Mini week: Some mini human likenesses

Sadly, we've reached the end of mini week. It's been quite a ride and not at all a well-disguised series of trade posts.

Why would you even insinuate something like that?

Anyway, for my final mini post, I have some mini offerings from Rod at Padrographs, and they're not even cards.

If you remember back to this post, I mentioned that I received some miniature Dodger "figurines" from Rod, along with the very cool book that I am proud to own.

I don't know if "figurines" is a technical term. I try to avoid any conversation that includes the word "figurines." And now that I've used "figurines" four times, I'm thinking of closing down my own blog out of shame and confusion.

So without further embarrassment, here are the three mini-figuri ... er, figures that I received:

Each of these little guys is 3 1/2 inches tall and made out of your typical Made-in-China toy plastic material.

I have no idea what they are, or where they were sold, or if they were a one-time deal. But I DO know who they are supposed to represent.

The guy on the left is Chan Ho Park. The guy in the middle is Darren Dreifort. And the guy on the right is Kevin Brown. I know you're thinking that these figures don't look anything like the players that I just mentioned and that I must have terrific powers of deduction. But it's not that. It's not even that I looked up the uniform numbers that are displayed on each figure. Nope. It's just that their names are painted on the backs of their uniforms. Just like the real players!

From seeing this collection of these three players, I know that these were made somewhere between 1999-2001, when all three were in the starting rotation. My guess is it was probably 1999 or 2000 as all three were double-figure winners each year.

They're pretty cool, and they'll go on my shelf next to my miniature Dodgers tractor trailer and my miniature Dodgers pick-up truck. But that's about all the room I have for that kind of stuff. Baseball cards take up all the rest.

Speaking of which, Rod DID send me some cards.

Here is a '75 Lineage mini Roberto Alomar. This is a double, meaning this card will probably end up with Robert.

This is someone called Scott Schebler from last year's Topps Pro Debut. I have no desire to collect any Pro Debut cards, although I always invite Dodgers. Even guys named Scott Schebler, who may turn out to be swell. But I just don't have the patience for that.

Another guy who made his pro debut in 2011. The back says he is the grandson of "a college football player." Thanks for narrowing it down, Bowman.

A chromed-up, tatted-up Justin Sellers. I'm not supposed say stuff like this about current Dodgers, but guys who look like this just remind me of Lenny Dykstra. Is that an ideal long-term goal, to become like Lenny Dykstra?

I always appreciate 1967s in the mail. I'm also mesmerized by miscut cards that are in otherwise incredible shape. It's like someone said, "aw, it's miscut, the poor card has gone through enough. Make sure you don't crease it!"

I really appreciated the eclectic package, Rod. I got three blog posts out of it. That's pretty good!

Getting back to the mini-figures: If anyone knows where they come from, I'd appreciate the knowledge.

Meanwhile, this brings Mini Week to a close.

I really do appreciate packages with mini cards ... or mini non-cards. I'm sure I'll be showing some more in the future. But this will be the first and only mini week.

In the meantime, remember that old collectors saying:

There are no small cards, just mini cards.

Um ... or, something like that.