Merry Christmas! It is my favorite time of the year, and Christmas 2020 netted me a really cool Harry Caray Cubs memorabilia. More on that in a bit.
While I’m not a religious person, the holiday season is very special to me. It’s a magical time that begins in early November as I watch Hallmark Christmas movies. Yes, the cheesy Christmas movies in which every plot line is the exact same as the next. Young attractive female from the city somehow lands in a small town. The holiday magic makes her realize the city life and her Wall Street boyfriend/fiancé is not to her liking while discovering a quaint small town single guy.
At the same time there are numerous sports card deals from various outlets, like Blowout Cards, from where I’ve had some amazing luck with baseball card sales.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had baseball cards under the Christmas tree and/or in my stocking. Baseball cards showed up in my stocking even in those awkward teen years when I thought I was too cool, or in my college years when I hid them in a closet for fear a girlfriend would discover my nerdy side.
The first couple years with my wife she would not give in to buying me cards, but I wore her down and she enables my obsession with eBay gift cards and a Topps factory set.
My mom loves antiquing and discovers some cool finds, like this framed Harry Caray Cubs memorabilia piece. I have very little Harry Caray in my Cubs collection so not only is this a really cool piece, it’s something unique to add to a wall. It is a framed record of Harry Caray singing, “Take Me Out To The Ball Game,” a Cubs coaster, and a photo of Caray in the Wrigley Field broadcast booth.
Those antique shops also offer up plenty of junk wax, like these packs of commons. I did pull a small pile of Cubs and a couple stars like Bo Jackson, Don Mattingly, and Wade Boggs.
This year has been wild with retail shelf clearing so I wasn’t expecting any 2020 products, but both my wife and mom found some. A blaster box of Topps Gallery, blister pack of Topps Update, and a 2020 Topps factory set.
I had to bust open the blaster and blister, and pulled some decent cards: a couple Kyle Lewis and Bo Bichette rookie cards, Mike Trout, Derek Jeter, and Ronald Acuna.
And a couple of gift cards to eBay and Target! Shopping spree!
Another Cubs-related find was a deck of cards from 1992. I’m pretty sure I have one or two of these, but they are sealed. So, I had to open this pack up to see the contents.
Getting the aces treatment are Ryne Sandberg, Greg Maddux, George Bell, and Andre Dawson. I can’t argue with those choices.
One of my favorite images has to be Les Lancaster on the 5 of Spades. Was he having a bad outing? Looks like he’s not happy with his performance on this particular day.
Big Hector Villanueva! He’s on the 6 of Spades.
Mark Grace is the King of Spades.
Paul Assenmacher is the King of Diamonds. Side note: I absolutely love those Cubby Blue vinyl or satin jackets with the giant logo. I may have to go shopping on eBay for one of these.
A total of 118 Cubs baseball cards were added to the collection this Christmas. That number puts the total up to 524,675 Cubs baseball cards.
Something hobby related, but more practical than a box of baseball cards. I finally decided to take the plunge and get a thermal printer. One was under the Christmas tree for me. I’m excited to put this to good use!
It was another wonderful Christmas and I am very blessed. Wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
Very cool stuff.
The Cubs playing card deck is lots of fun. Is there a joker? Who was the 2? Oh wait. I found it online.
2♠ Frank Castillo
2♣ Gary Scott
2♥ Dwight Smith
2♦ Shawn Boskie
Dwight Smith as a deuce? Hhmmm. And then Bob Scanlan got to be a Jack? Oh, players are repeated in this set. Bob Scanlan is also a 5♥. Ahhh, Dwight Smith is also a 10♠. That feels a bit better.
It’s funny…The jokers are the National League. Haha!