A Pair of Cubs from the Far East

 It's not very often these days I feel the motivation to check in on the blogosphere, and even more rare that I feel the itch to scratch out a post. There were times when I would read everything, hit the refresh button on my feed, and cross my fingers that someone else had posted something in the last thirty seconds. 

Times Change. Interests Change. Priorities Change. 

In short, I'm doing well. Really well actually. I'm in a good spot professionally, physically, and mentally. 

As far as cards go, I think I have a handful of Cubs cards from each of the past few years, but not enough to know what the current Bowman design looks likes off the top of my head or even what year of Heritage we're on. I'm still chugging away on my Vogelmonster collection. I recently hit 900 unique-to-me Vogelbach cards, but they aren't all listed in TCBD, which has me at 852. (A part of me wonders if this is the last year we're gifted with the joy of Vogelbach on cardboard. 😢) 

Otherwise, I'm pretty disconnected from the collecting world altogether, which is by design. 

I read more about the Cubs than anything else these days. I'm not sinking money into the Marquee Network, because I just can't commit enough time to watching a game. The Cubs weren't carried by a local radio station in Peoria this year, but the White Sox and Cardinals both were. (The 121-loss White Sox, seriously?)  So, I watch MLB.com's Cub game summaries each morning and search for articles to read about the players. 

I actually feel more connected to the players this way. I enjoy getting to know who the players are and I've come to find that most of the current Cubs roster is comprised of really good human beings. The Cubs may have been underachieving in the eyes of some the last couple of years, but I find them extremely easy to root for. That's important to me. 

Two of my favorites are Seiya Suzuki and Shota "Mike" Imanaga. For those who haven't heard, Shota decided to use "Mike" for his coffee orders to make it easier on the baristas in Chicago. That's just a quick tidbit I unearthed from my daily readings. Fun stuff!

One of my best blogging friends sent me the two cards in this post all the way from Japan. So very, very cool. Thanks, Zippy Zappy!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the holiday season. 

Checking In

 Don't get too excited. I'm just checking in to thank a couple of bloggers for dropping some Vogelbach love on me via the always appreciated PWE.

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking, but my focuses have changed slightly. I'm still adding Vogelbach cards to my collection, but I'm mostly working on filling the holes in my player collection from 2011-2021. I'm not purchasing newer cards (think 2022) of my favorite current player unless I can get them for less than a couple of bucks. Otherwise, sports cards aren't really occupying my time much. 

I'm reading a bit more, trying to get outside more (disc golf and hikes), and making an effort to spend more time with friends and family. 

Now, on to the mail!

I've always been a big fan of a handwritten note accompanying the card. The people in the hobby are the best part, and little personal touches like the notes above just make my day. 

Greg, from The Collective Mind, found this Playoff Contenders auto from 2011. Can you believe it's been eleven years since the Vogelmonster was drafted? How did that happen?

Jim, author of cards as I see them, sent the black and white Bowman from 2020. The B&W photo gives the card a little bit of that old-timey feel, which I think meshes well with Vogey. 

A BIG thank you to Greg and Jim for thinking of me and also for their generosity. 

I hope all my blogging friends are doing well!

The Base Vogey and a Mini Bobbing Head Card

 The author of cards as i see them and long-time trading partner of more than a decade, gcrl, sent me a PWE with the 2021 Topps Update Dan Vogelbach card. 

Bonus: two new to me Kerry Wood cards were included. 

The above one is from the 2000 Pacific Paramount set and it is heavy on the blue!

The one below is from an insert set I've never seen before: 1999 Upper Deck Choice Mini Bobbing Heads.

The checklist from this 30 card set is loaded with stars. How has this fun set eluded me for so long?

Thanks for the great PWE of cards, Jim. I'll have something out to you soon!

PWEs Still Make Me Smile

 I'm not as active in the blogging/trading community as I once was, but I'm still enjoying the hobby at my own leisure. Jim, from cards as i see them, sent me a two card PWE last week, and it's magnificent. 

Up first, everyone's favorite jovial slugger: THE VOGELMONSTER!

This is a gold parallel of Daniel Vogelbach 2017 Topps rookie card. Very, very nice. 

The second card from the plain white envelope is one I've had listed on my Top 5 Most Wanted Cards list for awhile.

Stadium Club is so great, isn't it? The is the 2019 Ernie Banks card from Topps most photocentric set. Great stuff. 

Thanks for thinking of me, Jim!

Folder of Fun Additions and Mr. October in May

 Jeff, from the witty Wax Pack Wonders blog, reached out to me recently about some possible additions to my Folder of Fun. He offered up quite a selection, but it quickly became apparent that Jeff and I have very similar tastes in cardboard. Of the lot I found three I didn't already own a copy. 

