Random things I have found on Cards Part 3

 I have done not one, but two posts like this, and both have gotten surprisingly great response, so why not do a 3rd version of Random things I have found on Cards?  

As is the case with the previous two posts, if it is an object on a card, I will attempt to find the card with the first mention or use of the object. 

FALSE TEETH: 1994 Topps #23 Mark Lemke (back)

1994 and 1995 Topps are littered with great info on the backs of the cards. Mark Lemke's 1994 Topps card mentions a game in 1987 where Mark got into a collision and his false teeth popped out and got stuck in an umpire's mask. While that would be wacky enough as it is, I ask myself: If the card is correct, and Lemke was born in 1965, that would make him 22 when he played that game. How many 22 year olds do you know with false teeth?  Even weirder than that, isn't there a Braves team issue card or something where Mark is pictured with a whole orange in his mouth? 

How the heck is he doing that, or does he just not have his teeth in, creating more area in his mouth to fit the orange into?  Do any Braves fans have more info on this? 

YAWN: 1996 Topps Gallery #49 Pete Schourek

I just recently purchased a 1996 Gallery complete set, and had I not done so, I wouldn't have known about this card. I have gotten up at 3AM enough to know what a yawn looks like, and I'm pretty sure that this card of Pete Schourek is the first one to picture a player yawning. 

SODA CAN: 1988 Topps #212 Greg Brock

If you look behind Greg's left ear, you can spot a can of Pepsi. As a Pepsi brand connoisseur, I can say I totally agree with Greg's (or the Brewer's) drink choices. 

TATTOO: 1993 Topps #745 Eric Davis

While I might be wrong on this one, this is one of the first cards that I have noticed a tattoo on a player. While we are talking about Davis, I don't think he is remembered enough in baseball circles. I feel like everybody whines (or whined) about Gil Hodges, Ted Simmons, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Dale Murphy, etc. needing to be in the Hall of Fame, and they don't look back at Eric's career. He had a monster 1987 season, almost going 40/40, led the Reds to a title in 1990, beat cancer, had some decent seasons for the Reds, Cardinals, and Orioles after that, but nobody talks about him. 

KEYCHAIN/STEVE URKEL: 1995/1996 Collector's Choice #114 Anthony Bowie (back)

I'm going to switch to basketball really quick. I collected basketball cards from about 1996-1998, as I played middle school hoops during those years. Unfortunately for me, I didn't pull any Kobe Bryant rookies. I did, however, pull this Anthony Bowie, with him pictured holding a keychain (I think) of Steve Urkel (I think). It may also be a pen, as he has some paper next to him. Need to find someone who knows Anthony so they can ask him. 

BALLOON HAT: 1996/1997 Collector's Choice #112 Dennis Scott (back)

On the back of 3D's '96/'97 Collector's Choice issue, he is pictured giving an interview with a balloon hat on. I loved watching Dennis hit 3's for the Magic in the late '90's. That lineup of him, Shaq, Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson, and Horace Grant was scary, and they should've won a NBA Finals, especially with Jordan basically retired for 2 years. There was no way that Rockets team was better than them in 1995/1996. 

EARRING: 1984 Donruss #288 Dave Parker

There may be an earlier occurrance, but I belive this 1984 Donruss Dave Parker is the first card picturing a player with an earring. I think it became more common a few years later when Bonds debuted. 

CHEESE HEAD: 1996/1997 Collector's Choice #28 Bulls Victory Tour

In this subset, Upper Deck chronicles the Chicago Bulls race to 70 wins in 1995/1996. On the back of this card, Dennis Rodman is pictured wearing a cheesehead that became popular in football in the '90's with the rise of the Green Bay Packers. Not sure why a Chicago player wouldn't be supporting the Bears, but Rodman is special, and probably didn't care. 

PLASTIC BAG: 2009 Topps Update #320 Mark/Daniel Schlereth

This one features Daniel Schlereth, with his Dad Mark, who played football in the NFL. It also has Mark holding a piece of paper and a plastic bag with something in it. I may be able to find out the answer, as Daniel is the pitching coach for USF, and will be coming to DeLand to take on Stetson University in a few weeks. I will definitely try to ask Daniel, and maybe tell him about this post. 

RING: 2003 Upper Deck #326 Carl Everett

I love me some Carl Everett. He speaks what is on his mind, and has some flashy cards. I got his autograph when he was with the Montreal/Washington, and he was a class act. On his 2003 UD card, Carl is pictured wearing a big ring. Carl has some cool photos on cards, including a bat hug, one showing muscles, a HR celebration, pointing at the camera, and a teammate giving him moose horns. Check out some of his late '90's and early '00's cards on TCDB. You will be glad you did. 

