Mail forwarding doesn't work

Those of you who have traded with me know I've moved a few times over the past few years. However, we're officially homeowners, and this should be a permanent address for a long time.

I set up mail forwarding this past July, where any piece of mail (outside of junk mail) should be forwarded to my new address for one year from the start date, which was in July. I've definitely thought about all the mail, including TTMs, that I've probably lost due to change of addresses over the years.

On Saturday, my wife told me that the current tenants of our previous address found her on Facebook and reached out because they had a stack of our mail. Luckily it's only about a half mile away, so we stopped by yesterday, and sure enough, they had a decent sized plastic bag of mail for us. There were some holiday cards, and notably, a few envelopes for me with...you guessed it...cards in them.

I felt bad because two of them were from November, and I never properly thanked the senders because, well, I didn't get them. There was also a TTM, which I'll share soon.

I'm just frustrated because I don't understand why these wouldn't have been forwarded? It makes no sense. I have opened up a claim with the post office to investigate, although I'm sure that won't get me anywhere.

Anyhow, I owe some belated thank yous! First off, Mark Hoyle sent some awesome cards. He always takes care of my with some old Knicks and Syracuse players too.

 

Thanks, Mark! This was from November, so better late than never.

Next up, Brian of Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary...also from November! Brian was nice enough to send three HOFers for Joey, and a few goodies for me as well. The Tinos are a great blast from the '90s past. I definitely didn't have that minor league Bernie, either. Never even seen it!

 

Thanks, Brian!

Lastly, this one was just a week old, but Tony Burbs of Wrigley Roster Jenga sent a bunch of Holiday Yanks and a few others!

I'm glad these cards weren't lost forever. Thanks, guys!

TTM Success: Roger Clemens

I've changed my TTM strategy over the last few months. While I still send to a lot of the "sure bets" - Yankees players from the Junk Wax Era and prospects, I've decided to start dabbling in sending to some big-time players. For a long time time, I avoided this. With dwindling success rates and the volume of mail these players are getting going up, there wasn't a point to wasting two stamps knowing a card was never coming back.

However, with that logic, I found myself missing the surprise element of through the mail autograph collecting. There's no better feeling when an envelope shows up, and inside is an autograph that was an extreme long shot.

That's no disrespect to guys like Walt Terrell or Tim Stoddard. I love adding their autographs to my collection. However, it's a bit of a different feeling when I open an envelope and this falls out:

Boom!

Regardless of your feelings on Clemens, I think we can all agree he was one of the best pitchers to ever take the mound, illegally aided by PEDs or not. And he's going to get into the HOF at some point, as shown by the leap he took this past year.

Going back to the autograph, I have tried Clemens a few times, both at home and via his foundation. Each time, I've either gotten a return-to-send, or the card comes back unsigned. One time, he did send a small signed picture along with my unsigned card.

So when I shipped this off just after the new year, I knew it was a longshot. Still, I wanted to take a chance, and I was thrilled to open my envelope and find this card signed. And the card itself, a 2007 Turkey Red, is awesome. I've sent this card to him each time, so it's been on a little ride. But no matter, now it's signed, and looks perfect!

Like any successful portfolio, you need to diversify with safe picks and risks. That's my TTM strategy, and when a risk like this pays off, it feels great!

Super Bowl Sunday

Ahh, the day of "the big game." (I hate that reference, but get why the world has to do it).

I'm not a football card collector. Never have been and never will be. All the same, over my time as a collector, I have amassed a few football cards (mostly from JBF!). I have a stack from when I was a kid, as I'd usually get a few packs a year. This was usually the case if the drugstore was out of baseball or basketball. I still needed something to rip, as any card addict can relate.

I have exactly one Matt Ryan and one Tom Brady. I'll likely put the Brady in Joey's HOF binder. I certainly will be rooting for Atlanta tonight, as I don't wish success on any team from the Boston area. I'd like to see the Falcons come out on top, although I know it likely won't happen.

We'll be heading over to a friend's house to let the kids run around like hooligans. My plan is to leave at halftime and come back home. Hopefully the game won't be over by then. I hope everyone here has a good time, and more importantly, stay safe. Don't drink and drive!

In honor of today's big game Super Bowl, here are a few of the football cards from the aforementioned stack. Nothing valuable or fancy, but still cool to have.

 

TTM Success: Walt Terrell

Former Big League pitcher Walt Terrell signed four of my cards in about three weeks time. Terrell pitched for the Yankees for a half of a season in 1989, but still found his way onto quite a few cards in a Yankees uniform.

Seriously, is there any better use of junk wax than this? I'm a little surprised I didn't send a Topps base card, but still happy with the few I sent.

Mr. Terrell has a very nice, legible  signature, which I appreciate.

SuperTraders #28: A Cracked Bat

Rarely does a blogger re-enter the blogging world with such a fury of trade packages, but that’s what Julie of A Cracked Bat recently did. Hey Napkin Doon, take notice.

I was one of the lucky recipients of Julie’s #SuperTrader packages, and it was certainly packed with some great stuff.

