Living Blog Bat-Around - Merlin Olsen/Jack Youngblood - HOF Sumo Wrestlers

I'm kicking off a "Living" Blog Bat-Around featuring Merlin Olsen and Jack Youngblood; two Hall of Fame defensive players from the "1st" Los Angeles Rams team.  Why Merlin and Jack?  I'll describe in a second, but there is no cost to participate except for a PWE and some of your time to write a post.  After each post, sign the Card Savers, and then throw the cards and remaining stamps (I'm including their 1975 Topps cards and all the stamps) in a PWE to send to the next person.  After you get the cards, the idea is to write a post that relates to the cards.  Maybe about 1970s collecting, 1970s football, the Los Angeles Rams, or you might even have a cool story to tell about Merlin or Jack.  At the end I'm hoping someone can send the cards back to me. I'll summarize what everyone wrote and try to do something fun with the cards like auctioning them off for charity or see if Jack will sign his card and then auction.  Ideas always welcome.  Okay, here goes my post....

Regional tours (jungyo) are an important part of sumo culture.  In between the main May/July/September summer tournaments that are held in Tokyo and Nagoya, sumo wrestlers travel into the countryside to bring the sport to rural fans that aren't able to experience a main tournament.  On occasion, these tours take them overseas as was the case June 1976 when the wrestlers traveled to Los Angeles to highlight the sport.  Given that the only comparably-sized athlete in the U.S. were football players, Jack Youngblood (6' 4" - 248 pounds) and Merlin Olsen (6' 5" - 270 pounds) from the local L.A Rams were asked to compete against each other in the ring to win the honor of then wrestling against an actual sumo wrestler in an exhibition match in front of 4000 spectators.  Jack beat Merlin and then subsequently lost against then-Makushita wrestler Taiko (5' 10" - 255 pounds).  It was all in good fun and these two future HOFs were able to add sumo wrestling to their repertoire.  Merlin went on to a successful broadcasting and acting career after playing football and passed away in 2010 at the age of 69.  He was elected to the HOF in 1982.  Jack stayed active in a variety of businesses and ventures before being elected to the HOF in 2001.

(Photos from July 1976 Sumo World Magazine)

Okay, anyone up for receiving the cards for the next Living Blog Bat-Around?

1990 Topps Hockey - Thanks Greg @ Nine Pockets

Last month Greg over at Nine Pockets was hosting a giveaway to celebrate his 2-year blogiversary.  I was lucky enough to snag the two 1990-1991 unopened Topps Hockey packs.  It's hard to believe that while Topps was still using wax and old school paperboard to make their cards in 1990, Upper Deck had entered the scene with high-gloss printing, foil wrappers, and holograms which made their cards seem light years ahead of the competition. Flash forward 30 years most of us yearn for that old wax and old feel of cards shuffling through our hands again.

Oddly enough, it doesn't appear anyone is really grading this set and there are no complete graded sets out there on the PSA Registry.  It does appear a lot of people are chasing the Wayne Gretzky (Cards #1-3, #120, & #199), Jeremy Roenick (#7), Alexander Mogilny (#42), Brett Hull (#77), Mario Lemieux (#175), Steve Yzerman (#222), & Mike Modano (#348).  Let's see if I can snag one of these stars...let'r rip!

Boom, nailed a Gretzky....and these cards are amazing in hand....no complaints at all!  I am sure a lot of people term these as junk wax, but for me these are gold!  Thanks Greg for the hook up and congrats on your 2-year blogiversary!  Sayonara and have an awesome weekend!

