Christmas Packs #19

I have decided that next year I am going to do these packs by the box so that all the packs are together.   I have already started stockpiling blasters to give myself next Christmas. 
This pack of 1988 Fleer did not yield a surfboard card but it contained fewer players that I didn't remember than any of the previous packs.  It also enclosed the first insert card of the box ( I don't consider the stickers inserts).  Ralph Bryant is the only player I don't remember at all.  Mookie Wilson is the stepfather and uncle of Preston Wilson.  Tom Browning, was (I think) a member of the Reds' Nasty Boys.  Kevin Seitzer's Mom worked with a friend of mine.  Pat Clement was a Padre and I got his autograph when he came to Portland with the Las Vegas Stars.  Mike Dunne and Wally Joyner were Padres whose autographs I got through the mail.  Eric Davis is a former Northwest League All Star and a Major League All Star as this card indicates. 

Christmas Pack #18, eventually I'll sort all this

Another day, another pack of 1988 Fleer and still no surfboard.  Five guys I don't remember, five guys I do remember, two friends sharing a card, a former Padres coach, and three Hall of Famers including Mr. Padre.  Okay now I remember Leon Durham and Paul Assenmacher's names but not much about them.  I checked and Mike Campbell pitched in three games for the Padres in 1994.  Daryl Strawberry and Eric Davis were friends from Los Angeles in their youth  Dave Smith was the Padres pitching coach, I was never able to get a signed card of him in a Padres uni before he passed away. Dennis Eckersley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.  Cal Ripken, Jr. and Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn inducted into the Hall of Fame together in 2006. Both Dave Smith and Tony Gwynn have passed away. 

Christmas Pack #17

Today's 1988 Fleer pack features a bunch of players I don't remember, plus a few players I am kind of surprised aren't Hall of Famers, two guys from Oregon (one who dropped trou on national TV) and one who was a Padre, no he's a Cubbie, no he's a Padre.  It seems like Luis Salazar went back and forth between the Cubs and Padres on cards.  He played for the Padres in seven seasons out of his thirteen major league seasons.  All those guys on the top row I don't really remember.  Dave Stewart, Lou Whitaker, and Rick Sutcliffe will someday be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Bob Knepper has a ranch near Roseburg, Oregon and Steve "Psycho" Lyons went to High School in Beaverton, Oregon. Steve gained National notoriety when he slid, got dirt in his pants and he forgot he was on TV and opened his pants and then all of a sudden he realized what was happening.

Christmas Packs #16

Another day, another pack of 1988 Fleer Baseball.  The more of these I see the more I like them.  I was thinking of building the set, but then I thought why?  So I will have singles available eventually.  No checklists, no Hall of Famers, 2 Padres, a legend who may get into the Hall of Fame eventually and four guys I don't remember at all.  Bill Wilkinson, Darell Miller, Bob Browning and Keith Atherton don't ring any bells at all.  Don Mattingly is a Yankee legend who may get into the Hall of Fame as time goes by.  Kevin Mitchell was a native San Diegan who came to the Padres in late '86 as part of a multi player trade with the Mets.  He played in 62 games for the Padres in 1987 before being traded to the Giants with Dave Dravecky. Keith Comstock pitched for the Padres in 1987 and 88.

Padrograph #1117

In December I made a bunch of customs of Padres who had not had a card with the Padres and had actually played in games for San Diego.  Eddie Oropesa is a Cuban player who defected in 1993.  He was drafted by the Dodgers in 1994 and played with St. Louis and Arizona before coming to San Diego in 2004.  He won the first major league game at Petco Park, defeating the Giants. He played in 16 games in 2004.  The Dodgers hired him in 2012 to work with newly signed Yaisel Puig.  I mailed this to him on December 31 and received it back today.  It only took 10 days to go to Miami, Florida and get back to Portland. 

Christmas Packs #15

I reached a spot in my box of packs where there are like five packs of 1988 Fleer Baseball.  It was the only place they would fit in the box.  This pack yielded a Billy Ripken card, one deceased (that I know of) player, one Hall of Famer, 2 former Padres, a goat and a Yankee great, two guys I don't remember and my youngest sons namesake.  I don't remember Scott Lusader and Al Hall.  Cal and Billy Ripken share a card creatively titled O's Brothers.  I remember Chuck Finley because he was married to MTV superstar Tawny Kitaen, whom he divorced after she repeatedly kicked him in the face with her high heels.  I remember Pete Incaviglia because he is the doppelganger of a friend of mine. Bill Buckner will always be remembered for a missed grounder but he was a reliable player for several teams.  Don Mattingly was in this pack, but for some reason I forgot to include him in the picture.  Terry Kennedy was a Padre before he was an Oriole, he was a four time All Star.  David Francis Dravecky had been a Padre before being a member of the Giants.  When my wife was pregnant with our second son, we flipped through Donruss baseball cards to see what names others had paired with David, which was the name we had settled on.  We found David Francis Dravecky and decided because of Dravecky's testimony through his ordeal with cancer we would name our son after him.  Our son David was born on the same day that Dave announced his retirement from baseball. We were able to meet Dave on one of his book tours and the two David Francis's were able to meet.  That was thirty years ago this coming November.