I’ll start with an EBAY 1/1. Julie, I don’t think you knew you had an EBAY ONE OF ONE on your hands. You could have retired! In all seriousness, a sweet CC mini #’d 1/50. There were a couple of other cool minis too – Greg Bird and Tanaka. I can’t wait for Greg Bird’s return this season.

A couple of PC guys in Sanchez and Big Mike. The Big Mike is the green back of the Heritage ’51, which I did not have. The Sanchez card is blurry – not sure why. It’s not the scan. I think Topps just used a low res image. If anyone ever forgets Gary’s last name, SANCHEZ is tattooed across his arm. FYI. 

I have no recollection of this Fleer Tradition set. Randy Johnson’s tenure in NY seems to be looked at as a failure, but his first season was pretty good: 17-11, 3.79 ERA, 211 Ks, and a 5.7 WAR. As a 41-year-old! I guess compared to other seasons, that was pretty subpar for him. Admittedly, he was not good in the playoffs. 

Diamond Kings! Including a Diamond Kings Optic. This actually looks pretty sweet, I won’t lie.

National Baseball Card Day! These cards look great as well.

I’ll finish off with a couple high-end base cards. These have graced past packages from Julie as well. I never get these products, so appreciate receiving them.

Awesome stuff, Julie. Thank you!

Busting some 2017 Topps - Live Updates

As I mentioned on Twitter, my wife was on her way to Target today and texted me "Heading to Target. Need anything?" Of course you know right where my head went. So I texted her a picture of 2017 Topps and said "These came out today. If they are there, please grab a box. If not, I'll check this weekend."

I fully expected her to grab a box of 2016 Topps Series 2, but she texted me a picture, and lo and behold, a blaster! So she grabbed it for me.

That was at about 10am. Then I had to work all day knowing this box was waiting for me. NOT EASY! I'm spoiled - Superfractor yesterday (posting coming!) and now a Series 1 blaster today.

Since I already ordered a team set, and have zero luck with the retail, I fully expect this to be the only box I open outside of a stray pack here and there. So why not do a "live" box break...or at least update my packs in real time.

I could probably do some sort of Facebook or Twitter Live or something, but I don't want to do that. So I'm just going to update this post after each pack. Here we go!

Pack 1:

First card of the year:

Who the hell is this? I'm not joking, I have never heard of this player.

And here's the rest of Pack 1:

 

Initial thoughts: Eh, whatever on the base. I was in the minority of those who didn't mind last year, and I don't mind again this year. I've got enough going on in my life than to get worked up over what a card looks like. They are fine. Not my favorite, not my least favorite. There will be another design most probably won't like next year. And in 2019. And in 2020 all the cards will be digital, so enjoy these while you can.

I do miss full stats on the backs of the cards. I think that should be a staple for flagship. I don't mind it as much on other releases. Again, not up in arms, but my preference would have been full stats. Just as easily as it is go find full stats online, it's just as easy to find a player's Instagram handle.

I might do a few packs at a time after this, but will still update this post.

(Update 1) Pack 2:

Alright, first Yankee!

Here's the rest:

Victoria Justice...ok, ok. I definitely had to Google to make sure she wasn't 16. She's 23!


Pack 3:

A couple of inserts. Topps Salutes and Jackie Robinson Day, although both look exactly the same. Pretty lackluster and forgettable, right? Cool to get both Bryant and Sano, as they seem to be the better looking cards of Series One.

(Update 2) Pack 4:

Here's my first 1987 insert. The gloss threw me off a bit, but the back feels like an '87.

Rest of pack was pretty standard.

Pack 5:

Oh, I didn't know if there was Topps Gold this year. He's one of Khris Davis #'d to 2017. These look decent.

Another Jackie Robinson Day Topps Salutes, and an Award Winners card of Rick Porcello. No thanks! The Seager is pretty cool.

Pack 6:

I like these 5 Tool inserts! They look pretty cool. The design is nice.

Oh my goodness I could not want that Kevin Millar MLB Network card any less. Literally I may throw it away. The Reggie is some sort of promo that just has info on the back. I don't think it counts as a card since this pack would have had 11 cards.

That Polanco is a great photo!

(Update 3) Pack 7


Two more of the Salutes/Jackie Robinson Day cards. At least you can see Longoria is wearing #42, so that's cool.

Pack 8

Two inserts! The Felix is one of those Then and Now inserts, and the Strasburg is another '87 Topps. Cool Pillar shot as well. Also, I follow baseball pretty heavily, but there are players in this set I have never heard of.

Pack 9

Alright! Two Yankees, including GARY SANCHEZ! The Clippard is helpful too since he's one of my only shots at completing the Topps Yankees Project in Series 1.

Two packs to go!


(Update 4) Pack 10


Cool, one of the Rainbow parallels. They look fine, like in previous years.

Ok, last pack...please please please be a Yankee manurelic thing.


Pack 11


Nope. These look ok in person, I suppose.  The coin is nice, but I don't think I'd want to own a bunch of them. I would have liked the Aaron Judge, that's for sure.

Ok, so that's it. A great reminder of why I don't buy retail. But I'm very grateful my wife snagged this for me, even if she has as bad of luck as I do with picking out blasters. It was still fun to open, and I look forward to sending out some TTM requests to the Yankees and trying to add 2017 to my Topps Yankees Project!