Napkin Doon > The Easter Bunny

I didn't get cards in my Easter Basket this year.

It's actually been hit or miss for me on this one. Every couple of years my wife has put a pack or two in the small baskets we fill for one another. But I knew that this year wouldn't stand a chance given the current situation at Target.

I haven't even been to Target in months, so I'm not sure what sort of policy mine currently has. But it's never been one to carry much inventory anyways, so I don't even bother. It's actually nice to not have any needs in life where I need to go to Target or Walmart.

But I don't need the Easter Bunny. I still have cards coming in, whether eBay purchases or excellent TCDB trades or other random mailings. For instance, right before the weekend, an unexpected PWE arrived from Napkin Doon himself, a guy perhaps even more mysterious than the Easter Bunny himself.

The PWE contained three very shiny cards, and excellent additions to my collection.

These Refractors are from 2010 Finest. I was not collecting then, so the design is new to me. I don't think I've come across any cards from this set before, so it's like seeing a brand new set for the very first time. You could have told me it was 2021 Finest and I would have believed you.

The other card joining these two:

Beautiful! 2020 Bowman Prospects Mojo Refractor (thanks to TCDB for helping me identify this card). I have a lot of Schmidts, but this is a new one. I wish the name "mojo" wasn't official, but it's ok. It's a good looking card.

So while the basket was filled with delicious treats, my cards came from elsewhere. And that's just fine with me!

Thank you, Wes

I've been wanting to post this for awhile, but the scanned cards in my folder have just been very daunting. Yes, I'm talking about my haul from Wes "You'll Always Be JBF To Me" of Area 40's final cardboard giveaway this past holiday season.

For whatever reason, Wes decided that I would be an often recipient of his generous "bombs." The first package came in May, 2011. I had started blogging in February of that same year, so for basically as long as this blog has existed, JBF has been a constant source of blog fodder, usually the result of his ridiculous card packages he'd send at any given moment.

I tried to think of a favorite card he sent, but I couldn't possibly. I've got over 65 posts dedicated to him, and he's really one of the main reasons my collection is as large as it is, and has as many amazing cards as it does. I appreciate each and every bombing, as they were always well thought out and personalized. You could make one small comment at some point, and Wes stored that information for future card packages.

So with that, I'll show a few of the amazing cards he sent my way as part of his incredible final giveaway.

The most interesting item was easily this jumbo memorabilia swatch of Mariano Rivera. The card is massive (and has a regular sized card embedded, with a truly enormous piece of jersey included. It's obviously a swatch of a mesh spring training jersey, with some elastic either from a sleeve or collar. It's so large really pops out of the card. I have never seen anything like it! Plus, this was pulled right around the time of Mariano gaining election to the Hall of Fame. Someday I'll probably frame this.

Probably the other most interesting card is a cut autograph from 2018 Leaf History of Baseball. Hall of Fame Hill Dickey is the subject of this card, with a cut HOF post card embedded within the plastic case. I know many are not big fans of cut signatures, but I'm very thankful to own a signature of a Yankee Hall of Famer.

There were plenty of more memorabilia cards pulled, including several from Topps Clubhouse Collection. Sorry these scanned so dark:

I really like relics of bases as well (why doesn't Topps do this nowadays?), and this Posada from the 2003 All-Star Game is definitely cool looking.

here were plenty of autographs too, including a Clint Frazier, who has gotten off to a torrid start this season. The Enos Slaughter IP/TTM is really beautiful as well.

When I saw this Winfield, I was definitely confused since I hadn't seen it. Turns out it was a Topps on demand issue.

Here's a few more cards that jumped out to me as scan-worthy.

Wes, all I can really say is thank you. Thank you for this card package. Thank you for the countless others over the last 8 years. And thank you for choosing me as one of the many recipients of your generosity.

Another cool thrift store find

Stopping at a local church thrift store on Saturday mornings is becoming a ritual for me.

I have one just a couple blocks from my house, and easily walkable at that. It opens from 10-1 on Saturdays and 10-2 on Tuesdays, I believe. My daughter finishes dance class at 10am, so once my wife arrives home, I usually had out for a quick morning stroll.

Most days, I'll go to the post office first, which is also walkable. And on the way back, I'll swing by the thrift store. It's basically what you'd expect. Mostly junk in the basement of the church. Only once have I found cards worth buying, a large binder for $5 you can read about here. Since then, I've only seen cards once, and it was a bunch of utter junk in plastic cases for $.25 a card. Not worth it.

