Blog Reader Appreciation - Larkin, Latos, LEGO, and Literature (?!)

I've said it before, but it bears repeating:  One of the best things about blogging is the other great bloggers and blog readers.  We have an amazing community - one that manages to continually impress me on an almost daily basis.  Whether it is a kind comment left on a post, a short email message sent, a plain white envelope surprise, or a big 'ol yellow envelope full of goodies, all sorts of kindness and generosity abound around the card blogs! 

Back in December, I was the lucky recipient of a large yellow padded envelope from blog reader David that was full of a plethora of goodies that spanned my collecting spectrum.  It took me until now to post the contents of the envelope because I had to try and hunt down something to send David in return.  While I definitely was unable to repay him in terms of quantity, I did use eBay to track down something that I think he'll appreciate.

As for what I ended up with?  Well, sit back and relax because there were a bunch of great things - including one of the most unique pieces in my growing Barry Larkin Collection!

First, David sent me a trio of LEGO minifigures.  I ended up getting a couple of them later on when I bought a few blind packs (namely the Little Red Riding Hood figure and the Evil Knight figure).

I did get one that was totally new (and, in fact, completed Series 7 for me) - the Space Patrol minifigure.

I think that the Space Patrol guy is pretty cool - he'd definitely go well with the Space Police line of figures and vehicles that LEGO has produced over the years (including this one that reviewed a few days ago).  I will (eventually) feature this guy (along with the other two LEGO figures) in my ongoing Minifigure Museum series of posts over at my other blog.

David included a nice note in his trade package, but one particular line in his note amused me more than all the others.  Namely: 

"The other guy (Havok of the X-Men) from the MegaBloks line is just to mess with you and see if you can be tempted to spend more money!

I'm not sure if I'm going to be tempted to spend more money on non-LEGO figures...but if I were to, it would definitely be on X-Men type figures!  Actually, it's my wife that was the big X-Men fan.  When we were in high school (high school sweethearts, aren't we so cute?), she used to draw X-Men all over my book covers (back then you had to cover your textbooks with paper bag book covers) and my notebooks.  I probably have some of the drawings to this day somewhere...maybe I can find them and post 'em in the future.

The trade package wasn't all plastic figures though.  There was also a bunch of baseball related goodies.  First up, a small novel called "Young Baseball Champions" by Steve Gelman.  

Published in 1967, this novel is all about young major league stars (like DiMaggio, Aaron, Feller, Drysdale, Mantle, and many others) that were all big time players before they were even old enough to vote.  I haven't had the chance to sit down and read this book quite yet (I don't do much pleasure reading during the school semester...most of my reading involves math of some type to make use of in the classes that I'm teaching).  That said, this is definitely a book that I'll read before the summer is over!

Tucked inside the book were a pair of "cards" that I've never seen before.  They are called Baseball Talk and were published by Topps back in 1989.  I had never heard of this set before (here's a link to more set information) but the essence of the cards ere that the back had a record like bit glued on the back that would provide two to three minutes of audio of the featured player (assuming you used the proper playing device I assume).  

David sent me two cards from the set - and Pete Rose and a Barry Larkin.  The Larkin card will eventually get its own post in my Barry Larkin Collection - certainly one of the most unique cards that I now own!

Finally, David also threw in a few regular 'ol baseball cards!  Among my favorites were a pair of through the mail signatures of Jeff Montgomery and John Smiley.  I especially like the Smiley because the Collector's Choice line was a favorite of mine as a youngster (probably because it was one of the few sets that I could afford).

Rounding out the package, there were a few other Reds goodies including this nice Mat Latos minor league card...

...and I'll close the trade post with this wonderful Todd Frazier card.  In many ways, I missed out on some good stuff by not purchasing any 2012 Topps cards - especially when I see gems like this card!

Thanks for the great trade package David!  And, as always, if anyone else would like to trade (either baseball or LEGO) be sure to check out my want list(s) and make an offer!