This Time Last Year

This time last year, I was working a horrid amount of  overtime in an unappreciative environment.  During the current 'tax busy season', I've barely given that place a second thought. Three weeks into my new job has me thinking I could stay there for ten years if I wanted - if they wanted.  I've felt valued and appreciated since I walked in that first day.

This time last year, I received an all Astros package from Jason Carter. {Go easy on me. I mean well.} I'm not sure how I overlooked sharing these but here's look at of few of those cards.

1991 Baseball Card Magazine

EXPRESS!

NUMBER 27

Miss you, Cam!

Cutest little bunny ever! Blech!

This is my favorite in the bunch! FLOATING BAT! Fits nicely in my mini-collection. Jason, these cards did not go unappreciated! I'm still enjoying them. If  you've never checked out his blog, The Writer's Journey, make your way over there. You'll find great write ups on music, tv & movies, toys, games, and of course, baseball cards! My regular stop on Jason's blog is the Goodbye tab.

While we're living in the past, here's another great batch from Baseball Card Breakdown. I shared these on Twitter at the time but a few deserve a closer look.

Hall of Fame Heroes

1992 MLB ACES Playing Cards. Also known as  'A'  is for Appetite.

Gavin is a generous fellow. He sent a nice lot of cards with a kind thank you note. Mailers from him always contain a surprise or two, like this eTopps Austin Jackson Rookie, an early Topps scam  swindle web only issue. Each card was considered an IPO; available for a limited time, printed to the total number ordered. Sound familiar?  Topps graciously stored your online portfolio in their  vault until shipment was requested. The program ran for 12 years, producing just under 3000 different cards with nearly 4,000,000 cards printed.

Something Gav often adds to his mailers are the customs he is widely known for! I was the fortunate recipient of two.

My favorite Twinkie!

Quality backside too!

A full set in this design, please

Mejia has great potential

I'd say it's fairly difficult for Gavin to outdo himself but...

Oh my word, when I received this card...! The classic, unforgettable play at the plate from the 1968 World Series!  Bill Freehan is a favorite on this blog {if its design wasn't an obvious tribute.} This sketch card is a centerpiece in the Freehan collection. All. Mine.  I'll never know how Freehan held Brock off.  He had a little help from Willie Horton's arm. Willie doesn't make the throw, this play never happens. My favorite moment from the entire series. Don't tell Lolich or McClain.

My thanks always, Gav!

Courtesy Recap Platter with a Side of the Trading Spot

My last post was written to flush out a couple of thoughtless traders before others found themselves on the wrong end of an exchange.  Many of your responses surprised me.  Your emails and comments reflected concerns that I may have been pointing a finger at you - and one or more of my trade partners.  Please allow me to say once again: I wouldn't call out my pals - ever.  If you wrote to ask  'was it me' then you must certainly know it wasn't.  Did I hear from my hard luck cases A or B?  Only A - and wasn't surprised by his remarks. 

The untended side-effect of my last post has been to serve as a reminder - to me, and all of us who trade - to send a thank-you message within a reasonable amount of time.  There has been an occasion or two when mail sat in the box overnight or on the table unopened.  Unless life is handing out emergencies or vacations, thank you should be offered upon a first convenience.  I've gone longer than 48 hours but have made a large effort over this past year to be better.

This is a good time to work in a thank you post featuring a trader who blesses many of us quite regularly:

Here's a few highlights found in the packages from John Miller. One arrived in November and the second last month. There's a good amount of shiny . The Chrome Future Stars are far-out in color and design.  Topps missed it again with a design that would've been a great continuation for the STARS insert series in Opening Day.   Fryman is from 93 UD Gallery, a boxed set sold separately in limited numbers - 123,600 to be exact.

How about these 04 Crack Jack boys!  If I'd still been collecting in 2004, this product would have been high on my chase list.  Vina and Bonderman minis included here.  The Munson is particularly sharp!



A couple of handsome cards:

When Fleer was great - 2004

1999 MVP - the eyes have it!

The odds are: 81 Coke Gibby with Topps rc; 1982 Drakes and 1988 Dominos pinback:

John sent over 100 cards combined but the highlight of these packages was this box and its contents - 33 postcards featuring players from the 84 Tigers Championship team by artist Rinaldo Minervini.

These post cards are phenomenal!  I could find little information on the artist.   Rinaldo lived in Michigan and created these sketches in his retirement years.  I've never seen these anywhere and plan to add them to a binder in the near future.

It's taken much too long for me to share these cards.  I'm a grateful recipient though.  If you've sent cards then at some point I'll be posting samples of your generosity.

