Monday, March 23, 2020

The Right Moment

A few weeks ago, one of those large flat rate boxes was delivered and when I saw the name on the shipping label, I knew that I was in store for a treat.  The thing is... I carried the heavy box up to my office and waited for the right moment to open it.

You see... when Woody from Sports Card Forum sends me packages... it's not just a bunch of Oakland A's cards.  He includes stuff from a variety of my PC's... and more.  I knew that once I opened up this box, I would need at least a few hours to sort and scan the contents.

Well... thanks to the current situation our world is in... I had plenty of time.  Unfortunately... my heart wasn't in it.  I noticed the box every time I entered my office, but didn't open it until the moment was right.


And that moment was this past weekend.  I kicked things off by opening the box and laying things out Friday evening.  I spent about an hour opening and organizing the 25ct., 330ct., and 400ct. boxes.

Then yesterday, I sat down and did one more final sort...


What you're looking at is over 2,000 cards spanning four sports... which included 11 complete sets and 5 incomplete sets.  There's obviously a lot to cover, so I'll go ahead and start off with one of the incomplete sets that I am super excited to try and finish...


The image above is kind of blurry... but essentially you're looking at three partial 1982 TCMA Baseball Greatest sets.  If you're not familiar with these, here's a quick peek at the card fronts and backs:



Each set is made up of 45 cards, which means they're perfect for being stored in 9-pocket pages.  I've already inserted all three partial sets into pages and designed a cover for the binder:


As most of you know, I'm more of a "Buy It Now" kind of guy when it comes to set building, but I'm a totally excited about tracking down the final seven cards I need for this project.  If any of you have singles laying around, here are the ones I can use:


All of these cards have one thing in common.  They feature Red Sox players.  As you might have guessed, Woody is one of the collectors who receives my Red Sox trade bait.


I was also excited to see a huge stack of 1990 CMC Collect-A-Books.  These books were originally distributed in three boxes with each box containing 12 booksWoody sent me 35 of the 36 books.  The only one missing was Wade Boggs, which I happened to have sitting in one of my insert binders.

Much like the 1982 TCMA Baseball's Greatest set... I plan on putting this set into a binder as soon as I receive the 1991 Collect-A-Books set I purchase this morning off of eBay.

Next up is a peek at the completed sets Woody sent me...

1986 Topps Box Bottoms

1989 Topps Box Bottoms

1991 Topps Box Bottoms

I'll keep things plain and simple.  Box bottoms rule.  I'll definitely be showcasing one of these sets in the next few weeks.  Let me know if you have a preference down in the comment section below.

1990-91 Topps Team Scoring Leaders

1997 Fleer Ultra Checklists

2002 Topps Post

2016 Choice Nashua Silver Knights

Hey Zippy... you're my prospects guyRecognize any of these players on the Knights' checklist?

1989 Donruss

1990 Fleer

1990 Upper Deck

In addition to the plethora of sets, he included cards for my PC's.  I could have dedicated an entire post to these cards, but I've taken way too long to write this thank you post, so here are some of my favorites:


I will never turn down Ramon Laureano and Fernando Tatis Jr. rookie cards, Rickey Henderson parallels, or shiny Tony Gwynn inserts.

He also sent me a new addition to my Prime Number PC:


Oh and I almost forgot, he also threw in these three Line Drive 8x10 photos:


Plus this 8x10 insert out of 1997 Donruss Studio...


And last, but certainly not least... he sent me one of those cool rookie logo medallion cards of my boy Rickey out of 2020 Topps:


Thank you so much Woody!  This provided me with hours worth of entertainment.  I pretty much sent all of the Boston stuff I had laying around, but as soon as we're able to get out and about... I'll hit up some shows and start building another stack for you.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

20 comments:

The Angels In Order said...

Wow! Enough sorting there to definitely outlast a quarenteen! Love the Ultra checklists and the box bottoms. A feature on any of those would be awesome!

friend11 said...

I haven't looked at my box bottoms in awhile. Thanks for the reminder

The Lost Collector said...

What a very generous package!

Section 36 said...

The silver knights have (had?) one of the great alternate caps around with the eyes of the knight helmet comprising the entire cap design.

Rod (Padrographs) said...

Just in time I sent you a package the other day also.

shoeboxlegends said...

Awesome stuff Fuji! Perfect timing is right!

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

That's a BOX!

Peter K Steinberg said...

Holy cow. Christmas in March! Glad he didn't ship them in a PWE.

SumoMenkoMan said...

Awesome care package for sure! Sweet!!

Flywheels said...

Thanks a nice collection of cards, how long did it take to sort everything?

Nick said...

Ooh, box bottoms! Those always grab my attention.

Steve at 1975BaseballCards.com said...

That is a nice medallion logo. I hope they don’t release a George Brett because I hate it when they keep piling up his reprints. I resolved to stop collecting them and it’s easy when they’re not kinda cool like the Rickey.

Matt said...

That box was loaded! I had someone from that forum wanting to trade with me via email but never heard back from them again. So I didn't feel good about it and didn't email them back again.

Fuji said...

the angels in order - i think it was interesting that ultra made the checklists inserts. definitely thinking outside the box

friend11 - glad to see another collector appreciate them as much as myself

the lost collector - sure is. woody has sent a few of these packages to me over the years. he's very generous indeed

section 36 - had to scour google images to find that image of the hat. very cool indeed

padrographs - oh man... can't wait. thanks in advance

shoeboxlegends - gotta be in the right mood to truly appreciate cardboard therapy

johnnys trading spot - woody doesn't mess around

peter k steinberg - if he did, i feel like it'd be like the mail scene in the first harry potter movie

sumomenkoman - sweet for sure

flywheels - spent about an hour one day... and another two hours sorting and organizing things another day. when you factor in scanning and putting the cards in the right places... i probably spent four to five hours of pure awesomness.

nick - like i said... box bottoms rule.

steve at 1975baseballcards.com - didn't see brett or yount on the checklist... which is pretty surprising.

sport card collectors - i used to trade on that a lot back when i returned from the hobby. i liked it because it gave collectors a feedback rating. haven't used the site in years though. honestly... woody is pretty much the only guy i keep in touch with... and we don't use the trade app on the site (if the site still even uses it). we just ship each other care packages every now and then.

schwood said...

Honestly, I do this stuff a lot. I am all for keeping the interest of traders and keeping them collecting. Fuji is one of the best out there guys, as I am sure you all already know. We don't need a trader site to keep up the relationship. I do this with a bunch of traders. But I am always looking to fill holes in what I put aside. So, if you are cool with base, and maybe some inserts, hit me up. Fuji can give you my contact info, and would gladly send off stuff to any good traders. If Fuji gives you a recommendation, that is good enough for me!

Collecting Cutch said...

Wow!!! Thats a lot of cards. My eye was immediately drawn to the Clemente 8x10

AdamE said...

I'll try to remember to check my doubles box for those Red Sox when I get home.

The Snorting Bull said...

That's a nice box of cards! Really liked that Sosa Studio.

Chris said...

That black-bordered Tatis is awesome, and I've got to get a Za'Darius Smith RC one of these days. There just aren't enough cards of defensive players (except for guys like J.J. Watt)

Baltmoss68 said...

I would love any Rockies. Thanks