Circa March, 2019

I came home from a work trip last week to find a PWE from one of NJ's newest and Finest, PK Steinberg from Baseball Every Night. I think he mailed out around 30 PWEs last week, and I'm thankful to be on the receiving end of one of them.

While two cards were from 2019 Topps, my favorite was this oldie but goodie from 1997 Circa:

This definitely looks like 1995 Fleer's older brother, but I didn't mind these at all. I had some basketball cards from this set as well, which had the same design.

The two 2019s were one of the Gleyber inserts, as well as a base card of $70 million dollar man Aaron Hicks.

PK, thanks for thinking of me!

See what's in this old box of crap

I've still got a few unpacked bins of crap that belonged to me as a kid. I'm still working to organize my collection, so I've let these bins sit for quite awhile before tackling them. While I'm not ready to do that just yet, sometimes it's still fun to crack them open and see what's in there.

Inside this particular bin was a small shoe box filled with a few odds and ends. I figured it woul dbe worth a fun post to peek inside, so here's what we have:

Exciting!

First off, a 1985 Topps 3D Pete Rose. Based on the thumb tack hole, I displayed this on my wall at some point. I wonder if my wife will mind if I hang this up in our bedroom?

Next up, a signed baseball by 1994 AL Rookie of the Year Bob Hamlin. It still has the shrink wrap on it! This came as part of a large repack from Sam's Club in the mid-90s.

Here we have a bunch of Mets items. I promise I'm not a closet Mets fan, but since they were the Double A team in town, a lot of items I got from promotional giveaways have Mets logos on them:

The Troll doll is pretty cool.

A Florida Marlins cap keychain. No idea when or where I got that.

A random coin.

And 5 Starting Lineups! Bret Sabrehagen, Wally Joyner, Jim Rice, Gary Carter, and Straw! I know I got a few of these from the Sears Wishbook. I do remember I got the Gary Carter at CVS when I was sick one time.

Overall, a pretty fun box of crap!

Stranger Things Strawberry

Recently, my pal PK Steinberg of Baseball Every Night sent me a few dupes from his impressive Darryl Strawberry collection. I appreciate these because I love Strawberry cards from his Yankee years, and his time in Pinstripes coincided perfectly with some crazy card designs.

1997 Metal is one weird set, complete with robotic arms, mechanical gadgets, and some weird slimy monsters. Case in point, this Strawberry.

The first thing I thought of when I saw this card? Whatever the heck was grabbing people in the upside down tunnels in season 2. 

 

See where I’m coming from, right? If this card were made in 2018, I’d expect Straw’s bat to have nails sticking out of them, just like Steve Harrington’s.

There, that's better.

 The second card that caught my attention was a 1998 Bowman Chrome International parallel. These cards had the player’s birthplace on a map. In this instance, Strawberry’s butt is making a bubble around Los Angeles.

And here’s the base card with no map behind him.

Lastly, a sweet Topps base from ’99 Topps. Straw looks like he just yanked a double down the line.

Thanks, Peter!

SuperTraders #19: San Jose Fuji

San Jose Fuji sends awesome cards. I am sure a lot of them come from those sweet flea markets he frequents. I always want to go to one after reading about his adventures and the treasures he finds.

Without a doubt, my favorite card Fuji sent was this 1998 Pacific Invincible Photoengravings Tino Martinez. These are hard to find! I must admit, I already had it, but this one is actually in much better condition than the one in my collection, so this will take its place. It’s a cool card with a canvas-type feel, although not as canvas-y as some of those later Topps Gallery and Diamond Kings sets. It’s like a thinner 2016 Diamond Kings cardstock. Does that make sense whatsoever? Or should I stop doing a bad job describing the card?

The hits are next!

This Chien-Ming Wang 2009 Goodwin Champions relic is really neat. I guess the “M” stands for “Memorabilia Series”. I like the card design though. It’s tasteful, and it’s a cool image of Wang checking a runner.

These tend to pop up in trade packages, and they are definitely cool looking. I’m a sucker for clearcut cards, so I’ve always liked the design. I definitely have several of the Sean Henn cards from this set, but Wil Nieves was new. I didn’t realize he played 35 games for the Yankees.

