I'm not easy to shop for when it comes to cards (probably when it comes to anything, you'd have to ask the significant others).
I've been collecting a long time. I've been collecting in a public forum for a long time. And the older I get, the more specific I get on what I want. That's natural, not only have you accumulated a lot but you have a very good idea of what you like and don't like.
So, woe is the envelope that comes to my door unannounced. It barely has a chance. Perhaps that's why I get few unannounced card envelopes these days.
And that's why I silently applaud those who still try. Most of them are longtime collectors themselves, who have sent cards to me many times. They know what they're getting into and they know how to navigate my collecting foibles.
Max/jacobmrley of Starting Nine blog is one of those rare collectors who is not afraid to give it a shot. He knows how to tailor an envelope. Just last week he sent one to me with 10 cards. I needed eight of them. And he didn't do it the easy way with nothing but brand new cards. That is my kind of envelope.
I'll start with the more recent cards (slash, less-interesting cards) and work backward in time.
A lone 2026 Panini card in the envelope, of the Donruss parallel variety. Hye-Seong Kim was recently called up by the Dodgers, maybe he has a spot in the postseason lineup? I don't know.
A couple of 2026 Finest Dodgers needs. I do like the look of Finest, still, but it's not available anywhere near me unless I want to fork over $200 for the box sitting at Target (the lone baseball item in the entire display). I don't like how Finest has ventured into the "rare/common" nonsense. I'll take just the base cards thank you.
A rare decent-looking Just Stars/Minors/Whatever We're Calling This Product card. This is from 2005. Russell Martin was one of the regular characters of this blog's early days. It's nice to have one of the few Dodger Martins I was missing.
Very nice. I like 2025 Retired Signature a lot, too. I still need base Dodgers from the set, yet the golds seem easier to get? I still think a gold parallel of a World Series hero is pretty sweet.
Max had a difficult time letting go of this card, I know he loves to remember Kirk Gibson's momentous home run! 😉Not the greatest-looking card, but I do love boxscores, even partial ones like this. We're approaching a time when people won't remember what the little "a" "b" "d" and "f" in front of the player's name means.
The back shows a neat little feature of the 2005 Fleer Classic Clippings Original Boxscore inserts. Each of the 10 inserts are numbered to the year in which the feat happened!
Here is my favorite card from the envelope. This is a 1985 Baseball Cards Magazine of former Dodgers player/actor Chuck Connors. I referred to this card during my "Elusive '80s Cards ... Really?" series last year. Max had a copy and sent it! Check it off the list!!
If you remember Baseball Cards Magazine from back then, the cards were issued inside the magazine. They are the size of the 1953 Topps set (some of the cards were modeled after '53 Topps). I like this kind of card because it very much has a "do-it-yourself" vibe.
A full-fledged, detailed back.
The final card, a.k.a. sticker, goes straight to my heart. The Fleer Grand Slam Hi-Gloss Stickers are from 1979 and it's super-1979, from the pink background to the bubble-letter script.
Fleer Sticker aficionados know that the same sticker can have a different puzzle-piece back and such is the case here. I have another NL Champs pink sticker with a different puzzle piece.
And that is the end of a super-packed envelope full of variety and cards that I needed!
That's tough to do.
But you're always welcome to try.
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