Showing posts with label slus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slus. Show all posts

Monday, December 16, 2024

Metal Meets MLB


The majority of my readers are here for baseball cards.  Don't worry... this post has them.  However there's a little music incorporated as well.  If you're familiar with Night Owl's Match the Song Title posts... this is a copycat version.  So if you just want to see baseball cards, then scroll down a little.  Otherwise, let's talk music...

Metallica was my favorite band in high school.  One of my friends bought Master of Puppets and we rocked out to it on a daily basis.  We worked our way backward to Ride the Lightning and Kill 'Em All.

Life was good.

I continued listening to their music all the way through their ...And Justice for All and the Black Album, but never really got into their stuff after that.

These days, they're still a big part of my life.  I routinely listen to a Spotify playlist I made for my classroom and long car drives.  And if I were to rank them among my all-time favorite bands, they would be up there with Fleetwood Mac, The Beastie Boys, The Police, Journey, and A Tribe Called Quest.

That's why I was excited to hear that back in 2021... December 16th was declared as Metallica Day in San Francisco by Mayor London Breed.  In honor of their special day, I figured show off a special sheet of cards I purchased awhile back:


The sheet was inserted into the 2011 September/October issue of Revolver:


The front and back of the cards utilize the 1986 Topps baseball design... which is perfect, because that's the year I started listening to the band.


The magazine included another sheet of cards featuring two more "thrash metal" bands:


Slayer, Megadeath, and Anthrax are the three other bands that make up what is considered the Big 4 of U.S. thrash metal.  Personally... Metallica was reason I bought the issue.  I have a couple of Anthrax albums and remember listening to Slayer back in high school, but labeling me anything more than a casual fan of either of these bands would be considered a stretch.

In an effort to entertain those who came here to read about baseball cards, here are nine baseball cards that are related to nine Metallica songs...



2011 Topps Chrome Refractor #42

When most of you hear this song, I'm guessing Mo is the first person you think of.


#2Fade to Black

1971 Topps #118

This is my favorite Metallica song paired with one of my favorite black bordered cards.



1986 Donruss #647

Beane was a master of puppets orchestrating some major changes to the way the Oakland A's approached the game we love.  It never paid off with a World Series title... but it entertained diehard fans until it didn't.



1987 Classic #1

Pete Rose was gambling right about the same time Classic released their first board game containing baseball cards and they honored him with the first card in the set.

Unfortunately... betting on games is considered the cardinal sin of baseball.  Although there were plenty of fans willing to forgive him... many have not... so I dub thee unforgiven.



2015 Topps Tier One New Guard Autographs #NGA-SDO (#'d 302/349)

Some people think of Jonathan Papelbon when they hear this song.  I think of Mr. Doolittle and the right field rockers at the Oakland Coliseum.



1994 Kenner SLU #NNO

When I picked this song for this post, I knew I'd be featuring an intimidating pitcherTwo came to mind.  Bob Gibson is arguably the most intimidating pitcher to stand on the bump.  Unfortunately... he was a little before my time.  So I'm gonna go with the Big Unit



1989 Fleer World Series #5

Baseball cards bring joy to my life.  At least most of them do.  This card reminds me of the 1988 World Series... which conjures up feelings of sadness.  But it's still a part of my collection... which is why I spent over thirty minutes digging through boxes searching for this set.



1984 Topps Traded Bronze Premium #NNO

Standing at 1.75"... this is the shortest Straw in my collection.  Actually... that's a lie.  I own all of Darryl's Topps Micro cards which measure only an inch in height... but they're sitting inside factory sealed sets.  So this is the shortest Straw that's been pulled for you.



1988 Kenner SLU #NNO

Great song.  Terrible human being.  I'd like to believe that people can turn their lives around and learn from their mistakes... but what this guy did is unforgivable


#9One

2017 Topps 30th Anniversary #87-11

I should have put this song at the top of the list, but that's too obvious.

As for the card... I went with the first guy that came to mind when I thought of players wearing #1Ozzie Smith wore that number his entire hall of fame career with the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.

It was a lot of fun putting together this list of songs.  Honestly... Metallica has so many classics, I could have easily put together two starting nines.  Maybe next December 16th. I'll create a list of B sides.

Until then...

Are you a fan of Metallica?  Do you have a favorite song?

Happy Metallica Day and sayonara!

Monday, July 15, 2024

A Six Pack to Kick Off Summer

Hip hip hooray!  My first full week of summer break starts today and I have a game plan in place regarding cards and the blog.  I have two major goals.  The first one involves going through several Sportlots and COMC packages and hopefully clearing out a few set builds I'm in the middle of.

