Wednesday, April 1, 2015

A Vehicle in Trade!

It's not every day that I receive a card package with a car in it, but that's exactly what I found when I opened a recent trade package from Tony of Off Hiatus Baseball Cards!

I opened the bubble mailer and out rolled this sweet Red Sox Humvee.  I mean literally rolled out, and crashed onto the hardwood floor.  This is a safe ride for sure, as it suffered no damage whatsoever.  I can safely say I've never seen anything like this before!  It's made by Fleer, and actually has a tiny Fleer license plate on the back, that's about all I know.  Anyone have any more information about these?

Also in the envelope was one of these Topps 3-D Baseball Stars packs.  I call it a pack, but really it contains just one embossed photograph.  I had a feeling I knew who would be inside my pack, and I was right...

HOFer Jim Rice!  This is an interesting over-sized item.  I had to resist the urge to drive all over the contoured face of the card with the Red Sox car.  Baseball cards are viewed as childish enough by some, if I start playing with matchbox cars I'm really gonna have some problems.

Of course, Tony included plenty of standard Red Sox cards as well.  You wouldn't guess it from looking at the stack, but this 2008 A & G Tim Wakefield was a definite highlight for me.  It's one of those simple commons that for whatever reason I can never seem to find.  I'd been staring at it on my want list for what seems like forever, so nice to cross it off.

Tony also did some serious damage to my 2013 Topps Red Sox team set.

Sad to see Shane go today, along with a few of Boston's top prospects.  Not sure if it was the right decision or not...*


Remember this guy?  He sat out all last year for Detroit due to injury, and is batting a rough .098 in Spring Training so far.

Can't believe I didn't have this card.  But, I didn't...

This handful, plus a couple that I didn't show, actually knocked out everything I was missing, team set complete!

Here's an awesome odd-ball, my first 1991 Kellogg's card!

Hey this one will look nice paired with the autograph version I picked up a while back.

I've probably stated this before, but I think 1990 Leaf is a great looking set.  I remember when this stuff went for a few bucks a pack, and the Frank Thomas booked at $80 alone.  My how times have changed.


Most people view 1990 Bowman as junk, but I'm still a few cards short of a team set so these were much appreciated.

Another one for the "how did I not already have this?" file.  I have enough 1990 Topps around to literally wallpaper my card room/office, but somehow was missing this Glossy All-Star Wade Boggs insert.  Not anymore thanks to Tony!

Alright here is where Tony really blew me away.  As a confessed parallel junkie, I loved these Emerald parallels from 2013 Topps.  So much so that I completed the entire Series 1 set.  As can sometimes happen with me, I got distracted by the time Series 2 came out and was on to other things.

Well Tony gave me a nice boost with a solid half a dozen Series 2 Emerald cards!




I've got just 7 of these left to track down now, out of a total 24 in the set.  Then it's onto the Update series.  Last but not least, probably the single coolest and most thoughtful item Tony sent my way, voila!

Sweet!  That is a solid Wade Boggs autograph.  I actually just featured a Boggs auto only this past Sunday.  This one features him the way I remember him most fondly, in a Red Sox uniform.

Tony, thank you for the awesome package of Red Sox cards, and for my first Red Sox matchbox car!  I'm looking forward to enjoying more great content, Brewers and otherwise, at Off Hiatus Baseball Cards!

* - April Fools'!

4 comments:

  1. Awesome stuff! If I'm recalling correctly, Fleer made various team-themed vehicles throughout the 2000's. They changed up the design each year, and all or most came with a baseball card as well featuring one of the team's stars. I can't remember if Upper Deck kept the line going after Fleer went under.

    Definitely a unique piece for the collection.

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  2. The funny thing is, of the 5 different 1/64 Hummer H2 that I'm aware of, Fleer's is actually the most accurate. (I was a diecast collector from 1985-2014). Mark is correct in what he states, and they also made Ford F-150s...but I don't remember what years as I never got any of them. I believe they WERE Upper Deck era though.

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  3. I thought I missed something for a minute there. Had sports radio on for the hour ride home. Great cards. Tony hit me up with a a Boggs auto last month

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  4. I'm glad everything got to you in one piece! I got that Hummer in, of all things, a repack last year, and I've had it rolling around in my Red Sox box for about 8 months now. It was time for it to drive to a climate where 4-wheel drive matters!

    And, I'm really happy you liked all the cards, including the Boggs auto. I had gotten those when Boggs was young (and I was too) in the 1980s, so I'm glad now that they are being enjoyed properly by Red Sox fans!

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