Here they are in all their glory:

Jose Rijo flexing for the camera is an excellent way to start. Studio was always good for some unique poses. 

Speaking of unique, how about Dave Stewart in a tuxedo?

It's cards like this which make we want to start a new project: the nine best cards from each year of Stadium Club. That would be a fun one to tackle!

Last up is an ice bath celebration. I could have sworn I had a copy of this card, but I couldn't locate it for the life of me.

The PWE also contained a brilliant little surprise. 

My 1982 Topps set build, which I started in 2019, is now missing only twenty-three cards. Nearly every card I need is either a rookie card or a card of a Hall of Famer. I don't have any cardboard goals for 2021, but completing this set would be a solid win for my collection. 

One more little goodie, but this one came on the outside of the PWE.

Those are some old stamps! (Well, they're older than me at least.) Pretty cool!

Thanks for the fun PWE, Jeff!

PWEs of Guys I Collect

 I have a few binders crammed full of cards of my favorite Cubs, but there are a handful of guys who get special treatment. In my collection I have five players for which I have cataloged all their cards in a Google Sheet. When I was younger and only collected Ryne Sandberg cards I was able to memorize every card in my Ryno binder. I'd hit a card show with my family on a weekend and I would instantly know if I had a card in my collection or not.

These days I do so much window shopping on Ebay I can't remember if I actually have a specific card or if I just keep scrolling past it online. I know some people prefer Trading Card Database, and I do have all of my Vogelbach cards listed on the website, but I prefer my Google Sheets which allows me the freedom to make additional notes. 

For instance, this beauty of a Kerry Wood relic, from 2004 Fleer National Pastime set, came from Greg, the proprietor of The Collective Mind blog. 

Adding in a note of where each card came from helps to remind me of what a great community we have here.

Greg is one of 30+ bloggers who have contributed to my Kerry Wood collection. Great stuff!  Thanks, Greg!

A second PWE arrived this week and it was one of those types where a 9-pocket page is folded up and stuffed into a business envelope. I've had great success sending and receiving cards this way.

Here's the layout of how the cards would have looked if I could have gotten the plastic page to lay flat for a picture. 

This surprise mailing comes from Johnny's Trading Spot. John and I have swapped cards many times over, but not so recently. 

I'm not so sure how he came about these non-certified autographs, but I'm not one to turn away autographs of the VOGELMONSTER! For what it's worth, that's only my second copy of Vogelbach's 2011 BoChro Auto. Love it!

I also really dig blue parallels of Cubs players. Check out this 2013 Bowman Platinum Vogey!

Yeah, that's some good stuff there for sure. One might think the best card in this PWE was one of the autos or the blue parallel. One would be wrong. 

At first glance I thought I already had every card non-auto card in this PWE, but I always double check with my Google Sheet. 

I had the base card of this 2013 Bowman Top 100 prospect card, but not the die cut parallel!

Man, that's a surprise!  Thank goodness for Google Sheets, because it's pretty clear to me I don't know my collection like I did 30 years ago. 

I can't wait to place those autos in top loaders and page-up this die cut in my Vogelmasher binder! 

Thanks Greg and John for thinking of me and spending the postage to send cards my way. Your acts of cardboard generosity will not be soon forgotten!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Mail in, Mail out

I spent the day prepping return packages for eleven different bloggers. It feels good to get the "I owe cards to" list down to just a couple. 

Peter, the author of Baseball Every Night, sent me a sweet little package with a Sandberg refractor from 2015 Prizm. 

Also inside were five Kerry Wood cards from the Upper Deck 20th Retrospective set. I thought it was five copies of the same card until I inspected the numbers on the back and saw they were sequentially numbered. Then I realize the text at the bottom of the front of the card was also different. Upper Deck has me SMH. The same photo on five different cards? Ugh. 

Trevor, from the Bump and Run Football Card Blog, gifted me an orange parallel of the VOGELMONSTER from Topps 2020 Big League. 

This card is a beauty and I will take all the Big League parallels (orange and blue) that I can get my hands on. 

Lastly, Fuji's generosity makes another appearance on my blog.  This time around he sent a "Happy New Year" package with some rarer cards. 

I once did a box break featuring this set. I absolutely love products with a checklist full of notable retired players. I have a team set in my Cubs box, but now I can put Santo and Kessinger in a binder, too. 

Rizzo was the primary reason Vogelbach was shipped from the Cubs to the Mariners. Here the two of them are in the same PWE. Rizzo, for what it's worth, is one of my favorite current Cubs. (But, Chicago would have fallen in love with the Vogelmonster if Rizzo wasn't around.)

