Conlons, Pacifics And Topps, Oh My!

Friday afternoon, I received a package in the mail from Canada. It was from the proprietor of Chewing Liquorice.

It was so full of cards that it delayed the Card Spotlight until the evening. Geoffrey and I both share an admiration for Tim Raines and the Expos. I was bouncing off the walls when Tim Raines signed with the White Sox. I had watched him for many years with Montreal and knew exactly the type of player the Sox were getting. I have a thing for guys that know the lost art of stealing a base.

The eighties featured two of the best, Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines. I had the privilege of seeing both in person during games. As a kid, my school would give out free White Sox tickets for good grades. It was some school program and I'm ashamed to say that I don't remember the specifics of that program. The tickets were usually in the upper deck, but they could be upgraded for the difference, which is usually what my dad ended up doing. My dad's work also featured a similar program for good grades and Sox tickets, so I ended up going to a ton of games in the eighties.

For some odd reason, I remember a great deal of those tickets being against Oakland. Suffice to say, I saw a lot of Rickey. Interleague play wasn't a part of the game back then, and I didn't go to any Cubs games as a kid, so I only saw Tim Raines on television until he was signed by the Sox. I would have loved to see Raines in old Comiskey Park, but watching him run the bases in the new ballpark was still a sight to see.

I mention this because in addition to the autographed card pictured, there was a plethora of Raines cards in the box. All of them were missing from my collection.

The Raines stuff was a great surprise, but that just scratched the surface. The first thing I spotted when I opened the package was a plastic bag. Inside was a near complete set of 1993 Topps Micro White Sox cards. I've been trying to get my hands on this set for a long time. The bonus card of Frank Thomas was even included. I was impressed! Now the only card left to find is Bo Jackson. I'm guessing that he will be a lot easier than trying to find a bunch of White Sox commons from that set.

Next, I spotted two small boxes. The first was a 1992 reprint set of the 1919 Black Sox. This had been on my radar for awhile, but I was never able to pull the trigger. Now I don't have to. The other box was a complete set of Eight Men Out movie cards. It's a set that I've been trying to piece together for a couple of years. I had over half of the set sent to me through various trades, so I thought it was ludicrous to pay for the whole set. I can check another goal off of my list.

The next thing I encountered was a stack on Conlon cards bigger than my hand. There were so many cards in the box that I only have a few cards remaining for the entire 1991 to 1994 sets. I have literally never seen so many Conlon cards in one place! It was inspiring. There were even burgundy parallels and a prototype card of Red Faber included.

There cards from three years of Pacific Legends. That is another pesky set that I've been trying to complete. I know I now have two of the three team sets completed. I may have the third done as well, but I still need to check on that.

The rest of the cards in the box were made up of '53 and '54 Topps Archives, including a gold card, Ted Williams Company cards, Upper Deck All-Time Heroes cards, Stadium Club Golden Rainbow cards, a 1985 card of Ed Walsh, a 1975 Topps card of Dick Allen, a couple of Action Packed cards and a 1960 Minnie Minoso card, among others.

I spent the time I should have been working on the card spotlight, sorting through this box. It was well worth it!

Thanks, Geoffrey! Let me know if you need any Expos cards sent your way.