Jeff Smith (@deetdedee) is a relatively new twitter contact for me. He’s probably best described as a Lefty O’Doul supercollector but he’s also just another pre-war aficionado. He’s recently undergone a collection downsizing as he’s decided to focus just on his interests and get rid of everything else.
He said he had a big box to send me for myself and the boys. Then Covid hit and all our plans got put on hold. As we found our way in the new normal, he eventually got the box out and it did eventually arrive.
It was stuffed with a ton of stuff from around 2000–2002. Some of it stuck together (I managed to sprate most of it without issue), some of it loose. But there was a small pile of special cards for me. These three are the highlights for my collection.
The 1964 Home Run Leaders card was one that always ran a little more than I wanted to spend even though it’s one of those cards that needed to be in my Giants album. A lot of the League Leaders cards feel like indulgences but this one with all three Giants Hall of Fame sluggers (plus bonus Hank Aaron) is special.
The Jim Lonborg autograph is from the Fleer Sports Illustrated sets and is a welcome addition to my Stanford binder. It’s not a design I particularly like but something about it just works, especially when you see a page of them.
David Aardsma meanwhile is one of those prospects I remember from the Bonds years back before I drifted away from the team. I never realized that he put together a respectable 10-year Major League career after his single season in San Francisco.
There wa sa decent stack of other cards of interest. This photo shows most of them. A few vintage Giants Hall of Famers. All duplicates but they’ll make the boys very happy. Some shiny modern cards including a couple fun Will Clarks showing him in college. And a couple of relics of players I don’t usually see relics from.
The four 2008 Opening Day Golds of Tim Lincecum kind of weird me out. Base Opening Day eschews the team-colored circles and instead has a red border with white circles and gold stamping. The gold version just drops the red borders and leaves everything else intact. Addition by subtraction but it also robs the design of its most-interesting feature.
I’ve decided togo through the rest of the cards by pulling out examples of the cards that were in the box. Most of these are Giants but there are a few other needs such as the 1986 Topps Earl Weaver that I still need for my set build.* I don’t have much to say about most of these cards since they’re mostly all familiar to me but Jeff did well and managed to send a bunch that I need still.
*Yes I know I said I’m finished but a trade fell through and I’m still missing a dozen cards.
The 1992 Bowmans I needed all of. Also the 1991 Ultra Terry Kennedy and many of the 1993 Bowmans. The Darren Lewis Award Winner is also new to me as are the 1998 Donruss and 1998 Scores. As always the duplicates are alreadt on my sons’ piles for the next day they behave.
A bunch more cards which take us into the bulk of the box’s 2000–2002 emphasis. Two big stacks of Bowmans that I mostly needed again. A bunch of Bonds cards as well that I hadn’t encountered; I’m pretty sure every one pictured here is new to me. And that foil 1955 Bowman retro JT Snow sure is something.
The Upper Deck SP Pros and Ulitmate Victory sets at the bottom right corner are two of the sets that were especially prominent in the box. Most of those were also stuck together but managed to pull apart without issue.
Unlike the SPs and Ultimate Victorys, the Black Diamonds didn’t survive their unsticking nearly as well. Oh well, I found a couple Shawn Greens during my digging and have added him to my Stanford Album even though he’s not officially part of the project.
Like Ken Williams and Bill Wakefield, Green went pro while he was still a student so he never played for the baseball team. Unlike Williams and Wakefield, he has a TON of cards so I need to figure out which ones I want. I’m okay sort of supercollecting Bob Boone or Mike Mussina. I do not however want over a hundred Shawn Green cards.
The rest of these continue to fill in holes nicely. Most of the Jeff Kents are new. I’ve never seen Topps Fusion or Topps HD (which look kind of amazing in hand). The 2001 Fleer Traditions managed to mesh perfectly with my cards to give me basically a complete set (missing a Barry Bonds League Leader and Carlos Valderrama). And the Upper Decks even managed to scratch off a couple from my searchlist too.
Coming out of the sweet spot of the box with 2002 sets. Thsi year’s Blakc Diamond works for me. Not sure why. The Legends of New York set is a really interesting set although I don’t trust those felt patches to not leave dust all over.
I kind of like the Pacific Private Stock (no idea what’s up with the gold and silver versions) and it’s nice to have a decent amount of 2002 Donruss, Fleer, and Upper Deck Vintage. Upper Deck MVP meanwhile doesn’t look like an insert anymore. Instead it looks like something I should be using to play baseball Uno.
The last batch of sets is winding down from the meat of the box except for the huge stack of 2020 Donruss. Plenty of Giants for us to share but plenty of other cards for the boys to divvy up including a couple of relics. It’s a nice enough design that doesn’t look too bad for a logoless offering.
I actually needed most of the rest of the cards here too. Pretty much everything but the 2005s and 2018 Holidays fit holes in the binder. And my kids love the Holiday cards so that works out just fine.
Thanks Jeff! The boys will have fun going through the rest of the box. Lots of shiny stuff for my youngest in particular.
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That 1964 Topps NL HR Leaders card is awesome… especially for Giants fans. That’s pretty cool that three of the top 4 home run hitters played on the same team. Kinda reminds me of the current Yankees. Minnesota was the AL version of the Giants in 1963. They also had three of the top 4 home run hitters that season (Killebrew, Bob Allison, and Jimmie Hall).