Commishioning a post for my oldest card!

A few posts back CommishBob of The Five Tool Collector said he was going to send me something, and when he did...I was shocked speechless. As you may have gathered that doesn't happen too often...First thing I saw in the box was a bubble mailer sealed up inside...that should have been a clue to the specialness of what was inside but I was too dense to know it, I set that aside and peeked underneath to see what was there; I first saw 4 diecast NASCAR cars, a 500 count white box and a box with a picture of Elvin Hayes on it...all great stuff.

Then I opened the envelope...

Holy mackerel!  On the right is a card from 1890 Duke's Holidays, the set I bought half a card of on the COMC Black Friday sale...this one has some paper loss but most of the back is there, enough to consider it a complete card in my collection.

On the left is a card from 1889! It's from the Kinney Brothers Novelties set, (N228) and depicts what is now an ancient camera, but would have been the style at the time, along with a drawing of who I think is just some random woman, although I'm not really up on my 1880s celebrities. It's also die cut, which is a concept I had no idea existed that far back in history! The earliest die cut cards I had seen before this were...Hmm, just thinking about it...1990? More than 100 years after this card was created! I still have so much to learn about non-sports cards, but I love to learn this kind of stuff.

Bob, I can't thank you enough! I truly can't put into words what this meant to me!

As if that wasn't enough, there was also this cool bobble head of NBA Legend Elvin Hayes.
He didn't quite survive the trip as his right leg broke in two places and his left in one, but I was able to use my modeling skills/supplies to fix him up good as new. As it turned out, the box they used is slightly too small and it was probably the packing at the factory that caused the issue instead of the USPS. It's only the 2nd bobblehead in my collection, joining a Kevin Garnett one Upper Deck included in a box of 2001-02 UD Playmakers Limited. My mom has two Jason Kidd examples, including the one Angus sent me a few weeks ago, lol.

This is a crappy picture- too much stuff is visible in the background, and the power cord for my phone is in it. when I get my photo studio set up again (soon!) I'll take a better photo. This is one of the very, very few- maybe only- items in my collection to show the home San Diego Rockets in full color. When I do the Rockets' Uniform History post you may see the studio photo  then since I can't think of any cards that show it in full and in color.

The box of cards, which was mostly NASCAR but included a couple of Multi-Sport cards, some NBA and one hockey, was mostly all 1990s...my favorite era. Mid 1990s at that! 1994 is my favorite year for NASCAR cards and I would guess more than half of them are from the 1994 season.

There was also one that totally stumped me at the bottom...a big chrome DW. I've never seen this design ever before, so I will need to do some research on this one!

I have not listed all the cards yet so I can't say exactly which ones or how many were new but I know it's a lot.

Here are the diecasts.  I have a very extensive collection from the 1990s but he still managed to send me one I didn't have, the Jeff Gordon Pepsi is new to me. The two Earnhardts are technically new as well- they have a "Value Pack- not for individual sale" sticker over the bar code on the back which technically makes them a variation. I will be glad to add them to my collection! The Labonte/Gibbs Football Hall of Fame car is a duplicate, but may be a conditional upgrade or might even be a variation, I've been too busy to pull up my collection photos and check...luckily, my diecast collection is fully photodocumented.

Sorry this second photo is a little out of focus. I'm still learning the perspective with my smart phone...

Thanks again Bob! I am pretty darn shocked here and even stunned speechless, something that like I said above, does not happen very often at all!