last math problem of the day:  Take the sum from Intermission #3 and subtract 18.  1,018 - 18 = 1,000.

1000

What's the significance of 1,000?  It's taken me a little over four years, but this is my 1,000th post.  So I invite you celebrate with me and a little Kool and the Gang.  If they're good enough for the Oakland A's... they're good good enough for me:

Thank you to all of you who were patient enough to read through this entire post... and/or any of you who have taken the time to read this blog.  I truly appreciate all of your comments.  The interaction among bloggers is one of the best things about starting this blog.  And speaking of interaction... it's time I get back to my roots and start offering you guys my "question of the day".  Here is today's:

What's a number that is special to you in terms of sports or collecting?  Why?

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #61: Clemente, Cespedes, and Comics

When: Saturday, April 19th
Where: Branham High School Flea Market
What: Clemente and Crap
How Much?: $17

After I set up my table on Saturday, I decided to walk around and check out what everyone else was selling.  The guy across from us is a regular and the same guy who sold me a bunch of vintage Bowmans back in January, so I headed over to him and immediately made my first purchase.

Purchase #1: 1970 Topps Posters #21 Roberto Clemente $1

It was love at first sight.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted it... but I made sure to play it cool.  I picked up a few other items, before finally asking about the poster.  He told me any of the posters were a dollar.  The Clemente has "browned" over the years and is torn in a couple of spots, but there was no way I was going to pass up this deal.

He also had a Johnny Bench and a Rod Carew, but both of them were in very poor condition, so I passed.  Although... for the price I'm sort of having second thoughts.

Purchase #2:  Mussina Autograph and Cespedes Refractor $10 

This purchase is a simple case of the "pros" outweighing the "cons".  On one hand, I don't like the New York Yankees.  They're right up there with the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, and Detroit Red Wings in terms of teams I truly dislike.

However... it's hard not to admire what Mike Mussina did on the diamond during his years at Stanford University and while playing in Baltimore and New York.  I also like the overall look of the card and the on-card autograph.

I just wasn't sure I wanted to pay the $10 sticker price, so I asked him if he'd be willing to throw in this 2012 Finest refractor rookie card:

He accepted, I paid, and now both cards reside in my collection.


Purchase #3:  Comics and Baseball Programs $1

Things died down by 1pm, so I figured I'd make one more round around the flea market.  Half of the vendors were packing up, which sometimes means people lower their prices in order to avoid hauling their junk home.

This was one of those situations.

I stopped by this guy's table earlier in the morning, because I was checking out some old Transformers he had.  Unfortunately he sold them about an hour earlier.  But he had a table full of old magazines priced at four for a dollar.  Here's what I grabbed:

An early 80's Oakland Athletics program with Rickey on the cover?  I'll take that.  The other three items are gravy:

Purchase #4:  2011 Panini Madden 12 HOF Edition Autograph $5

What happens when your buddy offers you an oddball, on-card autograph of a hall of famer for the low price of five bucks?  Ummm... you buy it.

Overall... I was pretty happy with my purchases.  After spending seven hours set up as a vendor, I walked away with some nice items for my collection and more money in my pocket than I started the day with.  That'll come in handy this upcoming weekend at the TRISTAR Collector's Show.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Swapping Stuff at the Swap Meet

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend.  As usual... I spent part of mine at two flea markets.

On Saturday, I set up at the Branham High School Flea Market with a couple of my buddies.  I brought some boxes of cards that were gathering dust, some books and DVD's, a bunch of brand new aquarium supplies, and a box of Bay Area sports memorabilia that didn't exactly fit my collection.

I ended up taking home a lot of the stuff I brought, but I was able to sell most of the DVD's and a couple of boxes of cards.  Plus I traded the box of memorabilia to my buddy, because he wanted some fresh items for the 18th Annual San Francisco TRISTAR Collector's Show that's taking place next week.

The key items in the box were a pair of 49ers Super Bowl programs, a 1997 NHL All-Star Game program, and some San Francisco Giants ticket stubs.

In return... he traded me the following items:

Casey Stengel Business Card

I can't seem to find any information about this card, but it's a unique oddball of one of the greatest managers in MLB history.

2011 Topps Triple Threads Relic #TR111

My buddy had a bunch of A's, Giants, and 49ers rookie cards in his display case... but the main card that caught my attention was this Jim Plunkett relic.  He's a Bay Area boy and was one of my father's favorite players when I was a kid... so this will make a fine addition to the collection.

I don't stumble across Golden Seals memorabilia on a daily basis, so I also targeted this vintage decal.  It goes well with the stack of vintage California Golden Seals cards Mr. Hoyle sent me last week.

Finally, I grabbed a handful of oddball sets.

First up... the 1991 Heisman Collection Series One set.  The 21 card set highlights popular Heisman Trophy winners like: Tim Brown, Bo Jackson, Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, and Jim Plunkett.  There are randomly inserted autographs in this product, but the odds are tough:  one autograph inserted into every fifty sets.  Odds are that I'll just keep my set sealed for now.

1992 Manning 1919 Black Sox Reprint Set

My buddy had a ton of these sets, so I took three.  Up until recently... I had never seen these before, but if you're interested... I found a nice write-up over at Pack Addict.

1994 Post Sets

And wrapping things up are these three sets of 1994 Post Cereal.  These cards were originally issued in three card cellophane packs inserted into specially marked boxes of Post cereal.  I've always been a fan of oddballs, but do I really need three of these sets?  Probably not.  That's why I'll be giving the extra sets away in a future contest.

In the end, I'm pretty sure I got the short end of the stick in terms of monetary value.  But I'm okay with that.  My buddy makes a living off of selling memorabilia and I don't.  And in the end, I was able to get rid of stuff that doesn't fit my collection, while boosting a couple of my PC's and finding a pair of items to giveaway all of you who support my blog.

Stay tuned.  In my next post, I'll show off some of the goodies I picked up with the money I earned from my flea market profits.

Until then... happy Monday and sayonara!

Help Me Fellow Bloggers... You're My Only Hope!

Last Saturday, I purchased a 5000ct. box of cards at the Ohlone College Flea Market for $20.  It was full of low end inserts and parallels, along with a ton of base cards.  But one product caught my attention, so I reached into my wallet and paid the man.

Later in the day, I spent that afternoon sifting through the box, enjoying my purchase, and attempting to build the 2004 UD Legends Timeless Teams set.

The previous owner must have busted a box, because he left two autographs and an expired redemption card for a Luis Tiant autograph.  But that's only the beginning.

Within the box I found 244 out of the 300 cards in the set... which leaves me with 56 cards short of the base set.

That's where you guys come in.  Is anyone else building this set?  If so, I have over 100 doubles available for trade.  Maybe we can help each other out.

Well... that's it for now.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!