Package from Puck Junk

On Friday I received a package at work from Sal, proprietor of the outstanding hockey blog Puck Junk. Sal is a nice guy and a great trader, so if you haven't wandered over to check out Puck Junk yet (which I'm sure you have!) I highly recommend doing so. From time to time we exchange packages, in fact just this week I sent over nearly all of the mini cards from my Champs hobby box. I had no idea what was coming in this package, but Sal sent some great stuff:

Probably my favorite item in the package was this awesome 5 X 7 photo card of Tony Esposito. Very cool! Sal even included a 5 X 7 toploader for it, which was greatly appreciated. I have a feeling this is something he may have picked up at this year's Blackhawks Convention.

Sal also included a few cards, including these three Tony Esposito cards which are from the 2003-04 Parkhurst Original Six Blackhawks set. I wasn't collecting at all in 2003, so I had no idea that Parkhurst released a separate set for each of the Original Six teams. I like the concept, and I'm assuming the sets did fairly well as I can't seem to find a hobby box for sale anywhere, other than a Red Wings box for nearly $200 on Ebay. Here are the other Esposito cards he sent, from the Franchise Leaders subset:



Also in the package was this 1997-98 Donruss Jean-Sebastien Giguere rookie, which I did not have and which will immediately make its way into my Whalers binder. Rounding out the lot we have one more great card:

An autographed 1992-93 Pinnacle Steve Konroyd! Steve is now affiliated with the Blackhawks TV broadcast team, and I have a feeling Sal got this one signed for me at the Hawks Convention as well. That would be two years in a row that he's added to my autographed Whalers card collection, thank you Sal!!!

From the Dollar Box - 1965 Topps Russ Nixon

A few weeks ago I actually discovered a decent local hobby shop, which is something I've never had access to before. The highlight for me is definitely their dollar box, which is a gigantic monster box overflowing with cards from the 4 major sports, each in a brand new penny sleeve and top loader. I've been back to the shop two or three times since and have accumulated a few dollar cards in a small bag in my card closet. Every once in a while I plan to grab one from the stack to post.

1965 Topps Russ Nixon

I've really been focusing on picking up cards from the 60's, particularly Red Sox so this was an easy decision. 1965 Topps is easily in the mix for design of the decade, along with the 1960 and 1963 releases in my opinion. I picked up an Earl Wilson over a year ago, so it's about time I added another to the collection. Let's take a look at the back:

As you can see, Russ had been around for a few years by 1965, although I guess he can best be described as just an average player. Not the most interesting cartoon by any means either. Russ lasted 12 seasons in the majors, but was one of those guys who dedicated his life to the game even when his playing days were behind him, coaching and managing at almost every professional level. In fact, Nolan Ryan gave him a position within the Rangers organization in 2008 at age 73!

Russ was also the last person to manage the Braves before Bobby Cox took over...in 1990! I can't believe just how long Bobby's been at it down there in Atlanta.

What I Bought Instead of Allen & Ginter - Post #4

For the next installment of my virtual Allen & Ginter hobby box I decided to expand my Will Clark player collection. For just over $20, I hand picked more than 125 Clark cards for the personal collection. I tried to focus on odd sets from the junk wax era, but have some newer cards thrown in as well. We've got cards released by the big three manufacturers, retail outlets, fast food joints, and junk food companies in this bunch. I've scanned in a whole slew of them for your viewing pleasure in chronological order, in fact I think this post contains by far the most scans in any single post since I started the blog. So sit back and get ready for a scroll down memory lane, if you're like me you've never seen some of these sets before:

1986 Donruss Highlights

I'll try to keep the commentary to a minimum and let the cards do the talking. This first card is one I've wanted for a while though, as it commemorates the home run that Will hit in his first Major League at bat. I'm sure you already know this, but he hit it off of Nolan Ryan too. Not too shabby a start...

1986 Fleer Baseball's Best

I think this is the very last 1986 Clark card I didn't have. I miss the days when it was actually reasonable and possible to accumulate every single card of a player from a given year.

1987 Fleer Exciting Stars

1987 Fleer Limited Edition

1987 Fleer Star Sticker

1987 Toys 'R' Us Rookie

This is another one I've wanted for quite a while. You may recognize the photo from Clark's 1986 Topps Traded rookie.

1988 Donruss Baseball's Best

Normally I think these cards look hideous but they kind of match the Giants jerseys a bit.

1988 Fleer Award Winner

One thing that surprised me when picking out my cards was the sheer amount of sets Fleer released in the late 80's. There are plenty more to come...

1988 Fleer League Leader

1988 Fleer Baseball MVP

1988 K-Mart

Long before their discounted $10 blasters, K-Mart would release their own card sets, produced by Topps.

1988 MSA Jiffy Pop Disc

One of two discs that were part of my order. I'm not sure how one obtained one of these back in the day, anyone know?

1988 O-Pee-Chee

1988 Score Young Superstars

1988 Sportflics

1988 Sportflics Game Winners

1988 Topps UK Minis

First time I had seen these as well, but I think they have a great design. They're roughly the same size as your standard 80's Topps mini cards (like the League Leaders sets they released).

1989 Classic Travel Edition

What kid didn't have Classic baseball sets back in the day? I know I did. I think they released somewhere around a dozen baseball cards sets. I never played the game though, has anyone tried it?

1989 Fleer All-Star

1989 Fleer Baseball MVP

1989 Fleer Box Panel

Looks like Clark's standard '89 card, but is cut from the bottom of a wax box. It still has a back which is nice, but it's numbered C-6. Whoever cut mine did a pretty decent job.