Fuji pointed out that there are two players in this pack that are deceased.  I thought only Dave Henderson was deceased, but he reminded me that Bob Welch was also deceased.
I also realized that Don Mattingly wasn't actually in this pack.  He is in tomorrow's pack.

Christmas Packs #14

Today's pack is 1988 Fleer and is full of names that I remember.  One who was a Padre in 1988, Jimmy Jones and one who would be a Padre in a couple of years, Tony Fernandez.  The only player in the pack that I do not recognize is Mark Ryal.  

Christmas Packs #13

 It's another pack of American Bandstand cards.  This first card is the dance floor which changed over the years.  Next up is Del Shannon, had a 1961 #1 hit with Runaway.  Bo Diddley was important in the transition from the blues to Rock and Roll, he was well known for his rectangular guitar and his hit Bo Diddley.  Dion had 39 Top 40 hits in the 50's and 60's, especially Runaround Sue.  Neil Sedaka was known mainly as a composer but had a hit with Walking in the Rain with The One I Love.  Andy Williams had his own television show, which introduced the Osmonds to the United States and had a big hit  with Moon River.  For many years Dick Clark would introduce a new song and then ask a couple from the audience to rate the song, which gave rise to the quote, "I'll give it a 98, it has a good beat and is easy to dance to". The Dovells have gone from a quartet to a duo and have even performed with President Bill Clinton.

Christmas Pack #12

 I bought this pack just before Christmas and put it into my box o'cards.  I like that I started the pack with a Padres cards even though he is still in his high school uniform. Xavier Edwards was an early draft pick in 2018.  Nolan Gorman was the 19th overall pick in 2018 and he is a third baseman in the Cardinals system.  Brayan Hernandez I couldn't find any information, but it is a numbered relic card, 27/399. The other cards are Matt Cronin and Ethan Hankins (Cleveland).

Christmas Pack #11

This is the second of Sterling Country Gold, Martina McBride was the first card of the pack and therefor the cover of the pack.  I have heard of 5 of the people featured on these cards and actually met one of them at K Mart.  Martina McBride has been a country music superstar, since about 1992 when these cards came out.  Rick Vincent recorded one album and now writes for others. James House has recorded several albums but doesn't seem to have achieved superstardom or even stardom.  Six Shooter is made up of Ronnie McDowells family members who were all between 14 and 18, they were supposed to be country's answer to the New Kids on the Block.  Alan Jackson is responsible for the anthem It's Five O'Clock Somewhere. Glen Campbell is known for more hits than I have space to list, he passed away in August of 2017 and had been a member of the Wrecking Crew and the Beach Boys before becoming a country music Superstar.  Chris Ledoux was an actual cowboy, who performed contry music.  He won titles in rodeo events and wrote music about his experiences on the rodeo circuit.  He passed away in 2005.  I met him at a KMart near us when he was signing autographs.  Cathy & Charlie were talk show host on CMT, I have heard of Charlie Chase, but not Cathy whose last name is never given. 

Christmas Packs #10

Okay, today the formatting is not cooperating at all.  Todays
pack is 2018 Sportkings.  I like the look of these cards.  I got 3 Hall of Famers and two guys that take part in activities that many don't really consider sports.  Jim Palmer, Steve Largent and Walter Payton are all enshrined in their respective Halls of Fame.  Kevin Vandam was named BASS Angler of the Year.  Brian Shaw is 6'8" and weighs 420 lbs.  He had 10 straight years as Strongest Man of the Year.  I am considering building this set. 

Christmas Packs #9

 I binge watched the first season of Stranger Things one day while my wife went and visited some family members.  I really enjoyed it, but I haven't seen the second season yet.  I picked up a blaster at Target, just to see what it was like.  I got a commemorative patch card from the Hawkins National Lab. 

My Collecting Goals, 2019 and reviewing 2018 Goals

Last year for the first time I set myself some goals for my collection so it is time to revisit them and set some goals for this year.

