An Epic Post of Blogger Kindness from Reds and MORE!!!

Greetings and good afternoon Trollites! I apologize for my absence yesterday, but I am back! It is a very busy week for me. There is a National Invitational Roller Derby Tournament this weekend that I will be calling, the Stone Crabs are opening their season and the Rays will be defending first place against the Yankees this weekend, after they complete the sweep of the Orioles tonight that is. Oh and I have a small speaking role in an independent film. Plus, I’m scheduled for 9 shifts at work and… Busy, busy Troll. Anyway…
My wonderful readers are continuing to wow me with very kind packages and I do plan on posting each and every one of them. I am way behind, but I am ready to roll!
I have been sitting on this package for exactly one month now. It came to me from Cameron in Tulsa the author of the Reds and More blog. Honestly I had never met Cameron before, online or otherwise, but after I posted this last month Cameron got in touch and got a gigantic and generous package in the mail for me the next day. It has been a little bit over a month since the heart of my collection was stolen, I went to the card shop yesterday and to the flea markets this weekend and the cards still have yet to surface. I am not giving up hope, but that crappy situation has really turned into a blessing for me. I believe that things happen for a reason and if not for that post and the Cardboard Junkie aka the King of the Blog-O-Sphere linking it I would have never met Cameron or a score of other bloggers. I love this virtual community that we all exist in-I am proud to be a part of it and I never get tired of saying how wonderful and amazing it is. Okay, back to the package from Reds and More. Like I said I got this over a month ago-I know this because I left the cards in their original envelope so I wouldn’t forget where they came from and the postmark says March 6. I have posted several editions of Blogger Kindness and I have MANY more to show off, but getting a package from a complete stranger sent IMMEDIATELY after reading of my experience really blew me away. Damn work for taking up all my time and keeping me from posting this! That said, I do need to get ready to go back, so let’s get back to the business of showing off some of the highlights of this package that included Negro Leaguers, HOFers, autographs, relics, Clementes and a whole ton of Pirates and Rays. He included quite a few David Price cards that I needed, but I am going to show this one because this is the only one I have ever seen like this. It comes from 2009 Topps, but isn’t the standard pose from the set. The card is number JCP2. If Google is correct, the JCP stands for either the Journal of Computational Physics or JC Penney. Anyone know anything about these? Moving on to a serial numbered rookie card of my favorite shortstop Jason Bartlett. This is card #62 from 2004 Fleer Draft Edition, serial numbered 0514/1000. He sent me a few Topps Chrome refractors which are always welcome here, including a 2008 BJ Upton and a 2009 Matt Garza. He also sent the most amazing refractor I have ever seen… From 2008 Bowman, card #171 of 2009 Home Run King Carlos Pena. As much as I love refractors I am not too knowledgeable about the different varieties. I thought this was an X Fractor, but since then I have gathered quite a few of those and none compare to this one. Is this a SUPER FRACTOR? It is serial numbered 216/250 and shiny as all hell! The pile of Rays he sent was never ending and it seemed that I needed all of them, but I won’t every card. I have trimmed it down to just 3 more beginning with an old school Wade Boggs from 1999 Topps Stadium Club. I picked this one because as many cards as I have of Boggs as a D-Ray (100+) this might be the only card that shows him running. Next up is a SWEET new RED Turkey Red that I have been coveting for a while. This is from 2005 (I think, my eyes are failing me), card #152 of All Star Carl Crawford. AWESOME! The last card to show off comes 2008 Topps Series 2, card #TR-SK, a jersey relic of the Rays former Ace Scott Kazmir. I am pretty sure with this one I have every Rays card from this subset. I love being an obsessive team collector!
Sticking with 2008 Topps, but switching gears to my favorite player of all time and the third best right fielder in history according to my readers, Roberto Clemente, this card is from the Ring of Honor insert set, card #RH26. It celebrates Clemente’s second WS win in 1971 where he batted .414 and took home WS MVP honors.
