Student of the Game

Not sure about you, but I'm constantly being reminded about my age.  No... I'm not surrounded by annoying people saying "you're old".  It's life events that make me reflect on my life and look back on all of the years that have passed.

Last weekend, my niece graduated from Texas Christian University with summa cum laude honors.  The entire family is so proud of her, because she's worked so hard the past seventeen years.  And even though I'm more than twice her age, she's my role model and someone I look up to.

A few weeks earlier, my nephew announced that he'll be attending UC Berkeley.  As many of you know... I actively root for all of the Bay Area colleges.  Up until now, we've only had family members graduate from San Jose State and Santa Clara University.  I'm looking forward to seeing my nephew add Berkeley to that list.

Congratulations Lauren and Kobe!  I'm so proud of both of you!  I wish both of you the best as you both begin the next chapter in this story we call Life.

In honor of my niece and nephew, I figured I'd show off a pair of Gwynns I recently added to my collection:

1992 Topps Micro Gold #270

1993 Topps Micro #5

Tony Gwynn was known for being a student of the game.  

When I thought about writing a post for my niece and nephew, I knew I wanted to include a baseball player who was known for being someone who worked hard and always looked for new ways to improve his game.  Tony Gwynn was obviously the first person who popped into my head.

It has been well documented that he would record his own at-bats and study the footage... as well as watch tape of opposing pictures well before it became the standard.

By the way... if these two images seem grainy, it's because they are much, much smaller than your standard sized card.  See for yourself.  Here's side by side comparison:

For those of you who aren't familiar with these Topps Micro cards, they were released as complete sets back in 1991, 1992, and 1993.  At the time... I was still in college and under the legal drinking age.

Both of these Micros were sent to me by reader of the blog:  Xavier.  In addition to these two Gwynns, he sent me a huge box filled with a variety of cards.

As many of you know, I not the biggest fan of scanning... so I will need to break up his care package into more manageable posts.

Let's continue with some cool additions to my Prime Number PC:

2016 Panini Elite Extra Edition Status Emerald #6 (#'d 01/49)

Just as Lauren was the first of my nieces and nephews to graduate from college, this card was the first card serial numbered in the run.  A's fan are both excited and worried about A.J. Puk.  He's been a top prospect for the Athletics since 2016, but the past few years he's been plagued by injuries.

2019 Topps Pro Debut #68 (#'d 01/99)

On the other hand, Ramos has been hitting well on the other side of the country for the Richmond Flying Squirrels.  He's currently the San Francisco Giants #3 prospect and I remember him playing for the San Jose Giants back in 2019.  It'll be interesting to see how his career pans out.

By the way... a quick look at Ramos reveals that he was born in September of 1999.  At that point I was already starting my second year of teaching.

2002-03 UD Premier Collection #1 (#'d 001/399)

Paul Kariya wrapped up his NHL career in 2010.  It's hard to believe that was over a decade ago.  At the time I was in my 30's and feeling like I was in my prime.  Kariya might have been past his prime back then, but he managed to retire as a multi-millionaire at the youthful age of 35.

I'll be happy if I can retire in twelve years... but unless I win the lottery or the hobby continues to soar through the roof... I don't ever anticipate being a millionaire.

2020 Donruss Optic Teal Velocity #34 (#'d 35/35)

The last of the Prime #'s I received from Xavier is the Jesus Luzardo which was the last card printed in this serial numbered run.  Luzardo was also featured a few days ago on the blog, because of his "video game" injury.

And rounding out today's post are the Kobe Bryant cards that were part of Xavier's care package:

1998-99 Upper Deck AeroDynamics #A14

This card was released during my first year of teaching.  It's hard to believe that in less than a month, I'll be wrapping up my 23rd year in my district.  Damn.  I feel old.

Anyways... like Kariya... Bryant will be a hall of famer by the time you most of you read this post.

2017-18 Panini Status Quo #3

Like Gwynn... Bryant was a student of the game.

And like my nephew... Bryant has a cool first name.

