Hockey Cards From Cardboard History - Pack #8

October must be my favorite month. I got married in October. I enjoy the cooler temperatures, the colorful leaves on the trees, the crispness of the air. October is a big month for my two favorite sports as well: The MLB playoffs start on Tuesday (Go Red Sox!) and the NHL season kicks off the next day (Go Sabres!) It is with this start to a new hockey season that I felt it was appropriate to wrap up the series showcasing all the hockey cards I've gotten from Billy at Cardboard History. I've milked this bounty of cards for all it was worth, and judging from the stats available from Blogger, it was a good decision:

Stats as of 09/13/18

That's right, Billy's gift of hockey has represented the 3 most viewed blog posts all-time on my blog! So, not only do I need to thank Billy for the cards, but for the extra traffic to my site as well!

It's time to show off the final pack. This pack contained 33 cards, mostly from the Upper Deck 2017-18 set, with a few other recent cards mixed in. As always, I'll highlight my favorites!

2017-18 Upper Deck #17 Tuukka Rask

The old-school uniform, the awesome helmet, the stoic look on Tukka's face - this card is just bad-ass! I can't imagine any hockey player not feeling a little intimidated having to face that net-minder!

2017-18 Upper Deck #131 Rick Nash

It amazes me what can be done with photography nowadays. This is an incredible ice-level shot where Nash just towers over you.

2017-18 Upper Deck #183 Marc-Andre Fluery

My first Golden Knight card! I'm eager to see what this team does for an encore!

2017-18 Upper Deck #189 Lars Eller

Ice sprays are like the clouds of dust on a baseball card. They give just a cool reflection of action!

So when I first got this box of cards last Spring, I noted how few hockey cards I truly had, and made a point to chronicle how much my hockey card collection changed as a result. Let's see the results!

Top Sets

Before

After

Upper Deck may not have the monopoly on hockey that Topps does on baseball, but they are the undisputed kings of the mountain. It's good to have some more set variety now. I had never even heard of the In The Game brand before this!

Top Teams

Before

After

My favorite team on top by a wide margin - just as it should be! (Ironically, I now have exactly as many Sabres cards as I had total cards before this all happened!) Washington and Detroit are the only two teams that ranked atop the first list to survive and make the second list.

Top Brands

Before

After

Once again, Upper Deck reigns supreme, only now there's a lot more company to fill the list out.

Billy, once again, I can't you for the generous prize. You're awesome!

Hockey Cards From Cardboard History - The Series 

Cardboard History Radically Changed My Collection
Hockey Cards From Cardboard History - Pack #2
Hockey Cards From Cardboard History - Pack #3
Hockey Cards From Cardboard History - Pack #4
Hockey Cards From Cardboard History - Pack #5
Hockey Cards From Cardboard History - Pack #6
Hockey Cards From Cardboard History - Pack #7

Repack Haiku #70 (Tim Wallach)

All-time Expos great

Montreal's first team Captain

Now Marlins' Bench Coach

1986 Topps #703 Tim Wallach (AS, LL)

Tour Swag, Part 2

It took some time, but I'm finally ready to show off all the Red Sox goodness I got from Chris of The Collector. Not nearly as much time as Chris put into his Sports Card Tour, but time nonetheless. You may recall I showed off one of the prizes last month, and teased this box full of cardboard happiness:

In all, Chris sent me 416 cards. These cards represented 108 different sets (base and insert) and 160 different players. That a lot of Red Sox cards! Obviously, there's no way I can highlight all of these cards, so I'm just going to throw some facts and numbers your way, and then highlight a few favorites from each decade.

Oldest Card

1968 Topps #106 Dalton Jones

You can't go wrong with vintage! I have a small number of the canvas set, and this is my first Red Sox player from that set.

Newest Card

2018 Topps #211 Boston B-Boys (CL)

Aw yeah, the Killer B's - Betts, Bradley, and Benintendi. As they approach the team record of 105 wins this year, I wonder if they regret retiring their "Win. Dance. Repeat." dances after every win, or glad they don't have to come up with so much new material.

Most Represented Players

1991 Studio #11 Wade Boggs 19 cards

1993 Ultra #152 Mike Greenwell 15 cards

1992 Studio #132 Roger Clemens 12 cards

Whenever there's a random lot of cards, chances are Hall of Fame level players from the junk wax age will get a lion's share of the representation. Boggs and Clemens were two of the biggest stars of that time, so there's no surprises here. That Greenwell edged Clemens was unexpected however.