1.  My first goal was to get 99 unsigned copies of the 1988 Fleer Tim Flannery card.  Done.  I also wanted to get 11 signed copies, which I changed to nine. FAIL  I have six signed copies and have been in contact with Flan, he has agreed to sign three more for me.  

2.  I wanted to collect a non sports set from the 1950's.  I chose the 1954 Bowman Naval Victories, since I and my father are Navy veterans.  Done.  I went beyond this goal and also finished the 1956 Topps Flags of the World set.  It was interesting to see what flags had changed since 1956 and there were a few countries that no longer exist.  

3.  I wanted to get to 1,100 Padrographs.  Done.  I ended the year with 1,116 Padrographs.  The last card of the year was received from eBay on 12/26, it was a Bowman Draft Pick card of Ryan Weather.

4.  I wanted to support the Padres to an 80 win season.  FAIL.  I tried every way I knew how but it was not to be as the Friars only won 66 games.

5.  I needed to decide what 50's  non sport set to collect in 2019.  Done.  I have decided and that will show up as goal #2 for 2019.

GOALS FOR 2019.

1.  I would like to collect 99 copies of the Bip Roberts sombrero card from 1996 Score.  I would also like to get 9 different autographed cards of Bip with the Padres.

2.  I have decided to work first on the 1952 Topps Presidents of the United States set.  It is a 36 card set, even though at that point there were only 32 Presidents.  Then I will begin work on the 1950 Topps Freedom's War set.  It is 203 cards, but I will not be trying to get the 6 die cut tank cards. The cards are a weird size 2 1/16* 2 5/8, so I will have to find some odd size sheets.  

3.  I would like to get to 1,150 Padrographs.  I have been making customs for players who never had a Padres card and sending them out.  I have gotten a few back, hopefully I will get more back this season and all the guys from 2018 who didn't sign will sign something so I can include them.   

4.  I would like the Padres to win at least 90 games on their way to winning the World Series in 2020.

5.  I would like to update the website so that I have all the cards I have signed on the website.  That may take longer than a year.

6.  I would like to make a set of the Tri City Dust Devils this year and get it signed by the majority of the players.  

7.  I would to proofread every post before it goes up.  I have reread too many of my post that don't make sense because I have left out words.  

Christmas Packs #8

Included in the Christmas stuff was a pack of Night Owls favorite set, ProSet Music SuperStars.  I remember this set from when I worked at Baseball Cards and More from 1990-1995.  Opening the pack with 10 cards, mostly people I have heard of  but a couple I hadn't:

• Led Zeppelin-if you haven't heard of them, you have been living under a rock or are excessively young.
• The late Great B.B. King-played great blues guitar and played with U2, Eric Clapton and The Louisiana Gator Boys
• The London Quireboys-now known as just the Quireboys, charted with Hey You (still don't recognize them)
• Doro-is the former lead singer of the German Heavy Metal Band Warlock.  
• Excel-is a spreadsheet.  It is a also a crossover thrash band from Venice, California.
• Janet -Miss Jackson if you're nasty.  Younger sister of Michael Jackson, she has a good career.  I got two different cards of her.  
• Bruce Hornsby-was around for awhile and had a big hit with The Way it Is.  Bruce is a great performer who plays all kinds of style and has played with a wide variety of people in a lot of genres.
• Madonna-has reinvented herself many times and seems to be on the way to doing it again with her 14th album, scheduled to be released in 2019, which will be infused with Portugese fado music.  
• Steve Miller-The Joker, The Midnight Toker, The Space Cowboy he talks of the Pompateus of Love.  Steve Miller started out playing the blues, moved to pop and has moved back to the blues.  

I have owned music by five of the acts in the pack and still listen to several of them.  

Christmas Packs, Day 7

In 1993 Sterling Country Gold Cards issued a second series of cards.  Every pack of the cards will look different as the front of the pack is clear so you can see what the top card is.  In this pack it is one of the New Faces of Country, John Michael Montgomery, he had a big hit with the Grundy County Auction.  From upper right we start with Bocephaus, Hank Williams, Jr.  son of a country music legend and father of Hank Williams, III.  He had a big hit with All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight and he had the theme song for Monday Night Football.  Mark Chesnutt had eight number one hits between 1990 and 2002. Don Edwards, is in the Western Music Hall of Fame.  The Bellamy Brothers are actual brothers who have had a number one hit with Let Your Love Flow in 1976.  Robert Ellis Orral is a  singer, writer and producer who is also indie rocker with the band, Monkey Bowl.  Sons of the San Joaquin are two brothers and a son.  Greg Holland and Radney Foster never became stars although they are still recording.