The Collector's Anniversary Celebration Extravaganza!

 

 

There will come a day when we will all stop collecting. Whether it's health, finances, or just a shift in priorities, the hobby we love now will no longer be a hobby. If we're lucky, we'll have a say when that time comes. 

 

Today we celebrate one of those enthusiasts who is choosing to have his say. Today is the 10th anniversary of Chris's blog, The Collector, and this is also his 40th year of collecting. With those round-numbered landmarks reached, Chris has decided that 2026 will be his last year of collecting. 

 

Although I have nothing but respect for his choice, I must admit it's a bittersweet moment for me. Chris was one of the first blogger "friends" I made after starting my own blog in 2017. That winter, I decided to participate in a Secret Santa exchange held by the legendary Matt from the old blog Bob Walk The Plank. I was selected to be Chris's Secret Santa. (I had to dig through the archives - completely forgot I sent him some Garbage Pail Kids cards!) Being his Secret Santa led me to his blog, and I've been a faithful reader ever since. 

 

As any of his faithful readers could tell you, Chris is quite a talented writer and story teller. He also does some of the best research work I've ever seen. His numerous posts like his All-Time Teams series are guaranteed to teach you at least one new fact or piece of trivia. My hope is that even after Chris stops collecting, he'll continue writing in some form or another.

 

As part of his big anniversary celebration extravaganza, Chris generously sent out some gift packages to a few of us that have enjoyed the ride with him. All he asked was we don't post about it until today, his official 10th blogging anniversary.  

 

So what did I get from my not-quite-Secret not-quite-Santa? A lot...

 

 

Let's start with this bag of penny sleeves, which are always useful!

 

 

Also included was this rack-pack of 1986 Topps! I'll save you the math - 1986 was 40 years ago, when Chris started collecting. He's working on completing the set before the year ends. 1986 Topps I too plan on completing one day - I have 2/3 of it already. As of now I plan on freeing these cards at a later date. Perhaps when I'm ready to commit to the set build, it'll make for a nice post to kick off the journey! 

 

 

The most eye-catching item in the box was of course this purple mystery bag! Inside were 2 packs - a pack of 1990 Upper Deck plus  the 30+ card mystery pack featuring the rookie card of former Dodger sensation turned bad boy Yasiel Puig. 

 

Since I decided to hold off on opening the rack pack, I felt I needed to open the Upper Deck pack at least: 

 

I can't complain about this one! Bo Jackson, Jack Morris, Roger Clemens and Dwight Evans make this a great pack. I don't even mind getting two copies of Chet Lemon! (The hologram is the Indians' logo if anyone cared.) 

 

As far as the mystery pack goes, most of those cards will remain a mystery for now. 80% of the pack contained cards from sports I don't collect like football and basketball. The only proper thing to do would be to pay it forward and give those cards away to anyone who wants them. Once I have time to catalogue and take pics, I'll have giveaway post. I'll probably dig through my collection and expand on the available cards too. 

 

There were some highlights for me however. There were a couple of Red Sox cards in there, including a short print variation. A few Hall of Fame/eventual Hall of Fame players as well. I also got a few autographs/serial numbered cards. Anyone out there happen to be a Jared Kelley/White Sox fan?   

 

Now...on to the good stuff! Chris and I are both Red Sox fans. On one hand, that means that Chris knows what I like! On the other, I couldn't begrudge the man if he chose to hold onto any cards he deemed worthy while he opened up numerous packs of Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary and other assorted goodies! In the box he sent were many loose cards in hard plastic containers. 

 

 

These two were in screw down cases. I'm not a big fan of screw down cases, but they have their uses. I'll likely free these two and put others in there place.

 

Speaking of the Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary, Chris sent along a few from those sets. By the way, it was fun watching Chris open these packs on the videos he posted.  (For what it's worth, now that I now know what you look and sound like, you remind me of one of my cousins...you're not partially Italian by chance are you?)

 

 

Other cards in the hard sleeves included another card in my quest for the 2024 Heritage The Fred Lynn Files set build, a great Eck, plus some shiny! (I'm digging that Rafaela card! Nice vibrant red on it!)

 

The box also included a team bag that was filled with lots and lots of Red Sox!  

 

 

Over twenty assorted Red Sox cards! I won't show them all, but I did cherry pick an assortment of favorites to show off: 

 

A few needs, with some exciting rookies and legends of the game to boot! The pack didn't contain all Red Sox though! There were two cards that didn't fit the theme:

 

 

Of course, these are two cards I need for my 1977 Topps set build! I'm down to just 4 cards left. My goal is to eventually trade/buy the last ones before the baseball season wraps up. 

 

One final item to close out all of this goodness. Chris specifically requested this to be opened last...

 

Looking at just the front and back, it appears to be more Platinum Anniversary cards. Which was in fact the case.

 

So why did Chris request this to be the last thing opened? Because sandwiched withing these two cards, Chris truly saved the best for last!

