Mailday : Part 1

There is something very exciting about a mailday, especially when you know the cardboard awesomeness that lies within.

I bought 3 sets off the bay a couple of weeks ago, and they turned up at my door this morning.

2003 Donruss, 2005 Fleer Tradition, and 2007 Topps Opening Day.

I love this Ray Durham card. It's the only card I own of his that features him in an Oakland uniform. He was a late-season pick-up for the A's in 2002 when they were in the midst of the famed 'Moneyball Era'.

I had no idea that Ismael Valdes ever pitched for Seattle. That was a huge bonus for me, as I obviously had no cards of him in an M's uniform. It's got to be one of his only Mariner cards, as he only pitched in 8 games for them.

 The Bartolo Colon card is on of only 2 I have that show him as an Expo, (2002 Topps Traded is the other), and I had no idea that he had a card from 2003 with him in the Expos gear. Score!

 That Tim Raines card was one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to buy the 03 Donruss set. I spied it on another blog a few weeks ago, and it's one of the best 'Sunset' cards in existence. Thanks to Nick @ Dime Boxes, I have a new term for players' final cards!

The 2005 Fleer Tradition set is pretty cool, although I wish Fleer had just left the natural backgrounds on all of the photos. I chose to display these 6 cards, because, to me, they're the most significant cards in the set.
The top 3 cards, I believe, are also 'Sunset' cards of very prominent players of the 90's. Until today, the last cards of Edgar Martinez, Barry Larkin and Carlos Baerga that I had were issued in 2004.

I never knew Ricky Ledee played for the Giants. I should dislike him for that, but he also played for the Dodgers, so I like him no matter what. I remembered Brent Mayne played for L.A. at some stage during the latter part of his career, but I was never able to get a card of him in a Dodgers uniform. Thank you, Fleer!

I am displaying the Roger Cedeno card for pretty much the same reason as the Ledee - I had no recollection of him playing in St Louis, but thanks to Fleer, I now have a card of him in that awesome Red uniform. This set also ticked 2 more boxes for me : It had a 'John Olerud in a Yankee uniform' card, and an 'Eduardo Perez in a Rays uniform' card. Awesome!

I'll display some of the 07 Opening Day cards tomorrow. I really think they look a lot better than the flagship set from 2007, with white borders and gold stamping, rather than black borders and silver stamping.

Also, it's exciting to see a few people out there have some 2013 Topps in their hands already - can't wait to see more pics in the coming days!

I know I'll be buying a few boxes in April-May. (The Wife is taking me to Hawaii!) The wait, I'm sure, will be worth it.

Happy box-busting over there in the States, you lucky people!

Nick J