A Holly Jolly Post

Merry Christmas to all of the fellow collectors and bloggers who happen to stumble across this post.  I hope each and everyone of you are surrounded by family, loved ones, or at the very least some beloved trading cards.  As luck would have it... I was blessed with all three.

It's been awhile since I've written a blog post, but that's been more about a busy schedule than lack of cards.  I actually have close to 1,000 cards from five or six care packages sitting in stacks scattered around my office.  The plan is to highlight some of those cards in future posts throughout the new year.

However today's post focuses on some Christmas gifts sent to me by fellow and former bloggers.  First up, SumoMenkoMan sent me another custom advent calendar this year.  There was a ton of interesting and cool items that I'll be sharing with all of you later in the week.  In the meantime, here are three Christmas related items he sent...

The first present in Ryan's advent calendar was this awesome pocket calendar from 1898.  Ironically... this calendar matches the 2022 calendar:

Yesterday's present was a sheet of celebrity Christmas post cards that included this:

Check out those bell bottoms that Bruce Lee is rocking!  Now that's a sharp dressed man.

And today's present was a complete set of Japanese women bowlers that included an autographed card.  Here's the one I pulled:

2015 BBM P League Very Merry Xmas Autograph #NNO

I don't actively follow Japanese female bowlers... but I'm stoked to add a set of their trading cards and this autograph to my collection.  If you want to see Ms. Nishimura in action, click here.

Next up are a pair of customs created by Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown...

If you were wondering what Benito has been up to after he retired from baseball... now you know.

And by now, I'm sure you're familiar with Gavin's 1991 Fleer cream colored customs that he's been sharing with collectors around the blogosphere.  I was blessed with this new Rickey for my collection:

There's Rickey stealing the star from someone's Christmas tree... and a Blue Jay (possibly Tony Fernandez) holding onto a giant candy cane.

Both of these will go into my Sports Card Smorgasbord binder with all of the other custom cards Gavin has sent me over the years.

Last, but certainly not least was this custom Christmas card from Wes (of Area 40):

One of the best things about the holiday season is reconnecting with people from our past.  Over the past two weeks, I've hung out with an old high school buddy, received a text message from an old neighbor from my childhood that I hadn't spoken to in over ten years, and received this signed Christmas card from a former blogger who was best known for being the most generous Jay Barker Fan in the hobby.

Thank you Ryan, Gavin, and Wes!  And merry Christmas to all... and to all a good night.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!