The Joy of the Hobby podcast

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Joy of the Hobby is a platform designated for all things fun and exciting about the card collectable hobby.
Matt and Ben aim to bring fun, uplifting content on the blog and podcast to keep collectors excited!

TEAM

Ben Mercer

Matt Burrows

Cards

2001 leaf rookies & stars Barry Bonds GU shoe /100. This is the first time I remember any company reaching for the shoe/cleat relic. 1997 leaf was pretty bold with the Frank Thomas cuts but this one felt different to me. #leaf #barrybonds #bonds

If you haven’t seen these yet, the 2024 Stadium Club pearl parallel /30 is pretty lux. Has a bit of foil, but the white background really makes the photo pop. #topps #ichiro #stadiumclub #pearl #hof

One of my favorite horizontal Griffey cards, 1994 #upperdeck collectors choice #gold #signature — great photography always wins me over #mariners #seattle #1994

Another strange back door #griffey - 2005 Fleer Platinum Extreme /20. Ran across this copy and had to see it in person. TBH, a little underwhelming considering it’s supposed to be /20, the foil has an odd ‘cracked’ look to it but ot

2002 Topps t206 - the inaugural set included a Wagner with a game used piece of his bat /300 on a reprint with the original orange background. Ran across a copy at the 2024 National show and had to have it! #topps #t206 #2002 #pirates

This to me is the only true ‘Milestone of the Century’ that mattered in this set. Barry will be the only player to ever do 400/400! 1999 EC Century Milestones of the Century /400 #bonds #barrybonds #giants #milestones #1998 #1999 #skybox

My first bankruptcy card! 2004 Fleer Hot Prospects white hot ichiro 1/1 - it’s a back door version but even has the spot on the back where it’s supposed to have the 1/1 stamp. Great use of foil and white border in the design (notice the s

$1998 Bowman Chrome Rookie Refractors Ken Griffey Jr. — my favorite rookie refactor of the kid #1998 #griffey #mariners #rookie #refractor #bowman #seattle #90sbaseball$

2004 bowman mahogany /25 Albert Pujols. Great pic of him at first base, and yes - this card is supposed to look that ‘flakey’. I’ve looked for years trying to get the Ichiro, this is easily my 2nd favorite in the set. #pujols #bowma

2001 SP Game Used edition Griffey (Mariners Uniform) - if I had to pick a Griffey card I’d taint with an in-person auto it’d be this one; right above the jersey swatch. Cheap enough I won’t feel bad about it and nice enough design h

2001 Donruss class of 2001 rookie team Ichiro rt-7 game used ball /50. Rarest of the rookie team subset in the product! #ichiro #rookie #donruss #2001 #gameused #mariners

$2004 Topps Finest Ichiro Refractor #99 - after getting the gold refractor I HAD to have this companion copy. #2004 #ichiro #topps #finest #mariners #hof #refractor$

1997 New Pinnacle Aura subset museum collection Barry Bonds #192 - TBH it’s close between this parallel and the artist’s proof which looks cooler - I know the print run for the blue proof is 50, but man the gold foil on this one looks ama

2004 Donruss power alley red die cut /250. This is the easiest die cut to get, and this was the era where Donruss made rainbow runs long (6 colors of this one) so completing this run may be impossible (there’s a 1/1 black version…) but a

A card like this just reminds me newer ‘image variation’ SPs are just checklist cards rebranded 😂 - 1997 fleer Tiffany Barry Bonds #744 #1997 #fleer #tiffany #variation #giants #bonds #barrybonds

$2001 Topps archives reserve Willie Mays auto. Sweet refractor version of his Topps ‘rookie’ with one of the best on-card autos I’ve ever seen from him. Next mission is to get a clean SGC 1 of the original card to pair with it. #will$