Cards from the West, Cards from the North

Time to play incoming mail catch-up...today I've got two great packages to share that have arrived at Shoebox Legends World Headquarters within the past couple of weeks.  First, a small package of cards from the West Coast, representing my very first trade with Adam (aka arpsmith) of ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession.

Adam hooked me up with a nice grouping of 2011 Gypsy Queen cards, a set I still have not completed more than four years after its release.  I won't show all the singles that he sent, as quite frankly some of them just aren't the most exciting players (but hey, a set need is a set need).  My favorites featured a couple of retired players, Brooks Robinson, who is already in the HOF...

...and Mariano Rivera, who will be there before long.  Gypsy Queen got old for me as the years went on, but I really loved this inaugural set, and it's nice to get a few cards closer via a trade.

Accompanying the Gypsy Queen cards in the envelope was this slick Dustin Pedroia relic from 2015 Allen & Ginter.  A very nice looking card as relics go and a very nice surprise, thanks Adam!

The other PWE I'll be showing today came from up North, courtesy of frequent trading partner and friend of the blog Douglas from Sportscards from the Dollar Store.

Douglas included a nice variety of both Boston Red Sox and Hartford Whalers with this latest delivery.  Here we have an insert of the most famous DH in baseball.  I'm pretty shocked that David managed the numbers he did this past season (37 HR/108 RBI).  He was able to stay healthy all year which was nice, finishing second on the team in games played behind Xander Bogaerts.

I have to confess that I'm not 100% sure why this Devin Ortiz made its way into the package.  I need to find a few free minutes to research this kid a bit.

The hockey portion of this latest delivery blew me away.  Kicking things off is this awesome Duracell Power Check card of Brendan Shanahan.  I've come this close to grabbing this card numerous times on COMC in the past, so happy to finally have a copy in my Whalers collection.  What I never knew until I got it in hand though was that the card features an "interactive" back...

The strips of black to the right of the card react to heat.  When you press a finger against them for a few seconds your body heat causes the black to fade away and reveal Brendan's stats.  Very similar to the technology on Duracell batteries back in the day that would show you how much juice you had left (as depicted here).  A great oddball addition to my Whalers collection.

Douglas' envelope provided me with my very first 2015-16 card from any set, period.  My expectations for Eriksson are awfully low heading into the season, so it won't be very hard for him to surpass them I guess.

A nice Parkhurst International Emerald Ice parallel of Jeff O'Neill comes my way courtesy of a repack.

I know relic cards maybe aren't as impressive on the whole as they were maybe a decade ago, but when I get one like this I'm still impressed.  This one claims to feature a game-used swatch of glorious Whaler green.  I know I've said this before, but if you had given me this card as a 10-year-old kid my head probably would have exploded.  A very thoughtful and much appreciated throw-in!

Let's close it out with an autograph of goaltender Greg Millen.  This is my first autograph of his, and one of very few cards I have where he's listed with the Whalers.  I love that it's a nice, large signature and is on-card.  I'm pretty sure Douglas purchased this one just to send it to me, because that's the kind of collector/trader he is.

Thank you both for the great new additions to my collection!