A pack saved for card hell

Maybe "card hell" is too strong a phrase. "Card dystopia" won't work either. No poverty or nuclear fallout to mention. How about instead of coming up with a label, I tell the story?

OK, I traveled over the weekend to see my folks. They're pleasant people. I enjoy the visit, for the most part. Parents have their idiosyncrasies, which I hate saying because I'm a parent, but if you can get past that, it makes the visit much smoother.

The problem is there's a lot of talking involved. I'm not a talker. I know the long posts throw you off, but I only talk when a) I have something to say; b) I find something interesting. But discussions with my folks often involve health care, or family histories, or what the neighbor is doing with his lawnzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Zzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzz. ... Oh ... Hi. So, where was I? Oh, right. Absence of cards. So, when I visit my folks, cards rarely come up. Although, they are collectors. And they go to auctions. Cards turn up at auctions all the time. But I'm never around when they're at the auctions, and they've never been able to pull the trigger on any cards. So, there they are, probably surrounded by cards, and they end up with nothing. I've tried to coordinate my visits with an auction trip, but my schedule sucks, so by the time we find a time when we can get away for a couple of days, we're so exhausted by that ritual that any other thought is completely and thoroughly meaningless.

I make my life sound attractive don't I?

So, there's barely any baseball card-talking at my folks' place. And I try to be a good son and not stick my face in the computer, wandering the blogs, while I'm visiting. And card shopping was out because I was on an insanely tight budget that allowed for only gas and making sure my daughter didn't starve. I can go a couple of days without cards, but I'm used to having cards somewhere in my immediate vicinity. It's a comfort to me. Things are a lot less cranky without cards. So, that's why I brought Brian's pack of baseball cards with me.

It was wrapped in the Upper Deck Decade 1970's Baseball wrapper that you see at the top of the post. I love that set. I've written about it before. I need to finish it off some day. So, when Brian sent it to me, I was thrilled.

Aww. It was an anniversary present. How nice. And he knew just what I wanted.

However, the thought occurred to me that it actually wasn't the Upper Deck '70s set in that pack, especially when I saw that the pack was taped shut. It didn't matter much, because Brian always sends cool stuff. Besides, the key point is -- I ACTUALLY WAITED TO OPEN THE PACK.

You don't know how big this is for me. I stare in wonderment at bloggers who have stashes of unopened wax waiting for them in the event of rainy day. I am serious when I say this: I have never let a pack in my possession survive unopened for more than a day. I am 100 percent confident in that statement. You've got to get to the goods before they spoil, man!

But I really needed to save for this pack for that cardless night at my folks home when I had past conversations of my neighbor's petunias ringing in my head.

So that's what I did. Late Saturday night, I opened the pack. (Yeah, it's what I do these days instead of close bars). Let's see if Brian's hopes -- that I still needed some of these -- came true. Five cards in this pack, just like it says on the front.

Kaz Ishii, 2002 Donruss Diamond Kings. Well, I do have this one already. Not a great start. Nice painting, though.

Matt Kemp, 2009 O-Pee-Chee, black border: Yay! One I need! The black border Dodgers are slowly trickling in. The first time I've ever seen a player pose on a folding chair in the indoor batting cage for his card photo.

Gary Sheffield, 2001 Upper Deck SP, bat relic. This pack just gets better and better! This has to be one of my favorite bat relic cards. The relic really is part of the design and doesn't take the focus away from the player photo. I much prefer this to many of the other bat/jersey relic cards that make the relic the sole reason for the card, requiring you to LOOK. AT. IT. I SAID LOOK AT IT! ISN'T IT FANTASTIC? THAT'S WOOD! GLORIOUS WOOD! WOOD THAT SOME DUDE USED TO SWING AT A ROUND OBJECT! BASK IN ITS GLORY!!!!!!!

Anyway, I much prefer this Sheffield relic card.

Rafael Furcal, 2009 Allen & Ginter black-bordered mini. Getting all the A&G black border minis of your favorite team is not easy. I think this might be my third. Or my third is on its way. I don't remember. At any rate, I'm not pulling them myself, that's for sure.

Dominique Wilkins, 2009 Allen & Ginter short-print. Weeee! Card #346 of the HHF. Fantastic talent. Back when I at least pretended to care about basketball.

This was one of the last three A&G cards that I needed to complete the 1-350 set. I am now down to two cards:

#30 - Ryan Howard. I had it, and then traded it away.
#339 - Jordan Schafer. A card I've never seen except on the blogs.

If you have one of those, let me know. I'd be happy to work out a quick trade.

Thanks for the pack, Brian. It was a life-saver.