Thursday, April 16, 2020

Post Office Appreciation Post

I send out stuff through the United States Postal Service as a main duty of my job (data DVD archives), so I'm very interested in how the current situation there works out. The USPS says they'll likely go tits-up soon without a bailout type of situation from the government, but the jackasses currently in charge are flipping them the bird and would rather see the private sector take over (which would most likely mean significant increases to the postage rates we pay today).

If the post office goes away, my job could go away, too-- and more importantly (j/k): trading online would likely dry up! Ouch!

Let's hope it doesn't come to that, as trading is a great way to get cards you want, and re-home cards you don't want with someone who does want them.

Buying cards online would become more expensive too. Buying one card at a time would become cost-prohibitive unless maybe we're talking about like a high-dollar card. But for any card under $10 or so, it just wouldn't make sense. We're looking at nearly every physical-good online transaction having the price significantly bumped up.

Anyways.. I'm not trying to get political here.. but if you're a card collector, you've got to be rooting for the postal service in this fight.

I've received 3 trades in the mail over the past week which I'll now show off here.


Always fun finding a brand new trading partner. Jay over at the young Card Hemorrhage blog (great name) posted about ripping some Heritage and pulled this relic card that didn't really fit his collection, so I inquired about a trade. Rhys Hoskins is a young guy I like to collect. He had a bit of a sophmore slump last year, but I was expecting to see his numbers back up in 2020 (or whenever they start playing again). I don't often get too excited over relics, but I thought this card looked sharp, and I love the pinstripe on the swatch. So I sorted my Vlads and McCoveys (a pair of players Jay and I both collect), and sent him over my dupes.


Some bonus Heritage made its way into the envelope too. That Chrome Xander is pretty sweet.

Thanks, Jay! Pleasure trading with you and I hope we end up doing so much trading that I'm eventually able to spell "Hemorrhage" correctly on the first try. :)

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Then I did a little trade with Chris at Nachos Grande. I claimed the "trade stack" he had going on this blog, mainly because I was interested in the Wee-Pee's Wacky Packages. I'm a big Pee-Wee Herman fan and figured I could use the parody card in the collection. There was another card or two in the stack I could probably use too, but mainly just wanted that one. But then since we were going to exchange cards anyways, we expanded the trade a little. I love the shiny 2011 Topps.. it's a "Hope Diamond" parallel, which is basically a blue version of the cognac parallel, and numbered out of 60 on the back. As you can imagine, I don't have many of them in my parallel frankenset, but happy to score any I can. And I recently added those Pinnacle Cooperstown Card inserts to my Black Gold wantlist. Looks like Chris (a big-time Larkin collector) had a dupe to spare.


Chris also had some Votto and F. Robby cards available for me.

Thanks, Chris! I'm ashamed to admit I haven't mailed your cards out yet but I will do that very soon.

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And then I was surprised by a PWE from Jeremy at Topps Cards That Never Were. Very cool '85 Topps Ken Caminiti USA custom he made a while back. I had been planning to print off one for my PC but hadn't gotten around to it yet. So Jeremy helped me out there. He said he used an online colorization site with a B&W photo, which explains why Ken's arms and hands might look a bit off. But looks pretty good for the most part. Fun addition to the Cami PC. And the shiny Gwynn is a nice add too.

Thanks, Jeremy! Much appreciated.

And thanks again to Jay and Chris, and all the postal workers out there during this crazy time. Sure is a bright spot of any day when neat stuff like this shows up in the mailbox.

See y'all next time.

18 comments:

  1. Amen! Come on USPS! Just spent $36 there today in one of my only trips out of the house in weeks...

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  2. Yes...to everything you said. I bitch about the ladies behind the counter at my local PO sometimes because of their occasional lack of social skills but you know what...they were still there this afternoon, dealing with non-social distancers and customers leaning over the counter without masks. God bless 'em and FDT, if you know what I mean.

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    1. Amen, and make sure you say FDT the most important way...at the ballot box this November!

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  3. Good post, Gavin.
    I guess I was kind of under a rock and all this USPS stuff is new to me. I echo everything you've mentioned. Thanks for educating me!

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  4. I'm on the opposite side of that coin. Might even turn some bellies. I've long thought that it would be more cost effective if the PO was private sector, maybe slower but cheaper on the retail side. As for the workers, In my 28 years mailing cards for trades through the mail, I have met just 1 (one) counter person worthy of breathing air, just one. Sounds harsh I know, but the countless clerks that I've watched over the years have no earthly idea of what customer service is and I truly would rather shake hands with a gangbanger (not that I would shake his hands today). I absolutely abhor them. To me it's like going out to eat and your server sneezes into their hand and still serves you. Disgusting. There is another clerk that is okay but only okay, here in Valdosta.

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    1. I should give credit where it is due. The mail carriers for the most part are awesome. I've had a total of 4 regular in my adult life (regular carriers). I cringe when there is a substitute driver.

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    2. You'll never be able to send something across the country (much less AK, HI, PR, USVI, etc.) for 50 cents if the USPS is privatized. Innovation may come faster, but prices will go up.

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    3. I beg to differ. I've had my own business for 20+ years in Ocala, FL. And I used private carriers for 50% of my mailings across the country, and it cost me about a dime per envelope and and .50 a small box. Huh!

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    4. PWE cards, wouldn't work, but if you mail out as much as I do, it would be cheaper. I go through 300 stamps per month while I'm here in Valdosta. Now for the PO, flat rate medium box is the only viable option other than the PWE which is too damn expensive.

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    5. The people that work the counter at both post offices I frequent (one of these is Gavin's spot, incidentally) have always been extremely nice to me and easy to deal with. I feel like they do a pretty thankless job very well and have to deal with a lot of terrible/obnoxious people in the process.

      The mail carrier in my neighborhood, on the other hand... well let's just say that he has a thing with numbers and it's not a great thing.

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  5. I wasn't aware that it was such a crisis either. I stocked up on $69 worth of stamps a couple weeks ago and send out stuff a few times a week.
    They're picky about proper postage on things, and I've seen my postman ignore outgoing packages I put in my slot (#9 of 15) of our neighborhood mailbox, but for the most part, the people behind the counters at our PO are just fine. Hope they don't shut it down. I got a lotta cards to move out!

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  6. Yeah it will suck to lose the Post Office. I guess naming their first-class stamps "Forever" was hubris. Maybe we collectors can organize a nationwide trading chain to physically move cards across the country.

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  7. Not sure why anyone would support the private sector taking over responsibility for mass mailings. This kind of stuff ruins my day. Reminds me of public education and our current Secretary of Education's support for charter schools. Ugh.

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    1. Don't get me started on her. The most unqualified cabinet member in my memory. Dense as a maple plank. Hubby's $$$ talked.

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  8. Good stuff. I hope everything with your job is ok.

    I know it's easy to complain about the USPS and we all have our woes with them, but at the end of the day it's amazing what they do. I hope they can survive this.

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  9. I will always be thankful for the Post Office, and I really hope they can survive this crisis -- though I'm not getting my hopes up given the doofus in charge right now. Really hope everything with your job gets sorted out, Gavin!

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