My other hobby volume I

A collection of stamps of which was released anywhere from the mid-80's and mid-90's.  The first is of Miles Davis!

Next up is a anniversary of man landing on the moon.  It's too bad you can't see these stamps up close as they have a very foil like apearence.

The third set of stamps from Germany.  Thanks to my brother in-law from Ashtabula, Ohio.  This is what's called a mini sheet.

Once again, a very special customer of mine from the sushi bar at the Bertram Inn and Conferance Center.  This stamp illustrates the lunar new year.  It's from China.

The last item are stamps from the Hermit Kingdom of North Korea.  I have know idea how Mystic Stamp Company was able to obtain these stamps.  All I received was a special offer of $5.00 for 56 North Korean stamps.

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These stamps were free from a philatelic publication from Walden's Book Store now just a memory as most major book stores are gone.

This next set of stamps were given to me by my brother in-law from Ashtabula, Ohio.  He got a chance to go and visit his family in Germany a couple of years ago.

When he asked me if I wanted anything from Germany I told him to get some stamps for me.  He said; "What, Stamps" that's it?  Of course I was overjoyed with this simple yet very polite gesture.

Booklet stamps are very popular.  They used to be purchased from a vending machine back in the 60's and the 70's.  

I have a stamp of the link up of the US space craft Apollo and a Russian Soyuz.  This stamp dates back during the 70's.  This is what's called a se-tenant.  

A stamp design that has two different designs that once combine becomes a whole stamp.  What's unique about this particular se-tenant is that the Russians also created a Apollo Soyuz stamp design and was released on the same day as the US stamp.

Your friend's, Toshi and Ezra

Not all my stamps are of a topical like WWII.  Back in the day (2003) I used to be a Executive Head Sushi Chef for the Bertram Inn and Conference Center in Aurora, Ohio.  I worked for Bert and Iris Wolstein of which built the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio and were very successful entrepreneur's in their field of realestate developers. 

I couldn't believe how busy I was during the summer as Six Flags was but just a mile away.  It look like a scene in the old movie called The French Connection filmed in New York, New York.  I used to bring in $10,000 of cash tips alone in one month.  

One of my dear customers used to stop by and bring me their mail received from Tokyo, Japan.  As you can see below, are just some examples I enjoy seeing in a stamp.  They (Picture) just pop right out of the stamp.

This is another way of collecting stamps.  Just ask someone for their used envelope/mail you just never know!

As many of you know by now by following this thread of which I want to thank each and every member of FSM Forums, your support has been a healing journey for me.  So thank you very much.

While living in Europe in the late 80's, I took up the hobby of stamp collecting in Amsterdam.  What interested me the most was WWII history.  

It was this interest that I visited sites of where Operation Market Garden occurred.  I was doing a concert by a new bridge opening.  Next to the new bridge, an old bridge stood and I understood that this old bridge would be replaced by the new bridge that we were a part of the dedication ceremony playing American Jazz!

Jazz, unlike the US, is a very popular and very active form of art.  In the US, I was a starving musician, in Europe I was a jazz artist.  On our break, I noticed a much older gentleman standing in front of the old bridge.  He was crying very hard and almost seem to be uncontrolled.  

So I walked over to him and greeted him in Dutch and told him that I was from Hawaii and now I'm a resident with a dual passport of the Netherlands.  Could I get something for you?  I asked.  He said no yet I continued our very light hearted and simple chat.

As time went on, he told me a story of the importance of this very old, rusting bridge.  During WWII, he and a handful of Dutch resistant fighters held off a very large German force.  Many of his friends and fellow resistance fighters had pershied.  The Germans were never able to cross over the bridge due to the ferocity of the Dutch resistance.

Looking closely at the bridge I notice pockets or dents in the superstructure.  Realizing these were bullet holes and shrapnel damage!  Wow!  We both hung out, he got a back stage VIP Pass from me and I picked up his beer tab.

