1980 Topps unopened pack

This brilliant pack came from PunkRockPaint and is the first time I have ever opened a 1980 pack, which I suppose is a little sad considering I am trying to collect the whole set. Anyway Travis suggested that I don't eat the gum, which is pretty sensible advise like 'Don't eat yellow snow' or 'Beware of people who drive in hats'. So the gum didn't look that appetising anyway.

Here are the cards as they came out of the pack (and some useless information about each one):

#46 Rico Carty Blue Jays

Spent many years with the Braves, two on the disabled list and bounced around Rangers, Cubs, A's, Indians and then Blue Jays. Once hit three homers in a game for the Braves in May 1970. 1979 was his last season in the Majors.

#658 Chris Knapp Angels
Drafted by the White Sox as a first round pick, traded to the Angels 1977. Faced 28 batters at Toronto and retired them all, except 1. Once pitched a 7 innings no hitter for Iowa in 1976. 1980 was his last season in the majors.

#38 Dan Spillner Indians
Drafted by the Padres, traded to the Indians in 1978. Tied for the Padres club lead with 9 wins (but 11 losses) as a Rookie in 1974. Had moderate success in 1980 winning 16 and losing 11 and pitched a shut-out

#376 Jerry Mumphrey Cardinals

Drafted by the Cardinals in 1971. Led the American league with 44 stolen bases at Tulsa in 1975 and hit 2 grand slammers in the same year. Had a respectable 1980 batting average of .298

#4 1979 Highlights Pete Rose

September 24th 1979 Pete Rose became the first player to get 200 hits or more in 10 seasons. The previous record was 9 years by Ty Cobb.

#171 Fernanado Gonzalez Padres

Signed by the A's but waived to the Pirates. Had seasons with the Yankees and Royals too before becoming a Padre. 1979 was his final season in the majors.

#692 Rawly Eastwick Phillies

Drafted by the Reds, traded to the Yankees and now pitching for the Phillies. Released by the Phillies in 1980 so didn't get to play in the World Series winning team.

#362 Bo McLaughlin Braves

Drafted by the Astros as a first round pick in 1975. Appeared in 6 consecutive games in 1978 without allowing a run. Traded to the Braves in 1979. Didn't play in 1980 and eventually released in 1981.

#71 John Milner Pirates

Drafted by the Mets in 1968, traded to the pirates in 1977, His cousin Eddie Milner is an out fielder in the Cincinnati organization. Had a mediocre 1980 and was granted free agency in October 1980.

#333 Jim Norris Indians

Drafted by the Indians in 1971 and played only 4 seasons (77, 78, 79, 80)in the majors before being released. Played his final game in the majors in 1980. Has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland.

#588 Greg Minton Giants

Drafted by the Royals in 1970, traded to the Giants in 1973. Had a long career with the Giants until 1986. Chosen as an All-star in 1982.

#306 Denny Walling Astros

Drafted by the A's as a first round pick in 1975, traded to the Astros in 1977. Denny's brother Greg was an outfielder in the Astros organisation in 1967. Was the oldest player in the National league in 1992.

#72 Fred Howard White Sox

Drafted by white sox in 1976. Had 1 season in the majors in 1979.

#496 Mike Tyson Cardinals

Drafted by the Cardinals in 1970. Led the National league shortstops with 108 double plays in 1974.

#139 Dane Iorg Cardinals

Drafted by the Phillies as a first round pick in 1971, traded to the Cardinals in 1977. Had a .3o3 batting average in 1980. His brother Gareth played second base for the Royals in 1978.

Thank you Travis. I had all these cards but enjoyed opening it and finding out all those useless facts about each player.

Trade with Punk Rock Paint

There is list of required reading for baseball card blogger's. PunkRockPaint is one of the blogs at the top of this list. It is a highly original and ingenious blog. Travis's photo-shopping skills are brilliant, take a look at the Lost retro set to get an idea of the lengths he goes to to make them as authentic as possible. And how does he make all those Big Lebowski cards?
Travis took the time to send me some Red Sox cards and a very special pack!

