Surprise Cards from Up North

The other day when I got home from work, there were two packages waiting for me. One was an expected package with some seasonal trinkets from a friend of mine on Twitter, the other was a surprise package from Canada. Now, there's only one person I trade with north of the border and that's Douglas of Sportcards from the Dollar Store.

I always know what a package from Douglas will contain, that being Reds, Bengals, and Blue Jackets. I can also expect a vintage card or two as well, such as this 1971 Gary Nolan card. 

Yay! Mid-90s Reds! I love listening to Jeff Brantley these days on Reds broadcasts. 

Every year, Stadium Club seems to come out and I never really go buy any of it. However, I really need to change that. Every year the photography is better and better so next year, I might grab a blaster or a few packs (provided they're not crazy expensive). Anyway, this is my first 2018 Stadium Club card, and wow, these things are beautiful in person.

More random Reds cards. Nice to see the annual Opening Day Parade get it's own card. My only complaint is that it doesn't show the actual parade, just fans filing into the ballpark.

Some Reds minor league cards. I think the 2018 design works really well for the minor league issue, especially the green of the Dayton Dragons. I should note that the Hunter Greene card is my first of his. Same can be said for Shed Long as well.

Moving to the ice now and as usual, there was a plethora of Blue Jackets cards. This is my first look at 2018-19 MVP and it's really nice. I'll have to grab a fat pack or two if I see one at retail. I'm hoping the Blue Jackets can keep up their winning ways, it's been nice to see people around here actually care about hockey now that they've been winning.

My Martin Brodeur collection grew by one card as well. This card celebrates the 1,200th career game of the newly minted Devils Executive Vice President.

Some Bengals cards from the Panini Classics series. Remember when I opened the blaster and said I didn't get any Bengals cards? Well this solved that problem.

Some more Bengals, this time base cards from 2018 Score which I must say is a really nice design. I'm hoping the Bengals can have a good season this year and at least sniff the playoffs or maybe end up as a wild card.

The star of the package was this ... an awesome dual-patch autograph Boone Jenner card. This immediately takes the top prize as the nicest card in my collection. I can honestly say I've never seen anything quite like this. The little black area above the swatches is a shadowbox but it didn't come out too well in the picture.

A big thanks goes out to Douglas for another amazing package. I'll put you on my list for a return but I don't think I'll be able to live up to the awesomeness that this was.

You've Got Mail #17: Infield Fly Rule

Besides myself, there is another guy named Adam in the Super Traders group, that being Adam of the Rockies-centric blog Infield Fly Rule. He sent a priority mail box that seemed like it was bursting at the seams when it landed at Casa de Clubhouse.

Let's start off with some 1993 Leaf. The thing that makes these cards stand out for me it is the marble style coloring on the bottom. Jeff Reardon looks really strange without his trademark beard. Smiley and Browning were two solid pitchers for the Reds, well at least Browning was until his arm snapped in 1994 throwing a pitch.

Awesome! A bunch more Barry Larkin cards for my collection! Plus, Leaf and 1993 Donruss, which as I mentioned in a previous post, is probably my favorite Donruss set ever.

Spuds!!! Sabo is one of my favorite Reds of all time. Any Chris Sabo card is a good card and after the 1993 season he jumped to the AL for a few years before coming back for a final year with the Reds. He doesn't get much love in the collecting world either I've noticed but Topps has included him in some recent products.

Hal Morris! This package just keeps getting better and better! Morris was the first baseman of my youth and always stood out to me for his wacky batting stance. 

A couple other random cards that were thrown in. The reason I collect Jeff Brantley is simple, he's a joy to listen to on TV and radio broadcasts.

No we come to the forgotten Reds portion of the program. I have zero recollection of these guys playing for the Reds in the 90s. Juan Samuel is the most notable player here and the photo looks to be from spring training.

Along with the Reds, Adam also sent along a nice mix of old Expos cards. There were some new, some old, and some guys I've never even heard of. These are definitely the best of the batch with some of the Expos biggest names in Tim Raines, Andres Galarraga, and Moises Alou.

Finally, not sure how these found their way into the package but they're definitely appreciated, especially the Palmeiro rookie!

This the second time I've received a trade pack from Adam and he never fails to load it up with great stuff. I'm definitely working on a return package, just waiting for my Rockies stack to get big enough to warrant sending out.