My most important and very first collection of stamps were of the Third Reich.  I couldn't believe that there were stamps of Adolf Hitler.  I was shocked by this.  Out of sheer curiosity, I started a Topical stamp collection which is a term in philatelic that a topical collection is based on one subject, mines of course were anything to do with WWII.

At one point, my band Jazz Attack was scheduled to play in Berlin at the wall. Little by little this Cold War relic was being chipped up into little pieces.  I was told never ever to display my Third Reich stamp in the Netherlands as it was illegal to own anything that represented the Third Reich. 

So I sneaked my Third Reich collection out of the country in reading books.  It was Time Life books on the Wild West.   I eventually sold my entire stamp collection to McCully stamp and coin shop in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Mrs. Toshi and I were relocating to the US mainland.  After many years passed by, I never forgot my stamp collection and the joy of the hobby.

What you see below is my WWII topical set as it slowly but surely grows!

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

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This next set of Statehood quarters were put together by my son and daughter when they were young.  Now they are off with their lives as it should be.

Some of the quarters are uncirculated and some are circulated.  The only cost was this album from Walmart.

It is a complete set of all fifty states and I've taken photos of the first page and the last page.

This is a album that has an unusual collecting scenario.  It's a collection that merges stamps to coin and not just any coin, it's the 50th State Quarters.  The last time the 25 cent piece design changed was in 1976 during the US Bicentennial.

This collection was done through PCS. If my memory serves me correctly, the purchase price totaled over $2000.00. I know for a fact that this set was not worth that much but that's ok.  Mrs. Toshi wanted to get a complete set like you see here.

It was obtained by having a monthly subscription to PCS.  They would send the album as well as one cover front and back that represents each state in accordance to the time frame of becoming a state of the USA.  There's also some pages in regards to D.C. and US Territories.  

Below is an example of what's included in Mrs. Toshi's set.  I've only included the first state that entered the union and the last to do so of which is Hawaii.  The other photos are of D.C. and US Territory.

Is it worth the money to collect in this fashion?  Absolutely not!  But my main goal was to keep Mrs. Toshi engaged and happy with the numismatic hobby.  If she's happy, than I'm happy and overjoyed.

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These are cards that are not of infamous football players but they are cards in my humble opinion that I like very much.

Out of curiosity, I wanted to see some Star Wars cards.  So here it is.

A description of the top 5 Brett Favre Rookie Cards!

This next card is of Andre Ellington.   It's a auto, Jersey, and a low numbered card.  2013 Panini Certified Andre Ellington Rookie, Auto, and Jersey card.

This next card depicts RGIII.  It's a card with a jersey patch.

Right now I'm writing this at 10:48pm. est.  I have a Digornio Supreme Pizza cooking in the oven right now.  

Anyway, getting back to the subject, in regards to football cards this is a extremely weird football card as there's a piece of a football included of course with his autograph and game used Jersey with a small piece of the football.

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

The next set of photos are cards that were sent to me by a fellow forum member from Card Board Connection.

The cards you see below are of Marcus Mariota.  He's from Honolulu, Hawaii and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans.

These are just some cards that are my favorite Quarter Backs. 

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These are football cards that depict some of my favorite Quarter Backs.  These cards were given to me by a fellow forum member at Card Board Connection.

Here are stamps depicting Corsairs.

Next stamp up is a P-61 Black Widdow!  It is a stamp from Sierra Leone.  

A portion of stamps purchased from eBay arrived today.  These stamps that I'm about to share will be a part of my "Topical Stamp Collection".  

What is a Topical Stamp Collection mean?  it's a collection of stamps that are dedicated towards one subject.  Like cats, dogs, horses, and so on.  

Since you're just trying to make a collection on a specific subject, most times it's very economical.  By starting a topical collection, it doesn't matter what country the stamps come from as well as what the worth is.  A lot of times, stamps on a specific topic will be printed by countries in need of money.  Hence the low cost.  But just as a note, by purchasing stamps from other countries in need of money, you're actually assisting them. 

