They definitely were here

 

Usernames are an interesting window into individuals. Often, nobody ever sees your username, except for whatever entity is verifying that you really are you when you transact online (prove, prove, prove you're not a robot).

But in our line of entertainment, usernames are quite visible. It's what appears when we comment on a blog or in other social media spaces. Choosing a username is key, I think. But it's pretty obvious other people don't (yeah, you, buttmunch69). I have no idea what some people's usernames mean. Other people, I look at their usernames with quiet admiration. "Yeah, that's a good one." Then there are people who don't even have a user and comment anonymously. To me that's like handing in a blank test paper.

Some commenters I know only by their username because they don't have a card blog of their own. Lots of folks comment on my blog who are readers only. I consider that a blessing. One of the best-named of those readers-only is "bryan was here." Nice pick there. Each time he comments, yup, he definitely was there!

Bryan has gone even farther to make an impact by sending me cards a time or two. The latest, like the last one, was a nice cross-section of my interests.

A 1975 Hostess need for example.

My quest for '70s Hostess cards has cooled off since completed the '76 Hostess set at the end of last year. I need to regain my focus here. It's one of my favorite oddballs ever!

 

Here is an eight-pack of Sabres -- although one an ex-Sabre at this point -- from my favorite hockey set, 1991-92 Pro Set. These are all of the French-back variety.

Another card of "Le Démon Blond," who recently passed away. I was horrified to find very little reporting in the states on Lafleur's death while I was gathering news at work that day. I didn't grow up a hockey fan and I still follow the NHL only casually, but I still knew how much Lafleur meant to hockey history and remember him playing. It was a disservice that other media outlets ignored it south of Canada.

 

Bryan even threw in this '91-92 Ultimate Original Six Tim Horton card. It's been forever since I've been to a Tim Horton's. There are two in town (although one of those is one of those "stores inside a gas station" thing), but my days of grabbing a donut whenever I want are over.

Same goes for Coke (and Twinkies for that matter). But I am having more fun collecting Coke cards than I ever did drinking Coke!

This spring in fact marks 10 years since I dropped soft drinks from my diet. I don't miss them. But probably somewhere in there is one of the reasons why I like these cards so much.

Here's one from 1982. Not as many teams featured Coke sets in '82 as they did in '81. The Reds are one of the few.

Also ...

... let the man have his beard. He looks so much happier here!

Returning to Buffalo, Bryan sent me -- what's this?? -- a Bills card of Vince Ferragamo??

I declared in this post that there regretfully was no Bills card of short-timer Ferragamo. It appears someone made a homemade "update set" for 1986 Topps football. There's a card back with this modeled after the '86 set with a card number of 406 (there are only 396 cards in the '86 set).

 

OK, this is an actual card of a famed Buffalo player and an interesting one, too, as Dominik Hasek puts on what I'm guessing is an honorary green helmet? I don't know. St. Patrick's Day has some odd traditions.

 

One last great hockey card. The 1980-81 Topps hockey set sure was weird. Not only does it look like something Donruss would put out in the early 1980s, but Topps actually made the collectors do work to reveal the player on the front! A scratch-off on the front of the card? I can hear graders recoiling in horror.

Even better, there's no mention of the name on the back either. Topps isn't helping you at all! (P.S., it's former Sabre René Robert).

 

 

 Finally, it wouldn't be an envelope from Bryan if there wasn't a card from the 1976 Topps Autos of 1977 set. I really love the look of these cards. So much nostalgia.

Bryan wasn't the only person who paid a visit in cards recently, proving to me that they were here.

How about a visit from the ultimate Luis Torrens fan? (It's his birthday today -- Torrens, not the ultimate fan). Zippy Zappy has been pretty quiet on the socials lately but he must've opened at least a pack of 2022 Topps and thought of me!

A while ago I thought I'd become a Tom Murphy super-collector as the catcher who grew up not far from where I live kept showing up in my packs. Murphy's solidified his MLB status since, swapping starts with the aforementioned Torrens, but I've lost track of his cards.

 

Tom from The Angels In Order checked in recently to certify that he still was here. It was good to see! That would've been enough, but he also gave away Jim Abbott cards!

I picked up these three Abbotts. It's not like I wanted Abbott cards specifically, I just chose the Abbotts from sets I liked. 1992 and 1993 Pinnacle were the peak of Pinnacle IMO. It went south after that. I also dig that mid-'90s SP design from Upper Deck.

Finally a few cards from Daniel of It's Like Having My Own Card Shop.

He gave away some cards of one of his favorites, Wes Parker, recently. Parker is one of my favorites, too, especially after reading about him recently (which I blithered on too much about in the comments on Daniel's blog).

I used to know Parker as just a premier first baseman for the Dodgers who preceded Steve Garvey and who showed up on TV shows. But Parker had a lot of family issues growing up and baseball was basically what saved him -- it was a longshot that he would even have a baseball career.

So I was happy to take this '73 card of Parker. Sure I have a couple but it's a great card.

Daniel then reached out to me and asked whether I had these Prizm parallels of Walker Buehler. I did not! (The parallel on the left is called "cosmic haze," and we're supposed to know what that is).

 

Then he sent a few Nomo cards that I might need. I did not have these two!!

Wooo! Daniel was here!!!!

Thanks all, for being here for me.

And for your creative usernames. If you have them.