Ed Strikes Again!

A couple of weeks back I received a package from Ed at Roll Out the Barrell. The reason for the package was that Ed had a small stack of 2008 Upper Deck baseball set aside for me that both of us had completely forgotten about. There were a whopping 24 cards that I needed, including this fantastic Justin Verlander card. I don't care what anyone says about Upper Deck, I absolutely love this set. I've been slowly piecing it together over the past couple of years through packs and generous packages from other bloggers. I'm tantalizingly close at this point, just 34 cards away from the 799 card set. I've recently updated my Want List to include this set and a few others, if you have any dupes laying around and can help me out let me know!

The best part about this package was the unexpected though. Ed was kind enough to include some awesome 1970's hockey cards! There is quite possibly nothing better to receive in a trade package than vintage hockey.



This 1974-75 Topps checklist brings me one card closer to this set as well. I've got this one up to date on the Want List also. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out that this was a '74 card! The bulk of the cards were 1976-77 Topps Boston Bruins.

I like this set, and it's sadly under-represented in my collection. There seems to be a mix, at least in the Bruins cards I received, between portraits against a plain background, like the Gilbert above, and action shots like these:

Like so many 1970's sets, many of the action shots were taken in Washington in games against the Capitals. I love the Cashman card especially. This year's Bruins could take a lesson in screening the goalie from Wayne here.

Dallas was Bobby Orr's defensive partner for a few years in the 70's. He looks a little confused here...

A couple of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame!

What a great card of the Bruins' captain! One last 1976 Topps...

I really appreciate this Cheevers card. Not only because it's a vintage Bruin I needed, but because Cheevers was someone I saw a lot of growing up. He did the color commentary for the Hartford Whalers games on TV in Connecticut when I used to watch back in the day. His play-by-play partner, Rick Peckham, still calls games for the Tampa Bay Lightning on the Sun Sports network down in Florida. I am definitely going to have to add some more Cheevers cards to the collection.

Ed also threw in 2 1975-76 Topps cards, which I have even fewer of. O'Reilly was the kind of enforcer that I wish we saw more of in the NHL today. He wasn't on the team just to fight, he had some skill as well. In the 77-78 season he racked up 29 goals and 90 points. I'd like to see Donald Brashear or Colton Orr put up those kind of numbers.

Once again we have an in-game action shot taken against Washington. I love the photo on this card.

Ed, thanks again for a fabulous package. You really made my week with this one!