A Trio of Seasonal Surprises

I've received three unexpected packages this month from some familiar bloggers. Chris, the Collector; Matt, the Sports Card Collector; and Dennis, from Too Many Verlanders all hit me with a surprise holiday package. These are three collectors with whom I feel I have a pretty strong collection connection because of our similar interests. Chris and I both hoard Packers, while I share an interest in college collecting with Dennis. And Matt and I both love our football, especially 1990s style.

All three of them added to my Packers collection.

Four new Brett Favres here. I had never even heard of Pinnacle Laser View before. Holograms were always pretty cool, as Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts recently wrote, they probably aren't coming back. This particular card didn't scan well.

SCC sent a pair of Turkey Red Packers. I never bought any of these, so I don't have many. These are both new to me. Poor Jared Abbrederis and Rajion Neal look like they the sole survivors of a nuclear holocaust.

Dennis sent some Packers, as well. 2007 Topps is far from my favorite design, but the plus side here is that I haven't ever bothered to pick up a lot of it, so all of these cards are new to me.

Chris and Dennis also helped me build my All-Decade teams. These cards came from Chris, and I especially appreciate the Dave Butz Redskins team card. Butz just doesn't have too many cards out there, so any I find are welcomed.

Dennis helped out my All-2000s team. The 2012 Absolute Gates was one of those cards I was shocked to find that I didn't already own. I have so much of that stuff; how was I missing this card?

Dennis also hit my Heisman collection hard. This has been a side project for me more than anything. I've never had it on my wantlist until this month. Mostly, I was just holding onto the Heisman winner cards I came across rather than actively pursuing them. But not that the list of winners is on my wantlist, I suppose it's fair game for people to start sending them. My original thought was to begin in earnest after I had completed my All-Decade binders, but the list is so much shorter that I may finish my Heisman project first. And congrats to newly anointed Heisman winner, Joe Burrows.

 In his note, Dennis said that he had some BYU players for, along with some other pieces of my collection. These two cards make up a part of Dennis's BYU offerings. The cards he sent were packed in the Steve Young Pinnacle Inside can that you see at the top of the page. The cards-in-can were shipped in a bubble mailer, so I was a bit confused when I picked up the mail and felt what seemed to be a Coke can in an envelope.

He also sent along my 3rd auto each "Le"Bronson Kaufusi and John Beck. I've never heard of Topps Performance, but that's a nice-looking card.

Of the three senders, only primarily-football guy Matt sent any baseball cards. Last year's 1st-round pick Ryan Jensen appears in Refractor form. Javy Baez comes in a Blue Chips Hot Start. Derrek Lee is a nice serial-numbered to 149 card.

Thanks to three great bloggers and trading partners for the holiday surprise!