Red Sox from Jared - Catching Up on Trade Packages

I recently executed my very first trade with a new name here in the blogosphere, Jared of Catching Up with Collecting.  Jared's a Red Sox fan so he was already an okay guy in my book, but then his trade package arrived and just cemented the fact!

I don't think he's a Sox team collector specifically, but Jared does seem to player collect quite a few Sox guys, and I'm sure he ends up with a ton of Red Sox cards being a fan of the team.  He sent me a very generous stack of Red Sox cards totally blind, and despite the fact that I have well over 3,000 unique Sox cards I somehow did not yet have the majority of what he sent over.

These first three cards were all from the 2011 Topps release, with the Diamond Anniversary Crawford parallel that led off the post coming courtesy of the Update set.

There was some nice brand-spanking-new content (this package actually arrived a few weeks back when A&G was hot off the press, but I had to scan out from Marc's giant stack of '82 Topps first).  I think I'm getting close to finishing off the 2014 Allen & Ginter Red Sox team set, all through the generosity of fellow traders.

Jared sent over the Buchholz and Rice base cards...

...as well as Big Papi's Pastime's Pastimes insert.  I'm not as big on these as some collectors out there but I am always chasing Red Sox cards regardless.  I actually sent one of these inserts (Jose Altuve) the other direction in this very same trade.

This Prizm RC of Alex Wilson may not look like much, and I doubt many outside of the Boston sports market have even heard of the guy, but it was one of my favorite cards in the package.  Alex has been solid out of the bullpen whenever I've seen him this year, and to my knowledge he's yet to receive a flagship Topps card.  Really happy to add his name to my Red Sox collection!

Here's another guy who's not exactly a household name, Tommy Hottovy.  I'd be lying if I said I even vaguely recalled anything about the 8 appearances he made with Boston back in the summer of 2011.  Regardless, this is my first card of Tommy so he's another new name for my Sox collection.

Here's another first, my very first Stadium Club Chrome card from any year.  In fact, I had no idea they even produced Chrome versions of the Stadium Club set.  What can I say, these sets came out at a time when collecting sports cards was the furthest thing from my mind.

I had to do a double take on this JD Drew relic before realizing it technically is a Red Sox card.  The back of the card's got a nice big Boston logo, and it says Red Sox on the front so that counts for me.  I've got many cards of JD from his time in Boston, but this is my first and only relic.

There were a few of these great 2007 SP Authentic cards in the bubble mailer as well.  Perhaps someone out there can help me clarify.  This particular card of Cy Young features a colorized team logo on the front, just like my existing cards from this set.

These next two, however...

...have more of a foil or blue color to the logo.  My guess is that these came from the 2008 Red Sox Fan Packs that were released by Upper Deck and contained slightly differing versions of Red Sox from 2007 products.  Can anyone confirm?

Here's the card I was probably most surprised to see.  I don't buy a ton of modern product, and certainly not blasters, so I have very limited exposure to these manu-patch things.  It's super think and I have to say looks pretty cool in hand.  I'm a little perplexed as to why Babe is listed with the Red Sox on the card but is wearing Yankee pinstripes in the photo.  Same rules as the JD Drew relic though, this counts as a Red Sox card in my book.  It's also serial numbered on the back to /2013.

The oldest card in the package is one I can't believe I never acquired until now.  I'm an absolute sucker for the Diamond Kings cards of the '80s (isn't everyone who was collecting at that time?), and despite my personal feelings about Roger here this card is just great.

I completed the 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces set long ago...

...but the three I received in this package were different.  These do not have the canvas finish that I'm familiar with, but instead have a glossy coat.

I know from reading other blogs that these are in fact from the 2008 Upper Deck Red Sox fan packs I mentioned above.

A new Yaz for my mini binder!

I'm not huge on the design of the Classic Walk-Offs inserts from 2012 Topps, but that being said I can never have too much cardboard commemorating Fisk's legendary blast.

This Gold Sparkle parallel of Erik Bedard is unique just because there aren't a lot of cards out there from his (forgettable) time in Boston.  He appeared in just 8 games with the Sox at the end of 2011.  I'm sort of surprised he got a card that shows him with the Red Sox in 2012 Topps, given that he was signed by the Pirates in early December 2011.

A great look at Tiant's 'chops and 'stache on this one.

Closing things out is a nice Studio card of fan favorite Wade Boggs.

