Touchdown!

 

There's good ol' Terry Bradshaw, arms in the air, celebrating another score. He's likely done it by completing a pass to John Stallworth, or maybe Lynn Swann. Tack on a quick and simple field goal, and the Steelers have put 7 points on the board.

 

Do you know what else has put 7 points on the board, in an anniversary sense?

 

This blog! 

 

That's right. Today marks exactly 7 years since I started blogging about trading cards. I don't know where the time goes, but I wouldn't mind if it slowed down a little bit.

Regardless, it was a good year of blogging. For example, set completions were plentiful:

Hockey

1981-82 Topps

1991-92 Score Canadian Bilingual

1991-92 Upper Deck

 

Baseball 

1980 Topps

1987 Topps

 

Nonsport 

2023 Allen & Ginter TALONted

The Smorgasbord series also had a strong showing, with 9 entries appearing throughout the year that were filled with nostalgic food-issue cards and stories.

As for custom card designs, they came a bit slower than usual in 2025. However, on top of what customs I did create for myself, I also designed a few commissioned pieces for clients. That was fun, and I have a couple more of those lined up for 2026. 

 

In addition, I think I achieved my goal of regaining some zeal for the hobby—in large part as a result of some great vintage acquisitions like these.

 

But perhaps the most noteworthy accomplishment is that I managed to post new content here on the blog every Sunday again for the entire year. That's a 7-year streak! I'm particularly happy about it this time, because work was extremely busy for the majority of 2025. There were plenty of days (and weeks) when I was exhausted. And frustrated. And it can be tough to create much of anything when you're in that state. But I managed to do it, and I hope you guys found the content entertaining, engaging, and informative across the year.

 

So, how about some goals for 2026?

• Keep the good collecting energy going
• Keep the every-Sunday blog post streak going
• Find more time to read all the other great card blogs out there
• Hold a couple of giveaways
• Enjoy/look through my current collection a little more (I don't flip through my binders enough)

 

I think all five of those are doable.

Thank you all for reading along throughout the year, and for your insightful, informative, and entertaining comments.

 

Here's to lots of good collecting experiences in 2026 for everyone!

 

Six!

 

1975-76 Topps #150, Darryl Sittler

If you were a hockey-loving kid opening packs of cards on February 8th, 1976, and pulled the card above, you would have let out a big cheer.

 

Why?

The night before, Darryl Sittler scored 6 goals against the Boston Bruins in an 11–4 win for the Maple Leafs. Add 4 assists to his scoresheet, and you'll find that Sittler contributed to 10 of his team's 11 goals.

There was no way you were trading that card at school the next day. (Or maybe you do try and trade it—you'd be sure to get a haul in return.)

Regardless, six goals in a game is pretty special. And do you know what else has "lit the lamp" 6 times now, in an anniversary sense?

This blog!

That's right. Tomorrow marks the 6-year anniversary of my very first post here at Nine Pockets. I don't know where the time goes. It's baffling.

But it's been another fun year. I designed more custom cards, found some pieces of trading card nostalgia from my childhood, learned some French-language baseball terminology, and started a series on food-issue cards.

 

I'm also happy to report that I've officially kept the streak of Sunday posts going for another year. Every Sunday since 2019. I'm pretty happy about that.

One more thing I'm happy about? Last year at this time, one of my goals was to get some zeal back for the hobby. And I'll give myself a passing grade there. The Smorgasbord series has helped, as I've enjoyed picking up some cool, retro, funky food-issue cards over the past few months. Much more to come there, so stay tuned. I also completed three more sets from my youth this past year: 1983 Topps Baseball, 1982 Topps Football, and 1990-91 Pro Set Hockey.

As for this coming year, I've got some posts lined up already that I'm hoping you'll enjoy. It's been a while since I've done a giveaway, so I think I'll try to include a couple of those throughout the year, too. Other than that, I just want to keep the good mojo going, and I've got to make an effort to find more time to read and comment on all the great trading card blogs out there.

