cards from WES

World Education Services (WES) is a nonprofit organization that provides credential evaluations for international students and immigrants planning to study or work in the U.S. and Canada.

But on the cardsphere, Wes is a nonprofit trader who provides incredible envelopes and packages for trading card collectors attempting to grow their collections.

Wes recently sought my help on a custom card project, and shipped me a nice Priority mailer of cards to say thanks.

Normally I'd save the best for last, but come on, having this lovely young lady in the preview photo for this post in blogrolls will be good for a few extra clicks, right? lol. I have a li'l Liv Morgan PC because I think she's pretty. Wes surprised me with a new "best card" for the PC with this beautiful 2017 auto.

And low numbered too!

A few more women on cardboard. Very nice!

There were plenty of men on cardboard, too. Some parallels and manurelics of guys I collect.

More top stars of today.

Hall of Famers. These are all serial-numbered besides the Lorde card.

Hey, how's about this? Some more numbered cards and an autographed '80 Topps Mad Hungarian. Neat!

Major League materials embedded as far as the eye can see!

Hell, I could've/should've done a whole separate post just on the incredible basketball cards in the package. The Dirk rookie in the middle was technically from a separate PWE, but I'm lumping them together. Awesome!

Winding down here with some odds and ends. Star Wars representing with an auto and an art card #'d 19/99.

The football guy Kendall Hunter saw some action with the 49ers but battled injury issues. It's a welcomed new addition to my collection of Christmas Cards.

And then a couple weird history relic cards. Ha, sure! One's got a couple pieces of old newspaper and a Susan B. Anthony stamp. Ooh, a 1/1! The other one says it has an actual relic from Barack Obama. I guess it's part of a letter he sent out or something? I was a little confused by these in the package at first, but I guess my wantlist does say I'm interested in out-of-the-ordinary relics, so give Wes props for diving deep into my ol' list o' wants.

And I was confused by the football cards at first too, but then I was like, oh yeah, black gold! Wes took note that I generally dig black cards with gold foil and hooked me up with these. Thick n' sharp!

And a sweet looking black gold auto plus a numbered Fridge to wrap things up.

Big thanks, Wes! Great bunch of cards.

card show bonus box from Rod

Always nice to bump into Rod at the monthly card show; And when he surprises me with a box of cards.. even better! Let's check out what this one's got in store.

I love shiny, numbered cards. That orange Wil Myers is #'d a scant 7/25... wow!

Hot rookies representing!

Some hits and inserts. Tanaka relic, pink Giancarlo, Big Hurt rookie reprint, and a couple Twins. That /25 Sano may come in handy if I ever attempt hammering out another trade with his Twitter supercollector.

More 2018 stuff. This is my first look at '18 Gallery in-hand. Although in my eyes this product is just a step above Panini Triple Play-- unless they're vintage or 1/1 sketchcards, I have very little interest in drawn/painted baseball cards-- I will give Topps credit on the solid design this year.

More good stuff from the box I can use.

Half dozen certified autos! Some familiar Padres From The Past for me here. Rymer Liriano didn't make it out of AAA this past season (Angles and Brewers systems), but did crank 20 homers, so maybe he'll stick around a while longer. Dane Phillips was a 2nd round pick in 2012 that didn't pan out and seems to have been out of baseball this year. Ben Davis was another highly touted Padres catcher who didn't live up to expectations, but at least he made the show and saw action in 7 MLB seasons.

A trio of signed customs! Always nice when there are extra Padrographs that Rod can share with me.

The backs look good too. I know firsthand that making custom backs can be a pain (they usually take like twice as long as the fronts if you include stats n' such), so I appreciate it when anyone takes the time to not just leave a custom as a blank-back.

I'm sure there are a few needs for me here in this nice Gwynn lot.

Rounding out the surprise box from Rod was a big stack of WWE divas. Some keepers for my "girlie card" minicollection here, including a pair of Alexa Blisses and rookie cards of Liv Morgan and Ronda Rousey.

Huge thanks, Rod! I'm in your debt, per usual, so please don't hesitate to let me know if I can help you out with anything.. cards, customs, photoshop work, whatever!

A lovely pair

After several months on the lookout, I finally landed a Billie Lourd auto for my collection. I became smitten with her as the "slightly odd-looking but still super cute" young woman who had a minor role in the recent Star Wars movies, and then I came to learn she's the daughter of Carrie Fisher, which is a cool bonus, but seems to make her autos a bit more expensive than you'd otherwise expect.

I've also been watching through the TV show from a little while back she was on called Scream Queens, which while not exactly up my alley is still worth checking out. Another thing I learned about Billie recently is that she auditioned for the lead role of Rey, ultimately portrayed by English actress Daisy Ridley. That would have been crazy! But no, Billie ended up as Kaydel Ko Connix, a key member of the Resistance, which is a character created specifically for her by director J. J. Abrams for The Force Awakens. Lourd reprised the character with a larger part in The Last Jedi, and is slated to return once more in the forthcoming Episode IX.

While Topps doesn't bother with "RC" designations on their Star Wars cards, this 2016 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Series 2 card is effectively a "rookie autograph" card, as it was her first certified auto on the market. She's got a nice, legible signature, which is always appreciated more than a lazy squiggle or two. So yeah, this card is a sweet addition to my Star Wars and/or Girlie Card minicollection.

And while on the subject of attractive ladies on cardboard, here's another recent pickup...

I don't watch wrestling other than maybe once in a blue moon catching a short clip or two online, but sometimes a "diva" calls to me and I want to get her represented in my card collection. First was AJ Lee a few years back, followed by Alexa Bliss, and now here's Liv Morgan. She caught my eye with her fresh look-- well, ok, being honest she doesn't appear to be a whole lot different than Alexa Bliss.. short, pretty blonde girl-- and from what I can tell, she seems kooky and fun. I hear her trademark shtick is entering the ring with a blue tongue from eating candy. Sure, why not.

It's a rookie auto /199, so that's cool. I doubt I'll go out of my way picking up more of her cards, but if any of my trader buds who collect wrestling have available Liv Morgan cards, feel free to toss them in for me.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!