Signature Sundays - Gordie Howe

In honor of Gordie Howe's 85th birthday, here's the best autographed card I've picked up in 2013 so far:

I posted about this card on my other blog as well, but thought it was cool enough that some who don't necessarily care about the Whalers would still like to see it here.

Happy 85th Mr. Hockey!

Woburn Card Show Haul - The Dollar Bin

I'm always making comments here about how far behind I am when it comes to scanning, posting and mailing packages. Today's post is a good example of just how far behind I really am. Back in September, I attended a very small card show in Woburn, MA.  I started to post my cards from the show back then, including a Topps Ryne Sandberg rookie, and probably the best football card in my very small collection.  Today I'll finally round out the rest of my haul from that show with 13 cards plucked from dollar boxes:

I know it's an SSPC card, but what a great photo, and I can't pass up on a Brooks Robinson card from 1975 that I don't have for just $1, regardless of who printed it.

Ditto.  I like Reggie much more as an Athletic.

This Metal Universe card is acetate, which is why you see the black line along the left edge of the scan.  That's just shadow from the edge of my scanning bed coming through.  In fact, this card is the reason this post took so long, as I told myself I was going to re-scan this before posting it.  Maybe another day...

Killed two birds with one stone with this dollar, a new Gretzky card and a new addition to my Whalers collection.

I saw one of these in a Thorzul Card Wars video previously and thought it looked interesting.  A very well done die-cut.

Ah, the days of promotional samples.

Another Nolan Ryan I knew I didn't have.

I'm a sucker for Ken Griffey Jr. cards, especially anything from his early days with the Mariners.  What can I say, if you spent as many hours as I did as a kid playing Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball on Super Nintendo you'd understand.

That show wasn't all about baseball though, I strayed and picked up a couple of Shaq cards.  This one obviously looks better in person, and uses Sportflics-type technology.  Apparently it's from the 1996-97 Fleer USA Basketball set.

I grabbed this Member's Choice parallel as well.  Who knows how long I'll keep these two cards but they grabbed my attention enough to shell out a buck for anyway.

Finally, we have not one...

...not two...

...but three Wayne Gretzky League Leader cards from the '83-84 O-Pee-Chee set (cards #215, 216 and 217 in the set).  These came from the same guy who I bought the '83 Topps Sandberg rookie from.  I couldn't pass on three mint early-'80s O-Pee-Chee Gretzky cards for a buck a piece, especially since I knew I needed at least one of them.  Turns out I already had the first, but needed the second two.  I don't think I'll have much trouble trading that double away.

Alright, feels good to have that one done, even if it is six months late...

Fuji-Inspired Dufex

A while back I read a post on The Chronicles of Fuji that opened my eyes to a set I was never aware of.  Back in 1993 Pinnacle released dufex versions of its 30-card Cooperstown set.  Fuji warned that they were a tough find, as there were supposedly 1,000 or less of each card produced, and he was certainly right.  I was astonished that I won this Andre Dawson as the sole bidder for $4.99.  Currently there aren't any cards from this set on eBay or COMC with even a starting price that low.

As a child of the late '80s/early '90s I'm of course a fan of dufex cards.  My favorites were the Pinnacle Rink Collection hockey cards.  I can certainly see how some collectors could find them obnoxious, but to me they're pure nostalgic cardboard gold.

This was certainly a nice addition to my Red Sox collection.  I'd like to chase down Roger Clemens at some point, given that he's the only other Red Sox player on the checklist.  Nolan Ryan and/or Will Clark would be nice as well, but I somehow think those may creep above the price I'm willing to pay for a '90s single...

Thanks for the inspiration for this card Fuji!

