Christmas cards

Usually, Christmas comes and goes without me getting any cards from my family. I can't say I don't get any cards because there is usually a blogger Secret Santa gift or another random act of kindness.

And I don't blame my family. I never ask for cards, and I try to imagine my wife at Target looking at the boxes and having no clue what to get. It's like if she told me "go pick up some eyeliner" without any direction, I'd have zero clue where to begin.

This year I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice little hanger of 2019 Heritage High Number in my stocking! That's only happened once or twice before, so it was a nice little treat, and I appreciate the effort.

The first card out was a Yankee, JA Happ. Nice start.

None of the big base RCs fell out, although there was a Pete Alonso Rookie Performers insert. I'm not sure why these don't have the "RC" logo on them, as I thought inserts of rookies usually do?

And I did flip the cards over to check out the codes, which revealed a SP photo variation or something?

The cards in the rear were more of the same, as the highlights were Manny Machado and Zack Britton. I thought the pose on the Machado was cool.

The Alonso was a nice card to grab, and I'm not upset at no big RC hit. I'm thankful that my wife even attempted to whether the card aisle, and a hanger of Heritage High Number is definitely not a bad pick it all. It was just fun to open a couple cards on Christmas!

8!

Back in 2011, I started blogging as a young pup. Later that year, my son was born. It's hard to believe I've been writing this thing longer than he has been alive.

Today, my little dude turns 8. He just tore through the Pokemon card box we got him as his "big" gift.

Over the years, many of you have been incredibly generous sending him cards. While I've been bad at keeping up the "Joey's Cards" tab on my blog, I hope everyone knows that all the cards sent to him have been designated as such, kept in a binder, or in the instance of Jeter, kept with my most special cards.

Thank you to all who have been nice enough to throw something into trade packages for him. It's truly appreciated, and will always be part of the collection I keep for him. He won't have access to these cards until he's much older, since I'm worried he'll trade one now for some Pokemon GX something or other.

Here is a sampling of what you all have sent over the years, highlighted by the Jeter zapping from ZZ a long time ago!

And a few TTMs!

Cleveland rocks..and so do these cards

Last month, Bru of his self-titled blog decided to purchase one of the 2019 MLB All-Star Game stamped Topps factory sets. Only wanting his own team, he offered up team sets at a very generous price, and I snagged the Yanks.

It wasn't something I needed, but thought it'd be cool to have and keep the set intact.

The set looks the same as a base Topps card, but with a foil ASG logo on it. I have fond memories of Cleveland hosting the All-Star Game. In 1997 at Jacobs Field, Tino won the HR Derby and made the start at 1B. 22 years later, the Midsummer Classic was once again the home for the game.

Here's what the cards looked like:

I wish the main Cleveland ASG logo was used on these, as I thought it was really good. Better than how the NBA has gone to a templated system. The space was probably too small.

Bru also sent some extras, including cards that confused me at first. Turns out, these are 2019 Topps Stickers. And even more confusing, there are card backs that are also cards. I don't know. This is something that the 1990s would have done.

Confusion aside, I thought the sticker designs were really nice, and appreciate that they are standard card size versus the tiny ones. I hadn't seen these at all, so really appreciate Bru sending them along!

Secret Santa pays me a visit from the Pacific Northwest

Just before I was to head out for my yearly Christmas travels, a box from my Secret Santa showed up! Before I get into it, thanks again to Jon from Penny Sleeves for once again running this year's program. Like Matthew before him, he does a great job!

I was thinking I might be getting a package from someone new this year, as I noticed in the comments there were a lot of names I didn't recognize. Many were from Twitter or TCDB, so I figured I might be getting something from an unfamiliar name.

WRONG!

A nice flat rate box showed up from one of my oldest trading partners, Kerry from Cards on Cards! Although he does send some surprise packages throughout the year, I was thinking this one might be too well-timed to not be Secret Santa. And I was right! I opened the box and there were two glorious team bags, as well as a sticky note that read, "This worked out well. I had some cards set aside for you anyhow."

Kerry always sends super generous packages, and this one was no different. The highlights were what were undoubtedly the main Secret Santa gifts in the form of two Tinos I didn't have!

The relic is aN eBaY oNe Of OnE #'d 100/100!

And the Gallery is a Private Issue #'d to 250.

Two low numbered Tinos I needed?! Secret Santa was good to me.

And the team bags were great too, chock full of Knicks and Yankees! I was really happy that Kerry was kind enough to include two RJ Barrett rookies! These are the first cards I have of the promising Knicks rook. I love the old school Hoops Tribute design!

A few more Knicks, including some Kevin Knox RCs and a sad card of Porzingas. I do love the sweet Knicks City Jersey.

For the baseball portion, I really loved the 2019 Chrome Refractors. A nice pink of DJLM and the Jeter is awesome.

I LOVE this shot of Judge.

I'm surprised by how many Yankees cards Edwin is going to end up with this year. I loved having him in Pinstripes, even if it was for a short time and even if he stunk in the Playoffs.

Lastly, a vintage stock card of Yankees legend Ivan Rodriguez. Perhaps he is hitting his only Yankees homer in this shot?!

Kerry, thanks for being an awesome Secret Santa!

Cards from Bloggers!

I know I've teen tooting the horn of the Trading Card Database. Honestly, the site is easier to make quick, pointed card swaps. If you're into it, it's a great place to trade.

However, bloggers decided to make a comeback and bomb my mailbox this past week, as three packages (plus Secret Santa -- more on that later) arrived. Good stuff!

The first was a quick PWE from Peter over at Baseball Every Night. He said this was a bumper card in a package he received, and offered it to me. Of course I'd take it! Very nice looking card from 1995 Leaf. I feel like there were a lot of "fielding" cards/inserts in the mid-90s.

Next up, Tim from I Love The Smell Of Cardboard In The Morning sent me a surprise package. Tim was my Secret Santa last year, and he always has a knack for finding Tinos I don't have. I don't know how he does it. It's like he knows my wantlist better than I do! Plus this one was diecut, which makes it even better! I'm now up to 920 Tinos, although the number is a bit less on TCDB because they missed a few.

Tim also sent three much-appreciated Gleybers. I absolutely love the Blue Chips!

Lastly, Chris from Nachos Grande was kind enough to send a team bag of Yanks. I won a Barry Larkin card in one of Collecting Cutch's October giveaways, and it was one Chris needed, so I had Cutch send it his way. I had forgotten about it until Chris sent this package, highlighted by a Bye Bye Balboni autograph!

Three great mail days from three great bloggers! Thanks, Gents!