Shlabotnik Reports!

Let's keep plugging through the stack of incoming mail on my desk, shall we?  Next up is a nice little envelope from my frequent trade partner Joe Shlabotnik of The Shlabotnik Report!  Joe's envelopes are always a treat, and tend to cover a good mix of different sets, years and even sports.

This one was no exception as I lead off with the lone hockey card of the package.  This Bryan Berard is technically speaking a Whalers card, albeit the Detroit Whalers.  In any event it pairs nicely with the Gold parallel of the same card I plucked from a quarter box a while back.

Joe seems to have a penchant for stickers of all sorts.  I think almost every PWE he's sent me over the time we've been trading has included at least one "card" that could potentially be peeled and adhered to something.  This delivery was no different, as it contained the great '81 Fleer Jim Rice sticker above, and another that you'll see further down the post.

Moving now from something that came out before I was born, to something that was printed up just this year!  This is just my second overall card from 2016 Donruss, and so far I like what I see in the limited sample size.  If I wasn't so bent on avoiding retail wax this year I probably would have caved and picked up one or two of those jumbo hanging packs already.

Joe has been steadily supplying me with 1975 SSPC Red Sox cards for some time now.  Between the ones he's sent me, some from another trader, and a couple I picked up on my own, I think I've got around a dozen Sox from this set now.  I'd love to pick up an entire set of this stuff some day as there are so many great photos, but it's not at the top of my hobby priority list at the moment.

A new Pedroia card for me from Opening Day.  I don't hate the 2016 Topps design as muh as I did initially, but I still don't like it much either.  With that being said, of course I will shamelessly accept any and all Red Sox regardless of the design!

O-Pee-Chee!  Like many collectors I have precious few OPC baseball cards.  It's always entertaining to get one as a nice alternative to Topps.  On this one, it almost looks like this photo of Bob Bailey had all logos removed as though this were an unlicensed set, though I don't think that's the case.

I've received a few of these 2003 Donruss Team Heroes cards previously, but definitely didn't have this one.  Gotta love those striped stirrups!

See above comment about stickers.  This Eduardo Rodriguez is the first in person look I've gotten at Topps' 2016 sticker release.  I'm really excited for Rodriguez to make his debut this year for Boston.  He's been recovering from a Spring Training injury, but he looked really promising for good stretches last year and I think he could provide a nice spark in the starting rotation.  I've actually got a couple of decent cards of Eduardo I grabbed this off-season, just waiting for him to start playing to show them off.

Somehow I had no idea that Tom Seaver had a Sportflics card from his brief stint with the Red Sox.  I'd have to say this was my favorite single card in the package, hands down.  In fact, if Joe had sent me just this single card in an envelope I still would have considered that a rousing success!

I thought it was amusing that Topps introduced Wacky Package-inspired MLB stickers this year, and this is the first I've gotten my hands on.  I know they're kind of cheesy, but it's a more unique addition to my Sox collection than yet another David Ortiz base card.

Joe, thanks for the great package my friend.  I'm a little behind on trading at the moment thanks to an insane work schedule, but I'll get another PWE off to you as soon as things calm down.  And on that front, Angus, Douglas and Jeff, I'm sorry it is taking me so long, I promise I haven't forgotten about any of you.

Thanks for reading as always!