The hobby is still in a weird place, isn't it? It seems like there's lots of big energy, but lots of malaise at the same time. Quite a few things are behind that phenomenon, but instead of taking time to analyze and write about them, I think I'm just going to stick to what makes me feel good in the hobby, share some of those good feelings here on the blog, and treat all the rest of it as noise.

Thanks to all of you for following along these past 6 years, for your friendships (real-world or virtual), for your trades, and for your comments. We've got a great community, and I look forward to year number 7.

Here's to lots of good collecting all around in 2025!

Gimme Five!

 

 

What a fun baseball card. There's Tom Paciorek, scoring a run at Shea Stadium, wearing those classic Mets uniforms, and giving a high-five to his waiting teammate. (Wally Backman, perhaps.)

 

And whether it's on the baseball diamond or anywhere else, exuberant high-fives like this one never really go out of style, do they?

 

That being said, get ready to give this blog a high-five. . . 

 

. . .because it's turning five years old!

 

I started this blog in late December of 2018. Time sure does fly.

But it's been another good year here at Nine Pockets. I was able to complete a few more card sets from my childhood era (1980-81 Topps hockey, 1981 Topps baseball, and 1988 Score baseball), and I created a bunch more custom cards, including a set of 1980s movie cards and even some Nine Pockets wax packs!

 

I also managed to post something here on the blog every Sunday yet again, keeping the streak going for the fifth straight year. It was a busy time personally (new job, new home, among other things), but I'm happy I pushed myself from January through December to come up with content that I hope you readers have considered engaging and entertaining. 

Interestingly, the sidebar on the blog shows 53 total posts for the year instead of the standard 52. After some investigating, I found that the first Sunday of 2023 happened to be January 1st, and today, the final Sunday of 2023, is December 31st. So the calendar managed to squeeze in just enough room for the bonus post.

 

As for year six? Well, I think it's similar to how I felt last year at this time. A big part of collecting is still about nostalgia for me: The memories and good feelings that trading cards bring about. The energy and excitement that comes with hunting for the next cards you want for your collection. I haven't felt that as much lately. I didn't really add a whole lot of cards to my collection aside from completing a few sets. I didn't trade very much at all on TCDB, or with fellow bloggers and collectors. I didn't comment as much on other trading card blogs. And so I want to try to get a little zeal back for the hobby. 

 

I'm not sure how much of that will happen this coming year, but if nothing else, I'd like to sit down and take a look at my collection, and which types of cards make me the most happy and nostalgic. I'm pretty sure the answer to that is vintage cards, plus oddball and food-issue stuff from the 1980s. And maybe some vintage non-sport stuff, too. So let's see what happens.

Regardless, I've got a lot of good ideas for upcoming blog posts, and a pretty big list of custom cards to work on. So I'm not going anywhere. Stay tuned for some fun content and potential giveaways. 

 

Thanks to all of you for reading, commenting, and most importantly for inspiring me through your blogs and your collections.

Here's to another great year of collecting!

A Boost from the Dime Boxes

Last month I looked back on my 2022 collecting year and came up with some pluses and minuses. A plus was that I succeeded in posting content here every Sunday throughout the year again. Another was that I designed more custom cards than ever, which was a lot of fun.

 

A minus was that I only added a couple dozen cards to my personal collection all year. And because of that, one of my collecting goals for 2023 is to get back into the hobby a little bit more, picking up a few cards along the way. 

 

Recently, Mr. Nick from the Dime Boxes blog gave me my first boost toward reaching that goal. The eclectic collector and all-around entertaining blogger celebrated his 11-year blogiversary with a very generous giveaway, allowing readers to claim a healthy amount of trading cards from an even healthier 20-page list.

 

I didn't waste any time, and scrolled through the pages to claim some cards before other more zealous collectors had the chance to snatch them up.

 

 

2010 A&G World's Wordsmiths
#WGWS10, Edgar Allan Poe

First up was writer extraordinaire Edgar Allan Poe. This mini is from a 15-card insert set that features other literary greats like Homer, Shakespeare, Washington Irving, and Marcus Aurelius. I might have to seek out some of those names, as well.

