Holiday PWEs > Holiday Cards

Over the past few weeks, holiday cards have been flooding in. Relatives and neighbors send family photos printed from Snapfish or Shutterfly, usually of photos taken from the fall at our local park. Some even include those letters about what the family has been up to this past year, which admittedly we usually mock. "Jim has taken up jigsaw puzzles during quarantine. Janie finally opened her Etsy shop. Suzie went to competitive cheer camp. Billy continues to play Fortnite and takes tuba lessons."

Each day, three or four cards grace our mailbox, but lately between the holiday greetings, I've found something even better.

PWEs!

I recently got four of them over the past few days, and I'll take those any day over the standard Christmas greetings.

The first is from Cards on Cards. I claimed a sweet Tee Higgins rookie card, which Kerry graciously set aside for me during one of his free card postings. Higgins has had a really good rookie year and developed a great rapport with Joe Burrow. He had a good shot at 1,000 yards before Burrow got hurt. He might still get there, but it'll be tougher now without a competent QB.

He also sent a few Yanks, my favorites which were some PINK cards of Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres. Panini would be kicking Topps butt with a license.

Next up was a very unique gift from Tom of Angels In Order, a long-time trading friend. Tom sent me a bunch of what I assume are TTMs from some very random mid-80s Yankees!

There was also a great Don Zimmer signed index card, and a small piece of paper with signatures from Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth!

Very cool stuff, Tom.

Third, Chris from The Collector and I exchanged PWEs. He was looking for some new football cards, so I shot him a random assortment. He hit me back with some Yankees, and some cards for my son's HOF binder! I always appreciate when people do that!

Lastly, Jay of Card Hemorrhage sent me a VERY packed PWE with all sorts of goodies. In addition to Yanks, Jay is always good for a surprise or two, whether it's other star players, cards from other sports, and more. 

The highlight for me was this Thurman Munson from 2020 Heritage:

This Jackie Robinson from 1986 Larry Fritsch Cards is very cool!

Here's a random assortment of what else Jay chucked my way.

Four really great PWEs from four really great bloggers. I'll take that any day over people I barely know!

If you are what they say you are, a Superstar

Back when 2019 Topps Series One came out, I pulled a Lorenzo Cain Brewers photo variation SP. Matt of Summer of '74  was interested in the card, so I shot it his way and told him to send me a Judge autograph in return...or at least something Yankee-related when he got to it.

A few weeks later he said he had something cool to send me, and he was right!

I opened his PWE to find these six cards. I had never seen them!

I consider myself somewhat capable of using Google, but all I can really find are that these are from 1980 TCMA. There are a few listed on COMC, including non-Yanks like Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, and Sandy Koufax.

I think they are great looking cards, and wasn't quite sure if they actually were vintage or a modern day reprint. For the record, I am one who does consider 1980 as "vintage."

Matt, these are really cool and I thank you. It's always fun to open up a card package and out fall cards you've never seen!

Highly under-promising and completely over-delivering

It was all so innocent.

In an email exchange, Brian of Highly Subjective andCompletely Arbitrary mentioned he was looking to unload some of his extra cards, and asked if I wanted some of the Yankees. Sure, I said. I can always use them for TTMs and whatnot since I’m a disorganized collector who doesn’t have want lists. I gladly offered to pay for shipping, but Brian said I was doing him a favor.

Seriously, what kind of guy sends a flat rate full of Yankees, and says I’m doing him a favor? Brian, that’s who.

I was expecting a lot of cards I already had that would be great for TTMs, and to be fair, there is a ton of TTM fodder. But Brian also massively undersold a bunch of the cards he’d be sending my way. I was expecting a lot of dupes, but honestly, that was far from the case. The box had it all!

I’m not even sure where to start, so I guess I’ll show off some vintage first, which I wasn’t expecting in the least. The oldest card:

Yep, 1955 Bowman. Great set. The most surprising card?

Wow. A Munson 1976 Kellogg’s! Holy smokes. It’s in excellent condition too. I believe I only have one other Kellogg’s card in my collection, and definitely not Munson. This is a treasure.

Ok, fast forward from vintage to present:

Those 2016 Bowman’s Best cards are great. I didn’t even know these existed, but those are legit cards from 2016 that feature Sanchez and Judge in Big League uniforms talking about Big League accomplishments. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s getting harder to acquire Sanchez cards, so this is very appreciated.

Two Big Mikes I didn’t have! I was surprised to check my “haves” list and that the 2016 Gyspy Queen wasn’t on there. I guess I’ve been slacking on his newer stuff.

There were some great minor league cards too. Ruben Rivera and Mark Hutton were featured in a ton of products, by the way. 

Speaking of the minors, how about this managerial card??

 

I have fond memories of Tate Seefriend as a Binghamton Met. He was a great power hitter. I might try and locate an address for him to try and get a TTM autograph.

Refractors and shiny cards were aplenty as well! I really like the pink Dellin.

And a couple other personal favors, although I’m still not doing the package justice.

Brian, I know you said I did you a favor, but that just can’t be so. This was a classic case of under-promising and over-delivering. Thank you for all of these!

Napkin Doon is still out there...somewhere

Don't let him fool you. Napkin Doon is still out there. Lurking. Watching. Waiting. Creeping.

Just before I moved, Napkin Doon sent me a big old package of cards. He had the option of waiting until I was at my new address, but chose to send to my old one so I would have more things to pack. That's just how his sick mind works.

However, he did send me a very generous stack of cards, highlighted by the omnipresent Rance Mulliniks. I know you've all been Bipped, but being Ranced is equally effective.

Napkin was also kind enough to send a card for my son's binder:

Just kidding.

And I don't have much to say about this that is PG. Troy popping a nut.

While the above cards are certainly desirable, Nap did in fact send some less valuable stuff that made me equally happy, including this 1963 Topps Whitey Ford. I love vintage Whitey!

Any vintage card with Mickey Mantle on it is welcome. This poor kid only had a Ralph Houk and Mike Cueller according to the checklist. I think Mantle was mocking him with a sly look of disdain.

More vintage, including this sweet Virgil Trucks and a Thurman Munson that was was definitely some kid's #walletcard.

Oh wait, that's better!

In terms of the non-vintage, Nap found a pretty sweet Tino bat for me. I can't believe he played for the Devil Rays.

Pitchers batting is so stupid. It looks like Pettitte was getting ready for his three year cameo in the NL with this uninspiring swing versus the Mets at Shea.

Finally, some Big Mikes, and a Jeff Weaver shiny gold card. Weaver was pretty horrendous with the Yankees, but damn this card looks like it would fall out of a Wonka Bar.

 

Napkin Doon, thanks for the package. We miss you around here. Come back.