Since we are on the topic of the Pirates, he sent a slew of sweet cards of the Bucs. I love vintage Pirates cards but don’t really collect modern Pirates because no one stays on the team long enough to build an attachment and if I do build one, they get traded and I get really bummed. That happened with Jason Kendall who spent a few years as my favorite player. He and I actually became friends, went surfing together and hung out a bit and from there I obsessively collected his cards during the pre-relic era. When I got back into things last year I considered chasing him again, but I wasn’t that interested anymore. That said I am thrilled to have this one! It comes from the 2002 SPx Winning Materials Combo Jersey set and features Kendall and Brian Giles, each with a different color jersey swatch. It is AWESOME! I dug out some old Kendall cards I had and filled 2 pages in my PC binder. Ah, memories! From the past to the present, here is a pair of Ticket to Topps Town cards of future star Andrew McCutchen. I REALLY like the photo on the GOLD version, great angle, bad crop, but still great. I am starting to think about chasing TTT Gold now, too. I have 6 cards so far… We went from the past to the present, now here is a great relic of the future. From the 2008 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection, here is a black jersey swatch of outfielder slash first baseman Steve Pearce. The Pirates have a lot of weak spots on their roster, but they have a ton of depth at first base and right field and Garrett Jones IS the real deal. That leaves Pearce behind for now, but I think this guy has a shot… Shifting back to the past, these 2 were my favorites from the package. These cards wowed me so much that I thought about chasing both of these guys and YES I got these before the poll where you guys voted for Bill Madlock (in a tie) as the next play I collect… This is my first relic of Mad Dog and my only one so far… It comes from 2006 Fleer, the Decade Greats set, card # DEC-BI. I really like the design of this card, the batting pose from the former batting champion and little piece of his bat in the corner. I still haven’t decided how to break the 3-way tie between Madlock, Larry Doby and Bill Mazeroski. I don’t see a problem in collecting all of them a little bit-they are 3 of my All Time favs… I thought it was awesome that Cameron was so clairvoyant with this one. I have been typing for over 2 hours and I really need to go to work, so I am going to close up this super post of a super package from a super kind blogger… This is a great Pirates card to close it on, it comes from a set that I didn’t even know about until recently, but have recently become obsessed. I love Hall of Fame autographs, but I get tired of seeing the same players in every set. That makes these sets super awesome because of the variety. This is a chrome version of a 2004 style Topps card of one of the best relievers the National League has ever seen. I am rushing and not too great with words right now, so just enjoy this super great, uncirculated awesome certified, on card auto of Elroy Face!!! I LOVE this card. I like vintage players on modern designs; it’s like a reverse Heritage type thing. Anyway, this card is easily one of my favorites. This was my first Face card (a KING!) and later that week Chris from Project '62 sent me a few vintage Topps cards of him. Those are two great reasons to start collecting a guy that I was already a huge fan of. More cards that he included from a set that I didn’t know existed are these amazing 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game cards. He sent a stack of former stars from the Negro Leagues. Among the group were this card of one of my favorite people in the world, former Kansas City Monarchs player and manager Buck O’Neil. This last card inspired me too, stay tuned for some Buck O’Neil obsessiveness!!! In the awesome letter that Cameron sent with these awesome cards he suggested that we could talk some smack during the season, Reds vs. the Pirates. It’s hard for me to talk bad about the Reds since my favorite player Jonny Gomes plays for them, but… The Pirates, much like the Rays are undefeated and in sole possession of first place! I never thought I would be able to say that outside of April Fool’s Day! The Pirates rule, Reds suck! This so concludes another amazing episode of Blogger Kindness. Thanks so much for everything Cameron!!! You blew me away! Go check out and follow Reds and More right now! It isn’t just for Reds fans, hence the more, you won’t regret it! Stay tuned for more amazing stuff coming soon from Jacob Marley, Wicked Ortega, Stale Gum, GCRL and more, much more!!! Thanks to all who read this all the way through! If you thought this was long, imagine if I had posted EVERYTHING he sent and not a few highlights... Man if I only had a little bit more time... Go Rays! Troll out.