The PWE treaty, Pt. 2

The ceasefire is near.

An end to this cardboard war seems inevitable.

We, the citizens of Dime Boxedonia, are nearing a treaty proposal.

In case you missed yesterday's post, the beginnings of all this carnage started when Wes of "Jaybarkerfan's Junk" dropped thirty-five different "PWE bombs" into my mailbox over the course of the past week.

One of the cards you'll see in this post acted as an "atomic bomb", of sorts. For now, though, we'll start with another stack of terrific cards Wes managed to add to my many player collections.

Although I've only been after his cardboard for a couple months, my Bobby Grich collection is already growing by leaps and bounds. This '78 Topps piece is my 16th different card of his.

In fact, I'm hovering on "Topps set" completion status with Mr. Grich. At this point, I only need his '74, '75, '83, '85, and '87 Topps issues to finish off the job. 

My goal is to have Grich's "Topps set" done within the next month.

Craig Kimbrel is yet another new player collection subject in my binders.

Don't get me wrong. I'm ecstatic to have this sparkly piece in my collection. But the fact that I don't yet own the base version of it will probably bug me for a while.

It's just one of those "little things" that can give collectors headaches.

As you've probably already seen thus far, Wes managed to do a whole lot of damage to my newer player collections.

These are both prime new adds to my Trumbo and Neshek binder sections. In fact, I think the Neshek is only about the fifth or sixth UD Documentary card I own.

Which means I'm about 0.000000001 percent done with the set.

While cards of the "newer" Kimbrels and Trumbos are terrific, Wes added a few more awesome pieces to a couple of my oldest player collections as well.

Numbered to just 100 copies, that framed Diamond Kings Grace parallel sure is a beauty.

Well, it finally happened.

I've officially been "bipped".

Wes spread twenty different copies of Danny Clyburn's 1993 Bowman card out among five of the various "PWE bombs" he dropped into my mailbox.

That's about 20 more Danny Clyburn cards than I ever wanted to own.

In case you're wondering, Clyburn played in three big-league seasons. He spent 1997 and '98 with the O's, and finished up his career with a 28-game stint with Tampa in '99.

He was a .211 career hitter.

And now, thanks to Wes, he's become a bit of a household name in my collection.

As the kids say, you always remember your first "bipping".

I guess Wes has picked up on my Cubs fandom over the course of this blog's history.

Quite a few of the cards he sent proved to be neat adds to my Cubbie binder. These were a couple of my personal favorites, especially the nifty Billy Williams oddball from Jimmy Dean checklist.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of my beloved Cubs...

...let's talk about that "atomic bomb" I referenced earlier.

On the surface, this looks like a regular old Darwin Barney base card from last year's Heritage set. I had the good fortune to pull a copy of that one around this time last year.

Eagle-eyed collectors might recognize this particular piece as something more, though.

Barney's "2B" position is nowhere to be found on the front of this card. Yes, folks, it is indeed one of the mega-SPed cards that Topps slipped into their Heritage checklist last year.

This specific "error" is a tribute to the '63 Topps issue of then-Cubs second baseman Ken Hubbs, which was also listed without a position.

When I first pulled this one out of the PWE, I wasn't sure what to do.

Initially, I thought the short-printed quality of this piece had simply snuck past Wes's radar. Since these can fetch quite a pretty penny, I offered to send it back to him.

In the end, I guess Wes fully knew what he was doing. He implored me to keep it, knowing that I'd have a true appreciation for it given my Cubs fandom.

Wes, you certainly gave Mr. Barney here a good home.

It'll never, ever leave my collection.

As it happens, I think we Dime Boxedonians are finally ready to negotiate a treaty.

[clears throat]

"We. the undersigned, agree to send an assortment of Braves, Josh Willingham, and any other vintage I can find in order to cease the recent 'PWE bombs' that have raided our country. 

The cards that come from the halls of Dime Boxedonia will be shipped in the more traditional bubble mailer format, because...well, I just don't have that many stamps handy for 'PWE bombs'. 

Sincerely,

The trusty citizens of Dime Boxedonia."

No matter what, though, I doubt I'll ever be able to fully repay Wes for this amazing gesture. I can honestly tell you that ripping through those 35 PWEs were among the best joys I've had as a blogger.

It's experiences like these that make me proud to be a part of the blogosphere.