I've bought some other stuff here and there. I found a cool electric slot car track there back in December. I've also found a few Wii games for my son, as all games and DVDs are $1, regardless of how new or old.

Anyhow, this past Saturday, I went to the post office at 10 to mail a package to Kerry over at Cards on Cards. On my way back, I swing by the thrift store, and immediately spotted two binders of cards!

I made a beeline past a guy who was looking at comic books and grabbed the binders. There were marked $1 each and in good condition. Each had maybe 20-25 pages, also in good condition. At quick glance, I spotted mostly junk, but did see a few cards of players of note, so I decided it would be worth the $2.

I also saw eight PS4 games on a very bottom shelf, and snagged them all. (Side note, but I sold them the same day on FB marketplace for $35 total. That's how you turn $8 into $35.)

Overall, I paid $10 ($2 for the cards + $8 for the video games), which is exactly the amount of cash I had, and headed home. I knew I wasn't going to find anything too great in the binders, but for 40% of the price of a Walgreen's repack, it still felt worth it.

I was right there was mostly junk, but I did find a lot of fun cards. I'd say it was 80% baseball, 18% basketball and maybe 2% hockey cards.

The first page(s) that jumped out at me were a bunch of 2000 Newark Bears cards. That makes sense to me, as I live just about 15 minutes from Newark and pass where the Bears once played everyday on my commute to work.

A few names jumped out at me, especially this guy:

Ozzie Canseco! I've got this card headed to Mario at Wax Heaven, a Canseco brothers completist. Apparently this quite a hard card to find for Canseco collectors. I probably could have gotten a few bucks for it on the open market, but Mario will appreciate it more, so off to him it goes.

A few other interest names: Bobby Bonds! I had no idea there was a Bobby Bonds, the son.

And Joe Borowski actually won a game for the '98 Yanks!

The oldest card in the binders was actually tucked into one of the font pockets, this Pete Rose/Steve Carlton Phillies Leaders. Kind of cool.

There were  a few MLB Showdowns, including a couple HOFers.

And some new and old HOFers:

Hey, I know this guy!

The only Yankee I found was a cool Topps Total of Jorge Posada.

This card was very interesting, a promo card to find local card shops. It no longer works. I called the number and and an automated voice asked if I was over 50. Actually, maybe it was working, now that I think about it.

There were some fun art cards too! I remember the Charlie Ward card from when I was growing up.

Among the basketball cards, a lot of Pippen and Rodman. No MJ, unfortunately.

And a very sweet Penny Hardaway.

This card was cool to see. King Rice was from my town, and went on to play at UNC. That is a pretty big deal. He's currently the head coach at Monmouth.

While I know little about hockey, I do know that none of them were massive names other than who I recognized.

There was only football card as well, but it was of a good name!

So that's it. Worth the $2? I'd say so. Fun times, and hopefully I find another treasure at the thrift store soon!

Luckily others have a better memory than I do

My memory stinks.

I'm only in my mid-30s, but seriously, it's shot. My wife tells me things and I completely forget. Constantly, I run an errand, and forget to pick up what I actually went for. I'm not sure if it's just age creeping on me, inattentiveness, or what, but I really stink at remembering simple things. Luckily I'm much more focused at work, but likely because I am a notorious note-taker.

Lucky for me, others are far better when it comes to the memory department. I recently received a package from Tim over at I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning. Back when Series One first came out, Tim mentioned he could help me with some of the Derek Jeter Target-exclusive set. I totally forgot, but luckily Tim didn't, and an unexpected package landed on my doorstep.

Here is the Jeter that got it started:

Tim was kind enough to throw in a bunch more awesome cards, including a Tino I didn't have:

Sweet! Numbered to just 76 copies, this is one of the rarer Tino cards I now own. This marks Tino #852 for me.

And a Tino from his USA Baseball days.

I love this card! Jorge Posada 1994 Bowman rookie card.

I had never seen this Topps Chrome Roger Clemens. It's pretty cool and I think it scanned decently for what it us. Neat looking effect with the years and text on the card.

There was some other nice shiny too!

These Ring Masters cards are neat. I was duped into one before thinking there was a fabric material within the text, but it's just an image. Still a neat card though.

And I'll end the way I started, with a great looking Jeter from Topps Hertiage.

Tim, thanks for having a much better memory than me!