Delivery Time (from January)....Whoops Again!

You know how I mentioned that I was behind in posting some of my trade packages...especially those with lots of cards?  Well, yeah.  I'm trying to remedy that - so let's go back to a package that was mailed out in January from Dan over at The Other World.

The cards that Dan sent me were my prize for some type of contest that he held on his blog.  It's been a long time, so I couldn't tell you what the contest was about - but if I won it, I know it couldn't have been too difficult. Anyhow, as part of my prize, I ended up with a large pile of Reds plus one Mets card.  As I did before, since the package was so large, here's my Top 10:

#10:
2000 Topps:
TC5.  Tools of Success (Ivan Rodriguez & Johnny Bench)

For a number of years, the only Reds player that seemed to show up in insert sets from Topps was Johnny Bench.  I'm sure there was some sort of good reason for that (probably contracts or some such nonsense) but it was always a bit of a bummer not to land some of the other Reds' greats.  Today, of course, there are plenty of other players represented in various sets but back in 2000 that wasn't the case.  As such, this card doesn't rank real high up on the countdown (in fact, it barely made it to #10) but hey, it did beat out about 30 other Reds cards in the package)!

#9:
1993 Topps Finest:
39.  Chris Sabo

For a few years, Chris Sabo was my favorite Reds player (until Larkin usurped him and never relinquished the title).  This particular card is from a set that I'm fairly certain I didn't own a single card from!  Since it's from 1993, that's a pretty impressive feat for Dan to manage - I have a lot of early 90s stuff!

#8:
2007 Upper Deck ??:
FF-10.  Josh Hamilton

I have no idea what set this belongs to, and frankly, I don't much care.  Upper Deck is mostly dead to me anyhow.  I will say though, I happen to like the card design.  The colors match the Reds team colors and the gold rectangle holding the All-Star game logo is appropriately shiny.  I don't think an insert or special card should have the "rookie card" logo on it but that's probably an argument for another day.

#7:
2010 Topps Updates:
Gold Parallel:
US-303.  Brandon Phillips

I don't get the gold parallel craze.  There, I said it.  I simply don't get why people go crazy over these things - but I guess I'm glad they do because I can often turn my gold parallels into cards that I actually want.  That said, I do like to acquire Reds parallels (from all sets) whenever possible - so this card will definitely be going into my personal collection.

#6:
1996 Fleer Ultra:
9 of 12:  Power Plus:  Reggie Sanders

You have to love mid-90s insert sets.  Other than Pacific, nothing can match the craziness of a '95 or '96 insert card - especially from higher end shiny sets.  This particular card is part of the Power Plus insert set from Fleer Ultra, and yes, it is as crazy in person as it appears in the scan...maybe even more so!

#5:
2001 Fleer Tradition:
Grass Roots:
14 of 15 GR:  Ken Griffey Jr.

Unlike the card ranking at #6, this card is about as simple of an insert card as you can get.  It's extremely classy (as most Fleer Tradition sets were) and the Grass Roots theme is subtly played up with the faded grass photo in the background behind Griffey Jr.  All told, I think I prefer the Tradition insert quite a bit more than the Fleer Ultra, even though the Ultra might serve a dual purpose as a hypnotising agent should the need arise.

#4:
2010 Topps Update:
Legendary Lineage:
LL-74.  Johnny Bench & Buster Posey

Each year, I have bought both Series 1 and Series 2 of the Topps base set.  However, after 2009, I haven't bothered with the Update set at all.  The reasons are three-fold.  First, I think I get tired of the same design by the third time around.  Second, the update set is usually full of a bunch of all-star cards, season highlights, and other things that I deem rather dull not to mention a bunch of rookies and other set fillers that I also don't care for.  And finally, I don't usually bother with the Update set because quite honestly, it's boring!  However, although I just spent half a paragraph bashing the set, there are occasionally good cards that come out of the set - one such card being the Bench/Posey card that ranks #4 on my Top 10 countdown.

#3:
1999 Bowman:
200.  Austin Kearns

Kearns is shown in front of a farm.  I don't need to say anything else in order to validate why the card is ranked #3 in the trade package.  If, however, you do want further validation - consider this.  The card reminds me of Moo Moo Farm - one of my favorite race tracks in the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Kart.

#2:
2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces:
Red Parallel:
24.  Adam Dunn

The Upper Deck Masterpieces framed parallels are quite gorgeous, everyone knows that!  Even better though, is the fact that this is the Red frame - the perfect colored frame for a great Cincinnati Reds card!

#1:
2001 Sunoco:
10 of 12:  Tug McGraw & Gary Carter

In a stunning upset, the one Mets card ends up first on my Top 10 list!  Actually, if you know me, it's not really stunning at all since I'm a set collector first - Larkin collector second - and then Reds team collector third.  This is the last card that I needed for my 2001 Sunoco set (and so I get to erase that set from my want list).

Thanks for the prize Dan, sorry again for the length of time it took me to get it posted!

Image source:
http://s3.hubimg.com/u/1297370_f260.jpg