1982 Donruss Baseball

A further year on from the conclusion of the Topps monopoly. Red Sox from Fleer and Donruss from 1982 continue to evade. I still need 24 Red Sox from the 27 that were produced. The numbers still needed are;
7, 30, 74, 82, 109, 156, 200, 208, 235, 260, 326, 334, 361, 386, 408, 452, 460, 487, 512, 540, 560, 564, 608, 632.

This pack from Big B a while ago. There are 15 cards and 3 puzzle pieces per pack, which is Babe Ruth.

The pack:

#195 Don Zimmer Rangers Manager

#206 Moose Hass Brewers

#357 Steve Stone Orioles

#369 Jim Essian White Sox

#381 Ernie Whitt Blue Jays

#392 Stan Bahnsen Expos

#404 Ken Oberkfell Cardinals

#425 Rick Rhoden Pirates

#434 John Stearns Mets

#446 Elias Sosa Expos

#470 Damaso Garcia Blue Jays

#490 Jim Wright Royals

#502 Jason Thompson Pirates

#513 Gene Nelson Yankees

Checklist 1-20

puzzle piece 55, 56, 57

Not a sausage. Not even close. Head shots and close-ups appear to be the order of the day in this set. Interesting fact Moose Hass is really Bryan Edmund Hass.

2010 Topps Opening day

There is a minority of collectors who like the 'Opening Day' brand of Topps. I put myself amongst them. An added bonus is that this years Opening Day has a Jacoby Ellsbury card.
The Red Sox base cards to collect are:

#17 Victor Martinez

#28 John Lackey
#75 Jason Bay
#93 Josh Beckett
#120 Kevin Youkilis
#138 David Ortiz
#157 Daisuke Matsuzaka
#172 Jacoby Ellsbury
#183 Jon Lester
#187 Dustin Pedroia

The inserts include:

Topps Attax #ODTA11 Josh Beckett
Topps Town Stars #TTS5 David Ortiz
Mascots #M4 Wally the Green Monster

Each of the base cards has a blue parallel numbered to 2010.

I was fortunate enough to obtain 6 packs.

Pack 1:

#5 Ted Lilley Cubs

#50 Justin Masterson Indians

#71 Vernon Wells Blue Jays

#75 Jason Bay Red Sox

#76 Kendry Morales Angels

#100 Neftali Feliz Rangers

#127 Scott Kazmir Angels

Pack 2:

#10 Felipe Lopez Brewers

#37 Cole Hamels Phillies

#54 Jorge Posada Yankees

#107 Bengie Molina Giants

#144 Roy Oswalt Astros

#187 Dustin Pedroia Red Sox

#M18 Pirate Parrot

Pack 3:

#16 Aubrey Huff Tigers

#28 John Lackey Red Sox

#38 Adrian Gonzalez Padres

#142 Jose Reyes Mets

#145 Alfonso Soriano Cubs

#153 Chris Carpenter Cardinals

#TTS16 Prince Fielder Brewers

Pack 4:

#27 Billy Butler Royals

#49 Scott Hairston Athletics

#75 Jason Bay Red Sox blue 1900/2010
#125 Elvis Andrus Rangers

#137 Mark Reynolds D-backs

#213 Ian Desmond Nationals

#M2 Atlanta Braves

Pack 5:

#46 Jon Garland Dodgers

#70 Jeff Niemann Bay Rays

#87 Mat Latos Padres

#89 Roy Halladay Phillies

#94 Kelly Shoppach Bay Rays

#215 Chris Pettit Angels

#SC10 Aramis Ramirez Cubs

Pack 6:

#11 Tommy Hanson Braves

#68 Yunel Escobar Braves

#101 Ian Stewart Rockies

#148 Michael Cuddyer Twins

#155 Jake Peavy White Sox

#164 Kosuke Fukedome Cubs

#3/10 Bazooka Joe Miguel Cabrera Tigers

Not bad and it started out very well - 4 Red Sox in as many packs, including a nicely rounded (#1900/2010) Jason Bay blue parallel.

2010 Topps Baseball series 1

Seven more packs from the wonderful Alley family, again in trade for some Match Attax packs for their Everton mad son. I have always contemplated collecting a whole insert set. I tried collecting the Historical Moments inserts from 2009 A Piece of History, but I fell far short. 2010 Topps is so full of inserts it isn't a challenge to get at least 1, 2 or 3 per pack, so maybe there is an insert to collect in here...

