Diamond Are Forever

In 2011, Topps celebrated 60 years of making baseball cards by hosting a huge Diamond Giveaway Promotion that involved collectors pulling code cards out of packs, redeeming them online, and collecting/trading virtual cards with other collectors.  At least... that's what I took from reading this article at the Cardboard Connection:  Topps Diamond Giveaway Goes Live.

I wish I could share my personal experience from this program, but the problem is... I rarely bust any new products.  I'm sure I've opened a few packs of 2011 Topps baseball, but it most likely after this program had expired.

However... I do remember all of the hype surrounding the 2011 Topps Black Diamond Diecuts which were serial numbered to 60.  They were very popular and prices were so outrageous that I didn't bother trying to obtain singles for my collection.

Fast forward six years to a few weeks ago.  That's when Jason over at Clyde's Stale Cards reached out to me and asked me if I was interested in the Tony Gwynn from this set.  After a few emails... it finally arrived in all of its glory:

2011 Topps Black Diamond Diecut #DDC75 (#'d 58/60)

This is one of those cards that doesn't scan very well.  At least not on my scanner.  You truly cannot appreciate this card's beauty unless you're holding it in your hands.  This card is thick, shiny, beautiful, and fairly scarce depending on your point of view.

Historically prices of diamonds have held their value over the years, so I'm very excited to finally get my hands on this card.  Although this card's value doesn't really matter to me... because like Shirley Bassey says... diamonds are forever... which means this card will be part of my collection for the long run.

In addition to this sweet addition to my Tony Gwynn PC... Jason also generously sent me these three unopened packs:

I've never seen these before, but they're 2012 and 2013 Bandai Owner's League packs.  Normally, I'd tear into these... but I decided to keep them sealed and add them to my Japanese Baseball Card Pack Collection.

Thank you so much Jason for these awesome additions to my collection!  You never responded back with your Paypal account, so I went out and picked up a few nice cards for your Matt Williams collection.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

White Wizzard

Sorry Tolkien fans, this isn't a post about Gandalf and his congregation of hobbits.  I'm a big fan of the blockbuster movie trilogy.  However today's post is about a "white whale" of Ozzie Smith that I've been trying to add to my collection for quite a while now.

Feast your eyes on one of The Wizard's earliest cards:

1978 Padres Family Fun Centers #1

Offered as some kind of promotional giveaway, this wood bordered beauty features Ozzie in a posed action shot while sporting the iconic brown and gold Padres uniforms that many of us San Diego fans fancy.

On the back there's a portrait shot of Smith with those famous lamb chops that also appear on his official Topps rookie card and his 1979 Hostess card.

There's also a nice story about him winning the MVP award playing for Team USA back in 1976.  And if you look closely under his LIFETIME RECORD, you'll notice a lack of career statistics, because 1978 was his FIRST YEAR IN MAJORS.  I think this is a nice bonus to go along with the facsimile signature I've never seen Smith use before.

With that being said... this card isn't without flaws.  The postcard size and low quality card stock create storage and preservation concerns.

But let's keep it real...

What card would you actually classify as being perfect?

I'm just excited that I finally managed to catch this "white whale" after years and years of hunting.  Seriously... it's not very often you're able to take down a White Wizzard.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Taped Cardboard & Mix Tapes

Back in January, Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown featured ten albums he was into during his teenage years and paired them up with baseball cards.  Since then a few bloggers kept the ball rolling, so I figured I'd join in on the fun.

However I'm going to tweak things a little and target music singles, since I was the kid obsessed with making mix tapes instead of listening to entire albums.

Today I'm gonna feature songs from 1985 to 1987, otherwise known as My Awkward Years.

While the cool kids were break dancing, skateboarding, playing sports, and chasing girls... I was playing video games and collecting baseball cards.

Honestly... it's a good thing I grew up and hung out with those "cool" kids... otherwise I might have been featured on one of those ABC Afternoon Specials.  But that's another story for another day.  

Let's listen to some music and show off some cardboard...

Tears for Fears:  Shout  (1985)

Whenever I play 80's music for my students, I always include at least one song from the Songs from the Big Chair album.

1972 Topps #323 and #33

I decided to go with Shout, because it made me think of Earl Weaver and Billy Martin.  Both of these guys were known for their entertaining tirades and are two of my favorite managers of all-time.


Bryan Adams:  Summer of '69  (1985)

Bryan Adams had a lot of big hits in the 80's.  After looking over the list of songs on Reckless, Summer of '69 stood out because baseball and summer go hand in hand.

1969 Topps #440

I wasn't around back in 1969, but thanks to the internet I discovered that Willie McCovey won the MLB All-Star Game MVP Award and launched the 300th home run of his career back in the summer of 1969.  To top it off... he took home the NL MVP Award at the end of the season.


Peter Cetera:  Glory of Love (1986)

Glory of Love was Peter Cetera's first solo hit after leaving the band that I grew up listening to in the 70's and early 80's.  I don't hear this song very often anymore, but when I do Cetera isn't the first thing that comes to mind.  It's Tamlyn Tomita:

2010 Rittenhouse Heroes #NNO

This song was featured in Karate Kid II and Tamlyn played Daniel-san's Okinawan girlfriend... Kumiko.  She was my childhood crush back then... and my celebrity crush right now.