I'd love to end this post with witty April Fools trickery.  Instead, a big reveal is in order. Only one of my trade pals has ever seen any likeness of me.  So here I am, plain and simple.  Until next time...

Box Busting - Cracked Bat Style

Hey, do I have style? Not in any kind of fashion sense really but I do have my way of getting things done.  While attacking the remaining boxes from a bedroom closet, I finally hit carpet!  I do have four more large boxes to tackle but finally feel like progress is happening.  Our featured box today:

I have Turkey Reds!  Look at that Yogi!  Great card I'd forgotten having - so I bid on and won it again, quite possibly twice.  Sweet Ernie Banks with bats.  America's Pastime and Cooperstown, some of  Panini's best efforts!  

The boxes within the box:

FLEER STICKERS!  I picked up the whole box for around $5, thinking at the time to put them in a binder but many will make it around the blogs.

Two 200 count boxes revealed some nice base/parallel cards sampled below:

A colorful array of 2015 Museum!  Upfront are Altuve, Piazza and J Foxx who will find homes in my PC boxes.  Most of these cards were intended for trades.  They will soon begin their way around the blogs to new homes.

2013 Panini America's Pastime - the thick base cards are all limited to 125.  Insert sets Decades and Barnstorming Brilliance are on my list to complete.  I love the old program look of Barnstormers, a great tribute to the Negro Leagues!  I do have some dupes to share but may complete the base set at some point.  I picked up over half of it on a late-night auction for less than $20 shipped!  The lot included these cards:

A closer look at Yogi reveals a Christmas card!

There are a couple hundred singles in the main box.  I'll keep some and trade others.  I'm sure MadBum will be moving on.   He is numbered 1/10.  An Ebay 1/1 - a description which always keeps me from bidding.  HATE IT!

 I found a young and full-faced Molitor:

and an also young Tiger favorite, Bill Freehan on one of the best insert designs ever:

I am truly enjoying the journey through these boxes, never knowing just what has been tucked away! Expecting to find more cards I've repurchased,  it's surprising how few dupes have turned up so far!

There are literally hundreds of cards from miscellaneous packs going to the SA donation box, most are commons and 80s junk.  I'll be giving away a few more boxes here. Recipients will receive DIScards in bulk with some minor and major league stars mixed in alongside a few inserts and, like any box of cards, there will be commons. That's the fun of it and it doesn't cost you a single dime! You can bust a box, Cracked Bat style!

It's time to announce our second recipient of Discards! There were 12 entrants.  This time everyone who commented was entered.  Randomized three times, the second name on the list -our winner - is the man who gave me the idea for these giveaways - Cardboard Clubhouse Adam!

This is so much fun for ME!  I hope the recipients of the DisCARDs find something for their own collections, cards to giveaway and mainly,  just have fun going through their box of cards.   There will be more given away so please keep trying and thank you for reading!

I Love the Smell of a Trading Post ... er, Spot?

Ahhhhhhhhh.  The sweet aroma of a freshly broken pack of cards.  It ranks right up there with the smell of a new book and freshly ground coffee.  I begin each morning with a fresh cup and a great book. Both are equally difficult to put down as I scoot out the door.  If I were to work  play with cards in the morning, unemployment would be a likely reality. 

Fortunately, this isn't MY problem.  Tim loves the smell of cardboard in the mornings, so much so that he named a blog after his habit, which in turn feeds mine. Don't let him tell you he's not addicted.  It's a little thing called denial. 

 

A great sticker and a MLB Showdown Steal.  Fister is new to me and the mini is not so small.  It only takes one card, no matter the size to send you spiraling into addiction.  Trust me on this.

Simon is gold and Farmer, a luscious purple which won't be shared by my scanner.  I love purple cards!  The other four fellas are all refractors.  If you ever had any doubt, confident men can wear pink  - and look good doing so!

Tim included a nice but unscannable auto, which isn't legible anyway - smnlhks - near as I can make it out.  The patch card is super nice.  I have mini Ginter relics but believe this is the first regulation size Ginter in my collection.

Tim closes out the team bagged boys with three fancy refractors from 2015 Topps Chrome.  Great, great stuff Tim and always appreciated!!!

Whoa there cowboy,  we aren't quite done here just a-yet.  Hitch yourself right up to the Trading Post and take a look at these little fancies from Johnny - Johnny's Trading Spot that is.

This tall boy is Mr. Bill Freehan and he has a story to tell.  In 1964, he became the first Tiger catcher to bat .300 in 29 years - from page 5.  Both of these are from 1970. That's a right good-looking Topps Super!

