A Most Delightful Surprise

I mentioned in my last post that Mark Armour had sent me some cards recently. We’ll get to that one soon, but first I need to post about the package which he sent me back in January. As someone who was baseball-starved at the time, this power-packed package was a welcome sight.

Mark is a fantastic person, and one of my favorite people on Twitter with whom to discuss baseball and cards. He’s the founder of the SABR BioProject, Co-Chair of the SABR Baseball Cards Committee (and the face behind their Twitter account), and shortly will be the next President of SABR. I can say that with confidence because not only is he a great person, but also he is running unopposed, so he’s a lock for the position.

Mark’s package wasted no time in getting right to the tasty portion: a 1970 Kellogg’s Don Wilson and a 1988 Nestle Nolan Ryan card provided some delicious food-issue treats to toss in the Astros binders. 

Among the other cards, however, was this delightful duo of inserts featuring the Toy Cannon. I checked and had a copy of the Scratch Off already, but my other copy was entirely scratched inside – this one was pristine! The 1969 decal was hands-down my favorite item in the envelope, though. I’d yet to see one in person. I mean, I’ve probably glanced over them in dealers cases at some show here or there, but I’d certainly never held one, much less owned an Astro. I was over the moon when it emerged from the package.

The last thing I wanted to highlight was another oddball item, from 2009 Heritage. No, it’s not a Matsui card, although yes, it is a Matsui card. But more importantly, this is an Astros card.

Here, let me just…

Hold on,

Wait for it,

Ah, that’s better. One Houston Astros Ty Wigginton (error!) card! Oh, but wait – this isn’t a normal 2009 Heritage, no sir. Au contraire, it’s an advertising panel box topper. Now that’s a fun piece, even if it’s of a guy who only spent a season and a half with my favorite ballclub. Honestly, things like this fit into that category of “rare, so if I ever stumble across one I’m more than happy to own it.” Well I certainly am happy to own it!

Thanks for the stupendous package, Mark!