Mr. Bryant... congratulations to you, your family, and your fans!  And thank you for providing so many great memories during an age when I was still a fan of basketball.  Your dedication to the sport was truly worthy of admiration and your legacy will live on.

Sky's the Limit by Biggie Smalls

Congratulations to my niece and nephew on entering new phases of your life.  Like I tell each of my graduating students... work hard, make good choices, be kind to others, and learn from your mistakes.  The force is strong with both of you and the sky's the limit.  I love you guys!

And thank you Xavier for this very generous care package.  I've only touched the tip of the iceberg.  You along with John (Johnny's Trading Spot), Greg (The Collective Mind), and Reader James have given me several more posts worth of blog content... which is much appreciated.

It's been awhile... but here's a question of the day for you to ponder:

What athletes come to mind when you hear the term "student of the game"?

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

The Twilight Zone

You are about to read another blog post.  A post not only featuring cards and baseball players, but that of an autograph and an overpriced graded card too.  A journey into the hobby that has entertained me for over 60% of my lifetime.  Next stop: The Twilight Zone.

Our story begins with a rare eBay purchase by a collector who has been focusing more on saving money than spending it.  A collector who has decided to appreciate the cards he has hidden in boxes sitting in his office rather than chasing down more cards to add to those boxes.

That is... until the day his eBay Bucks certificate valued at $2.29 arrived... which he applied towards the purchase of this on-card autograph:

2020 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-BB

Okay.  Enough of writing in the third person.  I was trying to be creative and celebrate the fact that today is National Twilight Zone Day.  Instead... let's just focus on some baseball cards that have weird stories attached to the person pictured on the card.

There's nothing too weird about this Bochy autograph.  I've wanted one since I saw his name appear on the Fan Favorites autograph checklist last year.  The guy is a Bay Area legend who led the San Francisco Giants to three World Series titles.

The weird thing about him is he's often involved in hall of fame discussions (in this neck of the woods)... yet he's had a losing record during his twenty-five year managerial career.  If he does eventually receive the call, he'll only be the 3rd manager with a losing record in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  If you're interested in seeing who the other two guys are, click here.

Not strange enough for you?  Well... yesterday one of my co-workers and I were talking baseball when he mentioned the story of Jorge Posada urinating on his hands during Spring Training to toughen them up.

2011 Topps Chrome Refractor #84

 

If that's not weird to you, then you might as well stop reading this post... because that's about as peculiar as this post gets.

The guy who inspired my buddy's comment about Posada and the inspiration for this post is Jesus Luzardo...

2020 Topps Update #U-94

He's that pitcher people were making fun of a week or two ago for injuring himself while playing video games.  Gotta imagine he's going to take some heat from his teammates about this one for the rest of his career or at least until the next professional athlete suffers a video game injury.

When I heard the news, it reminded me about a trading card set produced a few years ago featuring bizarre sports injuries.

2013 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-KML

Kevin Mitchell made the checklist and was highlighted for straining his rib muscles while throwing up.  I don't hold it against him, because I'm the guy who threw out his back after sneezing.  Not a proud moment in my life.

Getting back to Luzardo, he was the Oakland A's top prospect back in 2018 and 2019.  Last year, he had a decent rookie season... and many fans including myself were hoping he'd fight for a chance to be the staff ace. 

For the time being... we'll just have to see how this injury (on his throwing hand) impacts his season/career.  In the meantime, I'll happily add his cards to my collection.

Thanks to Kerry over at Cards on Cards ... my Luzardo PC doubled in size overnight:

Back in early April, he sent me a box that contained a bunch of different Oakland A's base, inserts, and parallels from a wide variety of years:

I was pretty excited about the Luzardos, but the card that stood out the most was this Rickey Henderson insert:

2021 Topps 35th Anniversary Baseball #86B-80

As much as I've complained about Topps overusing past card designs... I really, really like this card.  Weird, right?