Here is the selection of Red Sox cards PunkRock sent from San Diego California:

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game #79 Carl Yastrzemski

2000 Upper Deck Y3K? #60 Carl Yastrzemski

2001 Topps Archives #6 Carl Yastrzemski

2002 Fleer Greats #75 Carl Yastzemski

2002 Fleer Greats #89 Carlton Fisk

2004 Sweet Spot #15 Carl Yastzemski

2005 Upper Deck Classics #LL-JR Jim Rice game used pants (with a hit of dirt)

#2005 Upper Deck Classic #55 Joe Wood

2006 Bowman #BDP81 Clay Buchholz

2006 Fleer #DP5 David Ortiz

2006 Fleer #183 Craig Hansen

2006 Topps Update #279 Jonathan Papelbon

2007 Bowman Chrome #BDPP105 Jacoby Ellsbury

2007 Bowman heritage #14 Mike Lowell

2007 Bowman Heritage #243 Hideki Okajima

2007 Bowman Heritage #250 Daisuke Matsuzaka (oohh shiny)

2007 Fleer Ultra #FG-GP Jonathan Papelbon

2007 Topps Rookie '52 #91 Jacoby Ellsbury

2007 Topps Rookie '52 #204 Brandon Moss

2008 Allen+Ginter #134 Jason Varitek mini

2008 Allen+Ginter #171 J.D.Drew mini

2008 Bowman #199 Jacoby Ellsbury

2008 Topps Heritage #55 Josh Beckett

2008 Topps Heritage #248 Red Sox

2008 Topps Heritage #308 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2008 Topps Heritage #375 Manny Ramirez

2008 Topps Heritage Chrome #C93 Clay Buchholz 0524/1959

2008 Upper Deck #736 Dustin Pedroia

2008 Upper Deck #786 David Ortiz

2008 Upper Deck Starquest #41 David Ortiz common

2008 Upper Deck Starquest #41 David Ortiz rare

2009 Allen+Ginter #11 Jacoby Ellsbury

2009 Allen+Ginter #88 Brad Penny

2009 Allen+Ginter #127 J.D.Drew

2009 Allen+Ginter #139 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2009 Allen+Ginter #273 Jason Bay

2009 Allen+Ginter #291 Josh Beckett

2009 Allen+Ginter #300 David Ortiz

2009 Allen+Ginter #300 David Ortiz code card

2009 Allen+Ginter #303 Rocco Baldelli

2009 Allen+Ginter #AGHS7 Manny Ramirez

That is an amazing selection of cards there Travis. Thank you, hope we can trade again soon.

And if you hung on this far.

Travis also sent along this very special pack of 1980 Topps baseball cards. I am 30ish cards short of the full set and I have never opened a pack of this before. I am a tad excited about opening this one up. Absolutely brilliant Travis. Thank you.

Trade with Patricia and Lucy from Dinged Corners

This is a trade I have been looking forward to this trade with Dinged Corners for two reasons. Another state to check off my list of trading states. These cards come from Santa Fe in New Mexico! And the other reason is that I read and enjoy their blog immensely, so it is a privilege to receive cards from them. To top the fine selection of baseball cards, there was some random non-baseball cards, which I like and a personal letter from Lucy. My children love it just as much as I do that packages arrive from the USA. They are very distinctive, the postage label with the pink bar and the green customs label. We have learnt a great deal about where in The States different baseball teams are located and we find where in the US or Canada the packages originate. So my girls loved the personal note that came with this and don't be surprised if they don't attach their own personal message to your next package Lucy!
So onto the cards Red Sox unless otherwise stated:

1981 Donruss #337 Steve Renko1985 Topps #134 Terry Francona Expos

1989 Fleer #633 Wade Boggs

1989 Topps #2 Wade Boggs

1993 Cracker Jack #14/24 Harry Hopper Boston Americans (very tiny card)

1999 Pacific #4/4 Carl Yastremski

1999 Team Best #59 Jason Michaels Batavia Muckdogs

1999 UD Choice #2 Jin Ho Cho
2003 Topps #316 Mark Malaska Bay Rays (In person auto)

2007 Topps #630 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2007 Topps #641 Hideki Okajima

2007 Topps World Baseball Classic #22 David Ortiz

2007 Turkey Red #42 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2007 Turkey Red #119 Hideki Okajima

2007 UD Future Stars #14 Curt Schilling

2008 A Piece of History #13 Josh Beckett

2008 Allen+Ginter #296 Hideki Okajima

2008 Bowman #BCP56 Iggy Suarez

2008 Bowman Chrome #BCP56 Iggy Suarez

2008 Topps Heritage #358 Hideki Okajima

2008 Topps Heritage #392 Pedroia, Youkilis, Lowell

2008 Topps T205 #2 Clay Buchholz

2008 Topps T205 #15 David Ortiz

2008 Topps T205 #15 David Ortiz mini

2008 UD Timelines #30 David Ortiz

2009 O-Pee-Chee #WK4 J.D.Drew

2009 ToppsTown #25 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2009 ToppsTown #49 Daisuke Matsuzaka

2009 Upper Deck #429 Josh Beckett

2009 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary #1081 Jason Varitek

and the random cards

1992 Marvel masterpieces Spider Man vs Venom

1992 Pacific World War II 'Do with Less'

1993 Topps Doug #36

2007 DAV Red Sox mascots

Thank you Patricia and Lucy for the super cards. Hope we can trade again soon.

