Watch For Above Average Pedestrians and other signs

Slow down, you move to fast. I find myself saying this more often as the years days pass.  I was never much for life in the fast lane.  Card collecting is a perfect hobby for someone who's not in a hurry. That's a good thing since most of our collections will never be fully complete and/or organized.  Oh there are a few of you out there, with your fancy shelves and cards all neatly bindered.  I forgive you.

I'm not ashamed to admit there are incomplete sets in my collection from the 90s. For instance, 1997 SP:

23 years later, the first two of only seven needed cards come off the list! And just who gets credit for this modern day miracle??    Chris  ---->  https://thepedestriancollector.blogspot.com/ !!!  In January, he picked my pockets for a few cards and kindly sent a return envelope.  He also took time to check my wantlist. Who knows why he would have any of these cards but it made my day to receive them. To be honest, I'm not certain why I kept them either. They've been in my collection so long now, so close to completion, I'm apparently unable to part with them.  Not ugly, not overly special, but still super premium in their day.

REMAINING 97 SP THORNS

Chris is anything but an average collector. He's also an above average blogger. One of my favorite things on his blog is his hockey frankenset tab:

HIS CARDS, NOT MINE...YET

These cards birthed a monster in me, not ALIEN but my buttons can be pushed.  OPC has become my choice for hockey cards. I choose to let others send them to me. {So why don't you?} I can't help but enjoy the fact Upper Deck owns the rights to an old Topps brand.  I added all Blackhawks to my want list.  Wildly colorful, the Rainbow parallels would be a sweet binder addition.

Chris tucked a little hockey into this PWE:

Blackhawk goalies!!  Fantastic contents, Chris! Thank you. Pick on me anytime! 

Changing directions... I've tried to skirt this topic but it seems nearly impossible.  Now that the oh-so novel virus is on our shores, the novelty has worn thin.  I am healthy and live/work in relatively unexposed conditions.  Working from home is not an option anymore as I'm five minutes from the office, and the emergency 'go-to'. I can avoid contact with all but perhaps four persons there.  My desk is a good distance from everyone but off the main aisle these four travel.  We are in the automobile industry. Incoming work is already slowing.  As a third-tier service provider, this company would be greatly affected by a shut-down. It seems inevitable. As colleges and schools close their doors for the next few weeks, other businesses are sure to follow suit. Several of my pals here are teachers. Billy battles health issues so his trading is on hiatus for now.  How many of you plan to halt trading at this time, or at all? Are you still shopping online - ebay?

I hope you, your friends and family are all unaffected. I'll be here, checking in. Please let us know if you find yourself under-the-weather.  I need to stock up on hot dogs and spicy brown mustard...just in case there's a run on wieners!

If you are still interested in Pick Pockets, I've upped the pick-limit to 15 cards. It seems a shame to send half-empty pockets on a journey.  New cards are going up this weekend. If you want anything still available, make your claims. 

HERE'S YOUR SIGN

FRENCH'S - Mustard to My Hot Dog

Here I am talking about hot dogs again. Surely it has nothing to do with the diet I began last month.  I don't recall when I last ate a tasty all-beefer on a bun. Summer time perhaps. The bright yellow mustard is fine enough but my preference leans toward spicy brown.

French conjures many images. Eiffel Tower. Notre-Dame. Napoleon. Bull Dogs. Brigette Bardot. Wait. What?

Oui, Oui, Brigette?

This past October, the other  French icon and hero Kevin Papoy, sent a mailer as a reminder he still thinks of me. Kevin has been blog-absent for sometime now, leading a busy life across the ocean.  With all he has going on, Kevin still felt sorry for these homeless cards. I'm a great foster parent.



Here's something new! My first 1986 True Value cards. Still sealed. With a 30 card checklist, the possibilities aren't endless but could include Nolan Ryan, Ripken and Sandberg. Each plays a large part in my collection. There are several HOFers in this set. I like the design well enough. They would look nice, side by side in a binder. This one will remain with my Whitakers. Now were I to rip it up, the contents would look something like this:

Yes, I do not own this photo. 

