Bombed by Billy

Of the many packages that I received from fellow bloggers (and one non-blogging friend) during December, one stood out from the rest, not because it was better -- I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I consider everything that is ever sent to me to be equally great. The thought behind the mailing will always mean so much more to me than it's contents ever could -- no, this package from Billy, the tireless genius behind Cardboard History, stood out merely because it was only the one that I had no idea was coming.

It's not very often that I get a completely unexpected package in the mail, it's also not very often that someone sends me a package with 100+ cards in it!

Being from Billy, you'd expect it to be heavy on the basketball, and it was, but there were also a few non-basketball surprises to be had.

I certainly was surprised to see a large grouping of 1974 Visual Panographics U.S. Presidents right off the bat, talk about unexpected!

I'm going to go ahead and say that I had never seen these before, even though I'm pretty sure that I have, I just can't remember the when and where. I'm just showing 12 here, but Billy sent along 22 of the 37-card set. I can't seem to find out how these were distributed, other than that they came as two-card panels that were perforated in the middle, anybody out there know how these were sold?

I thought I'd go ahead a scan the back of my favorite president, the only problem is... I don't have a favorite president! So, you get Zachary Taylor. For being such little cards, they sure did squeeze in a lot of info, even if some of them contain more lore than fact.

I am not a NASCAR guy, my dad was, but I've just never had interest in it - so if you're wondering why there was NASCAR card (say that five times fast) included, well, I'll let the penny sleeve that it was in, do the talking:

How wonderful is that? I don't know if I agree entirely with that sentiment, but I certainly do appreciate the thought behind it, and because of that I will be hanging on to the card, which of course will be kept inside this penny sleeve.

And we've reached the basketball portion of the package, of which I will just be showing about half, otherwise I'd have to break this into two posts (normally I wouldn't mind, but I have so much stuff to catch up on).

Nice group of '96-97 Fleer Metal here, I don't have too many fond memories of Sheed as a Blazer, but I was a fan of The Wizard (Walt Williams) during his short stint with the team. And I don't know why exactly, I always get a kick out of seeing Dino Radja.

I already had these two Action Packed cards, but I thought I'd show them anyway, if only because the scan makes it look like Larry Legend just went a few rounds with Iron Mike.

I know that Panini has recently started adding sticker inserts to some of their products again, which is a good thing, but they'll never reach the greatness that was the All-Stars stickers from the late 80's Fleer sets.

I seem to be getting an awful lot of Toine cards as of late, which for the record, I am not actively seeking - that being said, I'll pick up cheap inserts of his anytime I come across them, or accept base cards of his when they're being sent by Billy :)

Inserts, inserts, and more inserts! Billy was kind enough to include quite a few of the 90's variety, and of the 30-40 that there were, I think I needed all but one (although getting duplicates of inserts from this era is okay with me). Since their debut, I have never stopped liking the 1993-94 Skybox Showdown Series, the head-to-head stats on the back are still fun to read - now if we could just go back to the days of Olajuwon vs. Mutombo... sigh.

Getting a Larry Johnson that I didn't already have is always a Welcome Addition.

I was trying to keep all of the base and inserts separate for scanning purposes, but as I'm adding these groups to the post, I see that the Damon Holoview Heroes slipped into this group of base unnoticed - I guess that's what happens when you have to stand up to scan, and you've been doing so for over an hour, weariness starts to officially set in. Some really fun base cards here though, and I think that I only had one other Holoview Heroes, so it's inclusion was greatly appreciated.

It wasn't all 90's inserts.

And finally, a nice group of player's from the past on new-ish cards. I know a lot of people grumble over guys like these being included into newer sets, but for me it's getting to the point where I'm only interested in retired players portion of checklists.

Thank you again for the cards, and for all of the thought that went into them, Billy! Everything that I had for you was in the Secret Santa package, but hopefully I can start building back up the reserves and be able to surprise you with a mailing at some point in the not too distant future.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.