Annual Christmas Haul: Santa Mom Writes Book, Delivers Baseball Cards

The author with her book and grandkids

It's become a tradition to gather at my Mom's house on the day after Christmas to exchange gifts with her and my sister's family.  There are way too many gifts exchanged, way too much food eaten, and it's one of the best days of my year.  

Before we get to that though, on Christmas day I unwrapped three cards from my wife Jenna and our sons with a common theme.  They were kind enough to get me the three #1 cards from my next three set builds, 1959 Topps, 1955 Bowman and 1966 Topps, which given I now have a sizable stack from each set, I guess I can say I'm now officially collecting.  

As we approach the end of 2023, I'm 18 cards away from a 1934-36 Diamond Stars set, with that set build likely slowing down in 2024 given the scarcity and price tags of the remaining cards needed.  We're almost two-thirds of the way through the 1969 Topps set, and if I compose five posts a week on the cards we've added, my 1969 Topps blog should be caught up by this time next year.  It's feasible that set is completed by 2025.

My Mom kicked off my collection of the 1955 Bowman set last Christmas, and I've since added a few more cards throughout 2023.  A family friend gifted me his 1959 Topps doubles in February, and I'll be tackling that set once the 1969 Topps set is wrapped up.  And then there's the 1966 Topps set, which I started collecting in the late 1980s given I had the "big" card from the set already in my collection - card #50, Mickey Mantle.  Adding these three #1s was a great way to admit I'm now once again a full-fledged complete set collector, having spent the better part of the last two decades exclusively collecting Phillies baseball cards.

Three #1s

My family also gave me a 2023 Topps factory set, continuing that tradition, and I'm now the proud owner of every Topps flagship set from 1956, 1965 and 1970 through 2023.  The 2023 Topps cards have already been sorted.

My Mom's big surprise for us on the 26th was the announcement she had written a book.  It's wonderful.  It's a collection of stories from her childhood through today, with brief histories of her family and poignant remembrances I'm grateful will now be passed down to our grandkids.  I'm about half-way through reading it as I write this, and I'm taking my time, making sure to take it all in.  She told us writing the book was fun and therapeutic, which I can completely understand given I've authored posts for this blog with only brief interuptions over the past almost 15 years.  Honestly, all the other gifts opened yesterday were very much overshadowed by my Mom's book, and at first I missed the fact I hadn't opened two boxes in my pile about an hour into the exchange.  Since I hadn't yet opened any baseball cards, I had a fairly good idea what was in them, or at least what was in one of them.

Mom has always come through with items from my want lists, and she decided this year to tackle my few remaining Phillies Media Guide needs.  I had never even seen the Phillies Media Guides from the 1960s, and now I'm just one away (1967) from having a full run between 1965 and 2023.  The next box I opened contained 10 individually wrapped baseball card-sized packages, and as I started opening them I noticed they were the first cards from the 1955 Bowman checklist.  Ironically enough, I went from having no Hoyt Wilhelm cards from the 1955 Bowman set to having two over a two day period, and one of them will be offered up for trade soon.  (If you're reading this, and looking to obtain a 1955 Wilhelm card for something of equal value, please leave a comment or send me a message.)

It was another wonderful Christmas, and I'm reminded again how lucky I am.  I hope you and your family had a fantastic holiday season, and here's to a happy, healthy and safe 2024.