 

 

1979 Hostess #149, Jerry Koosman

Next up is pitcher Jerry Koosman. He's trying to force an optimistic glance past the camera despite having been airbrushed into a Minnesota Twins uniform after spending some great years (and winning a World Championship) with the Mets.

 

 

1978 Kellogg's #23, Willie McCovey

Then I had to claim this sharp-looking Willie McCovey 3-D Kellogg's card—not only because Stretch was a superstar who was winding down his playing career at the time, but also because it seems like he made a concerted effort to place his signature over a portion of the card that would help its visibility. I always appreciate when a player does that.

 

 

1982 Kellogg's #17, Bruce Sutter

While we're on the subject of breakfast cereals, here's another Kellogg's card that I claimed. I like the "relief pitcher" designation instead of just plain-old "pitcher". Relievers were big deals by the time the 1980s rolled around, and Bruce Sutter was a perennial league leader of the era.

 

 

1989 Cereal Superstars #9,
George Brett

This George Brett card intrigued me. From the information I've gathered, it's part of a 12-card set featuring 6 National League and 6 American League stars of the day. Two cards from the set were inserted in select boxes of Ralston Purina–brand cereals back in 1989, and that's how you'd acquire them. Most of the photos are headshots, and because only an MLBPA license was obtained, all uniforms and caps are airbrushed. So even though I've only got 11 cards to go to complete the set, I'm not sure I'll be going for it.

 

1986 True Value Superstars #27,
Dwayne Murphy

Finally, I couldn't resist this True Value card featuring Dwayne Murphy with his baseball cap riding way up high, but tilted way down. Dwayne and his 29 other MLB buddies in this set were issued in fold-out sheets that contained three perforated cards, plus an advertisement for a product you could find at True Value stores, such as Weber barbecue grills, GE light bulbs, and Wagner power painters. Cool.

I'm sure you've noticed a pattern here. If I do regain some zeal for the hobby this year and start picking up card singles, a decent portion of them would be food-issue and oddball cards from the '70s and '80s. They're just the most fun and nostalgic to me, and those are the criteria that drive my hobby tastes the most these days.

 

Big thank-you to Nick for holding such a generous giveaway, and for sending these six cards that are motivating me to search out more cool stuff in 2023.

 

Congratulations again on 11 years of blogging, Nick. Keep up the great writing, and here's to an excellent year 12!

Four-Bagger!

Here's a great-looking card from the 1977 Topps baseball set.

The whole thing resembles the back page of a newspaper, even down to the headline: Chambliss’ Dramatic Homer Decides It. And there’s the scene right in front of you. Chris Chambliss is finishing a hero’s follow-through, watching the baseball soar into the cool night sky, soon to clear the outfield fence.

Home runs are always dramatic, but add the fact that it was the final game of the AL Championships, in the bottom of the 9th, in front of the home fans at Yankee Stadium, and you get a historic winning moment.

 

Here's Chambliss himself talking about the game, complete with video footage.

 

 

 

All those fans on the field. Pandemonium!

 

 

But this post isn't just about famous home runs. Something else has touched four bases in a figurative sense:

 

This blog is 4 years old!

It was an eventful year. I created over 30 custom cards, which is the most I've done in one calendar year. Some of those were commissioned works too, which was a first.

Then there was the Battle of the Bands series, which provided a great creative outlet for me. It also helped me rediscover some bands that I hadn't listened to in a long while.

I also finished creating the series of 8-bit sports stickers and posted them on redbubble.

 

And on top of all that, I was able to post content to the blog every Sunday throughout the year once again, which means the streak that started way back at the beginning of this blog, in 2019, is still going.

 

But it was a strange year too.

 

All the time I spent designing custom cards and doing creative work meant less time for the hobby in general. Less time to read and comment on other blogs. Less time to collect. In fact, I probably only added a couple dozen cards to my personal collection the entire year.

