The Odder, The Better

I've been collecting sports cards off and on for nearly thirty-five years, so outside of new releases... I don't come across many cards I've never seen... especially when it comes to players and teams I collect.

But every now and then, I'll come across a card sitting in a dime box or featured on someone's blog... and I'll get a little excited.  That's exactly how I felt when I opened up The Card Chop's care package this afternoon.

Steve was kind enough to send me a stack of cards for my collection and more than half were cards I didn't have... or even better... had never seen.

Since we're all still coming off of our MLB All-Star Game high, let's start things off with this 1987 Baseball Cards Magazine insert of Big Mac and Eric the Red:

This card is awesome!  The first set I ever owned was the 1981 Fleer baseball set, so there's a special place in my heart for this design.  The photo used was taken at the 1987 MLB All-Star Game... the first, last, and only time the Oakland Athletics have hosted the Midsummer Classic.

Another epic magazine insert!  Tim Raines has a Donruss rookie card, a Topps rookie card, and even a Topps Traded card from 1981.  Unfortunately Fleer left him off of their checklist.  But thanks to Baseball Card Magazine... that's no longer the case.

1993 MSA Ben's Super Pitchers #4

I'm well aware of MSA oddballs, but I have never seen this Greg Maddux disc.  Heck... I haven't even heard of Ben's.  I couldn't find too much information on this card, but I'll assume they came in packages containing loaves of bread, since it says "The Baker's Best" under the logo.

The next card had me scratching my head a little when I saw it...

At first, I though that maybe Steve accidentally left one of his Braves cards inside my package.  But upon closer inspection, I discovered that it's a preview card... which will fit perfectly into my promo card collection.  I actually had a few of these in the early 90's.  They were inserted into factory sets of 1991 Donruss baseball.

Rounding out the package are some cards I do recognize... but I didn't have:

The card on the left is a serial numbered Ichiro from 2010 Topps Chrome Heritage and the one on the left is a short printed 2008 Upper Deck Goudey.  It's always nice to add a new card to my Ichiro binder.  Today I added two.

The final card is this very cool 2010 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection card of Kenji Johjima:

For a few years, I was sort of a closet Seattle Mariners fan, when that had both Kenji and Ichiro.  I was really bummed out when Kenji decided to go back to Japan and Ichiro decided to play for the New York Yankees.

Thanks for the generous care package Steve!  Your name has been added to the list... and I'll be sending some Braves your way in the next few weeks.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!