Sometimes a gentle reminder is all it takes

Much to my delight and surprise, I received a bubble mailer yesterday from the one and only....

Love this card.  Need to get me an autographed copy one day

Totally unexpected was this fine package of cards, and it provided me a reminder of my first National back in 2012.  I'll get to that shortly.

First off, the meat of the package.   A bunch of 2017 A&G which is quickly getting close to completion.

7 base cards, including an Ichiro which I also believe is needed for the Ichiro PC.  Seeing Nick Jonas reminds me of driving to South Carolina last summer and "Sucker" was being played on hit radio constantly.   I really like that song, and taking a quick look at the back also let me know that Nick collects baseball cards.  Cool!

To go with those were 7 Short Prints, very nice!!  I still look at these cards and remember 3 years ago my disdain for them when they were first released.  Boy that changed, as I can honestly say that my tastes have shifted and I've become more of an A&G fan overall.  My only beef?  Well of course it's the price, as I'd love to see it be a little lower.   You can't have everything though, right?

22 cards left for the set, 14 base and 8 SPs.   This set will be part of the "next 10" that is completed when I finish the '74 Topps set, hopefully some time soon.

The lone Jim Thome card in the package is from the 2005 Fleer National Pastimes set.  It's either #601 or 602 in the Thome PC.  Nice card, you can't see it in the scan but the photo of Jim has a kind of 3D look, almost raised off the card a bit.

Both this package and the last one that Greg sent my way each contained a lone 1969 Topps card.  Not a set that is on everyone's radar, but it's one that I love. 

I can actually tell you when I fell in love with it.   Let's go back a little over 8 years ago to the 2012 NSCC show which was in Baltimore.  It was my first, and I can still remember my awe when I walked through the hall.  The enormity of it just astounded me.

I went for two days, and I remember on the 2nd day I sat at a table in the back of the hall, and if I remember correctly, I was the only one at the table at the time.  It was a woman running the table, very pleasant and easy to chat with.  But it was one card that jumped out of the box and into my pile that I think was the highlight of the show for me, and started my love of the '69 set.

Lefty was just $12 (yes I still remember the price), I loved the look of the card and the pink back had me hooked.  I was pretty sure that one day I would start putting together this set.  Roberto Pena up above brings my total up to 207 cards, still not even a third of the way through. 

Pena was a reminder of my love for this set, and it's got me wanting to give this set a little push before too long. 

Thank you for the envelope Greg, the cards are really appreciated!!  And yes, you did beat the Trading Card Database guys.

Enjoy the hobby!

Robert