Blog Readers of the underground

I've long been fascinated by the life of the Blog Reader.

Blog Readers lurk in the shadows of the cardsphere, constantly reading what we write and occasionally popping up for a comment or two. Blog Readers have somehow staved off the burning desire to start a blog of their own. And if you're as lucky as I am, a Blog Reader will even sometimes reach out and send you a "I Have Cards For You" email, like the ones I've been getting from a Reader named Dave over the past few months.

Which leads me to another crucial point that I seem to come back to time and time again: from my experience, Blog Readers often put together some of the best trade packages ever.

Dave has, in fact, sent me so many PWEs and packages over the last handful of months that I don't remember which cards in this post came from what particular mailing - so you're gonna see 'em all in one jumbled, glorious mess here.

I like to think I'm a generous person, but when someone like Dave comes around and just volunteers to send me some cards apropos of nothing, I start to wonder if I'm as much of a mensch as I think I am. Because it really is incredible what the mysterious Blog Reader world seems to consistently dig up from their virtual caves.

To start with, Dave sent me a few of these Marketside oddballs that I never did see in real time - they were issued with pizzas at Wal-Mart, if I remember correctly...and it takes a lot more than that to get me to step foot in a Wal-Mart.

Bigtime player collection hits here - I don't own nearly as much early-'90s Finest as I probably should.

A couple 2021 insert needs here, including my first baseball card of an Atari(!).

I love minis, but I have to admit I've mostly ignored those '80s Fleer/Topps stickers because they've never really felt like cards to me.

Nevertheless, I can't help but smile at a new Bill Buckner card, or an "interview" shot I've never seen before.

I'll always provide a home for unsheltered Cubs.

Sweet Lou, Big Mo, Senior Leaguers, and the Phillie Phanatic - I have no way to tie any of that together.

Dave came into a nice little treasure trove of 2021 singles, which is nice since I've been staring down empty card aisles all year.

I never did see any retail A&G at my local Targets, which I suppose isn't a huge tragedy - although I'll admit those Murads are excellent and about 100 times better than the actual A&G base design.

As much as I love randomness, oddballs, etc., it's kinda peaceful to delete a big chunk of specific cards off my want lists, like Dave helped me do with this flurry of Opening Day needs.

Other random recent needs from Dave - doubt you'll find someone sending me a "just because" Luis Robert rookie insert anywhere else but the blogging world.

Retro Topps insert needs (extra points for the powder-blue Phillies throwback).

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like a lot of the inserts we've seen so far in 2021 have grossly outperformed the regular base cards.

GQ's Tarot inserts are among the best things going in the hobby these days, and those Captain minis make for some fun (though oddly-shaped) binder additions.

More big player needs from two sets that left about a 0 percent imprint on the hobby.

I love any Cubs cards people wanna send me, but Rod Beck Cubs cards really put a smile on my face.

Always appreciate people picking out random cards for me with the thought of maybe he'll like some of these - because chances are you're right, and I will!

We'll close out Dave's opus with this snazzy A&G mini of ex-Cub (sigh) and binder-guy extraordinaire Anthony Rizzo.

It's true that I don't blog nearly as much as I used to, but I still haven't ceased operations altogether and joined the Blog Readers of the underground. I like blogging too much, the pleasures it brings, the comfort of having a space to write about any cards I want for any reason. I can't give that up.

But if I've learned any lesson from people like Dave, it's that Blog Readers have their own bustling underbelly of the cardsphere, one that offers the same joys and victories we bloggers have come to take for granted.