Pack 1:

#2 Buster Posey Giants

#48 Joey Votto Reds

#73 NL Leaders

#114 Chris Iannetta Rockies

#165 Brandon Phillips Reds
#218 Fernando Martinez Mets
#220 Randy Johnson Giants

#245 Lance Berkman Astros

#298 Orioles

#CMT37 Nolan Ryan 1988 Topps

#TTT4 Adrian Gonzalez Padres

#TOG25 Ortiz's Jersey - really? This isn't a joke?

Pack 2:

#38 Astros

#95 Carl Crawford Bay Rays

#118 Brandon Morrow Mariners

#124 Rickie Weeks Brewers

#157 Mike Sweeney Mariners

#209 Alexei Ramirez White Sox

#231 Luke Scott Orioles

#282 Nationals

#292 Tommy Manzella Astros

#FCTTT4 Adrian Gonzalez Padres
#PP22 George Sisler StLouis Browns

#9/45 Jimmie Foxx 1951 Red Back mini

Pack 3:

#106 NL Leaders

#127 Hank Blalock Rangers

#159 Vernon Wells Blue Jays
#210 Josh Beckett Red Sox

#239 Juan Uribe Giants

#285 Kurt Suzuki Athletics

#289 Lyle Overbay Blue Jays

#294 Adam Dunn Nationals
#315 Scott Kazmir Angels

#CMT41 Manny Ramirez 1992 Topps

#TTT12 Miguel Tejada Astros

#TOG The Great Ham-Bino

Pack 4:

#56 Andy Pettitte Yankees

#103 Daniel Murphy Mets

#115 Gordon Beckham White Sox

#150 Joe Mauer Twins

#182 Coco Crisp Royals

#187 Will Venable Padres

#263 Placido Polanco Tigers

#276 Matt Lindstrom Marlins

#301 Jack Cust Athletics

#HOTG3 National League created 1876

#TTT4 Adrian Gonzalez Padres
#WTWY David Wright Mets

Pack 5:

#34 Michael Dunn Yankees

#95 Carl Crawford Bay Rays
#124 Rickie Weeks Brewers

#149 Jose Guillen Royals

#154 Pedro Feliz Phillies

#157 Mike Sweeney Mariners

#163 Josh Butler Brewers

#219 Kevin Hart Pirates

#270 Michael Brantley Indians

#CMT43 Tony Gwynn 1994 Topps

#TOG Ozzie Smith 'Flips Out'

#TTT13 Ryan Howard Phillies

Pack 6:

#12 Doug Davis D-backs

#19 Felipe Lopez Brewers

#25 Adam Jones Orioles

#90 Ian Kinsler Rangers

#205 Chris Coghlan Marlins

#232 Cardinals

#236 Andrew Bailey Athletics

#238 Ian Stewart Rockies

#287 Jhonny Peralta Indians

#LL3 Ruth/Rodriguez

#TR8 Tommy Hanson Braves

#TTT19 Justin Upton D-backs

Pack 7:

#20 Tommy Hanson Braves

#26 Zach Duke Pirates

#146 Yunel Escobar Braves

#151 Mat Gamel Brewers

#199 Mariners

#235 Neftali Feliz Rangers

#248 Jason Kendall Brewers

#265 Angels

#304 Adam LaRouche Braves

#PP12 Lou Gehrig Yankees

#TTT18 Vladimir Guerrero Angels

#8/45 Marianl Rivera 1951 Red back mini

A solo Red Sox (and nil Dodgers, that is unusual) and a Red Sox inserts. Help me out here. Did someone really bury a Red Sox jersey in the Yankees Stadium? How long (and how much!)did they spend trying to find the buried jersey?

