More Trading

I recently got an e-mail form Tim from Red Sox Baseball Cards telling me that he had several cards from my wantlist, and wondered if we could work out a trade. He sent along his needs, and I was able to do a very poor job of finding cards he needed. I hesitate calling it a trade, since that would imply an even exchange of cards. Instead, for my pittance, Tim provided approximately 400 cards from my wantlist. Unbelievable! Here is a pathetically small sample of the goodies Tim sent along.

The Derek Lowe highlights card is great for me. I was at that no-hitter, and have been looking for this card ever since. The ’96 Clemens is great because, for some reason, I had no cards from that set. With this package, my team set is on its way to completion. The ’99 TSC is a great card. I love the photography the Stadium Club sets provide. The Eric Hetzel is a fun little sneaky set that Topps put out for a few years. It celebrates all the players who make their major league debuts during the season. I have practically none of the early Topps finest sets. Well, I had practically none. I now have a nice dent my needs for the shiny high-quality sets. Carl Pavano is always fun to see, since he meant so much to the Red Sox. After all, without him, Pedro might not have thrilled Sox fans for so many years. Tim Wakefield’s first Red Sox card was from the 1995 Topps Traded set. I wonder if even he would have thought that he’s still be having Red Sox cards in 2010. The shipment did a great job in filling my wantlists for the early sets. The 1980 Hobson, and the ’83 Gedman are great examples.

I usually try to only show a single grouping of cards in a trade post. After all, it can get pretty dull looking at picture after picture of cards. But, I had to make an exception in this case. With so many incredible cards included in the package, I had to include a second scan. In addition to the huge chunk of cards from my wantlist, Tim included a collection of cards I never knew I always wanted. From the 100 or so he sent, check out this sampling:

The Burger King card is a fun one. I don’t know much about this set. OK. All I know is that they look like regular Topps cards, but have a Burger King logo on them. I have no idea how you got them. I do know that I’ve seen them pop up on other blogs, and thought they were neat. I was thrilled when several of them found themselves in the package. The same can be said for the Coke cards that were included. The ones that look like 1981 Topps have the Coke logo in the corner. Again, I have no idea how you got them, but always thought they were a neat little variation. In addition to the Coke logo, the 1982 version includes the Brighams logo. So, I can only assume they were involved somehow in the distribution. Sounds like I need to do some research, eh? The MLB showdown cards are ones I always thought I should get. I love card games. What could be better than a baseball card game? But, I never really collected these sets. That’s what makes it so great to get a stack of them. The Bill Werle only looks like a 1953 Topps card. It is, of course, from the Topps Archive set. I forget which year this archive set was produced, but it doesn’t much matter. It’s a great way to add some older looking cards into your collection without spending a small fortune. I love Classic cards like the Rob Woodard. I can remember scouring toy stores for the sets when they would come out. The green borders are from the initial set, when it was still actually a game. The card has trivia questions of the back. As you got the questions correct, you moved around the bases to score runs. This set was a full-size board game. In later sets, the gameboard was hardly worth having, and only there so the company could produce cards under the “game” license. Pacific found a different way to sneak into a MLB license. They produced bilingual cards like the Otis Nixon. The card backs are in both Spanish and English, adding a unique twist. Of course, what collection would be complete without a sampling of boxed sets? The Toys R Us set was one of the millions you could find cluttering the shelves of stores everywhere. The designs are usually pretty fun, and add a nice change of pace to a collection. One of my favorite cards in the package is the Mo Vaughn card. I have no recollection of this set. But, for some reason, Pinnacle decided it would be fun to mount a “gold” coin into their baseball cards. So, they made up a coin of Mo to insert into his card. It’s a little strange since the coin is thicker than the card, making the coin stick out of the back. It makes the card a little cumbersome, but it’s a conversation starter…if nothing else.

So, there the quick sampling of the grouping of cards Tim sent over. I can’t thank him enough.

Thanks!