Birthday Card Project

Topps Now isn't for everyone.  I get it.  People should collect stuff they enjoy and enjoy the stuff they collect.

Today I'm celebrating my fifty-third year on the third planet from the sun and I wanted to share a new card project that centers around my birthday and the Topps Now product line.

A few years ago, I started collecting stuff related to my birthday.  It started with magazines and comic books.  Then I started collecting autographs of athletes who share my birthday.  After that I started collecting autographs of guys who hit a home run on the day I was born.

2021 Topps Heritage News Flashbacks #NF-BF

About a year ago, I discovered a card honoring Bobby Fischer's win over Boris Spassky in the "Match of the Century" which took place on my birthday.

This card got me wondering if there were any other cards featuring key events on my birthday... which eventually got me thinking about Topps Now cards over the years.  I started looking at checklists and was surprised at how many Topps has created over the years. As of right now... I'm only targeting one from each year to kick off the project.

Unfortunately they didn't produce a birthday card in 2016 and the representatives for 2017, 2019, and 2022 are waiting to be shipped from COMC.   In the meantime, here are the other years I have already acquired: 

2018 Topps Now #669

This card celebrates Betances who became the first reliever to record 100 or more strikeouts in five consecutive seasons.

Sadly he would only record twenty-nine more strikeouts the rest of his career and that includes the fifteen he had the rest of the way in 2018.

2020 Topps Now #191

Five years ago, Alex Dickerson, Donovan Solano, and Brandon Crawford each drove in six runs for the San Francisco Giants.

This was the first time in MLB history that three teammates collected 6 RBI's each in the same game.

2021 Topps Now #743

Four years ago, Max Scherzer tied Clayton Kershaw for the second most games with 9+ K's and 0 walks in MLB history.

At the time, Randy Johnson held the record with 41 games.  Since then... both pitchers have surpassed him.  Scherzer currently holds the record with 44 games.

2023 Topps Now #800

Two years ago, Aaron Judge hit his 30th home run of the season to become the fastest player in MLB history to reach the 250 home run milestone.

He became the fastest to reach 300 home runs less than a year later on August 14th, 2024.  And back in July, he became the fastest to reach 350 home runs.  This guy is truly amazing.

2024 Topps Now #634

Last year on September 1st, Bobby Witt Jr. became the first Kansas City Royals player to hit 30 home runs in consecutive seasons.

That's pretty surprising considering the franchise has had guys like Bo Jackson, George Brett, and Salvadore Perez playing for them.  By the way, it'll be hard for Witt to extend the streak this season.  That being said the Royals still have twenty-five games left to play.

Well that's my latest card collecting project.  Hopefully something eventful happens today, so Topps will add a card or two for me to chase down over the next 364 days.  If not, there are thirty-three more September 1st Topps Now cards for me to chase.

Happy Labor Day and sayonara!

Particular & Peculiar

Collecting birthday related items is nothing new to the blogosphere... but to friends and family it can come off as peculiar.

This year I added a few items to my Birthday PC...

Let's start off with an Olympic ticket stub from the day I was born:

1972 Olympic Volleyball Ticket Stub

According to Wikipedia there were two women's and three men's matches held that day.  Although all of these matches were part of the preliminary rounds, it did feature a pretty notable match.  In men's volleyball, Japan beat East Germany.  Eight days later, they'd meet again in the gold medal match.  Japan won again.

This is my second Olympic ticket from that day.  Last year, I won this one on eBay:

1972 Olympic Rowing Ticket Stub

I attempted to look up which rowing events took place that day, but there were just too many to keep track of.  And honestly... I doubt anyone reading this post really cares.

The next two items are cards I picked up on eBay back in February:

1996 Playboy Chromium Cover: Edition 2 #138

1997 Playboy Centerfold Collection: September Edition #55

Both cards feature Susan Miller and the Playboy cover for the September 1972 issue.  According to her IMDB biography, she had a brief acting career and eventually became a massage therapist.

There's one more card I purchased recently for this collection, but it hasn't arrived yet.  And since it's very particular and peculiar... I'll probably just wait until next year to show it off.