Signature Sundays - Bill Buckner

Today's Signature Sundays post features a Red Sox autograph that I've wanted to acquire for quite some time now, Mr. Bill Buckner:

I'm of the viewpoint that one's collection is sort of a chronological history of sport printed on cardboard and stored away in boxes and binders.  I ultimately collect baseball and hockey cards because I thoroughly enjoy those two sports, especially their long and illustrious histories.  A complete history focuses on the bad as well as the good though, which is why I've wanted to add a Billy Buckner autograph to my Red Sox collection even though he's most known around these parts for "the play" that "cost the Sox a Series".  The fact that he was involved in that play is just all the more reason a good Red Sox collection should have some Buckner cards in it.

I won't even get into all of the evidence that he was unfairly scapegoated (like all of the other players who blew it in that infamous inning, forget the entire game that was still played after it).  I was only four years old at the time, so obviously this didn't burn me as a fan, although growing up in New England I heard many, many references to, and bad jokes about, the play through the years.

The fact is, Buckner was a far-better-than-average player throughout most of his career, and a Red Sox player that I am very proud to own an on-card auto of.

On a side note, Topps Five Star definitely had some major issues, atrocious condition of many cards right out of the pack in what was supposed to be an uber-high-end product being the worst.  That being said, the cards are beautiful, the autos are on-card, and you can really get some of these at a total steal on the secondary market.  This has to be one of my favorite Red Sox autos acquired in the past year and it set me back all of $9.99 plus a couple bucks shipping.

How about you, did you pick up any Five Star, either full price or on the secondary market?

Red Sox from the Underdog

Time for another trade post.  A few weeks back I received a great bubble mailer stuffed with Red Sox from the Underdog Card Collector.  This is actually my second package from Zach, and this one was even better than the first.  For starters, my 2002 Topps Series 1 team set is now complete:

I can't believe it took this long, but this is my first cataloged card of David Cone as a member of the Red Sox.

A great shot, I really need to pick up more Red Sox Nomo cards.

Just my second curly 2011 Topps chrome card.  I can see why collectors complained about the issue.

This card I really appreciated, as I'm a sucker for oddball sets.  It's from the 10-card 1992 Kellogg's All Star set, and is a 1-card team set.  Guess I can cross this set off my Red Sox want list.

There were a pair of 2001 Topps Archives Red Sox to be found.  I wasn't collecting cards in 2001, so I have just a handful of cards from this set, definitely needed both of these.

This 1981 Fleer Yaz was probably my favorite card in the entire package.  This was one of my most prized cards as a kid, and though I have no idea what happened to my original childhood copy I now have the card back in my collection after many years.

To top it off, Zach also threw in the '81 Fleer Sticker as well, which I didn't have either!

Amazingly, I did actually need this 1989 Topps Record Breaker card.  I've only got about half of the '89 Topps set if you can believe that.  What can I say, I like hand collating and it makes repacks that much more interesting I guess.

Sweet, a 1969 Topps Ken Harrelson hatless and clearly depicted in an Oakland Athletics uniform.  Harrelson was released by Oakland back in 1967 and picked up by the Red Sox, so this photo is just pure laziness on Topps' part.  Gets me one card closer to a 1969 Topps team set though.

I have to confess I had never seen nor heard of this 2007 Upper Deck Future Stars set before receiving this package.  Looks like I have a few new cards for the want list now.

This was a really nice throw-in, a David Ortiz black bordered mini from last year's Allen & Ginter set.

Finally, we have a Bobby Doerr card from the Panini Cooperstown release.  This is a set I stayed away from, so I appreciate getting this one in a trade.

Thanks for the new additions to my Red Sox collection Zach!  This was a very thoughtful package, and I have a return stack of Padres started for you already...

New Blog - Whalers Hockey Cards!

I've struggled for a while now to find a good online resource that lists all of the Whalers hockey cards that exist out there.  Sure, I've stumbled across a few, but they either seem incomplete, look like they were created in 1994 and haven't been updated since, or both.  I haven't found anything comparable to what teamsets4u.com presents for baseball card collectors, for example.

