The beginning of a Joe Carter super collection?

A couple of months back I ran my first contest, and as one would expect, said contest had a winner... Richard, who can be found at the helm of Toronto Blue Jays Collection. He also happens to run, what may be the most unique player/team oriented blog that I have seen, George 'Moon' Gibson. Over the past month or so, I have finally had the time to go back and read all of the 'Moon' posts, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys seeing old stuff and/or stuff that you don't see very often (two of my favorite kinds of stuff). Seriously, go check it out!

So anyways, during our email exchanges following his win, a trade was proposed. Richard was interested in a two of my three 1994 Collector's Choice gold signatures, which normally I wouldn't have been interested in trading away, but seeing as how Richard is working on a 1994 Choice master set, I was able realize that my whopping three gold's weren't likely going to be materializing into a set anytime soon -- so why not just call it a day, and send them to a better home. I also ended up being able to help Richard finish off his base set, having the eleven cards he needed to do so, which I was very happy to be able to help with.

Normally I wouldn't show the best card first, but since this was the card that Richard initially mentioned as sending for his side of the trade, I figure that this is one time where it makes sense to show such an awesome card first. As of late, I have been trying to put a little more effort in to looking for autos from both the 1997 and 1998 Donruss Signature Series sets, so I would have been way more than content getting this '98 Joe Carter for the cards I ended up sending as my part of the trade. This card is so freakin' cool, I mean just look at that nice big signature, he couldn't have fit that on a sticker. This is (and probably will be for awhile) by far the biggest name that I have gotten from either set so far.

As if that wasn't enough, Richard ended up sending a few more cards in an effort to help with some of my many set(s) needs. If the title of the post didn't clue you in already, see if you can spot the common theme.

This 2002 Topps Archives Reserve sure is a beauty. By sending this, Richard doubled my haves for this set from one... to two!

 Not only did I get Joe's base card from 2005's Upper Deck Classics...

... But there were also two serial numbered inserts from the set as well. Until getting these, I had never even thought to look for any of the inserts before, in fact I didn't even know this set had any inserts before receiving these. It's kind of funny to see that Upper Deck used the same base card photo for Post Season performers too, it seems like Upper Deck would have more than two images at their disposal.

I always enjoy finding/getting needed 2001 & 2002 Fleer Greats. In a weird away I almost don't want to complete either of these sets, because I would no longer have a reason to look for them if I did, and the thought of that makes me sad. I wasn't aware that Joe Carter had been included in both of these sets, seeing as how he retired in 1998, I think he had to be the most current "great" on both of the checklists.

I was very excited to see this 2002 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classics included in the package, as I almost never come across any of them. And on the few occasions when I have stumbled upon them in the wild, they are almost always in terrible condition, Joe here however... was in really great shape. The only bad thing about this set, is that with the all shiny silver, they don't scan or photograph well at all.

2006 SP Legendary Cuts is another set that I hadn't ever thought of looking for inserts from. This #'d Baseball Chronology sure is an awesome looking card, it also photographed really well, which is always a plus.

Richard, thank you again for the cards! I really enjoyed being able to mark these off their respective checklists. And hopefully next time it won't take me nearly two months to show off such a neat package.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.