Mike Jaspersen - Jaspy's in Hermosa Beach, California

I've been fortunate to have a local sport card legend living and working "right around the corner" from where I live.  Mike Jaspersen is the owner of Jaspy's, a brick-and-mortar store in Hermosa Beach, CA which also has a very successful and popular breaking business, Jaspy's Case Breaks.  Coincidently, they just broke a box of Panini Immaculate and landed a 1-of-1 Logoman of Lebron James a few days ago that has been making its way around news wires across the country as this likely is a 6-figure card.  Mike runs a great business and just opened back up after having been closed for a while due to COVID.  I was in there the other day and noticed an autographed card of himself that had been issued in the 2017 Allen and Ginter product.  Mike explained that he had signed 10 of them and he talked briefly about the Topps representative stopping by for him to sign before moving on to other people in the area.  I did not have an opportunity to ask why he was featured on the card, but I picked up a copy for myself and plan on swinging by here shortly to inquire.  It does state on the back that he was the "A&G Las Vegas Party Winner", so excited to get more information on that.  Mike has a very interesting history in the hobby and here is an interview from several years ago by Sports Collectors Digest.

Anyone else ever get to meet someone who was featured on a trading card besides an athlete?

Unopened Box Bepop

Fuji and I have a little dual-post action going on this Saturday where each of us is posting our Top-10 favorite unopened boxes we have in our collections.  Check out his here.  It was tough narrowing it down to ten, but I was able to break them down into different categories to help me decide.  From #10 to #1, here is what I came up with:

#10 (Also known as my favorite Vintage Japanese Sport Box) - 1991 BBM Baseball

This was the first large-scale baseball set that BBM issued which also happened to contain a bunch of Hideo Nomo 2nd-Year cards and baseball legends Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima as coaches.  My box is a bit beat up, but still a beauty and hard to believe it was 29 years ago!  30 packs per box with 10 cards per pack.  

#9 (Also known as my favorite Collector's Choice Box) - 2013 BBM P. League Bowling

I used one of my 10 boxes as kind of a miscellaneous box, or Collector's Choice Box.  Pretty girls that are bowling seems pretty quirky, but if you go watch videos of them in action they are very talented.  The P. League has somewhat of a reality show feel, but fun to watch and the ladies do not disappoint.  The autographs of these ladies are extremely well done as well.  54-card set per box with 2 special insert cards to boot!

 

 

#8 (Also known as my favorite Vintage Japanese Non-Sport Box) - 1950s Weapons "Gold" Menko



In the mid-1950s, the world saw a proliferation of nuclear weapons as well as rockets, jets and bombers filling the skies.  This set captures the imagination of the artists through weapons and destruction  What makes this set very interesting beyond the artwork, is the liberal use of gold ink on the packaging and cards.  A great example of Japanese artistry.  These boxes are considered "unopened and sealed" when the twine is present with the box.  50 packs per box with 6-7 menko per pack.

 



 

#7 (Also known as my favorite Foreign "Non-Japanese/U.S." Box) - 2019 Panini European Kimmidoll





I went through Spain and Portugal earlier last year right during the Kimmidoll craze.  Panini issued these cards only in this part of the world for a span of 3-6 months.  After I saw them, I ended up buying two unopened boxes online as well as an album.  Now you can't find them anywhere it seems.  These postcard-sized cards are strangely appealing to me and the artwork is amazing and refreshingly Japanese.  There are 18 packs per box with 6 cards per pack.

 

 



#6 (Also known as my favorite Modern Japanese Non-Sport Box) - 1986 Amada Famicon Mini Cards



I was and still am a huge NES fan.  The hours/days/weeks I spent engrossed in these games always brings a smile and air of nostalgia to me.  Amada kept the mini card craze strung along until the mid 1980s and issued these cards which captured screenshots of actual in-game play.  These boxes have 30 packs with 2-3 mini cards per pack.  I can still hear the Super Mario Brothers music playing in my head right now.... 

 

 

 

#5 (Also known as my favorite Oddball Box) - 1997 Takara Basscole Fishing Lures



 Most of you are scratching your head on this one.  Me too.  Why do I have this box?  Read about it here in full detail.  But basically Brad Pitt's movie, A River Runs Through It" sparked a bass fishing frenzy in Japan which also happend to coincide with the boom in trading card production.  What are these cards?  Trading cards of bass fishing lures.  No, no the actually people bass fishing, just the lures.  A must in my collection for sure.  30 Packs per Box and 10 Cards per Pack.

