At the Trade Deadline 39: An Astros Trio from Jaybarkerfan's Junk (Including a Historic First in My Collection!)

1970 Kellogg's Jim Wynn, 1976 Topps Wilbur Howard, 2015 Bowman Prospects Blue Andrew Thurman # 245 / 500

I recently got some cards in the mail from Jaybarkerfan, owner of the Jaybarkerfan's Junk blog. He announced that he was in a giving mood for the holidays, and anyone who sent him a message would receive something in the mail. Nothing brings readers in like a card giveaway, and I fired off a message as quickly as I could. He sent me some Astros from before I was born, as well as an Astro / Braves prospect from just last year.

The Jim Wynn Kellogg's card is the historic first mentioned in the title, as it is the first Kellogg's card in my collection. I have seen plenty of them on the blogs, but until now I have never held one in person. Now I can say that I've joined the Kellogg's club! It's not quite as exclusive as the T206 club, but I've always thought those guys were a bit stuffy anyway.

That 1976 Topps Wilbur Howard card in the center features one of the greatest baseball uniforms ever, as well as a beautiful pink / orange border combo. It's like a big glass of tropical fruit juice in cardboard form. It's like opening a 2-pack of Starburst candies to find Pink and Orange which is the second-best combination, only losing out to the king Pink - Red combo. I am disqualifying the Red - Red and Pink - Pink packages for being too homogeneous, although they would still be preferable to any combination involving Yellow. Yellow - Yellow and Orange - Yellow are the packages you give to your kids because they don't know any better.

Closing things out is a relative newcomer, and the first card that was produced after my birth. It's a 2014 Bowman Prospects Blue parallel of former Astros prospect Andrew Thurman, who was sent to the Braves in the Evan Gattis deal. This past May he was injured when the Carolina Mudcats team bus rolled over. He was back on the mound in July, but his numbers suffered  for the rest of the season. I am not sure if the effects of the wreck contributed to that.

This was a fun batch of cards, and I was happy to join the Kellogg's club as well as to get some baseball-themed cardboard in the mail. My focus has been elsewhere lately, so I haven't been picking up as many baseball cards recently as I have in the past. Thanks, jaybarkerfan!