Most Represented Sets

1990 Donruss #633 Oil Can Boyd 32 cards

1991 Donruss #138 Dennis Lamp 30 cards

1992 Topps #182 Jeff Reardon 19 cards

You just knew it would be sets from the junk wax era, didn't you? Donruss's borders from 1988-1991 were something else. You either love them or hate them. Personally, I like them in the "so bad they're good" kind of way.

Now I'll show off 3 favorites from each decade. (I'm excluding the 60's since I showed off the one card from that decade already.) It was tough narrowing it down!

1970 - 1979

1974 Topps #523 Cecil Cooper

1975 Topps #489 Cecil Cooper

1975 Topps #537 Tommy Harper

Cooper gets double exposure because he had two great looking cards back-to-back! First is that awesome batting cage action, followed by a big, bright smile. Harper gets the final nod for being the first real base stealing threat Boston ever had! The 1975 cards also have the distinction of being the first birth year cards ever in my collection! It's weird, I had every other base set from the 70's represented, but never acquired any from '75 during my collecting heyday!

1980 - 1989

1986 Topps #349 Mark Clear

1989 Donruss All-Stars #7 Wade Boggs

1989 Topps Traded #29T Nick Esasky

Quiz time: Which of these 3 has never represented the Red Sox at an All-Star game? I'll give you a hint: the answer is not Wade Boggs. Give up? Trick question - All 3 of them did! Mark Clear was an All-Star in 1982, when he won 14 games and saved 14 more. Nick Esasky spent just one year with Boston, but put up big numbers to earn an All-Star nod in 1989. I couldn't find any info on Boggs...

1990 - 1999

1993 Donruss #487 John Marzano

1993 Ultra - Dennis Eckersley Career Highlights #5 "Eckspeak"

1998 Fleer Tradition #542 Jason Varitek

A fantastic action shot by long time Red Sox catcher John Marzano. Any photo with a cloud of dust is going to be good. The Eckersley card stands out because it focuses on his unusual vocabulary. The now widely used term "walk-off" - you can thank Eck for that one! Of course I had to choose a rookie card of the last Boston Captain!

2000 - 2009

2002 Fleer Maximum #23 Pedro Martinez

2007 Upper Deck #586 J.D. Drew

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces #14 David Ortiz

 Although the design elements are weird on the Fleer Maximum set, I really like the red border and how it made the Red Sox cards pop. I think Drew's Spring Training photo is fantastic and well-done, and the UD Masterpiece set makes me think that this is what Topps Gallery really should look like.

2010 - 2018

2012 Topps #170 Jacoby Ellsbury

2015 Topps Archives #86 Mookie Betts

2016 Bowman's Best #19 Xander Bogaerts

Fantastic action shot for Ellsbury, and probably one of the better cards from that 2012 set. Archives did well with this simple head-shot of the future AL MVP, and a great looking card of Bogaerts.

Last time I wondered what percentage of cards would be new to me. I guessed about 50%, and I was fairly close! Out of the 416 cards, I needed 180 of them - 43% new cards! That's a good haul! Thanks again Chris! Unlike these cards, your generosity cannot be measured!

Who Decides These Things?

Whenever a new set comes out, one of the first things I'll do is see which Red Sox players are in it. I assume a lot of collectors do this with their favorite team. Topps has recently released a couple of products, and their lists of Boston players have left me scratching my head.

Topps Fire

2018 Topps Fire #6 Xander Bogaerts

Mookie Betts is not in the base set. I understand that a small 200 card set has to be selective, but this is one omission that makes no sense. There are 8 Red Sox players represented here, but someone at Topps decided that the likely AL MVP, one of the exciting young players in all of baseball, doesn't make the cut.

Topps Heritage High Number Series

2018 Topps Heritage #519 Eduardo Nunez

2018 Topps Heritage #712 Eduardo Nunez

Don't get me wrong, I like Eduardo Nunez. He was a good pickup for the team last year, and has been decent this year. He's not a superstar by any means. So why does he get, not one, but two cards in Heritage? I don't mean that he has one base with a variation either. He has two separate cards in the set, including a short print! Why?

I've only looked at my favorite team. Has anyone else noticed any other omissions/inclusions that have no basis in rational thought?

Payday Pack - A Bunch Of Posers

As per my habit, I got paid and rewarded myself with some cardboard. I'm still enjoying the Archive set, so an 18 card hanger pack was an easy choice. Here are my Top 3 cards from the pack:

3rd Place

2018 Archives #299 Mike Trout

This is the only in-game action card in the entire pack...and he's standing. It's a small sample size, but if the majority of this set lacks action, that's a bit of a disappointment. I could see the posed shots for the older sets where it was common, but the 1981 set had enough action photos to the point where Archives could have included more.

