2015 trade package #31: the best and the Wertz of GCRL

You know what's even more fun than receiving a trade package from retired blogging legend Jim of GCRL?  Try getting cards from him after seeing similar packages showing up on other blogs.  It makes you feel like part of an exclusive club, and the membership benefits are amazing.

I last received cards from Jim not all that long ago--back in July, in fact.  So I didn't really have any reason to expect to find a PWE from him in my mailbox yesterday.  That last package was stuffed with lots of Tigers base and inserts and capped off by a crazy old 1952 Bowman base of Tigers P Bob Swift.  So what would be in store for me this time?

I ripped open the envelope to find some cards nicely secured in a corner pocket of a standard binder page.  These two cards were on the front and back:

Wow, thanks, Jim--a couple of junk wax Tigers pitchers from 1988 Fleer--you really shouldn't have.  I'll just go ahead and put on my best "that ugly Christmas sweater is for meeeee?" smile and say thanks, and I hope it was worth the posta--

Oh, wait a sec, there was a card sandwiched between those two like they were just there to protect this one, which is a good idea since it's kind of small.  Hmmm, what is this?

Um...ok, wow, I take back my previous smart-ass comments.  This 1950 Bowman Vic Wertz, which, to reiterate, is from 1950, is AWESOME!  Hailing from a Bowman set made in 1950, or 65 years ago, this card details Wertz's 1949 season, which makes since since, and I don't think I've mentioned this, it was produced in 1950.  Which I think is kind of a big deal.

Wertz, a Pennsylvania native, was signed by Detroit in 1942, and the WWII vet went on to play in parts of 17 seasons, nine of which were spent with the Tigers.  A career .277 hitter with 266 homers, the 1B/OF was a four-time All-Star who also saw game action with the Indians, Red Sox, Orioles/Browns, and Twins.  His name is forever linked to Willie Mays after the Say-Hey Kid caught Vic's would-be (anywhere else) homer in the '54 Series.  After his playing career he went on to do a lot of good for the Special Olympics and numerous charities, leaving a positive legacy both on the diamond and off.

This beautiful card of a well-known player is tied for the oldest in my baseball vintage collection along with fellow Tiger Dick Kryhoski from the same set (courtesy of Scott at Sports Cards Ate My Brain) and I can't begin to imagine why I deserve such a nice card, so I'll just go ahead and thank Jim for his customary generosity.  Although he's no longer treating those of us who followed his blog to new writing, GCRL has proved that he's still plenty active on the trade front, so I, for one, won't be ceasing sending him cards, and I hope everyone reading this gets in the holiday spirit and remembers to send cards his way as well.

Thanks, Jim!

2015 trade package #20: easy as A-B-GCRL

Everyone's favorite specific entire Dodgers infield collector Jim from GCRL was cool enough to shoot me over another fun trade package earlier this month so now I'm trying to be cool enough to do it justice by showing if off tonight!

Here's the first of seven(!) pages worth of cards in case you were dumb enough to think that Jim would be slacking here.  First up is a nice Heritage manager card of current skipper Brad Ausmus followed by a trio of shelf-ridden 1B Miguel Cabrera, aptly paired with Tigers great Al Kaline on the third card.  A pair of recent grand slam-hitter Nick Castellanos cards from the same Topps insert precedes a Heritage base of Rajai Davis, whom I saw hit a walk-off slam last year.  An artistic UD Cecil Fielder is the combo-breaker for current Tigers here.

That trend briefly continues with a trio of 3B Travis Fryman, but most of the rest of this scan comprises current Tigers in pitcher Shane Greene, who's been up and down this year, backup catcher Bryan Holaday, SS extraordinaire Jose Iglesias, and a pair of his double-play partner Ian Kinsler.  Those last two players bookend a Refractor (woohoo!) of current Mariner Austin Jackson.

I don't have many cards of out-of-nowhere slugger J.D. Martinez so this 2015 Topps base is much appreciated.  Going back to the 80s and early 90s we then have a quartet of should-be HOFer Jack Morris.  The Topps Gold of Maggs you see there is numbered 1162/2006.  Blog favorite Dean Palmer makes his second straight appearance in a GCRL trade even though he's pictured with the Royals (I'm happy to collect him with any team).  Seeing Porcello reminds me of how well the trade that brought Yoenis Cespedes to Detroit worked out!  And I'll enjoy David Price Tigers cards while I can since he may not be in Motown much longer.

Pudge's Fleer insert once again makes me long for the days before the Toppsopoly.  The rest of this scan is dominated by pitchers:  Dej-Anibal Vu from this year's flagship/Opening Day, Nats ace Max Scherzer, the enigmatic Alfredo Simon, current Ray Drew Smyly, ace closer Joakim Soria, and former top prospect Jacob Turner (who helped bring Sanchez to Detroit).  There's also a team card from this year's flagship set.