In the meantime, here are a pair of Nomo cards I purchased over the summer:

1995 Cal League Bakersfield Blaze #4

1995 Cal League Bakersfield Blaze #29

Hideo Nomo shares the same birthday as my best friend... which happens to be the day before mine.  We celebrated our birthdays together with her family on Saturday.

There weren't any cards or collectibles involved... but the food and company were amazing.

That's it for today.  Hope all of you are enjoying your holiday weekend.  Stay safe.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Birth Month Cards & Comics

The year I was born... Topps released their flagship baseball card set to kids and collectors in six different series.  The sixth and final series... often referred to as the high numbers... can be challenging to track down and tend to be more scarce than the first five series.

I had heard about the dreaded high numbers back in the early 90's when I worked at my local card shop, but was reminded first hand back in 2013 when I attempted to build the 1972 Topps Oakland A's team set.  There was no way I was going to pay $5 to $10 for commons and minor stars... so the idea of building my birth year set for my favorite team was immediately shelved.

It also killed any hope of me attempted to build the entire 1972 Topps baseball card set from scratch.  On a positive note it motivated me to purchase a complete set off of eBay that very year for a fraction of the price they are selling for today.

As for the team set... I eventually completed it with help from Wes over at Area 40 (formerly known as Jay Barker Fan's Junk).  He sent me these six high number cards approximately nine months after I purchased the complete set:

1972 Topps #691, 692, and 715

1972 Topps #735, 753, and 780

Last week or the week before, I stumbled across a comic book in my office which I purchased for my Birthday PC, because it was released the same month I was born.  That made me wonder whether or not these 1972 high numbers were released back in September of 1972.

I couldn't find an exact release date, so if you know... feel free to comment down below.

According to TCDB, collectors were able to get them late that summer.  That means it's possible the 1972 Topps high numbers were in stores the day I was born... just like this Dr. Strange comic book:

Marvel Premiere #4 (featuring Dr. Strange)

The discovery of this comic book in my office is strange, because I have zero records of purchasing it.  I'm pretty good about keeping emails for every eBay purchase I've made over the past ten-plus years.  Oh well... it's a nice addition to my Birthday PC... which contains these three other comic books released in September of 1972:

The Invincible Iron Man #50

Avengers #103

Archie #221

I'm slowly adding the different Marvel comic books released during my birth month.  It's not something I actively hunt for, but I try to add one each year for my birthday.

What about you?

Do you collect anything related to your birthday?

I'm pretty sure there's at least one other blogger out there who collects comic books from their birth month, but I can't remember who it is.  Anyone know?

Happy National Comic Book Day and sayonara!

Two Hits Short and a Month Too Long

Sometimes I invest too much time researching something that may or may not be interesting to anyone except me.  Today's post revolves around one of those topics: Rico Carty.

2001 Topps Archives Autographs #86

Rico played fifteen seasons for six different teams from 1963 to 1979 and a quick look at his career numbers reveals he's a prime candidate for the Hall of Very Good.  If you followed baseball in the 1960's and 1970's, then you knew who he was.  However most of his prime years took place before I was born or when I was a tot, so until recently... I couldn't tell you too much about him.

Then I stumbled across an interesting article over at the National Baseball Hall of Fame's website that revealed that we share the same birthday.  It also mentioned that from 1963 to 1979, only five players posted a higher batting average than him... and that he fell two hits short of ending his career with a .300 average.

1964 Topps #476

I decided to start analyzing his career numbers on Baseball Reference and after dedicating nearly forty minutes, I calculated that had he retired after playing on August 22nd, 1979 (about a month before he played his final MLB game)... he would have maintained his .300 career batting average.

However that's not how things played out.  He ended up finishing his career with a .299 batting average, 204 home runs, and a .369 on base percentage... which still equates to one heck of a career.

As for the cards, I purchased the autograph back in 2016 for $14 (+ $2.50 shipping), because he was one of nine MLB players to hit a home run on the day I was born.  As for the graded rookie card, I used one of my eBay gift cards to buy it.  It was $11.50 (+ $4 shipping and $1.06 tax).

I knew the card was off-centered, but was disappointed to see this crack on the back:

The seller offered to refund my money if I sent the card back, but it wasn't worth the time and effort.  Besides... this wasn't an investment purchase.  I wanted it for my Birthday PC.

