The French Connection

Do you know the Card Papoy?  Yes? No?  He is an un-met friend across the deep and wide ocean.  Kevin is a featured blogger in Nacho Grande's Better Know a Blogger series and one of  France's best kept secrets.  He is also a fun trading partner. You're missing out if you're not sending cardboard to France!  If cost is a concern, consider the trade as a charity write-off on your 2014 tax return. I am not a CPA, so this advice should be taken at face value. Kevin has also been nominated by a Cardboard Problem for ROY blog.   Trading with The Card Papoy guarantees a great package of surprises!

Three cards from 2009 Topps 206.  No longer Tigers. I'm still disgusted with the Porcello trade and too ill to discuss the Scherzer news of the day.  Moneyball.  How long can the modern game of baseball survive without a salary cap of some kind?  Would players dare strike again?   I certainly feel like striking today...

An attractive 1993 Gold Leaf Rookie with three from 94 Upper Deck.  I would've liked full blue sky and clouds behind Piazza too, not just along the right side. Ripken is a personal fave, in action on the parallel Electric Diamond.   Below:  Fielder and Clark on 95 Upper Deck. An attractive set of cards in 1995.  Name and logo in copper tones are sharp on the full bleed photos.     1996 Upper Deck Future Stock die-cut insert. Love the purple borders!

 

The 96 SP design was lost on me. I don't care for the wood-grain appearance, especially in combination with the foil background.  I loved 93 Flair and busted several boxes when it debuted. Sometimes the background photo can be a bit much, as you can see on this Bagwell.

I'm sure there are collectors who don't care for full bleed designs. Are there any who complain about the gorgeous photography found on Stadium Club issues?  1992 and 1999 are featured above.  The older design was an instant classic.  1999 features a splashy brand logo against baseball stitching.  I like this!  What I don't care for is the small, faint team logo.  Overall a great issue, imo.

 

2004 Leaf Certified Materials.  This card has a mirror finish, which came in handy while creating this post.  How vain am I?  Combing my hair while gazing at my reflection in this card.  This is Eric Munson's moment, not mine. I am so stinkin' selfish sometimes.

2008  UD  A Piece of History Baseball  - the background reminds me of more recent Triple Threads and Museum base designs.  Merely coincidence.

2003 Donruss Timeless Treasures #/900  a very attractive card.  Yet another release issued during the years of my collecting rebellion.  Another which tweaks the urge to obtain the completed set - minus pricey short prints of course. 

 

 

 

 

 2008 Allen & Ginter's mini relic.  Great looking little card.  This design enables Topps to create even more relic cards.  I imagine a bat cut into little 1/2 inch, square slivers could be added to cards for several years. 

 

Pudge is a pc.  I liked him as a Ranger and hated to see him leave the team.  I couldn't have been more happy though, when he won a ring with the Marlins.  He now has something most current and former Rangers don't have.  He belongs in the HOF but his roid-related troubles will likely keep him out for years to come, or perhaps always.

 

 

 Kevin sent a great batch of cards my way.  I enjoyed the player selection along with the years and brands covered.   But there was one more card at the bottom of the stack - a card even older than me.

 

Ted Gray played eight season with the Tigers through 1954.  He was a power pitcher known for his forkball.  Ted ranked among the leaders in the AL in strikeouts for four years running.  He also lead the league in homers allowed with 25 in 1953. Blister problems hindered his performance over the years.  In 1954, Ted was traded to the White Sox.  He went on to play for four different teams in the 1955 season.  His career numbers: 59-74 with 4.37 era in 222 MLB games. 

 

Behold a 1953 Bowman Color:

 

 

This beauty needed me!  Centering nice, corners soft and a slight crease which doesn't break completely through the colors. I basically just described myself.  I know this because I have a fancy Munson Mirror card.

 

Kevin, thanks for the trade!