The other goal is to open up the plethora of care packages that are piling up in my office and finally documenting them here on the blog.

This morning I opened up a few PWE's from fellow bloggers, so let's show off the goodies...


2021 Epoch NPB #040

Kenny sent me a new Roki Sasaki card for my collection.  If you haven't heard of this guy yet, you probably will by next year.


He's one of those Japanese pitchers who has made a name for himself over in the NPB and there's a good chance he'll be coming to the MLB in 2025.



Back in May, Jon asked me if I needed these two Kenner SLU football cards:

1998 Kenner SLU HOF Legends #NNO

1999 Kenner SLU Classic Doubles #NNO

I already have Starr's 1997 Classic Doubles card and Alstott's 1998 regular Kenner SLU card, but both of these are new to my collection.  

A few years ago, I added a sealed copy of Vince Lombardi's 1998 Kenner SLU HOF Legends figure.  One day I'd love to add the Bart Starr figure and the Ray Nitschke from that series... to my Green Bay Packers PC.


PWE #3/4/5/6Johnny's Trading Spot

Last October, John sent me four PWE's filled with some cards for some player and team collections.  One of them contained these three cards from one of those online exclusive Topps products:

2022 Topps X Juan Soto #46
2022 Topps X Juan Soto #47
2022 Topps X Juan Soto #50

I actually opened up a few of these boxes and with the help of eBay completed the entire base set, so these three cards are headed into my player collections.

All three are part of the Bestias Del Juego subset, which according to the back of Gwynn's card means "Beasts of the Game".

The next two PWE's contained a variety of Japanese athletes including some members of Japan's national football team:


Even though I have grown to appreciate the sport, I don't follow soccer too closely.  The two exceptions are the World Cup and Olympics.  The 2024 Olympic men's soccer kicks off in nine days and Samurai Blue is part of Group D along with Israel, Mali, and Paraguay.

The 4th PWE contained cards from another soccer team I casually follow: 

2019 Topps MLS

I have had the opportunity to see all four of these guys in action.  Unfortunately... none of them have played with the San Jose Earthquakes in a few years.  Chris Wondolowski retired in 2021 as the MLS all-time leading goal scorer.

Thank you Kenny, Jon, and Johnny for sending me these PWE's.  I apologize to all of you... especially Johnny for taking so long to open these up.  But better late than never, right?

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Twenty-Four of 24

Last week, I was on my annual trip to Ashland, Oregon when I heard the news that Willie Mays passed away.  It was one of those moments where it felt like everything around me paused to allow me to soak in the news.

Mays was literally one of the greatest to ever play the game, but he played his final MLB game a little over a week after I turned one.  In other words, I never had the opportunity to watch him play in person.  Even if I had, I wouldn't remember it.  Thankfully there are enough interviews, documentaries, statistical data, and highlight films out there to cement The Say Hey Kid's legacy.  Plus he has been a Bay Area resident and fan favorite since the Giants left New York and moved to San Francisco in 1958.

I've never considered myself a Giants fan.  However I am a baseball fan and a collector who likes collect just about anything related to the sport.  Over the years, I've added a few of his cards and collectibles to my collection and today I wanted to show off twenty-four of them as a tribute to him.

Most of the stuff are cards, but there are a couple of other items included.  Originally, I was going to rank them... but that was easier said than done.  Instead... I've just put them in chronological order.

Here we go...

1955 Red Man #7

Yeah, I know.  Many of you aren't into slabbed cards.  But when it comes to vintage, it gives me a little peace of mind.  The ranking thing might not have happened, but I guarantee this card would have been in the Top 5, along with this card:

1956 Topps #130

The 1956 Topps baseball set is my favorite baseball card set design of all-time, so you know this card is going to be one of my favorite cards of Mays.

1956 Topps #31

If you're wondering why I included Hank Aaron's card in this post, it's because the painting of him sliding into home was actually based on a photograph of Willie.

1963 Topps #3

One of my favorite side PC's is my collection of Topps league leader cards that depict only hall of famers.  This card is the coolest one I own, because it features five of them... four of which were first ballot hall of famers.

1964 Topps #9

San Francisico Giants fans must have been pretty excited to see three of the top four home run hitters in the NL hitting for them.  They led the National League with 197 home runs that year.  The Atlanta Braves were a distant second with 139.

1964 Topps Giants #51

I absolutely love this oddball issue.  In fact, it's one of my favorite baseball sets from the 1960's.

1962-65 Jay Publishing Photo

This is one of those non-card items I was referring to at the beginning of the post.  This photo is printed on super thin paper... almost like newsprint.  I'm guessing they were mass produced, because they sell for a fraction of what vintage baseball cards sell for.

