My Beautiful Ride

Today is Go Skateboarding Day, so this morning I grabbed my board and went for a brief twenty minute ride before I headed into work.  At forty-six years of age, I'm not thinking about riding ramps or performing manuals.  The board I built a few years ago was designed to cruise:

Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to own a Hosoi Hammerhead.  So when I saw that they had reissued these I purchased one, along with Independent 169 trucks, Bronson G3 bearings, and 70mm Mini Monster longboard wheels.  The ride is as smooth as a baby's bottom.

Anyways... in honor of this special day, I figured I'd show off another deck I picked up recently:

Steve Caballero is a local legend and I've wanted to own a signed deck of his for several years.  Back in March he released his new reissue deck and if you bought one, he offered to sign it.  I'd like to eventually display it with my Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi signed decks.  But for now it's sitting in the corner of my office.

Well that's it for today.  How about you?

When was the last time you rode a skateboard?

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #139: 70's Hits and 80's Cardboard

Whenever you write about the addition of a vintage Mickey Mantle to your collection, you're gonna be hard pressed to follow up that post.  That's why I don't blame you if you ignore this post, click over to that post, and bathe in the beauty of the 1958 Topps Mantle that the Commish sent my way.  It's truly that breathtaking.

For those who have decided to stick around, here are the three purchases I made this past Saturday at the Branham High School Flea Market...


Purchase #1:  K-tel Out of Sight LP  $1

I picked up this album from a woman who purchased it at a 7-11 back in the 70's.  The one dollar price tag and the fact that she remembered where she bought the album were enough for me to take a chance on it.

After listening to the entire album, I'm happy with the purchase.  I was familiar with the songs from Elton John, Bachman Turner Overdrive, and The Hues Corporation... as well as Carl Douglas' Kung Fu Fighting.  But my favorites were these three songs I had never heard before...

Purchase #2:  2001 CAL Oski the Bear Bobblehead $8

Bobbleheads aren't a priority for me like they were five years ago.  But this one was just too cool to pass up.  A quick eBay search revealed that these were handed out back in 2001 at a Cal game, which means they've dried up over the years and are semi-collectible.  I'll add this to my display in my classroom at the start of the school year.


Purchase #3:  Stack of Hockey Cards  $1

Seeing rubber bands wrapped around trading cards sure bring back memories.  This older Asian couple had a plastic bin filled with hockey cards.  Sitting on top was this stack.

I sifted through them quickly and found this Brendan Shanahan rookie card:

There were also a few hall of famers:

And the current San Jose Sharks general manager:

Plus a bunch of other minor stars that'll go into my hockey binder...

Obviously, the cards are in poor condition.  However I couldn't pass up their asking price of one dollar.  That's less than 3¢ per card.

Well that's it for my latest flea market haul.  Nothing too exciting... especially when compared to the vintage Mantle.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Holy Crap and Staring Speechless

When it comes to collecting sports cards, Mickey Mantle might just be the most iconic name in our hobby.  Back in the 80's and 90's, you couldn't go into a card show without hearing his name at least a few times and his vintage baseball cards are usually the highest priced card in any Beckett or Tuff Stuff I've ever read.

That's why I didn't own a Mantle baseball card issued during his playing days until six years ago, when I found this card sitting inside some magazines I purchased at the flea market:

1967 Topps Poster Inserts #6

Okay, so technically this isn't a card.  It's a poster printed on newspaper stock, but it was originally pulled from a pack of cards.

Later that year, I picked up his 1962 Topps home run leaders card that also features his teammate Roger Maris off of eBay:

1962 Topps #53

I had been wanting to add this card to my collection for years.  Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and the Great Home Run Race of 1998 were the inspiration.

In 2015, I purchased the 1968 Topps Game set on eBay which included this card:

1968 Topps Game #2

Just like the 1967 Topps Posters, these were inserted into packs of cards.  Who doesn't enjoy a nice, vintage floating head every now and then?


The following year, I made one of my favorite card show purchases of all-time, when I picked up a complete 1964 Topps Giants set at the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys, and Collectibles Show.  And guess what... Mantle was part of the checklist:

1964 Topps Giants #25

This is one of my all-time favorite oddball issues.  It features a beautiful design and an awesome checklist.

Getting back to floating heads, my next Mantle acquisition came from the Capitol Flea Market a month or two after the 1964 Topps Giants purchase:

1967 Topps #103

If you ever want to pick up a vintage Mantle from his playing days and your budget is limited... then this card is for you.  I found my copy sitting in a quarter bin.

Up until this weekend... this checklist represented the last vintage Mantle card addition to my collection.  Up until this weekend.

That's when I opened up a padded mailer sent to me by Commish Bob over at The Five Tool Collector and saw this staring back at me:

1958 Topps #487

I immediately muttered, "holy crap" and then sat there sitting at my desk in my office staring speechless for at least a minute... if not longer.

