Let's Play Twenty Questions

When I started this blog six years ago, my main goal was to use it as a personal journal to document my hobby experiences both past and present.  However if you've followed my blog long enough then you know that it has become much, much more than just a journal.

I've interacted with a ton of collectors either through comments, trades, emails, or all of the above.  Friendships have been formed and information has been exchanged.  But I've always watched my digital footprint and been mindful about the kind of personal information I share with the internet.  Seriously... identity theft is a real thing and like I tell my students every year... you can never be too safe.

On the other hand, it's important to form a connection with my fellow blogger buddies and anyone else who takes the time to read my posts... otherwise down the line, I'll be the only one reading my writing.  So today's post I figured I'd play twenty questions with you in an effort for you guys to learn a little bit more about me and my collection.

To help me out, I've decided to employ the use of items given to me by Kenny over at Torren' Up Cards about a month ago.  The box was heavy and huge... and to be honest a little intimidating, so I kept pushing it aside until an extended weekend like this one.

There's been enough stalling... let's get started.

#1:  Are vintage cards your favorite thing to collect?

That's a tough question, because I love to collect a variety of things.  One of them being vintage cards.  In fact, my favorite card in my collection is a piece of vintage cardboard.  However... if the Cardboard Gods demanded that I only collect one thing, I'd probably focus on building my collection of on-card autographs of hall of famers and fan favorites.

By the way... this is the first 1939 Play Ball card ever to enter my collection... and I love it.


#2:  Can you read, write, and speak Japanese?

No.  No.  And no.  However... I know a few common phrases here and there... including my numbers up to ten.  And in the case of this magazine... I'll treat it as a picture book.


#3:  Who's your favorite player currently on the Oakland Athletics' roster?

Another tough question.  Any player with decent numbers on the Athletics will always be considered trade bait, which makes it difficult for me to let my guard down.  However... I really enjoy watching Sonny Gray pitch, Josh Roddick climb walls, and Coco Crisp do the Bernie Lean... so let's go with one of them.

#4:  What's your favorite type of candy?

I love milk chocolate... especially when it's combined with peanut butter... so my goto candy is usually Reece's Peanut Butter Cups.  However... right now I'm currently eating a two pound bag of Haribo Gummi Bears.

#5:  Are you still bitter about the Yoenis Cespedes trade?

I think "bummed" is a more appropriate word than "bitter".  And it has more to do with Jon Lester than it has to do with Cespedes.  He was suppose to help us get to the promised land.  Instead he gave up six earned runs in the Wild Card game loss to the Royals.

#6:  Have you ever served in the armed forces?

I have fought a lot of video game battles, have toured Pearl Harbor, and have fired guns before... but haven't actually spent time in the military.

#7:  If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?

That's a no brainer.  Hawaii.  The same island Iolana Akau was born on:  Oahu.  That's where most of my relatives live and where my favorite places to eat are.

#8:  What's your favorite thing to drink?

Arnold Palmers or distilled bottle water.

#9:  Have you ever altered a card?

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I have.  This weekend, I took an eraser to this 1957 Topps card of Joe DeMaestri that Kenny sent me.


#10:  What kind of car do I drive?

My daily ride is a Toyota Yaris... and my weekend warrior is a Acura TL.  

#11:  What's your favorite kind of pizza?

I'll eat just about any kind of pizza as long as it has a thick crust and plenty of meat.  One of my favorites is the Wombo Combo from Round Table.

#12:  What are some of your hobbies outside of collecting cards?

I wouldn't call them hobbies... but I enjoy cruising around on my skateboard, playing 9 holes on the executive course, and walking around flea markets looking for bargains.  One of these days, I'd like to start building puzzles... but at the present time, I just don't have enough patience.

#13:  How long have you been a San Diego Padres fan?

The first time I can remember myself actively cheering for them was when they played against the Detroit Tigers during the 1984 World Series.  However... I wouldn't say I became a fan until the following season.

#14:  Do you ever buy cards featuring logo-less athletes?

Yes.  If the price is right, I have no problem adding them to my PC's.  But... the price has to be right.

#15:  What's your favorite snack?

In the morning it's a Pop-Tart.  In the afternoon, it's something savory like potato chips, Chex Mix, or microwave popcorn.  And at night it's something sweet like pudding cups, ice cream, or yogurt.

#16:  When you played baseball, what position did you play?

I'm a lefty, so that limited where I could play on the diamond.  I started out playing a lot of outfield, first base, and pitcher.  However coaches began to realize my strength was fielding, so one of my coaches started letting me play second base and that became my primary position.

#17:  What's your favorite holiday?

I'm a fan of any holiday that gives me a day off from work... but since I get two weeks off during Christmas... I'll go with that.

#18:  How well do you know your prospects?

I honestly don't keep track of prospects on a regular basis, but during Spring Training I'll monitor some of the guys who might make the Oakland A's roster.  As for the Padres (or any other MLB team for that matter)... I have no clue who's in their minor league system.

#19:  What are your thoughts on memorabilia cards?

I take their authenticity with a grain of salt.  Card companies have turned them into a novelty more than a treasured piece of history... which is fine by me, because I still enjoy collecting them and now you can find them on the cheap.

This particular memorabilia card is super cool, because it contains a piece of the shirt Yumi Sugimoto is holding.  Remember when Fleer used to do that?

#20:  What's your favorite television show?

That's another no-brainer.  Game of Thrones.  Went to breakfast with one of my friends over the weekend and we both agreed this is the greatest television show of all-time.

