Tell me, veteran card bloggers, do you ever think back to the days when you had no blog, when you collected in a vacuum, when no one heard your plaintive cries of "look Aaron Rowand is wearing a glove on his HEAD!"
In those days, if someone told you all you had to do was write about cards in a public forum in order to find other collectors and build your collection, you would treat it like the joke that knew it was. In fact, if you received that information, this very day, you'd be certain that you were being pranked.
Well, I don't do pranks. It's mean and a waste of time. So when I say I get cards because I write about cards on a blog, there is no joke, no catch, no under-the-table dealing, no kickbacks, no shady stuff, no auto dealership fine print, no snickering, no nothing.
It's simple: write about cards publicly, get cards.
Pretty cool, huh?
I'll show you how cool.
I received a bunch of cards from Dave a week or two ago. It's filled with stuff I want.
For example, 1981 Donruss needs.
The want list for that set is now down to 10 bat-on-shoulder/blurry photo cards.
Night cards. There were a lot more than these. I'm sure some Reds fan just freaked out because they discovered they need a Pirates card for their team collection.
Current team-set needs in tower form. Only half of the tower is currently disabled.
Non-licensed rookies. These are as exciting as those first packs of 1991 Donruss that I bought -- meaning they're laughably terrible. But collect the Dodgers we must. That way, I always win.
Mid-'90s Finest team needs. The Brett Butler completes the '94 Finest team set, which is very exciting as it's one of my favorite Finest sets of all-time.
This Valdes card completes the 1996 Dodgers Chrome set. I have nothing more nice to say about Valdes or '96 Chrome.
Sabres cards? Yup, there were several. I need cards of past Sabres stars to comfort me when Buffalo bungles the No. 1 or No. 2 pick in the draft (not saying they'll bungle the pick -- it's what happens afterward).
More Buffalos. This is when the notorious O.J. was at his peak. That was many, many TV court shows ago.
'69 Pilots! OK, it's just one here, but he's got a three-letter last name! And he's one of the few Pilots in the 1969 set to actually be wearing a Pilots uniform. Sure, it's a spring training uniform, but those look better than what they wore during the season.
A much-appreciated Dodger need, since my '71 Buckner (yeah, yeah and Enzo and Marty) has been residing in my 1971 complete set. I love how fresh and clean this card is.
'70s Kellogg's cards are the best cards. I don't even care if he was beating the Dodgers in the '74 World Series at the time this card was in cereal boxes.
Two guys named Roy and the player that I want is obscured by the O-Pee-Chee logo. Not even all of the pretty colors can stop making me question the point of this card.
Speaking of OPC, Dave sent a large stack of black-bordered parallels from the '09 set. I don't know where he finds these cards, but it's about time the want list showed its face.
The '59 World Champions on the 1960 Dodgers team card. Koufax has got to be in there somewhere.
I neglect 1955 Topps Dodgers, which I shouldn't do considering what they did that year. Fortunately, others compensate for my failings.
This 1954 Bowman Don Newcombe is in wonderful shape (you can barely see the creases). It's actually my second '54 Bowman Newcombe, which allowed me to do this:
Either '54 Bowmans varied in size, or someone trimmed a border on one of the Newcombes.
Dave apparently thinks I'm going to complete the 1952 Topps Dodgers set. I appreciate his optimism. I'm not nearly as hopeful. But I could stare at the Preacher Roe card all day.
Final card. It's a great one.
This is a 1940 Play Ball card of Dolph Camilli, the man who would win the N.L. MVP award for the Dodgers the very next year. (This card is odd because it looks as if a bat has been drawn into Camilli's hands and then erased -- and it's not just on this card, it's on ever '40 Play Ball Camilli that I've looked up online).
Camilli is a favorite of mine because of his ability and also because he refused to report to the Giants when he was traded to the team in 1943 because he HATED them.
And now -- finally -- I have a card of Camilli from his playing days.
I'm telling ya, there was even more stuff in this package than what I showed.
This isn't a scam or an elaborate ruse. I'm not cackling as I write this. It's for reals.
In fact, a rather large box arrived in the mail for me this very day.
Those of you without a blog probably don't believe me.
But card bloggers know better.
If you doubt me, check back in about a week or so when the contents are displayed on this blog.
Then you'll know: there's no foolin'
Comments
The 1952 Topps ain't bad either! :-)
It was also great to see the Catfish Hunter and the OJ. cards. I remember pulling that O.J. card and thinking how magical its was to hold that card. O.J. was a.great icon at the time and his accomplishments on the field were so impressive to us kids.