Absolutely Blown Away!

Over the past couple of years, as I've been condensing and trimming down my collection, I've sent a lot of cards to Billy Kingsley, who writes over at Cardboard History.  My goal is simply to reduce the size of my collection, and since Billy appreciates all things cardboard and is an all-around good guy he's the perfect target to dump large batches of cards on.

Well, recently Billy went out of his way to purchase some Red Sox cards to send me as a thank you gift.  This was totally unexpected, and certainly not necessary, but is just the latest of many recent examples of the kindness and generosity that abounds in this hobby.

Inside Billy's package were two plastic cubes chock full of Red Sox singles, which I had an absolute blast going through.  In addition to providing me with some great trade fodder, I ended up with well over a hundred new cards for my ever-expanding team collection.

I'd have been blown away by Billy's generosity had it stopped there, but inside the package was a single card with a note wrapped around it that said to save it for last.  I was in a state of disbelief when I peeled back the paper and saw this card staring back at me...

Yes, that is a 1958 Topps Ted freakin' Williams!  It's been weeks since this card arrived now, and I'm still in a state of disbelief that someone sent me a real, vintage Ted Williams card out of the blue.  I remembered that Billy had emailed me a while back to confirm that my 1950s Red Sox cards were up to date on The Trading Card Database, and now I know why.

Someday I'd like to acquire the complete run of Ted Williams' Topps flagship cards, though that's a pretty tall order as far as collections go.  To receive one that I needed towards that end completely by surprise is just unreal.

Here's a look at the back, which is in great shape with no paper loss or other issues.  Love the cartoons, and the fact that it's the first card on the checklist in the '58 set as well.

This is easily one of the single greatest cards I've ever received in a trade package in all the years I've been running this blog.  I'm sure you'll be seeing it featured again on the blog soon, because it's virtually a lock to make my upcoming end-of-year "Top 19 of 2019" countdown.

I have a copy of Ted's 1957 Topps card, as well as his All-Star subset card from the '58 set.  With this one in hand I guess it makes sense to continue working my way backward and pick up a '56 Williams next!

Billy, words cannot properly express my gratitude for the thoughtful trade package that you sent, and specifically for this amazing card.  It means so much to me that you went out of your way to hunt this down and send it to me.  I'll certainly never forget that act of kindness for as long as I'm collecting.  Thank you so much!

To everyone else, thanks as always for stopping by!