Stickers, Scratch-Offs & More - A Package from Tony

I could go on about how work and my personal life prevented me from doing much of anything when it came to sports cards this past week, but you didn't come here to read a bunch of complaints.  You came to see cards!

On this beautiful Saturday here in New England let's take a look at some of the cards I received a few weeks back from Tony L of the great blog Off Hiatus Baseball Cards.  We've traded a few times now, but looking back on it some time had passed since we last sent any cards each others' way so I was happy to find this latest bubble mailer in my mailbox.

Obviously Tony didn't send me an original 1954 Bowman Ted Williams, but I absolutely love this '89 Bowman reprint.  It's also probably the closest I'll ever get to owning an original.  As vintage collectors know, Ted's card was pulled at some point during printing, making it extremely rare and coveted.  Maybe someday, but for now this reprint does the trick.

This package actually made quite a dent in my '89 Bowman team set.  These were cards that I owned plenty of as a kid, but very few of which survived into my current collection.  This Jim Rice is more the exception than the rule when it comes to photos in this set...

...as most of the cards feature posed shots like you see with Dwight Evans here.  When I was a kid I didn't really appreciate these.  I think it was partly that they were difficult to store being oversized, and maybe partly due to the fact that I wasn't familiar enough with cards from the '50s to have an appreciation for the size.  Nowadays I think they're not half bad.  I'd certainly rank them above plenty of other sets that came out in the late '80s.

Next up in the package was a generous dose of 2008 Topps Red Sox.  I can never seem to decide whether or not I care for this design.

These were great either way though, because they're not just standard Topps cards.  They're from the yearly team set.  The ones that come in a blister pack and are numbered BOS1, BOS2 for the Red Sox, NYM1 for the Mets, etc.

I only had a couple from this set previously, but thanks to this package I'm really within striking distance of a complete team set now.

The other thing I like about these is that they were released in the wake of the 2007 World Series Championship season, so it's a great look back at who some of the key players on the roster were at that point in franchise history.

Your 2007 World Series MVP, Mike Lowell!

I'm always happy to land any new card of Hideki Okajima.  Who'd have thought that between he and Matsuzaka, it was Okajima who was often the more effective pitcher.  Plus, his delivery was great.

A nice Fred Lynn insert from 2013 Topps.

How about some stickers?  These Panini releases from the '80s are totally new for me.  I got Wade Boggs...

...and a young Ellis Burks from the 1988 sticker set.

And Dewey Evans from 1989!  Very cool, especially since I have no recollection of even seeing either of these sets in my first go-round at collecting.

There was more mini goodness in the bubble mailer aside from the Panini stickers, like this Topps UK Mini Wade Boggs.  Having been back collecting for nearly a decade now as an adult, you'd think I'd have tracked down most of the '80s Boggs cards at this point, but you'd be wrong.

Here's another Mike Lowell, this one an insert from 2008 Upper Deck, which is one of my absolute favorite sets from the modern era.  I finally completed the entire thing a year or two ago, I really should do a post on it one of these days...

This one really brought a smile to my face.  I remember this Japanese variation on the Topps Matsuzaka rookie card being quite hyped back in those days.  This was the year that I got back into collecting, and I'm a sucker for a good gimmick card.  I had totally forgotten this even existed, what a great throw-in.

Capping things off is another first for me, the only '81 Topps Scratch-off card in my humble collection.  What a great oddball, I'm going to keep this unscratched as it is for now.

Tony, as usual it was an absolute blast going through all of the great stuff you sent (every single card of which I needed).  I managed to get a PWE off to you this week, but I still feel I owe you so I'm keeping an eye out and hope to replenish my Brewers trade stack soon.  Thank you!