Mansfield Card Show - The Red Sox

Yesterday's post was the final portion of my dime box haul from a recent card show in Mansfield, MA. Today's post represents the rest of my pick-ups from that show.  I only spent money at two tables, the dime box guy's table and another table that was all Red Sox baseball.  Here's what $12 at that Red Sox table netted me...

This card may not look like much but I was excited to find it in a five for a dollar bin.  It's just my second 2001 Topps Heritage Red Sox card, and it just so happened to come into my possession just a few days after my first.  This is going to be one tough team set to complete...

This one's from the 1986 Donruss Highlights set.  Not the most attractive design if we're being honest, but it's nice to have cardboard representation of Doerr's HOF induction in my shoebox.

These next four came from a 12-card insert set that I've never seen before...

...telling the story of the 1986 World Series.

From the four cards I picked out you'd almost think Boston won the thing.

But as we all know, that was a very painful off-season in New England.  Luckily I had turned just four years old a few weeks before the collapse, so I was much too young to be a baseball fan (although I would experience my first game at Fenway the following season).

There were five of these Collector's Choice Silver Signature parallels in the five-for-a-dollar bin, I figured the one-per-pack parallels were worth an even $1.

Another fantastic card of Andre Dawson.  The Hawk has some true cardboard classics, and this is a fine example.

Finally, speedster Otis Nixon.  I remember taking my fair share of at bats as Otis while playing Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball on my Super Nintendo back in the day.  I snagged a few new Mo Vaughns from the five-for-a-dollar box as well...

Two pretty similar cards from 1995.  The UC3 set was one I liked a lot at the time.  I'd love to bust a box someday if I could find one on the cheap.

I also grabbed a Collector's Choice card of Mo signing for some fans...

...and one of those odd CyberStats cards that tries to project what would have happened had the strike not occurred.

I ran across a few oddball cards that I just had to grab from the same bin...

Unlicensed cards of Mike Greenwell...

...and Ellis Burks, from the 1989 JJ Nissen set.  These would fall into the category of "appeals to team or player collectors only" in my estimation.

This one's a bit better, from the 1987 M & M's Star Lineup set.  Still no logo, but the design is much better than the JJ Nissen cards, and who doesn't appreciate an M & M wearing a baseball cap?

This was one I hadn't seen before, it's a hand-cut card from a 1986 Topps wax box.  This one was definitely cut with a steady hand, and I like the Red used on the top of the card.  I ponied up a full $1 for this puppy.

Of course I couldn't leave without some vintage.  This was one of my better finds of the day for just a dollar.  I love the old manager cards from the flagship sets of the '50s and '60s.  This Mike Higgins is in decent condition too, certainly binder-worthy.

Speaking of which, here's a card I've been chasing for a good long time, probably the best vintage Red Sox manager card out there (alongside the '64 Topps Pesky).  Examples in NM+ condition regularly go for a bit more than I'm comfortable for, but this is an acceptable placeholder for now that cost me less than $2.  Sure it's off-center and suffers from a crease and some paper loss, but it works for now.

Here's the back, which is actually in better shape than the front...

Somewhat high on my list for my Red Sox collection is knocking off the 1956 Topps team set.  There's a pesky Ted Williams that could make that difficult, but I did manage to add two more from this gentleman's table:

Johnny Schmitz has a left-side crease but good overall visual appeal.  I absolutely love this set, and although 1953 is tops for me, I can certainly see why many collectors rank it their favorite of the decade.

Great backs too.  If the day comes where by some miracle I actually do knock off the '53 Topps set, I think this one would be next on my list...

Finally, my favorite overall card of the day, 1956 Topps Ike DeLock.  I've learned a bit about Ike over the past year or so after acquiring a couple of recent on-card autos, so I knew I had to have this one.  A great stadium shot in the background too.

So, that does it for my Mansfield card show haul, except for a few cards that were purchased to send out to other bloggers.  I'd pay $12 for those 23 Red Sox cards any day...