Stickers, Stains, & Stones

Every Sunday I try to set aside some time to sit down and sort.  Today's schedule was a little hectic.  Started the day off with the farmer's market, grocery shopping, and two loads of laundry.  Then I headed over to my friend's house to watch the World Cup Final... which was pretty entertaining.

As soon as the game was over, I rushed home and started sorting and scanning stuff.  Today's post focuses on some PWE's from a pair of bloggers.

Let's start with this gorgeous gum stained card from Jeremy over at Topps Cards That Never Were:

1986 Topps #531

It's funny.  I've opened, sorted, and handled a fair share of 1986 Topps baseball, but today was the first time in 40 years that I noticed that Topps labeled the team leaders card as DEAN OF THE WHITE SOX on the back.  Maybe I noticed it as a kid and forgot.  Or maybe I just don't pay close enough attention to card backs.

Jeremy also tossed in these two cards for my A's collection:

2025 Donruss #7

2021 Topps Green #571 (#'d 366/499)

Two of my all-time favorite Athletics.  Although right now Zuk is managing the Los Angeles Angels who currently have the worst record in baseball.  Still it's a nice addition to my Kurt Suzuki collection.

The next pair of Oakland A's items are from Jim over at cards as i see them:

1968-75 Fleer Cloth Team Logo Patches

1968-75 Fleer Cloth Team Logo Patches

Once upon a time, I was seeking cheap lots of these cloth patches on eBay.  But there are so many variations, I eventually gave up.  I already own both of these stickers, but those are part of my set build.  These two are headed into my A's collection.

Last week, Jim sent me another PWE.  This time it featured one of my all-time favorite cards:

1983 Topps #482

He found this Tony Gwynn rookie card sitting in a quarter bin at last month's Twin Cities Collector Club Card Show.  Twenty-five cents!  It's obviously not in gem mint condition, but it's too iconic of a card to be sitting in a quarter bin.  I'm grateful that he rescued it.

Jim suggested in his blog post that it could potentially be a future wallet card.  Unfortunately, my current wallet card will likely be my final wallet card.  But don't worry, I will happily provide this Gwynn with a loving home in my Damaged Card PC.

While our attention is on Mr. Padre, I wanted to quickly share this rock that I painted at my friend's house on America's birthday:

It's far from a masterpiece, but it is a one-of-a-kind paperweight.  😂

Thank you Jeremy and Jim for these thoughtful care packages.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Extra Time

1994 UD World Cup Toons Finals Qualifiers Holograms #Q21

Congratulations to Spain on their victory over Argentina to win the 2026 World Cup!  I'm not a fútbol expert, but it seemed like they controlled the game from start to finish.  If it weren't for some fantastic saves by Argentina's goalie, this game might have been a blowout.

A special shoutout to Dominic over at Don Cardwell Loves this Blog.  He's dedicated a couple of blog posts to show his support for Spain.  Congratulations!

Star Search

Anyone else watch Star Search back in the 80's?  If not, it was a television show hosted by Ed McMahon where people competed against each other in areas like singing and dancing.  I guess you could say it was the 80's version of American Idol.

Anyways... the show popped into my head when I was thinking of a title for this post which started off with two purchases for my Japanese Celebrity PC:

2024 Topps A&G Framed Autographs #MA-SUD

Miki Sudo is a half-Japanese professional eater who is most famous for her streak of eleven consecutive wins at the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.  Star Search never featured any eating competitions back when I watched it, but I wish they had.

Next up is Patti Yasutake:

2011 Rittenhouse Star Trek TNG Autographs #NNO

She was featured in a bunch of Star Trek The Next Generation episodes back in the early 90's.  She played the role of Nurse Ogawa on the Enterprise.  Sadly she passed away last August at the age of 70.

Back in March... I purchased both of these autographs off of eBay a few days apart from each other using a gift card I had laying around since the holidays.

Recently, I added another autograph of a Japanese celebrity to my collection:

2019 Topps Star Wars Masterwork Autographs #A-CS

This card was part of a second care package sent to me by Kenny over at Torren' Up Cards.  It features Kazuda Xiono, a pilot in the animated series Star Wars Resistance.  Like Sudo, Christopher Sean, the voice actor who signed this card, is also half-Japanese.

Like past Zippy Zappings, there's a lot of stuff to cover... so I'd better get going.

Here are a few more Star Wars cards (don't worry there are some baseball cards too):

2019 Topps Star Wars Masterwork The Dark Side #DS-10

The Seventh Sister is one of the Vader's Inquisitors.  She was featured in the animated series Star Wars Rebels.  I remember he wrote a post about her a few years ago where he mentioned that she was his favorite Star Wars character.

