Serendipitous Topps Cards

The generosity of the card collecting community never ceases to amaze me. A few weeks ago I received a 200 count box full of Red Sox goodness from 'Stats on the Back' and now this.
It was only a few short days ago that I received an e-mail from Max professing to be 'a voracious collector and part time card philanthropist.' He went on to say, 'When I saw your 1980 want list, I immediately dove into my shoe boxes and came up with 17 of your remaining 26. I am also a big Red Sox fan, and I see you are too, let me know if there is anything specific you collect so I can put them in your package as well - no use in sending something so far without getting as much into it as I can.'

And Max squeezed in as many Red Sox cards as humanly possible. I know that it costs more to send cards to the UK and I am grateful that people are willing to send all the way to the UK.
Max, thank you for the cards.
Here is a selection of the cards sent from Ramsey New Jersey (I think that is a new state too!)
1973 Topps #224 Bill Lee
1976 Topps #130 Luis Tiant
1978 Topps #645 Mike Torrez
1979 Topps #155 Dwight Evans
1981 Donruss #335 Carlton Fisk
1981 Fleer #232 Dwight Evans
1981 Fleer #238 Jerry Remy
1982 Donruss #282 Ralph Houk
1982 Topps Stickers #132 Jerry Remy
1983 Topps #270 Dennis Eckersley
1988 Panini Stickers #23 Bob Stanley
1988 Panini Stickers #30 Spike Owen
1988 Panini Stickers #32 Mike Greenwell
1988 Panini Stickers #33 Jim Rice
~more to follow

Only 7 1980 Topps to go!

I have moved a great deal closer to my 'Pursuit of 1980 Topps'.

Thanks to the generous nature of a self-proclaimed philanthropist called Max.

Max sent along 17 cards from my 1980 Topps wants list. So that leaves only 7 cards to go until I complete the whole set.

So if you happen to have;

#435 Don Gullett,
#448 Jim Wohlford,
#501 Rennie Stennett,
#512 Jose Cardenal,
#514 Steve Ontiveros,
#659 George Bamberger,
#684 Frazier/Herr/O'Brien,

lying about somewhere and feel they need a good home. Please get in contact.

1955 Bowman baseball Yankees

I cannot begin to understand the collecting habits of card collectors in the UK. Recent game used cards and in particular autographed cards go for sometimes stupid amounts of money, while cards as important to the hobby as these 1955 Bowman go for 99p.
The 1955 Bowman baseball card set was the last that the Bowman Gum Company produced. The company was bought by Topps in 1955 and the Bowman brand didn't resurface for another 30plus years.

The auction was for three Yankees, which included two Rookie cards; #68 Elston Howard and #167 Bob Grim plus #201 Allie Reynolds. The Elston Howard card is of major significance as he was the first African American to play for the Yankees and was in his MLB rookie year. In contrast Allie Reynolds retired in 1954, after a long and successful career which started in 1942 with the Cleveland Indians and ended with the Yankees. Both players featured in many All-Star and World Series games.

The third player,Bob Grim bounced around few clubs until he played his final game in 1962 when he was with Kansas City Athletics.

The seller also included a 1978 Topps Don Gullett and a 1979 Topps Jim Beattie.

1980 Topps #580 Nolan Ryan

Another one of the harder to get 1980's Topps cards. Mr Nolan Ryan. 7 no hitters. At this stage in 1979 he was only at his second club, although transfered to the Astros in 1980.
24 to go.

Trade with Big B from Waxaholic

With the 2009/2010 football (soccer) season now in full swing, how can I deny a request Football stickers? Brian from Waxaholic and I share a liking of stickers as well as cards. So I am happy to contribute to his completion of the Topps Total sticker album.
Brian sent me some great '71 Red Sox and a pack of O-Pee-Chee baseball cards, which I will share in my Pursuit of Red Sox.

Brian sent:
1971 Topps #58 Bill Lee
1971 Topps #159 Javis Tatum
1971 Topps #225 Gary Peters
1971 Topps #254 Cal Koonce
1971 Topps #302 Phil Gagliano
1987 Donruss Opening Day #180 Bob Stanley
1987 Donruss Opening Day #181 Wade Boggs
1987 Donruss Opening Day #182 Jim Rice
1987 Donruss Opening Day #183 Bill Buckner
1987 Donruss Opening Day #184 Dwight Evans
1987 Donruss Opening Day #185 Spike Owen
1987 Donruss Opening Day #186 Don Baylor
1987 Donruss Opening Day #187 Marc Sulivan
1987 Donruss Opening Day #188 Marty Barrett
1987 Donruss Opening Day #189 Dave Henderson
1987 Donruss Opening Day #266 Red Sox
2004 Donruss Diamond Kings #90 Pedro Martinez
2009 Topps Finest #46 Jacoby Ellsbury

Thanks Brian. I hope we can continue to placate our shared dilemma of collecting a sport that is played on foreign shores.

Trade with Mark from stats-on-the-back

Have you been reading about the serial giver?
Mark from Stats-on-the-back has been downsizing the collection. 'I have too many cards', he screamed. 'I must reduce my card collection.' Although I didn't think, having too many cards was possible. I have heard my wife say it but didn't think it was a real statement.
However I was on the receiving end of a generous 200 count(plus) of Red Sox cards. There are too many to list here but lets just say that a large hole has been filled in the Red Sox vacancy list.
Thank you Mark.
Good Luck reducing your collection.

Major League Baseball News in the UK

There is very little interest in baseball in the UK. Newspaper items are usually restricted to simple scores near the back pages, such as Boston 4 Detroit 3. The Mark Buehrle perfect game didn't cause a ripple. Alex Rodriguez dating Madonna was front page but this isn't baseball worthy, more for the fact that Madonna had recently broken-up with Guy Richie. The article then went to describe exactly who Alex Rodriguez was.
So what is baseball newsworthy across the pond. Recently on page two of a big Sunday newspaper was the above picture. The story probably didn't cause a blip on the American Baseball radar. It was about a group of Toronto Fans at a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays wearing watermelon hats. The Rays won 10-9 in 12 innings. No mention of any players, just this picture and roughly 50 words. The author didn't go into details about why these fans chose to wear watermelons on their heads. Crazy Americans, or is that crazy Canadians?