Signature Sundays - Fred Lynn

Here's another Fan Favorites Autograph from this year's Archives set, and another auto that I've wanted for my Red Sox collection for what feels like forever now...

What a fantastic card of the man who, as most baseball fans know, was the first to ever be awarded Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.  While Fred did go on to enjoy a lengthy career in pro ball, that 1975 season is the one he'll always be remembered by, so I'm glad my autograph is on the '75 Topps design.

Aside from the MVP and Rookie of the Year hardware, Lynn would become a 9-time All-Star and 4-time Gold Glove winner before hanging up the spikes.  He even eclipsed 300 career home runs, not too shabby at all.  Best of all, Lynn has a nice, large, clearly legible signature.

I've got one more auto from this year's Archives to show off in the coming weeks, and that's about it for me as far as this set goes...

Coot Veal Red Sox - Part 6 - The Finale

At last I've reached the final installment of the trade package from Dustin of Coot Veal and the Vealtones. This was one mammoth package and it took a lot of scanning to finally arrive at the end...

Staring up at me through the last team set bag was Oil Can Boyd's smiling face.  This is a great sticker, from the 1986 Fleer Star Stickers set.

A guy Red Sox fans would like to forget...

I thought it was pretty funny that David's nickname, Boomer is actually used on this card.

Bruce Hurst rocking the distinct towel-under-the-jacket look on his 1987 Topps Mini Leader card.

Here's the first of many Mike Greenwell cards that were included in this bag.

This is one of those Topps Glossy Send-Ins from the late '80s.

One of my favorite 1991 Topps cards.  Like many collectors I've always felt this set was under-appreciated.  The Red Sox in particular have some real beauties.

This card is begging to be used in a St. Patrick's Day post, green on the card, green in the name...

Closing out the run of Greenwell cards is a nice trio in horizontal layout...

...broken bat!...

My first card from the 1994 Ted Williams set, fan favorite Rico Petrocelli.

I am a sucker for the Classic cards, and this one is mint which is quite hard to come by in my experience.

This one was really appreciated as I have very few Sox cards of Kevin Millar.

I always forget that Mercker hurled for Boston.  Can't be too hard on myself I guess, given that he appeared in a grand total of 5 games in his Red Sox career.

Greg sadly passed away from testicular cancer at age 31.  He never cracked the big league roster but he did get a baseball card, and I'm happy to have it in my Red Sox collection.

Justin made it as high as AAA Pawtucket, but never took a swing or the field as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

In closing, Dustin also threw in four new Will Clarks for my player collection.

That's a wrap on a great trade package.  There were over 150 new Red Sox cards for my collection in this one package alone, plus a handful of Clarks.  This is hands down one of the best trade packages I have ever received, thanks again Dustin!!!

COMC Blaster - Sox, Whalers and Bruins - New England Hot Blaster

Let's take a look at what came out of a $20 spending spree on COMC, rather than me buying a blaster and giving the money to a big box store.

 2012-13 Upper Deck #205 - Torey Krug Young Guns RC - $1.25

I was psyched to land this card a while back, especially for the price.  I was at a sports bar with my wife watching one of the early games in the Bruins/Rangers series where Krug was just lighting it up.  During the intermission I hopped on my smartphone and just 2 minutes later this card was mine for $1.25, gotta love technology!  Not long after that, prices rose quickly and the cheapest one offered on COMC as of this morning is a whopping $17.47!
 

That's just a great deal right there.  I'm really looking forward to what Krug and Bartkowski can bring to the team next year.

1995-96 Upper Deck Be A Player #S33 - Frantisek Kucera Autograph - $1.55

Here's an autograph that I picked up and now kind of regret, but for the price I guess I don't mind.  Can you identify why I'm disappointed?  Yup, even though this looked like a Hartford Whalers autograph at first, Kucera is actually listed as a Vancouver Canuck, Upper Deck just didn't have an updated photo to use.  Oh well, I doubt a certified Kucera Whalers auto will be released anytime soon, so this is probably the closest I'll ever get.

2008 Upper Deck Heroes #22 - Manny Ramirez Emerald Parallel #'d/499 - $.76

Here's the beginning of a small run of 2008 Upper Deck Heroes Red Sox.  I've talked numerous times about my love for the Heroes design, so combine that with the fact that I'm a sucker for a good colored parallel and I just couldn't turn these down for the price.

2008 Upper Deck Heroes #28 - Daisuke Matsuzaka Emerald Parallel #'d/499 - $.68

I used this logic with these parallels...would I snag them out of a dollar bin at a show?  If so, how could I pass when I could land them for 2/3 to 3/4 of that price?

