Crossing Off Clemente

One of these days, I'm going to finally get around to posting my favorite Topps baseball card designs.  And when I do, the 1956 set will be perched on top of the Topps Totem Pole.  To be honest this particular set is in a league of its own and with each passing year the gap grows larger and larger.

A few months ago, I stumbled across the Roberto Clemente in the set and instantly wanted one.  I targeted a few auctions and as luck would have it one fell into my lap for a reasonable price:

In addition to Clemente, there was one more hall of famer included in the eBay auction.  Arriba's wingman was none other than The Silver Fox:

It's nice knowing that my Jackie Robinson has some friends to keep him company.  In fact... I'm hoping to add five more hall of famers from this set to my collection by the end of 2016.

I probably won't be targeting The Commerce Comet this year... but I'd be super excited to cross The Splendid Splinter off my list.  If not... The Say Hey Kid, Hammerin' Hank, or The Left Arm of God would suffice.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Time Heals Most Wounds

Congratulations to the Arizona Cardinals and their fans for their amazing win over the Green Bay Packers last night.

Talk about one heck of a roller coaster ride of emotions.  One minute I'm celebrating like the Packers won the Super Bowl... and the next minute I'm watching the Cardinals bounce back and win the game in overtime.

Thankfully time heals most wounds.  Sadly... some heal faster than others.

I'm still dealing with Kirk Gibson's walk off home run against the Athletics in Game One of the 1988 World Series.  The same can be said for Russell Wilson's interception with less than thirty seconds left in last year's Super Bowl.

The 1990 World Series was a painful memory for me as well.  That year the Oakland A's had the best record in baseball and absolutely destroyed the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS... sweeping them in four games.

They were heavily favored against the Cincinnati Reds, who took down the Pittsburgh Pirates in six games.  There was very little doubt in my mind that The King of Steal and the Bash Brothers would score enough runs, while Stew and Welch would shut down the Reds in at least four of the seven games in the series.

Unfortunately... I was painfully mistaken.  High expectations led to painful disappointment as the Reds manhandled the Athletics and swept them in four games.

The good news is after twenty-five years... I've put it behind me and now I can look at things like this 1990 American League Champions pin... and appreciate it.

Brett over at Card Collector's World was generous enough to send me this cool pin that I've proudly added to my Oakland A's shelf in my office.

In addition to the pin, he also sent me a pair of items for my Japanese PC.

1997 Upper Deck Predictor Exchange #17 Hideo Nomo

I miss 90's UD Predictor cards.  Upper Deck did a great job with this program that involved collectors scratching off their Predictor cards to reveal specific goals.  If that MLB players actually met that goal, the collector was a winner.  This particular card was one of the prizes that year.

Brett wrapped up his care package with this Japanese non-sport oddball:

I'm not really sure what it is... but it has found a home in a 9-pocket page in my non-sport Japanese binder.

Thanks Brett for the generous care package... and helping me realize that I'm ready to put the 1990 World Series in the past.

Happy Sunday... go Seahawks... and sayonara!

Eye Candy

One of the fascinating things about collecting sports cards... is the variety of ways to collect.  Some people enjoy collecting specific players, like Bo Jackson:

While others focus on favorite teams, like the very popular Los Angeles Dodgers:

Then there are those who prefer to target cardboard of hall of famers:

Would it really surprise you to find someone out there who collect cards featuring athletes in tuxedos?

Or pitchers at the plate?

But whatever tickles your fancy... I'm sure most of us can agree that quality photography makes things better... most of the time.  And that's exactly what Topps brought to the table back in 1991 when they introduced their Stadium Club line to collectors.

Back in the day, collectors went wild over this product.  I remember everyone chasing Jeff Bagwell and Phil Plantier rookie cards.  Even stars like Nolan Ryan and Frank Thomas fetched top dollar.  If I remember correctly... packs were selling at my LCS in the $2 to $5 range, which was insane for the time.

These days you can find unopened boxes for $10 to $15 on eBay... which in my humble opinion seems like the bargain of the century.  After busting these six packs, I was left with a smile that resembled The Cobra's:

On a side note... if you are interested in busting packs of 1991 Stadium Club... there's one thing you should be wary of.  Whatever Topps used to laminate these cards sometimes causes them to stick together.  And when you pull them apart, it can cause the cards to be damaged.  I knew this fact before I purchased these packs... but figured it was worth the risk at 25¢ per pack.

I ended up opening all twenty packs and pulled a cool hit out of the 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated packs:

You can't really tell by the scan... but this card is made out of acetate and is embossed.  According to Beckett... the hitters in the set were inserted at a rate of 1 per 180 packs.

Overall... I wasn't really impressed with this product, because it seemed like half of the cards had cluttered subset designs.  However one card really stood out...