WATER BOTTLE: 1992 Upper Deck #255 Cecil Fielder

This card is great just because it has The Famous Chicken on it. It also has a folding beach chair (probably another first), and a water bottle. So much fun on one card. 

HOSE: 1992 Upper Deck #484 Roger McDowell

Roger is another one with crazy photos on cards. On his 1992 UD issue, Roger is giving the bleacher fans at Wrigley Field a shower with a hose that he got ahold of. I think the guy on the left with no shirt probably needs one. 

STREET SIGN: 1992 Upper Deck #51 Mark Newfield/Rondell White checklist

While is is a fake street sign, this is the first card to feature one on it. It's kind of funny that Newfield ended up playing just a season or two for Seattle before getting traded to the Padres. White spent a decent amount of time with the Expos, but I remember him being the first big free agent signing for Detroit after they were rebuilding in the early '00's. Between him, Troy Percival, Fernando Vina, Dmitri Young, Kenny Rogers, Carlos Guillen, and Ivan Rodriguez, those signings gave Detroit its' core to build around with young rookies, and they should've won the 2006 World Series with that crew over an obviously weaker Cardinals team. 

VILLAGE: 1992 Topps Stadium Club #387 Ruben Sierra

I have no idea where this was taken (probably Ruben's offseason home), but this has to be the first card with a balcony, front door, curb, street light, and most anything that you can spot in the card. Kind of makes me want to hunt one down. 

SOME TYPE OF SKI HAT: 1998 Score #107 Doug Drabek

Doug lives in Texas, so it's not surprising that he is cold. This photo was probably taken in Chicago, and the long sleeves suggest it is a cold spring day. I wear a beanie just about 100% of the time when I am not at work, so I could totally relate with Doug wanting to stay warm. 

MALLET: 1993 Triple Play #129 Equipment

This card shows Curt Schilling beating his glove with a mallet, I guess trying to break it in. The back might have a first, as it shows Kenny Lofton with some tape trying to tape a bat. 

DOG: 1993 Triple Play #164 Mascots

This card (which features the Pirate Parrot on the front) talks about the current team mascots in 1992. The Reds had owner Marge Schott's dog Schotzie pictured on the back with Bip Roberts. I know there are some Bip Roberts super collectors out there, and make sure you don't miss out on this one that sometimes slips through the cracks.#

PLAYER WITH ANOTHER TEAM'S HAT: 2003 Upper Deck 40 Man #278 Doug Mientkiewicz

I have always wanted to know the story behind this card. Doug has an Oakland A's helmet. Not sure if it has ear flaps, but it is definitely some player's hat, and I want to know how he got it.

3-TEAM TRIFECTA: 2008 Upper Deck First Pitch #469 Brad Wilkerson

I rediscovered this card a few weeks ago when we saw Stetson University play the University of North Florida, where Brad is a coach. I went through his cards and picked a few to try to get autographed. Should've done this one, but maybe next year or earlier if they come to Stetson for the ASUN tournament. 
This card features a player that is mentioned with 3 teams in the same year on the same card. He played for the Rangers in 2007, signed to play with Mariners during the 2007 offseason, played with them for a little while in 2008, then was traded to Toronto in midseason of 2008. It would've been even worse had he got traded in 2007, then it could've been possibly 4 teams. It is just a little confusing where you have a card with a player in a Mariners uniform on the front that says he plays for the Blue Jays on the same photo, and has his stats for the Rangers the previous year on the back. Which team do you put the card with when you are organizing? I feel like this is the type of card Nick from Dime Boxes would collect, and I am going to be on the lookout for more. 

COFFEE MACHINE/COFFEE CUP/TONS OF OTHER STUFF: 2026 Topps #302 Bronx Buddies

The fun doesn't stop in 2026. I've mentioned this card before, but it has some great stuff on it. A coffee/drink machine, a desk, a coffee cup, some artwork, perhaps a light switch, just tons of stuff and a photo that you would think would make it an SP. While it does have the evil empire, I think all of the fun things on it can make me overlook that. 

Things have been nonstop but good here at my place. I have a SportLots order that is about 5 sellers away from being filled. Once it is, I will have it shipped, and barring any gremlins, it will complete my 1980-2025 Topps complete set run. It also has fun cards of guys I collect and a few Stetson guys to hopefully get autographed before the season is finished. 

One reason it has been nonstop is that we got a new puppy. Our last dog passed late last year, and while enjoying no dogs, Karen has been asking me to get one, and we went to a pet store to look at fish, and one thing led to another, and somehow we ended up with a 4 week old boxer/pit mix named Finn. He is a handful, likes to chew things, and barks a lot, but we love him. 

