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!

  

I'm Not a Super-Trader...

...but that doesn't stop me from benefitting from the concept.

2013 Topps Heritage - Mike Moustakas

P-Town Tom shot me an email in the Fall to say that he would not be "Waiting 'Til Next Year" to divest himself of all his Royals cards.  You see, there is no Royals representative in the "Super Traders" group and these pesky blue and white cards were piling up in his possession.  As a favor to him, I said I was willing to take them off his hands.  :-)  It was very generous of him to reach out to me on these and send them out, asking for nothing in return.

Shortly thereafter, a BRICK of cards show up on my doorstep.  After much sorting and cataloging, I have 90+ new cards that were not in my collection before.  Here's some pictures of my faves:

2016 Stadium Club - Alex Gordon

Is it raining or snowing on you this weekend?  You are in good company with ol' Gordo.

2013 Topps Minor League - Yordano Ventura

Are we in the maternity ward?  Because I see a baby-face.

Looking for legends?  Here's two cards I did not know existed.  Willie Wilson is so under-rated.  That guy was a BURNER.

Speaking of Royals legends...

1975 SSPC Royals

A whole page of SSPC cards?  Dang, Tom....you just have these things sitting around your house?  That's called an embarassment of riches.  :-)   These were my favorite things in the whole package, as I only had one KC SSPC card before this package arrived.

1996 Topps Chrome - Wally Joyner

Chromed-out Wally with the STREEEEEEEEETCH.......

1998 Fleer Metal Universe - Dean Palmer

Hey Guys -- It's me, Dean Palmer.  Since coming over to Kansas City, I spend most of my free time out here on a rural highway fielding grounders.  It was rough for awhile, but it's a lot better being out here now since that plane is grounded...

So THANK YOU, TOM!  Watch out for gunfire...

Big Greg and Little Willie

P-Town Tom hooked me up with cards above (in March).  Starting off with Willie Wilson and Alex Gordon at the top -- those are beautiful cards.  I love the "Spring Fever" cards every year, but never manage to get to a hobby shop for that promotion, so I am very thankful for any KC ones that come my way.  No, these cards aren't minis...they are regular-size.

So what does that make the Greg Holland?  That thing is a 5 X 7!  It's huge, but the hilarious part is that it came in its own giant toploader!  Nicely done, Tom!!  :-)

He also sent me a similarly-gigantic one of Alex Gordon that is not shown in this post.  Why not?  As soon as I opened the envelope, my 5-year-old son started begging for it.  AG #4 is his favorite player, so he thought it was amazing.  I asked him what he wanted it for, and he said he would put it up above his bed.  We got my roll of blue tape, and stuck it right there on the wall, where it sits to this day.

#CollectingTheNextGeneration

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.  :-)

I Don't Give a Hoot

...but Night Owl does.  I sent a pile of '77s his way, and he hooked me up with some offbeat recent stuff and a few oldies.  Here were my faves.

Jeff Francoeur with a mouthful of shiny dirt in the slide. 

2011 Topps Update Diamond Anniversary - Jeff Francoeur

Sean O'Sullivan with the liquorfractor...More like Sean O'Douls.

2011 Topps Update Cognac Refractor - Sean O'Sullivan

 I posted this Brayan Pena that I got awhile back...but here's the Wal-Mart version.  I don't have a Wal-Mart close enough to me to go there, so I like getting these parallels in trade.

2012 Topps Wal-Mart Blue Parallel - Brayan Pena

Cheslor Cuthbert was a big Latin American signing for the Royals two years ago.  He's still only 19 and is playing in High-A ball. 

Bret Saberhagen looks like he is making some Communist Vietnamese propaganda. Willie Wilson is just golden, baby.  Like Barry White's voice.

Thanks, Night Owl for another great trade.  But next time let's get Saberhagen saying U-S-A! U-S-A!