Contest Winnngs - Dime Boxes

Several weeks back I entered a contest on Dime Boxes - The Low-End Baseball Card Collector's Journey and actually won.  I have actually been quite lucky with contests and won a few over the year plus I have been following blogs.  That is probably part of the reason I have started up my weekly contest, to give back a little as I have been gifted with so much.  I was lucky enough to come out on top of 33 entrants in Nick's 100 follower celebration contest.  Nick runs one of my favorite blogs and the package of cards he sent me mirror his blog perfectly. I great assortment of very cool cards.  I thought I would show some of my favorites.

 First I thought I would show some of the Giants that were included.  The Ron Hunt and Alvin Dark came from a Pacific set I had never seen and didn't even have on my checklist. I really like the design of these cards and the player selection seems somewhat random - but in a good way.  I love seeing Mays, McCovey and Marichal on cards but it is also great to see others featured as well.  I wasn't even aware Ron Hunt played for the Giants until getting this card, he is famous for being hit by pitches but I always associated him with the Expos.  Amazingly he played 3 years with the Orange and Black.  The Dave Kingman fits a similar bill of a player not included in a ton of sets.  I was glad to pick up this Swell card.  We have a nice Conlon action shot at third, what a cool photo - I need to track more of these down.  I also really enjoy these Donruss HOF cards and was happy to see the McGraw and Mathewson cards - man the Giants have had a lot of famous "M"s through the years!

 Here are some more awesome Giants.  The Career Day Mays is a beautiful card.  I had a copy for my set and was glad to add one to the Giants 2012 binder.  The Big Unit only played a year with the Giants but he has quite a few cards and this Signature Stars is one I needed.  I would like to pick up an auto of his for my HOF collection at some point but he doesn't sign too much.  Next to Barry Zito, Aaron Rowand was the Giants biggest waste of money but I still like adding his cards.  I am a huge Ultra fan and getting a nice Barry Lamar Bonds insert is a great surprise.  I had this Leaf Vida in the Blue Binder but needed one for the Giants binder and also added a sweet Marichal card.  His leg kick isn't as high as I am used to seeing, maybe this is later in his career.

 Check out this random awesomeness.  Two women's players were cool additions.  I spent quite a while in their exhibit at the HOF in Cooperstown and it was very interesting.  I also follow the Cooperstown Conversations Podcast (I highly recommend it!) and they interviewed a couple of former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League players in the October podcast - very cool.  Speaking of cool, how about a Cool Papa Bell card?  I was happy to add this card and the Satchel Paige card at the bottom with these winnings.  At the All-Star Fan Fest in Anaheim a couple years back they had an awesome display with information and memorabilia from the Negro Leagues, you have to wonder what the record books would look like if integration happened in the late 1800s.  The Mays and Wilhelm cards were Giants I already had but how cool is the Mays card showing The Catch and Hoyt displaying his knuckle ball grip. Both of these cards go to my boys for their collection so I can share some of my baseball knowledge with them.  The Rollie card is just pure awesome, sporting the 80s Brewers units (when they were in the AL - still don't understand why they didn't just move them back and leave the Astros in the NL).  We also have some sweet Mariners unis on display on the Mario (Mendoza Line) Mendoza card. Who would have thunk that he would be so famous.  And possibly my favorite card of the prize package - a 1961 Harvey Haddix. I have very few 1961 cards and instantly fell in love with this one.

 Here is some more vintage goodness with some 1970s cards.  I have very few cards from 1971 so they are always welcome additions.  A very good collection of solid players.  I like the Oakland A's World Series card as well, this would be from the middle of 3 series they won.  The A's were my default second favorite team growing up in Northern CA.  The Angels have replaced them with my close proximity to Anaheim Stadium but I have a warm place in my heart for those World Series teams.  I scored a couple of 1975 cards, while I just finished the set, I am always glad to pick up some nice duplicates for trading or just showing off.  I am a fan of the All Star logo on the Concepcion card, I think it looks really nice. I had to include a picture of one of my favorite closers growing up, I remember Kent  Tekulve in the 1979 playoffs and loving his pitching style.

 Finally this last group of 4 cards fit some set needs, 3 vintage and 1 2012 Panini Triple Play "relic" card.  I love the hat Jose is sporting and Jim Perry was a pretty darn good pitcher somewhat overshadowed by his brother.  While Gaylord has the fame and HOF plaque, Jim definitely won the first name contest.  The Buckner unibrow is proudly showcased on his 1973 card as is his first basemen's mitt.  Having been a first baseman growing up, I always liked seeing these unique gloves on cards.  My set pursuit of Triple Play has taken a back seat lately, I need to get back on that.

Thanks Nick for the awesome package of cards and the contest.  Sorry it took so long to post but I really have enjoyed the cards you sent.  Keep up the great work on your blog!