This scan includes some less common Tigers.  The first group is made up of rookies such as former solid closer for other teams Francisco Cordero, pitching prospect Kyle Lobstein, Jays first-rounder Todd Steverson, and interesting IF prospect Eugenio Suarez, who was traded to the Reds in the deal that brought Alfredo Simon to Detroit.  The next three cards are former Motown greats:  Sam "Wahoo" Crawford and manager Hughie "Ee-yah" Jennings (in one of baseball's more iconic photos) from TCMA along with Virgil "Fire" Trucks to close out the awesome nickname trio.  Jim also tossed in a couple early 80s cards of pitchers Juan Berenguer ('84 Donruss) and Dave Rozema ('81 Topps).

This last scan includes four of my PC guys:  Kirk Gibson, Curtis Granderson, Justin Verlander, and Lou Whitaker.  There's even a UD checklist that includes the former and current namesake of this here blog!

Bob Swift 1952 Bowman

Lastly, this was the biggest surprise of the package for me.  I mean, how often do you get to add cards to your collection that are sixty three years old in trades?  '52 Bowman also happens to be one of the hobby's most beautiful sets with its smaller-than-normal size and artsy "photos."

As I enjoy doing when I get a card of an old Tiger I don't know much about I did a few minutes of research on Swift, a catcher who spent the last 10 of his 14 MLB years in Detroit.  He spent his first two-plus seasons (1940-42) with the St. Louis Browns before heading to the Philadelphia A's for the remainder of '42 and '43.  If you didn't already feel the age of this card, the mere mention of those teams that changed homes long ago should help.  After the '43 season he was traded to Detroit, and there he averaged about 64 games over his final 10 seasons, exclusively as a catcher.  Oddly enough he was released by the team the year after this card was made.

Thanks for an amazing package that touched on Tigers old, very old, and new, Jim!  I'm happy to say that I have a few things set aside for you and after I find a few more I'll have an envelope headed your way!

2014 trade package #34: GCRL out of nowhere!

The last time cards showed up in my mailbox from Jim over at GCRL, way back in August, I was pretty sure that I wasn't expecting them.  That's relevant because another envelope showed up in my mailbox the other day, and it included cards from Jim...that were definitely unexpected.  The very player-specific blogger was nice enough to set aside a few Tigers for me:

Vintage vintage, modern vintage, and modern modern!  Jim happened to send me two cards of players at each corner infield position (you'll see the other in a minute) from four very different eras in Tigers history.  A 3B you could nickname "A-Rod," Rodriguez was with the Tigers for nine of his 17 MLB seasons and is seen here on a '74 Topps card.  "Hammerin'" Hank needs no introduction and looks like the slugger he was in this sepia-toned 2002 SP Legendary Cuts base offering.  And Fielder, seen on a 2012 GQ Moonshots insert, did indeed hit some longballs during his two-year term with Detroit:  55 over two seasons, to be exact; he was also putrid in the playoffs and I don't miss him!

But a player I do miss and am happy to see join my Tigers hits collection is this dude right here:

Dean Palmer 2001 Fleer Game Time Lumber bat

Dean-o!  Palmer was with Detroit for just five of his 14 seasons, and really only played for two full years--1999 and 2000--due to injuries, but those two seasons were very good for him despite terrible Tigers teams.  After eight seasons with Texas and two with the Royals, Dean signed on with Detroit for five years and $36 million, which seemed reasonable after an All-Star 1998 campaign in which he clubbed 34 homers, his second-best total at the time.  The following two seasons with the Tigers, Palmer bashed 67 HR, including a new career-high 38 in '99, while eclipsing 100 RBI, all while mostly playing 3B.

His career quickly went downhill after that, but those two seasons provided me with plenty of good memories during an otherwise bleak era in Motown.  Considering his power, it's definitely appropriate that my first hit of him is a bat relic.

Jim, thanks again for the unexpected but much-appreciated cards!  I can already tell you that I'll soon have something headed back your way (which was already in the works before you sent these!) in thanks for being a great trade partner.  Readers, please point your browsers/feeds to GCRL and help add to the collection of a very focused blogger!