Beastie Boys:  No Sleep Till Brooklyn (1986)

No Sleep Till Brooklyn is a classic.  And I can't listen to this song without thinking of the Dodgers and my 1956 Topps Jackie Robinson:

1956 Topps #30

It seems perfect to post my favorite card and my favorite group together.


Bruce Hornsby and the Range:  The Way It Is  (1987)

Both of my brothers influenced my taste in music as a kid.  They're the main reason I'm such a huge fan of 70's rock.

They also opened my eyes to artists like Bruce Hornsby.  This song's title instantly made me think about collecting cards before the invention of top loaders and penny sleeves.

1971 Topps #525

Some of you were around back then, right?  Remember when we would shove our cards in our bike spokes, or draw on them?  Maybe some of you flipped them against walls, or used tape to stick them to your bedroom walls.  That's just the way it was.


The Cure:  Just Like Heaven  (1987)

Back in 1987 or 1988, I went to see The Cure at the Oakland Coliseum.  I'm pretty sure it was the first concert I ever attended.  At the time, I barely knew their music.  But one of my neighbors was a huge fan and invited me to come along.  I'm glad I did... because thirty years later, I'm still a fan.

2015 Museum Collection Archival Autographs #AA-RCR

You can't play Just Like Heaven without featuring an California Angels card.  I had hope to show off my 1972 Topps Billy Cowan card, but it's tucked away in my 1972 Topps set, which I currently don't have access to.

That's okay... I love my Rod Carew autograph too.

Well that's it for today.  I'll try my best to post more cards and music from the second half of my teen years (1988 to 1991) on Thursday.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Humm Baby

The great thing about subscribing to sports card blogs is you get an opportunity to see what people collect and why they collect.  Over the years, I've mentioned numerous times that collecting cards and memorabilia caters to my OCD issues and keeps me in touch with my childhood.  When I was a kid, I attended a lot of Oakland A's games at the Coliseum... which explains why I'm such a huge Athletics fan.

However... I might have left out the part about my trips to Candlestick Park to see the San Francisco Giants.  There's no doubt that I attended way more A's games as a kid, but I went to at least a handful of Giants games every season.

Some of the most memorable years took place from the mid 80's into the early 90's during the "Humm Baby" era under the guidance of manager Roger Craig.  At the time, nothing would give me more pleasure than to watch the Giants lose.  I'd go to the games and always cheer for the visiting teams (yup... even the Dodgers).

In hindsight...  I looked back at some of those great teams and realized that even though I wasn't a fan of them... I really did enjoy watching them.  I still attend at least one or two games at AT&T each season... but no longer actively root against them (unless they're facing the Padres or Athletics).   I just sit back, enjoy tasty, overpriced food, and watch some entertaining baseball.

In terms of sports cards, every now and then I'll actually target a Giant from my childhood and add him to the collection.  Last January, I stumbled across this 1963 Fleer Roger Craig autograph on eBay and grabbed it for $6.25 (+ $1.34 shipping):

1963 Fleer #43

I realize it doesn't feature Craig in his San Francisco Giants uniform, but whenever I look at it... it still takes me right back to my childhood days at Candlestick Park during the Humm Baby era watching Craig and his merry band of Giants.

And while we're talking about my childhood, I figured I'd dedicate this post to George "The Animal" Steele who passed away on Thursday.  I read about his passing over on Corky's blog, which immediately took me on a stroll down memory lane.

Steiner Authenticated Signed Photo

I grew up watching a lot of WWF wrestling during the mid 80's and I've reached that age where a lot of the guys I enjoyed cheering for are starting to pass away.  In the past few years alone, wrestling fans have lost WWF Legends Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, The Ultimate Warrior, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mr. Fuji... and now George "The Animal" Steele.  On one hand it's kind of sad... but on the other hand, it's a reminder that we should appreciate those while they're still alive and kicking.  Rest in peace, Mr. Steele!

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Like Stealing Candy From A Baby

Wait.  Should people even give candy to babies?  I'm not a father, but I know I never gave my nieces and nephews candy when they were babies.  Anyways... whether or not you give your baby candy or not... stealing it back from them isn't very nice.

But you wanna know what is nice?  It's pretty nice when you find out that you just won the door prize to the 7th Annual Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web over at Cynical Buddha's blog: Collector's Crack.

The big ticket prize was this 1991 UD Domino's Pizza Quarterback Challenge set:

If you're a fan of football and food issue oddball sets, then this set is for you.  There's everyone from John Elway to Dan Marino.  It's a shame that Upper Deck didn't have the foresight to include a Brett Favre rookie, but that's okay.  They made up for it by adding Bart Starr.

In addition the set, there were a bunch of Seattle Seahawks bonus cards included too:

I was really excited to see a memorabilia card of the Hawk's all-time leading rusher...

2002 Pacific Game Worn Jerseys #43

a super shiny, refractory kind of card of the highest rated quarterback in franchise history...

2016 Donruss Optic #89

and a promo card of the Hawk who has the 8th most receptions in team history:

2003 UD Promos #131

Thank you Cynical Buddha for holding this super easy Super Bowl contest again... and for all of these nice additions to my Seattle Seahawks PC.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!