Trade with Steve from White Sox Cards

I imagine Steve is pretty pleased for his White Sox team and in particular Mark Buerle. It is amazing to think that it is only the 18th time that a perfect game has ever been pitched. Nice to belong to this special club.
Anyway, my friend Steve from White Sox Cards sent along some Red Sox cards from Oak Lawn, Illinois.
The selection included:
1992 Donruss #GS-6 Frank Viola
2003 Fleer #39 Pedro Martinez
2007 Moments & Milestones #18 Roger Clemens 3/29
2007 Moments & Milestones #92 Curt Schilling 4/150
2007 Topps Opening Day #OD10 Red Sox
2007 Topps Ted Williams #TW9
2007 Topps Wall Mart #WM35 Manny Ramirez
2008 Stadium Club #21 Jacoby Ellsbury
2008 Topps Opening Day mural#16/28 David Ortiz
2008 Topps T205 #HTCP2 Clay Buchholz mini
2009 Bowman #38 Dustin Pedroia
2009 Bowman #205 George Kottaras
2009 Goudey #28 Jacoby Ellsbury
2009 Goudey #33 J.D.Drew
2009 Goudey #35 Clay Buchholz
2009 O-Pee-Chee #365 Jacoby Ellsbury
2009 ToppsTown #TTT42 Kevin Youkilis
2009 Topps Legends #LG-WB Wade Boggs
2009 Upper Deck #41 David Ortiz
2009 Upper Deck #50 Julio Lugo
2009 Upeer Deck #52 Jonathan Papelbon
2009 Upper Deck #55 Jon Lester
2009 Upper Deck #552 Josh Beckett
2009 Upper Deck #561 Javier Lopez
2009 Upper Deck #987 Rocco Baldelli
2009 Upper Deck Starquest #7 Daisuke Matsuzaka gold rare
2009 Upper Deck Starquest #8 David Ortiz
2009 Upper Deck Starquest #8 David Ortiz emerald super rare
2009 Upper Deck Starquest #45 Jonathan Papelbon turquoise
2009 Upper Deck Starquest #48 Kevin Youkilis emerald super rare

Thanks Steve for the cards. Three Jacoby Ellsbury's, some super rare and numbered cards. These are brilliant.

Fleer Skybox EX 'Plastic' cards

I make no apology for this, but I am a complete sucker when it comes to this type of card. The clear plastic cards that Fleer, in the guise of Skybox EX, foist upon collectors firstly in 1999, and then again and again for the next few years, are the sort of cards I like to have in my collection. Long lasting, strong and transparent.

Although I can see why collectors may baulk.

In Australia they have plastic money, yes plastic notes of various denominations,made I am to led to believe of recycled supermarket carrier bags. When you see and feel this money it just isn't right. Real money should be metal or paper, credit cards are plastic. So it may be roughly the same thing with baseball cards. They should be made of cardboard. Vary the thickness, add a piece of bat or clothing, draw on it if you like (but don't put stickers) but never, NEVER make them from plastic.

Whatever your take is on this type of card, they have to be admired for innovation and trying 'something different'. Is there any harm in that? Some collectors spend a fortune making their cards plastic anyway through the grading process. As I have heard it put recently, the card collecting hobby is for enjoyment. Although I must mention the 2003 version of EX tried a little too hard to be different. The background is very sparkly, too sparkly like lip gloss. If you have young daughters you will know what I am talking about. If not, try to get a hold of some of these cards to get feel for them yourself. I like shiny cards but even this is too much for me.

Trade with Jason from The Writer's Journey

Midweek this big box of cards arrived from Jason of The Writer's Journey. It was in exchange for some Reds cards and a few packs of football cards for his sons. My side of the trade can be seen here.

The box had to sit unopened on my desk, which was a bit of a strain, but for good reason. As my wife would put it ,'I would be lost to the world..' if I had opened it to see the baseball goodness inside. It had to wait, school is finishing for the summer break (summer? wet, windy and cold at the moment) and a fellow teacher and I run a Movie and Animation club at school. Our end of year project is to make a Dr Who episode.