Not sure if she still is, but he sent me quite the collection of her cards:

There were also these interesting things that remind me of poker chips:

2016 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Connexions Series 3 #60

It took me a few minutes, but I found some information on these "chips" here and here.

Kenny topped off the Seventh Sister portion of his care package with this very generous signed photo:

Topps Authentics

Does anyone recognize the signature?  It's Sarah Michelle Gellar!  Although she's probably best known for her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I remember her more for I Know What You Did Last Summer and Cruel Intentions.

I didn't even know SMG voiced the Seventh Sister until I read Kenny's post that featured this signed photo.  When I finally move into a house that has a proper man cave, this photo will be framed up and featured on one of the walls.

Okay, let's move along (in my best stormtrooper voice)...

2020 Topps Women of Star Wars Autograph Orange #A-DW (#'d 01/99)

Video game fans might recognize this face.  Cere Junda is a character from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order... which is a game I own on the PS4.  But that's not the reason Kenny sent it to me.  I'm pretty sure he sent it because he knows I collect the first card in a serial numbered run and this is the first non-sport card added to my Prime Number PC.

Moving away from Star Wars, but sticking with females...

It wouldn't be a Zippy Zapping without some cards featuring Japanese models.  This 9-pocket page features Yumi Sugimoto.  The card backs feature a gorgeous puzzle:

Kenny has sent me a bunch of her cards over the years... and even a pair of binders.  I have been using them to house all of the ladies he's sent me over the years.  I even went out and purchased more specialty pages for them on Amazon.

Here's one more Yumi:

Okay... I appreciate all of the sports fans who patiently scrolled through all of the non-sports stuff.  I told you he sent some baseball cards too.

Let's start with some Japanese baseball cards:

This 9-pocket page features some 2025 Calbee cards and a 2025 Topps NPB card.  The base cards in this year's Calbee set doesn't list the names in English, so I'm not sure who is who.  But I definitely recognize the name in the middle.  Munetaka Murakami is a power hitter in Japan that will likely make his way to the MLB eventually.  Unfortunately he's been dealing with injuries this season.

Here are some more NPB cards:

Yu Darvish is arguably the biggest name on this page.  Here's a closer look at the card:

2008 BBM #626

Darvish holds the MLB record for strikeouts by a Japanese-born pitcher.  I was hoping he'd also break Hideo Nomo's record for MLB wins by a Japanese-born player this year, but like Murakami he's been hindered by injuries this season.

He also sent me a unique Darvish card:

Based on the following note, it looks like Darvish sent this to Kenny in place of a signature:

He also received a letter from Yuta Watanabe:

According to Watanabe this card is autographed:

But it's actually a facsimile signature of the NBA player.  That's okay though... because it ends up being a cool collectible with a story.

Arguably the most famous Japanese athlete in the world is this guy:

I'm not exactly sure what these two items are, but they are from the Tokyo Series and were packaged together in cellophane:

They're much larger and thicker than your standard trading card.  I tried to use one of those Ultra Pro pages that holds two 5x7 cards, but they kept sliding out.  Not sure how I'll store these, but for the time being they'll be housed in a box of oversized cards in my office.

UPDATE:  According to Kenny, these are mini-shikishis, which are traditional Japanese art boards.  They can be displayed on walls or used with stands.

Rounding out Kenny's care package is one more autograph:

2009 J League Autograph #SG99 (#'d 15/20)

This is my very first autograph of a Japanese soccer player.  I wasn't familiar with Naoshi Nakamura, but according to Wikipedia page he was a midfielder in the J League who once played on the national team.

Oops.  I almost forgot.  Kenny also tossed in this unopened pack of cards:

2022 Bandai Gundam

Not exactly sure what this is, but it looks like some kind of gaming card.  It's labeled as "Not for Sale", so maybe it's a promo or something.

Holy moly!  This was quite the care package.  I spent over four hours scanning, researching, and writing this post... but it's all worth it when you can add some star studded items like these to your collection.

Thank you Kenny!  I had a lot fun organizing the contents.  But in the process... I have worked up quite the appetite.  As soon as I'm done formatting, revising, and publishing this post... I'm gonna make a run for the border and grab me some tacos and a bean burrito.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #165: Two Months & Four Trips Pt. 1

Just like my stacks of unsorted cards and care packages sitting on my desk in the office... my flea market posts have begun to pile up.  Considering they're usually the most popular posts on this blog... I hate the idea of combining them.  However I'm at the point where I don't see any other option.