This is a sweet rookie card by Fleer Sports Illustrated. How cool would one of these be with Sanchez/Judge/Austin? Very cool. These guys were top Yankee prospects, although only Lowell panned out, and sadly it wasn’t for NY.

Speaking of Sanchez, I was surprised I didn’t have this early Bowman Sterling card of his. I’m not sure how I missed it, but I’m very thankful for it, as his cards are not so easy to come by anymore. I have a feeling my days of getting Sanchez cards thrown into trade packages are dwindling. Or maybe they will be better since he’ll have 400 cards in 2017 Topps.

This is just a great shot of Darryl. Such a sweet swing. How underrated in 1998 Donruss, by the way? It’s a really nice looking set that holds up over time.

I don’t remember this set. I don’t think I’ve ever seen. Surely I know Upper Deck Sweet Spot, but not this particular issue, which has embossed baseball stitches on the cards. I do like the simple design, although the stitches kind of put a wrinkle in that.

Does anyone remember Andy Morales? He was a big-time Cuban defector who was supposed to be the real deal. He turned out to be not so good. I do remember reading an article in the local paper about him when the Yankees signed him, but then he never quite made it.

And I’ll top it off with a few more cards of my PC guys.

Fuji, thanks man. Love these cards! I hope you school year is off to a great start!

This kind of sushi I like

I'm not a huge sushi fan. I know most people are. Sometimes I tolerate it, as it tends to be popular for business lunches or dinners, and I need to eat something. But do I ever crave sushi? Nope.

But when it's cards for Nomo's Sushi Platter, sign me up for every meal of the day! Spiegel and I completed our first trade in a long, long time, and he sent a bunch of great stuff. Here's a sampler platter, if you will...

Somehow, my favorite card is this Angel Berroa relic. The man who didn't deserve to win the ROY over Hideki Matsui in 2003 played 21 unforgettable games for the Yankees in 2009. I didn't even know he had any Yankees cards, let alone a relic! This feels very unique, and I like it. It's also a pretty nice looking card too.

Here are some nice hits of Ross Ohlendorf and Alfonso Soriano. I believe I have this Moonshots insert/relic of Giambi as well, but it's a game-used base. In this instance, this has a swatch of Soriano's pants. I like when they tell you what it is. Pretty cool, and just a fun card design. I mean, that moon is giant.

Seriously, the photography on these next two cards is amazing.

Well done, Upper Deck and Topps.

I didn't have this Tino! I remember this set well, but had no idea I didn't have the Tino! Go on the internet to learn more about your favorite baseball players!

Spiegel was nice enough to send some HOFers for Joey as well! Seriously, what a kind gesture! My kid's going to have a rad binder of HOFers.

And here's a few more fun cards that were included in the platter. Spiegel, thank you, my friend!

Reclaiming a few cards from my childhood

A few weeks ago, I swung by my parents’ house. They live about three hours away, and my childhood card collection is still there in the attic. I didn’t have the car space to bring it back, nor the current living space to store it. I would love to grab it at some point, as all of your trade packages would then be filled with some sweet 1990’s inserts.

I ventured up to the attic just to make sure it was still there and hadn't been thrown out or anything. It was there and stored pretty nicely. I did quickly open up one bin and grab one of those little clear card cubes that was filled with cards, as well as a padded envelope. I had no idea what was in them, but figured they’d be fun to go through once I go home.

There were many commons, some TTM returns, a few Tinos, and some other stuff I had forgotten about. I’ll highlight a few of those cards on the blog in a series of posts.

First off, here are a few random rookie cards. I had no idea that I had an ’84 Donruss Darryl Strawberry RC. I must’ve won it on eBay at some point, but it was news to me. Totally didn’t remember getting that one. I also found a few Carson Palmer RCs. Being a Bengals fan, I must’ve bought a few of them on eBay during college, thinking he was going to be an all-time great. As a Syracuse alum, I'm sure I randomly went on eBay to pick up a Carmelo Anthony RC as well.

Another card I found was a Bowman Futures Game relic of Dioner Navarro. At the time, he was a big Yankees prospect, eventually dealt away in the Randy Johnson trade. I also don’t remember acquiring this card. 

Next up, I'll probably show a few old TTMs I had forgotten about.