Jared, this was an excellent trade.  Thank you very much for the great stack of cards.  I look forward to enjoying more great posts at Catching Up with Collecting, and maybe even to trading again sometime!

Random Binder of Awesomeness - Page 1

One thing that I'm always looking to improve on is storage and display of my collection.  My collecting interests are so varied, and I have so many random cards, that it can be a challenge to keep them organized but also enjoyable and easy to view.  Towards this end I've decided to start a new random binder that showcases some of the cards from my collection that I truly enjoy, but that don't necessarily "fit" within any of my team collections or sets that I'm chasing.

I'm dubbing this new binder "The Random Binder of Awesomeness", and my plan from time to time is to highlight 9 new cards that will join the binder here on the blog.  Today we'll look at the first 9 cards to make the cut to form the first page...

Who didn't love the Topps Kids set back in 1992?  It seemed like the perfect set to lead the binder off with, as it harkens back to a simpler time when collecting was about fun and maybe building a set.  No inserts, parallels, game used or autograph cards to speak of, just a plan cardboard base set with a fun design.  The fact that Jim Abbott was such an inspiration is just the icing on the cake as far as this particular card goes.  This card also gets some bonus points due to the fact that it's actually from my childhood collection, pulled from a pack more than 20 years ago.

Here's one way outside my normal collecting boundaries.  I stay away from anything other than baseball and hockey for the most part, but I couldn't resist sneaking in this card of one of the top basketball players in the history of the NBA.  I won this card off of eBay earlier this year for $.15 with free shipping.  How the seller made a profit on this when there was a $.49 stamp affixed to the envelop it came in is beyond me.

I'm a sucker for a good mascot, and there are few in the game more entertaining or recognizable than Mr. Met.  When this card spilled out of a pack of 2013 Opening Day that I got in a repack recently I was relieved to find that my Mets collecting buddy Mark K already owned a copy.  That meant I was safe to keep this card, which is a perfect addition to this binder.

Again, I'm not a football guy per se, but this card helps fulfill the 'random' criteria.  Barry is the most exciting running back I can ever recall seeing play.  This card isn't anything special, but I picked it up in a COMC order months ago because I think the photo really does a good job of conveying the speed that Barry possessed.

Speaking of football, next up is two sport star Bo Jackson.  I'm a fan of cards that celebrate a specific event or point in time, and this one that pays tribute to Bo's 1989 All Star game MVP award fits the bill.  It's hard to tell in the scan, but this card is relatively thick and very shiny.  I grabbed it in the one and only "card draft" I've ever participated in, probably close to two years ago now...

I don't even recall where I got this card from.  Although it's from a worthless, overproduced set and features a blurry, low-quality photo, I still enjoy it quite a bit.  Earl was just one of those baseball lifers who really seemed to live for the game.  Besides, manager and coach cards aren't something you see too often anymore, sadly.

I don't think I need to explain this one much.  This has to be one of the most random cards I've come across since I got back into collecting.  As a kid I enjoyed The Wizard of Oz quite a bit, so while some may think this card is cheesy, tacky, unnecessary or over-the-top, to me it's cardboard gold.

Of course I had to fit at least one hockey card on the page.  If you're old enough to have been collecting hockey cards in the early '90s then you remember what a big deal Lindros was at the time.  In the long run, concussions took their toll on the star.  He still turned in some solid career numbers, but in 1991 when this card came out most folks thought this guy could be the next Gretzky or Crosby.

Last but not least, the award for most random item on this page goes to this sticker, from the 1975 Topps Good Times set.  I commented when I saw it posted over at A Pack to Be Named Later, and David was kind enough to mail it to me!  The show was definitely before my time (I wasn't even born until 7 years after this set came out), but the sticker just screams '70s.

Even the back has a nice moldy, nearly 40-year-old gum stain!

So there are the first 9 cards chosen for the binder, let's see what the page looks like all assembled:

I'm pretty satisfied with this, I'd say it fits both criteria of random and awesome!  Here's a look at the backs:

That's all for today, hope you enjoyed and I plan to have some more pages posted in the near future!

Marc B Destroys My '82 Topps Want List!

I've been slowly chipping away at the 1982 Topps baseball set for what seems like forever now.  It might not be the best baseball set of the '80s, but it's fairly high up there in my rankings.  It's possible that I am biased by the fact that it came out the year I was born, or by the Ripken RC, which was my most prized card for a good long stretch as a kid collector.  Either way, this is one I've wanted to knock off the list for quite a while.  The problem is, when I got to under 200 cards needed, I sort of moved on to other things.  What can I say?  My biggest problem as a collector is staying focused.

