So Long, Farewell...

If you're a regular to this blog, then there's a good chance that you're a fan of sports... or at least baseball.  Which means that you know just how special Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker was.  The guy was a darn good ball player... but he was an even better human being... which is why he's so revered by so many people.

Unfortunately, I was a little too young to ever watch him play.  But the story about him helping the people of Managua still gives me goosebumps and reminds me that there are people out there who give back to society and try to make our world a better place to live in.

That's why it's not too surprising that Clemente's cards are some of the most treasured among collectors.

I purchased my first vintage Clemente back in the early 90's and over the past twenty-something years, I've added a few more along the way.

Two days ago, Matt over at Bob Walk the Plank announced his retirement.  As most of you know... he's a diehard Pittsburgh Pirates fan, so in honor of him, I decided to show off my nine favorite Clemente cards.

#1:  1956 Topps #33

Are you surprised?  This card isn't just my favorite Clemente.  It's one of my favorite cards in the collection.


#2:  1965 Topps #160

1965 Topps is my 3rd favorite Topps design... right under 1983 and 1956.  This is one of those cards I bought back in the early 90's.  If I were to ever submit a card for grading... it'd be this card.


#3:  1964 Topps Giants #11

One of my favorite vintage oddball sets.  One day I'll add the 1970 and 1972 Kellogg's Clementes to my collection.  When I do, it'll knock this card out of the #3 slot.

#4:  1972 Topps #309

1972 Topps is my birth set... and this card is one of the most iconic from it.  This particular copy has a lot of character... just like Arriba himself.

#5:  1970 Topps Posters #21

Another amazing vintage oddball issue.  

#6:  2001 UD Decade 1970's Game-Used Jerseys #J-RC

The first five cards on this list were easy to choose.  #6 through #9 were much more challenging.  I feel like on any given day these cards could switch spots depending on my mood.

Today I filled the #6 spot with my only Clemente game-used memorabilia card.

#7:  1968 Topps Game #6

Another vintage oddball.  Are you beginning to see a pattern?

#8:  1967 Topps #400

This is the other card I purchased back in the early 90's.  Like the 1965 card, I plan on one day submitting it for grading.

#9:  1968 Topps #374

Some of my favorite vintage subset cards are the The Sporting News all-stars found in certain Topps sets.  I don't own a lot of them, but I'm sure glad to own this one.

Well there you have it... my Top 9 Roberto Clemente cards.

I've gotta admit... whenever I see a nice Clemente... the first person I usually think of is Matt.  Enjoy your retirement buddy.

By the way... if you're wondering why I decided to make a Top 9 list... instead of the standard Top 5 or Top 10 list.  It's because Daniel over at It's like having my own Card Shop is running a contest to celebrate his 9 year blog-o-versary.  All you need to do to enter is write a post featuring 9 cards.

So what are you waiting for?  Join the fun and start digging through your collection.  Pick out 9 cards.  Then write a post.  The winner will receive a nice package of Paul Goldschmidt cards and at least one card for your PC.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Game On!

Earlier in the week, I received a package containing this 1940 Stars of Baseball board game produced by When Topps Had Balls.  It had been purchased by a fellow blogger who preferred to remain anonymous.  Obviously I'll respect their wishes, but their gift is just too cool not to share with all of you.

Each board game contains a foldout play board (not pictured), 10 score sheets, a booklet containing 18 lineup cards, 4 plastic stands to display "runners" in the game, a pair of dice, a "1940 Stars of Baseball" pencil, a Lou Gehrig box topper (which doubles as a dice roll card), and a 40 card set.

The rules of the game are simple and the game itself seems like it'd be pretty entertaining.  But as a baseball card collector, I consider this more of a baseball card set than a game.  So instead of playing the game, let's check out the cards.

First up is the Lou Gehrig 5x7 box topper:

This "commemorative roll card" is a thing of beauty and hands down my favorite card in the board game.  A quick glance at the back gives you an idea of how to play the game.

As the name of the game suggests, the 40 card set contains baseball stars of the 40's.  The cards are your standard 3.5" in length, but are only 2" wide.  

2018 WTHBALLS Stars of 1940 #1

I'm a huge fan of the card design and the player selection.  The card backs offer a short biography of the player along with a special "power roll" number.  According to the Lou Gehrig commemorative card, if the player rolls the "power roll" number in the game, it's a home run.

2018 WTHBALLS Stars of 1940 #3

Outside of the Gehrig... my two favorite cards in the set are the DiMaggio and Williams.  Sure they're arguably two of the biggest names.  But I also love how their photos feature well-cropped action shots.

