safe travels this time

the last time i received cards from this particular trading partner - the cousin of jeff from my sports obsession - the box that the cards arrived in was pretty thrashed. there was no thrashing of the package this time, as kevin took great pains to overprotect the contents. and what wonderful contents they were!

there were a number of oversized items, including boxtoppers of jackie robinson and trea turner from 2018 topps gallery

and 2022 topps

plus an oversized hideo nomo card from 1998 topps super chrome

slightly smaller in size is this 1987 m&m's panel

featuring two dodger greats.

and then there were a bunch of minis, including a james loney 2009 topps allen & ginter

plus a couple from 2012 topps gypsy queen

the matt kemp is the image variation, and duke snider's card is the gypsy back parallel

other minis included parallels of cody bellinger and tom lasorda from 2019 topps allen & ginter

a gavin lux rookie from 2020 topps 206

a couple more snider cards from 2020 topps allen & ginter

and another cody bellinger parallel from 2021 topps allen & ginter

bellinger also shows up on this 2020 topps allen & ginter mini

although the base on balls is the real focus of the card

kevin is always good to send donruss color parallels, and he didn't disappoint with these 2020 donruss pink fireworks and vector clayton kershaw cards

they are not the most attractively designed cards, but they are dodgers and so they are welcome here!

kevin is also known for sending autographed cards my way, and this time he sent a 2012 topps gypsy queen nathan eovaldi card

and a 2017 topps chrome blue refractor rookie auto of jose deleon

deleon is only 30 and is currently pitching at triple-a for the twins. with some injuries in their starting rotation, i wonder if he will get the call at some point this season.

and then there are the relic cards, like this 2022 topps tribute purple max muncy card

muncy is also represented by this 2022 topps heritage clubhouse collection card

but i am most appreciative of these next two - a 2015 topps triple threads adrian gonzalez bat and jersey combo card

and a heck yeah 2005 donruss zenith rickey henderson bat card

i will always accept rickey henderson dodger cards!

the most interesting item kevin sent was this:

that is a roll of two uncut strips of the world series insert set from 1989 fleer. i hadn't seen these before, but they are definitely a thing.

 

finally, here's the cody bellinger tin from 2021 topps

all of the standard sized cards were inside the tin, snuggled in the foam protection. safe travels ensured!

thanks kevin! looking forward to next time!