Monday, April 16, 2012

The Gems of Junk Wax, Pt. 30: 1992 Topps Stadium Club #520 Wade Boggs


This is one of the greatest cards ever.

It comes courtesy of William over at "Foul Bunt" who sent me a bunch of random cards a few weeks ago out of the blue. (He's the most generous blogger I've come across since my entry into the blogosphere.)

I guess it was just pure chance that out of the randomness came a card I've secretly wanted ever since I first laid eyes on it.

This Wade Boggs card.

I found it surprising that I didn't already have it, given the boxes and boxes stuffed with overproduction cards that can be found all around my room.

No worries anymore, as I'm now the proud owner of a copy. Just another of the seemingly minute goals that only we collectors could understand.

Everything about it is different from almost every other card I've ever seen. Usually, the guy pictured is the guy who is responsible for the celebration, not a guy who is simply taking part in one (or about to take part in one, in this case). The photo is shot from an uncommon angle in order to get the players and the outstanding crowd shot in the same frame.

Plus, you can see what I believe are a few Fenway Park groundskeepers in the background (with the blue shirts). Another cardboard first, perhaps?

I'm not a Wade Boggs collector by any means. But it's really hard to put into words just how great this card is.

I've been thinking about starting a poll in order to elect cards to the "Gems of Junk Wax HOF" (or perhaps just "The Best of Junk Wax"), since this is already my 30th post in the series. (Hard to believe.)

Firstly, I'd like to get some input from my readers to see if that's something they'd like to see. I wouldn't want to start a big poll and then only have a couple votes. The HOF concept is by no means a new thing in the blogosphere, but I think it could work with this series.

Personally, I think the Boggs could quite possibly be my all-time favorite from the overproduction era, although I'm not sure if it would beat out this card.

One thing is for sure, though.

I will always love this card.

3 comments:

night owl said...

That's a former Cardboard Appreciation card, and the best part of it is Boggs seems to be saying "Give me 5," which is very 1970s and hopelessly out of date. But Boggs always was a different drummer kind of guy.

William Regenthal said...

I'm glad you liked the card. It is definitely a different shot, that's for sure.

Michael J Buchanan said...

The only bad thing about the card is not being able to narrow it down to the game. It's obviously a walk-off, but no opposing players shown.