 

 

#4 (Also known as my favorite Modern Japanese Sport Box) - 2016-2017 BBM Basketball

I have a PC of Yuta Tabuse...or at least a really good handful of them in my collection...and decided I wanted to collect these boxes.  At the time, the new B.League partnered with BBM to produce these trading cards.  That was back in the 2016-2017 timeframe and they have since been making these for 4 years.  This was the very first series issued back in late 2016.  20 Packs per Box and 5 Cards per Pack 

 

 

 

# 3 (Also known as my favorite U.S. Non-Sport Box) - 2018 Topps Stranger Things Series 1



I love the show Stranger Things and when Topps announced they were releasing a trading card set based on the series, I knew I had grab a few boxes.  I can't remember the exact story or controversy, but I believe the odds for special cards there was stated on the retail? packs wasn't accurate and this evolved into a lot of complaints and poor reviews of this first product.  Alas, this box stays on my shelf with unknown content....mysterious!  24 Packs per Box, 7 Cards per Pack

 

 

 

#2 (Also known as my favorite Modern Sumo Box) - 2016 BBM Sumo



I chose this year of BBM sumo cards because this was the year I connected with a great group of collectors on Facebook devoted to strictly BBM sumo cards.  It has been a great opportunity to share my passion with like-minded collectors and fans.  A sharp-looking set with great box art.  24 Packs per Box with 5 Cards per Pack. 

 

 

 

#1 (Also known as my favorite Vintage Sumo Box) - 1958 Dash 7-8 Menko



 This box is what got me into sumo card collecting in the first place. The very first sumo box I owned!  While vacationing in the southern islands of Japan, I found this box in a small antique shop in the resort town we were staying at.  I knew I had to have it!  This 1958 Dash 7-8 (Catalogue #M581) has resided in my collection as the first-ever sumo card box that I have owned and so it captures a special place in my heart and the #1 spot on my list of unopened card boxes.  I haven't counted the packs, but there are at least 100 packs with the special uncut gold prize card sheets on top. 

 

 

Well, there you have it.  Thanks for stopping by and please make sure you check out Fuji's unopened box bebop as well.  Cheers and Sayonara!

The $20 Card Show Challenge

Work has been extremely busy lately and what better way to blow off some steam and stress then to hang out with Fuji over at The Chronicles of Fuji.  I recently moved to SoCal and made it a point to meet Fuji since he has an amazing blog and a captivating writing style.  He managed to make it down last month and I decided I needed to take a trip up north to hang out again last weekend at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Sports Card Show in Sacramento.  After my flight was cancelled into San Jose, I managed to snag a flight into San Francisco and as soon as I landed we were off to the races.  For those that have never met Fuji, he is one of the easiest guys to talk to...it was like we were old friends talking about cards, work, life, cards....and before I knew it we were there.  I didn't have too many expectations before we arrived, but this show definitely was worth the trip.  There were about 20 or so venders that had a nice variety of things and boxes to hunt through.  Fuji reminded me about our $20 challenge where we challenged each other on who could stretch their $20 and come away with the best stuff.  Now I knew Fuji was the king of bargains, but watching him work his magic was amazing.  This guy lives for the hunt and I was in minor league ball compared to him, but let's see what my eyes were drawn to:

Purchase #1: Random Baseball and Astronauts $2.50

The first box is always the harshest as far as value for me, but these cards are headed out in care packages.  The Yaz is creased and miscut and will find a nice home in Fuji's Damaged Card PC.  The other baseball are headed to my brother...the astronauts are for me.

Purchase #2: Two super mint 1990-1991 Fleer Basketball Sets - $2

Heck yeah, these sets were in amazing shape and each was only a buck..I pulled out some of the stars to scan here.  This set is full of stars and HOFers so I couldn't pass them up in this condition.  It looks like they have not seen light of day in 29 years.  Although overproduced, a classic look in my book.

Purchase #3: Mid-1990s Inserts - $5

These Topps Finest Main Attractions scream 1990s...and I couldn't pass up this impossible-to-find-back-in-the-day Beam Team card.

Purchase #4: 1953 Topps Who-Z-At-Star? Cards - $4

I've been working on this set for a while and like to pick these up in lower condition if I can.  Couldn't pass them up, but they dented my budget a bit.

