Dice Back?!?!

The latest in the seemingly never-ending back and forth series of PWEs between Rhode Island and Delaware arrived a couple of weeks ago now.  Yup, my friend Mark Kaz from This Way to the Clubhouse strikes again...

The most interesting card in the package was this Victor Martinez from 2010 Topps Heritage.  Why is that?  Well, check out the back:

This is apparently a "Dice Back" parallel, also sometimes referred to as a "Dice Game" variation.  The backs are done in the style of a dice game Topps released back in 1961, which I can honestly say I'd never heard of before.

Evidently these parallels were a relatively tough pull as well, falling at just 1:72 hobby packs.  Put it this way, I couldn't locate an available copy of this card right now, at any price, on eBay, Sportlots or COMC.  The best part?  Mark pulled this one from a dime box!

Of course, being the generous guy that he is, that great card was just the tip of the iceberg in yet another impressive PWE from Mark.  This envelope also provided my very first exposure to the new Archives set.

I didn't realize until I went to catalog these just how many Red Sox are in this set.  There are 16 in the 300-card base set alone, plus another 3 of those impossible-to-find short prints.

Bryce Brentz made it up for a cup of coffee with the Red Sox at the end of last year, and as a result he's apparently going to be included in every single Topps set this year.  Even though he's the 19th ranked prospect in the Boston farm system.

A nice Jim Rice done in the style of '83 Topps rounds out the Archives portion of the package.

I've decided I'm going to try completing the Stadium Club set this year, and Mark provided one I needed with this package.  Only two more Red Sox left to track down now.  Shameless plug, my want list is up to date and I've got some doubles to trade if anyone else is working on this set.

Here's a nice Curt Schilling from 2007 Upper Deck.  This set is really starting to grow on me, and the timing here is great as I just received half a dozen of these in that monster package from Hackenbush.

How about a new Cracker Jack card?  As a Mets fan, Mark is much more familiar with Jay than I am, however I thought he was a solid, serviceable player in his lone year with the Red Sox (2005).

Last, but certainly not least, my "sleeper" card of the envelope is this 2000 Topps Stadium Club Brian Daubach.  This is just my second card from this visually appealing set.  Brian had a very solid four-year stretch with Boston from 1999 - 2002, where he consistently hit 20 or more home runs and drove in 70 runs or more.

Mark, it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway.  Thanks for another great envelope of surprises!