Another Helping of Shlabotnik Sox

It's high time I showed off the remainder of the awesome Red Sox cards that I received from longtime hobby friend Joe Shlabotnik quite a ways back.  I'd like to get caught up on having featured all cards received in trade this year by December 31st, so here they are, the newest additions to my ever-expanding Boston Red Sox collection...

When I first thumbed to this Nomah card in the stack, I had a feeling I maybe already owned a copy.  It turns out that I felt that way because I have two other Garciaparra inserts from 1999 Topps flagship, but not this one!  Always happy to land a new Garciaparra card, especially one from the era in which he was my favorite player on the Red Sox (1996 through 2003).

Next up, a trio of 1981 Donruss cards towards my team set from this release.  This Dwight Evans is gloriously mis-cut, but I'm not bothered by it in the least.

Jim Dwyer looks...concerned?  Certainly uneasy at least.

There's really no excuse for me not to have every playing-era card of the great Jerry Remy by this point, but clearly I don't because this gem was new to me!

From there we'll transition to 2018 Topps Opening Day, a set from which there were a few different singles in the latest delivery from Joe.

Opening Day or not, not everyone just throws around Mookie Betts cards for free and by surprise these days.  That Joe is a solid guy I tell ya!

I'm still kind of surprised at just how quickly Hanley's MLB career came to an end.

The Topps All-Star Rookie Cup rounds out the 2018 Opening Day cards.  Perhaps the best part about this batch is that my 2018 Opening Day Red Sox team set is now complete, woohoo!

Here's one odd early '80s Fleer that got left out of my last post on Joe's mailer, where I showed a few of these fuzzy beauts.

A couple of very artsy Diamond Kings cards are next.  I think these are from the 2020 release, but I've filed them away weeks ago and am too lazy to confirm right now.

Another new Mookie?  Jackpot!

JD Martinez, from the same ASG subset from 2019 Topps Update.  Martinez is a bit of a mystery to me, in that after two really great years with the Red Sox he doesn't seem to be too popular with collectors.  He struggled in 2020 I'll admit, but so did a lot of guys, and I'm not really holding that train wreck of a season against any player.  I guess we'll see how he bounces back next year...

Next up, some Fleer Tradition cards.  These are from the 2005 release, which is great because they feature the players who finally broke the curse and won the 2004 World Series.  This one doubles as a new addition to my small Bartolo Colon collection, also.

Two thirds of a Red Sox card here, but that counts to me!

Dirt Dog!

Yet another David Ortiz card.  Right now Big Papi is the most-represented player in my baseball card collection, with a slim one-card lead over Xander Bogaerts.  Pretty amazing since I frequently search out Xander's cardboard, while David just seems to sort of happen by circumstance, due to the sheer number of Ortiz card that have been produced over the years.

A stray Donruss Team Heroes Dewey...

...and a stray Topps Heritage Manny.  I still have quite a ways to go in terms of the earlier Topps Heritage Red Sox team sets, so this card is very much appreciated.

Here's another new Nomar, this one an extremely shiny and die-cut card.  I think it'll find a home in my in-progress shiny card binder project, actually.  The bottom of the card is a standard, straight edge, but you could cut your fingers along the top there if you weren't careful!

Here's one lone hockey card that made its way into the package, featuring defenseman John Moore of the Bruins.  I've really strayed away from modern hockey cards big time over the past few seasons, with few exceptions, so this is actually my first card from last year's O-Pee-Chee hockey set.  I'm guessing Joe found a loose pack or two in the wild, and I'm glad he passed this one on to me so I could at least get a look at the design in hand.

Finally, Joe was nice enough to throw in a fantastic hit that he pulled from last year's Topps Heritage release.  Check this one out:

Niiiiiiiice!  Amazingly, though I have just a couple dozen cards of Rico, the majority of which are of the vintage variety that were released during his playing career, this is now my third autograph of the man.  All three are on-card, and all three feature beautiful signatures like this one here.  There's a man who takes some pride in his penmanship!  Next time you pull an autograph that looks like two initials, or a one-second scribble, think back to this card.

Joe, I really appreciate all the great cards you sent my way here, and even more so the hobby friendship that we've struck up over the years.  Thank you!  I'll see if I can round up some cardboard to send your way over holiday break maybe.

To everyone else, thanks as always for stopping by, and stay safe out there!

Cool Cards from Chris

A few weeks ago, I received a completely unexpected PWE in the mail from my hobby friend Chris, who writes at both The Collector, and the newly-launched The 1993.  I have enjoyed his writing for years, and am especially loving The 1993 so far, given that I was an impressionable 10-11 years old in that great year!  In fact, I've considered launching a "The 1994" blog inspired by Chris' work, but we'll see about that, I have enough trouble updating this one at times...

Anyway, Chris has already featured the small batch of Sox I returned his way on his own blog, so it's high time I got to featuring the cards he sent me here...

Most of the PWE contained some set filler cards from my long-neglected Want List here on the blog.  Most of those set needs were for my 1994-95 Parkhurst Missing Link set.  I was collecting as a kid the first time around when this set was released, and loved the glimpse back at the NHL players of yesteryear.  At the time anyway, I don't think the NHL did a great job teaching young fans about the history of its sport the way MLB did, so I just thought these were great (and still do!).