2014 trade package #23: GCRL's Tigers are Jim dandy

I received a great surprise trade package from Jim of Dodgers infield quartet-centric GCRL sometime last week, maybe in response to stuff I sent him and maybe because he's such a great guy.  As Abe Simpson would say,

The part that wasn't surprising is that it included some useful Tigers:

Cuyler, Paul Gibson, Gladden, Higginson, and Lira all hail from the awful teams from 20-ish years ago, and you know what that means:  "1990s Tigers SUCKED" tag deployed!  Hunter was from the same era, but he was awesome, stealing 116 bases in his two-plus years in Detroit, including 74 in 1997.  Kirk Gibson, meanwhile, recalls fond memories of better teams in the 80s on his 1986 Donruss card.  Avi Garcia rounds out the group with a lovely BowChro Refractor, and while he's on a hated rival, I do look forward to seeing him try to reach his potential in the coming years.

Here we have five Upper Deck issues (four of pitchers) and a Topps Opening Day Pudge that clearly didn't get the memo.  I'd call the horizontal Zumaya my favorite of the bunch, but with Upper Deck's designs you really can't go wrong.

When I was younger I had a ton of these Score holograms, and this pair hails from the 1990 version, which focuses on MVPs.  Gehringer and Cochrane are an outstanding pair of HOFers, and I've added Charlie's card as #19 to his PC.

This reprint was clearly the most interesting of the bunch, an issue called "Ty Cobb Steals Third" from a set called 1912 Hassan Triple Folder.  I love the black-and-white shot of Cobb sliding in to third for one of his 897 career steals, and the pairing with Jennings--who appeared in six games over five seasons with the Tigers as a player, plus managed them for 14 seasons and three pennants--is great.  You don't hear much about "Ee-yah" these days, but really, how many managers can claim 287 HBP over their playing careers?

The perforations are fairly obvious, but maybe I can trim it a bit and submit it to Beckett for grading.  I'll be rich!

Thanks again, Jim, for a fun out-of-the-blue package, the type that never fails to disappoint.  Hopefully I'll dig up more good stuff for you as well before long.  Readers, whether you're a fan of Garvey, Cey, Russell, or Lopes (but you have to pick at least ONE), head on over to GCRL right now!

2014 trade package #8: A trade with GCR-Kell, by George

So, who do you think is the source of today's trade post?  It's Jim of Garvey, Cey, Russell, Lopes of course!  GCRL took advantage of my offer to purchase a few things for others on COMC, and while I don't think I've seen him post those yet, I do want to show off what he sent me, because I'm pretty excited:

Here's a really nice bunch of Tigers.  Among them, the Zumaya Heritage is a nice touch, but my favorites are the Cooperstown of Sam "Wahoo" Crawford and the Box Score of Kell, numbered 1213/2950.  I also like the shot on the '93 UD of Trammell, which I didn't own since I only have the first series.

Jim included five Ripkens, one of which hails from '92 Leaf's Heritage Series insert set.  The others, however, are a bit of an oddball--a Holiday Inn set produced by Upper Deck that looks like it was made in 2007, with Cal as their spokesman.  My favorite is the "Free High-Speed Internet" card that shows Ripken holding an unbranded laptop that looks more like a large slab of metal!  It's a fun addition to my Ripken collection for sure.

Jim Abbott 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini

Speaking of Jims, GCRL tossed in an Abbott for my collection of the one-handed pitcher.  This 2013 mini is my 64th different Abbott and just my third from his 2013 issues.  It's one of my favorite types of minis because there's no variation that makes me have to scan the back too!

George Kell 1952 Bowman

And here's the card Jim originally promised me when we arranged this trade, and the whole reason I jumped at the offer.  This '52 Bowman Kell is in amazingly good shape considering it's now about 62 years old!  The back includes a bit of a stain towards the top, plus someone wrote "RED SOX" in pen or marker along the left side.  But who cares?  Everyone knows well-loved vintage is the best kind of vintage.  I'm simply over the moon about this outstanding vintage piece of a Tigers HOFer, easily one of the best old cards in my collection, period.

Thanks again for a great trade, GCRL!  I hope you enjoyed your end, and I look forward to making more deals with you soon, whether or not COMC is involved.  Readers, those of you who are in the minority and AREN'T following him for some reason should get over to the #1 blog for the Dodgers' legendary infield, Garvey, Cey, Russell, Lopes!

Happy outgoing mail Friday!

I'm just back from the post office taking care of shipping four trade packages I've been dragging my feet on or just couldn't send until today:

None are surprises, so I'll reveal their eventual destinations right away (click the banners to go to each blog):

This is a newer blog run by Pirates/WVU Mountaineers fan Matt, so check it out!

Brad recently traded me a beautiful Drew Smyly Refractor auto along with a bunch of Tigers, and since my COMC package arrived today, I'm finally able to respond in kind, so keep your eye out for a trade post from him soon!

GCRL promised me a pretty exciting vintage card, among other stuff, for a few specific COMC wants, so I look forward to seeing how that return turns out.