Last year our episode titled 'Parasite' lasted 12 minutes. We filmed for about 6 weeks and the editing took about two weeks. The school caretaker made a life size 'Tardis' for us to use in the filming. He topped that this year by making our very own 'Dalek'. We had delusions of grandeur but still left ourselves 6 weeks of filming and 2 weeks of editing. It just wasn't enough time. The big red carpet event was on Friday and the movie wasn't finished until late, late, then early Friday morning and we hadn't burnt the film to DVD yet. My colleague swears by a drink called Red Bull, a caffeine rich stimulant drink that is meant to keep you awake and alert way beyond the time your body is telling you sleep! The movie ended up being 28 minutes long, suffice to say with a few too many continuity errors which are being fixed this weekend. The children enjoyed the film, we enjoyed making the film. However because of this distraction I didn't get to open the box of cards until today.

There are far too many cards to list. Thanks to Jason a huge chunk of my Red Sox wants list has disappeared.

Trade with Jeffrey from Card Junkie

Received a nice little pile of cards from Jeff on Friday. Jeff is close to completing the 2009 Goudey set amongst others. I just happened to have some he needed so a trade was organised.
Here are the Red Sox Jeff sent from State College, Pennsylvania:
1992 Fleer #45 Carlos Quintana
1992 Fleer #46 Jeff Reardon
1993 Leaf #21 Frank Viola
1993 Leaf #85 Bob Zupcic
1993 Leaf #87 John Valentin
2009 Goudey #19 Jed Lowrie
2009 Goudey #27 Dustin Pedroia
2009 Goudey #29 Jason Varitek
2009 Goudey #30 Jonathan Papelbon
2009 Goudey #31 David Ortiz
2009 Topps Heritage #310 Mike Lowell
2009 Upper Deck #465 Manny Ramirez
2009 Upper Deck #SQ-13 Josh Beckett purple common

Thank you Jeff. As always, it's great to trade.

1997 Upper Deck SPx holoview cards

In a recent trade with John from Old School Breaks he sent along these three 1997 SPx 'holoview' technology cards. The hologram may have been the gimmick of the late 90's, I am however very impressed with these cards. When it comes to cards which are slightly off the mainstream I am a complete sucker and fall for them hook, line, sinker and copy of angling times.
There are according to my research a number of parallel cards, Bronze, Sliver, Gold and steel. Also these cards would have set you back an amazing $5.99 for a pack of 3 cards. I am not sure which BIG Mo and Nomar Garciaparra cards I have here, my guess being the Steel variety with the enhanced silver foil and your bog standard base cards. Whatever they may be I wish they would bring them back.

Trade with John from Old School Breaks

There are quite a few of us in 'The John' club on the baseball blogsphere.
If you haven't stumbled across the blog John's Old School Breaks as of yet, make sure you pay a visit. For the fans of all things shiny and bright it is a must. John opens boxes of the cards like Fleer Flair, Flair Showcase, Bowman Best and a set that I have contemplated collecting myself 2001 UD Decade 1970's Baseball. So it was great to finally trade with him. I sent over a lot of Yankees and he replied with this brilliant lot of Red Sox cards from Kingman Arizona.

1982 Fleer #301 Bob Ojeda
1998 Topps Finest #134 Troy O'Leary
2001 Fleer Genuine #122 Juan Diaz #1119/1500
2001 Fleer Genuine #128 Sun-Woo Kim #062/1500
2001 Fleer Genuine High Interest #14 Pedro Matinez
2001 Fleer Genuine Pennant Aggression #10 Pedro Martinez
2006 Upper Deck #543 Julian Tavarez #44/50
2006 Upper Deck #PH-9 Jason Varitek
2006 Upper Deck Special F/X CP-1 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2007 Topps #GN498 Jonathan Papelbon
2007 Topps #WM27 Daisuke Datsuzaka
2008 Spectrum #12 David Ortiz
2008 Spectrum #16 Josh Beckett
2009 UD Team leaders #431 Pedroia, Matsuzaka, Beckett
2009 UD #SQ-13 Josh Beckett gold rare
2009 UD #SQ-13 Josh Beckett blue uncommon

Thank you John. There are some amazing numbered, shiny and die-cut cards here.

Trade with Adam from Thoughts and Sox Part 2

Following close on the heals of a package from Adam was a second package from the man of Thoughts and Sox. Containing another large pile of Red Sox from my wants lists.
The highlights being:
1974 Topps #61 Luis Aparicio
1975 Topps #601 Juan Beniquez
1976 Topps #278 Bernie Carbo
1978 Topps #202 Jim Rice
1982 Topps #225 Mike Torrez
1982 Topps #490 Dennis Eckersley
2000 Fleer Tradition #159 Pedro Martinez
2003 Topps Heritage #77 Rolando Viera
2003 Topps Heritage #88 Trot Nixon
2006 Topps Heritage #187 Tror Nixon
2006 Topps Heritage #369 Keith Foulke
2006 Topps Heritage #399 Mike Lowell
2006 Topps Heritage #402 Matt Clement
2008 Topps Heritage #400 Manny Ramirez
Plus about 40 more cards from the wants list.