 

Part of that has to do with the absurd boom this hobby has been experiencing. There's good and bad to it, of course. But as one example of the negative side, I know I've put a few of my 1980s set builds on hold because some of the high-dollar cards in those sets are currently sporting prices that I'm just not willing to pay.

 

But I can't let that sap my enthusiasm forever. I've got to regain some zeal for the hobby. I need something to reinvigorate me. That's a goal for 2023, especially if I want to keep coming up with engaging content and continue that Sunday streak here on the blog.

I have some good confidence that it will continue, but even if the streak ends at some point during the year, I'm still going to post content. Still going to create custom cards, too. No worries there.

So stay tuned for more good stuff as we head into year 5 of the Nine Pockets blog, including some new giveaways.

Thanks so much to all of you who've followed along, commented, and otherwise exhibited your generosity and friendship.

Keep on collecting!

200th post

I've reached a nice milestone here at Nine Pockets:

200 blog posts!

Because I add content here once a week, every Sunday, 200 posts means I've been at this for almost four years now. I'm very happy that I've been able to come up with enough content to fill that many Sundays, and I hope you've enjoyed doing the reading as much as I've enjoyed doing the writing.

 
Because this is a trading card blog, let's tie in some cards. Here is a sports-related milestone involving the number 200, along with cardboard representation.

 

200 Points in an NHL Season

 

1. Wayne Gretzky   215   1985-86

2. Wayne Gretzky   212   1981-82

3. Wayne Gretzky   208   1984-85

4. Wayne Gretzky   205   1983-84

  
 

 

That's it.

Yet another indication of how Wayne Gretzky was simply on a different planet in the 1980s.

 

Now it's true that Mario Lemieux had 199 points for the 1988-89 season, which is as close as you can get without hitting the mark, so let's add the next few players on the list.

 

 5.  Mario Lemieux    199   1988-89

 6.  Wayne Gretzky   196   1982-83

 7.  Wayne Gretzky   183   1986-87

 8.  Mario Lemieux    168   1987-88

 8.  Wayne Gretzky   168   1988-89

10. Wayne Gretzky   164   1980-81

Again. Gretzky. Different planet. Lemieux was right up there as well, of course. In fact, let's keep going down the list.

 

11. Wayne Gretzky   163   1990-91

12. Mario Lemieux    161   1995-96

13. Mario Lemieux    160   1992-93

14. Steve Yzerman  155   1988-89

15. Phil Esposito      152   1970-71 

 

That's right. Steve Yzerman is the first person on the list not named Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux. At 14th place. That's just absurd.

 

Let's touch on baseball, too. I was thinking 200-hit seasons would be a good one; however, there are too many players and seasons to list. So instead I'll list the 10 players with the most 200-hit seasons in their careers.

Most 200-Hit Seasons, Career

Ichiro Suzuki (10)

Pete Rose (10)

Ty Cobb (9)

Derek Jeter (8)

Lou Gehrig (8)

Paul Warner (8)

Willie Keeler (8)

Wade Boggs (7)

Charlie Gehringer (7)

Rogers Hornsby (7)

 

I don't have trading cards of quite a few of those players, but here's Rose, Ichiro, and Jeter courtesy of the internet.

 

 

 

 

I'd probably take any one of those guys on my all-time starting nine. (Although maybe someone else at shortstop, like Honus Wagner or Ozzie Smith.)

 

Regardless, that's a lot of Hall of Fame talent. And you're all hall of fame readers and commenters, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Thank you all for spending some time here and commenting over these past four years. We've got quite a community, and I'm grateful to be a small part of it. Happy collecting ahead!

Hat Trick!

1991-92 Bowman #347, Ken Hodge

 

 

I was a young collector when these 1991-92 Bowman hockey cards were released. Any amount of foil on a card was a pretty big deal back then, and those three pucks stamped in gold foil on the top corner of these special "hat trick" cards earned some coolness points with collectors, for sure. What can I say? We were easy to please back then.

 

But this post isn't really about the 1991-92 Bowman hockey set. Another type of hat trick was scored recently, in an anniversary sense of the expression.