2nd Place

2018 Archives #14 Andrew Benintendi

Always good to get a Red Sox card in the pack, and young up-and-comer Benintendi is a good one to get. Those background hedges are becoming almost as commonplace as the Green Monster...

1st Place

2018 Archives #81 Goose Gossage

I'm glad they decided to show off the vintage Padres uniform as opposed to another card of him as a Yankee. Strangely, I kind of think the green border compliments the ugly color scheme of the uniform. I don't know why, but it works.

Others Not Appearing On Stage:
#63 Blake Snell
#90 Andrew Miller
#89 Julio Teheran
#27 Max Fried
#197 Ender Incarte
#190 Carlos Carrasco
#115 Orlando Arcia
#151 Carlos Santana
#136 Marcell Ozuna
#FS-BAL Austin Hays/Chance Sisco/Tanner Scott (1981 Topps Future Stars Trio insert)
#CA-6 Alex Verdugo (Coming Attractions insert)
#222 Jose Ramirez
#209 Starlin Castro
#296 Gregory Polanco
#260 Elvis Andrus

Repack Haiku #69 (Delino DeShields)

Traded for Pedro

Worst trade ever for Dodgers

Son plays for Rangers

1990 Topps #224 Delino DeShields (RC)

Time Travel Trading Update #18

"We had a deal!"

The man slammed his hand on the table. It hurt, but at this point he was far too infuriated to feel it. "We'd bring back Deion for you, and we'd get to keep Bo. That was it, nothing more! But now all these other football players are just waltzing through the portal!"

The man being subjected to this vitriol just sat there with a sly smile on his face. "C'mon now, Manny, you really can't blame me for all this? You've had abnormal results since Day One! Rumor mill has it that you've pulled in non-athletes on quite a few occasions. Don't blame me just because your science is faulty and inaccurate..." 

Rob Manfred silently glared. In all honesty, this could be all coincidence. Goodell was right, things had gone haywire more than a few times, but he wasn't going to admit that now. The truth is, he just did not trust the Commissioner of the NFL. He had heard rumors too. Rumors that this technology was being reverse engineered and created by the NFL for their own purposes.What he needed to find out was if they were true. He decided to throw his cards on the table. 

"Level with me, Roger. Are you trying to steal my technology? Are you trying to build your own portal?"

Roger Goodell leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Oh, we're not "trying" anymore..."

*****

There were baseball players who were stronger than him. There were some who were faster, some who were even better hitters. In the great history of baseball, there were plenty of more talented players. But none of them would ever work harder than Charlie Hustle.

The idea came to him from a TV show. Some old 80s sci-fi series were a guy kept going back in time to undo wrongs. The good news is that one of the head honchos running the MLB time experiments owed him a huge gambling debt. The bad news is that he no longer had access to which particular betting slips sealed his fate all those years ago.

He'd been through that blasted portal a dozen times now. Each time through he stopped himself from placing a bet (unless he won of course, the he just made sure to destroy all the evidence). Still, every time he came back, he would check his phone, and a quick search showed him if he was still banned from baseball.

"Dammit!" he mumbled to himself as he emerged yet again into the present day. Before the lab coat yahoos could react, he turned around walked back through. "I'l be back, bet on it!"

*****

So, anyone out there collect vintage football? Two new trades have added a lot of cool football cards to the stack, among some other great stuff.

First up is a trade with a fellow TCDM member. He wanted to help get me out of the millennium by taking the Yoenis Cespedes rookie card. In exchange, he sent me these:


"Mean" Joe Greene is the only name I recognize here, and that was more for the commercial he did than his football career.

"Hey Kid, Catch!"

Up next is a truly wonderful mix of cards from Joe at CrazieJoe's Card Corner. He took a few 1986 Topps off my hands, and in return set me up with even more football:


Also included was this buffet of cards:


E.T. is one of those iconic movies every 80's kid knows. My daughters actually have a plush E.T. that used to be mine. The fact it's O-Pee-Chee and has a French translation makes this card even better! Also, the Tiger Woods card represents the first golf card I have ever had in my possession. I hope Tiger, along with the rest of these, find a good home soon!

Help me get rid of all these football cards! The rules haven't changed: Everything in the stack is awaiting a trade, and all I ask in return is a card older than what I'm sending you. Make me an offer, either through this post or on the TCDB (Member Name: Kep75).

