All in good time

I am seriously falling behind in my posting. I have a lot to say, but I just can't seem to fit it in. Between work and home life, bippings and lawsuit settlements, I'm struggling to keep up.

For instance, I haven't jumped into the Upper Deck/MLB lawsuit settlement fray like many others have. I have my opinion, and I think I'll address it in a roundabout way soon. But when will "soon" be? I have no idea.

I'm overdue to add another badass to the "I'm Badass and You're Not" Club. I mean they're going to start hiking membership dues at the club if I don't find a few badasses quick.

I've also been meaning to post another Brush With Greatness segment and write about another one of my 100 favorite ballplayers. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have started spring training and I haven't said a damn thing. Some fan I am.

But the most visible sign of backlog is the stacks of wax that I've received over the last couple of weeks. They're just waiting for me to brag about them. And they're getting obstinate about it. They absolutely refuse to be organized, recorded or filed until I discuss them in such eye-bleeding detail that Thorzul will want to rend his garments (that's a biblical reference, children).

So, it's time to bring the justice. These cards deserve your time. The people who sent them to me deserve your time. Yes, they're Dodgers. But they're COOL Dodgers. Oh, wait. That's redundant.

Feast your eyes on these three packages from Bud of First Day Issue, Drew of Drew's Cards and Jack Plumstead of The Pursuit of 80s(ness).

1. Bud, First Day Issue.

General comments: I believe Bud is on vacation somewhere in the tropics, so chances are good he isn't going to see this right away or even care that he's missing it. Vacationing at this time of year is so foreign to me because it's verboten for anyone in my field of work to take time off now. You might as well ask if you can hold a jello wrestling tournament in the employee parking lot. You'd get the same reaction.

What you came to see: Bud's cards always cover a wide variety of my interests. That's why I like what he sends so much. Here they are:

Did Orlando Hudson pay card companies to feature his cycle against the Giants? That achievement is all over cardboard this year. But I do enjoy how Upper Deck cut off Sandoval's head. Off with the Giants' heads!!!!!

Out of sight! A Bellbottomed Basher from one of my favorite UD sets ever, the UD Decade '70s set. Schmidt could be a badass candidate. Even while wearing the powder blues.

Matt Kemp is squinting because it's hard to hit with all of those colorful cubes floating through the air. Maybe he should lay off the Hollywood parties.

So, I hear Russell Martin's already got a potential injury issue. This is not good in what I was hoping was a Comeback of the Year season. ... Not a word from you Braves fans. Not a word.

Wow. Look at that bat chunk. That's a nice hefty item. The back of the card mentions the word "used" exactly four times. Is that some sort of subliminal shot aimed at collectors?

Big finish from Bud. A great Masterpieces parallel of that fantastic Sandy Koufax card. This card makes me want to run out right now (it's only 3:30 in the morning) and buy all of the other Koufax parallels. I've got a blue and a green. Piece of cake, right?

Thanks, Bud. Remember us working peons in the frigid Northeast.

2. Drew, Drew's Cards

General comments: For those of you who feared Drew did nothing but send me 64 Bryn Smith Diamond King cards, you may calm down. Drew may be a Yankee fan, but he's not THAT evil. He actually mailed some very nice cards. The bipping came in a separate package labeled as a prize for winning "blog of the year." I was suspicious immediately.

What you came to see: Mostly current cards from Drew, with a nice concentration on a certain dread-locked free spirit being a certain dread-locked free spirit. Here we go:

My first gold card Dodger from 2010 Topps. I'm told these are more difficult to pull this year. I don't know if that's a fact or not, but it seems to be the case with me. I've pulled only four so far.

One of those Portrait inserts from this year's Upper Deck. These don't do much for me. In person, it's  cheap-looking.

The Ring of Honor cards don't seem good enough to be hobby-only issue. But I do like a Dusty from back when he wasn't a ridiculed field boss who mangled pitching careers.

A numbered parallel of the guy who is still a Dodger despite being traded 4,000 times already in internet forums across the country.

OK, here is a bunch of Manny:

Awesome. I'm tempted to put the draft pick Manny in my Dodger binder.

Drew's big finish: A very, very pink (OK, it's rose. Whatever) relic card of Rafael Furcal, recounting the Dodgers' beat down of the Cubs in the '08 Division Series. And, it's numbered 180/180. I'll have to take this to the next card show I go to and see how many dealers I can get to tell me that it's a 1/1.

Thanks, Drew. You're forgiven. No, not for the Yankee rooting. For the bipping.

3. Jack Plumstead, The Pursuit of 80sness

Overview: It's been a while since John sent some cards from across the Atlantic. He lost his Dodger magnet, but I think he's just found it again. Fortunately, my Red Sox magnet has been operating fairly well, and even though plenty of Boston fans try to drain that magnet of its Red Soxian powers, I still have a few cards bound for England.

What you came to see: Many of John's cards came from two kid-friendly sets: Donruss Triple Play and Bazooka. But there was a variety of other stuff. And it's always bitchin' to get cards from England. Here is some of it:

Nothing says the '90s like a Denny's hologram of Mike Piazza. Pizza Man is smiling in this scan, but if you tilt the card to your right, he turns to the side and his mood darkens. It's a little creepy.

Here are the Bazooka Dodgers. This is a set that I completely missed. Apparently, there are two different photos for the Gagne card. One with "arm up" and one with "arm out." I'm saying this is "arm up."

A red parallel of someone who just pitched for the Diamondbacks yesterday. We don't like him anymore.

Triple Play! John completely wiped out my Dodger needs with these cards. I needed just about the whole set and now I need none of them. It's like magic! Sweet!

Here is another parallel that brings out the "unhealthy obsession" in me. I want all of these black-border Dodgers. Only like a dozen to go.

Ultra big finish from John. This here is the first real live patch card that I have ever received.

I don't pursue patch cards because I don't care about them. I cannot figure out why people nerd out over them. And then you've got to worry about counterfeited patches, and spotting items that are counterfeit and flipping out over this and that. My head really hurts just writing about it.

But it's nice to finally have one, even if it's about the worst-designed card I have ever seen. There is more wasted space on there than what's between (insert reality show star's name here)'s ears. Also I wish there was something blue on the card beside that small stitch of patch.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful. It's a wonderfully generous gesture by John. I wish I had something just as fancy for him in return. Thank you, sir.

There. I told you some of them would be cool.

And finally, these cards can be filed and I can clear out some room ... for the next pile. There are plenty more waiting. Impatiently.

Have an enjoyable, card-filled Sunday.