I Am The Sheep King!

I know what you are thinking....

No, really, I can! I'm a mind reader! How else can you explain my ability to accurately predict the answers set forth by a collective group of fellow sports card enthusiasts? Josh, over the blog Royals and Randoms, devised an elaborate experiment under the guise of a contest. Through a series of questions, Josh set forth to determine which willing volunteer had the greatest ability to predict the answers given by the group as a whole. What answer would most of us lab-rats (lab-sheep?) give for each query?

I won the contest! (I mean, I showed the greatest potential for super-human cognitive ability!)

As reward for my predictive "gifts", Josh kindly sent a generous supply of cards, cards so amazing that even I could not predict their awesomeness!

I know what you're thinking...

You want to see the cards he sent, don't you?  (Sometime my abilities amaze even me!)

Josh sent over 60 Red Sox cards in two packs of pure beauty. I'll show off my 10 favorite cards from one pack now, and save the other for another post.

2003 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia 

#81 Rickey Henderson

Leading off, we have the greatest lead off hitter ever from his brief stint in Boston. The image doesn't really do the actual card justice.

2003 Fleer Hardball 

#161 Todd Walker

I really like the 3-D effect the stitches give this circular card.

2004 Upper Deck - Twenty-Five Salute 

#S-5 Jeremy Giambi

This is a great looking card, but I'll admit I'm confused about the rational behind this particular insert set. It's just a set of players who wore #25 on their uniforms. Why?

2003 Upper Deck Vintage 

#159 Nomar Garciaparra

Upper Deck really did a good job ripping off recreating the iconic 1965 Topps design.

2002 Topps 206 #160 Carlton Fisk

I enjoy the artistic layout of this Fisk card. Simple, but elegant!

2003 Donruss Diamond Kings 

#12 Pedro Martinez

There's something about Pedro's eyes on this card. It almost looks like he feels sorry for the poor soul he's about to strike out...

2003 Topps Tribute World Series 

#124 Cecil Cooper (1975)

I always thought Cecil Cooper was underrated. I'm glad Topps gave him some love with a card like this.

2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams 

#111 Luis Tiant (1975)

El Tiante! Although the card says "1975", you'll note he's signing his 1977 Topps card. Continuity error!

2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic 

#99 Ted Williams (TB, SN1941)

If I actively collected in 2003, this set would have caught my eye. It's a beautiful looking set. It's really a shame half of it is serial numbered.

2006 Upper Deck Artifacts - Awesome Artifacts Jumbos 

#AA-MR Manny Ramirez (MEM, SN45)

Boom! An insert that lives up to it's name! This big, white swatch 'o Manny is truly awesome!

That's all for this pack, I'll show off the rest of the cards in another post. Thanks again, Josh! These are amazing!