I also finally got an autographed CD from one of my top 3 favorite bands, PfR. They were a popular Christian rock band in the '90's, and this CD was actually released in 2001, and I think I had the original at some point. They recently did a Kickstarter project to get this CD remastered, and on the first day, I signed up to get an autographed copy. I have never seen them live, and I really hope they decide to tour again, because I love their chord progressions and sick guitar solos. 

Work will be crazy this week, but with the boss gone for 2 days, and a day off on Wednesday, I really will just have Thursday, Friday, and Saturday filled with chaos, and then get to take out my frustration on the piano at our Easter service at church. Monday will be a little hairy, but then just a smooth schedule for a while and a nice routine. I'll probably post again when I get the SportLots box. It might take a week or two to get logged into TCDB and organized, but it will be a fun week. Stay tuned.

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

Recent additions

 It’s been a bit since I’ve posted last, and I have a pile of photos of cards I need to post. Incoming cards have come from trades, eBay, and good old packs. 

Fuji, from The Chronicles of Fuji, sent an envelope in the early part of 2026. It included a 2013 Topps Chrome Orange Refracror of my one of my favorite players, Ben Zobrist. There was a 2011 Bowman International parallel of Jeremy Hellickson, a 2019 Bowman Chrome John Doxakis autograph, and a 2025 Topps Holiday parallel of Shane McClanahan. Some nice additions to my Rays binder, and it is always great to add a new favorite player card, an autograph you don’t have, and some parallels. Thanks, Fuji!

Around the same time, I got a nice package of Rays and Marlins from Rod of Padrographs. There were a few team bags filled with cards. I expected some new stuff, but also got some stuff from the past 10 years with some big power. Starting with the older end of the package, Rod gets off with a bang with. 2011 Bowman Gold Blake Snell rookie. I always figured Snell was drafted in 2014 or 2015, as I opened a ton of ‘11 Bowman trying to pull a Bryce Harper rookie (never did), and never pulled a Snell. Next up are 2 autographed cards of Snell. It’s not very often when you get gifted 2 autographs of a 2 time Cy Young winner. I was really wanting a Snell auto a while back, and ended getting one off of eBay, so now I have 3. Moving on to newer stuff, Rod included a 2021 Topps Montgomery Club parallel of Snell. Some 2025 Bowman are next, and are really cool in my book. A Red RC logo parallel of Jake Mangum. I really wished the Rays wouldn’t have thrown him away and given him a starting OF spot instead of signing Cedric Mullins. We will see how that pans out, but I’m stating for the record that Mullins will regress, Caminero will be the lone all-star, and the Rays will go 70-92. Speaking of Caminero, Rod pulled a Green Mojo 2025 Bowman of Junior and passed it along to me. I swear most of my low numbered parallels of Caminero have been sent to me by Rod. The last card I picked to show off is a 2025 Topps Chrome Logofractor of Pete Fairbanks, another Ray who was one of the best guys on the team that they just dumped. If the Tigers don’t extend Skubal, I’m accepting applications to be fans for other teams. At any rate, I got some really cool cards from Rod, and I’m happy for that even if none of my teams attempt to compete. Thanks for the great cards, Rod!

The last card from bloggers was a 2023 Leaf Vivid Andruw Jones card from Kevin of The Diamond King. He held a giveaway, and I nabbed the Jones card. I loved watching Jones play defense in the ‘90’s and ‘00’s, and I’ve been collecting anyone on the Dutch national team, since both sets of my grandparents came from the Netherlands. I was happy to see Jones finally get elected into the Hall of Fame and join Bert Blyleven as the only Dutch guys to get into the Hall. Thanks, Kevin, for the great card of one of the newest Hall of Famers!

While not all of my eBay purchases, these are 2 of my favorites. I collect guys who have played baseball for Stetson University, and while I have a few autographs of Stetson alum Logan Gilbert, I don’t have a jersey card. I found a cheap Heritage one, and snagged it. I was wanting to find an autograph of future Rays starter Carson Williams, and found a cheap one. There was also a Bowman Chrome rookie that was for a good price, and I jumped on it. 

My friend Jim, who has season tickets to Stetson (like we now do), attended an Opening Day baseball banquet for Stetson, and was able to meet special guests Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and Jeremy Pena. He got autographs from them all, and since he already had a Gooden, he gave me the one he got at the banquet. I’ve given him a few nice cards, but nothing like a Gooden autograph. I’ll probably go to a Stetson game in the next week or two and thank Jim in person and give him a stack of cards I’ve been gathering for him. 

