Cardbarrel Red Sox '80s Love

Earlier this week, I showed off a batch of 32 new Xander Bogaerts cards that I picked up on CardBarrel.com.  It was my first time trying the site, and since they offered free shipping on orders of $25 or more I added cards to my cart until I hit that threshold.

Since the site focuses on commons and prices are relatively cheap, I was nowhere near this limit by the time I finished plucking Bogaerts cards.  So, I decided to pull up another tab in my browser, navigate to The Trading Card Database, and take a look at some '80s Red Sox team set gaps.

I ended up concentrating on three sets that I like quite a bit from this era, but for whatever reason are under-represented in my Red Sox collection.  The first was 1984 Fleer, which I commented on only recently, indicating that I had just a couple of Red Sox cards from the release.

Well, I remedied that somewhat with this order, picking up a solid 15 new '84 Fleers, getting me most of the way to a completed team set!

Sweet shades here on Doug Bird.  This one's a "sunset card" as well, with Doug having pitched his final MLB innings during the 1983 season.

An empty Fenway Park is the backdrop for Mike Brown's card.

For some reason I like the odd photograph chosen for Mark Clear's card.  Breaks up the monotony a bit.  Mark was a stalwart out of the bullpen in '84, with 47 appearances, second on the team to Bob Stanley in that department.

Dewey!

Bruce Hurst was the team's best starter in 1984, making 33 starts, of which he completed 9 (and even logged 2 shutouts)!  I guess he had every reason to be smiling here.

The award for best hair in the team set might go to John Henry Johnson here (or if not, Luis Aponte above).

Ed Jurak appears to be participating in pre-game or between-innings warm-up on his card.

Rick Miller, turning the bases with enough speed to shed his batting helmet.  You'd assume this photograph was taken during in-game action, and if so boy that was an empty ballpark.

Jeff Newman was a backup catcher for the ball club, and the 24 games he'd log in 1984 would be the final games of his professional career.

Possibly my favorite '84 Fleer of the ones in this order, solely because of that sweet, sweet warm-up jacket!

I don't question the photo choice on Bob Ojeda's card so much as I do the cropping...

We finish it off with first baseman Dave Stapleton.

After all those '84 Fleer cards I still wasn't close to a $25 order, so I tackled the next year in Fleer's run.  The 1985 edition is a set I enjoy as much as, if not more than, the 1984 release.

I had just a single card from this set, period, in my collection prior to placing this order.  I'm not sure why, as in my humble opinion the design holds up fairly well for being 35 years old now.  I really dig the team-colored borders.

Oil Can Boyd is one of those semi-star players that I always get excited to land a new card of.  He looks a little perplexed here honestly, but we'll give him a pass.

Oh man, what a depressing foreshadowing job this card does in retrospect.

Mark Clear's card is decidedly less interesting than his issue from the year prior.

Fleer selected an extreme close-up for Steve Crawford, for whatever reason.

I like the symmetry on Rich Gedman's card.  Perfectly framed in front of that (Tiger?) stadium backdrop.

Jackie Gutierrez, with guest appearances from Wade Boggs and an old guy in a green shirt.

This Bruce Hurst has a slightly different coloration than the rest of the cards if you look closely.  I'm not sure if it's from the printing process, due to sun exposure, or something else.

John Henry Johnson's hair returns!

Reid Nichols again.  Yep, I like his '84 issue with the warm-up jacket better.

Bob Ojeda rounds it out.  That was a dozen new '85 Fleer Red Sox, bringing me to a baker's dozen in my team set now overall.  Still need the Clemens RC, ouch.  I actually like the design enough that I'd probably pluck some other star and HOFer cards from the release if I order from this site again.

Lastly, I plucked a dozen select cards from a set that many collectors consider among their favorites of the "junk wax" era, 1987 Donruss.  See previous comment about Oil Can Boyd.

This was the lone set of the three in today's post where I drifted outside of selecting purely Red Sox cards, grabbing a couple of players who were favorites in my youth.  Couldn't pass up The Wizard for a small amount of pocket change.

Ditto with Paul Molitor, one of the more under-rated hitters in the history of the game (as under-rated as you can be with a plaque in Cooperstown, anyway).

This photograph looks like it was taken at a Spring Training ballpark, doesn't it?

Julio Franco is a guy I half-collect, simply because I'm fascinated by how long he was able to stay productive at the MLB level.  It's interesting how on this particular card, the Indians logo on his jersey is oriented almost exactly the same as the logo in the card design.

Wally Joyner RC!  This was a hot card for a time back in the late '80s.  These days, you can get a mint copy for less than a quarter.

I strayed into some other teams with the 1987 Donruss portion of my order, but that doesn't mean I forgot about the Red Sox though.  A sweet late-career card of HOFer Tom Seaver here.

I had a few Red Sox from this release already, but added Steve Crawford...

...Joe Sambito...

...Bill Buckner (and his legendary 'brows/'stache combo)...

...Jeff Sellers...

...and Calvin Schiraldi.

That was quite an ingestion of '80s cardboard goods there!  Despite being more than 70 cards into this order now, I still haven't covered everything that I picked up for $25.  I'll have one more post up next week with the remainder of my order.

Until then, thanks for stopping by and be safe out there!