It's getting to be a long time ago

 

I found out on Monday from Matt at the Diamond Jesters blog that a former card blogger, Johnny, a.k.a., hiflew, passed away over the summer.

 

I could have come across that news earlier if I was reading the TCDB forums regularly or on X, but because I don't want to spend all my time online, I keep my card outlets to the blogs and one or two other social media sites.

 

But back when I knew Johnny, blogs were about all there was. He ran Cards from the Quarry. He was one of the only Rockies collectors I've come across in my years of online collecting. He was easy to trade with because, my goodness, finally an outlet for my Rockies cards!

 

I traded a lot with Johnny, mostly between 2011 and 2014. Good times. There were a couple of other arrivals from him in 2017 and 2021 when he was doing some card selling (he always had good stuff), but, like many former bloggers, he found other places that he preferred more and that was TCDB.

 

I am not too active on TCDB because trading is not the No. 1 reason why I'm into online card activity. I've also never been interested in forums. I prefer the blog format and I think the love of cards comes out best in that platform.

 

But obviously few believe that anymore. And the time that they did is getting to be a long time ago.

 

There was a time when just about all online transacting came with fellow bloggers, and oh the inventory they had. Johnny is just one example, and so I gathered what I consider the top 10 cards that I received from him, again, mostly between 2011-14 (He also sent me the beanie baby card up top, I still don't know why). 

 

Let's see them:

 

 

1. 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Absolute Heroes Adrian Beltre relic card

 

One of the most impressive (to me) relic cards in my collection. It contains pieces from his jersey, cap and shoe. That's cool.

 

 

2. 2008 Topps Update gold letter parallel Clayton Kershaw rookie card

 

You can find this on ebay selling for around $300. But when blogging was king, people were shipping cards like this across the country like it was nothing -- I mean I was probably sending players like Jeff Francis for it (I hope it was better than that, but, you know, it was the Rockies).

 

 

 3. 2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection Orel Hershiser jersey relic

 

Orel Hershiser "hits" aren't easy to find, at least they weren't anyway. There was a period when I didn't have any. But this was one of the first that I owned thanks to Cards From the Quarry.

 

 

4. 1988 Score  Super Shortstops

 

Back in 2012, Johnny sent me a handful of 1988 Score cards that completed that set for me. This was one of the cards.

 

 

5. Variety of Bills cards

 

Back when I had very few Buffalo Bills cards I mentioned that I wanted to at least get cards of the players and coaches that I had interviewed -- even the non-Bills. Just like that, Johnny found a whole collection of them to send. I've talked to every one.

 

 

 6. 2018 Topps Gypsy Queen Indigo parallel Clayton Kershaw

 

This is one of the later cards that I received from Johnny. Numbered to /250.

 

 

7. 2013 Topps camo parallel Luis Cruz 

 

By now you probably realized that Johnny had some kind of inventory. This was my first camo parallel (numbered to 99). I still have very few of these.

 

 

8. 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter minis

 

When I was building my A&G mini frankenset, Johnny was right there with several. At least one (Yamaguchi) and probably one or two others are still in that binder.

 

 

 9. 2011 Topps Cognac Diamond Anniversary Roy Campanella, Short-Print

 

We had a lot of fun calling these "liquorfractors" when they came out and since I was a Dodger fan I was tasked with finding four of these Brooklyn short-prints. I don't know who supplied all of them, but I know Johnny had the Campy for me.

 

 

10. Various 2008 Upper Deck Timeline needs

 

John also understood set-collecting and set collectors and when I was collecting the Timeline set, he found several cards for me. I'm no longer collecting it, but I do still have that Max Scherzer rookie.

 

There are a bunch of other cards that he sent that are all documented on my blog. I'm sure once he moved over to TCDB other people discovered how generous and accommodating he could be. I've been known to bag on the Rockies -- especially in my earlier days -- but he never let it bother him or at least didn't let on.

 

Like many bloggers who have disappeared over the years, I miss him, and it's sad that he's never coming back to Cards from the Quarry.

 

This means at least four former bloggers have passed away since I started this blog. There may be more that I don't know about (but I hope not).

 

It just reinforces that the peak of card blogging was a long time ago.