The Cards Before The Storm

I realize the old saying is, "The calm before the storm," but this is a blog about cats baseball and cardboard with uniformed men playing the game they love.

So, yeah, you get the title above. 

The storm? Well, that would be the upcoming school year. I'm just going to leave it at that. We all have outr own takes on Covid-19, masks, social distancing, quarantining, politics, and the pandemic in general. I'm not here to get into that. If you would, just wish me luck when we start up on August 13th.  

The package Hugo chose to use as his napping grounds contains the cards in this post. Needless to say, I didn't rip into this yellow mailer sent from Dimebox Nick right away. I'm sure you've heard of this old saying as well, "Let sleeping dogs cats lie."

Nick, who is one of my favorite bloggers, always sends great trade packages. 

Shame on me for thinking he would only send the Big League cards. Not sure where my head has been lately.

The Defensive Wizards Javy Baez card is otherworldly, but I think a photo of him applying one of his famous tags would have been so much cooler.

Insert help. That deserves a big Woo-Hoo!

This is my favorite Big League card from the trade package. A catcher in full gear adjusting his shin guards. What a unique photo.

Alright, we're going picture heavy here on the rest of the package. Remember, Nick wrote that he hoped at least a handful would be useful. Ha! There was only three duplicates out of three jam-packed team bags, and one of them was a Vogelmonster. (So, let's just say there were only two cards that'll go in the duplicate stack.) Quite impressive!

I actually have a saved Ebay search for the 1999 Old Style Cubs set. I will take singles any day of the week!

Bruce Sutter!  The photos are quire similar even if the uniforms are different. 

Fergie! The Sport King Gum is a winner for sure!

Randy Hundley deserves more cardboard. I would love for him to be included in Topps' Archives Signature Series. That product is always full of good, but not great, names from the past. 

I think every Ken Holtzman card in my collection has him making the face on the right. So glad to get a smiling Holtzman finally!

Here's the back of the playing card if you were curious.

Vintage Santo! You know you love to see it!

Here's some other great Cubs names from yesteryear. 

Bill Buckner on a Topps rub-off!  So much facial hair!

Ah, 1985 Topps designs. Now I have the regular edition, the O-Pee-Chee and the Tiffany.

Here's proof it's Topps Tiffany. I really enjoyed the bright colors Tiffany and the boxed Topps Traded sets used on the card backs. 

Ryno! This one gets me one closer to 1,000 unique Rynos. I'm now just ten away. 

The Hawk! 

This Shawon Dunston (and Junior) card was just added to my Folder of Fun.

Shooter in a Cubs uniform. Yes!

Shooter in a minor league Giants uniform? Weird, but a winner! For the record, I do have a Rod Beck Player collection.

Nomar and Dontrelle... they were exciting players in their primes (not with the Cubs so much).

Kid K! I'm debating if I should shoot for 1,000 Kerry Wood cards. I'm thinking no, but the cost of his singles aren't prohibitive if I change my mind.

This is my third D-Lee hit in less that three weeks time. I can't argue with that!

I think this is my first Nicholas Castellanos card in a Cubs uniform. Definitely a keeper for my collection.

Wasn't this an online only release? Nick treats me so good.

Here's a couple more cards for my Wrigley Field Folder. I have three pages of Wrigley cards in the folder so far and somehow Nick managed to send ones I don't already have copies of. 

I've heard a couple of bloggers mention how this could be their favorite insert set of the year. I'll admit, Spring has Sprung is pretty good. 

Caratini has become an integral part of the Cubs roster in 2020. 

Schwarber!  Yes!

KB!

Lots of Rizzo!

The Kellogg's card of Billy Williams is a sweet looking lenticular card. 

Ernie and more Kellogg's!

You can never have too much Mr. Cub!

Nick, I'm not sure where you find some much great Cubs cardboard, but this package was truly a treat!  I'll start making a new pile to send your way, because I certainly owe you after receiving this haul! Thank so much!