Package from The Card Raven!

The packages keep rolling in here, it seems like at least once or twice a week lately I check the mail and find some card trade bounty. Today's post features a great stack of baseball from Michael, aka The Card Raven.  We've basically got an unstated agreement going where I send him all of my Mets and he sends me all of his Red Sox.  So far it has worked out well for both of us.  Here's some of the cards from this last batch, I'll let the scans do most of the talking...

Checklist or not, a Garciaparra that I didn't have is a winner in my book.

I'm not sure that's proper fielding form.

Yes, I still need some 1991 Donruss Red Sox.  Yes, I also realize I could buy a team set for less than $1 in all likelihood.  I like hand collating though, because it makes random cards like these in trade packages or re-packs more exciting.

Same goes for 1988 Donruss...

...1990 Fleer...

...and 1992 Score...

A couple of Heritage cards that are now a year old, wow 2012 went by fast...

Opening Day Clay Buchholz.  What an Opening Day the Sox had yesterday!  There were a lot of positive signs in almost all aspects of the game, but we'll see how the next 161 play out...

I really need to bust a wax box of 1995 Upper Deck baseball one of these days, such a great set.

I had never seen these Fleer Sports Illustrated cards before, and there were two Garciaparra cards from the set in this package.

I have to admit I hadn't heard of Bryce Brentz here before I received this card.  I don't really keep good tabs on the minor league system and this guy has just barely cracked AAA.  I appreciate the card though because I avoid Bowman products like the plague so I would never have pulled this one on my own.

Somehow this Dustin Pedroia Topps Chrome card is completely flat.  I'm convinced Michael must have stuffed it in a large book or something to flatten it out.  It's quite refreshing compared to the typical curl.

Here's a guy that just doesn't have too many Red Sox cards out there.  He was with the team briefly to start the 2006 season, but after it became apparent that he simply couldn't handle catching Tim Wakefield's knuckleball, it was off to San Diego for Josh.  In the off-season before 2009, the Red Sox brought him back on a 1-year deal, but he was cut during Spring Training so he never played even an inning with Boston that year.  Kind of makes you wonder why Upper Deck included him in their 2009 flagship set, especially since this card is in Series 2, which I would guess came out a ways into the season.  Strange.

Another guy I don't have many Sox cards of.  I always liked Ramon during the year and a half or so that he was with Boston.  I was never really sure why they dealt him, especially since they turned around and dealt the minor league player that they got back in return the very next season.

I'm not a big fan of these ToppsTown inserts but I'll take the Red Sox, and I needed this Ortiz.

This might be my favorite card in the entire package.  I'm a sucker for a good parallel, and the great action photo, non-standard cap, and Green Monster in the background made this one of my favorite cards from the 2012 flagship set.

Michael threw in one of the last 2013 Topps Series 1 Red Sox inserts I was still looking for, the David Ortiz Calling Card.

There was also an Ortiz Blockbusters insert from 2012 Topps Update.

Finally, in closing, not one...

...not two...

...not three...

...but four 2013 Topps Wal-Mart blue parallels!  On the rare occasion when I treat myself to some retail wax, Target is my destination of choice, so these are the first 2013 Wal-Mart blues I've seen in person.  They look great, in fact I think I prefer them to the Target red parallels.  I just grabbed the Will Middlebrooks on the cheap from COMC, I'll have to track the rest of these down.

So there you have it, another great package from The Card Raven.  Thanks Michael!  I needed every single card that I showed in this post and I'm now up to 1,400+ scanned and cataloged Red Sox cards in my collection.  I've got another pile of Mets started for you already...