2008 Upper Deck Heroes #26 - Curt Schilling Emerald Parallel #'d/499 - $.59

The emerald parallels are numbered to 499 copies, so I should be able to knock off a team set relatively easily.

2008 Upper Deck Heroes #19 - Mike Lowell Beige Parallel #'d/299 - $.46

Here's the best steal of the four Heroes cards, commemorating Lowell's World Series MVP in 2007 and numbered to 299 copies, for under $.50!

2011 Topps #315(B) - Jimmie Foxx Cognac Diamond Anniversary Retired Legends Parallel - $1.00

Another guilty collecting pleasure of mine, the Cognac Diamond Anniversary parallels from 2011 Topps.  Topps has kind of beaten these shiny parallels to death in recent years, but I still think the originals from 2011 are the best.  The retired stars are my favorite, so I gladly forked over an even $1 for Jimmie Foxx.

2008 Topps #RV5 - Clay Buchholz K-Mart Rookie Parallel - $.95

I had no idea this K-Mart gold parallel even existed.  When I picked this one up Buchholz was still on his early season run before he was sidelined by injury, but I'm happy to have it nonetheless.

2011 Topps Update #640 (B) - Eddie Mathews Cognac Diamond Anniversary Retired Stars Parallel - $1.15

Maybe someday I'll end up trading or selling this one, but I'll hang onto it for now...

2007 Upper Deck #89UD-CF - Carlton Fisk 1989 Upper Deck Reprint - $1.03

Another card that I had no idea existed.  I didn't buy any Upper Deck in 2007, I was just getting back into cards that year.  These are cool inserts and there are a few other Red Sox on the checklist, but they're surprisingly expensive so Carlton is the only one I grabbed for now.

2011 Topps Update #44(B) - Rogers Hornsby Cognac Diamond Anniversary Retired Stars Parallel - $.72

One more retired Cognac parallel, how could I pass this one up for $.72?

2007 Fleer #RS-JL - Jon Lester Rookie Sensations - $.60

Like the Buchholz card above, I grabbed this one when Jon was on an incredible run to start 2013.  He hasn't looked so good lately though, and got lit for 5 earned runs in 5+ innings just last night against Seattle.  He's still one of the best lefties to ever pitch in Boston, so I'm happy with the cheap rookie insert.

2011 Topps Opening Day #M-4 - Wally the Green Monster Mascot - $.75

Not much explanation needed here, I will have every Wally the Green Monster card out there!  This is my fourth.

1993-94 Upper Deck SP #162 - Pavel Bure - $.70

One of the final three cards I needed to complete my '93-94 SP hockey set, if you've got #10 or #48 look me up!

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen #234 - Carlton Fisk Framed Gold Parallel - $.49

A great card here for less than two quarters.  I love the dirty uniform and ghostly looking fans in the stands.

2012 Topps #10 - Jon Lester Wal-Mart Blue Parallel - $.36

$.36, what more can I say?

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen #60 - Jacoby Ellsbury Framed Gold Parallel - $.70

Here's the first of three Jacoby Ellsbury cards in this post, and the most expensive of the three.

2012 Topps Archives #77C-JR - Jim Rice 1977 Topps Cloth Sticker - $.50

I think this is the last Red Sox player I needed from the '77 Topps Cloth Stickers insert set in 2012 Archives.

2012 Topps #170 - Jacoby Ellsbury Wal-Mart Blue Parallel - $.45

An awesome card, one of my favorites from 2012.

2012 Topps #158 - Josh Reddick Gold Sparkle Parallel - $.37

I didn't have any of these Gold Sparkle parallels in my collection so figured I'd grab this one on the cheap.  Besides, Reddick has been pretty damn good since being dealt to Oakland.

1996-97 Upper Deck SPx #19 - Brendan Shanahan Gold Parallel - $1.65

I've had the regular base version of this card and have always been impressed by the design, now I finally have the matching Gold parallel...

1996-97 Pinnacle #187 - Geoff Sanderson Artist's Proof Parallel - $1.62

I could be wrong about this, and I'm too lazy to look it up, but I seem to remember these Artist's Proof parallels being highly sought after.  I figured it was rare enough that it was worth the money for my growing Whalers collection.

2012 Topps #TM-70 - Jon Lester 1987 Topps Mini - $.38

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen #SS-DP - Dustin Pedroia Sliding Stars - $.48

2012 Topps #170 - Jacoby Ellsbury Gold Sparkle Parallel - $.54

Finally, I like this Ellsbury card so much I grabbed yet another parallel.  25 or so cards for $19.73, as has been the case every time so far I'm much more satisfied with these than what I likely would have pulled from a blaster.  This will probably be the last of these for a while, as I generally let 50 or so cards build up on COMC before requesting a shipment.  Hope you enjoyed!