Half For Me & Half For Them

My card collecting students have no idea what they're in for when we're back in the classroom.  Thanks to a few generous bloggers out there, they'll have a bunch of San Francisco Giants cards to sift through.

And with the way that the 49ers have been playing, the students are definitely more focused the World Series Champions.

Last week, Johnny over at Johnny's Trading Spot sent me almost two hundred Giants for my students.  There was a large assortment of cards ranging from late 80's Score to current Topps.  One of the cool things about sifting through the stacks was I had the opportunity to reminisce on some of my favorite card designs over the past quarter century.

2001 Topps Gallery #38

I've always had a soft spot for Topps Gallery, especially the painted issues of the 2000's.  And if I were to pick one set to call my favorite, I'd have to go with the 2001 set... although I really like the 2002 design too.

1996 E-motion XL #297

Matted frames on baseball cards rule!  There's no coincidence why so many people enjoy the Gypsy Queen framed parallels and of course the late 2000's Upper Deck Masterpiece parallels.  1996 E-motion is an innovated set ahead of its time.

Johnny also sent me some cards for my Japanese baseball player collection:

2001 Fleer Tradition #331

Why the heck did I stop collecting back in the early 2000's?  I ended up missing out on the beautiful Topps Gallery set shown above... and the retro looking 2001 Fleer Tradition set.  That year everyone was copying vintage Topps designs.  2001 Upper Deck Vintage resembled the 1963 Topps set, while Fleer mimicked the 1956 Topps design.  People say... imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I guess Topps was doing something right back in the day.

I'll wrap up this post with this embossed Makato Suzuki:

1994 Action Packed #17

Once again, Topps was nearly three decades ahead of the industry when it came to embossed cards.  But that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate this cool Action Packed Asian.  Action Packed is probably more known for their football products, but they produced a few baseball card issues too.  The 1994 set featured a bunch of minor league prospects that included Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Michael Jordan.

Thanks Johnny for the amazing care package!  It definitely added a lot of players to my Japanese PC binder and I'm sure my students are going to go crazy over the Giants cards you sent.  I've already pulled some Braves, Buccaneers, and Falcons cards for your collection.  I should have everything ready to ship in early January.

Happy holidays!