Mail Call!

I received an unexpected packaged recently from Jim over at The Phillies Room. I had sent him a couple cards I discovered from his extensive Phillies wantlist, and he was nice enough to return the favor. His package included recent cards, as well as older ones. Let’s get right to it and check out a sampling of the goods:

The first card is from the current Topps release. It’s a very shiny Toppstown card of David Ortiz. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not really sure what kinds of tourist attractions exist in Toppstown. But, the card is a nice one. It somehow manages to be very flashy, without driving me crazy. The next card is a 1983 Topps Bob Ojeda. The 1983 Topps set is a nice design. I like the use of the smaller headshot to let us see what the player actually looks like, in addition to a nice action shot of Ojeda. That ability is somewhat wasted on the Gary Allenson card, though. The larger photo isn’t exactly an action shot. So, it’s really a card with two posed shots. It’s not a big deal, but more of a wasted opportunity. I like the Bruce Hurst card though. Is that even the same guy? What is with the moustache in the action photo? What a great way to show a player in a couple different ways. The three 1983 Topps are nice for me as well. The make my 1983 Topps team set complete EXCEPT for the Boggs rookie. I’ve always wanted the Boggs. But, back when I really wanted it, it was too expensive for my taste. Now that eBay has dropped the prices, I find that I want other things more. But, I’ll get one of them soon. After a few cards of scrubs, Jim sent along a few Hall-of-Famers as well. There’s a Carl Yastrzemski from 1981 Fleer, and Carlton Fisk from 1981 Donruss. They’re both simple posed shots from two companies trying out sets for the first time. The Fisk is especially painful since he left the Sox following a postmark mishap allowed him to be a free agent. I imagine I would have been pretty annoyed to rip that from a pack in 1981. Also from the 1981 Donruss offering is the Jerry Remy card. Remy has become more popular than ever thanks to his fine work on NESN broadcasts. Another slightly awkward posed shot from the first Donruss set. The last two cards are two more Hall-of-Famers. A Tony Perez, and another Yaz. In contrast to the Fleer and Donruss 1981 cards, both of these 1981 Topps cards have action photos. Although, it might be a stretch to call the Yaz “action.”  The two 1981 Topps cards are similar to their ’83 cousins. In this case, they leave me ONE card from completing my 1981 Topps team set. In this case, the offending player is Jim Rice. So, two team sets are each left missing one card. In each case it’s a card of a Hall-of-Famer. Somehow that seems better to me. I’d much rather hunt down a Boggs RC than a Bob Ojeda. I don’t know why either. So, a big thank you to Jim and his Phillies Room.

 I’m already setting cards aside for your next package.