About a month ago, I made a trade with a collector on a set collectors group on Facebook. I got rid of about a 500 count box of Topps doubles, and got back a similar box with Topps needs, Rays and Tigers. After the trade, I got an envelope with some more Rays and Tigers. It was the first time I got a bonus envelope a few weeks after a trade from a collector on a Facebook group. He collects Phillies, so I have some set aside to send back. The second envelope contained some cool ‘90’s cards, including 2 of Cecil Fielder, one of my all time favorite Detroit Tigers. I opened about a box worth of 1996 Upper Deck packs, but never pulled a Power Driven insert. I now have one of Big Daddy. I’ve only opened 1 pack of Pinnacle Aficionado, and if I remember correctly, it had a Roger Cedeno, Edgardo Alfonso, Andy Benes, and an Albert Belle checklist. It is a heck of a nice looking set, and Panini needs to bring it back. I’m happy I got the Cecil from the set. 

As far as packs, I’ve opened a few from 2026 Topps. 

The first 2026 Topps card I pulled was some Padre rookie I have never heard of from a jumbo pack. 

That pack also produced a James Wood jersey card. 

I did get a few cool parallels from packs lately. The Nolan Schanuel was from 2025 Archives and is numbered to 50. From 2026 Topps, I pulled a Holiday Ohtani and a Purple Logan Webb. 

There were also some rookie parallels that I was proud to pull. I actually pulled 2 Black parallels of Nick Kurtz from 2025 Archives. I pulled a Raywave Refractor of Marcelo Mayer from 2025 Topps Chrome Update. There were 4 parallels from 2026 Topps that I thought were nice ones. 2 different Holiday parallels of Cam Schlitter. If he does well, it will be good cause the value of them will go up, and if he bombs, I’m ok with that too, since he’s a Yankee. After looking at the back of the Holo Owen Caissie card, I think he has the potential to be a 30-40 HR guy. The Marlins have some nice hitters they’ve been collecting, and with the Cubs getting Cabrera for him, they are looking like a decent team in the NL. I think Roman Anthony is one of the key cards to pull from 2026 Topps, and I pulled a Pink and Green parallel. 

I’ve ordered a few other cards from eBay. A few guys who are coaches that will be at Stetson games, and some guys to finish Topps sets off. I actually have a Sportlots order that will probably be over 1,000 cards when it is filled, but as long as there aren’t any accounting errors by myself, it will give me a run of complete Topps and Topps Traded/Update sets from 1980-2025. A word of advice: if there is a guy who has the potential to make the Hall of Fame and they change teams, get their first card of them in that new uniform as soon as possible. Between the 2003 Topps Traded Rickey Henderson (Dodgers), 2003 Topps Traded David Ortiz (Red Sox), and 2004 Topps Traded Terry Francona (Red Sox), I think the cheapest one anywhere was 15 bucks. Cards that should be 20 cents to a dollar. Card prices and the reason some cards are priced what they are is insane. The 2014 Topps complete set which only has a 2nd year Machado, 4th  year Trout, and only has rookies of Jose Ramirez and Marcus Semien, the cheapest I can find one anywhere is around 150 bucks, with most being around the 200 dollar range. I feel like it should be closer to 100. I didn’t have to spend that much by finishing it from Sportlots, but I still think prices need to really reflect the card. In any Topps set, a major star should be 3-5 bucks, commons should be 10 cents or so, and stars should be .50 to $1. Rookies should reflect who they are and how long it has been since they played. Wishful thinking. 

On the 10th Karen has a broncoscophy at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. I’ll have 4 days in a row off work because of that. Might fool with some custom cards then. The scope should show how much space her airway has gained since the operation in December. On the 12th, Stetson has a game, and former Pirate Shane Youman is a coach for their opponent. I have 2 cards of his, so we’ll try to get them signed, and a few days later, an opposing coach is Daniel Schlereth, a former Diamondback and Tiger. Schlereth has a 2009 Topps Update card that pictures him and his Dad, former NFL player Mark Schlereth. 

This card is going to appear in a future blog post. The card shows Mark holding a plastic bag. I hope at the Stetson game to ask Daniel what is in the bag. Besides what’s in the bag, I think this one is the first card picturing a plastic bag on it. I plan to do a 3rd post of ‘strange things I’ve found on cards’. A few I plan to highlight include the ‘88 Topps Greg Brock (Pepsi cup), ‘88 Topps Tom Lasorda (golf cart), ‘03 UD 40 Man Doug Mientkiewicz (wearing opposing team helmet), the Schlereth card, and whatever else I can find. I also plan to highlight a few of the backs, including one that mentions dentures. If you have opened any 2026 Topps, be sure to check out card #302, Bronx Buddies. 

I see some ceramic coffee cups, perhaps a Kuerig machine, and some picture frames, all firsts if I am correct. Stay tuned for that post, and feel free to send me some ideas. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.  

-Jeremy