Reminder and An Arbitrary Box of Cubs Goodness

Last call for entries in my 2018 Card of the Year Posting Contest! Get on it!

I received a package from Brian, of Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary, right before we were set to take off for our vacation to Belize. Usually I'm pretty good about getting things posted shortly after they arrive, but this box would have to wait until 2019. And yes, it was a box.

Hugo's resolution for 2019 is to sit in more boxes.

A box large enough for a cat to sit in.

Apparently Brian purchased a box of 2017 Gypsy Queen, featuring Schwarber and Bryant, and has been slowly filling it with Cubs Goodness to send my way.

The box, for what it's worth, will be placed in one of my glass display cases and filled with Cubs items. Way. Too. Cool.

 The contents of the package spanned several decades and included the 1991 Cubs information guide with Ryne Sandberg on the front cover and two minor league sets of my beloved Peoria Chiefs!

The 1991 ProCards, set, above, is new to my collection. This 1989 promotional giveaway set is most definitely not. My copy of the set is . . . ahem . . . very well-loved.

I can't tell you how many times my middle-school self pulled those cards in and out of 9-pocket pages in an effort to resort them according to my favorite player of the day. My family went to a BUNCH of games that year and my favorite player list was constantly in flux.

Names you may recognize from the '89 Chiefs.

The Chiefs were very fun to watch that year and the players, on the whole, were a jovial bunch and super accessible to kids. They finished second place in their division with a record of 80-59 and they led the league in ERA with a sparkling 2.69 figure.

Some of my favorites from the '89 season, spot-lighted by Elvin Paulino and Eddie Williams' smile.

That was a fun trip down memory lane!

Vintage team cards are great. Team cards that have Yosh Kawano on them go in the binder! Yosh is on the far left in the blue top.

"Smiling Stan" Hack and Gabby Hartnett each have pages in my binders. The 1979 Hack is a wonderful card I didn't know existed!

Bowman Buyback? Sure, why not!

 Oddballs?  Yes, please!

A parallel of a parallel? The card on the top is the Holiday parallel of the 2017 Topps Anthony Rizzo card.

The card on the bottom is the sparkly snowflake parallel of the Holiday parallel. Confused yet?

More parallels! Donruss has gone completely overboard with their variations the last couple of years.

 The more I see the 2017 parallels of Topps' flagship product the more I like the design as a whole. 2017 by itself? Meh. 2017 with the colorful triangles? Sure, why not!

Nomah! He also has a page in my favorite Cubs binder, but only Cubs cards!

A new Ryno! I'm now up to 919 different Sandbergs in my collection and this 2015 Stadium Club gold parallel represents the second card Brian has contributed to my Ryno collection over the years.

Inserts? Heck yeah! I didn't have any of these inserts from 2017.

Past Cubs greats:

 That's a pretty well done Fleer insert card. I guess time really does heal all wounds as I'm starting to finally miss Sammy a bit.

Topps Bunt! This package just keeps getting better and better!

More parallels!  I love me some Willson Contreras!

 More inserts! Personally, I'd like to know how much Franklin had to fork over to get included as an insert set in Topps.

The Rizzo Franchise Finest card is so shiny!

This is a beautiful card of Bryant at Spring Training. Just gorgeous!

Hey, I've been Bipped Rey Sanchezed!

Bat relic of the guy people once nicknamed Messiah Mark. What a crazy time that was to be a Cubs fan.

Carl Edwards! Topps went all in on Edwards autographs a few years back. I probably have a handful already, but I'll gladly take a new one!

No package would be complete with a card of The Hawk. Great ball player and an even better man.

Another parallel!  Holy Cow, look at Bruce Sutter's cheek!

More Willson!  Holiday snowflake relic thingy!  Woo-Hoo!

And wow, such a super thick card to round things out!  This is a "Team Ring" manu-relic card celebrating the 1958 Cubs and Ernie Banks.

Mr. Cub won his first of back-to-back MVPs in 1958, but there's no mention of an MVP anywhere on the card. For the record, the Cubs finished 5th out of the 8 teams in the NL that year.

Hey! It's Kevin Roberson showing you some love for making it all the way through this picture heavy trade post!

Brian, thanks for such a great package. I've been stashing a few Twins cards for you, but I think I'll have to add to your stack considering the quality and quantity of the Cubs goodness you sent my way! I'll hit you up soon... maybe even later today. (Checks tracking number.) Wait USPS delivers on Sunday now?

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your first week of 2019 is treating you right!