Delivery Time! Cards from Greg over at Night Owl Cards

There are many great bloggers out there and there are many great traders out there.  However, there are only a few who manage to be prolific in both aspects - Greg from Night Owl Cards is one such person.  Last year, I completed a total of 122 trades - 10 of which were with Greg!  The last package I sent him was a bunch of Dodgers out of the blue.  Not to be out done, here's what he sent me a month and half later:

Since I began keeping track, Greg and I have completed 17 trades, sometimes prearranged, other times just sending stuff because we both seem to be better at pulling "the other guy's team" rather than our own from packs.  For each package I've sent Greg, I think he's managed to produce an epic post full of scans.  It's only fair that I do the same.

Let's take a look:

First up, a whole bunch of "Tom Terrific" cards from 1992 Pacific.  I really enjoyed Pacific's late 90s and early 00s stuff (you know, once they went die-cut crazy and all) but their earlier stuff was mostly drab...and so I avoided it.  I don't know what set these cards actually came from, perhaps a Tom Terrific set?

At least the back of the card does say that they are authorized by Tom Seaver - I didn't know individual players had to authorize their cards (isn't that what the MLBPA logo is for now)?  Maybe things were different wayyyy back in '92 (said tongue in cheek in case my sarcasm didn't show up in text form).

Much like the Seaver cards above, Greg managed to send me some cards from another set that I didn't own any representatives from - and a 2010 set to boot!  In this case, it's 2010 Topps Updates & Highlights (or whatever they called it this year).  I bought some of last year's Updates set and was completely underwhelmed so I avoided this year's rendition.  Judging by these two Reds cards, I made the correct choice.

The Leake card is actually pretty nice - I especially enjoy the write up on the back of the card featuring information about his MLB debut.  The second card is a better example of why I generally don't care for Updates & Highlights - it's so freaking boring!  In this case, you have a card of two young stars, both exciting players in their own right and you slap them together on a card when they are frowning while playing catch.  *yawn*.

From 2010, Greg's package jumped way back to 1975 with a Clay Carroll card.

The '75 set was before my time, which is too bad because I actually dig all the funky colors.  Maybe when I become independently wealthy I'll pursue the set in its entirety.  Until that point, I'll try to stay satisfied with the morsels that others throw (or preferably mail) my way.

As if two sets weren't enough, Greg managed to find a third set that I never bought cards from - the 1998 Bowman set (not to be confused with every single other freaking Bowman set since then).

Obviously, my disdain for the Bowman line has been documented before - but I'll still gladly accept any and all Reds!  I like the team-by-team statistical breakdown on the back of the card, but the base design of Bowman bores me to tears.  Any one set design like the card above would be fine, but to me, ALL Bowman sets from the past decade plus look identical...and that's not a good thing (unlike with Allen & Ginter which I'll be mad if they deviate too far from their formula)!

Collectors sure are fickle, huh?

Moving along.

Next up, a card from a set line that I really enjoyed - Goudey.

This particular card is a green back mini card from the 2007 UD Goudey set.  I haven't decided whether or not I'll chase the '07 set (especially since I have yet to finish the '08 and '09 sets) but I'll happily take any mini cards from the set!  Perhaps I'll work on a hybrid red/green mini set - that'd be kind of cool, and Christmas-y.

From one retro themed set to another - 2010 Topps Turkey Red, #58 Joey Votto.

Votto is a beast so acquiring his cards is always fun for me.  I am a bit worried he's a bit of a head-case though...and there have been rumblings of him returning to his native Canada and playing for the Blue Jays in a few years.  Hopefully he makes the right decision and stays in Cincinnati!

At this point, it's time for the three "best" cards in the trade package:

First up, a gold parallel 2010 Updates and Highlights card of Chris Heisey.

I'm fairly high on Heisey's chances of becoming a great major leaguer, but it does appear that the Reds brass isn't...especially since they are supposedly talking to Podsednik and Renteria's agents about a 2011 contract.   As for the card itself, when did Topps decide to stop using gold foil for the serially numbering?  I hope that's only in effect for the 2010 U&H set...the blank print just looks cheap!  Still, I am now the proud owner of a card that at most 2009 other people also own.

I may have gone a bit overboard on 2010 Allen & Ginter, but I probably ended up spending close to what I spent in 2009 thanks to the lack of variety and compelling sets out there.  As such, I haven't bought anything new since Allen & Ginter - and that includes Topps Chrome in all of its curvy goodness!

This Drew Stubbs card is pretty sharp, Stubbs almost has a 3D effect going on there - I actually enjoy the Topps Chrome line but I'm usually too burnt out of the base set design to bother spending three bucks for a pack of four curved cards.  It doesn't help that I usually pull nothing but crap when I buy Chrome too.

And finally, the big hit of the package!  A purple refractor of Brandon Phillips #014/599.

See what I mean, Night Owl pulls Reds like you wouldn't believe...good thing I keep pulling Dodgers so he always has someone to send the cool cards to!

Thanks a lot Greg!  I hope this eleven scan montrosity of a trade post was worthy of your genorsity!  And, as always, if anyone else would like to trade - check out my want list and make an offer!