BoSox & Buybacks - A PWE from Joe Shlabotnik

Tonight I've got the contents of a wonderful PWE that I received from Joe Shlabotnik to show off to you.

Joe is someone who, like me, seems to appreciate a lot of variety in his collection, so our back-and-forth PWEs typically contain a wide assortment of cardboard.  This time was no different, and we start off with a trio of brand new 2017 Red Sox!  This 2016 RBI Leaders card featuring Big Papi will serve as a nice reminder of his monster final season in my collection.

I was underwhelmed by the single pack of 2017 Topps flagship that I opened, but perhaps if I had pulled some Red Sox cards I would have felt a little better.  Dustin earned this card by swatting an impressive .318 last year.

Closing out the 2017 Sox is this insert of Cy Young winner Rick Porcello.  I can't believe I actually just typed that last sentence.  I wonder what the Vegas odds were at the outset of the 2016 season for Porcello to capture this award.  Crazy.

It wasn't all new stuff this time around though, as Joe helped to back-fill some holes in my Red Sox collection with this 1986 Mini Leaders Dewey...

...another great 2002 Topps Gallery card of Anastacio Martinez, whose entire MLB career consists of 11 games with Boston during the amazing 2004 season...

...and this Michael Chavis unlicensed monstrosity from Panini.  Hey, not every Red Sox card can be a "looker", I still happily accept this one.

Despite what the post title indicates, it wasn't all Red Sox and buybacks, as I got this awesome '76 SSPC card of George Scott.  Joe has sent me a ton of cards from this set over time, and they never get old.  I've yet to see one that wasn't interesting, and could totally see myself making a run at this set someday.

I even got a hockey card this time around!  Ted Donato is a MA native, born and raised, and has served as the head coach for Harvard's hockey squad since retiring from the game (he played his college hockey with Harvard as well).  This is a Choice Reserve parallel from 1998-99 Upper Deck Choice.  Great stuff and I certainly didn't expect this one.

And now for the three buybacks that I found in the envelope...

1979 Topps #129 - Marty Pattin

I have to like a guy who played for both the Seattle Pilots and the Boston Red Sox over the course of his career.  Marty was damn effective in his two seasons in Boston as well, with 32 total wins (plus he came this close to tossing a no-hitter).  I didn't have a #129 buyback for this project yet, so this one is a hit!

1990 Topps #268 - Rob Murphy

I was extremely excited to find this Rob Murphy buyback in the package.  Joe hit a total home run with this one given that the Red Sox are my favorite team, and that 1990 Topps is the first baseball set that I collected.  I think he even made a comment in his note to me that this card was just screaming to be sent my way.  I was all but certain that Murphy would end up in the franken-set binder, but I found this card already in slot 268:

Rob Murphy had a more successful career than Gil Flores did, and generally speaking 1978 Topps isn't exactly my favorite set either.  Still, there's something about the oddness and uniqueness of this dugout stretching shot that just calls to me.

I'm surprising even myself with this one, but I'm going with the Flores.  I still love this Murphy though, and I could see myself being just crazy enough to go after a 1990 buyback set someday if I ever manage to wrap up this franken-set project.  This is just about the perfect buyback that one could send my way, yet it still missed the cut, truly an example of just how difficult it's beginning to get to make the binder.

1987 Topps #140 - Bret Saberhagen

Rounding out the group is a nice '87 Topps Saberhagen.  A great card that came out right in the middle of Saberhagen's prime (he won the AL Cy Young Award two years before this and two years after).  Great stuff, and best of all 140 is a number I was missing previously so this card makes the binder.

Two out of three is pretty impressive at this point in the project, and that 1990 that got rejected is easily one of the highlights of my reject box to date.  Thanks for another fantastic PWE Joe, I'll get another one headed your way shortly in return!

Franken-set Progress:  340/792 (43%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  127
Total Buybacks in Collection:  467