At first I was just admiring the beauty of this card.  The 1958 Topps Sport Magazine All-Star cards is one of the greatest looking subset cards of all-time.  They're gorgeous.  But the Mantle is the best looking card of them all.  Most of the guys in the set are head shots.  And the handful that are posed action shots are zoomed in a little too much.

Mantle is zoomed out and placed smack dab in the center of this card.  I'm still staring at this card's beauty as I type out these words.

The back of the card states that he was the most powerful slugger in the game back when this card was issued, but I was more impressed by his batting average.  In 1957, he hit .333 or higher against every team he faced during the regular season except the Detroit Tigers.

Thank you Bob for this super generous gift you've given me.  I'm not sure what I did to deserve such an awesome card.  What I do know is that I promise to cherish this card forever... as it now represents the oldest Mantle in my collection and hands down the most beautiful.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Out of the Ordinary

A few years ago I made the executive decision to avoid sticker autographs.  Of course there are exceptions to every rule.  Sometimes there are people who don't have any certified, pack pulled on-card autographs out there.  Other times they do, but they're very rare or very expensive.

Last Sunday ended up winning an auction that contained this card for $16.26 (+ $3 shipping):

2011 Topps American Pie Autographs #APA-24

Susan Lucci is probably most famous for playing the role of Erica Kane on the soap opera All My Children from 1970 to 2011.  According to Beckett she only has five different certified autographs for collectors to pursue.

Now you might be wondering why I've been looking for an autograph card of a 72 year old retired soap opera actress.  Well... the answer is simple.  All My Children was my mother's favorite soap opera during the 70's and 80's.  She watched it religiously and I'd watch it with her whenever I stayed home from school.  Sticker autograph or not... this card represents a connection between my mother, my childhood, and my hobby.

Another thing I've been purchasing lately that can definitely be classified as out of the ordinary are graded basketball rookie cards.  It's been over five years since I've followed basketball on a regular basis, but back in December, I bid and won this Kawhi Leonard graded rookie card on eBay for $10.50:

2011 SP Authentic #27

I only bid on it because I had already won a few graded baseball cards from the same seller and he offered free shipping on any additional purchases.  I started throwing low bids out and this was one of a handful that stuck.

Since then, I've added a few other graded basketball cards that I'll share in the near future.  I just wanted to post this card in honor of the Toronto Raptors winning their first NBA Championship.

My final out of the ordinary purchase was this Cade McNown autograph:

1999 UD Retro Inkredible #CM

This card popped up on my eBay search last weekend and I immediately sent the seller an offer of $6.50 (+ $3.50 shipping), which he or she immediately accepted.  The guy only won three games as a starter during his two years with the Chicago Bears.  Normally, I wouldn't even consider buying McNown's autograph... and if I did... I wouldn't pay more than a buck or two.  However McNown is one of two remaining cards I need for this set.

Well there you have it.  Three out of the ordinary purchases I've made... and the reasons for them.

What about you?

Have you made any out of the ordinary purchases for yourself lately?

If so... share them below.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

New Chapter of Life

By the time this post is published, I'll either be at Red Robin with my co-workers celebrating the start of summer vacation... or laying on my couch taking my first nap of summer vacation.

The last day of school is so weird, because all of those eighth graders who didn't want to be in class during the school year... don't want to go home and accept that their middle school years are over.  They not ready to hear that they are starting a new chapter of their lives.

I can't remember ever begging my teachers to let me stay and hang out... like my students do every single year.  And I guarantee that I never shed a single tear on the last day of school.  I was the kid who couldn't wait for my summer break to begin.

2017 Goodwin Champions World Traveler Map Relics #WT-23

In fact, one of my coworkers and I were reminiscing about our middle school graduations... and I told her I skipped mine to go to Lake Tahoe with my family.  My parents gave me the choice to go to the graduation ceremony or chill out in one of my favorite places in the world.  It was a no-brainer.

That was thirty-three years ago... back in 1986.  Back when these four cards were released...

1986 Topps Traded #20T

1986 Topps #250

1986 Topps #1

I've mentioned my mild obsession with signed 1986 Topps baseball cards.  These are the only three that I have authenticated by PSA.  The only other certified autograph is this Topps Archives Tony Pena buyback autograph:

1986 Topps #260

And rounding out this post is a card I've wanted for quite some time that I finally picked up:

1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures #WMc

I absolutely love this autograph set and McCovey represents the 22nd addition from this set to my collection.

How does he relate to this post?  Well... he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame the summer of 1986.  The same summer I graduated middle school and was listening to this song on my Sony Walkman:

What about you?

What songs were you listening to during the summer you graduated middle school?

Happy Thursday and sayonara!