Napkin Doon > The Easter Bunny

I didn't get cards in my Easter Basket this year.

It's actually been hit or miss for me on this one. Every couple of years my wife has put a pack or two in the small baskets we fill for one another. But I knew that this year wouldn't stand a chance given the current situation at Target.

I haven't even been to Target in months, so I'm not sure what sort of policy mine currently has. But it's never been one to carry much inventory anyways, so I don't even bother. It's actually nice to not have any needs in life where I need to go to Target or Walmart.

But I don't need the Easter Bunny. I still have cards coming in, whether eBay purchases or excellent TCDB trades or other random mailings. For instance, right before the weekend, an unexpected PWE arrived from Napkin Doon himself, a guy perhaps even more mysterious than the Easter Bunny himself.

The PWE contained three very shiny cards, and excellent additions to my collection.

These Refractors are from 2010 Finest. I was not collecting then, so the design is new to me. I don't think I've come across any cards from this set before, so it's like seeing a brand new set for the very first time. You could have told me it was 2021 Finest and I would have believed you.

The other card joining these two:

Beautiful! 2020 Bowman Prospects Mojo Refractor (thanks to TCDB for helping me identify this card). I have a lot of Schmidts, but this is a new one. I wish the name "mojo" wasn't official, but it's ok. It's a good looking card.

So while the basket was filled with delicious treats, my cards came from elsewhere. And that's just fine with me!

Easter basket cards

I distinctly remember getting cards in my easter basket four different times.

In fact, each were essentially a blaster box before they were called "blaster boxes." They were the Target boxes that costs $10 or $20, but I sort of looked down on them because they weren't "hobby boxes." I dunno, I was middle-school aged and it felt like getting a cheaper thing than the real thing. Well, dummy, because it was.

It was also a time when the boxes were basically the same size as a hobby box, but had a ton of foam padding inside.

The first year I can remember, I actually got basketball cards. It would have been a blaster of 1996-97 Upper Deck Collector's Choice basketball series 2. Not only was Collector's Choice my favorite baseball brand, but I loved their basketball cards too. Maybe even more. Looking back, this was a solid choice because it had rookies of Kobe, Nash, Ray Allen, and Allen Iverson. I still have most of those. It looked something like this:

Pretty solid rookie class, and I'm glad I never got rid of them. Especially happy to still have the Kobe!

I believe it was 1998 that would have brought baseball card under my Easter basket. Yes, not in, but under. I distinctly remember my basked being placed on top of a 4-pack of Pinnacle Inside cans. They looked a little something like this:

Maybe no better card product represents the quirky 90s than these.

Moving on to 1999, I'm pretty sure I got a box of 1998 cards in the form of Pacific Online. These were odd cards that had a massive url at the top. You know, because players now had web pages on the world wide internet. Only instead of something like a vanity URL, you were expected to type in this a long web address to look up stats on your favorite player!

The last box I got, which I still have, was again getting cards from the year before, this time in the year 2000 getting cards from '99. In this instance, it was a blaster box of 1999 Score Rookie Traded with Chipper on the front.

It's funny how I can barely remember yesterday, but cards in Easter baskets 20+ years ago? No problem.

Happy Easter!

Easter baskets and cards

Growing up, cards were always a fixture in my Easter basket.

In 1996, I remember getting a blaster box of Upper Deck Collector's choice basketball. I still remember how deceptive the box was, as it was the size of a normal box, but only had 10 packs and a big foam square that took up space.

In 1997, my Easter basket sat on top of four cans of Pinnacle Inside baseball cards. I think that was the equivalent of a blaster. There were four cans that were shrink-wrapped.

In 1998, Pacific Online was the blaster of choice for the Easter Bunny. You know, baseball cards with web addresses! For the internet!

The point is, my mom always made sure there were some cards in my Easter basket in addition to candy and other treats. I looked forward to the packs more than the candy, actually.

Keeping the tradition alive, I made sure that there was a pack of cards in Joey's basket this morning. I suppose I should have put some in my daughter's basket too. Oops. Maybe next year.

Let's see how Joey did:

Happy Easter!

For those of you who celebrate, Happy Easter! Hope you have all have great days with your family.

If all goes according to plan, I'll be celebrating Easter with my 2-year old son and dive-day-old daughter at home. Fingers crossed that's what's going on.

And for the first of many times (I hope), Joey will be getting a pack of cards in his Easter basket from the Easter Bunny. It's just a pack of 2014 Topps Opening Day, but still cool. I'll put whatever he gets in his binder as a reminder of the first pack he ever opened. There is probably a 1/1 Mike Trout in there or something...