Purchase #5: 1966 Topps Batman Bat Laffs - $3

For those that have not seen the new Joker movie, I think Joaquin Phoenix is in for an Oscar.  Cesar Romero did a decent job as well back in the day!

Purchase #6: 1987 Donruss and Fleer Packs - $5

I am a sucker for 1987s unopened product.  This purchase put me over our $20 limit by $1.50, but it was worth it.  Growing up in a small town out West, we never got Donruss and Fleer at the local stores.  These were rare back in the day so a final nostalgia purchase for me.  Let's see who I came away with after opening 2 of the Donruss and 1 of the Fleer!

Back in the day, these Donruss packs would have been huge hits with Benny and Robin....we also had kids chasing David Cone.  The Fleer was less fruitful, but Todd Worrell was a favorite of my buddy so would have come away with a nice trade.

After the show Fuji and I grabbed our traditional Del Taco and then headed over to Teammates to search around for a few things.

Well there you go...how did I do? 

Looking over at Fuji's post, he is an A-lister...I'm a benchwarmer, but definitely appreciate you stopping by.  Looking forward to the next adventure with Fuji!


Topps Stranger Things is stuck in the Upside Down!

For most people reading this blog, you are probably of the age to relate to most things from the 1980s.  Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, ET, trading cards, Dungeons and Dragons...the list goes on.  If you are still reading this blog, you definitely need to check out the show "Stranger Things" on Netflix if you haven't already done so.  An amazing cast of child and adult actors, a great storyline, and set in the 1980s which brings back a ton of nostalgia.  After two years, Topps was finally able to secure the license to manufacture trading cards.  Announced back in June, the original release date was mid October and eventually pushed back to 31 October.  Further delays have pushed the Hobby boxes back to the end of November, but Topps was able to release Blaster and Retail Boxes last week......which is fine by me because I really want to only collect the base set anyways.  Sure, it would be a lot cheaper to just buy the base set from folks are just chasing the inserts and parallels, but given the old-school nostalgia of the show, I want to hand collate the 100-card base set from packs....just like I did back in the 1980s.  I'll probably complete the Character Cards, Character Stickers and Scene Sticker sets as well.

Topps gave us a sneak peak with some online picture teasers and this promotional card handed out at the New York Comic Con.  Singles are already starting to pop up on eBay and the scramble to pick up the hard-to-find parallels will be in full swing.

Who else is chasing this set?

What's wrong with these Brandon Laird Bowman Chrome Cards? - Come on Topps!

The interns were at it again at Bowman.  Maybe this is a known problem or this has been discovered before with these 2008 and 2011 Brandon Laird cards, but can anyone tell me what is wrong with the 2011 card?  5 free packs of Japanese baseball/basketball for the first correct answer.  Come on Topps!

Brandon is in his 4th year with the Nippon Ham Fighters over in Japan and is doing a fairly well with the team through the 3/4 of the season mark.  It'll be interesting to see what he does as I believe his contract extension is up at the end of this season.

The World According to Byamba

Byamba entered the world of professional Japanese sumo with the rush of other Mongolian wrestlers in the early 2000s.  One of the greatest rikishi of all time is the Mongolian Yokozuna Hakuho who has sat on the top of the sumo world for the better part of a decade now.  Byamba (His shikona was Daishochi when he was in the Nihon Sumo Association) seemed destined for similar success, but was sidelined by an injury right before he broke into the top ranks and retired soon after.  After he retired from professional sumo, he turned to amateur status and won two Sumo World Championships in the heavyweight class as well as Gold in the 2009 World Games.  In 2013, Topps captured Byamba in their Allen and Ginter's "The World's Champions" set.  From what I gather there at ~10 different types of cards of Byamba in this set:

Regular
Regular Red Back #/25
Mini
Mini Wood #1/1
Mini Relic
Mini Auto
Mini Auto Red Ink #/10
Black, Cyan, Magenta Printing Plates

Good stuff.  I am hoping to slowly add more of these to my collection over the years.