If you've followed my blog or Tweets on Twitter X (@flywheels), then you know that I'm a Christian and I collect cards of Christian athletes. While I don't own a lot of autographed in person type cards, I do have a few where the player added their favorite Bible verse. I've often thought about trying to craft a series of posts on these cards and spotlight the verse they shared for those who may not be familiar with said verse. However I'm bad about starting something only to not follow through after a few weeks...so will this post be a one off or the beginning on something that will see ..read more

The other weekend I noticed a card show was being held a small church, hosted by the closest LCS to me. For once I didn't really have any plans so my oldest daughter (14) went with me. We had a 30-40 minute drive to get to the venue. On the drive there I asked what my daughter was going to be looking for, since I was a little surprised that she wanted to go with me in the first place. She told me she would like to find some wrestling cards, particularly of a few of the female wrestlers she likes. For me, I wasn't looking for anything in particular. Growing up I used to attend card shows all t ..read more

If you were a fan of the NBA in the 90's, then you were exposed to a plethora of NBA stars and of course the products they endorsed. In a sports world seemingly dominated by the likes of Nike, Converse stepped up to the plate with their spokesman, Larry Johnson, forward of the Charlotte Hornets at the time. The Converse executives didn't just stop there however as they took it a step further. In their first commercial, Larry Johnson stated that you couldn't beat his Grandmama. Long before Tyler Perry would unveil his Madea character, we had Larry Johnson and Grandmama. At the time there wasn't ..read more

In one of my recent Affordable Group Breaks we came across an image of a player holding an old camera on the card and one of the participants commented how they liked seeing a card featuring old tech. In 2002 Fleer released a set called Box Score which contained an insert set called Debut. Embedded in the card was a box score as it would have appeared in the newspaper US Today from that player's debut game. I happen to have this card of the Blue Jays' Eric Hinske. While I don't know if this clipping is manufactured for the set or an actual newspaper clipping, I find it cool none the less...bit ..read more

I've done a much better job in 2023 at keeping my toy blog going, but this trading card blog has kinda fell to the side. After starting up a Facebook group to host my group breaks, I just haven't really thought much about utilizing this blog...which is a shame on many levels. I still like to read other card blogs so it's not like I left the hobby, but I guess at times it's easier to throw up a quick post on Facebook or Twitter/X than it is to try and craft a blog post. My card collecting has really slowed down in 2023. My limited hobby funds have been allocated to other areas and I feel I've ..read more

One of the casualties of 2022's on demand products was this crossover of Garbage Pail Kids and MLB. I forget which month I ordered this, but the pack/box finally came at the end of February 2023. This set features exclusive art by Keith Shore, however I wasn't sure what to think as I didn't care for his take on previous on demand products like Project 2020. I'm glad I didn't try to cancel the order because once the pack/box came I was fairly happy with the cards in hand. Let's take a look. All of these cards are based off original GPK designs, just "touched" up by Keith. My favor ..read more

  Being both a toy collector and a trading card collector with blogs for both hobbies, I wasn't sure which blog to share this figure...however since its sports oriented it landed here.  I'm not a Starting Lineup collector, however I remember these figures vividly from card shows of the past. I don't want to knock them or anyone who collects these, they just never appealed to me. The only reason I have this one is because I got it for a $1 from a card shop that obviously wanted it gone. The blister bubble is heavily yellowed (my guess is from sunlight or old age), but didn't care a ..read more

  In 1981 Paramount Pictures released a great, often overlooked slasher horror movie, My Bloody Valentine. It's since been re-made, but like a lot of movies from the horror genre that have seen a new version the original is still the best.  Flash forward to 2023, the movie is receiving a set of trading cards from Fright Rags. I've been on their mailing list for awhile now, more specifically after I discovered they released horror movie trading card sets. I've purchased a few sets from them so when they put up pre-orders for My Bloody Valentine I jumped at the opportunity to buy a ..read more

Parallels are nothing new in the world of trading cards. Now days collectors are literally chasing the parallel rainbow for their favorite player. Do card companies today get carried away with this? Yes, but it still can be fun. However can you remember a time when parallels weren't as plentiful in each set? Gold parallels were hit when Topps first introduced them in their 1992 baseball set. Other card companies would follow suit with their own gold parallel, but one company excelled in this department...at least in my opinion. Fleer. Fleer Ultra to be more exact. First released in their 1996 ..read more

Hey! It's been awhile, hasn't it? While my blogging activity has been scant to say the best, I've still been chugging along, picking up cards and ripping packs & boxes every now and then. While my hectic life makes it hard to keep up with what's going on in the new hobby, Topps released yet another Chrome set in late 2022 that (initially) flew under my radar. At first glance I thought this was just another "throw away" set. Looking more like a Panini set than Topps, I wasn't sure what to think about the set...but I knew I still wanted the few Braves' represented in the set, especially t ..read more