 

This blog has turned three years old!

 

And just like last year's anniversary, I'm very happy to say that I've again maintained the goal of posting new content once a week, every Sunday.

 

It was a big year. Along with extending the streak, I added a bunch of fun custom cards to the list, and debuted the print versions to boot.

 

All you readers, commenters, and fellow bloggers have continued to inspire me and make the effort worthwhile, so I'm sending a big thank-you all around. I look forward to year number four, and I've got more custom cards and other ideas lined up. I'm also going to push hard to keep the every-Sunday streak going throughout the entire year. 

 

But let's get back to hat tricks for a moment. Because this is a trading card blog, let's link a few more cards to the feat of scoring three goals in a game.

 

Here are the three players who've scored the most hat tricks across their NHL careers: 

 

 

Gretzky had 50, Lemieux had 40, and Bossy had 39. 

 

Fifty hat tricks. Think about it for a minute. 

 

That means 150 of Wayne Gretzky's 894 career goals came on nights when he scored a hat trick. I mean c'mon, 150 goals total for an NHL career is nothing to shake a stick at. And Gretzky put up that many on hat tricks alone.

 

As for Mike Bossy's 39 hat tricks? Here's something that will help you understand just how incredible that number really is: 

 

Wayne Gretzky's 50 hat tricks came across 20 seasons. 

Mario Lemieux's 40 hat tricks came across 17 seasons. 

Mike Bossy's 39 hat tricks came across only 10 seasons.

 

Additional factoids:

 

Most career postseason hat tricks

Wayne Gretzky: 10

Jari Kurri: 7

Maurice Richard: 7

Dino Ciccarelli: 6

 

Most hat tricks in a single season

Wayne Gretzky: 10 (twice)

Mike Bossy: 9

Mario Lemieux: 9

Brett Hull: 8

 

Quickest hat trick

Bill Mosienko of the Chicago Black Hawks turned the trick in a total time of 21 seconds against the New York Rangers on March 23, 1952. Wow!

Back to the anniversary now. I'd like to do a giveaway like I did for last year's anniversary, but over the past few months I've done a few giveways, and I think I'm spent for ideas and material. However, there will be at least a couple of opportunities for you to claim some cards over the first few months of the new year, so please do stay tuned.

Thanks again for spending some time here on the blog. Let's look forward to a new year of blogging and collecting!

Turning Two (And a Giveaway)

1962 Topps #311, Tony Kubek In Action

Back in 1962, I bet kids were really excited to find this card in packs. Using their imaginations, they'd be able to scan through the four frames and watch Tony Kubek turning a double play. Then they could rewind the action and run the instant replay as many times as they wanted. 

And that imagination was important, because instant replay during televised sports broadcasts didn't occur until 1963, the year after Kubek's card was released. In other words, maybe we're a bit spoiled with all the camera angles and super-slow-mo replays and graphic overlays we receive during modern sports broadcasts. Spoiled, or bombarded, depending on how you look at it.

But Kubek "turning two" on that card is just a lead-in to the real reason for this post. Something else is turning two, in an anniversary type of way.

This blog!

And I'm happy to say that for a second consecutive year, I managed to hit the mark of posting new content once a week, every Sunday, throughout the year (with the exception of the 1980 Miracle on Ice entry, which I posted on a Saturday to match the 40-year anniversary of that event). The goal is to stick to the every-Sunday schedule again for year three.

As a way of thanking all of you for reading and commenting throughout the past two years, I'd like to offer up some prizes from my collection. Even if you're a long-time reader, first-time commenter, don't be bashful about staking a claim. Just let me know which one you'd like in the comment section below. 

