After school

If you grew up in the Chicagoland area in the 60s thru the late 80s (basically precable and OnTV), you had two choices when you got home from school. If it was April-June, or early September, since they never played beyond the first week of the 9th month, you could usually find a Cubs game on channel 9 WGN. Otherwise, you flipped on WFLD Channel 32 (a Kaiser company!) to watch the block of children's programming. With choices like Hanna Barbara, Tom & Jerry, the Monkees, Woody Woodpecker, the Brady Bunch, the Partridge Family, etc..... you were set to not move from in front of the boob tube until after 6pm.

I'm sure my knowledge of a lot of these cartoons and their time frame on television puts me at the higher end age wise for some of the bloggers here. I'm fine, cuz that was a great time to enjoy characters like Magilla Gorilla, Squidly Diddly, Blabbermouth and a host of other unique personalities. But don't call me gramps around here.

But still, stay the hell off my lawn!

I had planned to get this post up yesterday, but my time was really tight. So I thought I would have some fun with a Ricochet Rabbit type of post. But since I ended up having to rush out to get my wife over to the rehab center to visit her mom, I didn't get a single letter typed. Being that it's early AM and I have time, I think we will Deputy Droop-a-long this post now.

Good ol' Night Owl dropped a package to me a week or more ago. You know when the address is from upper NY, there will be goodness within, and as usual Greg did not fail. Since I already had that Squires in my DP binder, that dupe will now go in with the throwbacks. And Bippings are permitted when you are missing the card from your collection.

Glossy Fleers. Love love love the Spring Training background behind Durham.

Vintage is a guarantee in a Night Owl envelope. As are minis. I figure, at this rate, I should have a complete White Sox '75 mini set in about 2 years without purchasing a single card. Those 9 would make for a great envelope as always from Greg. And then these came out.

A beautiful 1/10 silk of Dye is pretty sweet. First silk A&G in my collection. And look at the miscut of Pinson. The joy of it is seeing that the card below it was printed 180 degrees on the sheet. Anyone with their mad skills know which Yankee pitcher that was below Vada?

Want to put just one card in a envelope and make it a great card? AJ from The Lost Collector did just that with this Bowman Chrome Crede. I lost out on this very card two weeks ago on Listia. Now I have it. Umm....did you outbid me, AJ?

For my complete lack of any knowledge on college sports, I seem to do okay when Kerry runs his contests at Cards on Cards. I didn't win the March Madness bracket challenge, but I finish tied for 2nd, which netted me a couple nice cards from Kerry's collection. He picked out this sweet SportFlix Thomas and a swell Sale that went right to the throwback binder. If that blue was just a little darker, it would really work with the navy of the uniforms. That's ok.

Lastly, John from Johnnys Trading Spot sent over a group of cards. I had won the letter "D" in a random draw, so I got a nice load of ChiSox players with the last name of D. I love that framed Durham in the upper right. But then John slipped one more card in the envelope.

There is not a D to be found on that card. And that is a good thing, cuz you would have to deface it to get one on there. Man, that is an amazing piece of vintage, and the condition is incredible. Plus that old Yankee Stadium background seals it.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, and watch out for gangs of 10 year old girls in go go boots.

Who gets post mail?

Lately, you readers have been on a tear, just loading up my mailbox. No complaints, mind you, but I really need to get my act together to scan, post and thank you folks. I did a recent clean off of my desk, which entails getting 10% or the cards into binders, and the rest moved to the stacks on the desk to my left. I still can't figure out this organizing thing.

It's like understanding me, only harder.

 So let's clear out the scan folder - image heavy post, I apologize.

First up is Pat at Hot Corner Cards. When he isn't doing a Tiger dump on me for my double play and/or bunting binder, he does a dump of OTHER teams turning two or bunting.

Ok, there are still Tigers, sometimes. Just tasty, vintage old English D's. Also, he gives me White Sox.

I think that Proly is actually in focus!

Robert from $30 a Week Habit dropped a PWE with two throwbacks.

That Delgado would have been on the sidebar "baker's dozen commons" list, but Robert made sure it's not.

First time envelope from Defgav of Baseball Card Breakdown. He made some goofy glow in the dark cards and I commented that I had to have one. Gavin sent me a couple.

I didn't get all "take a pic of them glowing" crazy with it. Just trust me they are pretty cool in the dark. Also, somehow, I won some cards from his site too, so I jumped on these two.

Both 3D in their own special ways. 

Kyle from....well, nowhere cuz he isn't blogging yet, jumped on a trade for a couple of the cards I pulled from the Panini Black Friday packs. I still have to mail my return package to him (getting all the TTS cards together) but he sent me his side.

Bunting, Pale Hose and double plays. And a nice Sale swatch.

