Surprise Firsts & Lasts

Just because the majority of us are currently sheltering in place, that does not mean that the generosity of fellow collectors in this hobby has leveled off at all.  Case in point, in the nearly six weeks that I've been riding it out at home nearly full time, I've received no less than three card packages completely by surprise and out of the blue!

The first such package comes courtesy of longtime friends of the blog Travis and Dan.  They've hooked me up with some great Red Sox cardboard at least a couple times before, and once again this latest delivery was very much appreciated!

In this case Travis included a nice note indicating that he'd picked up a few boxes for his kids to open while stuck home from school, and thought of me as a place to send the Red Sox.  How awesome is that?!?!

These first two cards were needs towards my 2019 Topps team set, but we're only just getting started...

The next few come from last year's Opening Day release.  I had just one or two of these previously, but thanks to this package including Mookie Betts...

...another new Devers (sweet!)...

...and JD Martinez, I now have a complete team set!

Travis was very humble in his note, and told me there was no obligation to post the cards here on the blog.  Well, sorry to disappoint you Travis ;-) but I post each batch of cards that shows up here as a rule, and I certainly post about packages of cards that knock off team sets in my collection!  Awesome stuff.  Oh, and one more from 2019 Opening Day while we're at it...

How great is this Pedro Martinez card?  Pedro's one of those players I mentioned recently who I'm very close to crossing the 100-card threshold for, but this is easily one of the best photographs on any of the Martinez cards I own.

Even better, this is the third and final Red Sox card I needed to complete the team's portion of the '150 Years of Fun' insert set.  As if that weren't generous enough...

I also got my very first in-hand look at the 2020 Topps set, in the form of Eduardo Rodriguez's base card.  I'm still not sure how I feel about the design, to me it has the feel of a Bowman release more so than a flagship Topps set.  Regardless, I'm happy to finally have an example from the set in my team collection.  This card wasn't the only "first" in the package though...

...as I also got my very first taste of 2020 Topps Opening Day!  Bet you thought you were seeing double for a minute there.

There were a healthy number of cards from this latest Opening Day set to be found in the mailer.

Six cards in all, as a matter of fact.  Travis and Dan either opened a few boxes of this stuff, or they had incredible luck pulling Red Sox cards, because that constitutes a complete team set right there!

Two team sets knocked out and then some, I can't believe what a successful group of cards this was.  But wait, there's more!

Absolutely pumped to receive the latest Wally the Green Monster card.  I try to pick up his Mascot insert every year, and I'm fairly certain I have the complete run going back to the advent of these inserts.  I would have absolutely sought out the 2020 version here on COMC at some point, but thanks to Travis and Dan's generosity I no longer need to worry about that!

My favorite card in the entire package may very well be this awesome Spring Has Sprung insert.  I'd seen these posted on a couple of other blogs, and I love the late '60s hippie feel to the design.  I hadn't seen this particular card yet, but it's absolutely fantastic and makes me miss baseball a lot.

Closing things out, yet another Opening Day insert, this one paying homage to one of the most recognizable landmarks in Fenway Park.  I'll never tire of receiving any type of Fenway Park card whatsoever, since I have so many memories from my life linked to this historic place.

Travis and Dan, it was so kind of you both to think of me as a destination for these great cards.  Thank you very much!  Every single card shown in today's post was new to me and needed for my team collection.  I truly appreciate your generosity, and I hope you had fun opening your boxes and pulled at least a few good keepers for your own collections!  I've reached out via email to see if I can find some cards to send back your way.

To everyone else, thanks as always for stopping by.  Next up in the incoming packages queue is an unexpected little envelope that arrived from the Great White North.  Until then...