Christmas in September: A Tribecards Giveaway!

Some time ago, I signed up for Tribecards Christmas giveaway.  To be honest, I had totally forgotten about the giveaway when I received an email a few weeks ago saying that boxes were about to be mailed out.  As it turned out, the original sign-up post had participants pick out multiple teams and/or players for which they had an interest in getting free cards.

Flash forward a week or so later and a big box of baseball cards showed up in my mailbox!  I had no idea what to expect (other than I was certain I said Reds and Barry Larkin in the original sign-up post).  After looking through the box, it was clear to me that I must have put the Reds, Mariners, and Astros as my three teams of interest.  That checks, because there was a time when I was rooting for the Astros as my American League team of choice.

Because the box from Tribecards is so loaded, I need to take it team by team for each post beginning with the Astros today.  The Astros' pile of cards was the smallest of the three teams (which is just as well now since I no longer root for Houston)!  That being said, there were still quite a few cards that caught my eye!  

For fun, let's count down my favorite eight cards Astros of the box!

#8:  Nolan Ryan

The 1989 Topps set is one of my favorite Topps sets of the 80s.  I will admit, I don't recall the Astros wearing the uniform that Nolan has on in the photo, but the stirrups make it work.  It's not the best photo but Nolan is a guy that I have a small PC of so this one might find a home in that stack of cards!

#7:  Craig Biggio

The 1991 Topps set is probably my favorite Topps design of the 90s!  I never much cared for Biggio during his playing days (he always seemed to kill my Reds) but I can admit now that this is a solid looking card.

#6:  Yordan Alvarez

I'm a sucker for interesting die-cut cards and this one fits the bill.  The "To the Moon" set name with the baseball getting launched into space works on a fun, cheesy level.  I approve!

#5:  Craig Biggio

Biggio makes his second appearance on the countdown!  The 1989 Fleer set is one of those designs that has grown on me over time.  It's still not my favorite design ever, but I five it a lot more respect now than maybe I did as a kid.

#4:  Cesar Cedeno

Great (posed) photo with the batting cage in the background.  I love Cedeno's bright red, yellow, and orange jersey.  This particular card is kind of beat up and there's even some writing in marker on the back of the card but that simply adds to the "story" that the card is telling.  I don't need all my cards in gem mint condition.

#3:  Nolan Ryan

Nolan joins Biggio as players who made the countdown twice.  However, there's no way I could leave Nolan Ryan and Craig Biggio tied with two appearances each...

#2:  Nolan Ryan

Yep, three out of the eight spots on the countdown belong to Nolan Ryan.  That seems fitting to me!  In fact, the only other Astro that I collect in any way today is Jose Altuve (and my Altuve love has shrunk immensely after the cheating scandal).  

#1:  Kyle Tucker

Okay, I didn't expect to see Kyle Tucker in the #1 slot either but this blue-bordered hand-numbered out of only 50 copies (and a rookie card to boot) was too nice not to make this #1 on the list.  In fact, this was the easiest choice out of all eight cards on the list!

Many, many thanks to David over at Tribecards for his generosity!  I will have more from the big box of cards he sent my way in the future - for now though, I need to go sort some Astros cards!