Letter Never Sent: The Belle Tolls

Hey all!  Today I'll put a wrap on my journey through some of the great player collection additions that came courtesy of a package received from Kevin, The Diamond King.

In this edition, some badass cards of a badass man: Albert Belle.

1992 Leaf Gold

1992 Leaf holds a spot near and dear to me since one Easter (I'll have to assume it was '92) the Bunny brought me a hobby box of Series 1.  Loads of doubles, triples, quadruples...erm...what comes after quadruples?  Anyhow, lots of extras.  Still, it was fun ripping through all the packs.  And this is what the "Gold" cards looked like.  This Belle is from Series 2, FYI.

1994 Collector's Choice

1997 Pacific Crown

1997 Pinnacle Certified

Why did this become a fad in the mid '90s?  Protective coatings on cards?  I'm okay with a protective film covering the top of my ketchup bottle, but this is just unnecessary and wasteful.  Otherwise, this is a terrific card!

2001 Fleer Platinum

A classy, no-nonsense Spring Training shot of the slugger to finish off the post.  Albert Belle is right up there with Vlad and Sosa in terms of guys who never played for the Mets but have captured my collecting fancy.  Can never get enough of their cardboard!

Thanks again, Kevin, for a tremendous package!

MK