Personal shopper

I've had my fair share of jobs over the years. Maybe not as many as a lot of people, but I have been a dishwasher, a department store worker, a drug store clerk, a newspaper carrier, a stockboy, a bus boy, a burger flipper, a truck unloader (or whatever you call that job), and probably a couple others that I've forgotten about.

But last week was my first job as a personal shopper. And it's also the first time I have ever gotten paid in baseball cards.

I was out shopping for two bloggers who were interested in some of the cards that I found at a dollar store in town and reported about on this post. Both Dubbs of the appetizingly titled Cheese and Beer and zman of Autographed Cards sent some cash for me to purchase the cards, and last weekend I practically cleaned out the card selection at the store. There are only a few forlorn bags left.

At a buck a bag and betwen 40-50 cards a bag, I'll be shipping off around 450 cards of the mid-80s Fleer variety to both guys. I had to take the cards out of the bags for easier shipping. Also, I wanted to make sure that Dubbs got the Brewers and zman got the Royals.

Both guys also very generously sent some cards for my trouble, which I will show here, starting with Cheese and Beer. Dubbs apparently collects cards that I don't because he easily found some Dodgers I didn't have, starting with the '52 Topps rookie Dynamic Duo cards at the top of the post. All four are doing quite well for L.A. these days, thank you.

He also sent a pair of Donruss Zenith Dodgers, the departed J.D. Drew and Cesar Izturis. I think I managed only a pack of this stuff, probably from a repack box, so these are welcomed.

The Sweet Spot Classic cards have the same color scheme as the Zenith cards. A lot of gold and black. It's easy to confuse the two. But these two fellows are a little more accomplished than Drew and Izturis.

YES, we have Upper Deck X! Bask in the pointlessness! Embrace the wacky, harsh angles! Soak in the vibrancy! All I care about is that these are two cards I didn't have. So I will happily accept the X cards.

Next up are cards from Zach. He's sent me several cards over the last few months, but I think he outdid himself this time. He had read a comment of mine lamenting that my card shop didn't have any vintage cards. Happening upon a card shop that did sell vintage stuff, he checked out my want list and sent me some key items. What a guy.

All of these cards were 1975 or 1976 Topps. The '75 cards are all Dodgers as I have the entire '75 set, but am trying to complete an extra set of Dodgers.

But I'm still trying to collect the full '76 set, and Zach sent several cards that I needed. I like how Topps in '75 and '76 refrained from calling these guys "Rookie Stars." They're just plain "Rookie Pitchers," which is pretty accurate because none of these guys did anything terribly exciting in the majors.

I need every one of these cards. Some, like the Griffey and the Nettles, I've been trying to get for a long time. As a kid, the Nettles card eluded my grasp because the greedy Yankees fans in my neighborhood were always hording cards like Nettles and Munson.

Here are some great mid-70s Dodgers, including the first Dodger I ever pulled from a pack that I purchased myself -- the Steve Yeager card. Thanks, Zach!

Oh, and another thing, I did pick up a couple of cards for myself at the store.

Out of the two bags I bought myself, I pulled these two 1983 Fleer Dodgers. I am now down to Burt Hooton and the team checklist to complete the '83 set.

Not bad for a single trip across town. Heck, there are still a couple of bags left. I'll be happy to run another errand.