Maybe, Maybe Not

The A's days in Oakland are numbered.  It's been a rough road and a bumpy ride, but I'm starting to accept it.  It's not like I have a choice.  There's nothing A's fans can do or could have done to keep them in Oakland.  I know there are those who will say we should have attended more games and shown more support for our beloved team and they would have stayed.  They might be right, but I think they're wrong.

In my humble opinion... John Fisher wasn't interested in staying around.  Could the city of Oakland have done a better job at trying to keep the A's here?  Definitely.  Would selling out games made a difference?  Probably.  But if ownership truly wanted to fill seats... trading away their best players year in and year out wasn't a great strategy.

So what now?  Will I still support the team when they officially start playing in Las Vegas?  Maybe, maybe not.

What I do know is that I will continue wear my Oakland A's jerseys, hats, hoodies, and t-shirts proudly.  Heck... you might even catch me wearing this cool belt that Bob over at The Best Bubble purchased for me:

It's a custom belt made out of sports cards produced by a company called Card Belts.  It contains a variety of cards ranging from a San Jose Sharks checklist to the goofy Rex Hudler "milking the cow" card.  However the majority of the cards feature Oakland A's.

The oldest card on the belt is Mike Edward's 1979 Topps record breaker card, which highlights his two unassisted double plays as a second baseman against the California Angels on August 10th, 1978.  Luis Alicia also did it 18 years later... but they are the only two to accomplish the feat in American League history.

I'll never know when or where my first MLB baseball game took place, but it was during the 70's and there's a good chance it took place at the Oakland Coliseum.  That's why no matter what... I'll continue to collect 70's Oakland A's cards like the Edwards.

My all-time favorite Oakland Athletic, The King of Steal also makes an appearance on the belt and there's no chance I'll ever stop collecting his cards.

Bob even made sure to include a bubble blowing Athletic... and yes I'll continue to collect copies of this card as well.

Isn't this one of the coolest belts ever?  It's by far the most unique piece of Oakland A's memorabilia in the collection and I can't wait to wear it out.

In addition to apparel... Bob also sent me a separate package that contained a variety of items.  In an effort to keep my posts straight to the point, I'm going to share three specific A's cards.

First up are these two 1993 promo cards featuring two Oakland A's hall of famers:

1993 Fleer Ultra #NNO Paul Mullan & Dennis Eckersley

1993 UD B.A.T. Triple Folders

All-Star FanFest Baltimore

Heroes of Baseball Previews #HOB-3

Yup.  I'll continue to collect cards of both of these guys.  And I do enjoy me some 90's promo cards.

The final card I wanted to share with you guys is this beauty:

1952 Red Man #12

It's crazy to think that this card came out the same year as the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle.

The A's didn't arrive in Oakland until 1968... four years before I was born.  But I've never had a problem of collecting Athletics cards from their days in Philadelphia and Kansas City.

As for Vegas... I'll eventually figure out my allegiance to the Las Vegas Athletics.  Right now I'm not happy with their ownership nor do I want to put any money into his pockets.  The wounds are too fresh.  But maybe with time.  Then again... maybe not.

Thank you Bob for all of these cool A's items.  No doubt about it... they are all truly appreciated.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Most Bang for My Buck

Sure I enjoy busting open packs, but if the Cardboard Gods made me choose between buying singles or buying blasters, I'll choose singles any day of the week.

The bottom line is I'm all about getting the most bang for my buck and purchasing cards off of COMC offers way more value than opening retail packs.  Today's post shows off six cards that set me back $20, which is roughly the cost of a blaster box.  Should I have held out and just purchased a blaster?  Let's see...

Card #1:  1953 Red Man #5  $7.65

I'll kick things off with the oldest card in the lot.  Is it real?  Who knows.  Is it damaged?  Sure is.  Regardless for the price it was worth the risk and the damage (in my humble opinion).

Card #2:  1966 Topps #36  $1.13

I honestly can't believe I found this second year Catfish for this price.  What's even crazier is the fact that there were a few to choose from.

Card #3:  2012 Topps Archives 3D #NNO  $1.56

The 1968 Topps 3D test issue are some of the rarest cards around and they're not cheap.  Since I'll never be able to afford an original, I settled for the 2012 version (which used a different image) for a very small fraction of the price.

Card #4:  1970 Milton Bradley #NNO  $2.31

Vintage Clemente for approximately the price of a Big Mac?  Yes, please.


Card #5:  2008 Bowman Chrome Refractor #194  $8.25

I was excited to add this shiny rookie parallel to my collection.  It was the most expensive card in this lot, but I've grown to really enjoy Joey's Votto-isms.

Card #6:  1977 Topps #6  $0.95

And rounding out the $20 COMC haul is this league leaders card featuring two first ballot hall of famers.  If you're looking for an affordable way to collect vintage hall of famers, then you might look into league leader cards.

Now if you're one of those people that calculated how much I spent, you'll notice that these six cards actually set me back $21.85.  Well the extra $1.85 covers the 9.25% tax I'd have to pay on a blaster purchased in San Jose.  Like I said... gotta get the most bang for my buck.

Well there you have my personal COMC Blaster.  I realize that determining whether or not this beats a blaster fresh off the Target shelf is totally subjective.  But as you can imagine, I feel this was $21.85 well spent.

What do you think?  Which was the best deal?  Worst deal?

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

A Quick Twenty-three Minute Break

It's the most wonderful time of the year.  Yeah.  Not really.  My students are turning in projects today and tomorrow, which means that I'll be up to my neck in scrapbooks for the next few days.

But let's keep it real.  Not even my loving mother wants to hear me whine.  Grading projects are part of my job description.  And my job pays the bills and allows me to buy sixty-six year old trading cards like this:

1952 Red Man #AL23

So as soon as I'm done publishing this post, I'm gonna suck it up and get back to work.  But before I go, I want to give a quick shout out to Tom over at The Angels, In Order.  He's the one who listed this Williams on eBay last month.  I wonder how many other eBay purchases I've made have been off of fellow bloggers.

Well... time to knock off a few more projects before I head home.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!