Holiday Fun in February!

Could it still be Christmas? I have three more holiday trades to share and four that arrived after the new year began.  I have a handful of regular trade partners.  Fortunately they are all patient fellows!  Most everyone knows Nick and his Fabulous Dimeboxes.  He has the natural ability to take any random common and write a superb essay regarding its importance to the hobby.  He's caused me to want many of these cards in my own collection.  This is a fine example:

Gary Pettis  1989 Upper Deck card 117

This is a classic card which I did not yet own.  Gary is holding his own 1989 UD, card 117.  Cleanly photo-shopped or a moment of psychic foresight? The image on the card he holds is the backside of 117.  Eerie.








I like quirky little sets like the KMart Topps, represented by McLain.  A true blue light special set!

I'd forgotten Nomo pitched for the Tigers.  I'm still not over his disastrous time with the Rangers.  Sandberg taking it to the shin on this 2011 Topps Lineage.  I'm liking this set more all the time.  It would've made a nice design for the Flagship Topps. But no-o-o-o-o-o...  Finally we're getting gaudy with the gold foil on 97 Pacific Collection Jose Lima..

Great Tiger representation here!  I was excited to find a Castellanos rookie! I was not excited to lose Scherzer to the Nationals.  I hardly know the team posing as the Tigers in 2015.

Can't have too many Stadium Clubs from any year. This Doherty is from 1995.  Swell Gum from 1990 is everything a gum card should be: colorfully designed with fun-sized font and a star player ready for a home in my binder!  I'm actually working on a want-list for this set.

Donruss Studio of the 90s created some of my favorite designs.  I'm picking up sets from Ebay - 94 Studio is on the list.   I have a set of 93 Fun Pack.  It may have catered to the much younger generations but I love the wildly colored fronts.

A sweet lot of old-timers!  Cochrane looks much like a star of the silent screen on the colorized Baseball Legends from 89 Pacific.  Ty scanned darkly but is quite shiny on the foil card from 2001 Topps. The Gerhig and Ruths I did not have.  Goose Goslin from the Renata Galasso collection is another cool addition.  Renata was a savy business woman, leaving me and many others wanting more of those Galassos!

This little eight page prize is a 1970 Topps Booklets, number 6.  Collect all 24!  In excellent condition, likely read no more than a few times, it's bursting with color on the inside.  

Harvey Kuenn, Hal Newhouser and Charlie Gehringer on 2005 Upper Deck Classics.  I love the old guys!!  Is it wrong to love men twice my age, and possibly deceased?

2003 Fleer Fall Classic.  The scan doesn't reveal how attractive these cards are.  I like the stadium-styled framing along the top border.  Jennings appears almost ghostly in this picture, or is it ghastly? Monster-like. Either/or.  I like the cards.  I'm the decider.

1955 Bowman 

Spoked or perhaps an early wallet card, this gem is welcomed to my collection! I owned none before Nick's package arrived! 

Nick chooses well.  Cards from several decades, all so different!  He also included a very large group of Conlons which I'll share at a later time.  It is hard to pick a favorite.  It may just be this one:

 

1974 Tigers TCMA, tall and slender.  Herman Flea Clifton appears to have had a very short tenure with the Tigers.  Over two years, he compiled a .255 avg in 110 at bats.  I love the name, and the card is certainly an oddball.

Nick as always, you are a superb trading partner, a true Dime Box hero!  Thank you!

FREE CARDS!!!

FREE BASEBALL CARDS!  Is it really as simple as connecting with other collectors who are more than willing to share their spoils?  While surfing for baseball card info a few months ago, I stumbled upon the Night Owl blog .  One post read led to the next - which led to other card blogs and before I knew it a couple of entertaining hours had passed.  I was quite intrigued with so many trade posts sharing the day’s loot. 

Loot 

Tony of Off-hiatus initiated my second trade.  He emailed regarding my stash of 90s baseball cards.  Tony was more than willing to free up space in the box for new cards.  I was all-too- happy to accommodate!  Brewers for Tony meant Tigers for me!  When the bounty arrived, it came in two packages. Tony completed my Tigers Topps sets for 2007, 2012 and 2013 and 2008 Upper Deck!   He also included Tigers from the first Topps Total set in 2002.  (My first and only attempt at a Frankenset! Hmmm, maybe that had something to do with leaving the hobby for a while.)

I'd originally written a bit about most of the cards I'm sharing in this post.  I've learned the hard way to save my work continuously but yesterday this failed too. I can say though, all of these cards are new to my collection!  What a great selection of cards!  Let's start with Alan Trammell:

For info on this set, click here

1988 Donruss

1985 Topps All Star Set

Trammell spent all his career with the Tigers. He is still HOF eligible, continuing to make the ballot every year.  He was the 1984 WS MVP, a six time All-Star and four time Gold Glove winner.  Trammell has a lifetime average of .285 with 185 home runs and 2365 hits.

Prince Fielder - ever see him attempt a head-in slide into first base?  I did. It wasn't pretty.  Well ok, it was - pretty laughable. No doubt he's lovin' Texas BBQ these days.  Here are three very attractive versions of  2012 Bowman Platinum: ruby, emerald and base.

More shiny things:

2012 Topp Finest                               2012 Topps Gold Sparkle                                2012 Topps Chrome

I've missed Andy Dirks this year.  I only hope his back surgery wasn't a career ender!  He is a fan-friendly fellow and made a great impression on me. 

Now here's a fellow who could easily have ended a few careers with his signature spike-in-your-face greeting:

2010 Topps Tales of the Game

2010 Topps Vintage Legends

                                                                                            2010 Topps Peak Performance

Ty Cobb, an unhappy man but one of the games' greatest!  With 4191 hits, he held the all-time hits record until Gamblin' Rose (Pete) belted 4192.  Tyrus holds a record .367 BA, highest in MLB.  His spikes assisted him when stealing home 54 times. Cobb's dentures sold for $7475 at auction. What???  Shall we move on?

2011 Allen & Ginter's: A&G haven't been favorites for me. The lack of creativity is a major irritation between me and Topps.  I tend to prefer the vintage look on vintage cards with vintage players. When I spend hard earned dollars on cards, I only want baseball cards in the pack. I don't want to pull the World's Tallest Building or Palaces, Peacemakers and Bicycles...oh my. That said, this is an attractive batch of cards:

2013 Allen & Ginter's featuring two of my favorite Tigers, Cobb and Kaline:

                                                                   MINI MIGHTY MEN   

I am a sucker for the 70s.  Cards issued by Kelloggs are some of my favorites!  This colorful Yastrzemski was a grrrreat addition to the collection:               

                                                                                    Yazz Man

Hank Greenberg is featured on a commemorative card from 1985 Topps All Star Game set. With 85% of the votes, he became the first Jewish player elected to Cooperstown in 1956.   Cards for Cochrane and McLain are part of a 1984 issue by Renata Galasso, the world's largest hobby card dealer. (She said so herself, right on the back of the cards.) In the 70s, Galasso sold hand-collated Topps sets to pay her way through college. These two cards are attractive issues at the very least.  Glad to have them!

And now we've come to the final cards: 1981 Cramer Sports Promotions Baseball Legends. I've read Cramer eventually became Pacific Cards.  After some research, I found these cards listed in the Beckett catalog as 1980-1983 Pacific Legends.  I've never seen these cards before, and now own three!

Tony, thank you again!  I appreciate the opportunity to prove myself a trust-worthy trading partner!  I'm  not sure when I'll have another stash of Brewers for you but have a pile in the making with your name on it!

Anyone else out there want free cards? I'm updating my trade list regularly.