I don't think I had more than a few packs of the stuff as a kid, but I've been slowly accumulating the set since returning to the hobby as an adult.

So few hockey sets were produced in the '50s and '60s that many of these players are new to my collection entirely.  Case in point, this is my very first hockey card of Rudy Migay, despite the fact that he played in well over 400 NHL games.

My favorite of the bunch that Chris sent along (all Toronto Maple Leafs, coincidentally) has to be this Ed Chadwick.  I've mentioned this on the blog before, but I'm a total sucker for old-school goalie cards featuring brown leather pads and wooden sticks.

This card actually reminds me that I have a fantastic Ed Chadwick card to show off that's been waiting in the wings for a while now.  I'll try to see if I can move that one to the top of the "to be posted" pile...

Rounding out the Parkhurst Missing Link cards is this Tod Sloan Scoring Leader subset card.  Love the mitts here too, actually.

I highly recommend that anyone who has an interest in hockey history pick up some of these cards.  They are a great window to the past, and you're bound to learn a few things in thumbing through them.  I'd just barely tipped past the 50% complete mark on the 180-card set prior to receiving this handful, so I'm well on my way to 60% complete now.

Chris also hooked me up with a modern hockey card, one that I need in my slow-burn attempt to complete the 2013-14 Prizm hockey set.  I wish Panini could have stuck around longer in the hockey card market, as I really enjoyed this release.  I've already completed the 200-card short set, but have a few dozen of these pesky SP rookies still to go.  One fewer now, though!

The PWE wasn't all hockey cards, as I found this very surprising Red Sox need inside.  I would have guessed that I'd already completed the 2014 Topps flagship team set, but a quick glance at TCDB.com shows that is not the case.  Happy to welcome Stephen Drew to the collection.

Last, but certainly not least, a lone need for my 2015 Topps Stadium Club baseball set build.  It's interesting that Chris included this one, as I've been telling myself lately that now that I'm getting more organized and purging so much, I need to get my hands around where I'm at with my 2014-2020 Stadium Club baseball sets.  It's pretty much the only release I enjoy collecting each year, so my plan is to get my want list up to date for every one of those sets.

2015 is the one Stadium Club release from the modern run that I actually do have updated, and thanks to this card I'm down to just over 40 remaining needs to knock it out.  Amazingly, I received another surprise package out of the blue shortly after this one that got me even closer to set completion.  But, that's another post for another day.

Chris, thanks so much for the awesome surprise, it made my day finding these in the mailbox.  I'll try to get another batch of Boston cards out to you soon.  In the meantime, thanks everyone for stopping by, and stay safe out there!

Shlabotnik Sox - '80s Fleer Boost

Let's take a look at another batch of Red Sox cards that I received in the recent past from friend of the blog Joe Shlabotnik, shall we?

As the post title indicates, this batch is all about crossing off some '80s Fleer needs.  For example, I had just three Red Sox cards from the 1982 Fleer release before receiving this latest package from Joe.

The Fleer cards that Joe tossed into the envelope included both stars (superstars, even!), and some lesser-known players like Tom Burgmeier.

The photography in the '82 release can be fuzzy at times to say the least, as on this Gary Allenson, but it's still cool in a quirky sort of way.  Personally, I'm a fan of cards that contain pictures of trees in the background.

I can't tell if Reid Nichols is watching the base coach for a sign here, or if he just struck out?

Extremely fuzzy photo on Carney Lansford's card...

...and Garry Hancock brings up the rear as far as '82 Fleer is concerned.  I tripled the number of '82 Fleer Sox I have thanks to this delivery, but that's not all...

...as Joe sent along some '83s as well.  Pretty stunning improvement in photograph clarity from one year to the next on Fleer's part.

Tom Burgmeier, in the dark...

Mark Clear, possibly counting votes in Georgia?  ;-)

Here's some real star power, with HOFer Dennis Eckersley showing his famed lengthy locks.  For a simple portrait photograph, I actually really like this card.

Rich Gedman's '83 Fleer card really gives you a sense of how strong this guy was.  Look at those biceps!  Gotta love the glasses on this one too.

Another nice star card here, with staff ace Bruce Hurst!

I'm noticing, at least within this small selection of cards, just how few in-game or action shots there are in '83 Fleer.  Maybe it's just coincidence with these Red Sox shots, but there's a whole lot of hanging on the sidelines posing going on here.

Another HOFer with big Jim Rice!  Jim looks a little angry on this card.  Pretty great to land both he and Eck from this set in one fell swoop.

A couple more sitting around shots...

...but then...

...a huge card for my team set featuring a pair of HOFers, including the great Yaz!  Also, how tall was Mark Clear anyway?!?!  Just looked it up, 6'4" apparently.  That makes sense.  He sure looks like a giant here compared to Eckersley though, who was 6'2" himself.

We'll close out today's post with longtime Red Sox color commentator Jerry Remy.  The Rem-dawg is looking pretty spiffy on this '85 Fleer issue.  Bonus points for that fantastic McDonald's wristband!

These fantastic Fleer cards put another dent in my featuring of all of the great cards Joe sent in his last package, but there's more to the tale even still.  Until next time though, thanks as always for stopping by!