A Long Overdue Post

Back in January, one of the cardboard blogosphere's most beloved bloggers Wes (a.k.a. JBF) of Area 40 decided to hang 'em up. He decided to do so in grand fashion, collected what seemed to be a ton of unopened boxes and packs. And then - because he is the nicest guy on the Internet - he decided to give those cards away as a final farewell.

I was fortunate enough to have the Texas Rangers in the break. They netted me a number of awesome cards, the ones I like the most I will share with you here.

A 2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection relic of perhaps the greatest Ranger, Mark Teixeira. First, I like the card. It turns out that these were packed out in different tiers, meaning that some were harder to snag than others. Go figure. Second, I call Tex the greatest Ranger because his trade netted the Rangers Elvis Andrus (who is still our starting shortstop - check out his walkup music from yesterday's opening day), Neftali Feliz (the 2010 AL Rookie of the Year), and still one of my favorite players and main PC, Matt Harrison. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Beau Jones were also included in the trade, but they had much less of an impact than the previous three. 

Hank Blalock also had a card in the 2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection set. I always liked Blalock...I was certain he would have a much more significant career than he did. I received another card for this set featuring Chan Ho Park, but I didn't scan it.

This hails from the 2015 Topps Strata set, the first year of the line if I remember correctly. I always thought it was cool that Topps included the MLB certification sticker so you could look up the event.

Wes, I never traded with you prior to this, but I can say that I was a regular reader. Your trade wars with Bob Walk the Plank were epic. I always looked forward to seeing what you were going to fire off next. There are seemingly few good people in the Internet, but you are truly one of them. Godspeed on whatever you choose to do next. Thank you.

Cards From Julie

Julie of A Cracked Bat fame sent a mailer full of Ranger goodies my way a couple weeks ago. It came at a perfect time - my dissertation was getting the best of me and making me a cranky person. It was nice to receive cards as a pick-me-up!

Let's take a look at some of my favorites from the package, shall we?

This Frank Catalanotto Status diecut comes from 2002 Donruss Elite. To make it more interesting, this is a NSCC exclusive...

...numbered 5 of 5! Sweet! I always enjoyed watching Cat play. He was one of the few highlights in some pretty lean years.

A Topps Finest Rookies card of Mike Lamb. Gotta love that Finest feel!

A beautiful, shiny foil Upper Deck card of Mr. Ranger, Michael Young. There is nothing wrong with this card. It's perfect!

These three came together in a cello-like pack. Produced to bring awareness to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) organization, this were distributed...somehow. I'm not certain if they came in a package of something or if they were given away at games...there just isn't much information out there about the set.

All of the cards share the same backside. These have immediately become some of my favorite cards.

Julie, I can't thank you enough! Thanks for thinking of me!

An Unexpected Christmas Gift

When I got back to my apartment in Lubbock, I found a bubble mailer from Greg, the beautiful mind behind Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle. We all have "guys" for certain players or cards. Greg is my Corey Seager guy, so whenever I pull a Seager, I drop it in a PWE and send it his way. I do this so the card finds a home and doesn't sit in a box for eternity.

I open up the mailer and the first thing I see is this:

A note attached to a secured "brick" of toploaders, clearly protecting something special. Dammit Greg....usually, I would open this first. But I trust Greg and this must mean something precious is inside.

Behind that was a teambag full of goodies. For the sake of brevity, I will only post a few here.

A Nolan from 1990 Score. I loved this set as a kid. I know that puts me in a small minority, but I don't care. Still love it.

Juan Gone from Pinnacle Inside. This card cracks me up. I love the statline on the front of the card, but perhaps the designers over at Pinnacle could have included a different stat than stolen bases, which Juan had ZERO of. Just odd.

I haven't researched Allen & Ginter sets much prior to 2012. This card is the non-numbered variety. Today, we accept Topps word that these are limited to 50 copies. In 2009, however, every copy was hand-numbered to 50. 

Okay, I can't take it anymore. I have to share what was in the toploaders. First up:

This is the 2008 TriStar PROjections yellow parallel of Matt Harrison, numbered to 25! 

Next up, the 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Turn of the Century auto, again of Matt Harrison! Awesome cards!

But the best was still lurking...

The 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Status Gold Diecut, numbered 13 of 25!!!! This was a HUGE card for me to acquire! I've been looking for one for a while. I saw one pop up on eBay and began to watch the BIN auction. It came up for auction at a time when funds were tight, so I kept putting it off, waiting until my next paycheck to grab it.

When that next paycheck came, I jumped on eBay to grab it, only to learn that someone else had snuck in and grabbed it before I could. 

Thankfully, it was Greg! I've never been so excited to see a card in a mailer as I was for this one!

Greg, I can't thank you enough! I'll be sending some cardboard your way really soon!

What's the best surprise card you've received from another blogger? Hope to hear from you all soon!