Flat Rate Box Filled With Autographs and Relics

Flat rate boxes are fun. Chasing one million Chicago Cubs baseball cards means volume. Volume is an understatement. Say you fit 2,000 cards in a medium flat rate box. It would take 500 flat rate boxes to get to one million cards.

Another fun part of flat boxes is I never know what’s inside. There could be hidden gems among the Cubs card goodness. That was the case in Friday’s flat rate Mailday from Ron in Maryland.

Ron and I have previously traded and when I opened up this box I was amazed. There were a few jersey relics on top. I took a look at them only to reveal even more jersey relics. In fact, a huge stack, nearly 100 in all, of jersey relics and autographs.

There are just too many great Cubs cards to spotlight them all, so I have picked out some of my favorites. I met Augie Ojeda at thé Cubs Convention and had an awkward interaction with the former shortstop.

From 2005 Upper Deck SP Authentic it’s Corey Patterson. It was awesome getting to meet Corey Patterson recently at the Larry Pogofsky All Star Challenge.

One former Cubs player I haven’t met is Todd Hundley. Though, I have met his father, Randy Hundley, numerous times. This 2002 Upper Deck Diamond Connection bat relic is numbered 664/775.

I really need to get my organization in full gear so I can begin my player binders. Willson Contreras will have a binder and this 2017 Donruss Diamond Collection jersey relic will look good in it.

Regular plain jersey relics are kind of boring. But sometimes I would prefer a plain square or circle swatch of fabric. The latter is the case for the 2008 Welington Castillo jersey relic. Points for creativity in using a jersey cutout for the swatch, but it looks goofy on a standard Bowman card.

On the other hand, the design for this Aramis Ramirez Topps Bazooka Blasts is a bit goofy itself, so the “B” cutout for the relic fits nicely.

Another bat relic and this is my favorite. Moises Alou 2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Sweet Sticks bat relic. The piece of wood used actually looks authentic (not just a plain piece of wood like the above Aramis Ramirez), and its raised above the card. Upper Deck really did know how to make nice relic cards in the 2000’s.

Sometimes you just need to respect the beauty of a standard jersey card. Even though it’s just a piece of one color fabric, Topps Heritage relics have always been classy and nice looking. This Aramis Ramirez is from 2012 Topps Heritage.

I’ve mentioned it before that I am a sucker for Chicago Cubs prospect autographs and relics from players that didn’t quite live up to their hype. Felix Pie is one of those players, and this is a 2007 Upper Deck autograph.

One Million Cubs Project Stats Friday's (10/4/2019) Cards: 1,979

Friday's (10/4/2019) Packages: 1

January's Cubs Count: 9,343

February's Cubs Count: 8,980

March's Cubs Count: 15,704

April's Cubs Count: 11,651

May's Cubs Count: 7,273

June's Cubs Count: 7,690

July's Cubs Count: 10,803

August's Cubs Count: 11,929

September's Cubs Count: 9,127

October's Cubs Count: 2,401

Total Trades/Donations: 255

Trade States of Origin: Arizona (4) Alabama (5)

Arkansas California (20)

Colorado (5) Connecticut (13)

Delaware

Florida (10)

Georgia (3)

Idaho (3) Illinois (19) Indiana (5)

Iowa (2)

Kansas

Kentucky (2)

Louisiana Maryland (11) Massachusetts (10)

Michigan Minnesota (3)

Mississippi

Missouri (4)

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire (2) New Jersey (13)

New Mexico (3) New York (23) North Carolina (6) Ohio (14)

Oregon (3) Pennsylvania (7)

Rhode Island (2)

South Carolina (2)

South Dakota Tennessee (8) Texas (7)

Utah

Vermont (3)

Virginia (2) Washington (5)

West Virginia (7) Wisconsin (12)

Countries of Origin

Canada (1)

Korea (2)