City Boys from 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes

 

 

Bring on the appetizers Johnny! 1977 and 1978 Hostess, 1988 Chef Boyardee

 

 

There aren't many people who dislike pizza - unless it's from Domino's.  I enjoy thin crust pizza and think they get a bad rap.  Of course, I live in the country and can't be too choosy.  If they deliver to my place, there's a good chance I'll try it.  It's the cheese blend and spices that make me have the second and third piece.  It's not a slice really because the pizza is cut into squares.   How do I know when I've had my three slices with all the little squares??  When it's half is gone? 

 

Here's a 1988 Complete Team set from the pizza whose crust is often compared to cardboard.  I happen to LOVE cardboard!

 



Often simplicity equals beauty.  I find this most often true with any release by TCMA.  White borders, no logos or any distracting words/fonts.  Simple.  These are from 1978, from a set of 293 cards.  I'll pursue the entire set one day but happy for now to have these Tigers.

Johnny, thanks for a great batch of oddballs cards!  Love them all!

Thank you for reading.  I hope you haven't been waiting to find out just what does a trading spot smell like?   Perhaps we'll seek to answer this question, another time. Preferably on someone else's blog.

Obsession

Adam of ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession posted this week regarding a trade we made near the end of 2014.  He was feeling badly for taking so long to share the cards I'd sent, and for having yet to send a return package.  It's coincidental that I am sharing this post today.  Adam was next on my list.  I try to post trades in the order received.  Adam, it seems we all get behind occasionally.  Some of us -me- stay behind.  In my defense, I did take a nearly three week vacation at the end of the year.

This was the first of what I hope to be many trades with this Giants fan.  He started with a sampling of crisp 84 Fleer Tiger stars:

Then Adam kindly knocked a few cards off my list:

I need a good many for 2013 Hometown Heroes completion but only three cards to finish 2014 Stadium Club!  Jeter, Henderson and Eaton are the holdouts, if any of you kind gentlemen could accommodate my efforts. 

2004 Fleer Sweet Sigs Donnie Kelly 79/99.  I didn't realize how long Kelly had been playing ball. Drafted in 2000, he's been in and out of the minors most of his career.  2007-2008 saw him doing time with the Pirates where he made his MLB debut, and with the D'backs.   2009 saw him back to the Tiger organization.  Over time he played every position on the field, including an appearance on the mound during a loss to the Mets in 2011.  He threw five pitches to Scott Hairston who flew out to centerfield.  He is currently signed to a minor league deal with the Marlins.

2004 Leaf Certified Materials Eric Munson  26/100,  and oh so shiny!  No relation to Thurman, Eric could have used Mr. Munson's baseball genes.  Riding the minor/major carousel for nearly ten years, his most recent stint was with the Bridgeport Bluefish, Atlantic League Professional Baseball.

2009 Upper Deck Spectrum of the Mayor  19/99. Card back:  Congratulations! You have received a trading card with Magglio Ordonez Game-Used baseball memorabilia...certified to us as having been used in an official MLB game.  We hope you enjoy this piece of baseball history...Enjoy your memorabilia card!   Baseball history?  Ty Cobb's spikes are baseball history.  A pine-tarred bat - history.  Maris home run 61 - history... The history of baseball is storied and I don't think the Mayor is highlighted in any major points.  How can I enjoy this "history" when the placement of the patch on the card front keeps me from it?  I'll admire it from afar.  It is a good-looking card.

Bryan Holaday's on-card auto  2011 FIRST Bowman Chrome. He is currently backup backstop to Alex Avila, with potential to see real playing time this year. 

 

Bob Kennedy began his MLB career with the White Sox in 1939, at 18 years of age. He lost three seasons to military service, USMC.  He won a World Series with the Indians in 1948.  Bob only spent one year with the Tigers in 1956, playing his last with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957.  Career numbers:  .254  with 1176 hits,  63 homers,  514 rbi  and .958 fielding percentage.  Bob gave managing a try with the Cubs in 1963-1965 and Oakland A's in 1968 with an overall record of  264-278.  He died in 2005 at the age 84.   1957 Topps, taped and trimmed.  Still colorful after these many years, like me.  But I could use some trimming.

 

Adam included one more beauty:  1969 Topps Deckle Edge of Bill Freehan, one of my favorite Tigers.   11x  All Star, WS Champ 1968 and 5x  Gold Glover with career BA of .262,  200 hr and 758 rbi.  Bill was a lifetime Tiger, retiring in 1976.  Until 2002, Bill held the MLB record for highest career fielding percentage .993, and once held the record for putouts at 9941.  Currently 73,  he is battling Alzheimer's Disease. 

 

So there you have it Adam.  You DID send a colorful and appreciated batch of cards!  Thank you!  Wanna have another go?   I have a stack of homeless Giants.