2025 trade package #29: Scribbled Ink

Tonight's trade package, the final one of 2025, came from Paul of the erstwhile blog Scribbled Ink (plus he also ditched Xitter as cool people are wont to do). He and I don't trade all that often anymore as he's been busy with family and other stuff, but fortunately we do get together for the occasional deal. I sent him some cards around Christmas and then of course he sent the above BOX my way, which usually indicates insanely awesome goodies (spoiler alert: it contained some insanely awesome goodies).

Seriously, Paul's basically the Wes of the north when it comes to what he sends me these days from his estate sale purchases. Here's what my former fellow Michigander sent me late in December:

This complete boxed set of 1993 Pinnacle Cooperstown is a great place to start. Not only does it include the box portion, but it comes with an attached panel featuring a good look at the front and back of Cal Ripken Jr.'s card:

Also, box sets with printed checklists on them are awesome. Also also, boxed sets are awesome. This is a great looking set from when the Pinnacle brand really got its design juices flowing. The checklist is excellent and it includes PC guys Ripken, Gwynn, Griffey, Larkin, and Fielder, plus the rest of the lineup isn't exactly chopped liver. For taking a stab at who'd make the Hall back then, they did a pretty good job. Of this bunch, only these guys haven't been selected: Murphy, Mattingly, Bonds, Clark, Clemens, Gooden, Carter, Gonzalez, Fielder, and McGwire. Out of that group, you've got a few "not quites" along with PED-adjacent names. So, yeah, great start!

Here's the rest of the card portion, plus a bonus 2024 schedule for Paul's current home team, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, who play Double-A ball in the Blue Jays organization.

Switching over to football for a minute, Paul included a RC of HOF DB Ty Law, plus Michigan uni autos courtesy of Panini Contenders Draft Picks of FB/TE Khalid Hill and S Tyree Kinnel. Hill was an outstanding blocker who could occasionally catch a pass while Kinnel played in Ann Arbor from 2015-18 as a solid contributor in the defensive backfield.

So what other kinds of ridiculousness did Paul get up to this time? Let's start with this:

Go ahead, get all of your plate jokes out of the way. This roughly 8" plate features some great artwork of the Iron Man throughout his career, and of course it was made to celebrate Cal standing alone as the leader in consecutive games played.

The back has four different write-ups on the outer edge while the inside is useful for identifying it--and making it known you should not be eating off of this thing! I'm not sure who else was part of this series distributed by the Bradford Exchange other than Lou Gehrig and Mark McGwire. Regardless, it's a great looking showpiece and Paul did a great job getting it to me in ONE piece.

Next, if this ball looks familiar, that's because you saw one like it in a trade package from Kerry last year. The main difference is that this one has a different photo, and a black & white one at that, on one of the panels. All I can say is that great minds think alike because this one is just as cool as the one Kerry was nice enough to send me (also in a box!).

That's already some very nice stuff, but we haven't gotten to the true ridiculousness yet. I'll give you a hint: the Ripken ball above wasn't the only one in this package:

As soon as I pulled these out, I immediately DMed Paul and asked him if they were what I thought they were: baseballs (ROMLBs, in fact) signed by Griffey and Ripken. While he couldn't offer a COA from either, the previous owner of them (Paul acquired them through an estate sale) was considered a "reputable" collector. Considering I have zero interest in ever giving these up, that's more than good enough for me to consider them to be authentic. So, one more time, autographed official MLB balls of two of my all-time favorite HOF PC guys of all time: Griffey and Ripken. Now do you see why I'm saying Paul's ridiculous?!

In all seriousness this was just another example of Paul's extreme generosity (you know, the same guy that sent me separate shipments including a Mickey Tettleton signed bat and then a Dean Palmer game-used one) which I assure you I completely appreciate and don't take for granted. I have no idea how to get him back for these but I'm currently scheming away so I can return the favor at some point.

Until then, thank you so much, Paul, for another incredible box of greatness! Your mailings remain undefeated and you've more than earned your place on the hobby Mount Rushmore of generosity with Wes. This was a fantastic way to close out my year in blogger trades and I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor from you sending me those two baseballs. Readers, please show Paul some love in the comments!

I'll try to be back a bit sooner for the next few posts which will close out 2025 for me. I would expect those to be: the December show, eBay pickups, and one or two posts recapping TCDb trades from July-December. Then I'll be able to move on to 2026 with this month's show and two blogger trades I've already been fortunate enough to receive!