2007 Bowman Heritage baseball

A while back in 2006 before I had entered the world of blogging I made a decision to shave down my collection. I found a number of trading sites, Hobby Kings, The Bench and Sportscard Forum and then Sports Card Collectors UK. This was a (very) small band of US sports collectors in the UK. Most were basketball collectors, myself and one other collector were baseball. Our small band grew well into double figures, the dizzy heights of 30. There was about 8 of us who were regulars, so an idea was hatched to start some group breaks. The first baseball break we did was a blaster of this product 2007 Bowman Heritage. It was meant to be a box of cards but there was mix-up in communication. I gave up any hits for all the Red Sox, which ended up being very few. There were quite a few basketball group breaks but I just found no interest. I did notice though that the game used cards and autos were outstanding. Two boxes of 2008 Goudey were the next baseball group break but after that things turned a bit sour. The administrator of the forum, a guy called Jo, who had organised the breaks very fairly and smoothly, suddenly had difficulty with purchasing the boxes and went AWOL. We had organised a Mayo football group break, I liked the look of this product and was interested to see what we pulled. It never happened and he still has my money, Bastard. He continued to post his breaks on you-tube under the pseudonym of UKcardcollector and I pestered him politely for a while until he stopped posting, Bastard. I learnt a valuable lesson, always pay through paypal which I did at first then didn't have enough in my account so posted cash-idiot.
So unfortunately whenever I see 2007 Bowman heritage and 2008 Mayo I get a sour taste in my mouth, which is a pity because they are both very nice sets.
I still need 3 cards and 2 short printed variations to complete the Red Sox team set. They are;

#37 J.D. Drew
#41 Josh Beckett
#109 Curt Schilling
#243b Hideki Okajima SP
#250b Daisuke Matsuzaka SP

The pack:
#14 Mike Lowell Red Sox

#22 Michael Young Rangers

#47 Mark Teixeira Rangers

#71 Gary Mathews Angels

#220 Jeff Baker Rockies

#228 Elijah Dukes Bay Rays refractor

1/3 Checklist

#BHP28 Bryan Byrne D-backs

#BHP48 Donald Fines Bay Rays

One Red Sox but I already have it.

2007 Upper Deck baseball

Almost unnoticeable on this pack are the words 'retail' meaning that it is available at both hobby and big chain stores, rather than just through the hobby shop. Or does it mean much more? Is there a better chance of pulling a parallel, a jersey or an auto rather than a mass of base cards. That being said, this is first edition, so no autos or jersey inserts anyway. What was included was a number of inserts roughly 1 per pack- so set builders, team collectors or those of us after a quick fix may well be happy.
I still need 8 of the 11 cards from the Red Sox set;

#4 Devern Hansack RC
#59 Manny Ramirez
#61 Alex Cora
#62 Trot Nixon
#63 Doug Mirabelli
#64 Curt Schilling

#65 Jonathan Papelbon
#66 Craig Hansen

The pack:

#25 Dennis Sarfate Brewers

#73 Jose Contreras White Sox

#139 Chris Snelling Mariners

#140 Cha Seung Baek Mariners

#153 Jerry Hairston Rangers

#177 Chipper Jones Braves
#233 Greg Maddux Padres

#247 Lastings Milledge Mets

#259 Freddy Sanchez Pirates

#FPF-AM Andrew Miller Tigers

There is the one insert and no Red Sox. The photography in this set is first rate and I actually prefer the matt finish on the First Edition than the gloss on Series 1 and 2.

Would anyone like some Red Sox cards?

Half-term holiday this week, which means that Sunday isn't as hectic as it usually is. In our house Sunday ends up being a homework day for the children, my wife and me. Planning for the week ahead.
Today has been very different, the girls spent most of the day playing with a large box. It was a house, a cave, momentarily a trap, but it spent most of the day full of cushions and blankets. The boys played Paper Mario on the Wii, read for a while, annoyed their sisters and went back to Mario. My wife Tina read and was occasionally called upon to move a large cardboard box somewhere else. I was able to do some card sorting.

I have accumulated a heafty pile of cards but not had the time to sort through them for trade. The bulk of the cards are Red Sox. Adam from Thought and Sox sent a large selection of Red Sox my way recently, so there are some from his wants list on the way. A few from Shoebox Legends wants list, but there is still loads of 2009, 2008, 2007 Red Sox cards (a few earlier too) looking for a home.

Anyone else collect Red Sox?

2009 Bowman baseball

The final pack from Mark, then it is onto the book he included ' The Teammates' by David Halberstam.
There are only one card I need to complete the Red Sox set, which is;

188 Kevin Youkilis

The Pack:

#47 Mike Jacobs Royals

#58 James Shields Bay Rays

#143 Lance Berkman Astros

#159 Shane Victorion Phillies

#190 Kosuke Fukudome Cubs

#BP59 Parker Frazier Rockies

#BP59 Parker Frazier Rockies gold border

#BP89 Bryan Petersen Marlins

#BCP9 Kevin De La Cruz Indians

#BCP116 Javier Rodriguez Mets auto

So there you have it. No Red Sox but an auto from an autograph collector. I wonder how often the gold border and base card are included in the same pack!