Thank you Kerry for this generous care package.  I'd also like to thank a pair of readers:  James & Xavier.  Both of these guys reached out to me and shipped me packages.  There's also a package sitting in my office that was sent to me by John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.  It has already been opened, but hasn't been scanned.  It's on my blogging list of things to cover too.

The bad news is I haven't gotten around to writing them thank you posts.  The good news is that it'll get me to sit down and write.

I'd also like to thank Greg over at The Collective Mind for emailing me last week to let me know that he was coming to the Bay Area.  I'll let him provide the details around his trip, but it was cool to be able to hang out with him for a few hours and talk about cards and cars while checking out a card shop.

He brought me some "space" cards and paid for dinner... both of which were much appreciated.  I'll write up a proper post at some point, but for now this post has run its course.  However before I say goodbye and return to my hobby hibernation, I thought I'd share an astonishing card related story that involves one of my recent eBay sales:

2000 Topps Traded #T40

As I've mentioned before, I've decided to start listing some of my duplicates on eBay to take advantage of these crazy times in our hobby.  Well... two years ago, I purchased two graded copies of Miggy's Topps rookie card for an average price of $80 each... and decided to list one of them a few weeks ago.

Less than 48 hours later, it sold for the full asking price of $1,200... which totally blew my mind.  This is the only sale I've made where the buyer paid full price.  Definitely wacky and awesome at the same time.

Well that's it for today.  It was nice to sit down and hammer out a post.  I'm hoping to publish one or two more before summer break begins.  Until then enjoy some Golden Earring...

Happy Twilight Zone Day and sayonara!

Don't Call It A Comeback

I'm still enjoying my vacation.  However a few things have happened over the past month that I wanted documented for personal reasons.  Plus I wanted to make sure I didn't completely drop off the face of the blogging world... so here's a brief life update post.

Back on March 11th my best friend's family said goodbye to their eleven year old Bernese Mountain Dog.  I was fortunate to see Chibi the week before.  I will forever treasure the last time we hung out as she wagged her tail in excitement when she saw me and tunneled between my legs.

She lived a good life, was well loved, produced many great memories, and will always be remembered.  I was truly lucky to have been a small part of her life.  Rest in peace, Chibi.

In other news... I recently received my second vaccination shot.  It's perfect timing, because the school board voted a couple of weeks ago and we'll be returning to our classrooms in the near future.  It'll be nice to be back in front of students for the first time in over a year.

As for hobby news...

I've been taking advantage of this hobby boom and unloading some stuff taking up space.  Plus a few duplicates and singles that don't really fit into my collection.

I'll start off with some old Junk Wax Era basketball boxes I had sitting in my classroom for years.  They were used for a "mean", "median", and "mode" lesson I'd teach during summer school.  A few months ago, I noticed that the 1990-91 Fleer boxes were selling for almost $200 each on eBay.  That's when I went to school, picked them up, and listed them on Craigslist.

Can you believe someone paid me $400 for this lot?  I assure you that I'm not a flipper, but there was no way I could pass up that opportunity.

Moving along to eBay sales...

2018 Topps A&G #83

Thanks to Nick over at Dime Boxes... I discovered that people are going nuts over this Cryptocurrency card.  It inspired me to dig through my Ginter box where I found this lone copy and flipped it within 24 hours.

People have also been paying good money for 1990 Marvel Universe holograms...

1990 Impel Marvel Universe Holograms #MH1

A few years ago I purchased a bunch of these sets for around 25¢ each.  The past few weeks, I've managed to sell two sets ($200 & $220).  It looks like these sets are starting to settle... as I've been forced to lower my asking price, but I hope to move most of these at a huge profit margin to help recoup some of the money I've spent on card purchases over the past 40 years (without digging into my personal collection).

My two largest eBay sales were PSA 10 Shaquille O'Neal rookie cards that I purchased on COMC about a decade ago for under $3.50 each.  Each fetched over $300.  I'm hoping to move a few more, but like the Marvel hologram sets prices have begun to slowly drop.