The Time Travel Trade Stack:

2008-09 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#128 Tim Thomas

2001 Upper Deck - e-Card (golf)
#E-TW Tiger Woods

1993-94 Fleer (basketball)
#224 Michael Jordan (LL)

1990-91 Hoops (basketball)
#168 Glen Rice (RC)

1990 Topps
#18 Carlos Quintana

1986 Sportflics
#122 John Tudor

1986 Topps
#5 Rose Special '75-'78
#6 Rose Special '79-'82
 #401 Fernando Valenzuela (Turn Back The Clock)

1985 Topps
#694 Joe Carter

1983 Topps (football)
#219 Joe Cribbs (LL)
#280 Mike Renfro
#307 Jim Plunkett

1982 Donruss
#NNO Checklist 545-653

1982 O-Pee-Chee E.T. The Extraterrestrial (non-sport)
#15 Among Elliott's Toys

1981 Topps
#63 Steve Renko
#704 Bill Travers

1980 Topps
#143 Bruce Bochte
#157 Willie Wilson
#671 A's Future Stars

1980 Topps (football)
#280 Jack Lambert (AP)

1979 Topps
#130 Bob Watson
#465 Reggie Smith

1978 Topps
#24 Don Money
#193 Rich Chiles
#347 Terry Forster
#445 Mike Ivie
#471 Roy Smalley
#581 Lynn McGlothen

1978 Topps (football)
#126 Rick Kane (RC)

1977 Topps
#524 Rowland Office

1977 Topps (football)
#206 Cleveland Browns (CL)
#269 Archie Griffin (RC)
#405 Joe Greene

1974 Topps
#38 Don Kessinger
#67 Tommy Helms

1974 Topps - Team Checklists
#NNO Montreal Expos

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#53 Richard Lemieux

1973 Topps
#18 Leroy Stanton
#36 Steve Barber
#79 Jim Willoughby (RC)
#98 Dick Woodson
#99 Carl Taylor

1972 Topps
#43 Rick Wise
#109 Jerry May

1971 Topps (football)
#22 Ken Avery (RC)

1970 Topps
#47 Bob Miller
#56 Phillies Rookies - Joe Lis/Scott Reid (RC)
#103 Frank Reberger

1970 Red Rose and Blue Ribbon North American Wildlife In Danger (non-sport)
#32 Polar Bear

1969 Topps
#139 Andy Kosco

1969 Topps - Deckle Edge
#13 Mel Stottlemyre

1969 Topps (football)
#73 Bennie McRae
#154 Sam Baker

1968 Topps
#4 1967 AL RBI Leaders (Yastrzemski/Killebrew/Robinson)
#348 Larry Colton/Dick Thoenen

1968 Topps - Game
#15 Steve Hargan

1968 Topps (football)
#7 Earl Gros

1966 Topps
#154 Chuck Hiller

1967 Philadelphia (football)
#109 New York Giants (TC)

1966 Philadelphia (football)
#104 Rams vs. Browns

1965 Philadelphia (football)
#193 John Paluck

1964 Philadelphia (football)
#172 Ken Gray (RC)

1964 Topps
#60 Frank Malzone
#79 Bob Heffner (RC)
#305 Jack Lamabe
#352 Eddie Bressoud

1963 Topps
#111 Al Jackson
#155 Bill Stafford
#246 Lee Strange
#343 Johnny Pesky (MGR)

1962 Post Cereal
#58 Frank Malzone

1962 Topps
#278 Ken Johnson

1960 Topps
#95 Frank Thomas

1959 Topps (football)
#80 Joe Perry

1958 Topps
#371 Marty Keough (RC)

1958 Topps Zorro (non-sport)
#83 Rude Awakening

1957 Topps
#66 Brooks Lawrence
#235 Tom Poholsky
#249 Dave Pope
#371 Bob Lennon

1956 Topps
#21 Joe Collins
#103 Willie Miranda (white back)
#156 Johnny Antonelli

1956 Topps Flags of the World (non-sport)
#70 Jordan

1955 Topps
#126 Dick Hall (RC)

1954 Bowman
#16 Jim Wilson
#73 Don Mueller

1952 Bowman
#57 Clyde Vollmer

1938 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America Tenth Series (J9-6) (non-sport)
#2 Black-throated Green Warbler

The Time Travel Trading Project is simple in concept. I started out with a random pack of 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards. My aim was to trade every card in that pack for something older. Each card I receive in turn is then made available for trade, with the goal to get the oldest card I can get.

Number of trades completed: 25
Unique trading partners: 20

Number of cards mailed out: 54
Year of oldest card mailed out: 1956

Number of cards received: 131
Year of oldest card received: 1938