Packages on their way!

 The packages for the 2020 "12 Days of Christmas" have mostly been shipped. As I write this, on Friday Aug 2 2024, I still have a handful (if you call half a dozen 550-count boxes a handful) to send out and those will go out today!

As a general heads up to everyone who took part: These will be mostly baseball cards. You may recall the original "12 Days" asked about your non-baseball preferences as well. Those are still on the list and I will be putting together those surprises in the future and those probably will be Christmas Gifts, as I have been completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of bits of cardboard I had scattered throughout my house.

My wife thanks you for taking part in this endeavor, by the way. Haha! Actually, she can't wrap her head around why I would do such a crazy giveaway in the first place. And, it is a bit crazy, but I woud rather share the cards I don't collect with folks who do in the traditional "old school" fashion: hand them out to those who will appreciate them. Or, at least appreciate the thought behind it.

Not gonna lie: there's a lot of junk wax in these. It's the nature of the beast. But, there are also some VERY cool inserts, oddballs, autos, material cards, etc etc. Going through the sort process, divvying up the cards, and reflecting on certain players, certain specific cards, and re-discovering cards I had long forgotten I even had, has been an incredible journey so far. Being able to "spread the wealth," as it were, means these cards won't just sit around taking up space and wasting away in cardboard boxes, plastic tubs, and binders stuck on shelves. 

I was genuinely shocked by some of the cards I came across, and I hope you will be, too!

By the way, if you missed out on the "12 Days" of 2020, have no fear. Even after putting together more than 20 packages or cards, I still have THOUSANDS of cards left over. So, that means I will be opening up another round in the future! And like Gump says - you never know what you're gonna get.

Happy collecting! See you on the wrapper backs!

Four Years Late - Sending Free Cards, Finally!

 Back in 2020, I made a post that was meant to kick off the holiday season with surprise gifts for those who filled out the form. Well, that time came and went four times over. It is now 2024, and I am FINALLY in a place where I have been sorting, filing, and packing cards to be mailed out!

The photo above shows Dodgers being separated into boxes based on the number of folks who requested that team (There were 5 folks, for the record). Below, I have a handful of packages ready for shipping:

It's been a very slow process because I have WAAAAY more cards than I ever realized. The crazy thing are the years that these things cover - From about 1975 to 2024! Yes, there's a lot of Junk Wax era stuff. I am trying to not load the boxes down with those, though. Below, my team drawers for sorting all these cards:

I am trying not to put dupes in the mailers, but I am not promising anything. In fact, I know there are dupes of some just because I had so many of certain specific cards. Again, though, I am trying to limit dupes. 

These will be mailed out over the next few weeks as I sort and pack. I am excited for you to receive your packages! There are definitely some surprises in there that I didn't even remember having - autos, swatches, oddballs, and more! It has been a blast sorting these out for everyone!

So, Merry 12 Days of Christmas - about 4 years later!

Off Topic: 1993 Leave It To Beaver Model Airplane Magazine Card

 

One of my favorite hobbies is writing for "A Pack to Be Named Later," where the goal of the group is open at least one pack of every collectible card ever made. Within that, I go out of my way to find weird packs of cards, such as the 1993 Pacific Leave It To Beaver (above). 

As you see in the picture, Beaver is holding a "Model Airplane News" magazine. When I posted the card, Bo did some poking around and found that the issue of Vogue was from 1960. So, I went on a quest to see if I could find the magazine that Beaver is holding. 

After a bit of searching, I was able to find it! The issue in hand is the March 1960! In the enlarged photo above, you can make out the USAF and the TA-143, but everything else is a bit harder - partly because it is small text and partly because he is bending the corner. But, this is it:

The hobby of collecting cards, baseball or otherwise, often leads to us chasing wild geese and falling down rabbit holes. In this case, we chased an airplane on the cover of a magazine from 1960. And we came up Aces!

My Own Custom Cleveland Baseball Cards (1981 Topps Style)

 A couple years ago, I started a project in which I was going to create a custom set of Indians cards. The set would include EVERY player to have played for the Tribe. I used the 1981 Topps layout because that's one of my all-time favorite sets. Below are the cards I was able to complete. There are subsets within the main set. They include the "81-on-81" (1981 Topps cards on my 81 Topps design), "The Jerseys" (Featuring jerseys from various eras), "Mascots and Logos" featuring mascots and various iterations of Wahoo and other logos, "Alternate Images" and there were probably others that have escaped my brain at the moment. I used the name "PAPPS" in the baseball because my granddaughter calls me "PAP" and there is no better reason in the world that I can think of. :-)

These pics represent players whose first names start with A, B, some C, and then some random folks that I made along the way. Click on images to see the full version. My personal versions do not have the watermark, of course. :-)

I may pick up the project in the future, but with the team name change and all, it's probably a dead project at this point. I thought it would be fun to share anyway (not necessarily in any order other than how Blogger uploaded them):