Spiegel asked for--surprise--a Hideo Nomo insert on COMC, and I was happy to oblige and make that part of a trade package headed to his coast.  I don't know what he has planned for me, but everyone knows he's great to trade with so I can't wait!

You guys should all hopefully see your packages by Tuesday.  Sorry to those of you I made wait this long, and thanks again for making trades with me and making the blogging experience that much better!

COMC 2: Buyforyou Boogaloo, plus blog notes

Well, sort of.  I do have some other things to get to eventually, but I have a few blog update bits first:

1.  As I did back in October, I will again take COMC order requests this month.

It's already looking like I'm gonna have a relatively light spending month for January, plus I've already got a new COMC order started.  Therefore, I'm once again offering to pick up cards from COMC at traders' requests.  Maybe there's a small handful of cards you want on the site and can't justify the shipping.  Possibly you're not in a position to spend much right now, but the site has something you want, and you're long in trade bait.  Whatever the case, this worked out so brilliantly last time, I'm bringing it back for January!

The same rules still apply:

• This offer is only open to people I've traded with before, plus other well-established traders (i.e. you have a blog or lots of easily-accessible references).  My judgment on this is final
• I reserve the right to decide whether or not I'm willing to try to purchase one or more cards for you
• I will attempt to make offers for cards, but at what point I'm willing to make an offer or give up is up to me
• Please have an idea of what you'll have for me in trade up-front, whether it's something in-hand or an offer to buy ME something from eBay, your LCS, or whatever
• The best way to let me know what you want is to send me direct links to those items from COMC because it makes it so much easier to find them

This month I've already scored some stuff for GCRL, and if you'd like to join that club, please comment below or email me, whichever you're more comfortable with.  Land that one card you need for a set you're building or grab something you can't find for a reasonable price on eBay--whatever your reason, let's get some trading done in 2014!

Look what a GIS of "Plain White Envelope" turned up!  Very useful.

2.  PWE-requisite.

I've sent cards to three different bloggers so far this month and thought I should highlight the fact that I reached a fun personal milestone:  two of those were PWEs, and those completed my first sheet of PWE Forever stamps!  Thanks to tips from Jeff of 2x3 Heroes last year, I got in on the practice and have had lots of fun doing that, so watch out for more this year!  While I'm giving the guy credit, if you haven't already, join his PWE database.

Oh yeah, I should also mention that I immediately went and grabbed another sheet, so I'm good to go for future PWE bombing runs!

3.  Picasa Web Albums shenanigans

I just thought I'd warn everybody that images from a number of my posts may disappear for a little while.  Long story short, I upgraded Box, it changed the folder housing my images, Picasa went "huh?" and now I have duplicate Picasa Web Albums.  To make things easier on me, I'm probably going to delete the "old" versions, which will break a lot of images on posts for both blogs, but once I do I'll probably slowly get those restored.

2013 trade package #31: GCRL sends Great Cards, Ripken, laudably

So some of you might remember that about a month ago I solicited trade requests by offering to add stuff to my latest COMC package.  One of the brave traders to step up was Jim of punctuation-challenged blog Garvey Cey Russell Lopes.  That post accomplished exactly what I was hoping it would as not only did I kick off a couple trades with people I'd dealt with before, I also added a brand new trade partner, albeit one many of you know very well.

I'm happy to report that this deal went down very smoothly; Jim let me know what he was looking for and was very clear about what he was offering, which seemed perfectly fair.  Here's what I ended up with:

Jim promised me some Verlander inserts from this year and a Tony Gwynn disc from 2013 Panini Cooperstown, which is actually a pretty cool insert.  Along with that, he added an '88 Topps sticker featuring Kirk Gibson and Mike Aldrete up front, along with

Alan Trammell on the back!  Tram's '87 stats are on display for the world to see there, and that's the year he was jobbed out of the AL MVP because George Bell hit 47 HR.  Anyway, that's a pretty cool group of pickups, but as usual I saved the best for last:

Cal Ripken Jr. 2013 Topps Update Rookie Commemorative Patches manupatch

Hey, it's a new "hit" for my Ripken PC!  Topps (and others) have manufactured all kinds of stuff, so why not make a rookie card reprint "patch"?  It's not the kind of thing I'd pay money for, but certainly it was fun to add it via a trade.  This, of course, is a reprint of Cal's 1982 Topps Traded issue, which isn't strictly speaking a RC, but who cares?  The fact is, I love adding fun and different stuff of the HOF SS/3B anytime I can, and I really appreciate Jim making this the highlight of my end of the deal.

So thanks once again, Jim, for an excellent first trade, and I hope it's not long before we're dealing again!  Readers, please venture over to GCRL for another great Dodgers blog with a unique twist.