Wow. Thanks Adam for taking the time to scoure my wants list and fill quite a few of the gaps.
Whatever happened to Trot Nixon by the way?

Trade with Greg from Nightowl.

I am really glad to have Greg from Nightowl as a trade buddy. I actively seek out Red Sox cards and I am happy when I pull one out of a pack or obtain a card in trade, but I am always pulling Dodgers and recently when I purchased some random, description less cards from e-bayUK, yes you guessed it Dodgers, 90% of the cards. I refer to it as a Dodgers magnet. Thankfully Greg is a collector and offers them a good home.
So the return trade a little while back filled with Red Sox 'awesomeness' and a brilliant 1980 Topps card of Ozzie Smith.
Greg also sent these Red Sox cards:

1989 Topps mini #4 Wade Boggs
1996 Pinnacle Summit #125 Wil Cordero
2001 Royal Rookies #23 Luis Garcia
2007 UD Triple Play TP-DM Daisuke Matsuzaka
2008 Documentary #3464 Dustin Pedroia
2008 UD SP Authentic #100 Curt Schilling
2008 UD SP Authentic MM-4 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2008 UD Timelines #222 Jacoby Ellsbury
2009 Bowman #20 Josh Beckett
2009 Goudey #19 Jed Lowrie
2009 Goudey #28 Jacoby Ellsbury mini
2009 Goudey #35-75 4 in 1 Curt Schilling
2009 Topps #350 Dustin Pedroia
2009 Topps #355 John Smoltz
2009 Topps #619 Chris Carter
2009 Topps Attax Josh Beckett Hot Streak
2009 Topps Attax Jonathan Papelbon
2009 Topps Attax J.D.Drew
2009 Topps Heritage #54 Jonathan Papelbon
2009 Topps Heritage #249 Jon Lester
2009 Tristar #111 Mark Wagner
2009 Tristar #112 Mike Lee
2009 UD #45 Daisuke Matsuzaka
2009 UD #58 Jason Bay
2009 UD #417 George Kottaras
2009 UD #546 Josh Bard
2009 UD #547 Takashi Saito
2009 UD #462 Jon Lester
2009 UD #SQ-38 Dustin Pedroia silver common
2009 UD #SQ-45 Jonathan Papelbon blue uncommon

Thanks again Greg. As always it is great to trade. I'm saving the two oddball for another post.

Jacoby Ellsbury

As I get closer to collecting the 1980's Topps set I decided to try and concentrate on one of my other pursuits Jacoby Ellsbury. I have received some cards in trade recently so I hit e-bay to try and knock off some of the 'older' cards but as luck would have it I won some 2009 cards as well. Rod from Padographs asked 'Why would a guy in the UK collect a college player from Oregon State?' Why? Well...
One of the TV stations in the UK called Channel 4 had a baseball program that ran for a few years, it was cancelled in 2007 but we were lucky enough to have the 2007 World Series televised live. I spent a few late nights and early mornings dozing on the couch watching as much as I could. In between quick eye lid checks Jacoby Ellsbury took an amazing catch, which, if memory serves me correctly was in Game 4. I have been unable to find it on you tube but that catch stayed with me. Shortly after my wife bought me a Red Sox shirt for my birthday and it had Ellsbury 46 on the back and the rest as they say 'was history'. As I picked up one or two of his cards a pursuit was born. There are a number of pricey cards but I decided to stick to cards with no print run. Most of the cards I receive are in trades and from e-bay, only one Ellsbury card has ever arrived on e-bayUK a 2008 Green Co-Signers and it became mine.

1980 Topps Ozzie Smith

I have been contacted a few times by people offering cards for trade. Sometimes these trades never happen, either the cards never show up or I send off my side of the deal and nothing returns. Maybe this happens to you as well. I am not too concerned as I know the cards will go to a good home.
So when Matt of A Giants Blog and Project Baseball 1976 contacted to say he had 4 cards from my 1980 Topps wants list, I tried to keep my excitement in check. But, boy did Matt come through! The four cards arrived, from the wonderfully named Snowflake Arizona, today including #393 Ozzie Smith, one of the harder cards to obtain. He also included #384 Joey McLaughlin, #431 Mike Krukow and #650 Joe Morgan . Just for good measure Matt also included 8 cards form the 1981 Fleer set.
That takes the total of my Topps 1980 to 699 , just 27 cards short of the full set. So close I can taste it.