Rob from Ranger Cards was looking for a place to dump some ChiSox cards. No. Brainer.

Good mix of cards that I needed to fill sets and some dupes for the DP, bunting and throwback binders.

Last, but not least, is my National Card Show date Julie from Funner Here. We just send stuff back and forth. She felt like she owed me a bunch of stuff with all my PWEs (hint to her and the rest of you - you don't) and sent a PWE over which was pretty sweet.

Love me hits to my Want lists (Darvish) and the ChiSox minis.

Being old hat at the National, she wasn't awestruck like I was because I completely missed this card. Hey - did you know the Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup twice in 4 years? Did you know that  Dennis????

Jules gets in a lot of breaks. I think I benefited from a couple with these two beauts. 

Ok - time to move all those images to the "posted" folder.

And on the 7th PWE, he rested.

That is today's mailbox for me. Now, yesterday was Veteran's Day, so there was a chance some of these would have come 24 hours ago. But still - what a nice haul out of the mailbox. It's always a treat when your name is on an envelope and the innards are not a bill of one sort or another. All of the letters, except one, were sent with a single Forever stamp. And the one that needed more postage only cost two extra dimes.

Even though they are PWEs, they are not all from bloggers/readers/traders. These two are from a Listia auction and an eBay auction respectively. Hard to pass up a Turkey Red of the Big Train when you have creds to burn. The Adam Wilk (it's a side project) was all of 11 pennies with free shipping. So the seller lost out on that one by 35 cents.

These are also Listia winnings. I probably "overpaid" for them (1000 creds), but they are kind of fun. That is Gehrig at the lower right, but I need to figure out the others. It may be Eddie Mathews to the left of Gehrig. I thought, when I bid, that the top left might be Feller, but it's a Brooklyn Bum. The umps on the middle left have a BoSox manager and a manager in a killer sweater. Could be John McGraw for the Giants. Well, those are the purchases. Now the generosity of the bloggers/readers.

AJ from The Lost Collector gets an envelope from time to time from me. He returned the favor with 5 really nice cards. Dig these three. My Baines collection is pretty low. In fact, all my early 80s is minimal, so the Koosman is a need. And finally a Floyd refrector. Thanks AJ for the great envelope!

John from Johnny's Trading Spot is also on Club PWE. He's a new blogger, so click the link and check him out. Start following him - that's an order! Anyhow, he decided to return the favor of a few PWE with the extra postage envelope, and boy was it awesome. The best part of getting all my White Sox sorted is having a far better idea of what I have and what I need. I need all these Scores as I don't have a single one.

Here's proof John is a reader. Are these not aweseome DP cards? And I had to kick my OCD to the curb and properly scan the Gonzalez on the bottom, cuz that one is a beut! Both players checking out first to see if the play was turned. UD always had killer photography.

This card, though, is a bit of an oddball. I really don't collect plays at the plate like Dime Box Nick or Brian at that one blog like likes those types of cards. However, I do have a catch all binder of plain awesome cards. This.....is plain awesome. Stadium Club really did it right in the past. Thanks for the mail, John!

Last is from Dennis at Too Many Verlanders. Dennis is a Tigers and a Dead Wings fan, and yet I still talk to the guy. I consider it charity work.

Ok Dennis - you got me here.

 Dennis sent the 3 ChiSox I scanned above - a Buehrle Future Star, Fisk Chrome and a sweet Baines Metal. But the highlight of the package is this little number.

It only happens to be the final card in the People of the Bible set. This card has been difficult because the price has always been far too much to justify buying it with shipping. Dennis had a COMC mailing coming and offered to help out anyone that asked. And this is the result. Thanks a ton, Dennis. 

Have I got a PWE for you.

How ya doin'? How ya doin'? How ya doin'?

Step right up, cuz I am here to show YOU the latest and the greatest from across the land. I have traveled far and wide to show you some of the finest items in all the world. You could travel the skies yourself, but why, when I have taken the time and the energy to collect together to nicest specimens on the planet.

I know what you're sayin' - "how can we be sure these are the best in the land"? Let me ask you a question in return - have I ever steered you wrong? I don't know you; you don't know me. We have never had dealings before so of COURSE I have never lied to you. Now come in a little closer to see the wonders I have in store for you.

Have you ever thought "how much can I fit into a plain white envelope"? Well sir, I am glad you asked that. You would be amazed at how you can stuff a plain white envelope for delivery to another part of the world. I'm here to tell you the most astonishing items are available in an paper envelope of white.

Hey mister....

Go away, kid....ya bother me.

Now seein' is believin', and I'm gonna tell you there is plenty to see. Why, with a little effort, some remarkable things will fit in a plain white envelope.

