2015 trade package #34: celebrating BB4L day with Greg Z.!

I suppose not everyone celebrates this occasion but each year late in December we celebrate the birth of someone who brings a certain joy to the world.  This person's heavenly gaze shines a light down on those fortunate enough to be followers of one with such a divine voice.  Today we celebrate the miracle of that birth that has made the world a better place for untold millions.

Obviously I'm referring to Alison Brie.

Christmas is a close second, though!

And what better way to celebrate Ms. Brie's conception than an amazing trade package from this here blogger's Brie Buddy For Life (BB4L), Greg Z. at Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle?

It had been far too long since we swapped cards (about this time two years ago!) until the Zakwinner said enough was enough and rekindled trade talks.  I sent him some stuff a week or two ago and then got my nice return just yesterday, in plenty of time for a show-off post before the new year.

As I love to do, I've split the contents of that package into a two-part trade post, with Tigers and such over here and the Wolverines over on TMM.  Here's the TMV-relevant stuff:

Muchos Tigres.  A nice mix of current, recent, and not-so-much.  The two best are the Castellanos Refractor from 2014 (#d to 500) and the V-Mart A&G Mini (#15/40!), but the SI For Kids Fielder was a nice touch.

Más Tigres, including a couple of all-name-team guys in Catala--Cattallan--Frank, and Tui, plus a neato vintage issue (1976) of 3B Aurelio Rodriguez.  Bruce Rondon, Detroit's answer to Aroldis Chapman's velocity and temper, also makes an appearance, and you'll see him again shortly.

How about a five-spot of super PC guy Lou Whitaker?  I'd seen the rest ('81 Fleer, '82 Donruss, '89 Topps and '92 Topps) but the '84 Milton Bradley card was totally new to me, and I've added that oddball from what looks like a dice-based game to his collection!

And here's the portly Rondon again in the form of a nice Heritage jersey relic.  The RP that was sent home early in the 2015 season for showing lackluster effort showed a lot more fight, literally, in a Venezuelan Winter League brawl.  It'll be very interesting to see where he ends up next year in a bullpen that's seen a lot of personnel changes.

That's all of the sports portion, but sports aren't all that Greg collects.  We both happen to be big fans of Parks and Recreation and Archer and he sent me a bunch of cards from sets made by Press Pass and Cryptozoic, respectively, which are all certainly dupes for him since I'm sure he's long since completed both.

And now I want complete sets of both immediately.  DAMN YOU, GREG.  Seriously, these are a lot of fun, and my favorite of the lot is the Perd Hapley.  The story of Perd Hapley is that Perd Hapley is the name of the person we're talking about right now:

From perd-verts.tumblr.com

Thanks for making sure we got back to trading, Greg!  I'll try not to let so much time pass in between deals next time.  As for who sent the best cards, I think you've got me licked.

BB4L!

2015 trade package #18: Brad's Blog appears from out of the woodwork

Yes I'm finally back again and I'm even getting around to posting trade packages from last month, which is almost two months ago at this point!

Today's envelope comes from that guy that runs Brad's Blog--Bob or Bill or whoever.  The biggest Ryan Howard collector (along with Frank Thomas!) I know sent me a very cool unexpected bunch of cards.  Feast your eyes on these:

Page 1 starts with Tim Belcher, a pitcher for the '94 Tigers who lost 15 games that season but finished above .500 for his solid 14-year career.  Next up is a Bondo from 2007 Topps Chrome.  After him is Eric Davis, and I'm not sure everybody remembers his two-season, 60 game stint with Detroit in 93-94; by the way, he was traded to the Dodgers for Tim Belcher in '91!  More successful as Tigers were Cecil "Big Daddy" Fielder, seen here on a quartet of cards, and Travis Fryman.

This group starts with Avi Garcia, the guy the Tiger flipped to the White Sox in the deal that netted them Jose Iglesias, a trade that's worked out well for both teams so far.  Gardiner was an early-90s pitcher I can't claim to remember.  Dan Gladden is best know for being with the Giants and Twins in the 80s, then appeared in Detroit for his final two seasons.  Gomez, turning two against a sliding Mike Greenwell, was drafted by the Tigers and went on to a solid career as a role-playing IF.  Incaviglia was a #1 overall pick whose draft story overshadows a career that saw his power dwindle by the mid-90s.  Infante was a two-time Tiger who appeared on both recent World Series squads.  Jack Morris is very well known and is seen here on an '82 Topps All-Star subset.  Parrish is one of my all-time favorite Detroit catchers and made it to his fifth straight ASG in '86.  And David Wells needs no introduction at this point.

Hey, how about my favorite pair of Tigers PC guys?  I don't care if they're from the junk wax era or the Toppsopoly era, I want 'em if you've got 'em!

Bruce Rondon 2013 Panini America's Pastime Inked auto (#100/125)

Here's something I wasn't expecting in this unexpected trade package:  my first autograph of rotund reliever Bruce Rondon!  The big guy has had a forgettable 2015 so far but it's nice to see him back from injury after a lost 2014; his debut the previous year led many to believe he could be a key bullpen piece before long, and I think the fireballer still has it in him once he gets back in sync.

Curtis Granderson 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Wood (#4/5)

And now the biggest surprise from this surprise arrival:  a very, VERY low-numbered Granderson!  That's right, I'll come out and say it--this card gave me Wood.  It's my first of that A&G parallel so I'm thrilled that it's one of the guys I love to collect, Yankee or not.  I'd call this a top-three card in his collection so far, just beautiful.

Thanks again for the extremely generous and out-of-the-blue envelope, Brad!  I actually have a few things set aside for you that I'll send out in the near future.

Ok, one trade post down, a few more to go!