Saturday Night Smorgasbord

After a long week, I'm finally getting some time to relax on this Saturday evening.  While I watch the Bruins game on "DVR delay", why not clear out the backlog of scans sitting on my laptop.  No better place to start than this awesome Marty Brodeur Traxx parallel from last year's O-Pee-Chee Platinum set.

This card was one of the many I picked up last time I made it to the semi-frequent card show hosted at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield, MA.  That was many months ago unfortunately, but I still remember this being one of my best finds of the day.  I'd been after a parallel of Brodeur from this set since its release, I guess I just really wanted his short tenure with the Blues represented in my collection.  Plucked from a dollar box, this one was a real bargain!

That same seller had this 2015 Bowman Edwin Escobar Gold parallel in a box for just fifty cents!  Escobar didn't see any MLB action this past season, after logging his first two career appearances with Boston in 2014.  Nonetheless, this felt like a steal given that it's serial numbered to /50 copies.

Here's one I grabbed out of the dollar box at my local hobby shop a long, long, time ago.  George Crowe and his glasses are scanned at long last.  Can't beat '57 Topps.

Sticking with the hobby shop theme, here's one from the quarter box.  I'm not an Indians fan, anyone care to explain what the hell is going on with this mascot?

A nice early-career photo of HOFer Mike Schmidt on this SSPC release from the mid-'70s.

I bought this card on COMC simply because I couldn't believe how insanely cheap it was listed for.  $.78 was my grand total for a new 1954 Bowman card, if you can believe that!  Welcome to the collection, Solly Hemus.

This one was the highlight of a 6-card pack of 2009 O-Pee-Chee baseball that I recently selected from my rainy day pack stash for ripping.  Great horizontal card of a player who just wrapped up an impressive career.

How about some football cards?  While I don't actively collect the sport, the three cards I'm showing here were just too cool for this Pats fan to leave behind in a quarter bin at a show.

A couple of nice Stadium Club cards featuring Ty Law, and Drew Bledsoe getting crushed by a pair of Falcons.  Not surprising in the least to see Stadium Club's killer photograph translate to football.

Maybe not as nice looking as the other two, but I couldn't leave this Finest Ty Law behind either.

Here's a shiny card from COMC featuring ear-biter Luis Suarez.  Despite those on-field antics, I loved watching this guy score over and over again for Liverpool in his short tenure with the club.  One of the cards I wanted most from the Panini Prizm World Cup set.

I paid a little over a buck for this Justin Masterson mini, which Topps stamped and then re-issued just a few short years after it came out to begin with.  I know, I'm a sucker.

Here's a trio of Heritage Minor Leagues that were part of a small Sportlots order.

I'm always looking for ways to add new Carlos Correa cardboard on the cheap, and was more than happy to shell out the twenty five cents asking price for this one.

I'd forgotten about this Manny Ramirez card, was a no-brainer to throw it in from the same seller for just a few pennies more.

I went back for a third Holiday Mega Box, and wouldn't you know it, I pulled the Correa Chrome Update.  After picking up just three boxes and landing both the Bryant and the Correa Chromes, I'm done buying these at this point.  Already accumulated a few more Chrome Updates via trade (post coming this week) as well.  I'm down to just eleven of these needed at this point, which are all on my set building want list.  If you've got any of them I'm definitely interested!
 

At roughly a quarter of the 2015-16 season played, I can honestly say that as a fan I haven't missed Milan Lucic too much.

My scanner loves these Bubble Refractors from 2014 Bowman Chrome, and so do I!  Some of the best looking parallels to come out of any set in recent years if you ask me.  With just 99 copies of each card out there, it's unlikely I'll ever complete a team set.  Victorino here is my fourth to date.

This card certainly has a strange vibe to it after Tony's passing last year.  I can't believe I'm still finding Fleer Pro Visions inserts like this one that I don't have yet.

Here's a new addition to my Sox collection courtesy of the 2002 Upper Deck Vintage '71 Topps rip-off set.

I grabbed this one out of the quarter box at the LCS just because Flair was such a high-end set when I was growing up.  In fact, any Flair insert is pretty much coming home with me when priced at a quarter.

My newest Wally the Green Monster card.  Wally's pictured against the backdrop of the giant flag draped across the real Green Monster in the background.  I really get a kick out of the Mascots inserts in Opening Day, I hope it's one that Topps keeps around for a while.

It may not have scanned so well, but these Select Fire on Ice inserts look amazing in hand.  Conacher hasn't done much at the NHL level, and seems to be playing in Switzerland, but it's a cool card nonetheless given that it came from a quarter bin.

Here's another quarter bin score.  I have fond memories of these Studio cards that were made to resemble credit cards, and when you combine that with a chance to get another new Canseco Red Sox card you've got a winner.

Living in New England, and being somewhat of an amateur history buff, I wasn't going to leave this Samuel Adams chrome parallel on the counter at the hobby shop.  Adding to the appeal is the fact that it's numbered to /1776 copies.

Here's a super shiny X-Fractor of the Red Sox slugger who just announced he'll be retiring after the coming season.  On a side note, 2014 might be my favorite Topps Finest release in recent memory.  These things are just an explosion of color.

Alright, final card for tonight.  This Rainbow Foil Black Jagr was on the shelf at the LCS right near the Sam Adams chrome card from above.  I can't get enough of watching Jagr continue to deposit pucks in the net even at his advanced age.  In fact, I'm thinking of starting up an "over the hill" collection dedicated to guys like Jagr, Chris Chelios, Jamie Moyer, etc.  Basically anyone who seems or seemed to defy the aging process, and enjoy success at their chosen sport for far longer than any man should.

This one seemed like a great card to start with, since it's serial numbered to a scant /100 copies, and includes career stats (to date)!

That's all I've got for tonight, thanks for listening to my ramblings...