One prize per person, first to claim the prize gets it, so prepare your typing fingers. Here they are:

 

(1) A few shiny and colorful Topps Chrome cards [CLAIMED]
(Jake Peavy, Mike Napoli, Matt Garza)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(2) A few minor-league stars from 2008 Justifiable [CLAIMED]
(Allen Craig, Mike Moustakas, Carlos Santana, Julio Teheran)

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3) Three Beltres Belting (borrowed that idea from Billy at Cardboard History)
[CLAIMED]

 

 

 

(4) 2005-06 SP Game-Used Authentic Fabrics Card [CLAIMED]
(Patrik Elias)

(5) 2013-14 Panini Select Rookie Autographed Card [CLAIMED]
(Nick Petrecki)

 

(6) Two Sealed 1989 Donruss Baseball Wax Packs [CLAIMED]
(Chance at RCs of Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, Craig Biggio, and John Smoltz to name a few)

(7) Two Sealed 1990-91 Topps Hockey Wax Packs [CLAIMED]
(Chance at RCs of Mike Modano, Alexander Mogilny, Jeremy Roenick, Mike Richter, and Mark Recchi to name a few)

(8) Assortment of Baseball Wax Pack Wrappers [CLAIMED]
(Included are 1984, 1985, 1987 Topps; 1981, 1986 Fleer; 1982, 1986, 1987 Donruss. Great variety of advertisements and special offers on the sides.)

(9) 1986 Fleer Baseball's Best Boxed Set [CLAIMED]
(Complete set)

(10) Starter Set of 1997-98 Pacific Paramount Hockey [CLAIMED]
(You'll get 100 cards total, which is half the set. Included are stars like Gretzky, Jagr, and Thornton.)

(11) Trio of Notre Dame football cards
(Rocket Ismail, Ricky Watters, and an autographed card of Pete Bercich)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(12) Group of "Tall Boy" Cards 
(Dave Winfield, Chris Weber, Jacques Lemaire, Chad Pennington)

(13) Group of Basketball Cards
(About two dozen total. Most from the 1990s, plus a few modern cards.)

(14) Group of 1982 Topps E.T. cards

(15) Group of 1996 Skybox Star Wars Stickers

(16) Oddball/Food Issue Baseball Lot [CLAIMED]
(1980 Topps Squirt Soda card, 1985 7-Eleven West Region Steve Garvey and Eddie Murray discs, 1986 RGI Don Mattingly, 1987 Jiffy Pop Jack Morris disc, 1987 Sportflics pin offer, 1989 Donruss All-Star pop-up Vince Coleman, 1991 Collect-a-Books Matt Williams)

(17) Group of Minis [CLAIMED]
(1965 Autobrite Vintage Cars "Early M.G.", 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Culinary Curiosities Fugu, 1990-91 Upper Deck box cutout Wayne Gretzky, 2013 Bowman Chrome Miguel Almonte, 2013 Topps Mini Dylan Bundy, 2014 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini no number Joe Mauer)

(18) Group of Bowman Cards [CLAIMED]
(Marcell Ozuna, Jedd Gyorko, Garin Cecchini, Johan Santana, Yoenis Cespedis, Adalberto Mondesi, Max Fried, Adam Eaton, Sonny Gray)

(19) Packet of New York Islanders Media Notes from 1987 Playoffs
(Includes rosters, stats, player notes, and more that members of the Islanders' TV and radio broadcast teams would have used during a playoff game against the Washington Capitals on April 12, 1987. More than a dozen pages in all.)

 

(20) A 2014 New York Yankees Media Guide
(Almost 500 pages of news, notes, player bios, all-time leaders, and photos. Measures about 5.5 x 8.5 inches. Paperback. Jeter, A-Rod, Gardner, Sabathia, Sanchez, Ellsbury, etc.)  

Stake your claims in the comment section. You can send me your mailing address in either of these ways:

(1) Contact me on the Trading Card Database through my profile page.  

(2) Email me using the link in my profile here on blogger.


Thanks very much again for spending some time here over the past two years. I've really enjoyed the interaction. If we've traded some cards or had conversation outside of the blogosphere during that time, a big thank you for that, too.

Here's to year number three!

 

Update: I've added a red "[CLAIMED]" note next to each prize that's already been claimed. Still plenty of prizes available: 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20. 

Grab one!