2014 trade package #10: JV's in play thanks to Doc Holoday

Well why not, we already had four in a row, so how about five?  Today's package comes from Red Sox fan Matt, a.k.a. DocHoloday.  Matt worked on the same 2014 Topps Olympic set as I did, and he was able to provide me with a quarter of the cards on that wantlist:

None of these ladies won a medal this time around, but Bleiler is still very well-known, and I'm happy to add the trio to my set.  Spoiler alert:  I have the rest coming via eBay soon.

So that's what kicked off this deal, but little did I know that Matt would also be throwing in some Tigers:

We start things off with 40% of this year's rotation.  I'm glad to be building a bit of a Smyly collection, so the Gold is a nice addition, and is numbered 0135/2013.  As for Anibal, you saw the Blue version yesterday, which is the same insert as the middle Smyly.  Next up is a pair of Gypsy Queen HOFers:  Hal Newhouser (which is an SP) and Ty Cobb.  Last is a trio of prospects--erstwhile Tiger Avisail Garcia, IF prospect Harold Castro, and closer hopeful Bruce Rondon.

And then there were the Verlanders, of which there weren't too many because I didn't die in a valiant attempt to scan them all.  Still, it was an above-average number of Verlanders, and I would give it an "A" on a report card that solely graded number of Verlanders in a trade package.  Here they are:

The GQ No-Hitters card appropriately celebrates his pair of no-nos while the Topps insert highlights his earlier postseason scoreless streak.  Next, the Bowman Platinum cards make a nice pair.  But the most enjoyable is the A&G Hometown Heroes card, because Verlander's birthplace, Manakin Sabot, is located in a county in Virginia called Goochland, which includes a place named Rochambeau Farm.  All of a sudden I'm hearing banjo music for some reason....

Oh yeah, there was one more Verlander in the package:

Justin Verlander 2013 Topps Manufactured Patch

Whoa, cool!  It's a manupatch reprint of JV's 2005 Topps RC.  Topps has ramped up both the reprint and manu-relic concepts the last few years, so this was a natural fusion.  It's a fun card I like because cards designed with that display window kind of thing have that little something extra going for them.  In some ways, stuff like this is even better than team logo patches--especially the ugly-ass ones that awkwardly try to shoehorn team mascots in.  This was definitely a surprise and I'm happy to add it to my JV PC.

Thanks again for the set help, Matt, and for the surprise extras as well!  I'll have you know that I have a Boston-flavored return package 99% ready (pending a COMC pickup) to send your way soon to show my thanks.  Folks, twirl your old-timey handlebar mustaches as you head on over to DocHoloday!

2013 trade package #11: muchos Archives from Nachos Grande

Ok, guys, pop quiz:

Who can tell me what this is?  Want a hint?  Take a look at the title.  Read on to get your answer.

So up until recently I had never traded with Chris over at Nachos Grande.  I'm not really sure why--we're both big Barry Larkin collectors, and I'd set aside a pretty nice pile of Larkins and other Reds to send his way at some point, but for whatever reason, we hadn't worked out a deal.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago when we hammered out a trade I think we were both happy with.  Chris split his haul into three posts, which can be found here, here, and here.  I'm dumb and took much longer to show off the fantastic box he sent back to me, mainly because I was catching up on some other great trades. But today I'm finally getting around to showing just how great of a trader Chris is.

A couple things spurred this trade, and those were a pile of Larkin doubles Chris knew could help my Barry PC, plus a new J.J. Putz for his collection.  You can check those out over on TMM at your leisure.

But the other trade bait that piqued my interest was a fat stack of dupes Chris had available from a certain set--namely 104 cards from 2012 Topps Archives.  That's exactly what you see at the top of this here post. The stack represents every card he had that I hadn't acquired from a rack pack or two plus several trades, and that shows just how generous he is.

Here's some highlights of those 104 new cards:

Former Tiger and blog namesake Granderson; ZACK GREINKE WILL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!  (seriously, has this guy EVER taken a good picture?  He looks like he Angry Video Game Nerd!); Tim Hudson because I like him; a trio of Tigers; and a trio of blog favorites:  Kershaw (Plaschke), Upton (MCM), and Hudson (My 2008 Topps Set Blog)

And here's nine legends/retired (suck it, Straw), including a favorite of yours truly, Cal Ripken Jr., with a photo likely taken before the NES became a thing.

When I combine these with the other few I had lying around, I now own 127 of the 200-card base set, which is awesome.  I'd considered purchasing a complete set at one point, but as usual, trading is much more fun, and I hope some of you reading this can chip in some cards from my wantlist as well--you know I'll make it worth it for you!

Thanks for a fantastic first trade, Chris!  I look forward to more deals in the future, especially if we can continue swapping extra Larkins so we can both grow a nice PC of his stuff.  Readers, please head on over to Nachos Grande to enjoy a blog that excels at both quantity AND quality!

2013 BA Benny Bonanza part 2: the Ripken way

Previously:  Part 1 (complete sets)

Yesterday I showed off a bunch of sets Mike sent me, but today I'm getting much more specific because he sent an extremely generous stack of Ripkens, including a couple eye-poppers:

There was a great mix of base and inserts, low-end and high-end.  And perhaps nothing he sent was as high-end as that guy tucked down into the bottom-left corner--your eyes don't deceive you, that's a '93 Finest All-Star of the Iron Man, and I'll just say that those don't come cheap these days.  Besides that, there's plenty more to like here, especially the Turkey Red insert and a numbered Tier One base.

I didn't just throw all the best stuff into the first scan though--check out the goods here!  Plenty of nice inserts and even a couple samples.  A double of the EMotion card was included if any Cal fans would like it in a future package.  The Total Bases insert is great and is numbered to 5000, but my favorite in this bunch is the outstanding Elite Back to the Future card, featuring a HOFer on the front and this future star on the back:

Recognize that guy, Jeff?   I like this comparison despite the fact that the guys ended up playing different positions and were different types of hitters.  Despite those factors, both are fan- and team-favorite winners who brought a lot to their respective teams, and I hope Konerko doesn't get passed up for serious Hall consideration due to his quiet, steady production.

Here's a few more nice pickups:  a trio of horizontal inserts, a mini-ish Topps and a true mini from 2001 Private Stock (you know, from before Topps swiped the idea and went all Apple on us).

Finally, there were these.  The first is one of a pair, so again, if a Ripken collector would like one, please let me know.  It's a "23 Karat Gold" card that I'm probably going to send to Glenn Beck, and it celebrates his most famous accomplishment:  the Streak.  I don't know anything about "WCG," but this is a fun oddball addition to my Cal collection that I never would have known about if not for this trade.  The other is a goofy case with Rip's name on it, filled with a 1990 Topps card.  This is the perfect way for me to display one of my better Cals, so I'll take advantage of it soon!

There are plenty more Ripkens that were in this package that I didn't show off because they're junk wax or I already have them or I'm just plain lazy, but in Mike sent me something like 60 different Cals, which is 100% awesome.

Thanks again for the trade, Mike!  I'll be back very soon with part three, whenever I decide what that might be.