Last year, my Secret Santa sender was Billy, author of the blog Cardboard History. Billy's blog is one of my favorites for a lot of reasons, in particular because he's an expert on a sport I know little about (basketball) while quickly becoming a big fan of a sport I've followed for decades (hockey)
Earlier this year I sent Billy a box of surplus hockey cards, to help grow his collection. In return, Billy hit me back with a box of basketball cards. But before he did, he asked me if there are any specific teams or players I'd be interested in. I don't really have a favorite NBA team, so I just asked him to fill some holes in my collection.
He sent the box on Saturday and it arrived Sunday - which has to be the fastest delivery I've ever received. Also, because it came on a Sunday I wasn't expecting it.. the box sat on my porch all day until I took the recycling out that night. Good thing no one swiped it!
Billy packed 225 basketball cards into a small flat rate box, including 60 cards from my favorite recent set - 2015-16 Donruss. This is my first Giannis card and one of my favorites in the stack.
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| Anyone want to play Spot the Difference'? |
Setting these aside for a moment (and a possible set build) much of the remaining cards were from teams underrepresented in my basketball binders - mostly Southeast teams, strangely enough:
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| I'll have a post about 1988-89 Fleer in the near future |
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| Brandon Hunter will go with my Celtics cards |
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| Baby Jordan! I used to have a ton of those Upper Deck cards |
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| Catledge will go on my Bullets page, along with this card: |
I think that's all the pre-1990 NBA cards Billy sent.
My first Westbrook base cards (I do have two inserts.) This post is getting scan-heavy so I'll wrap it up with some new additions to my star player box:
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| I didn't have any base cards of King James until now |
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| That Steph Curry card is awesome Yep, I made another 3 |
When this year started I was able to fit all of my basketball cards in one binder, with room to spare. Now I need a third binder just for base commons - and my star player box is packed, too.
Billy, thanks again for all of the great cards!
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Glad that you like them! I actually owed you for TWO mailings- I didn't forget the first one you sent me a while back. I didn't count what I sent, I am glad you posted that. Still pretty surprised that you got it on Sunday! I didn't pay any extra for that or anything, it just happened thanks to the USPS.
ReplyDeleteUntil you pointed it out, I didn't notice the team logo differences, and as it turns out, the day after I mailed to you- the day you got them, in fact- I discovered another big stack of 2015-16 Donruss in one of my boxes that I thought was all NASCAR...but wasn't. Probably the dupes from the hobby box I did of the set in November 2016.
I didnt forget the PWE, but I considered it a freebie. After I posted this I noticed that one or two of the Spurs cards didnt have a logo-but some did. USPS really went above and beyond with this one. And so did you :)
DeleteSweet haul! Hoops is my favorite basketball product; Large base set, first rookies of the year, lots of inserts.
ReplyDeleteYou got some really nice cards. Congrats!
Thank you! Hoops is a nice set, too. I definitely want to get a box of some NBA product(s) soon.
DeleteAny Bullets card is a thing of beauty. Billy is the man! He sent some really nice stuff.
ReplyDeleteBilly, and the old Bullets jerseys, are both awesome.
DeleteGreat group of cards! If you're thinking about working on the 2015-16 Donruss set, a box could be had for not very much money at this point. And if you ever need any particular singles from the set, I see them in dime boxes all the time, so I could probably find just about anybody you need for pretty much next to nothing.
ReplyDeleteI might be heading to a card shop this weekend; I'll keep an eye out for boxes of Donruss. If I find one and/or try to complete the set I'll let you know.
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