Here's a look at the rest of the 40 card set in its entirety:

#1 Joe DiMaggio, #2 Bob Feller, #3 Ted Williams, #4 Hank Greenberg

#5 Luke Appling, #6 Jimmie Foxx, #7 Bobby Doerr, #8 Bobo Newsom

#9 Joe Kuhel, #10 Harlond Clift, #11 Johnny Mize, #12 Arky Vaughan

#13 Bill Nicholson, #14 Dixie Walker, #15 Frank McCormick, #16 Billy Herman

#17 Enos Slaughter, #18 Mel Ott, #19 Lon Warneke, #20 Rip Sewell

#21 Charlie Keller, #22 George Case, #23 Bob Johnson, #24 Hal Trosky

#25 Joe Cronin, #26 Lou Boudreau, #27 Joe Gordon, #28 Rudy York

#29 Rip Radcliff, #30 Barney McCosky, #31 Paul Derringer, #32 Claude Passeau

#33 Joe Medwick, #34 Dolph Camilli, #35 Whit Wyatt, #36 Stan Hack

#37 Lonny Frey, #38 Bucky Walters, #39 Debs Garms, #40 Carl Hubbell

Well... that's it for tonight.  A huge thank you goes out to the generous, anonymous blogger who purchased this beautiful set for me.  Even though you told me not to, I found a few things to send your way today at the Serramonte Mall Card and Collectibles Show.

I hope the rest of you are enjoying your weekend.  Here in San Jose, it's insanely hot:

I took this picture at around 4:30 this afternoon.  My parents would be comfortable with this heat.  I'm more of a 57 to 67 degrees, overcast kind of guy.  I call it flip-flop/hoodie weather.  What about you?

What's your ideal weather?

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Love at First Sight

After a six or seven year hiatus, I jumped back into the hobby in 2008.  It wasn't one of those dip your toes into the water situations.  That year, I dove in head first and began purchasing everything from baseball to hockey.  It didn't take long for me to discover the Topps flagship design since it was used for their baseball, football, and basketball products.

The team name within the colored coordinated circles gives off a vintage feel that really stood out to me.

Simply put.  It was love at first sight.

I bought enough of these products to pull cool cards of Barack Obama, Russell Westbrook, and Matt Ryan.  However... I completely missed the boat on the two key baseball rookie cards:  Clayton Kershaw and Joey Votto.

The Kershaw has reached levels that I'm not comfortable paying, so it's highly unlikely I'll ever own his 2008 Topps Update card.  However a few months ago, I decided to finally cross the Votto off of my wantlist:

2008 Topps Chrome Refractor #196

I decided to go big and purchase the Chrome refractor version of his rookie card.

Although it wasn't a dollar bin purchase, I felt the $20 price tag was reasonable considering he's one of the most reliable hitters in the game.

I actually completely forgot about this card until I watched the highlight involving him, a bird, and a grand slam against the Detroit Tigers earlier in the week.

Although I don't have any plans on building a Joey Votto collection, I would like to buy an on-card autograph of his eventually.  The guy is already one of the greatest Canadians to play the sport.

Okay... it's your turn:

Who is your favorite Canadian athlete?

What's the most recent sports card design that you fell in love with immediately?

Happy Flashback Friday... and sayonara!

Sports Card Injury

Injuries are a part of sports.  I'm not sure they apply to sports cards quite as often.  However... where there is a will, there is a way.  And when you've been collecting for over thirty years it was bound to happen at some point.  Right?

Okay... maybe I'm just hoping that I'm not the only collector to ever suffer a hobby related injury.  If I am... so be it.  Here's the story...

Five weeks ago, I set out to get 10,000 steps per day for 56 straight days.  That number was chosen to honor Joe Dimaggio's 56 game hitting streak.  I figured that if he could hit safely in 56 straight games, I could force myself to walk 56 straight days.

It's pretty easy to reach my goal when I'm teaching, but it's a little more challenging on the weekend.  Walking around the flea market has helped a lot.  And two Sundays ago, I woke up and headed out to the Capitol Flea Market.

I haven't had a lot of luck finding anything of value around this flea market, but about halfway through my walk, I stumbled across a vendor who had this box of cards:

After going back and forth, we settled on a $25 price tag.  Now I'm not exactly sure of how much this box weighed... but I'd say it was anywhere between 15 and 30 pounds.  I stopped a few times to rest my arms, but eventually I made it back to my car without any real issues.

After the flea market, I went to my barber who also does pedicures.  Lol.  Try not to judge too much.  I do it mainly for the foot and leg massages.  Seriously... this woman has magic fingers.

Anyways... about halfway through the massage, she asked me to sit up.  I felt a sharp pain and immediately knew I threw out my back.  AGAIN.  It didn't take a genius to figure out that carrying the cards around the flea market was the thing that strained my back.  The massage was just the straw.

Okay... what about you?

Have you ever suffered a sports card related injury?

C'mon... I promise to not laugh too hard.  I mean it.  If I do... I might reinjure my back.

By the way... I'm not finished organizing the cards.  But here are two of my favorites so far:

2013 Topps Chrome Refractor #35

2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor #78

Well.  That's it for now.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!