Mailday Post: Night Owl Cards

You all may have noticed by now that I like to lead with music videos for my posts.  It's because I love music.  I've always liked music a lot, but in the years I was not collecting cards, music served as my collecting methadone -- hearing music new to me or just relistening again was like collecting in some respects.  I also replaced cards with trying different foods or wines too. 

All of those were just collections of a sort. I still like to partake in all of those pursuits from time to time, and now I've added cards back to the mix.  

In "honor" of the fact that this package came from the Night Owl based on me begging for an orange parallel 2014 Topps Series 2 card, I wanted to pick out an orange song.  I thought about using "Orange Crush" by R.E.M., but I've already used "So. Central Rain" by them.  I thought about using "Orange Blossom Special" by Johnny Cash, but, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of that song.

Instead, let's get aggressive...very aggressive.  Seminal punk band Agent Orange came out of Orange County in 1979 and were known for mixing surf music with punk to give more of a speed metal sound.  Their music became associated with skateboarding and, in fact, their song "Bloodstains" appeared on a Tony Hawk video game.  Saying all that makes me sound cooler and more knowledgeable than I really am, since I cribbed all that from Wikipedia.

I don't know if Greg likes punk music or not, but here's the cards he sent to me nonetheless.

This is the orange card that started it all.  Rumor has it that the day this photo was taken was "get an autograph from Marco Estrada if you've hit a home run off him" day in Spring Training.  I don't know what Estrada's deal is this year, but he is giving up dingers at an alarming rate -- 2.3 per 9 innings through the games of July 2.  He's always been a bit tater-prone, but this is getting ridiculous.

This one sort of surprised me.  I was not expecting a Rick Dempsey autograph -- or, for that matter, a full-bleed photo card -- from the Night Owl.  I guess the fact that it is a day game may be a mitigating factor?  Still, it's an awesome card from one of the clown princes of baseball from my childhood.

A Bowman Aramis Ramirez and a Shaun Marcum Bowman Chrome? Yes, please.

The great thing about collecting certain sets is that you can get two or three of them in trades or as part of packages dropped in your mailbox, and it is still a good thing.  This Carlos Gomez went into my player collection; the one I got in the box I bought goes into my team set.  And still, I need another for my Archives set!

This package closes with a flying Ax Mullet in sparkling blue Opening Day parallel form.  I'm hopeful for his sake that he can get his control back and stop walking 6 guys for every 9 innings he pitches -- which is always the bugaboo for guys like Axford, it seems.

Thanks very much, Night Owl, for the great cards.  Of course, I now have to scour your want lists again to try to find some cards you might actually need -- but then again, that's half the fun of trading!

Oh, What's a Mini?

Honestly, I've never heard this song by some reggae guys called "Goldy and Chronixx" before about three minutes ago.  But, can you really go wrong with a song called, "The Mini Song"?

Okay, don't listen to the song before you answer that.  It doesn't exactly get me fired up, except, perhaps, for showing a ton of girls in short skirts...

Fine, I'll admit it -- this is all just another bad introduction to highlight some cards I got in the mail on Monday from two of the most prolific, well-respected bloggers -- and deservedly so in both cases -- around.  And both of them sent me minis.

Starting with the newer minis, which came from Zippy Zappy at Cervin' Up Cards.

I want to start with a confession. When I first came across the Cervin' Up Cards blog, I knew ZZ would be a Yankee fan despite the fact that I had no idea who on God's Green Earth Francisco Cervelli was.  I have not followed the American League at all before this year -- thank you, Baseball Cards! -- and really haven't for quite some time.  I honestly thought that ZZ was actually an old-school Yankees fan and named his blog in honor of the semi-immortal (and still quite alive) Bob Cerv:

No matter.  Cervin' is still a daily read for me to follow ZZ's efforts at through-the-mail autographs, his dalliances with trips to the Staten Island Yankees stadium, and his occasional forays into Star Wars figures opening baseball card packs.  Since ZZ is a fan of the Yankees, though, he bit hook, line, and sinker for that Alex Rodriguez quad relic I got from Museum Collection a few weeks back.  In return, he sent me a bunch of cool, recent cards:

 

ZZ sent me a whole bunch of prospect love first and foremost, but he also added to my player collections for Braun, Hart, and Fielder.  I really like the Peralta with Brevard County -- he's quickly becoming a mainstay in the Brewers rotation.  Also, I'm hopeful that Hunter Morris will produce enough in a half-season or so in Triple-A (and stay healthy) so that the Brewers can jettison the skeletal remains of Lyle Overbay from the roster.

But I promised Minis:

ZZ delivered on that promise with the 2013 version of the Topps Minis.  I didn't have any minis from last year, so these were all greatly appreciated, as was the unlicensed Gallardo in a white pajama suit card from Season Ticket.

Thanks again, Zippy Zappy!  These are excellent, and you can send me Topps Minis -- even of recent vintage -- any time.

Now, the other minis I got were, indeed, the ones that get people very excited.  They were the 1975 variety, and they came to me in a PWE with a return address of Watertown, New York.

Yes, I got my first Night Owl mailer -- and it delivered far better than any mailman could:

I think that Purple Ryan Braun Heritage Refractor was what caused this envelope to come my way initially, but it would not be an envelope from Night Owl without those minis from 1975.  Those immediately went into my Brewers collection, except that the Charlie Moore found its way to my player collection for him.  Indeed, all of those cards -- even the Peter Gabriel Topps card with "Red Rain, Fallin' Down, Red Rain" of Scooter Gennett -- made their way into my collection accordingly.

Thank you, Night Owl, for the fantastic envelope.  Now I have to figure out what to get for the blogger who has everything!