Extras

 

It's been a loaded week with not a lot of time for thoughtful posts.

But the doctor's visit is done, the new car's been purchased, the co-worker's vacation is almost over and the work meeting's been canceled. Welcome, light, it seemed like that tunnel would never end.

I don't have a lot of energy remaining, but someone supplied a well-timed pick-me-up just yesterday.

I've mentioned a couple of times on the blog about those occasions when you get extra cards thrown in with an ebay purchase. We all know that unexpected surprise. I haven't experienced it all that much, actually, and none of the throw-ins have been inspiring.

But someone went the extra mile this time.

All I bought was a 1976 Hostess Larry Dierker card for my set quest. It was 3 dollars, about average for a well-trimmed card from that time.

When the envelope arrived with cheery greetings all over the place, it came with several friends, too.

We're not done yet, but I just wanted to point out how nice it is to get that card of Joe Beckwith shortly after his passing.

 

Two cards of Mike Ivie. I remember reading about Mike Ivie and some of the emotional struggles he went through during his career. He was kind of characterized as a nut job at the time, but he was probably dealing with depression or anxiety, and that's something we handle so much better today than we did back then.

 

Two cards of Manny Sanguillen. Boy, there's nothing that will put a smile on a week of Must Do's like duplicates of Manny's Letterman grin.

Still not done.

That's probably the best throw-in I've received from an ebay buy. A 1984 Donruss card of a Hall of Famer is quite nice for free.

I probably should show the collateral damage, too.

Larry Cox illustrates that all these cards were really just packing material.

And, actually, I had all of these cards already.

But that's not the point. I can use each of these as inventory. I never have enough extras of cards like these. Anytime anyone is building sets, I feel embarrassed about my inability to provide cards from perfectly accessible sets like early '80s Topps and the like.

And, best of all, this is an ebay story that's actually positive. I read so many accounts -- mostly on Twitter -- of people airing their gripes about one ebay scammer or another. Or someone who fudged the postage or whatever. Some of that's OK -- we like to think we're fighting the good fight as cardboard crusaders -- but it doesn't build up your faith in humanity.

Sometimes it's nice to know there are good people out there ... who like to give away 1981 Topps.