Another Fine Stack of Cards in My Mailbox

I like cards with players on them.

Jeff from 2x3 Heroes has been a frequent source of mailbox stuffing goodness in the past, and this most recent package was no exception. I received bunches of Cardinals cards, some shiny things, a stack of set filler and even a high end card for Erin. So many things!

Brandon Dickson made a few big league appearances on the mound over the course of a couple of seasons, but he was largely forgettable. In fact, I forgot that he left the team to play in Japan after 2012. This is a Walmart parallel, and I recently made the mistake of going to a Walmart for what is likely to be the last time in my life. The card selection in the only store in Portland's city limits is pretty sad, but not nearly as sad as the feeling you get when you set foot in the store itself. This last time there was seriously a partially eaten slice of pizza on the shelf in the always chaotic toy area. I couldn't even bring myself to buy a single thing despite surviving a downpour to get to the store. It's dumb. Walmart is dumb. Don't shop there. Unless you are planning to find a bunch of blue Cardinals cards for me, of course.

Cards like this are always a dicey proposition. Shelby Miller very much looks and seems like a promising young pitcher who may go on to do great things wearing the Birds on the Bat, but he could also turn out to be the second coming of Bud Smith. I like the pennants on the design, though. Nice touch.

Okay, now I kind of feel like an entitled jerk, wearing a monocle in my thousand dollar pajamas while I type this post after my Walmart rant. In many places, Walmart is one of the only options for purchasing groceries and sundry items. And in a matter of far less serious importance, it also is often one of the only outlets for purchasing baseball cards. If you live in such a place, I won't judge you. And I still want your blue Cardinals cards. And Target is probably just a cleaner, brighter Walmart anyway, right? Meanwhile, I'll be sleeping on piles of ruby colored ice parallels like this Trevor Rosenthal card and chucking gold coins at the neighborhood rugrats.

Catchers in their full catching gear really do make the nicest unlicensed cards. Panini should just make a whole set of them and no one would be the wiser. Except that they were all catchers, of course.

As promised, here's the fancy schmancy card for Erin's collection. I know, it's just a... yawn... base card that's... zzzz... not even serial numbered. But this is fancier than we usually get here.

A least half of the pile of cards I got from Jeff was from last year's A&G set. There's a paintballer in this set. Apparently that's the type of thing you can do for a career? Seriously?

This card is just an excuse to post a link to this video: