Catching Up with Dime Box Nick

How do you know you're really behind on posting card packages from other, generous collectors?  When a second package shows up before you've even managed to thank the sender for the first one.  This is the situation I found myself in with respect to Nick from Dime Boxes after checking yesterday's mail. 

Nick sent me this awesome '83 Fleer Yaz a couple of weeks ago, or maybe even a few weeks ago now.  Things have been so hectic that I don't even know for sure.  Either way, regardless of when it arrived, this was just the beginning of an awesome PWE from Nick.

Most every card inside (and Nick sure does cram a lot of cards into a PWE) was a great new addition to my Red Sox collection.  Like this 1999 Upper Deck Trot Nixon.  I wouldn't rate the '99 set high on my all-time favorite Upper Deck sets list, but it always feels good picking up a missing card from a flagship Topps or Upper Deck set.

I never seem to run across much Topps Total in these parts, but thanks to PWEs like this one I've actually gotten a steady dose of Red Sox cards from these sets in the past year or so.  Nick himself has provided me with a couple of nice Total cards in the past, and this Daubach is the latest to join the pile.

Here's an extremely foily Frank Rodriguez card from 1994 Bowman.  I can't say I had much, if any, '94 Bowman collecting as a kid, so at first I was unsure if this was some sort of parallel or something like that.  I believe it's just a base card, and that there was a subset of foil-covered cards that year.

Few brands get me as excited as Stadium Club, and the 1997 set in particular has a design I absolutely love.  There's really no excuse for me not having tracked down the entire Red Sox team set (or the whole set, really) to date.  This great Reggie Jefferson gets me a card closer!

Here's one I'd certainly never laid eyes on before.  I had no idea this oddball set even existed.  This is a 1992 American Sports release.  I'm guessing this was a magazine?  Either way, the design is actually pretty decent and this certainly makes for one of my more unique Plantier cards.

Nick showed some real generosity in sending this one off to me.  I saw it posted on his blog a while back and commented about it, and now just a short while later it's in my collection.  Pablo had a pretty terrible 2015 season for sure, but a Heritage relic numbered to /99 is a significant card regardless.  This would probably be considered the best card in the PWE generally speaking, but there were a couple that for me personally were even nicer than this one.

I got out of collecting the first time around 1996 or so, so there are many cards in the 1997 - 2006 range that are just foreign to me.  For instance, I'd somehow never seen (or forgotten if I have) this awesome '97 Upper Deck Jose Canseco.  What a great Spring Training shot of Jose signing for the fans.  This is easily one of my favorite Canseco cards from his short stint with Boston.

Closing out the PWE, how about a Heritage High Numbers Eduardo Rodriguez rookie?  As far as the pitching staff goes, in my mind Eduardo is the most exciting player they currently have, and I'm saying that after the Craig Kimbrel trade that came down today.  Rodriguez has electric stuff, and is still very young.  With some good coaching and mentoring I feel like he can be a key piece of the rotation in Boston for many years to come.

I'm determined to get better about thanking people in a more timely fashion, and for starters I don't want to fall this far behind with Nick again.  So, to that end I've got some highlights from the second PWE that arrived just yesterday!

This latest PWE had a nice dose of Update Red Sox, which are greatly appreciated as I'm working on completing the set (want list coming shortly).  I got three new base cards in the form of Alexi Ogando...

...Jean Machi...

...and Carlos Peguero.  The great thing about this trio is that all three of these represent my very first Red Sox card of each player.  These really highlight what I think is one of the great things about Topps Update, the ability for team collectors to add a couple names to their collection that might otherwise have been neglected or overlooked.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this Rarities insert of Daniel Nava, also from Topps Update, in the envelope.  I think Ted Williams is the only other Red Sox player in this insert set, so I'm halfway there already with this one in hand.

A nice over-foiled Jose Offerman from around the turn of the century.  Another one from my collecting dark period that just seems so strange/foreign.

This 1996 Donruss Stan Belinda will pair nicely with the awesome Willie McGee card from this set that Nick sent me in a prior PWE.

Here's another great oddball, from the Pacific Legends set.  Knowing Nick, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this may have come from a Dime Box!

One of my absolute favorite '90s sets is 1994 Stadium Club.  I can definitely see how the "half torn paper/half foil" approach with the player name may not resonate with some, but this one came out when I was 12 years old, and at the height of my childhood baseball card collecting hysteria.  I've considered picking up a couple of wax boxes for a cheap trip down memory lane, but I'm afraid all the cards will be stuck together and ruin the experience.  Thankfully, people like Nick have sent me quite a few over the years!

Unfortunately this one didn't scan too well, but trust me that this 2001 Topps Chrome Troy O'Leary looks impressive in person.  This is actually my first card from the 2001 Topps Chrome set, and it's number 527 on the checklist.  Chrome sets certainly were large back then!

To close this one out, (and finally be caught up with Nick!), here's a sweet Red Sox buyback card that I totally drooled over when I read Nick's post on his hobby box of Topps Update.  What's not to love here?  I miss the old team checklist cards like this one, plus you've got floating heads and Don Zimmer!

I've gone on record before as saying that I love the buybacks Topps has been doing in recent years, and this is easily one of my favorites now.  Nick, thank you for the great PWEs!  These were extremely thoughtful, and I hope to get a PWE off to you in the next few days to show my appreciation!