A Gift Of Fan Favorites

The bloggers that I have run into have generally been very supportive and generous with their time and collection. I haven't run into one wacko in this community, at least in a negative way. There are some wackos here and there, but they are the good kind. So far, everyone has been wonderful.

I love to check out as many sites as I can in a day. I'll check them out throughout the day and leave comments when I feel it appropriate. It could be support, a story, a correction, supplemental information, or whatever pops into my brain.

One of the sites that I frequent is 88 Topps. This is of particular interest to me because I had stopped collecting baseball cards for a brief period in time. The first year I didn't collect was 1988. I have many in my collection now, but it's still somewhat fresh to me, since I didn't collect it the year it came out.

I even remember seeing a Mad magazine cover with the 1988 Topps design on it. I thought to myself that it was a good design and if there was a card that looked like that, I would probably pick up a few packs. I had no idea, until 1990, that the design was the 1988 Topps card.

I had made a comment on a 2003 All-Time Fan Favorites card of Steve Lyons that was posted on the site. It was in the design of the 1988 Topps series. I had no clue to the card's existence. I stopped collecting in early 1994 and started back full time in 2007, so 1993 until 2006 still hold a lot of surprises to me. I was aware of the Harold Baines card from that set, but nothing else.

Within seconds of that comment, Andy contacted me about it. Would I be interested in that card and am I missing any other White Sox cards from that set? After a half second, I thought, "Hell yeah! I'd like that card". I responded back that I would be interested in that card and from looking at the set listing, I was also lacking the Aparicio card.

True to form, I get an instant reply back. Wasn't I forgetting about the Baines card in the set? Another e-mail off to Andy insisted that I hadn't forgot about it. I already had a couple of them, so I didn't technically need the card. I asked what Andy wanted in return. Andy wanted nothing more than for me to keep reading the blog. A class act all the way.

Flipping through the mail today, I saw the long white envelope with Andy's address on it. I got very excited. I hadn't expected anything this soon. I figured next week sometime. I opened the envelope and was met by another white envelope, this time folded. I opened the second envelope up and was greeted by two sweet looking cards, each in their own toploader.

Thank you, Andy! Your generous nature is inspiring and you continue to amaze me with your envelopes full of goodies. These cards have found a good home.