Take these two cards from Johnny at Cards from the Quarry. Some may think that's not much, but I am here to tell you that a bordered rookie parallel and a chrome Heritage card make for great collection additions.

Now what you see here are some older ChiSox cards garnered across the land by Jim from GCRL. And I'm here to tell you these are not the limit of cards Jim was able to send, as long as you don't mind a little extra postage. 

Sir - I heard you mumble over there: "I don't have extra postage". Not a concern at all. What you see here are 4 cards courtesy of Weston from Fantastic Catch. What Weston did here was compare the want list from this site to the extras he had, found a few and packaged them out. It doesn't get easier than that. So whatcha waitin' for? Still not convinced? Maybe these will help you decide.

Can I get an "oooh"? Can I hear an "ahhhh"? 

Yes folks - those are relics, more rare forms of items available. Ma'am - I can see that look upon your face. "How do they arrive without damage?" That's a great question, ma'am, and I'm here to tell you that it was no trickery nor slight of hand. You see, Chris and Kyle from Old Foul Cardboard placed these objects of wonder within separate hardened containers, and then placed those containers into an envelope. I assure you the condition they arrived is EXACTLY the same as how they were mailed. 

Now before you go, let me show you one last envelope. Most envelopes cost one stamp. But I'll tell you - a little more money can make the package sunny. A bit more cash can mean more flash.

Yes siree - you can place minis in those envelopes. Duane from Democratic Roadkill did just that. And it doesn't need to be just a few minis.

With the right packing, and two more dimes of postage, you can fit quite a bit in the kit. And you can even include some regular sized cards too.

So don't be shy. Give a PWE a try. 

And it takes three wheels to make a vehicle called a tricycle...

This post is brought to you by the number three.

Here are the three hits I scored from my LCS' pack wars this month. I really have no clue who any of them are. If anyone reading is interested, shoot me an email. These are very tradeable.

These three cards came as a return from Club PWE member John at Johnny's Trading Spot. He's new around here, and was very generous in sending back these needs for my 2001 Upper Deck Cooperstown set. Thank you so much, John. I am working on some Elway's for you.

Finally we have three simply amazing cards from Dustin at Coot Veal and the Vealtones. Dustin saw the nice Vic Wertz I picked up at the National and asked if it was available. For Dustin, heck yeah! Especially with the offer. He said "pick two". I couldn't. So I offered up a blue border Chrome Cabrera I pulled from a repack box. Deal. I just had to have that well loved Chicle. Dustin, I have your entire needs list on my phone so you better get more Chicle! :)

Alright. Three images of three cards from three different places.

Couple more envelopes.

For those that care, I have finished the organization of my mini purchase - come back on Friday for my post about the treasures within. Until that day, though, I want to highlight a couple recent envelopes received at 2x3Heroes headquarters.

Check out the new cubicle walls!

First is an envelope from Kyle (and Chris) with the awesome Old Foul Cardboard.  We've turned into PWE pals it appears as a few cards trickle back and forth between us. Kyle's latest envelope had these two beauties within.

I never pull these borders for my own team, so I am so thankful when others pull and mail them to me. Just need the greens for these two and I will finish the easy rainbow for the players. The camo, pink, black..... that will take work (and money). Kyle - watch your mailbox. And for those that are looking for an easy place to send your Yankee and Bruin cards, you need to get with Chris.

New trading partner for the other envelope to highlight. Matt from Card Anathema sent me an email with an offer of some Ginter cards I have on my want list. Off of his want lists I was able to send him a few Olympic cards and a few others. Matt helped me knock eight cards from my 2011 set, including these two.

Those code cards are funky, but I am just putting anything to complete the set. With the pseudo right wing uproar about Michele at the Oscars, funny how there was no uproar about Dubya in Ginter. I'll leave my liberal bias for another blog. Thanks Matt. I am sure this will be the first of many trades.

Ok. Come back Friday for the mini closure. If you notice the mini trade bait I added in the bar, feel free to browse and email about cards. Took a week, but check out the spoils.

Trade post: oh Captain, my Captain

A short time back I mentioned that in my rips of 2013 Topps, I have pulled 4 die cuts of two players. Offered my extra Darvish and Adam Jones for trade, and the waxcaptain emailed me about the Darvish. A quick PWE later and the captain has his Darvish and I get these to enjoy in return.

Oh minis, how I love thee! Two years worth of Konerko minis crossed of my list. Gotta like that.

And the captain loves to deal in color. I have neither insert - now I do!! Victoriano also included a couple Sox '13 base as well as two Linage cards that I needed - well selected from the blind, Captain!!

Thanks a bunch for the quick trade and for padding out my binders with more needed White Sox. Go hit up Victoriano for a great and quick trade. BTW - still have the Jones if someone wants it.