I was chosen

 

I've been blogging long enough that I know there are certain trade patterns among bloggers.

The trade scene isn't as big as it used to be on the blogs, so a lot of this is what I've observed in the past. Some strike up relationships with certain other bloggers with similar tastes. Others just send out cards periodically whenever the mood strikes or there is inventory (I fall in this category). A few others reserve sends for a certain period of time, say once or twice a year, and send cards out en masse to selected folks.

When the third event happens, there's usually some clue, either the blogger announces it, or you start to see posts on other blogs about the haul they receive from that certain blogger. During that period, I often hope I'm one of the chosen ones. Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not.

 

But most recently, I was selected! Fuji has been shipping out cards to various folks and I finally received some nifty, eclectic cards straight from The Chronicles Of Fuji!

How is that for a quirky opening?! These caught my eye right away. They're from a 50-card tennis set from Player's Cigarettes issued in 1936. Fuji must know I like tennis cards. Topps just announced it is issuing a tennis set of current players this year. I hope it looks nice, I might go after it.

Fuji is always good for an owlie card. This is my second-oldest owl card, it's from the 1933 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America set, the 6th series! TCDB tells me it's a back variation, too.

"DO NOT DESTROY THE BIRDS"

 

Or the owl transfer will find you.

I don't know what this is exactly. It's from John Player & Sons, which issued a bunch of sets in the 1920s and '30s, about Shakespeare and fishes and doggies and beauties and aer-o-planes. But I can't find anything about bird transfers.

 

All right, some readers were probably wondering where the baseball cards were and Fuji took care of that, too. Well, they're Panini cards, but they do have guys pretending to be in major league uniforms.

I saw that Panini will still be releasing a Donruss set this year. It's full of prospects (ew) and legends (ok), but I'll probably stay very far away.

More Panini. Yeah, I'm happy I won't be collecting this stuff anymore.

It's been a long time sine I received a card from tragic figure Andrew Toles. This is numbered and I have no idea why.

OK, those same people who were wondering when I would stop featuring animal cards are probably now relieved I'm finally showing some cards with team logos. I just received the international base card parallel of Eric Karros' Bowman card and now here's the Bowman Chrome version.

Maybe my favorite card of everything Fuji sent. I'm not a fan of a lot of late '90s Pacific, but some of it really hits, and 1999 Invincible is kind of neat. Still working on finishing the Dodgers.

I know this is a 2008 card because Ramon Troncoso was asked to sign his name. This is my third or fourth Troncoso auto, all from '08.

Final needed card, a relic version of Brad Penny's 2009 Upper Deck X card, where UD tries to convince us he's a member of the Red Sox, although nothing on the card hints at anything of the sort.

This card made my scanning app go bonkers. Too many slashy lines.

So there. I can stop worrying whether I was chosen or not.

I don't care really whether I'm on the send list of bloggers. I know that sometimes they might not have anything I want, and that's cool.

Now the people who withhold their comments like they're precious prizes only to be granted to those blogs that don't offend their delicate senses? I see them. They're another story.