A Christmas Surprise from Billy

Billy from Cardboard History provided one of the absolute highlights of my year of collecting in 2019 when he sent me a vintage Ted Williams card a few weeks back, among many other Red Sox goodies.  You can imagine my surprise when, only a short time later, he sent me an unexpected gift of four fantastic cards!

In the envelope were three carefully selected (I can tell!) and much appreciated cards for my Red Sox collection.  I know this amazingly shiny David Ortiz card comes from a 2018 Topps release, as that was the year they printed up so many 1983-inspired inserts.  I'm not exactly sure what this card is though.  It looks like it's what would normally be referred to as a "Prism refractor" in the Topps lexicon, but I'm not entirely sure.  Either way, it's a great new addition to my Red Sox collection.

This next one is even cooler.  These super thick "Baseball Royalty" inserts from 2018 Topps were a tough pull if I recall.  They seem fairly popular even on the secondary market a few years later, and I'd never seen one in person that I recall prior to receiving this Clemens.  A very regal and classy look from Topps with this insert set.  Certainly one of the more unique cards of Roger I've added to my collection in quite some time.

Rounding out the Red Sox portion of the package is this great Rafael Devers RC from 2018 Topps Museum Collection.  Billy was amazingly on-point with this pick-up!  Though Xander Bogaerts remains my favorite player, I've been grabbing more and more Devers cards, particularly rookies, of late.  I do it because he's a ton of fun to watch, and because I'm worried that if he has another year or two like the one he just turned in he'll explode and these cards will as well.

This is an especially great card for me because I already had the Xander Bogaerts from this set, so these make a nice pair in my collection.  Regardless of what happens or doesn't happen with Mookie Betts in the off-season, it will be fun to watch Bogaerts, Devers and JD Martinez swat baseballs next summer.

As if that trio of completely spot-on Red Sox cards weren't thoughtful enough, Billy included a buyback as well!

1974 Topps #286 - Tony Muser

A fantastic addition to my buyback collection here.  These particular White Sox jerseys are just so foreign and wrong to me that I actually enjoy them.  Combine that with a nice batting practice/stadium backdrop and you've got a great '70s card.

I don't know much about Tony Muser, but I do know that this is the very first #286 buyback in my collection!  You know what that means, into the franken-set it goes.  Best of all...

...this buyback is a new number that also completes a new page!  Some heavy late '60s/'70s presence on this particular page, but looking good.  My personal favorite is, not surprisingly, the "Impossible Dream" season Tony Conigliaro at upper left.

Billy, thanks so much for this completely unexpected and very generous dose of holiday cheer!  All four cards were absolutely perfect, cards I'd have picked up for myself any day.  You clearly know my collecting interests very well.

I've got one more trade package in the backlog to catch up on before the end of the year, and it's a whopper from my friend Chris the Collector.  Look for that post sometime after the holiday, but before year's end.  Thanks as always for stopping by on this Christmas Eve!

Franken-set Progress: 657/792 (82%)
1990 Topps Buyback Set: 121/792 (15%)
"Rejected" Buybacks: 654
Total Buybacks in Collection: 1,432