The Price Was Right

It felt good waking up this morning knowing that with the exception of a lunch date, my entire day's schedule is clear to do whatever I want.  The original plan was to wake up and walk around the Capitol Flea Market, but I decided to continue working on the care packages I'd like to ship out tomorrow.

While going through a box containing my most recent COMC shipment, I found this card:

2005 Upper Deck Classics Moments Autographs #CM-TG

Tony Gwynn has plenty of autographs for collectors to chase, which is why I typically do not go out of my way to buy anymore of his "sticker-graphs".  But the price was right and with a click of a button... this card was part of my inventory and became the 25th autographed card in my Gwynn collection.

I was out of the hobby back in 2005, so I never opened any of this product.  But according to Beckett, Gwynn was a Tier 2 signature with a print run of 299.  It's not exactly rare, but for $29.70 I'm not going to complain.

I also own the memorabilia card of Gwynn from this product:

2005 Upper Deck Classics Moments Materials #CM-TG

Both of these cards celebrate Gwynn's 3,000th hit which took place twenty years ago on August 6th, 1999.  Damn that makes me feel old.

To complete the trifecta for this classic moment in history, I picked up this ticket stub off of COMC this morning for $14.80.

Okay... I'd better get back to those care packages.  If your name has disappeared from my Hit List, then that's a good sign.  It means I've packaged your cards and they'll be shipped out tomorrow.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

On the Fly Blog Post

Another Vegas vacation.  Another round of tacos at Del Taco.  And another "on the road" blog post.  Only this time I'm with my other brother... and we're not stuck in a snow storm.

In fact, the weather was perfect.  So perfect that we even convinced Papa Fuji to get out of the house and hit some balls at the driving range:

All of you golf enthusiasts out there, try not to judge me too harshly on my form.  I'm one of those recreational golfers who enjoys the executive courses in t-shirts and flip flops, instead of the traditional collared shirts and golf shoes.

My wallet card even had the opportunity to breathe some fresh air on the trip:

Willow Beach, Arizona

Willow Beach is about seven miles south of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Arizona.  Papa Fuji rented a boat and we spent a couple of hours on the river.  Unfortunately they don't allow boats with motors to travel north up to the dam on Sundays or Mondays.  No biggie though.

The canyons south of the marina were gorgeous and we had a great time out on the river.

In an effort to turn this into a baseball card post, here are three guys who were born in Arizona:

2017 Topps Gallery #143

2011 Tier One Crowd Pleaser Autograph #CP-AE

2011 Tier One Crowd Pleaser Autograph #CP-IK

Kinsler has the honor of having the highest WAR among MLB players and the most MLB All-Star Game appearances, while Cody is the only guy born in Arizona to win an NL MVP Award.  All three of these guys own at least one Gold Glove Award.

John Denny and Jeremy Affeldt are the two biggest names I recognized in regards to pitchers.  Sadly, I don't have any saved scans of either player sitting in my cloud and I doubt I'll remember to dig through boxes to find any when I get home.

Instead, I'd rather read your comments...

Have you ever been in Arizona?

Do you have a favorite Arizona memory or athlete?

Well that's it for now.  Perfect timing too, because I'm starting to get car sick.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Better Late Than Never

If you're not early, you're late.  That's the philosophy my parents raised us with... and the one I tend to live by.  Well... usually.  I always seem to be a few steps behind with hobby related items.

The evidence is all over the place.  On Saturday, I was one day late with my Valentine's Day post.  I'm over a year behind on delivering care packages.  And today's post covers two events that took place two days ago.

First and foremost was hearing about the loss of Tony Fernandez who suffered a stroke while dealing with kidney issues.

Although Ripken was the perennial MLB All-Star Game starting shortstop for the American League back in the 80's, Fernandez (along with Alan Trammell) seemed to be his resident backup... which made him a household name in our hobby.

2013 Hometown Heroes City Hall Signatures #CHTF

The first team I associate him with are the Toronto Blue Jays and rightfully so.  He spent the majority of his career there.  I remember treasuring my copy of his 1984 Donruss rookie card, which was most likely sold off when I purged my collection in 2001.