This photograph appears to have been taken right after McGwire launched home run #70 in his final at bat of the season against Carl Pavano and the Montreal Expos.  I personally define an amazing baseball card as one you can hold in your hands, stare at in awe, and it takes you back in time to a happy place.  This card fits those parameters.

Off the top of your head...

Are there any specific cards you enjoy staring at every now and then?

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Super Surfer Girl

Back in early November, Tomahawk Chop posted an Allen & Ginter relic card of two-time WSL Longboard Championship Tour Champion... Kelia Moniz... and I immediately went over to eBay to find myself a copy.

Unfortunately... I couldn't find any relics in my price range, so I ended up spending a few more dollars and grabbing her autograph instead.  It represents the 14th addition to my Endless Summer PC:

I realize that these aren't for everyone... but I personally am glad to see Topps finally drop in on the surfer memorabilia scene.

And since it's technically Hump Day... I'll wrap up this post by showing you all the latest expired redemption card I've pulled:

This card came out of the box of 2002 Fleer Absolute Divas that I picked up at the flea market back in September.  Normally I'd be bummed out... but I only paid $8 for the box... so I can't complain too much.

Well that's it for today.  Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Card Show Road Trip

Would you be willing to hop into your car and drive 140 miles to attend a 40 table card show?  Depending on how deprived you are of card shows or how much you're craving cardboard and camaraderie... your responses will range from "heck yeah" to "hell no".

I usually fall into the latter group, but my buddy was looking to get out of the house and away from the kids, so he offered to pay for gas if I was willing to drive him to Sacramento on Saturday.

The roads were wet and the drive took two hours, but there's something about hanging out with your friend and rambling about cardboard.  About twenty minutes away from the show, one of our friends called and mentioned that he'd gone to this show before and it was a complete waste of time.

Obviously... that's the last thing you want to hear after driving for almost two hours.  Luckily he turned out to be wrong.  There were probably around twenty dealers carrying everything from wax boxes to Kris Bryant autographs to bargain bins.

You can probably guess what I was attracted to.  I spent over two hours digging through one guy's 5¢ boxes and another guy's 10¢ boxes.


Purchase #1:  160 Baseball Cards $8

If you like newer inserts and rookie cards, then you would have loved this guy.  I was able to fill in plenty of gaps inside my insert binders... but was actually a little sad to see that most of these 2015 Topps inserts are pretty much worth less than a taco sauce packet from Taco Bell.

Since I'm way too lazy to scan even a tenth of these cards, I'll just share a few of my favorites:

By far... my favorite card is the Biz Markie First Pitch insert:

I've wanted this card since I laid eyes on it... and ironically... I had no clue that he was an A's fan until Topps released it.

If you're not familiar with Mr. Markie... his Just a Friend is one of those iconic rap songs that you just can't listen to without smiling and singing along.  

Purchase #2:  80 Baseball and Football Cards $8

There was one other dealer with cheap cards.  His prices were higher, but he had a larger variety of cards to choose from.  I spent most of my time digging through his football boxes, because two other guys were looking at the baseball box.  Sadly... most of the baseball singles were sloppy seconds... however I did managed to find a pair of cheap vintage cards:

And a boatload of inserts/parallels for my football inserts binders... plus a few new Hawks and Packers for my collection:

Purchase #3:  20 Junk Wax Packs $5

Do you know that purchase you kinda wish you could take back?  That's this purchase.  Do I really need commons from the 1991 Stadium Club set?  The honest answer is "no".  But at that exact moment when I was passing this guy's table... the allure of 25¢ packs was just too much to resist.


Purchase #4:  Robin Yount Autograph $22

2015 Topps Tier One Clear One Auto #RY

This card is sweet.  It's a reasonably priced card that features an on-card autograph (not really... but it's better than a sticker autograph) of a first ballot hall of famer.  But that's not the reason I bought it.

If you look carefully at the serial number, you'll notice that it has the number that Yount wore in Milwaukee for twenty seasons.  This is a huge addition to my Prime Number PC.


Purchase #5:  Rickey Henderson Manufactured Relic $3

2015 Topps Update Etched in History #EIH3

I've always had a soft spot for most manufactured relics... especially ones with chunks of metal that can be used as desktop paperweights on those windy days in the office.

Well... there's my card show haul.  There were a lot of nice cards I was interested in... including a couple of '56 Hank Aarons and a sweet Russell Wilson booklet card.  But I'm on a budget and there's one more card show this month.  Sadly... after that... there aren't any card shows in my area until April when the annual TriStar show arrives.

It's your turn...

Assuming you're bored and have nothing better to do... what's the furthest you'd drive to check out a small (40 table) card show?

Happy Monday and sayonara!