My topical stamp collection focuses on anything to do with WWII.  I'd like to start with this mint sheet from Kiribati.

The Kiribati mint sheet comes with a selection of 10 stamps.  They are as follows.

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A Walmart purchase of a blaster box.  This break had a redemption card which is hard to comeby.  As I said earlier autograph cards, game worn jersey cards, and redemption cards are never part a retail store football card blaster box purchase.

The redemption card is a 2014 Topps Platinum Auto 3 color patch rookie Card.

The last 2 card's are die cut's.

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Here is a single card of RGIII.  2012 Panini Absolute Football Card with a Game Worn Jersey.  Card #24.

In order to collect these cards, you needed to buy a 2012 Topps football complete set from Walmart.  I did not do that as I was busy in a frenzy purchasing hobby boxes like a rabid dog! 

On a sports card forum, called Card Board Connection, a fellow forum member sent me a birthday gift.  That's what you see below.  Andrew Luck and RGIII were the first round first and second pick of 2012.

These cards or for that matter, any cards of these 2 QB's, went for an insane amount of money.  So I was very fortunate to recieve these 2 cards as a birthday present.

2012 Topps Complete Football Card Set (TLP-AP) Andrew Luck Commerative NFL Team Logo Patch Card and a RGIII Card as well.

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As I try to combine my hobby of collecting stamps, coins, and the building WWII aircraft, I completely forgot about these 3 cards.  What you see here is a Topps product ingeniously designed and of a conceptual intent by combing numismatics and sports card to create a one of a kind collectible.

These are cards of Aaron Rodgers QB of the Green Bay Packers, AJ Green WR of the Cincinnati Bengals, and Eli Manning QB of the New York Giants.  The coins are made of bronze as they Definately carry a hefty weight.

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 I've chosen these following cards as they are some very interesting type of cards, unique in their nature, and or are of players I enjoy watching.  The first card is a card that depicts a Dallas Cowboys.  Any Dallas Cowboy fans out there?

2013 Panini Elite Game Worn Jersey of DeMarco Murray 152/199.

The second card is a 2013 Panini Elite Passing the Torch.  It depicts a NFL veteran that's logically will be passing on his NFL reign to a new player.  It's depicts Earl Campbell and Adrian Peterson, both are awesome running backs.

The third card is also from the Passing of the Torch series.  From one great QB to the next up and coming QB.  Cam Newton and Andrew Luck 31/49 what's interesting is that Cam Newton is now a QB for the New England Patriots filling in the position of Tom Brady who move on to become the QB of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  

Andrew Luck prematuarly retired early to everyone's surprise as he was a 2012 first round first draft pick and my all time 2012 rookie QB.  He announced last year that he had enough of playing football as he didn't feel that the monetary compensation was justified by his body getting constantly abused in this very aggressive game.  You know what, I personally don't blame him.

I wouldn't enjoy a 350lb.  lineman running towards you at full speed in an attempt to hit you so hard that you could fall and injure your body or worst, injure your brain resulting in a concussion like I recieved 10 years ago in a work related accident and I'm still dealing with a blind right eye, total lost of use on the entire right side, tinnitus, seizures, migraines, severe neck and back pain, motion sickness, vomiting, hallucinations, and mental depression.  No money in the world is worth it in my very humble opinion.

All I know is that there are millions of fans that play something called fantasy football.  I don't know much about it except that fans legally actually bet real big cash in a pool of other fans that bet large amounts of cash on players chosen randomly in pre-season and win points on betting on statistics of a player.

It's an actual huge deal as there are fantasy baseball leagues, fantasy basketball leagues, and every other imaginable sports.  I tried to join in my daughters boyfriends (Brett) fantasy football league but was disarrayed by the whole concept of guessing who would meet up to statistics that was a guessing scenario prior to a game.  My question?  How, what, where, and when?  Lol!  I'll just stick to collecting football cards, stamps, coins, and of course building models of WWII aircraft.  Now that's no fantasy!  LOL!!!

