All the Small Things

My collecting has been slacking quite a bit lately, as has my blogging.  Lots of snow and cold around here has put a chill over my hobbies.  But it wasn't all for not - I have been getting my collection in order and adding a few select gems to keep the backlog from piling up too much higher.

When I had my eye on some Tiffany cards that were listed on justcommons, I figured it was time to round up $10 worth of goodies and put in an order.  I filled some low end Pirate team set needs, including most of the 87 Tiffany team set and the ever annoying 2002 Fleer gold backs.  But my non-Pirate binders got some love too. 

A couple of these cards had been ones I had my eyes on for a while.  But I'm not ashamed to admit I took some guidance from a quick study of some of Dime Box Nick's fine archive of work.  I know a few of these cards are common fare for the blog world, and old news to most of you.  But they were exciting additions to my binders, particularly since the last few years have seen me become woefully negligent of my oddball collecting habits.

Perhaps the highlight of the package was this pair of Manny cards.  The late 00's saw quite a few sluggers of 90's and 00's fame find work bouncing around on one year contracts.  I still need to add Frank Thomas Blue Jay and A's cards, and have found a few nice Griffey cards from his White Sox days.  These Manny cards though?  Manny being Manny.  Or in the Topps case, Manny photoshopped into being Manny.  Now to add a Manny's White Sox card.

And  continuing the PED theme...   I'm a big too young to have experience the Canseco mania of the late 80's, but I can appreciate a good Expos card as much as anybody out there.  The Expos uni switch in the mid 00's is one of the few times a team replaced a uniform I love with...another uniform I love.  Perhaps some day we'll see another team north of the border.

This Kerry Wood hits one of my mini collection sweet spots - a boomerang card of Wood back where he belongs.  There were few things as exciting during my summer afternoons growing up as watching a Wood start during an afternoon game.

And on the opposite end of the spectrum:

Justcommons was out of stock of Moyer's Update card from last year, so this Bowman Chrome card will have to be the representative Father Time card in my collection.  This beauty will be heading out in the mail to get signed sometime soon.

While Kerry Wood made it back to the ivy of Wrigley, his rotation mate wasn't so lucky.  I've always had a bit of an affinity for players named Mark.  It's a shame to see such a bright career completely derailed by injury.  Brandon Webb agrees.

And last but certainly not least, a double dipper of true throwback unis.  And a card that I honestly would never have known existed if not for blogs.

Two old school throwbacks?  A homeplate collision?  And a card from the early days of interleague play?  It's just too much for the brain to handle.  It may technically be a Ray Durham card, but Scott Servais is clearly the star of the show here.  Because for whatever reason 8 year old me thought Servais was the coolest player on the Cubs - but maybe I've just been a fan of alliteration from an early age.  Either way, the runner is clearly out.