Goodies Galore From Texas, Illinois, West Virginia, and Arizona
Several boxes filled with nearly 6,000 Cubs baseball cards and other Cubs memorabilia sat unopened for several days last week.
Three packages arrived on Wednesday and I didn’t have the chance to open any because that’s trivia night (team name: Keep the F.I.B.s Out). Thursday brought another package before I headed to Peoria, Illinois for the weekend to work the IHSA basketball state championships.
I picked up one other package....at my hotel. Thanks to Jake from central Illinois who works across the river in East Peoria for dropping off the package at the front desk. About two months ago I expressed interest in a 2015 Topps Heritage 51 Jorge Soler Autograph /250 grades PSA 10 for $20.
Jake added a few more Cubs cards to the package, including several new to my collection: 2017 Donruss Addison Russell 626/999, 2018 Topps Addison Russell jersey Relic (awesome baby blue with white pinstripe), 2015 Bowman Chrome Draft sky blue Ryan Kellogg, 1999 Pacific Private Stock Rod Beck, and 2017 Donruss Optic Elite Series Anthony Rizzo.
Ironically, two of the five packages I couldn’t open because I was traveling originated from the very place I was spending the weekend. P-Town Tom sent a box of Cubs cards and more. Check out his blog. And we made an in-person beer for Cubs trade last summer. His Cubs package included a pack of David sunflower seeds featuring my guy Javier Baez. Also, some Ron Santo Ale.
Yes, there were Cubs cards, too. Always enjoy Javier Baez Heritage cards, a new Rock Shoulders card for my collection, a Ryne Sandberg that I don’t recognize, and The Greatest’s kid, Trevor Gretzky. Yup, he’s the son of Wayne Gretzky.
On that note, Goalie in the Crease from Twitter sent more than 200 Cubs cards, and I’ll be getting rid of hockey cards (always happy to find hockey collectors).
Brian in Arizona sent another package that had a little bit of everything. Javy!
I was a big Shawon Dunston fan, and was elated when Shawon Dunston Jr. was drafted by the Cubs. Check out these sweet cards of the younger Dunston from 2012 Bowman Chrome.
Gleyber Torres from 2016 Bowman Chrome’s Top 100 Prospects.
Vintage in this 1972 Topps Leo Durocher. Pretty sure in the last month I have received a 1970, 1971, and now 1972 Topps Durocher for the first in my collection.
How about these autographs! Absolutely love the Reuschel Brothers, Rick and Paul. They attended Western Illinois University, also my alma mater. The 1978 Topps set is also among my favorites. I remember it as the first “vintage” set I ever saw because my neighbor had a son who had collected in the late 70’s. Santo Alcala of the Montreal Expos was my first “vintage” baseball card from the 1978 Topps set.
This was going to include the nearly 5,000 Cubs cards from Bryan in Texas. However, his box included so many awesome cards that it will need its own post.
One Million Cubs Project Stats
Thursday's (3/14/2019) Cards: 5,837
Tuesday's (3/12/2019) Packages: 5
January's Cubs Count: 9,343
February's Cubs Count: 8,980
March's Cubs Count: 10,288
Total Trades/Donations: 74
Trade States of Origin: Arizona Alabama
Arkansas California (4) Connecticut (5)
Florida (2)
Georgia
Idaho Illinois (9) Indiana (2) Maryland (3) Massachusetts (3)
Michigan Minnesota New Jersey (5) New York (7) North Carolina (2) Ohio (4) Pennsylvania (3)
Rhode Island
South Carolina Tennessee (2) Texas (4) Washington (2)
West Virginia Wisconsin (8)