Card number 4 is called 2013 Panini Prominence Rookie Gridiron Gem 085/105 Tyrann Mathieu it contains one feature I've not seen before, a autograph that slides out of the card.  Now how unique is that!!!!!  Lol!

The final card is what's called a redemption card.  If you read the info on the redemption card you'll know what I'm talking about as pictures are worth a thousand words.

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A card that represents Tony Gonzales of the Atlanta Falcons.  It's a 2012 Panini Elite Rookie Card with a game worn jersey and is numbered 136/199.

Here is a sport collectible that specifically pertains to the Cleveland Browns.  So I don't want to hear or read any hate mail and be called a antibrowns fan!  Lol!  I received this Jim Brown jersey from my daughters boy friend Brett Nola.  For the longest time Al Nola, Brett's father had a shoe repair shop in Cleveland, Ohio in the area called Shakers Heights.  It was passed down from father to son so they've been in business for a very long time.

It was decided that the business would be relocated to Twinsburg, Ohio.   I helped them move locations with my 2008 Sedona mini van to the best of my abilities.  While we were loading things up, I noticed this jersey and wondered out loud why it was here.  

Well before I knew it, I was the proud owner of a officially certified NFL Jersey of the legendary Jim Brown.  In my humble opinion, he is the greatest running back to have ever played in the NFL.  I've personally have seen him from time to time and I was almost going to get his autograph at a card show.

Unfortunately, the line was so long I decided that I'll forego his autograph and purchase his rookie card with a autograph that is certified and graded a mint 10 card by either Beckett grading services or PSA/DNA grading services.  With that being said here is the Jim Brown jersey that I'd like to share with you all!

This is an example of the very volatile nature of sports cards.  This is a 2012 Panini Elite Rookie Card with a Autograph and Game Worn Jersey of Trent Richardson RB of the Cleveland, Browns.  As a resident of Ohio, fans of Football expect one to be a die hard Cleveland Browns fan.  

I must decline.  Lol!  The last time the Cleveland Browns were a team that was considered relevant and a championship team was pre-Super Bowl.  It was an era of Jim Brown, Ozzie Newsom, Otto Graham, and Coach Paul Brown of whom the team was named after.  Matter of fact, Paul Brown was so disappointed with the Cleveland Browns he relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio and started a rival team.  The Cincinnati Bengals.

This is not the only time this occurred.  In the 80's, the owner of the Cleveland Browns was so disturbed by the loosing team that the Browns team was relocated in the cover of darkness to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Ravens.

This is what's called or known as the curse of the Cleveland Browns.  Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, I for one am a huge fan of football.  So much so that I love all 32 NFL teams as every team has their play making superstars and every team has what I call potato head players!  Lol!

The card below depicts Trent Richardson of whom was supposed to carry on the tradition of the Browns running game with the promise of continuing the Jim Brown legacy. Unfortunately that was not the case, after a mediocre season, he was traded to the Indianapolis Colts and from that point on fell into obscurity. 

The Card below once was worth in the Beckett catalog for $200.00.  Currently, I couldn't give this card away.  In fact I would probably need to pay someone $10.00 just to take this card and honestly, I think $10.00 is not enough money to unload this card from my collection.  But as you can see here, I’m totally laughing at myself and having the time of my life! Lol!!!

Why should I get worked up over nothing like Browns fan do, it’s a waste of negative energy.  So I calmly enjoy collecting cards and sharing them with Ezra and when I am long gone, my football card collection can go to my daughters boyfriend Brett Nola.

A 2012 Panini Crown Royale Prime Rookie Autograph Game Worn Jersey Card Numbered 3/5 of Brian Quick.  It's whats known as a blue foil SP or short print.  As you can see in the photo some of the wording is highlited in blue foil, hence the use of the term.