It would be cool to flip a few more of these, but I'm honestly not in any rush to move them.  It's not like I'm trying to liquidate my collection or anything.  That being said... I have significantly cut back on hobby purchases.

In fact... this Hideo Nomo is the only card I've purchased since the first week of February:

2004 Topps Chrome Refractor #92

I have wanted a refractor version of this card for at least ten years... and a recent post over on Night Owl Cards motivated me to track down this copy on eBay for $3.60 (tax & shipping included).  It's funny... if I saw this sitting at a show in a box with a $3.60 price tag... I probably would have walked away.  But my recent eBay sales have allowed me to splurge a little.

Although I haven't been purchasing cards doesn't mean I haven't added some new stuff to my collection.  I'll round out this post with a trio of PWE's and a couple of care packages from some fellow bloggers and a supporter of the blog.

Let's kick things off with the infamous Menendez Brothers' rookie card:

1990-91 Hoops #205

This is one of those cards that became an overnight sensation a few years ago.  I was hoping to stumble across this card in a dime box when I eventually return to walking around flea markets and card shows.  

But thanks to P-town Tom (Waiting 'til Next Year) I don't have to live in hope.  He's generously donated a copy to my Sports Card Smorgasbord binder.

Next up is an awesome custom card created by Gregory (Nine Pockets):

Back in September, he showed off some of his 1974 Topps All-Star non-sports customs and I had suggested he create a Battlestar Galactica version.  The result was these two beauties on one card.

And another nice addition to my Sports Card Smorgasbord binder.

Gregory also sent along a few wax stained gems:

My Damaged Card PC is starting to get out of hand, so I've had to be much more selective in what I add to the binder.  None of these managed to bump any of the current cards, so if any of you are interested in any of these... just let me know down in the comment section and I'll send them your way.  Just make sure to thank Gregory.

The final PWE was sent to me by Elliptical Man (The View from the Third Floor).  Inside were a variety of cards, but the one that stood out to me the most was this card:

2020 A&G Reach for the Sky #RFTS-2

It was the last card I needed for my Reach for the Sky set:

When it comes to card collecting, there are few things more satisfying than crossing off the last card you need for your set build.

Here are the other six cards he sent in the PWE:

I'm in the process of creating a late 80's binder... and the Carlton will be one of the inaugural additions.  And who doesn't appreciate a new Ryan Leaf rookie card?

Next up was a 400ct. box sent to me by another Tom, who I'll refer to as Reader Tom.  The box contained 106 cards for my 1984 Topps baseball set build, including these big names:

With Tom's help, I was able go from 76.3% completed to 89.7.  Just look at all of the red:

And rounding out my new card acquisitions is this beautiful hall of fame autograph for my Lefty PC:

2003 Topps Retired Signature Edition Autograph #TA-WS

Gavin (Baseball Card Breakdown) held a contest that involved a little investigative work and the movie The Shining.  If you're interested in reading the details, click here.  Simply put... luck was on my side and I won.

He had three different prize packages to choose from, but to me this card was a no-brainer.  Warren Spahn is one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all-time.  Unfortunately... he passed away in 2003... so there aren't a ton of certified, pack pulled autographs oh his out there.  The good news is he was one of those athletes who enjoyed signing for his fans, so there are plenty of autographs out there at very reasonable prices.

As cool as the Spahn is... the highlight of the package was this bonus autograph he included:

I'm not sure of the story behind this card, but it's the latest addition to my Blogger Autograph PC.

It's extra special, because it comes with some of Gavin's artwork.

And rounding out his care package was another one of Gavin's customs:

This is probably the 20th custom created by Gavin that's been added to my Sports Card Smorgasbord binder over the years.  You've gotta admire his creativity... and of course generosity.

Thank you P-town Tom, Gregory, Elliptical Man, Reader Tom, and Gavin for these generous additions to my card collection.  And thank you for all of those who have taken time out of their busy schedules to come back and check out my blog.

I'm not ready to come back on a regular basis, but my plan is to write "life update" posts from time to time.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!