Here's another purchase I made for this collection:

Archie #221

The past few years I've also been picking up specific comics released during my birth month.  This is the third addition to that collection.  You can view the other two here.

What about you?

Do you collect anything related to your birthday?

Well that's it for today.  This post was written and scheduled a couple of weeks ago, so I'm not sure if I have anything planned for this evening.  However with social distancing in place, I wouldn't bet on it.

Happy birthday Mr. Carty!  Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

A Memorable Day and a Very Humbling Week

When I was a kid, my birthday was one of my favorite days of the year... right up there with Christmas and the first day of summer.

Now that I'm in my mid 40's, it has sort of lost its luster.  Outside of looking forward to having dinner with my best friend whose birthday comes the day before mine, there's only one other reason it remains relevant.  My Birthday PC.

However this year was different.

My friend who teaches next door to me brought balloons and a huge bag of jalapeño and cheese popcorn before school.  A few minutes later my best friend called and told me to stop by her school during my prep period.  She ordered one of my favorite morning treats... an egg and chorizo breakfast burrito from La Victoria Taqueria.

When I got back to school, I walked through the office to tell the secretary I was back.  That's when she showed me the Edible Arrangements that had just been delivered.  It was sent by my other best friend who just moved to Portland.  I was still full from the burrito, so I decided to hold off on eating it and brought it to the staff lounge to share with my colleagues at lunch.

I had planned on snacking on the fruit for lunch, but a few of my other friends surprised me with pizza, salad, and cupcakes.  By the time I was finished, I was stuffed.

A few of my students also found out that it was my birthday.  I received a few thoughtful notes and cards.  Plus my 4th period class made a poster and signed it.  One of my 6th period students is a younger sibling to a former student who is in the 10th grade.  She and her friend painted this poster for me:

You can't see it, but they also wrote two really nice notes on the back.  There's absolutely nothing better (not even my '56 Robinson or a twelve ounce juicy cut of rib eye) than being thanked by a former student.  I seriously have the greatest job in the world.

After school, three more former students stopped by and delivered a card along with a bunch of gifts.  We hung out and they talked about their first three weeks of high school.  It was really nice to catch up with them.

I wrapped up my special day by going out to dinner with another friend and then coming home knowing I have a three day weekend ahead of me.

Talk about a birthday to remember.  I am truly blessed to have such wonderful family members, friends, colleagues, and students who took a run of the mill birthday and turned it into one of the most memorable days in recent years.  I know that most of them don't read my blog, but if by chance any of them do...

Thank you!

And before I forget, here are the two items I added to my Birthday PC this past year...

There was a brief period where I went through a comic book phase last year.  That's when I decided to start collecting some of the more popular Marvel titles from my birth month.  The goal is to one day hang them up in these special frames I purchased from Michaels awhile back.  Unfortunately, I just don't have the wall space at the moment.

I also picked up these two autographs last summer:

How do these guys fit into my Birthday PC?

Well Carty was one of nine players who hit a home run on the day I was born.  And Stottlemyre was one of five guys who pitched a shutout that day.  My goal is to eventually own autographs of all fourteen of these players, as well as the three players who collected four hits that day.

I'll close things out with a preview of the birthday present I purchased for myself:

A few weeks ago I found a few packs of this product laying around, so I opened them up and was absolutely blown away by it.  Obviously designed for kids, the cards feature all of the top MLB stars with colorful cartoon backgrounds.  The card backs are even better than the fronts.  If you've never seen these before, you can check out the review I wrote over on A Pack To Be Named Later.

I enjoyed the product so much, I found a box over on eBay for $11 shipped.  If you're interested, the seller still have a bunch of boxes remaining.  I submitted an offer of $3.10 and he accepted.

Anyways... I'll be busting this box either today or tomorrow and will share my results in a future post.

Until then...

My thoughts are with all of you who have been affected (or know someone who was affected) by Hurricane Harvey.  Living here in the Bay Area, I've dealt with a few large earthquakes... but nothing even close to what I saw on television this past week.  Seeing the devastation caused by this natural disaster was truly humbling.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!