Sometimes all you need is a reminder or kick-start from another collector to get you going again on a forgotten project.  To say that Marc did that with my '82 Topps set would be an understatement.

In a recent package that he sent me completely out of the blue, he went to town on my '82 Topps want list.  There were cards from all the great subsets, like the Highlights and Team Leaders cards above (how about that Rangers logo!)...

...and my personal favorites, the 'In Action' cards.

As you can see, it wasn't just a bunch of commons that Marc sent my way, although that would certainly have been appreciated as well.  Thanks to this package I was able to cross some big Hall of Fame names off my list.  I would have to say this Ozzie card was my single favorite out of the two gigantic stacks.

It's funny how in today's releases I expect action shots, yet in sets that came out decades earlier I'm usually okay with portraits like this.

Here's one I've been anxious to land.  In fact, had I done a better job with upkeep it should have been on my 'Most Wanted' list in the sidebar over there.  As a Boston sports fan this is easily one of the coolest cards in the entire set.  I received a copy once before in a trade, but it was way too beat up to fit in with the rest of my set.  This copy is perfect.  I could dedicate an entire post to this card, and perhaps someday I will.

From the limited amount of reading I do, I seem to see a lot of polarization with collectors when it comes to this set.  I know many people who rank it among their favorites, others who think it's highly over-rated.

How could you not like a card like this, though?  This is actually Dave's rookie.  I think the great Spring Training shot, plainly visible name on the glove, and perfectly placed signature (great penmanship, too) make this one of the better cards in the set.

The 13-year-old in me still snickers every single time I get a new card of this guy.  Never fails.

The straw that stirs the drink!

A trio of All-Stars.  All these scans are in numerical order, which is why they're grouped together.  Love this Fernando card as he was one of the biggest names in sports in the early part of the decade.

Here's one you don't see too often that I enjoy quite a bit.  I think it might fit into the 'so bad it's good' category, with the orange and purple of the border being an odd choice for a card dominated by yellow, green and blue.  Then there's the uniform, that 'stache, and those wings.

Ripken is the big rookie card obviously, but if you look beyond Cal there are some other really nice rookie cards of solid players on the '82 Topps checklist.  Lee Smith may not have made it to Cooperstown, but I'm glad to finally own the rookie of one of the best relievers of his day.

My Red Sox team set was completed thanks to this package.  I'm guessing that's an extremely blurry Green Monster behind Eck?

I would say this is one of my favorite looking cards on the 792-card checklist.  Again, the colors selected for the border seem odd here, but in this case it kind of works.  I can't explain why, just how I feel.

This Jack Morris completed the All-Star subset for me!

It wasn't all big names, Hall-of-Famers and rookie cards, as Marc obliterated the commons I still needed for the set.  Best name, and best signature, in the entire lot goes to this "Shooty" Babitt card.  As an unlisted common I sort of overlooked this card.  Had I realized how great it was I would have picked this one up long ago.

Back to some big names to close out the post.

As in a trio of enshrined players.  Fergie Jenkins sporting an awful Rangers uniform...

...hometown favorite Carl Yastrzemski in a late-career appearance...

...and the hit king.  I'm one of those in the 'let Pete back in' camp.  Are we really gonna let this guy go to his grave banished from the game because of his gambling?  I know it's wrong, and I know he lied about it as well, but he's been pretty open and honest (and seems genuinely sorry) for a long time now.  Mark McGwire is involved in the game again, which is totally fine with me, so why not Pete?  The whole thing just seems like a shame.

This package was so amazing that it knocked every single card off my '82 Topps want list but TWO!  Over 160 new additions to my set, which is in its proper place in a binder, ready for me to slide the final cards in when I get them.  Oh, and this is just one part of the overall package that Marc sent.  It's taken me this long just to get all these scanned and sorted into the binder, but I've got more in store to show off eventually.

Marc, your generosity is just unreal.  Aside from sending me these out of the blue, I can certainly appreciate the time and effort that it takes to identify and sort this many cards off of someone's want list.  Though we've never met (which we should do something about), I consider you a true friend in this hobby.  I'm not sure how just yet, but I'm going to find a way to pack you back for your kindness...

On a side note, if anyone has a spare #111 (Carlton Fisk In Action), or #167 (ERA Leaders w Nolan Ryan) available for trade let me know!