More Than One Penny Sleeve

Longtime blogger (and new Twitter Buddy) Jon from A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts went on a generosity streak after finding a ton of Topps Buybacks for sale.  He asked me if I wanted some.  Of course I do!

His mailer arrived with these six "REDISCOVER TOPPS" stamped buybacks.  I love the 1987 Topps set anyway, so getting new versions for these are great!  Especially Willie Wilson.  The cards on the top are all silver-stamped, while the three on the bottom are bronze-stamped.  

However, that was not all that was in the package - Jon included two unexpected manu-relics, also!

The Jackie Robinson buyback is beautiful, contrasting the blue in the Royals uniform to the blue in the medallion.  Moose's 1st Home Run is my second one of these relics -- the first was Alex Gordon.

Thank you, Jon!  These are much appreciated and will find a great home!

  

15 Curious Facts from 1987 Topps Cards

http://mentalfloss.com/article/50756/15-curious-facts-we-learned-1987-topps-baseball-cards

I think this guy needs his own card blog.

A Hand-Written Friendship Bracelet

When I was in 2nd grade, if you were buddies with someone you would give them a friendship bracelet. You'd get a couple of pieces of colored-string, braid them together, and BOOM -- instant friendship.  It was a personal gift that took some time and care, which is part of what made it mean something.

Now in the internet age, much is made of the "lost art of the hand-written letter."  With all the IMing, emailing, facebooking, and twittering, actually sitting down with a pen and paper and sending someone a personalized note counts as the height of graceful manners.

Relating this to the blogosphere...I'll admit that I am guilty of sending "impersonal" trade packages.  Maybe I'll just drop a team-bag into a bubble mailer and send it off.  If I'm lucky, I might offer a perfunctory "Thanks for trading!" on a slip of paper that I toss into the envelope.

So.....if the quality scale goes from short boilerplate email (bad) to hand-written letter plus friendship bracelet (very good), how can I possibly place a ranking on THIS?

Gene Mauch

This is by far one of the coolest things I have received from the card-blog world.  It's from TTG @ Friars on Cardboard.  It is a hand-collated pack of manager cards, wrapped in white paper, and then decorated with the cover art seen above.  If a hand-written item is notable...what can I say about a hand-drawn pack?  AWESOME is what I can say.  Keep in mind that this whole thing is the size of a regular baseball card and done in ink.  And this was a "Just Because" package...no trade was involved.

And with that preview...I was hoping the pack would contain that top card.  IT DID.

1987 Topps Gene Mauch

There were several other manager cards from TTG (many of them grumpy, per my preferences), but this was my favorite.  It's a double-dose of grumpitude.

Buck Showalter and Jim Fregosi

Although I didn't know it, not only do I collect grumpy manager cards, apparently I also collect grumpy manager STICKERS. 

2012 Triple Play Sticker - Screaming Manager - #8

Another package from TTG had several Royals I needed, including Jeff Conine jumping rope with the old crossover technique.  Thanks to 4th grade P.E. class, I can do that same trick.  Maybe I should send that teacher a hand-written note of thanks?

Speaking of elementary school, Sherman Corbett and I had the same glasses, apparently.

1989 Topps Sherman Corbett, 1990 Topps Mike Scott

This exceeded anything I could have hoped for, TTG.  Thank you so much.  Know that I appreciate it a ton -- This hand-written friendship bracelet of a pack.  :-)

Wade Rowdon and My First Autograph

Cleaning out boxes at my parent's house last month was like taking a time machine.  A time machine to the distant past...all the way back to the year...1987.

It was summer. It was HOT.  I had a broken leg.  And I LOVED me some baseball cards.  My grandma had bought me a box of 1987 Topps, and I knew who all the guys were.  By that point, ol' Wade Rowdon had been traded from the Reds to the Cubs, and then sent to AAA -- Iowa Cubs.  My Dad took me to the game.  I brought along my card in case the Cubs were signing autographs.  Then look who came down the line.  WADE!

Wade Rowdon - Iowa Cubs - 1987

He was signing for any and all people with perms or bold-colored T-Shirts....or whatever criteria was used back then.  Eventually he came down the line to us, and I got my very first in-person autograph.

1987 Topps Wade Rowdon - #569 - Autograph