This is a partial recap of my past four trips.  Two of them were at the De Anza Flea Market on 9/7 and 10/5.  The other two were quick trips to the nearby Branham Flea Market on 9/21 and 10/19.

Since recapping multiple trips isn't the norm, I figured I'd do something differently and utilize a countdown format where I rank them based on my excitement and overall value of each purchase.  Without spoiling too much, the #1 item is easily my favorite purchase of the year.  Unfortunately... I won't be revealing that purchase today.

In an effort to keep posts at a reasonable length, I'm going to break these four trips down into three posts:

Part #1:  #22 to #14

Part #2:  #13 to #6

Part #3:  #5 to #1

Let's get the ball rolling...

#22:  A Cringy Cassingle  25¢

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

Informer by Snow (1992)

This vendor had a box of cassette singles for a quarter each.  I was hoping to find at least one song I really liked, but came up short.  However for the price, I grabbed this single from the early 90's, because it a memorable.

One day I'm going to buy one of those Ikea display cases and fill it up with nostalgic pieces from my youth.  This one can go on the 90's shelf next to some pogs, Pokemon cards, Kenner SLUs, and one of my mom's Beanie Babies.

#21:  PS4 Video Game  $5

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

Injustice2 (2018)

Although I don't regret this purchase... I'm not excited about it either.  It's a fighting game (like Street Fighter) which is a genre I have little interest in.  That being said... I do enjoy collecting video games... especially if they are brand new and the price is right.

#20:  Oakland Raiders Binder $10

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

Picked up this binder for a few of my 4th period students who are diehard Raiders fans.

The only card I pulled out was this kicker:

2009 Score Inscriptions #217

One of my friends is a Raiders fan.  She named her son after this guy, so whenever I get Janikowski cards... they go to him.

#19:  Another Cassette Single $1

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

This Used To Be My Playground by Madonna (1992)

Two weeks after I purchased my first cassette single in decades... I added another one.  At least this one is related to baseball.

#18:  A Banned Book  $2

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss

I'm a sucker for controversy.  That's why I enjoy collecting cards featuring the middle finger or the F-word written on the end of the bat.

It's also why I picked up this book which was pulled from publication back in 2021 for this image:

As an Asian male who has spent his entire life dealing with Asian stereotypes... I am not offended by this picture at all.  But it's not my place to tell others how they should or shouldn't feel when they see an image like this.

#17:  An Informers Autograph  $20

Flea Market:  De Anza on September 7th

I'm sure some of you were wondering if there were going to be any baseball card purchases.  Well here you go:

2024 Topps Archives Signature Series

1999 Topps Traded #T83

Not much to get excited about... considering it's Jose Canseco.  But the fact that he's with the Rays is what caught my eye.  I don't have a lot of his cards from his Tampa Bay days and I actually like the well-cropped action shot used on this card.

Canseco signs a lot at local card shows, so there's no shortage of his autographs around here.  But this purchase was about half the price he normally charges... plus I didn't have to wait in line.

#16:  A Premature Purchase  $5

Flea Market:  De Anza on September 7th

The guy who sold me the Canseco, also had these two Shota Imanaga rookie cards:

2024 Topps Chrome #121

2024 Finest #45 (Common)

Worst deal of the post?  Probably.  I'm pretty sure both of these cards are sitting in dollar boxes (possibly quarter bins) at card shows all over the country.  If not, they're definitely cheaper on COMC.

I should have been patient... but in the moment I was stoked to add my first cards of the 31 year old MLB rookie.

#15:  A Small Card Collection  $30

Flea Market:  Branham on September 21st

This purchase delayed this Flea Market Find post.

It took me over a week to sit down, sort, and figure out what I had actually purchased.  I'm not exactly an expert on either sport, but here are some of the cards that stood out to me:

UFC Cards

Soccer Cards

I love shiny cards... and that's really what attracted me to these boxes.  Plus I have been looking to add some singles of Messi to the collection.

#14:  A Deck of Cards $1

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

1999 U.S. Playing Cards Major League All-Stars

One vendor's deck of cards is another man's set of cards.

This deck wasn't new, but I needed that McGwire/Canseco card for the collection.  I ended up adding seven other cards into my collection as well.  The rest will be tossed into care packages eventually. 

Most of the people who read this blog are baseball fans... so this is a good spot to stop.  Stay tuned for Part 2.  It should be published in two days.

Until then... feel free to share your thoughts or opinions on any of these purchases... or this "countdown" format down below in the comments.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!