1989 Fleer Exciting Stars

1989 Fleer Heroes of Baseball

1989 Fleer League Leaders

1989 Fleer Superstars

See what I mean about Fleer? Enough already!

1989 K-Mart

1989 Kay-Bee

I really liked this one as well. Kay-Bee always seemed like the red-headed stepchild compared to Toys 'R' Us. I remember walking into Toys 'R' Us as a kid and getting the sensation that it stretched on forever. Kay-Bee on the other hand was about the size of my closet. They're still around though as far as I know. The design's not half bad on this card either, seems inspired by various 70's Topps releases.

1989 King-B Disc

These came in packages of beef jerky, as Thorzul recently pointed out.

1989 Cap'n Crunch

I loved the cereal but don't ever remember them having cards in the boxes. This one's kind of bland. If you're not licensed and have to air-brush logos out, you may want to choose a photo that's not 50% hat. What's with the mustache?

1989 Topps Glossy All-Star

1989 Topps Mini League Leader

1989 Topps Sticker

1989 Topps Sticker

1989 Topps UK Mini

1990 Bowman Insert

This one's not actually numbered or anything, but has some giveaway instructions on the back. I think most people, including myself, probably threw them out. I definitely dig the early 50's Bowman inspired artwork.

1990 Classic Yellow

1990 Collect-a-Books

Ah, Collect-a-Books, I definitely had a few of these way back when. I may have to do a separate post on this where I scan in the entire booklet...

1990 Donruss NL Best

I think the '90 Donruss design looks much better in any color other than red.

1990 Donruss Grand Slammers

1990 Fleer All-Star

1990 Fleer World Series

This was a card I had never seen before. If anyone knows anything about this set please leave a comment!

1990 Leaf

1990 Mother's Cookies Will Clark

1990 Mother's Cookies Will Clark

The Mother's Cookie cards are fantastic, and I'm now half-way to completing the 4 card 1990 Will Clark set. Anyone have cards 1 or 2 for trade?

1990 Topps Ames All-Star

There were a few Ames in my area when I was growing up. They were like a step below even K-Mart. I could be wrong but I believe the company went bankrupt or something. Haven't seen one around in years.

1990 Topps Glossy All-Star

1990 US Playing Card All-Star

1990 Wonder Bread Stars

1990 Woolworth Baseball Highlights

Was Woolworth's a department store?

1991 Jimmy Dean

1991 Post

I think I grabbed the '91, '92, '93 and '94 Post cards. I'm pretty sure that gives me the complete Post Clark run when combined with what I already had.

1991 Fleer Ultra Gold

1991 Upper Deck Final Edition

1992 Bowman

1992 Donruss Diamond King

Recently featured on Waxaholic.

1992 Donruss McDonald's

First of a couple cards endorsed by the fast food giants (yes, I know, and ironic term in this case).

1992 Fleer Citgo/7-11 The Performers

1992 Jimmy Dean

1992 Leaf Black Gold

This is probably one of my favorites. The border and horizontal photo are great. Look at the bend in that bat!

1992 MooTown Snackers

Distributed by early '90's portable snack makers.

1992 Panini Stickers

These are my first two Panini baseball stickers.

1992 Panini Stickers

1992 Post

1992 Score 100 Superstars

1992 Stadium Club Dome

One of these days I need to pick up the Dome set. I always see it for 5 or 6 bucks but for some inexplicable reason have never pulled the trigger.

1992 Studio Heritage

1992 Topps Gold

1992 Topps Gold All-Star

1992 Topps Gold Winner

1992 Topps Gold All-Star Winner

1992 Topps McDonald's

1992 US Playing Cards All-Star

1992 Fleer Ultra All-Star

1992 Upper Deck Fanfest

1992 Upper Deck Team MVP Holograms

Nothing illustrates how badly you need to clean your scanner like a hologram.

1992 Upper Deck Williams Best

1993 Fleer Atlantic

1993 Hostess

1993 O-Pee-Chee Premier Star Performers

1993 Post

1993 Upper Deck On Deck

1994 Donruss Special Edition

I think these were like a 1-per-pack insert or something, they look just like the base cards except all of the info is in obnoxious silver foil.

1994 Flair Infield Power

1994 Pacific

1994 Post

1994 Topps Stadium Club Golden Rainbow

1994 Stadium Club is definitely on my list of sets to complete one day.

1994 Stadium Club Team

1994 Topps Gold

1994 Topps Traded

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature

1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond

1995 Leaf Limited Bat Patrol

1995 Leaf Limited Gold

1995 National Packtime

Based on the other images I saw of National Packtime cards it appears to be a small set consisting of a few cards each from various manufacturers. I'm not sure how or where it was distributed though.

1995 Sportflix Hammer Team

Definitely remember these from back in the day!

1995 Score Gold Rush

1995 Topps Stadium Club Virtual Reality

1995 Donruss Studio Gold

1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond

1995 Upper Deck is another one that's on my list...

1996 Topps Finest

1996 Leaf Preferred Steel

I've never seen these before but was surprised at how heavy this card was. It's really got some weight to it.

1997 Donruss

1997 Donruss Studio

1998 Fleer Tradition

1998 Topps

1999 Topps

2001 Topps

2001 Topps

This is the first I've seen of 2001 Topps. Doesn't look half bad.

2001 Upper Deck

2004 Fleer Greats of the Game

2005 Donruss Greats

I think this set looks impressive. Tons of great veteran stars in the checklist. I would consider busting a box of this.

2005 Leaf Century

Well there you have it. I more than doubled the size of my Clark collection and this was more fun than a blaster would've been for about the same price.

Cost: $22
Running Total: $55