It's a Wampa Weekend

I made it to the bottom of the box and I survived to tell about it!  I've been spacing out posts lately to keep a steady stream of content flowing on the blog, but I've decided to run with back-to-back posts until I put this Wampa to bed.

Here's a picture of the aforementioned box:

Yep, that's the gnarly Wampa from JBF.  What a fearsome beast.

Let's dig into the clear cases within the Wampa's box!

 

Additions to the player collections!

Hall of Fame Cubs!

 Some of the my favorite Cubs from last couple of decades: DLee, Jon Lieber, Crime Dog, and Soriano. These guys had plenty of cards and inserts, but I doubt that any of them topped stack of cardboard that Sammy amassed in the late 90's and early part of the 2000's.

 We interrupt this run on Sosa cards for a little more Soriano.

 Topps Finest cards are always so classy.  What a simple and shiny looking card!

A couple more decent looking Sammy cards:

I've always had a soft spot in my collection for artsy-looking cards. I should have collected the National Chicle set from a few years back.

The Upper Deck Masterpieces set is another gorgeous set.

I'm still not sure I understand the late Upper Deck releases. First Edition? Parallel?  Not a parallel? What in the world is going on here?

How about some cardboard of Cubs rookies?   I'm always in the market for more Castro rookies!

 Here's a couple of homegrown products who are no longer with the Cubs: Cashner and Samardzija are both out on the west coast now.

I love me some new cards of older players.  Ken Hubbs is a welcomed addition to my collection.

Woo-Hoo!  A couple of Ryno's and one is a 20+ year old parallel!  This Wampa isn't so bad afterall!

I questioned the Gary Gaetti signing back in the day, but he quickly won me over during the '98 season.  He's sporting the Harry Caray patch on the right sleeve in this card.  Very nice.

Ah, a great subset card from the early 90's of the rifle-armed Shawon Dunston.  Sweet.

There was such a nice mix of cards in the first couple of plastic cases within the Wampa's box.  Then things got a little strange.  Um, I mean Doug Strange.

 No, I think I meant strange.  What an awkward shot.  I'm pretty sure Strange misses the ball here, but I'll give him bonus points for his ability to levitate.

Mini 2013 Topps cards and a Marmol red parallel...  wait, aren't all of these guys former Cubs?  

 This set is only a year old and all six players have been shipped out in one fashion or another.  Sigh.  I'm hoping the player carousel slows down in 2015.

 I'm not sure this last card was meant for me.

 I think the Wampa got his notes confused and this one was meant to go to JediJeff.  Or maybe this is part of the Wampa's surprise attack?

Perhaps that's his tactic?  Confuse and maul?    Stay tuned to find out!