Oscar Winning Cards

(Author's note: This is my first official post back. I'm out of practice with writing blog posts so apologies in advance if these aren't as descriptive or well-written as before. I'll get back to form soon. Also, thank you for all the great "welcome back" comments. I really appreciate it!) 

During my hiatus, I received a few packages in the mail, some of which I documented from the "Epic Baseball Card Adventure" blog I attempted (and have since uploaded to this blog). 

One package I received after that blog kind of dropped off the face of the earth was from Oscar at the "All Trade Bait..." blog. Apparently I'd send him cards a while back and he said these returned the favor. So let's take a look and see what he sent over.

Lots of Expos were included in the package, including this Ron Hassey card which I had no knowledge of. This is also a sunset card as Hassey retired after the 1991 season. Several of the late season 1991 cards showed him with the Expos but this is the only 1992 card he had in a major set.

More Expos including longtime Brewers pitcher Bob McClure, who is another guy I never realized suited up for the Expos.

One last batch of Expos. Is just me or are the blue uniforms of the late 80s/early 90s completely wild?

The majority of the package was made up of Hall of Famers I enjoy collecting like Robin Yount, Nolan Ryan, and the like.

There was also this nice batch of Cal Ripken cards. I think the 93 Donruss one may be a duplicate. My collection is so disorganized right now, I'm not even sure.

There were also some nice George Brett cards as well. My favorite of these has to be the 1988 Score card with the baseball coming into the picture. I wonder if he got a hit on that at-bat or not?

Some random horizontal cards here with a pair of All-Star cards from 1993 Topps and two Barry Larkin cards.

But this is probably my favorite card of the pile, a 2008 Topps Joey Votto rookie card. I'd been considering adding a Votto rookie to my collection for a while but when card shows were still a thing, the cards were so overpriced, I always took a pass. But to have one come in a trade envelope is really super cool.

Many thanks to Oscar for sending over these cards back in the summer. I really appreciate it!

Back to the Minors

As I get deeper and deeper into the giant pile of yard sale cards I purchased, there are all kinds of things that keep showing up at completely random. So far I've uncovered junk wax, a handful of vintage, oddballs from baseball and pro wrestling, but some of the most interesting cards I've come across are minor league cards.

I'm no expert on minor league cards and never really was a big collector of them. Sure, here and there, maybe a pack of Heritage Minors or Pro Debut to scratch a pack busting itch, but most of the minor league cards I currently have are from various repacks I've opened over the years (most of which have been covered right in this very space). The cards I found in this stash though are quite interesting and date back further than any other minor league cards I currently have in my possession.

TCMA did a fair bit of minor league cards back in the 70s and while looking this up, it appears that they did 38 different team sets in 1979 ranging from well known teams such as the Toledo Mud Hens and Buffalo Bisons to lesser knowns such as the Holyoke Millers and Appleton Foxes. The Kelvin Chapman is my favorite though mainly because of the background of the picture with the giant radio tower and the rolling hills.

Here are two samples from the 1981 edition with Michael Cole (not the WWE announcer) and former White Sox and Expos outfielder Ivan Calderon, of who I only know because I had multiple cards of his 1992 Topps card at one time.

I had a whole glut of card from the late 80s and early 90s so these were the better two of the 1990 cards that I could find, even though I've never heard of either of these guys.

The one thing I do like about most of these cards is that the backs tell which major league team they're affiliated with. That sure makes sorting a heck of a lot easier.

And finally some cards from 1991, including a few names I actually know, which kind of surprises me. Anyway, that's a pile of minor league cards from the 80s and 90s. The older ones seem like they have a little bit of charm to them and they look a little rough around the edges. The 90s ones almost seem too slick for minor league cards. Some of these will land in my collection, some will wind up in trade boxes, and the rest of them will probably wind-up in the donation bag to Goodwill.