More oddities include these Fielders, both new to me. One from the Shanks Collection, the other Metz Baking. I wonder if they make hot dog buns?

How about these great additions to my build-a-bat collection? My best guess is that I'm still short 809,027 pieces - and one bat knob.

2001 FLEER SHOWCASE - STICK IT

2001 UD GAME-USED PP

Holy Hall of Fame, Batman! I have a real dilemma here! Both of these fine gentlemen are PCs. Perhaps it's better to add this to the catcher binder, after I take the wood chips off of course.  You can't imagine the splinters these things give me.


Here's a nice card to remind me Nick is no longer a Tiger or a Cub. It also serves as a reminder to scan cards in the future. There was a good  reason for taking pictures at the time.  Perhaps I was feeling a bit paresseuse. Look that up, if you're not too lazy.

Psst. Nick. NICHOLAS! Behind you...

How did I find myself thrown into 90's nostalgia? When I began collecting in 93, I was a full-bleed snob. White borders were banished from my collection.  How I miss the borders I never took time to appreciate.  There aren't many late 80s and early 90s bordered cards I feel a need to own. There are exceptions:1995 Topps Cyberstats. I have a crazy notion to pull this set together. All were added to my wantlist on TCDB.  Go there now and make my every wish come true. I find the foiled fronts appealing, with photos ripped from pages of history.  Dramatic?  Indeed.  It's the lack of sugar in my diet. 

[While composing this brilliant piece of literature, I found the font size fluctuating between eye-sore large and squinter's type. Blogger finds me intimidating.  I've increased the font size which appears normal in the preview. Please know if it's overly large, I am not yelling.]  I will however, yell THANK YOU to Kevin. 

France has given us many memorable gifts. Lady Liberty comes to mind immediately. But there was one other woman...

This Time Last Year

This time last year, I was working a horrid amount of  overtime in an unappreciative environment.  During the current 'tax busy season', I've barely given that place a second thought. Three weeks into my new job has me thinking I could stay there for ten years if I wanted - if they wanted.  I've felt valued and appreciated since I walked in that first day.

This time last year, I received an all Astros package from Jason Carter. {Go easy on me. I mean well.} I'm not sure how I overlooked sharing these but here's look at of few of those cards.

1991 Baseball Card Magazine

EXPRESS!

NUMBER 27

Miss you, Cam!

Cutest little bunny ever! Blech!

This is my favorite in the bunch! FLOATING BAT! Fits nicely in my mini-collection. Jason, these cards did not go unappreciated! I'm still enjoying them. If  you've never checked out his blog, The Writer's Journey, make your way over there. You'll find great write ups on music, tv & movies, toys, games, and of course, baseball cards! My regular stop on Jason's blog is the Goodbye tab.

While we're living in the past, here's another great batch from Baseball Card Breakdown. I shared these on Twitter at the time but a few deserve a closer look.

Hall of Fame Heroes

1992 MLB ACES Playing Cards. Also known as  'A'  is for Appetite.

Gavin is a generous fellow. He sent a nice lot of cards with a kind thank you note. Mailers from him always contain a surprise or two, like this eTopps Austin Jackson Rookie, an early Topps scam  swindle web only issue. Each card was considered an IPO; available for a limited time, printed to the total number ordered. Sound familiar?  Topps graciously stored your online portfolio in their  vault until shipment was requested. The program ran for 12 years, producing just under 3000 different cards with nearly 4,000,000 cards printed.

Something Gav often adds to his mailers are the customs he is widely known for! I was the fortunate recipient of two.

My favorite Twinkie!

Quality backside too!

A full set in this design, please

Mejia has great potential

I'd say it's fairly difficult for Gavin to outdo himself but...

Oh my word, when I received this card...! The classic, unforgettable play at the plate from the 1968 World Series!  Bill Freehan is a favorite on this blog {if its design wasn't an obvious tribute.} This sketch card is a centerpiece in the Freehan collection. All. Mine.  I'll never know how Freehan held Brock off.  He had a little help from Willie Horton's arm. Willie doesn't make the throw, this play never happens. My favorite moment from the entire series. Don't tell Lolich or McClain.

My thanks always, Gav!