the missing, the list and the free

Well now, here is a story about the mail. USPS mail to be exact. I'll start when it all began; in mid April. I posted up a recent box bust of 2009 Upper Deck Icons, a set that I have grabbed a few boxes of and had some good luck with. In this particular box, I happened upon two Dodger autos, one of Don Newcombe and one of Matt Kemp. The Kemp actually turned out to be a double so it was up for grabs (I still have the other and it too, may be up for grabs if someone wants it), and being the big Dodger fan that he is, Greg from Plaschke, thy sweater is argyle contacted me about a potential trade. We went back and forth for a few days then he hit me with this:

He asked if I was interested and of course, I was. So off our cards went, on their adventure across the country to their new homes. Well fast forward about a week and he has his card but I haven't gotten mine. I figured maybe he got busy and wasn't able to send right away and I just waited a little more. Fast forward a few more weeks and now we're in late May. Certainly the card should have arrived by now and in fact, Greg had even asked if I had gotten it. But I hadn't. He checked the tracking number and it said it was delivered on a Monday. A Monday in which I had gotten no mail, which is unusual, as we get plenty of junk mail. I did have to go to the post office on that Saturday and I inquired about where this package could be. I had the tracking number and they looked it up and said it had been delivered. I replied that I didn't get ANY mail that day, never mind a package. They had a phone number I could call blah blah blah, whatever. Apparently my mail carrier has Mondays and Thursdays off. Fair enough but the carrier on those days "doesn't deliver packages", and leaves them for the regular. WTF? I thought as a mail carrier you deliver everything not just what you want. Well anyway, I got a package in the mail yesterday and Ricky was inside. Postmarked April 26th, arriving June 7th. Thats some snail mail! It took a while but thanks for the trade Greg, and I'm sure next trade will go smoother.

The list, the list. I have finished compiling the list of legend short print variations on baseballcardpedia. All 25 have been found on eBay and I posted them up on here. Here is the list though, so I can discuss further:

355 Bob Feller
375 Andre Dawson
393 Jim Palmer
405 Ryne Sandberg
410 Reggie Jackson
425 Johnny Mize
435 Pee Wee Reese
450 Mickey Mantle
460 Robin Roberts
480 Roberto Alomar
490 Duke Snider
505 Greg Maddux
510 Hank Aaron
516 Tom Seaver
530 Sandy Koufax
570 Bert Blyleven
590 Juan Marichal
600 John Smoltz
626 Nolan Ryan
630 Joe Morgan
640 Eddie Mathews
645 Bob Gibson
650 Frank Robinson
651 Eddie Murray
660 Brooks Robinson

Lots of Orioles and Braves this time around. New additions are Maddux, Smoltz, Alomar (as a Jay!), Blyleven and Feller. I was right about the Alomar, Snider and Sandberg. Some good names on that list and teams too. Reggie is an A, Ryan is an Angel and Dawson is an Expo. Good to see. Again, if anyone pulls these I will trade well for them, just let me know and I'll offer up something good in return.

Now, the free stuff. I have some smaller sets and unopened packs for a reader who wants them. The sets are 1987-1989 Fleer Traded, 1992 Topps Traded and a 1993 Upper Deck All Star Fan Fest set. The packs are 1990 Upper Deck and rack packs of 1986 Topps and 1990 Donruss (one of each). One reader takes all, first to comment gets it.