life's a beach

i like to travel. these days, i most enjoy travelling internationally. it's funny as i was well in to my 30's before i left north america, but now i do most of my travelling to countries other than canada or mexico. i still do some travelling domestically, but a lot of that is work related and of shorter durations.

anyway, the "beachin' it" insert set in 2025 topps allen & ginter drew my attention shortly after the cards were released because i saw quite a few cards on the checklist that were perfect for my "meaningful and just because" mini-collection. for about 16 years starting in the 2000's, i went on a tropical vacation each winter, so i've been to a lot of beaches. let's take a look at the beaches in the set that i've visited.

eagle beach, aruba

i was surprised how much i enjoyed aruba. we stayed in a condo right across the street from eagle beach and spent most of our days there, at least for a little bit. we explored other parts of the island, including the totally different landscape of the island's east coast, but enjoyed relaxing under one of the palapas on eagle beach the most. here's the back:

i don't recall seeing any turtles, but we did see the fofoti trees at the north end of the beach.

grace bay, turks & caicos

we've been to turks three times, staying on or near grace bay each time. it's fantastic. here's the back:

we snorkled out near the reef that is mentioned, and it was a bit hairy. essentially open ocean with a big drop off on the other side of the reef.

seven mile beach, cayman islands

there are a lot of resorts on this beach in grand cayman, but as the back mentions

the beach is for everyone. 

south beach, miami

we visited this beach on a stopover on our way to the caribbean once. we walked along the beach and ate at a restaurant in one of the signature art deco buildings. saw versace's old place and got a feel for the vibe even though it was off-season. here's the back:

we didn't see any filming going on during our visit, but i do remember some scenes from the real world: miami that were shot there.

siesta beach, florida

we hit a bunch of beaches in a fairly recent trip to florida (a trip that included my lone visit to the trop) and siesta was one of them. parking was a bear - we lucked into finding a spot at one of the smaller beach access lots (it was a bit of a free for all) - but it was worth it. we set up an umbrella and had a nice afternoon on the beach. here's the back:

i don't believe we partook in the esplanade (but maybe we did). i do know we headed in to sarasota to eat after leaving the beach.

coast guard beach, massachusetts

my first trip to boston, i wanted to go to a beach with the iconic fencing shown on this card, and coast guard beach was where we headed. it was the fall, so we walked down on to the beach, took a few photos, and that was it. here's the back:

i didn't know that thoreau opined on the beach, but we did also visit walden pond and the recreated cabin. probably my favorite part of that trip, along with visiting "author's row" in concord.

laguna beach, california

i lived and worked in orange county for almost 10 years, and laguna was a frequent spot to visit. my most recent visit to the actual beach there was about 10 years ago. when i lived in oc, we frequented newport beach more often if we wanted to actually beach it.  here's the back:

laguna was most definitely an artist's colony back in the day, and it still has an art festival as far as i know. like most places of its kind, i doubt there are too many artists who can afford to live there these days.

pfeiffer beach, california

part of the big sur coastline, this beach sits along my favorite road to drive - pch. it's actually a ways off of the highway so it's been a while since i've been there. i have spent more time at limekiln beach or main street beach in carmel in recent years. here's the back:

pretty sure i have some pictures from my childhood with keyhole rock behind us.

santa monica beach, california

it's hard to miss this beach with the iconic pier. it's a monday night football staple scene when the rams or chargers are hosting the game. i am not sure that i've laid out on this beach, but i've been to the pier several times. here's the back:

not mentioned is that the pier is the terminus of route 66. get your kicks!

playa del rey, california

when you fly into lax and want to get to the beach quickly, playa del rey is the place to go. despite what the back says

the beach is directly west (not east) of los angeles, and lax more specifically. i've driven directly to this beach a couple of times after arriving back in california from extended absences.

el matador state beach, california

i used to fly into lax more often than i do these days (now i prefer sfo), but driving up pch from los angeles was always a favorite thing to do. this beach is one of several along the way to the central coast. i don't think i've stopped there since i was a kid when we would picnic along the way on our many road trip vacations. here's the back:

i understand that some scenes from "the notebook" were filmed at this beach. 

coronado beach, california

home to the famous coronado hotel, we visited here in january of 2020 after spending a couple of weeks in hawaii (more on that in a minute). it's a big beach for sure! here's the back:

excuse me, it's the hotel del coronado. i believe it is one of the largest wood structures in the country. this card gets the hollywood trivia, whereas the previous one did not. i will say that on some recent trips we've tried to capture photos that match up with scenes from movies or tv shows. i'll have to watch "some like it hot" before the next time we head to san diego.

wailea beach, hawaii

on that trip to hawaii, we stayed on maui, but not at wailea beach. we did, however, drive there and walked along the beach. later, we wound up snorkeling off the coast as part of a molokini excursion. here's the back:

we saw some turtles after seeing a black tip shark in molokini. we also snorkeled on the back side of molokini which was crazy. probably the deepest water i have ever been in and it was a bit freaky.

poipu beach, hawaii

my visit to this beach came on a different trip to hawaii, and it was a result of a snorkeling excursion. here's the back:

i preferred the napali coast on that trip, but it's not known for any beaches, so it doesn't get a card.

