Bringing friends back to collecting

When I started digging through all my cards from my childhood, I was trying to figure out what to do with them.  Cubs dupes I sent to my buddy in Chicago that got me into the team.  I decided to set aside the Red Sox and Mariners cards (virtually all of them) for a buddy of mine who is from Boston and his wife who is from Spokane.  I knew he was a Red Sox fan, but didn't know if he collected cards.  After presenting the cards to him, his face lit up as he started rifling through the stack, grinning or chuckling as he read off names that I didn't recognize, but that he remembered from his childhood.

He went on to tell me that he has a rather decent sized collection back home, but didn't have a reason to have them sent out since he didn't know anyone here would share in the hobby.  He has since had his cards sent out, rifled through a couple boxes real quick, and presented me with a few cards.  He said he has a long way to go, and I'm very happy so far.

Starting off is a Greg Maddux right on top.  I have a small PC of him so far, 11-12 before this one, so was happy to add another to the set.  The Andre Dawson is number 8.  Add in a few guys from 80's/90's that I didn't have, plus a couple upgrades, and I'm pretty happy.

The 2002 Hundley had a special story behind it, as 2002 is a year that sticks out to him for sitting around the TV with family to watch baseball with an aging relative.  He mentioned he had a whole bunch of cards from that time and is excited to continue digging.

Next we have some guys that will be added as the second card for that player, with the exception of the Gumpert, that's a dupe, so it's either going back to the Sox fan or to my buddy in Chitown.

Lastly, I was surprised by what I was thinking was a set of 1988 Topps Cubs... I was close.

Not only did my Goose Gossage and Mark Grace PCs get added to, but had 9 cards to add from the same set.  Once I flipped them over, I noticed something... different about them compared to the other 1988 Topps and OPCs...

First thought was "wow, did my '88 Topps really fade from the original orange?" [Remember, I'm just getting back into collecting, and I was 5-6 when these were new].  Part of my thinking there was because these were freshly unwrapped from their waxy bindings.  I then saw the 42T, so was thinking they were from a team set.  Nope, still wrong.  After some research, I found out that they are from the 135 card set of 1988 Topps Traded (precurser to Topps Update?).  Even better?  There are 9 Cubs cards in the set, and he gave me each of them!

As I was digging through these, he was telling me how much he was enjoying digging through the cards, and how he thanks me/curses me for getting him back into it.

Sorry, not sorry!

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And if you missed it, I received a sweet PWE from The Card Chop, check it out!

Surprise PWE: The Card Chop!

I have a few trade packages to post about, not going in any kind of order.

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Last week while looking for new trade partners, I found that The Card Chop needed a bunch of cards that I have had, and contacted him to work out a trade.  After sending his needs to him, I figured he would wait until I completed my 2016 Topps Set checklist before sending out the return trade.

Welp, I was wrong!  Received my first surprise PWE from any of the traders and couldn't be more excited about it!  So many Cubs and non-Cubs PCs, oddballs and cutouts!

Let's dig in!

Right off the bat we get a Heritage Nolan Ryan, and a couple oddballs of Mark Grace and Jody Davis.  Grace came from Sports Illustrated Kids, and Davis came from...

Red Lobster?  Apparently they gave them out as a promo back in the day.  Either way, all are awesome.

Moving on...

Andre Dawson oddball disc from 1989, Dunston that I don't have, and a Greg Maddux cutout from 1991 Baseball Cards Magazine in 1966 styling.  Way cool.

Needed the Rizzo to go with KB from the same set (think this my 12th or 13th Rizzo now), Posey T206 looks frightening yet awesome.  Gonna have to find a way to store the Kershaw A&G mini, both will find their way into my PC binder.

Getting to the last sleeve (cards were sent in the bottom third of a binder page), we have a couple more from Mad Dog when he was taking home hardware.

And a couple Ryno's, both of which are oddballs!

The first, with the appearance of 1971 Topps, is a cutout from Baseball Card Price Guide Monthly, and the second was from McDonald's.  Did a little research on the McDonald's edition and found this at BaseballCardPedia.com:

1992 Topps McDonald's is a 44-card set, distributed exclusively at McDonald's restaurants in the Greater New York City and Philadelphia areas. Officially known as "McDonald's Baseball's Best," a collector could purchase a five-card pack for $0.99 with the purchase of an Extra Value Meal or $1.79 with any other food purchase.

 Finally, we come across on of my favorite cards from the 2016 Topps, Kris Bryant's Perspectives insert.  Very cool card, great angle.  Even the "wordart" doesn't take away from this one.  Perspectives is probably my favorite of the insert sets.

Thank you again, Steve, looking forward to future trades!!

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Yes, I know my scans are horrible and cut off.  First time using it for something like this, will practice more next time!