2016 Topps Archives All-Star Signature Edition Buybacks

1992 Bowman #293

He played for six other MLB teams, but the San Diego Padres are the only one that really stand outs to me.  Fernandez was part of the blockbuster trade that sent Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter to the Blue Jays back in 1991.  Fernandez and Fred McGriff both played well during their time in San Diego, but they were both shipped out by management within a few years with little compensation in return.  That's why I prefer to remember his career with the Blue Jays where he helped them win their second World Series Championship in 1993.

Rest in peace Mr. Fernandez.

On a lighter note, I received a text from Ryan (SumoMenkoMan) on Saturday informing me that it was National Hockey Card Day here in North America.

One look at my blog's banner reveals my love for the sport... especially the San Jose Sharks.  Sadly... most of my hockey related posts receive only a handful of views, which is why I typically stick to writing about baseball cards.

But today I thought I'd showcase some of the best hockey signatures sitting in my collection.  Let's kick things off with some of the legends of the game:

2000 Upper Deck Hawaii Trade Conference #GH

2013-14 Trilogy Signature Pucks #SP-BO

1997-98 Pinnacle Beehive Signatures #61

Next up three of the greatest players from my childhood:

1996-97 Donruss Canadian Ice Scrapbook Signature #NNO

1996-97 SPx Tribute Signature #GS1

1995-96 Upper Deck Be A Player Autograph #S197

Plus two of the greatest goaltenders from the 90's:

2002-03 Upper Deck Game Jersey Autograph #SGJ-MB

1998-99 Topps Autographs #A8

And I'll wrap things up with two future hall of famers:

2015-16 UD Ultimate Collection Signatures #US-AO

2007-08 UD Sweet Shot Signature Shots Puck Signings #SSP-SC

Sorry about my tardiness, but I started this post with a popular saying, so I'll leave you with another one.  Better late than never.

What about you?

Are you usually a punctual person?

Any fond memories of Mr. Fernandez?

Do you collect hockey cards?

Do you avoid writing certain posts because you know the majority of your readers aren't interested?

2017 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions #1

Happy President's Day and sayonara!

A Nice Reminder

Hope everyone enjoyed their Hallmark holiday yesterday.  My middle school students eat this crap up.  Whether or not it was flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, bags of goodies, or just Valentine's Day cards... I'd say at least 50% of the students had something "pink" on them.

Speaking of "pink", I recently added this Bart Starr card to my collection:

1959 Topps #23

I love this card, because it reminds me of my mom.  My parents met and married while both were attending college in Wisconsin back in the mid 50's.  By the late 50's, they had become Green Bay Packers fans and would attend games at Milwaukee County Stadium.  That's right about the same time Topps produced this card which sixty-one years later is now sitting in my Green Bay Packers collection.

Valentine's Day is the day to celebrate "love", so in the spirit of this holiday I just wanted to let my mom know how much I love and miss her... and that whenever I pick up new Bart Starr cards... they'll always remind me of her and my father.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Just Joking

Topps pledges to bring you closer to the game from the past, present, and future.  Just joking.

2012 Topps Tribute Championship Material #CM-CJ

The relics contained on this card are not from any specific game, event or season, nor were they necessarily used during a World Series game.

Back in September, I purchased a ninety-eight card collection off of my buddy Ben for $200.  This card was part of that purchase and when I first saw it, I was excited to find this hidden gem.

If you look closely, you can see that Topps printed the words Championship Material right next to the two blue swatches of uniform.  And the trophy printed in gold foil is clearly the Commissioner's Trophy awarded to the team who wins the World Series.  This information led me to believe that this was a piece of Chipper's jersey, pants, undershirt, stirrups, or something he wore from the 1995 World Series when him and his teammates took down the Cleveland Indians.

However upon turning the card over, I noticed in small print:

Considering the price I paid, it's still a cool card.  But when you consider that this was the guaranteed hit pulled from a pack that originally retailed for $50, this joke isn't that funny.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!