Masks, Merceds and More

Patience is a virtue.   I've learned that as I've grown older.  There are some bloggers out there that have been very patient with me.   One of those virtuous souls is a new kid on the block, Ray from the All Cardinals All the Time blog.  Ray sent me a box of Blue Jays goodies just before I went on vacation, containing some great stuff including the Charlie O'Brien card above.

I really do wish that more catchers would adopt the goalie style mask and jazz it up with some great artwork.  Recently retired catcher John Buck's Blue Jays mask is one of my all time favorites, as you can see here.

Orlando Merced spent just one season in Toronto...1997.  You wouldn't expect to see too many cards featuring him in a Blue Jays uniform.   I guess you could say that this is 1.5 cards that show Merced, since the Leaf on the right has him in a Pirates uniform.   I didn't know that Merced finished 2nd in ROY balloting in 1991 to 1/2 of the Killer B's, Jeff Bagwell.

Another example of "he was a Blue Jay?", Mike Stanley played in 98 games for the Jays in '98 before being traded to the Red Sox for a couple of guys that I never heard of.   Moving on...

I never realized that 2000 Pacific Private Stock only featured Jays players in red hats with bats over their shoulders.   You learn something new every day. 

For some really weird reason, when I see this card of Roger Clemens, I think of this...

For those of you old enough to remember the Indian head test patterns that would be on the screen before the Agricultural report on Saturday mornings, before the cartoons finally came on.

I had never seen a '99 Fleer Brilliants card before this box arrived.   It's a nice, shiny card, with absolutely no design whatsoever! 

These scanned a lot brighter than they look in hand.  Another parallel that I hadn't seen or owned before, the Upper Deck Encore cards are a welcome addition.

Last but not least, a Donruss '91 card of Luis Sojo.  Why am I showing this to you?  Because Luis finishes off the team set for '91 Donruss, 24 years too late.   Please don't send me anymore.   Please.

Ray, your patience is incredible, and really appreciated.   The cards are fantastic, and the card show this weekend will be partly devoted to finding some more cards to send your way.   Thank you!!

thanks for reading, Robert

A new trade partner hits quite a few want lists

I received an email from a blog reader about 10 days ago, requesting a trade.  Charles wished to have all the Cleveland Indians cards off of my trade list (a devoted fan, no doubt), and in return he had a specific list of cards to send my way.

I took one look at the list and quickly agreed, and a new trade partner emerged.

Charles became the first person to knock a card off my 30 most wanted list , and it was a great card for my Jim Thome PC.

It's good to finally get the Thome Bowman RC into my collection.  That was number one on the list.

Most of the cards that are on the 30 most wanted lists are just base cards, so I'm hoping that I can get through them rather swiftly and grow the PC's a little.

2014 Topps series 2 still sadly has a want list, but 4 more cards were removed via this trade.

Still 26 more to go.  Ugh.

Charles also put a dent in a few of the Blue Jays want lists.  He completed a couple team sets:

Pushed a trio of sets to the brink of completion:

How have I not finished Donruss 91 yet?

And knocked on the door of a few others...

The piece de resistance in this trade for me was 3 more '59 Topps cards

Great cards to add to the collection!  I'm already up to 155 so far, and even though I really didn't set a goal as to how much I wanted to have by the end of the year, the halfway point of 286 cards is a thought right now. 

This was definitely a great first trade Charles, thank you very much!   I hope to carry out some more trades in the future with you.

thanks for reading, Robert

How to effectively rid oneself of unwanted '91 Donruss

I had contacted Dennis, the proprietor of the Detroit based sports card blog Too Many Verlanders, the other day and alerted him that I had a few cards that I wanted to send his way.

Dennis confirmed my request to make sure I still had his correct address, and at the same time he let me know that a PWE was headed my way.

That PWE arrived today and I quickly ripped it open, and take a guess as to what the first card I saw was...

Gerald Perry!  1991 Donruss!  Hold on....

Am I collecting this set?  (brain shuts down to think....give me a minute please)   No, I am not.

Royals?   Blue uniform is correct, but the logo is a little off.  Beginning to wonder if I was being pranked.

OK, there's blue tape on the top loader, let's see what's underneath the Perry.

Whew, a couple of cards more my speed!   A pair of serial numbered Bowman cards to add to the SNI project.  The Steven Ramos on the left takes care of the lowest number that was remaining, 29.  The Cardinals are now just 3 cards away from the 50 card goal.  The Frank Herrmann on the right is serial numbered 255/500, and gives the Indians 41 cards in the set. 

Dennis has also been a frequent contributor to the project, as these are cards #40 and #41 that he's sent my way.

Thank you for the PWE Dennis, it is greatly appreciated!

Note:  this post does not constitute an endorsement for anyone out there to send me their unwanted '91 Donruss cards.  Yes, my collecting interests are wide, but not that wide!!

Thanks for reading, Robert