here's a reminder that another beach i visited was featured in an earlier a&g insert set, and there are a few other beaches in this set that i'd like to get to, so maybe i'll be adding some more of these cards in the future. 

it's past memorial day which is the traditional kickoff to summer, so get to the beach! just remember to apply sunscreen first!

sportlots filler

you may well be familiar with the "four if by sportlots" ongoing series of posts at sportscards from the dollar store although i think shipping woes may have dented his 4-card pwe pursuits as there hasn't been a fibs post in about a year. if you have ordered from sportlots, you know that four cards ship for the same price as two, and some sellers even charge less for shipping if you buy more than one card. i don't intend for this to be an ongoing post topic, but i figured i would share some cards that i have received over the last few months that helped me optimize shipping per card costs while also filling a need while not being the primary driver for any particular order.

perhaps the best card to demonstrate this fact is this 2001 topps chrome tampa bay devil rays team card

it may have become, someday, a specific target of an order, but this time i added it to an order because i had run out of other obvious options. the reason i wanted this card in my collection is due to the fact that former dodger bill russell is sitting in the front row, above the manta ray. he was a coach for the team for a couple of seasons. i have this card, and others like it, in my bill russell post-dodger collection.

sometime last year, sportlots partially revamped their website and added more image capabilities to the inventory hosted on the site. that improvement allowed me to find the next three tatooine cards while perusing "shopping cart seller" inventories for cards to add - 2010 bowman chrome jason kubel

2022 topps stadium club chrome paul molitor

2025 topps stadium club joe mauer

these next two are name/number on the back collection pick-ups - 2025 topps heritage danny jansen

and 2024 topps update willie mays autumn tales

i specifically searched for the jansen (i had a chrome sparkle refractor parallel but preferred the base) but found the mays by perusing willie mays cards by image. i am always interested in cards showing "the catch".

one of my go-to searches to fill out orders is fleer ultra gold medallion parallels. sometimes that gets me to add a base version, like this 2004 zach day card

day is pitching in dodger stadium, and his right hand is situated in front of the mural that recognized the long running dodger infield that i am so fond of. another go to within ultra is the 2004 preston wilson card

because it includes the steve garvey image from that mural. i want as many copies of this card as i can obtain. i believe i am up to a dozen now.

but, like i said, it's usually the gold medallion parallels that i add. in this case, i added a pair of dodgers from 2003

and one each from 1999

and 2004

i will also see if there are some new-to-me vladimir guerrero cards available from these sellers, and i recently picked up a 2025 topps archives black foil parallel

as a result.

usually, though, it's other dodgers that become filler. i am working on a post that i wanted to have some new-to-me dodger cards to use, so i sought out some topps tiffany cards. i needed to add a few more cards to the order, so i added fernando valenzuela's 1989 topps tiffany card

to help me get there. that post in question is scheduled for early july.

raul mondesi is a good source for order filler, as he has so many cards from the late 1990's that i don't own yet. here are a couple that i do own now - 1997 fleer metal

and 1998 upper deck special f/x

i also check out sets that i largely ignored in the past, like 1997 fleer circa. i've added greg gagne

and chan ho park

cards from that set in recent orders.

1999 fleer ex century is another one i've searched for cards from, and one shopping cart seller had todd hundley's card

available.

some other random dodgers i've added are a couple of black & white variations from 2004 bowman heritage

and a 2005 upper deck pros & prospects brad penny card

new hall of famer jeff kent's 2006 fleer ultra diamond producers insert 

was added to an order just after his election was announced, and this 2016 topps allen & ginter x alex wood card

was part of that same order. ginter x is another set that i will search since i don't see these cards anywhere other than on sportlots.

here's a 2020 topps heritage sticker preview insert of clayton kershaw

that was a random inventory find.

sometimes i will notice that a seller has some of the online only sets in their inventory and i will add some of those cards. these cards are from a couple of different 2022 topps x collaborations with bobby witt

and derek jeter

and then there is the 2024 chris berman collab.

i bought bert blyleven's card when the set was first issued because i liked that nickname, but i passed on the dodger cards in the set. well, when a seller has them for cheap and i can add a card or cards without increasing shipping costs, i will bite on even the silliest of cards. here are freddie freeman

and mookie betts 

from that set. these guys have nothing to do with berman or his baseball announcing, and the card backs make that pretty obvious

still, they are dodger cards.

one seller had some cards from the 2024 topps chrome lids mitchell & ness promotional set, so i bought the freeman card

that looks just like a 2024 topps chrome card. the back does designate it as a "lids" card

sometimes the cards are more basic, like this 2025 topps insert of teoscar hernandez

and this 2025 topps 1990 35th anniversary insert of betts

these are cards that i would have expected to find in a dime box at a show, but hadn't to that point so i paid slightly more to add them to an order.

the last card i will show is from 2025 topps chrome cosmic and it's kershaw's

thank goodness for secondary market sellers, otherwise i would never see this stuff.

one seller recently went above and beyond and included a vinyl sticker of ol' number 22

that is now on my water bottle.

it takes some effort to fill out orders, but it's much easier these days with the different filters that sportlots has made available. just be sure to have your want lists handy!