Big League Maildays

Catching up on a handful of small maildays. Most of these involve 2020 Big League and so are especially welcome because I’ve hit my local Target all of once since last March and when I did the card aisle was completely bare.

The first one though is this small PWE from Mark Hoyle which contained two 2019 Bowman Chromes. Not the usual thing I expect from Mark at all to the point where I was curious how he encountered these since he never rips any new product.* They’re appreciated here though. I’m being optimistic about in-person autographing being something that will be feasible in the future and accumulating Giants prospects in case they come through Trenton with Richmond is part of that optimism.

*Turns out they were bumper cards.

A nicely-stuffed PWE from Marc Brubaker brought a bunch of cards from sets I never rip in addition to a few Big Leagues. That Posey is fantastic* and the design is a nice throwback to simpler days which works perfectly with the non-gloss paper stock.

*I don’t collect colored parallels but I’m tempted to make an exception this year with the orange ones since the orange Posey looks even better.

I love the feel of the Diamond Kings. They’re still some of the most satisfying cards to just handle. I just can’t tell the years apart, and I don’t mean in terms of just associating cards with years, it took me a long time to realize that there were two different years of cards in the envelope.

It’s nice to cross the 2020 Jed Lowrie off my Stanford searchlist. The 2020 design is much-maligned but I still like it, especially with photos like the Alex Dickerson which are not possible with the usual transparency at the bottom designs that have dominated cards over the past couple decades. And it’s fun to see this year’s sticker and sticker back designs. Neither is as nice as last year but they’re sufficiently different to be interesting.

I also received a small package from Cards on Cards with a Big League box panel. I like the box card sets but with blasters doubling in cost those cards have become a lot harder for me to get. He included a bunch more Big League cards which, between Marc and some other mailings, has meant that I can supply my kids with enough Giants to keep them happy.

The Evan Longoria caricature was a nice surprise. I don’t chase those but they’re nice to add to the binder. Gypsy Queen and Prism also fall into this category. Neither is my thing but I enjoy having an example or two in the binder anyway and I’m glad people are happy to send them to me.

Thanks guys!