Well that's it for today.

Feel free to leave questions for me to answer down below and I'll try to incorporate them into future posts.

Thank you Kenny for the awesome box of collectibles.  I spent the better part of my Sunday afternoon sifting through all of the cool stuff you sent me.  My Japanese female model collection just quadrupled in size and I had a lot of fun looking up those A's prospects I wasn't familiar with.  Not sure how I'll exactly repay you for all of these cool treasures, but it'll be fun trying.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Sunday Morning Soapbox: Group Breaks

Normally my Sunday Morning Soapbox posts involve me complaining or getting something off of my chest, but today I'll just be expressing my opinion on group breaks in our hobby.

If you're not familiar with the term"group break", it's essentially where a group of people split the cost of a box (or case) of trading cards.  There are a variety of ways that the group can divvy up the cards.  Sometimes there's a draft for individual cards.  Other times people pick teams.  I've even heard of group breaks that involve the drafting of specific players, divisions, leagues, and conferences.  There are also group breaks that utilize sites like random.org, which randomly assigns teams, players, divisions, etc.

Why do people join them?  Well... I won't speak for anyone other than myself.  But I used to participate in them, because it gave me the opportunity to get cards from high end products like UD Black and Topps Triple Threads without having to buy a full box.  Plus I enjoyed the thrill of "chance".  In the lower end breaks, I was able to slowly rebuild my team collections without having to go out and spend tons of money on hobby boxes.

These days, I tend to steer clear of them for the following reasons:

#1:  I'd rather spend my money on specific cards that I really want.

#2:  If I want to experience the thrill of "chance", I'll just open up a box on my own.

However... I love seeing and reading about what Kevin, Matt, and Brian pull from their personal group breaks.  And I've got to admit... every now and then I am tempted to join one of Nacho Grande's group breaks.

Recently, Angus from over at Dawg Day Cards emailed me and requested my address.  He had joined one of Grande's breaks, was randomly assigned the Oakland Athletics, and offered to donate them to my collection.

Well of course I accepted.  Here's a quick look at the stack of A's cards he sent my way:

And here's a closer look at some of my personal favorites from the stack:

2016 Diamond Kings Originals #14

I remember when Nacho Grande pulled this card from the break a few weeks ago.  The card stood out, because he mentioned that Panini used the word "kleptomania" on the back.  I figured it had to do with him stealing bases, but I was planning on grabbing this card at some point to see for for myself how it was used.  

Here's another insert card of my favorite Oakland Athletic of all-time.  I might need to build this set, because I've always enjoyed paintings from certain Expressionists.

2016 Donruss '82 #5

I sorta feel like Donruss missed the mark on this insert set.  I'm a huge fan of the 1982 Donruss design and I personally think Panini should have used the same font and logo size on these inserts.  Nonetheless... I like seeing this photo of Sonny interacting with the fans.

2016 Donruss USA Collegiate National Team #24 (#'d 52/99)

I have never heard of Mr. Shore, but in the spirit of America's birthday... I figured I'd show of this insert.  And since Panini has a license with Team USA, they actually got to use logos on this card.  Hooray!

In addition to these new additions to my Oakland A's collection, Angus also sent me this beautiful 1979 Seattle Seahawks Police set:

I've always enjoyed police sets and this one is no exception.  The card fronts include an oversized photo, the player's name, height, weight, position, college... as well as the team's helmet.

As with most police sets, there's a tip from the Seattle Seahawks as well as a Coke logo that pops off of the card.

The checklist includes thirteen players, the head coach, the mascot, and a cheerleader.  It even features a pre-rookie card of Seattle Seahawks' legend Dave Brown.

Thank you Angus for this very generous package of cards.  I'll have to dig up some Cleveland Browns and New York Mets cards for your PC.

Well... I hope all of you are enjoying your holiday weekend.  Now that I've shared my thoughts on group breaks, it's your turn:

What are your thoughts on group breaks?  Do you participate in group breaks?  What's the coolest card you received from a group break?

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

The Baddest Man On The Planet

Okay... maybe not anymore.  But he's still pretty much the only boxer I have ever followed religiously... and he's the only boxer I've ever spent money on to watch (on PPV... not in person).  I can't say the same thing in terms of autographs.  Three years ago, I picked up a Manny Pacquiao signed 8x10 at the Tristar Show.  Since then, I've been looking to add Iron Mike's signature to my collection and now I have.

My buddy purchased a lot of ten miscellaneous signed 16x20's on eBay to resell at shows and gave me first choice.  I laid down my $40 and decided to go with the Mike Tyson's Punch-out photo, because it's such an iconic game from my youth.

Eventually I'll have it custom framed and matted with an original video game cartridge and NES controller.  Both of those items are high on my flea market search list.  I've seen plenty of used controllers and games over the years, but now that I'm actively pursuing them... the inventory has seemed to dry up.

Happy 50th Birthday Mr. Tyson!  Thank you for all of the wonderful memories you produced for me and my buddies back in high school and college.

As for everyone else... here are today's questions of the day...

Who's your favorite boxer of all-time?

and

What are some of your favorite NES games?

I'm pretty sure this post answers my first question.  My favorite NES games?   Punch-Out would definitely be on the list... along with Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Kid Icarus, Tecmo Bowl, Castlevania, Blaster Master, and The Legend of Zelda.

Looking forward to reading your responses.  I hope all of you have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.  Happy Friday and sayonara!