Top Ten Best From The Fun Box Part 1

I got off work earlier this morning and was received by a warm and cheery summer day.  That put me in a good mood.  Clocking out of work always puts a smile on my face anyway, but added perfect weather adds to the glee.  This post should put my faithful readers in a grand mood as well.

I have concluded my dig through the 4,000 count mystery box of baseball cards.  This has been an ongoing thrilling extravaganza since last weekend.  You may want to check out my post from when the journey began if you were one of the few that had missed out on it.  I had around 200 cards that I am going to keep for my personal collection.  The rest of the cards will be used in trades and the others will be placed in 3200 count boxes to be sold the next time I do a card show this fall.  I plan on having a massive table of dime boxes to be sold by October.

I flipped through the keepers from this fun box once more to compile my 10 favorites.  This was tough to do because there were so many great set designs and photographs.  Another aspect that made this situation difficult was that the box contained very few Dodgers.  This would have been a bigger disappointment but, the box had an abundance of other cards that will fit into my binders nicely.

Let us get this first part of the countdown underway!

#10

2004 Upper Deck Kenny Lofton #400

The 2004 Upper Deck set had a very strong showing as I rummaged through the mixture of cardboard.  The design is superb and the photography is golden.  The lucky collector that peruses my dime boxes in the fall will have a really cool time finding many of the '04 Upper Deck cards that weren't needed for my collection.

This card depicts an action shot that a story can be told by the viewer.  Lofton and the Yankees third base coach appear to both be looking in the same direction as Lofton is rounding third.  A close play may be going on towards second base or Lofton is peering over at a cutoff man about to throw him out.

But, that throw never did through the jet quick Lofton out at home plate.  Lofton was a speedster that only got thrown out at the plate once and that was because he inexplicably answered his ringing cell phone halfway between third and home.

Also, does anyone have any idea why there is a hoard of gigantic cameras leering out in the background?  That seems to be a lot of big cameras that must have been operated by tiny cameraman because they seem invisible. 

#9

2004 Topps Total Jerry Hairston Jr. #482

Hairston is one of the current Dodgers several scrappy utility type players that do everything adequately but not spectacularly.  Hairston was a youngster back in '04 and wore cool shades.  The shades and the amount of focus that Hairston has on catching that baseball.  He is totally mesmerized by the spinning seams.

I hope Hairston was quick enough to notice the likely oncoming base runner.  This photo was probably taken in '03.  Any number of body building juicers could have been steamrolling down the base path.  Luckily, Hairston did survive this possible calamity in order to live long enough to play for the dismal 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers.

      

#8

2009 Topps Update Josh Reddick #27

I try to add a couple points to my cool card grading scale when it involves an awesome looking photo.  A pro ballplayer getting a rookie card that which will have a long lasting appeal in the blog world, which isn't about the money, is quite an accomplishment.  

This is a cleaner cut Josh Reddick.  He still looks like a bad ass as a rookie and looks like he can crush a skull and a home run.  

Reddick's rookie card stood out to me from the thousands of cards that I glanced at.  This is one of the better rookie cards that I have seen in awhile.  This is also my first viewing of this card as I do not normally collect Red Sox or was I ripping packs of '09 Update back in the day.

I wonder how well this rookie card would have done during Nick's Dime Box Tourney on his blog.  The Reddick may have lasted a couple rounds.

#7

2010 Topps Update Carlos Santana #330

Even though I was just gushing over the Josh Reddick rookie card, I have to say that this Carlos Santana is one slight step better.  This photo is of a rookie catcher diving headfirst into a base and claiming it like a man possessed.  Santana is clutching the base with a huge paw and won't let an opponent take it from him.  

The 2010 Topps sets have an old school feel to me.  I had just gotten back into collecting and these were some of the first packs I was tearing apart in 2010.  The set already has a retro vibe to me and I enjoy skimming through 2010 Topps and Topps Update cards.  Some great photography and good rookies are in this set.

#6

2004 Topps Roger Cedeno #490

This Roger Cedeno card was written about at the Platter a couple days ago.  I couldn't just leave it off my Top Ten keepers list because I had already displayed it once before on my blog.  That would be unfair.  This card is great.  

It has Roger Cedeno.  Awesome.

It is a play at the plate.  Super awesome.

The graphic design comic book version of Cedeno mimicking his slide into home.  Extra super awesome.

The rest of the Top Ten will have some more spectacular cardboard for your viewing pleasure.  This was a fun way to spend this summer morning.  Maybe I will spend the summer evening doing this typing thing as well.