Secret Santa pays me a visit

I've been traveling since December 23rd, and won't be home until December 30th. I usually schedule a few blog posts during this time, yet this year, December got away from me. I figured I'd have lots of time to blog from my various family destinations, such as after the kids went to bed and all was quiet. Ha! That's not how it works out. I should know better.

But I didn't want to get too far past Christmas without showing my Secret Santa package, which came from none other than Tim over at I Love The Smell Of Cardboard In The Morning. I've traded with Tim here and there, so we're certainly familiar with one another.

Tim sent me a great package that was really catered to what I like. He even had my Tino Martinez "have list" on his phone when he went to a card show. That's dedication!

This one is definitely the most unique. While it might like a regular 2001 Topps, there is a portion of it that is embossed.

It's still hard to see, but the embossed surface shows that it's a Topps Employee Issue. Very cool! Hope Sooz doesn't mind me owning this.

Next up, a silver signature parallel from 2000 Upper Deck MVP. It's nice to see Tino's name scrawled across this one.

When I saw this card, I originally thought it might be a dupe, but turns our it's the unordered refractor version of 1998 Topps Mystery Finest. This set was pretty confusing with the bordered and unbordered cards.

Tim also sent some cool Yankees, including this 1996 World Series card /500. I'll always love the 1996 World Series.

There were a lot of current Yanks as well, many from the Walmart holiday boxes. I was thrilled to get this Miguel Andujar rookie.

And I think this alone doubled my Clint Frazier collection!

Tim, thanks so much for the thought and effort you put into this. It's much appreciated!

And a BIG THANKS to Jon at Penny Sleeves for organizing this year's program!