I have never seen a pack of these before. Very, very cool. 

Fuji must have busted a box because he sent me all kinds of tri-fold Cubs!

Rick Monday, Ken Holtzman and Bill Buckner are picture above. 

Fergie, Don Kessinger and Glenn Beckert. 

And, the storied Cubs infield from the early 20th century. Most Excellent!

A big thank you to Peter, Trevor and Fuji for putting a smile on my face when checking the mailbox in back-to-back-to-back days. 

I hope everyone's 2021 is off to good start. Thanks for stopping by!

A PWE for the Folder of Fun

 I received a really thoughtful PWE in the mail a week or so ago. 

I have a Cubs FrankenSet and a Folder of Fun, but Jeff is putting together a FrankenSet with some similar themes to my Folder of Fun. 

I'm guessing these are either duplicates or they didn't make the cut for his set. Regardless, I don't mind giving them a good home. 😀

This Jack McDowell is checks all the boxes for my collection! 

Eric Davis seems to be having a good time. 

The Saberhagen and Sutcliffe cards are duplicates for me, but I know a ten year old collector who will be so excited to have them. 

This Jose Rijo cards is so excellent!

I believe that is Kal Daniels getting checked out, but I'm more than likely wrong. (See the comment below.) What a great picture captured on cardboard!

I wonder how many card collectors these days know the purpose of Jeff Montgomery holding a fire extinguisher? The Sporting News started the "Fireman of the Year" award back in 1960 and it was renamed the "Reliever of the Year" award in 2001. It was last given out in 2010. For the record, Montgomery won the award for the AL in 1993, with 45 saves and a 2.27 ERA, while pitching for the Royals. The card above is from the 1998 Topps set. 

Thanks for the great selection of cards, Jeff!

A PWE with a Mysterious Pitch Grip

Here's another quick PWE as I continue to forge through the mailings from September to reclaim my desk.

Jim, the author of cards as i see them and renowned lower case user came across a quartet of cards from 2020 that fit ever so perfectly into my player collections. 

These two represent the first two cards I've been able to add to my Kerry Wood collection from the 2020 collecting season. With the use of lower case letters for the player name on the front I wonder if Jim is partial to this year's Stadium Club release.

For the record, I really like the photo Topps used for the Stadium Club card. It has a bit of a Donruss Studio feel, which is perfectly fine with me. I'm curious about the pitch grip. Could that be a cutter or maybe how he gripped his four-seam fastball? Usually the grips for breaking pitches, which is what Kid K was known for, have the fingers placed with the seams, not across them as in this picture. 

Vogelmonster!

I think this is my third copy of the chromey pink parallel, yet I still needed the Archives base card. It's funny how things like that shake out sometimes!

Thanks for the cards, Jim. I'll send something back your way before too long!

Vogelbombed

 I've got time for a quick post tonight. The contents of today's PWE come from Beau. You may know Beau as the fella who is trying to amass one million Cubs baseball cards. That's quite an undertaking, but he's making some serious headway and is closing in on 500,000.

That's a bombing I'll happily accept any day of the week!

I love me some chromey goodness in a plain white envelope. Thanks for thinking of me, Beau!

Vogelbach Update: The Vogelmonster and his 0.375 batting average (NL only) will square off against The Professor and the Cubs tonight. I'm all pins and needles! 

Cardboard Emotions

 I'm not sure about you, but when I reach into the mailbox I can have any number of emotions wash over me. For instance, my inner child is very much Oscar Azocar when an expected trade package arrives.

I had a PWE land in the mailbox the other day which left me more like Bret Saberhagen:

It was the unexpected variety of PWE, which often gives me pause. 

Then when I ripped it open I found a note.

The note left me all like John Wettleland:

Actually, I'm pretty sure I made that same face after reading Jeff's note.

Shortly after I was down in the card room flipping through the contents and I felt like a big fan boy, or Mickey Hatcher in this case. Gosh, I love fun cardboard!

The cards Jeff, from Wax Pack Wonders, sent me where very much en fuego 🔥🔥🔥, much like the Mickey's "hot foot" on the back of the very same card above. 

Sometimes the contents of a PWE or bubble mailer leaves me feeling like I'm a pretty big deal, like Mark Portugal.

Then I remember all those breakers with their fancy YouTube videos and BIG HITS and that puts me back in my proper place. 

I doubt very much I'll every need a camera like Doug Jones' or Bully Ripken's in my little corner of the hobby world. My trusty iPhone seems to do just fine for the blog.

My little corner is full of cards with guys wearing two gloves and players snuggling up to their bats.

And, I wouldn't change a thing.

Thanks for the much appreciated PWE, Jeff!