Christmas Goodies 1: The Best Card in the World and Others

Now we finally get to the meat of the Christmas goodies, those cards that I actually received on Christmas day. And what cards they were - I think the first might be my favorite of all time.

At first glance it's just a Finest card of Mitch Richmond, who is one of my favorite all time basketball players. But oh...it's so much more:
Check out Richmond's left hand. And check out the player who he's bursting by. Here's a close up if you need one:
That's right. Mitch Richmond is touching Michael Jordan's ass.

INSANITY!

Makes me chuckle every time I see it. Just like the face on this guy:
I don't blame the above guy for looking so...I don't really know what that look stands for actually. But he is being dunked on by the great Dominique Wilkins:
I'm sure there are some Wilkins supercollectors out there, and they must have some amazing looking collections. All Nique did was make highlights, and many of those highlights are on cards. I'm happy to own just a few of these terrific images myself.


Then we have a few of the new New England Patriots. Most notably, their newest backfield, which is part "The Law Firm" BenJarvus Green-Ellis:
and part Danny Woodhead:
Both these guys have played their hearts out this year, and the results have been fantastic. Almost 1,000 ground yards for both guys, and tons of wins for the Patriots. Since the Browns have no chance at the playoffs, I am almost all Patriots in my rooting interests these days (will be completely after the Steelers-Browns matchup this Sunday). And these guys make it very fun to watch.


Another new Patriot who is actually an old Patriot, here's the always awesome Deion Branch (this card is #'d 103/150):
Man x-fractors are gorgeous.


One last (former) Patriot - current Eagle Ellis Hobbs:
Hobbs is probably going to retire after a major injury this year, which is a shame because he was pretty good and was likely only going to get better. Life in the NFL is quite tough though, as it was for this next guy, Jerry Azumah:
Azumah hails from Worcester, MA and went to UNH, both of which have ties to my life. So I was psyched when he rose to Pro Bowl fame with the Bears in the late 90's/early 00's. But after 7 years in the game, Azumah had to retire due to back and neck pain. So now everyone knows #23 as Devin Hester, he of the kick/punt return TD record. But I still think of Azumah whenever I see someone with a Hester jersey.


Now for another completely random card - Rafer Alston, with Mike Bibby looking really confused:
I'm a fan of all guys Alston - Corey, Rafer, Kevin, so I was glad to finally get a card of Rafer's. Especially since Bibby looks so goofy. I'm guessing he feels he was fouled or something...but he may have just smelled something nasty. Or maybe he's just weird.


Finally, of course no Christmas would be complete without a few Senecas. I got two, one of which was a Gridirons base card:
And the other of which was a Fleer Tradition tri-RC:
Surprisingly I didn't own either of these cards, even though they are dirt cheap for Seneca cards. Needless to say I'm glad to have finally acquired them, and to finally have 75 cards in my Seneca collection!

Stay tuned these next few days for the hits of this Christmas - I think I did pretty well there too!