Thoughts and Sox Breaks a Box

Er, okay, so I don't know (red, remember) if this was from an actual BOX break or not, but it rhymes, so I'm going with it.  Regardless, I received a bubbleope from Adam containing my haul from the '87 O-Pee-Chee and '87 Leaf breaks.

First up, Adam so "kindly" included the wrapper from a 1987 O-Pee-Chee pack, and even left the gum in it - or pieces of the gum anyway:

I tried to fit Humpty Dumpty back together, but things just didn't work out too well there.  As you can see, the gum is nasty. Very nasty.  Of course, any food still hanging around since I graduated high school would tend to have that characteristic.  Wow, what a scary thought - this pack is from the year I graduated high school. 

I scanned in only one of each of the cards I received from the pack, but let me assure you that there were more cards than those shown - nearly every card has at least one double in my take from the break!

My brother and I called these "The Wooden Kind" when we were collecting back in the day. I always loved the little notes OPC included on the cards, like in Dennis Lamp's - "Now with Indians."  If OPC was able to license the photos and the design from Topps back in '87, I wonder if there is some sort of provision for something like that now... If I, for example, wished to license the design and photos from the Topps set in order to make my own set, would they let me do that for a fee?  Perhaps I could come up with my own set(s) featuring players from a certain region or that only batted left-handed or something.  I'll have to write and ask.  I'll keep you posted.

In addition to the '87 OPC cards, I also received a slew of 1987 Leaf cards:

Like the OPC cards, nearly each one of these cards has at least double to go with it.  Great stuff!  Not only that, but look at the Tribers pulled here: Carter, Niekro, Jacoby, Butler, Franco... This is a who's who of 80's Indians.  Awesomeness!

There was also a "bonus" card included:

This is an Upper Deck Masterpieces card featuring Asdrubal Cabrera's unassisted triple play in 2008 - the 14th of such plays in the history of major league baseball.  Pretty danged sweet if you ask me.  As an aside, I don't understand why so many people have such a hard time saying his name: Az-Drew-Bull (though I have also heard it as "Az-Drew-Ball" and "Az-Drew-Bowl" - subtle differences, I know).

In any case, a BIG Tribecards THANKS goes out to Adam at Thoughts and Sox for the break!!

Thoughts-N-Sox thought of Tribecards!

Adam over at Thoughts-N-Sox sent a package to me back in January.  I didn't open it (much like several other packages lately) until just now to scan them in.  I have to say there is a wide array of Tribe cards in here for sure!

I love gold cards. Maybe it's the implied prestige of the gold, or maybe I just like shiny things.  Either way, I got plenty of both in this package!  There are chrome cards, too, adding even more shininess to the mix!  You'll notice a couple minis in there as well. Excellent!

---

In the next group, we have more shiny chrome and some Fleer cards, too.  I may be in the minority (not sure, never took a poll), but I always liked the Fleer brand.  I was not a great fan when UD took over for them (since, you know, it was just UD with emperor's clothes on), but Fleer has always held a special place in my nostalgic psyche.  Okay, okay, no more tissue talk.

---

And then we have die-cuts!  I love die cuts.  Both of these are of CC Sabathia which makes them even cooler in my book (for no real reason other than I think it is great both cut cards of the same player. Work with me, people!).  I am also a fan of the embossed cards (like the Ovation above).  I digress here for a moment, but I thought the 1965 Topps Embossed were some of the coolest cards ever made.  Hmm, I need a thesaurus - just how many times can I use the word 'cool' anyway?

---

Ooo, more Ovation!  I really like the Sizemore card - like an old photo/newspaper thing there.  And, of course, the "X" die cut is great!  Add to that the shiny Topps Finest, and I could die a happy camper right here.  Except there is even more 'coolness' to come! Uh, not from me - from the cards...

---

I've seen a lot of collectors blast the "Ticket to Stardom" cards.  I like them, but wish they had different barcodes at the top. Yeah, they are like the Authentix of "old," but that's okay to me.  These are still fun.  The Martinez Artifacts is cool too, in its vintage kind of way. Though, red print on it is a tad difficult to read now that my eyes seem to be aging with the rest of me.  Geez, I sound like my grandfather...

---

And now, some sweetness - UD Past-Time Pennants. If I have seen these, I don't remember it. I am loving these cards!  The things you can do with Photoshop these days makes these cards look like the photos were taken just before the cards were made. Superb!  Sorry about the cut-off Grady there at the bottom.  I really will get the hang of scanning one of these days. Or not. You know, it makes for interested conversation. Well, at least I like to tell myself that.

---

THANK YOU so much, Adam!  These are going to be wonderful additions to my collection!