1966 Topps #1

I'm guessing a kid who pulled Willie's 1966 Topps card would have been pretty stoked back in the day.  He was coming off his MVP Award winning season in which he led the National League in a bunch of different categories including home runs, slugging percentage, and on base percentage.

1966 Topps #215

How could I not include this card?  My only complaint about this card is the photo selection.  It would have been so much cooler had they all been looking in the same direction.

1967 Topps #423

This is one of those cards, I had seen hundreds of times over the years and in the back of my mind I knew I'd eventually buy it.  I'm just embarrassed to admit that it took me almost forty years to do it.

1967 Topps Posters #12

There was a time (before the Hobby Boom) when late 60's and early 70's Topps insert sets were pretty affordable.  This poster insert and the game card are both part of complete sets I purchased during that time.

1968 Topps Game #8

This card is part of a thirty-three card set... in which only eleven cards allowed a player to reach base safely.  Topps honored Mays with the best card in the set.

We've reached the halfway mark... and we're entering the 70's:

1970 Kellogg's #12

This Kellogg's card is another favorite of mine.  Like many other collectors out there, I'm a big fan of the Kellogg's lenticular sets of the 70's and 80's.  The 1970 baseball design is my favorite.

Up next is another collectible that doesn't fall into the baseball card category:

1971 Mattel Instant Replay #NNO

Eighteen years before Topps and LJN teamed up to release their Topps Talk Player and cards, Mattel did something similar with their Instant Replay player and records.  Unfortunately, I don't have own the player and I didn't find a recording of the Mays on YouTube.  However, there are several examples of other sports on there.

1972 Kellogg's #54 (RBI 1855)
1972 Kellogg's #54 (RBI 1856)

Your eyes aren't deceiving you.  I'm showing off two copies of Willie's 1972 Kellogg's card.  The one on the left is considered the "error" card with his incorrect MLB career RBI totals with the one on the right being the "corrected" version.

This set is littered with error/corrected versions.  Based on the PSA Pop Report, the corrected cards are slightly more common.

Next up is probably the most common card in this post:

1982 Topps Kmart #8

I'm pretty sure this is the first Willie Mays baseball card I ever owned.  Well... not this exact copy... but one just like it.

Back in the 80's the Kmart my parents shopped at had hundreds of these box sets that sat there on the display for what seemed like years.  At the time, I wasn't a fan of anything Kmart related... including this set.  But over the years, I've grown to appreciate this set.

1987 Topps Traded Bronze Premiums #5

This metal medallion replica of Willie's 1953 Topps card was once awarded to a dealer who purchased a case of the 1987 Topps Traded sets.  I included it in this post, because it's an oddball issue you don't see around every day.  If you're interested in seeing the other Topps Traded Bronze Premiums that Topps produced, click here.

1989 Kenner SLU Baseball Greats #NNO

While digging through scans and binders looking for items for this post, I picked this card because it has his nickname on the front of the card.  I also liked how Kenner listed his full MLB career stats on the back.

1995 Topps Legends of the 60's Medallions #1

Here's another Mays medallion.  Like the Topps Traded Bronze Premiums, this is one of those oddball issues that fly under the radar of many collectors.  However this medallion is much bigger and heavier.  


I've written about this set before, but in short... there were twelve medallions produced by Topps that were released on a monthly basis to Stadium Club members for $39.95 each.

1995 Upper Deck Autograph #AC2

I flippin' love this card!  If I ever made a Top 10 list of my autographed baseball cards, I'm pretty sure this would be on it.

2003 Topps Gallery HOF Currency Connection #CC-WM

I reserved a spot for this "coin" card, because like a few other cards in this post... it's different.


The encapsulated wheat penny was produced in 1958... the same year the Giants moved to San Francisco.

The
last two items are signed memorabilia that are undated:

Say Hey Authenticated

I've got a pair of signed Mays photos depicting "The Catch".  One is 8x10 and the other is a 16x20.  Both are certified by Say Hey Authenticated which was his company.  I've heard mixed reviews on whether or not these signatures are legit.

Rumor has it that some unscrupulous people forged the Say Hey Authenticated holograms and used them on photos with fake signatures.  Since I wasn't there to witness him signing either of the photos, I guess I'll never know.

PSA/DNA Authenticated

Unfortunately, I didn't witness him signing this baseball either.  I bought this ball at the Branham Flea Market back in 2015 for $8 and had my buddy submit it to PSA to see if it was legit.  It passed, but with any third party authenticators... who knows if it's actually legit.  

Well there you go... twenty-four Mays collectibles in honor of #24.  Rest in peace Mr. Mays.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!