Holy '59s!

Recently I hooked up with Shane, who writes over at Off the Wall, for our very first trade.  Hmm...a Shane who lives in New England, is a Red Sox fan, and collects baseball cards...sounds like a great guy to me!  If there was any doubt about that fact though, I'd say the package he sent along puts it to rest.  This is what happens when you trade with Shane:

I have to say, this might be my favorite photo on my iPhone right now!

Shane is putting together the '59 Topps set, and being much further along with it than I am with mine, he generously volunteered to send me a healthy stack of dupes/outcasts from his own set.  Healthy as in 60-plus cards!

This was without a doubt one of the largest vintage trade packages I've ever received, and it's certainly the greatest number of pre-1960 cards I've ever gotten from someone just because.

There were even some of the fantastic multi-player combo cards to be found within this stack, like this Danny's All-Stars Pirates card...

...or this Directing the Power Senators one.  I've long been a fan of the combos cards in the '50s and '60s Topps releases; they are some of the more visually appealing cards in the '59 set in this collector's humble opinion.

Love getting vintage cards of guys who played in the Negro Leagues.  As you can see with this example, a
good deal of the cards Shane sent along were in damn fine shape.

This one is more along the lines condition-wise of what a lot of my existing cards look like.  When it comes to vintage cards I'm not a condition snob, I'd be psyched if I could ever finish this set off with even total beaters.

Got a few of the Sporting News Rookie Stars subset!  Couple players I'd heard of previously, like Johnny Blanchard here.

Couple I had never heard of, like Charles Secrest.  I guess I can forgive myself on this one because it appears as though he never played an MLB game.

One of my favorite things about any set from this era is when you get a good glimpse of the ballpark backdrop in a player's photo.

They had way better nicknames back then as well.  Honestly, even if a modern-day player started referring to himself as Mudcat, Topps would probably have some legal reason why they couldn't use that on the card.  Another good ballpark background on this one by the way.

Same here!  Pretty crazy to think it had been over 10 years since the Indians won it all even when this card was printed out.

How about that, a nice vintage card of the man who authored the only no-hitter in World Series history!  Even though he's a lowly Yankee I was very pleased to find this one in the batch Shane sent along.

I chose to show this one simply because for whatever reason I found it to be one of the more interesting photos in this bunch.  Plus, I had to get that Mr. Redlegs logo into this post at least once.

"Jungle" Jim Rivera!

There were some Red Sox to be found as well.  It's amazing to me that with all the COMC window-browsing I do on the couch late at night I'd never managed to acquire this Frank Malzone.

Best spectacles in the package, Eddie Kasko.  Hands down.

This Gene Baker gives you a good look at what I'm 95% sure is Seals Stadium in San Francisco?

I like the security guard/police officer lurking in the background on this one.

The award for creepiest expression goes to Jim Hegan.  Maybe he's freaked out by whatever that white substance is along the bottom of the card?

Lastly, a couple of big-name stars made it to my mailbox as well!  While obviously off-center top to bottom, this Orlando Cepeda is otherwise in great shape.  I can't believe how bright and vivid the colors are after close to 60 years here.  I'd have to say this one leapfrogs my '74 Kellogg's to become my favorite Cepeda card of the few I own!

Finally, while I appreciate every last card that Shane was kind enough to send, this Casey Stengel was without a doubt the star of the show.  Aside from the fact that the All-Star cards are super high numbers in this release and hard to find on the cheap (this is the first one in my set), I'm also a huge Casey Stengel fan.  Obviously he was way before my time, but he always seemed like one of those old, crotchety baseball lifers that I thought were fascinating growing up.  This card in particular is just beyond awesome.

Even the back is great!  Every single one of the 63 cards sent was a need, looks like I've done a good job when it comes to up-keeping my want list for this release.  They're already sitting snugly inside the binder I have going for this set on my office bookshelf, so Shane can rest assured they are in a good home where they will be appreciated.

Shane, I can't thank you enough for your generosity in sending me these.  I sent a return package off just today, but I feel as though I still owe you one (or a few).  I'm hoping we can meet up at the big Shriner's show next month and I can pass along some more cardboard in person to further convey my gratitude.  In the meantime, thanks again!!!