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Delivery Time! The Third (of Four) Posts from a Johnny's Trading Spot Big Box Trade!

Yesterday, I posted the first half of a priority small flat rate box that Johnny (from Johnny's Trading Spot) sent me.  The first half of the box was full of Reds and Pacific cards - and the second half of the box continues that theme.  In fact, the third stack (also wrapped safely in brown paper) contained nothing but Reds - so that's what we will take a look at tonight!

As is usual with me when I get a big pile of assorted Reds cards, I always pick out any Barry Larkin cards first.  This time around, there were two (both of which I already had) but that's ok - I don't mind getting duplicates as I can then use them for trade bait with other Larkin collectors out there!  For the record, Johnny sent me this one and this one (which saves me a scan since I had already written about both cards previously).

After removing the Larkins from the pile, I then went through and took a look at what other cards caught my eye.  As it turned out, there were a ton of great cards in this stack...be prepared for lots of scans ahead!

First up, a bunch of 1998 Fleer Tradition.

For Christmas last year, I received a box of 1998 Fleer Tradition Series 2.  The Reds that John sent me were all from Series 1 which is awesome since I'm missing a ton from that set.  In fact, while I do have Series 2 up on my want list, I haven't even taken the time to construct a want list for Series 1.  I really need to track down at least one box to open before I start listing cards I need...there's way too many (though this stack of Reds will most assuredly help me out in my quest to complete the entire Fleer Tradition set)!

Besides the five Tradtion cards from above, John also sent this beauty that deserved its own scan!

I have to say that I never imaged that a photo of someone sipping on a paper cup of GatoradePowerade could look so intimidating!

The rest of the stack of cards contained a bunch of other cool Reds including another card out of the 1991 US Playing Card deck.

I've always wondered whether playing cards like this count as a true baseball card.  They do feature baseball players and they are a card...so do they count?  I tend to think they do - but the argument against it is you know exactly which cards you are getting when you buy a deck (namely, one of each ace, two, ... queen, king in each of the four suits plus probably a pair of jokers).

Next up, a card that is clearly a baseball card...though it's a little bit strange in its own right!  This is a 2002 Topps Gallery card.

I recently opened a box of 1999 Topps Gallery for my group break and I have to say that those cards were quite nice.  I'm not convinced that the 2002 Gallery set is as nice, though with any "artsy" set it's definitely not fair to judge the entire set on a single card.

With no real thread to tie all these cards together (besides the obvious "they are all Reds"), we keep jumping around to other cards that caught my eye for one reason or another.

In the case of this Jack Morris card, it's interesting because 1) Morris never actually played for the Reds and 2) it's another 1995 Collector's Choice card (a set that I'm still trying to complete).  I happened to have this particular card though so I didn't get any closer to finishing off that set.

The Topps' Bazooka line of cards is another line that I've contemplated trying to complete for myself.  Unfortunately (or is fortunately?), I've never actually taken the plunge and attempted to complete a full set.  I will, however, happily accept any Reds from the Bazooka set!

I don't think the Dunn image is the most exciting image one could have used for a card designed for kids, but whatever...

If you want excitement, then may I turn your attention to this 2001 Upper Deck Black Diamond card?

I think this is the first card that I've ever owned from this particular set (hard to imagine that is even possible over a decade later and yet that's how it is)!  This card is flashy, shiny, and really, really red.  Do all the cards in the set have the blood red foil background or only teams in which red is a primary color in their uniform?  I think a full binder of shiny blood red cards sounds more frightening than it does cool.

Mixed in the stack of Reds were three Reds from one of my favorite "throwback" sets of all time - the 2003 Topps Fan Favorites set.

I loved this set when it was released - and even though it was mostly out of my price range, I did buy what I could of it.  This is one of those sets that I really ought to try and track down a box now and see if I can finish the thing off.

So many great sets - and I want all of 'em!  I really need to compose a master list (sort of like what I did with the Pacific sets in last night's post) so that I can keep track of sets that I'd like to eventually complete.

We end this stack of cards with a pair of horizontal Reds.

First up, this 1989 Topps Reds Leaders card.

When I was a kid, this was one of my favorite cards of all-time.  I remember thinking that this one was super special...and I had all the players on the back of the card (Larkin led the 1988 Reds in hits, triples, and batting average while my other favorite player at the time - Chris Sabo - led the Reds in doubles and stolen bases).  In terms of pitching, it was basically all Danny Jackson who led the Reds in innings, wins, strikeouts, complete games (with 15!), and shutouts (with 6!).  He would have been absolute beast to own in fantasy baseball if such a thing existed back then!

Finally, we end with my favorite card of this stack!

Look at Charlie Hustle hustle!  Rose batted .429 in the 1976 playoffs (2 doubles and 1 triple) in leading the Reds to the World Series.  I love, love, love this card - and I don't think I owned it before now!

Thanks once again for the awesome trade box John.  And, as I mentioned already, there's still one more stack of goodness to go through!  As for anyone else, if you want to trade feel free to check out my want list and then make me an offer!


Comments

  1. Oh, Fantasy Baseball DID exist "back then"! It was Rotisserie Baseball, at the time, after the name given by the people who started it (after the restaurant where they dreamed it up, apparently). They trademarked the name and figured they'd make a fortune, not thinking how easy it would be to call it something else that actually made sense...like Fantasy Baseball. I don't know what the state of the Internets was at the time, but we were compiling all our stats manually. It was a chore. I didn't own Danny Jackson, but I did own Rob Dibble (we had an addendum minor league draft, so you could actually build a team from the ground up) and Eric Davis, both of whom helped me win a title a few years later. Dibble was key. It was an auction league and minor leaguers were a dime. So, by the time he became who he became, I had him locked up to a long term contract for $1.10. In an auction, by then, he'd have gone for $5 or more.

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