Allen & Ginter Cubs Mailday & Monday Reflection

There was one package in my mailbox from Tracy in Denver, Colorado. I didn't open the package until Tuesday because I was out of state most of Monday.

Last week, my Aunt "Tinker" passed away, and Monday was the funeral in Kewanee, Illinois. It was great to see some family, but not under these circumstances. Aunt Tinker had been dealing with some health issues lately, so she is now in a better place. On my dad's side, my Uncle Jack is the sole survivor out of six kids. My dad, and four other aunts and uncles have now passed on.

Of course, Tinker, isn't my aunt's real name. Nor is Jack. In fact, of all six of my Grandma Ruth's children, none of them were known by their birth names. Uncle Duzie was born Maurice. Uncle Chub was born Claude. Aunt Nonnie was born Wanda. Uncle Jack's real name is Harlan. My dad was mostly known as Hollywood. Tinker was Marilyn. Is it just a small town thing? Everyone in my hometown it seems is better known as some nickname...most born as children or during the school years.

It was a quick trip back to Illinois Monday afternoon, and when I arrived home the mailbox had a priority bubble mailer from Colorado. I opened it up today, and some great new additions to my Cubs baseball card collection. Take a look at this Mark Prior jersey relic numbered /550 from 2004 Upper Deck.

Vintage was represented including this 1960 Topps Charley Grimm.

While this isn't a Cubs baseball card, it will go into my Anthony Rizzo collection. This is my first of this card: 2008 TriStar Projections.

Not exactly sure what this is, but it's Fergie Jenkins and it is definitely a new addition to my collection. The card is pretty thick and the plastic seal is possibly after market. The backside says its a Kodak Celebration of Baseball from 1992. It also says it's a free commemorative gift of a limited edition Major League Baseball Players Alumni four card set. So, possibly there are three other cards inside. I am going to keep it sealed for now.

Another oddball is a Kyle Schwarber rookie card from 2016 Topps Marketside. These cards were distributed inside Marketside pizzas exclusively at Wal-Mart.

I'm sure I have these 1992 Upper Deck Top Prospects cards, it's been a while since I've laid eyes on them. Turk Wendell, Lance Dickson, Ryan Hawblitzel...Cubs pitching greats!

This is a 2015 Allen & Ginter Jason Hammel 10th Anniversary Issue. The black border is sharp and really sticks out.

Finally, more Allen & Ginter. These are all silver foil parallels. It's a nice little parallel set for A&G and it's nice that Topps didn't go with another Chrome alternative for a parallel. I'm not a fan of the Topps Heritage Chrome, and feel chrome should be left out of products like Heritage and Allen & Ginter. I can be down with these foil alternatives. A nice six pack of silver foil here: Ben Zobrist, Willson Contreras, Kyle Hendricks, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo.

One Million Cubs Project Stats

Monday's (5/13/2019) Cards: 218

Monday's (5/13/2019) Packages: 1

January's Cubs Count: 9,343

February's Cubs Count: 8,980

March's Cubs Count: 15,704

April's Cubs Count: 11,651

May's Cubs Count: 2,036

Total Trades/Donations: 120

Trade States of Origin: Arizona Alabama

Arkansas California (7)

Colorado Connecticut (8)

Florida (6)

Georgia (3)

Idaho (2) Illinois (13) Indiana (3)

Kansas

Kentucky Maryland (6) Massachusetts (4)

Michigan Minnesota (2)

New Hampshire New Jersey (9) New York (9) North Carolina (4) Ohio (6)

Oregon (2) Pennsylvania (3)

Rhode Island

South Carolina Tennessee (4) Texas (4)

Virginia Washington (3)

West Virginia (2) Wisconsin (9)