 

I had to laugh a little when I saw this beautiful 1952 Bowman card. For context, when Chris first announced his anniversary celebration box breaks, he asked readers to claim a number and a favorite player with that number. I picked #6 for the legendary Red Sox lifer Johnny Pesky. When Chris did the first box break of Chrome Platinum Anniversary, he mentioned if he pulled any of the named players he'd put them aside for us. I found that amusing, as Pesky hasn't been in a Topps product in over 20 years! Chris got the last laugh, because I got a Pesky anyway!

 

Chris, thank you for this amazingly generous package, but a bigger thanks for being a friend and valued blogger/collector. If 2026 is truly the end of your collecting days, I wish the extra time afforded to you is filled with joyful and memorable moments. If somewhere down the road the itch returns, I will be one of many to welcome you back with open arms! Either way, as I mentioned before, I hope you keep writing in one form or another. I wish nothing but good things for your future.

Generosity In All It's Forms

It's a well known fact that card collectors are among the most generous of any hobby group. What's more, they express this generosity in many ways:

 

Take for instance Tom (Batting Out Of Order). He recently held a giveaway on his blog for anyone to take advantage of. I of course took part. Nabbing the Red Sox cards was an obvious choice for me, as was a vintage Sabres card. The rest, to be honest, were cards I just liked for one reason or another. (Except for the Big Red Machine Combo card - I actually wanted the card next to it, but wrote down the wrong number in the comments! No matter - it's still a cool card! I should probably double check and see if a certain Larkin super-collector needs it...)

 

 

Favorite Card: 1977 Hostess #148 George Scott  

 

Sometimes generosity comes in the form of some extra cards in a trade. That's what Bo (Baseball Cards Come to Life!) did with our most recent Time Travel Trading trade. He included these extra cards for my collection:

 

 

Favorite Card: 2002 Upper Deck #597 Johnny Damon

 

Random unexpected cards are wonderful, but sometimes a collector will contatc you, see if you need specific cards and then hunt them down for you. That's what Stuart (S.R. '75 Cards) did when he asked if I needed the two Japanese variations of Daisuke Matsuzaka's 2007 Topps card. He sent both of them my way, along with an unexpected autograph:

 

Favorite Card: 2026 Topps Heritage - Real One Autographs #ROA-KCA Kristian Campbell (AU) 

 

My sincerest thanks to Tom, Bo, and Stuart for their amazing generosity!  

Catching Up

I'm back! Did you miss me? Alright, first things first - my wife is doing excellent! The surgery went smoothly and she was home the following day. The pathology report came back clean, meaning the cancer didn't spread past her uterus. She's feeling a lot better too, even though she is still under some restrictions and has to be careful not to overdo anything. Everything is trending it the right direction! I appreciate all the kind thought and words from you guys. It meant a lot! 

 

Now that I'm back to blogging, I decide to wrap up a whole bunch of incoming cards that have been sitting around waiting for their moment in the sun. My camera roll needed a bit of a photo dump.

 

Back in February, Jeff (Wax Pack Wonders) included a bonus card in one of our Time Travel Trading dealings:

 

 

Kerry Wood's historic rookie season made this a sought after card back in 1998. As far as multiplayer rookie cards go, this one was pretty good, as all three pitchers eventually made the All-Star team.

 

I also got some free cards recently from Stuart (S.R. '75 Cards). He was kind enough to help with my 1977 Topps set build, as well as add a few Red Sox needs my way:

 

 

Bob Boone giving us that smoldering look that drove all the ladies wild...

 

Next, a TCDB trade with Kurt from Butler, PA. I was able to acquire two more Red Sox from the 1976 set, leaving me just 3 short of the team collection!

 

That Fred Lynn was one of the bigger cards remaining from my quest to obtain all the Red Sox cards from the 1975-current Topps base sets.

 

Last but not least, Greg (Night Owl Cards) was kind enough to send a couple of Red Sox cards along with his most recent Time Travel Trade (which is set for Monday!)

 

 I'm not a huge fan of parallels, but the tree border does add a nice subtle touch to the holiday set.  

 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming!

 

 

A Thank You For Your Thoughts

Two weeks ago, I shared a generous donation to the Time Travel Trading Project courtesy of Jon (formerly of A Penney Sleeve For Your Thoughts). Jon didn't just send some free cards to the project. He also included some Red Sox cards for my collection:

 

 

I'm going to any of my readers who are smarter than I am. Can anyone provide more information on that Ted Williams card? It's a reprint of the 1948 Swell Sport Thrills set, but I can't find any information as to when or by who this reprint set was released. I'm more curious to how old it may be more than anything else. 

 

The star attraction from the group however is this great autographed 1963 Topps card of former infielder Chuck Schilling. Schilling came up to Boston in 1961 along with another Long Islander and his eventual roommate, Carl Yastrzemski. (He even got more Rookie of the Year votes than Yaz that season, placing 3rd). Schilling lasted 5 seasons in the big leagues, and later became a well respected and loved teacher. he passed away in 2021.

 

Thanks for the cards Jon!