Three PWEs and a Contest Plug

Stuffed envelopes from @BoRosny @padrographs and @Nachos_Grande plus contest news from @BucsHere on a Monday night. 

How does everyone feel about how they mail cards in plain white envelopes? I have been using the large semi-rigid top loaders usually used for grading for years now, but the prices for top loaders have nearly tripled since the pandemic took hold. I've always been somewhat terrified of the method that has become most popular lately with sliding relatively unprotected cards into a third of a nine-pocket sheet, but aside for a few exceptions all of the cards sent to me this way have arrived relative unscathed. Should I switch to this method? I hate the idea of needlessly causing damage to cards that might otherwise bring someone a little bit of joy. I would be interested to hear your thoughts in the comments.

First up on our semi-regular late night Monday night PWE wrap-up is the first of many such envelopes received lately from Bo Rosny of Baseball Cards Come to Life! He definitely seems to have mastered the art of getting a ton of cards in a small envelope for only the price of a slightly more expensive stamp. (Should I be doing this?!)

I should come up with a category for cards like these (The Recently Departed?) where the player is depicted in a Cardinals uniform but is shown to have moved on to another team. They always fall under the category of another team in the databases, but it still belongs in my Cardinals binders.

The Junk Wax Era is rarely represented in these posts, but here's one of those "dark back" variations from the 1991 Topps set. I'm trying to keep from diving in to these variations with full force right now, but at some point I need to address all those different versions of Donruss cards, don't I?

Little Big Mac on a checklist!

This is also solidly in Junk Wax Era but was not a card I had owned. I wonder which store sold the Record Setters set.

Next up is fellow Portland eastsider Rod from Padrographs, who sent over even more Cardinals needs. This is just Jack on the back of a sticker card. Jack Sticker Back!

I think my thoughts on the recent Topps Gallery sets have been made pretty clear, but I still need the cards that I need. That should be my motto -- "I Need the Cards That I Need".

Rod also sent a mini John Gant card. I even scanned it inside a sleeve to show you that it's truly a mini! These have been "print-on-demand" from Topps the last several years, so they're not easy to find.

Also in the mix was this purple custom card of newly elected Hall of Famer Ted Simmons.

Simba will have to wait until next year for his induction, along with the rest of the guys that should have been honored this year, but I'm sure it will be a fantastic event. This card is numbered 1/2? That has to be twice as good as a 1/1!

An on-card autograph of short time Blazer and long time NBA vet Walter Davis also casually slid out of the envelope. It's great!

The third envelope of the night was from Nachos Grande, and included a set need - Blake Snell's card from last year's Allen & Ginter Baseball Star Signs insert set. Snell looks ready to talk astrology with all comers here.

Lastly, I promised you a contest plug, and I'm going to deliver it. With the Weird MLB season about to get underway on Thursday, The Bucs Stop Here is throwing down a contest that asks you to make some predictions with some rarely seen fat packs as rewards. Good luck to you all! I'm sure this season will be incredibly easy to predict...