So, for purposes of my own cataloging and organization, I've decided to start a site where I'll try to catalog and scan all of the Whalers cards out there, or at least as many as I can get my grubby little hands on.  If you're a fan of the Whalers, or even if you just want to see some totally random hockey cards from the '70s all the way up through modern day, please check it out!  I've linked the site in my blogroll, or you can simply head to whalershockeycards.blogspot.com to take a look.

I'll still be posting the occasional Whalers card here on Shoebox Legends, but the bulk of my collection will be featured on the new blog... 

Signature Sundays - Rollie Fingers

Just a quick autograph post today, a card I actually picked up at the tail end of 2012:

I can't really say this card fits into my collection necessarily.  It's not a player or team I collect, and it's not from a set I'm chasing, but it's one of those random additions to my collection that I just had to have for whatever reason.

This is actually my second Fingers auto, but I like this card much better than the first, I think in part because I've always been partial to the Goudey releases.  The 2007 Goudey set was what got me back into collecting 6 years ago and the autos are on card which I think all collectors prefer.  I watched this card for a good long time before finally reaching an agreement with the seller on a price of $12, a steal as far as I'm concerned.  I really like that the signature is vertical, it's an interesting placement but I think it works well.

There's only one thing that would have made this card better in my opinion, the appearance of Rollie's signature handlebar mustache.  Oh well, maybe I'll find a better replacement someday, but for now I'm more than satisfied for the price...

Brad Completes My 2012 Archives Set

The trades keep rolling here at Shoebox Legends! Today's post features a package that arrived this past week from Brad of Brad's Blog.  I enjoy his blog and was especially jealous of all of the vintage Mantle cards he recently showed off.  Anyway, I sent him a Ripken relic and some randome Phillies.  In return Brad sent some really great cards, and plenty of them.  For starters there was a large amount of 2012 Topps Archives...

When I say a large amount, I mean 51 base cards, just over 25% of the set.  I won't show them all, just the retired Hall-of-Famers.  I'm biased towards those cards.

The 51 cards Brad sent were actually the final 51 that I needed to complete the 200-card short set.  It took until mid-March but I've finally got my first completed set post of 2013.

Okay, Ortiz is not (and maybe will not ever be) a Hall-of-Famer.  He was however the final Red Sox card I needed from the set.

I like this one quite a bit, interesting to see The Wizard depicted with St. Louis on the 1980 Topps design rather than San Diego.

As if knocking off the base set weren't enough, Brad also sent four short prints.  Dave Kingman on the '77 Topps design...

...Wally Joyner on '87 Topps...

...Mitch Williams '92 Topps...

...and Von Hayes '87 Topps.  I think I am going to go for it and try to complete the full 240-card set with short prints (and not the bullshit #241).  I've got the cards I'm missing on my want list if you've got any lying around.

Even though I was expecting the Archives cards only, Brad was generous enough to throw in a team set bag full of Red Sox cards as well!

The stack included what amounted to close to a full team set of 2012 Topps Chrome, none of which I had.

Finally, the Adrian Gonzalez base card!  I've built a decently impressive rainbow of this card but never had the base version until now.

One of my favorite cards in the package.  This guy is one of the brightest young stars on the team and I get excited any time I get a new card of his.  Problem is, everyone wants ridiculous prices for his cards here in New England.  I think I can safely say at this point that I've received more Middlebrooks cards in trade than I've purchased.

How about a 2012 Bowman Chrome Jacoby Ellsbury refractor?  Really like this one, and Ellsbury falls into the same category as Middlebrooks as overpriced in these parts.

Here's another new one, Will's rookie card from 2012 Topps Update.

Finally, there were a bunch of 2013 flagship Red Sox, including the final card that I needed to complete my team set, Daniel Nava.  For whatever reason I ended up with like 9 copies of Vicente Padilla before I got my hands on a single Nava.

Brad, thanks for an absolutely awesome trade!  This one package helped me towards my goals of completing trades, completing sets, and accumulating Red Sox.  I truly appreciate it!