Let's keep this informal

I've been sitting on an envelope from Billy for a little bit too long.

Billy, who has crazy luck pulling cards, lately has been my regular supplier of two things: 1991 BBM Hideo Nomo rookie cards and 1975 Topps buybacks.

If you're going to specialize in sending out two particular items, you cannot do better than that.

Billy sent me another BBM Nomo rookie card a couple of years ago. I did a breakdown of the set and Nomo's relationship with it then. Suffice to say, Nomo doesn't just have a lot of rookie cards in 1995 American card products. He dominated the Japanese market in rookie cards a full four years earlier, possibly even earlier than that.

So, Billy sent me two more of Nomo's 1991 rookies, the card above and this card here:

Pretty cool. I now have three of the BBM Nomos. I think only two or three to go.

Here are the backs of both recent pickups:

I'm assuming the same text is on each card. Those most definitely are not Nomo's stats since, duh, he was a rookie at the time. I don't know what that is. Team champions each year with stats? League leaders with stats? I need Zippy Zappy again.

So those are the Nomo rookies from package.

Here are the 1975 Topps buybacks:

Two more key items for the mission. These bring the total to 274 cards in the set and I am still not tired of this at all. LET'S KEEP GOING.

Now, there is the whole matter of sending some cards back to Billy, and I'll get to that. I don't remember what he collects and I think I asked him once before and I totally forgot. But that's how it is at this stage in my collecting and blogging.

Once upon a time I semi-officially traded through the blogs (trading in the blog world is not really "trading") and did that for many years, keeping up on who sent me stuff and whether I've sent something in return, whether someone has sent me something in return, etc.

I never kept a super sharp eye on this and I never outed someone as being a "bad trader" because really life is too short. But I paid attention to stuff like that in my head. For years.

Then something happened. Life got more "lifey." I became busier with work and my personal life and extra projects. I fell behind in trading -- way, way, way behind. Farther behind than I ever have. And although I try hard to figure out who I should be sending cards, it takes me months to get those cards out.

But the guilt is not there anymore. Also, I've stopped paying attention whether I get cards back from people. It doesn't matter. I'm still trying to get cards to people who sent me cards before Christmas. I have no doubt I'll send them -- eventually. But I'm not worried about it. I'm not worried about any of it.

This card sending and receiving: let's keep it informal. I think many of us know this already but for those keeping tabs, I'm not going to conform to your rules and deadlines. And I'm not going to make any of my own.

I'm just hoping to get cards to people when I can get them to people. And that's the only expectation I have of anyone else.

The world turns too quickly for anything more than that.