Returns From the Purge - Waiting 'til Next Year

A little while back I purged some stacks of cards from my collection in order to make room for sorting a large collection of cards I purchased.  I didn't ask for anything in return but in typical blogging community fashion, several people hit me back with some great cards.  I haven't posted in a little while as I have been sorting through the new collection to clear up some room in the basement for my mom's visit.  I finally decided that I need to get some posts out celebrating my return packages so I am going to try to get a few posts out this week.

Tonight's post showcases a killer package from P-Town Tom from Waiting 'til Next Year fame.  This package arrived in an odd sized package and had me puzzled before I cracked into it.

First up were two nice All-Star relics from 2016 Topps Update.  I recently put up a want list of a few relic, auto and parallel Giants sets I decided to focus on and chase and Tom knocked off two cards from that list.  These aren't as easy to come by as you might think so these are welcome additions.

Next up are some cards from the 1952 Bowman President release.  I was able to complete the 1956 President set that I believe was put out by Topps with some similar art work.  Tom knocked off 7 cards from this list including one of my favorites - US Grant.  I believe based on some genealogy work done by a relative that I am a direct decedent of our 17th US president - I have thought about starting a Grant collection but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Great cards you have to admit, but the final item was the reason for the odd shaped package and is super cool!  Check out this bat:

I was going to recap the history of the bat but thought I would let Tom's own words share the story.

I was very touched that he thought of me and sent it my way, my kids were pretty pumped as well.  I haven't put it up yet but they helped me select a spot on the wall for the bat

Here is an up close picture of the bat label...

And finally an up close picture of the player name.

Thanks Tom for such a generous and thoughtful package!!!