You've Got Mail #48: Cards from Dime Box Nick

When I started getting into the card blogging scene, one of the first blogs I discovered was the Dime Boxes blog run by everyone's friend Nick. I've chatted with Nick on Twitter, we've left comments on each others blogs but we've never traded. Until now that is. Nick reached out to me via email saying he had some cards he'd been setting aside for me and needed my address. What arrived a few days later what nothing that I had expected. I thought maybe it was a stack or two of cards that Nick had referred to, instead I got a large bubble mailer nearly bursting at the seams with team bags stuffed full of all kinds of craziness. Settle back, we'll be here for a while.

Instead of starting with the Reds, I'll start off with some Indians cards, like these ultra cool Upper Deck Sweet Spot cards of three certifiable Tribe legends. These are the first Sweet Spot cards I've added to my collection and I must say, they fit the bill quite nicely as this is one of those brands that I really don't come across an awful lot in bargain bins. 

A few oddballs. Every time I see Ralph Kiner in an Indians uniform, I think "wow, that's odd". Oddballs of old school players are always welcomed as they're easy and fun ways to collect older players whose cards my normally be out of my price range.

There was lots of variety as is typical from a package from Nick. Everything from current cards to vintage. I think my favorite of this batch has to be the Kenny Lofton card.

More variety, this time of more recent stuff. I really like the Shin-Soo Choo chrome card ... actually I like all of these!

Some 2016 samples, including my first taste of Allen & Ginter. I like the A&G design, still doesn't mean I'm going buy any packs of it though. I'll grab A&G singles here and there as I feel.

I'll close out the Indians and transition to the Reds with these minis! There were many minis to be had (see what I did there?). I really need to go over to the card shop and see if they have any pages for the tobacco sized cards as I've just got a bunch of them living in penny sleeves for now. If anyone has any good ideas on how to store these in the interim until I get some binder pages, feel free to let me know.

Moving on now to some Reds cards. I'll try to refrain from being repetitive but some repetition will more than likely be inevitable. Some new Jose Rijo cards to add to my ever growing collection. I'd really like to get a few of the cards that are out there from his 2001-02 comeback.

Anyone remember these? I barely do. It's evident that these were issued right when going "online" used to be a unique thing. Now everyone has a computer in their pocket or attached to their hip. I tried to have some fun and pull up the player pages on the Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive, however it didn't work. Anyway, I remember three of the four here playing for the Reds, but not Gabe White. He must've been a one and done type player.

See, I told you that some repetition would be inevitable. Here's two more from Allen & Ginter this year. Cotham did an OK job for the Reds but wasn't anything too special. Peraza however, proved that he could play everyday and in multiple positions. Maybe by the time you read this, someone was traded to make room for him.

Some lovely older Reds cards. There's Topps, Fleer, and OPC all represented. A little mini collection I'm working on here and there is post Big Red Machine cards of the "Great Eight" (so, basically anything 1977 or later) so that Concepcion card fits into that collection perfectly but it'll be living in my third Reds binder for now.

More Reds randomness spanning from a Ted Kluzsewski 1952 reprint to a 2015 Topps Heritage of Michael Lorenzen. The Griffey card though is fantastic. It takes me back to his younger days in Seattle making crazy at the wall catches.

Another good batch of cards, including some more Sweet Spot. Seaver's run as a Red is largely forgotten by most people aside from the fact he threw a no-hitter in a Reds uniform. 

More cards from series 2 including one I didn't officially have on my most wanted list, that being the Adam Duvall card. Nick must have read my mind.

I've got a book in my collection filled with nothing but Colon photographs and portraits. Some of the photos used in the book are on these cards as well. Being the amateur historian I am, the thing I really love about the Colon photos provide a glimpse into what baseball was like in the early 20th century. Sure, there are stars of the time like Goose Goslin shown, but there are also lots of lesser known players like Sarge Connally and Sammy West. There was a good batch of these from both the Reds and the Indians, but also cards of the Washington Senators, which will fit into the defunct teams collection for now.

Here's some more cards of defunct teams, mostly the Senators but there's also a stray Kansas City A's card in there. My favorites of this batch are definitely the vintage cards as they will fit well in my vintage card binder. 

I'll wrap up this massive trade package with some always great Expos cards. I'm trying to limit my Expos collection now to mostly cards from before 1987 but when I get cards of Pedro Martinez and Brad Wilkerson, I definitely won't turn them down. The Floyd Youmans Sportflics card is pretty sweet too.

Thanks for the fantastic package Nick. I'm working on some cards to send you in return but my trade fodder is running somewhat low at the moment.