I have connections

This is my first cut signature card. I suppose if I'm going to own a cut signature card it should be of my favorite player of all-time, right?

This card came to me from Dan, who as you all know runs Saints of the Cheap Seats. He picked it up at The National. What a guy. One of the many great things about having a blog and collecting cards is you build connections like this. There was no way I was going to be able to go to The National. I didn't even ask anyone to get me anything there. Yet, I ended up with this card. Wow.

This is a Fleer card from 2002. I was totally unaware that they were doing cut signatures back then. I do not follow cards like this. I've said before the concept of cut signatures baffles me. I do not believe in destroying other signed cards or historical documents to create cut signatures. And I do not understand why people go ga-ga over them. I'm trying to figure out what Ron Cey signed that Fleer then cut up and pasted into this card. It had to be Dodger-related, because Cey only signs the No. 10 with Dodger-related stuff.

I hope Dan doesn't think I don't like the card. I do. I love any card having to do with Cey. They're all my babies. I love each and every one of them equally the same (well, that's not true. The 1975 Topps card is my favorite child). I especially appreciate the thought that went into this. It is quite the surprise.

Earlier, Dan sent me some other cards. They're cool, too. Here are some of them:

This is the only N43 "card" I wanted from Allen & Ginter this year. It's actually not quite this big. I scanned it too large. But it is an odd size for filing in a binder. I'm not sure how I'm going to store it. By the way, an 1880s baseball scene combined with a guy wearing dreadlocks is just too funny.

I'm going to show the next group of cards in order from old-school to super shiny. Here are my first 2001 Bowman Heritage cards, which mimic the '48 Bowman set, I believe. About as basic as you can get with this set.

2001 Topps Gallery. Chin-Feng Chen. I like the Gallery set. Sketch/painted cards are tricky. Many I do not like. This is nice, although I think it should be reserved for star players. It doesn't work with rookies.

2004 Topps gold parallel of Cesar Izturis. Guy could field. I wonder how long Topps will continue to do the gold parallel thing. Forever? Does this mean they can never have another gold-themed set, like in 1998 and 1999?

Now we're getting into some super shiny. But Bowman Heritage made shiny is just wrong. (Same with Topps Heritage). It's like putting dreadlocks on those 1880s players up on the N43 card.

OK, magpies, here is what you've been waiting for all post. A bunch of Bowman Chrome of Dodgers Who Have Barely Made An Impact On The Team! But who cares about that? They're shiny!

Dan, many thanks for shopping for me at The National. Wish I could've been there, too.