The Lost Collector Strikes Back

I thought it was a bunch of big talk on AJ’s part.

I didn’t think he could top what I had sent him.

He did.   I think he has won.

First, some background as to what I’m talking about- although some of you already know.  A while back, I “won” a box of 1990 Topps wax at auction for a few bucks.  The top packs in the box were basically ruined, by water I suppose, and some of the cards in the packs were pretty disgusting.  I showed pictures of these cards.  AJ, the smartass proprietor of the blog “The Lost Collector,” made a smartass comment asking if the Rance Mulliniks card in one of the pictures was available for trade.

So, I packed up the Mulliniks card in a nice snap case and sent it to him.  I thought it was pretty funny.  AJ thought it was funny, and wrote a funny post about it, and vowed revenge.

Later he sent me a note, innocently asking if I was interested in a couple of Topps manu-rookie card patches.  Indeed I was!  He sent them, along with his revenge, which totally floored me.   First things first though,  lets take a moment to appreciate the manupatch cards: 

These are so cool!  Especially the Banks.  I'm making pretty good progress on completing this set, and these are a huge help!

But wait, there was more.  How about a Torii Hunter Relic:

 Nice!  And some Rangers:

 

The Incredible Shrinking Kinslers

 
And then, well, I thought this was very nice:

What he’s referring to is that Cleve's (the LCS) has a vending machine that my kid's love.  They get all sorts of cool, random cards from it when we visit.  Recently, Cleve placed a vintage Mickey Mantle card in the machine.  I don’t think it’s been pulled yet, so who knows, maybe my kids will get it!   So before I get to the last part of the package, let me thank AJ for the great cards and the kind gesture for my young ones. 

Now that that is out of the way, let’s get to the final piece of the package.  AJ's revenge.  It came in the form of this envelope, with an ominous warning, and a single, solitary card:

 
What was in the envelope?  I..... I.... I'm sorry, I can't reveal it.  This envelope will forever be the "Rosebud" of this blog.

But, I will tell you the first words out of my mouth were:  “Holy S*&t.  Check mate, AJ wins.” 

Then I laughed.  The lovely wife saw the contents and covered her mouth with her hands and stared at me in disbelief. 

Then I hung my head in defeat.

Then I "laughed" some more.  Congratulations, "AJ", you are the master.
 
Wait. 

On second thought:

 (Skip to the 1:40 mark to get to the point of this clip)

I'm Coming to Get You
Rambo: First Blood Part 2 — MOVIECLIPS.com

It's not over yet.

Cleve's Quarter Machine Goodies

I didn't win anything from last week's auction, but didn't leave the shop empty handed this week.  I guess I should say my kids didn't leave empty handed.  I've mentioned the $.25 vending machine at Cleve's before, and my kids are hooked on it.  They beg to come with me to Cleve's on the weekends now and scramble to find a few quarters for the trip.   They each got a handful on Saturday.

They graciously allowed me to scan their cards before scurrying off and doing god knows what with them:

Crap, I wish I could pull one of these from a vending machine.  I can probably trade a shiny refractor card to my son for this Fleer Nolan Ryan.  Both my kids love shiny refractor cards.    My son's pull on the the baseball slot of the machine not only gave him this Ryan, but a couple of other Hall of Famers:

Not a bad trio for $.25.  My daughter had some good luck with baseball too:

She got 4 cards with her pull, instead of the usual 3, which sent my son into hysterics.  Her pull was impressive too, with 3 HOFers and Barry Bonds. 

They also got a few football and basketball:

Actually, these are the only three I could find Sunday evening.  Not sure what has happened to the rest. The kids may have tossed some out the window on the ride home, or hell they may have eaten a few.  My money's on them being flushed down the toilet if you want the truth.