Domo Arigato: Adam, Chris, Wes, & Josh

Yesterday was like Christmas in January. I received five packages in the mail from four different collectors... so let's go ahead and get started.

Adam (a.k.a arpsmith) sent me this Chris Bando, which finished off my 1984 Topps Baseball set:

1984 Topps #431 Chris Bando

Thanks a million Adam... I truly appreciate your generosity and support of the blog. A thank you card will be shipped out tomorrow.

The second package was from Chris over at Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. Last week, he showed off his 1976 Topps Traded set and I commented on the Oscar Gamble card:

1976 Topps Traded #74T Oscar Gamble

It's one of those cards that stands out from my childhood and I define it as a classic for obvious reasons. Well... he had an extra one and graciously offered it to me.

In addition to the Gamble, he also sent me a few extra cards for my PC's:

1984 Topps #431 Chris Bando

Nope... it's not deja vu. After attempting to build this set for over a year now... I received the final card needed from two different collectors on the same day. I'm so stoked! I've officially completed one of my 2012 Hobby Goals.

Speaking of goals, I'm also trying to collect every regular issue Steve Carlton card produced by Topps during his playing years. Chris sent me these two:

1984 Topps #780 Steve Carlton

1985 Topps #360 Steve Carlton

So now I just need these to complete my Steve Carlton PC:

1965 Topps #477

1969 Topps #255

1972 Topps (Traded) #751

1975 Topps (Mini) #185

1983 Topps #70

1986 Topps #120

1987 Topps (Traded) #19T

Chris... if you're reading this... thanks a lot for this amazing "just because" package. There's a package heading out tomorrow with some Maddux's for your PC. Enjoy.

My third thank you goes out to my cardboard comrade, Wes (author of Jaybarkerfan's Junk).

I met him last year over at Card Collector's World, where I was introduced to his Pay It Forward project. Essentially, he was giving a way a ton of cards with nothing expected in return. If you liked them... you could keep them. If not... he just asked you to pass them on to someone who could use them. It was one of the coolest things I've encountered since I joined the blog world.

Since then, he's sent several packages which have contained hundreds of cards that have been passed onto my students. In addition to his generous packages, he also ran an awesome, interactive contest at the end of the year where he handed out a ton of prizes. In short... Wes is one of the good guys.

So when I came across one of his posts where he was selling card lots to raise some funds, I wanted to help out.

Here's what arrived in yesterday's package:

This post is getting long, so here are just a few of my favorites:

1984 Topps #358 Joe Montana

2007 Topps "Exclusive Rookies" #28 Patrick Willis

2006 Upper Deck "Rookie Futures" #RFVD Vernon Davis

2006 Upper Deck #250 Greg Jennings RC

1978 Topps #34 Willie McCovey

1995 Metallic Impressions #3 Nolan Ryan

In addition to these cards, I also received another package from Wes that contained this:

It's an autographed 8x10 photo of Charley Trippi, with a HOF '68 inscription. Trippi played from 1947 to 1955 and played a little bit of everything: quarterback, half back, punter, and even spent a few seasons playing safety. In fact, Jim Thorpe once called Trippi, "the greatest football player I ever saw." He may have been before my time, but for Thorpe to make that sort of statement, Trippi must have been special.

Thanks Wes... you're an asset to the community and it's an honor to call you my friend.

The fifth and final package from yesterday was from Josh over at Royals and Randoms. Josh held an cool & creative contest over on his blog last month, where it was sort of a "white elephant" event. Participants got to pick twenty cards from a huge list and you were able to lock in three of them. Everything else was fair game, which meant that someone choosing after you could "steal" up to one card from your list.

I stole a few cards... including this Bo Jackson (that I immediately locked up):

And of course... had a few cards stolen from me. But here's what I ended with:

One of the cards was a much needed 1987 Topps Steve Carlton, which was quickly added to my PC:

And the final prize from the contest was this pack of 1992 Pro Line Portraits, which contains nine cards of Jim Everett.

Since I'm not planning on buying a lot of wax this year, I figured I'd get my fix by busting this pack. Here's what I found inside:

Thanks Josh for the awesome contest prizes. I had a blast playing and appreciate all of the cards. I found a few Royals cards that I'll ship out tomorrow. Hopefully you can use them in your collection.

Well... that's about it. Was this post long enough for you? I was able to complete one of my hobby goals by finishing off the 1984 Topps baseball set, but at the same time I failed to keep my post to a reasonable length.

I apologize and will try my best to keep my remaining posts short... or at least shorter than this.

Thanks again to Adam, Chris, Wes, & Josh for all of these cards.

Happy Friday everyone... I hope all of you have a great weekend. Sayonara!