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A TCDB Surprise Card from mpdillard25!

Delivery Time! The Only Catastrophe Here is My Spelling.

As someone who has been blogging for quite some time, I have noticed that trade packages seem rarer and rarer the closer we get to Christmas and New Year's.  Then, by the time Topps Series 1 comes out in January or early February, trading picks back up.  However, slowing down and stopping are two different things - and luckily for me, the trades haven't stopped entirely!

In fact, the latest package arrived yesterday (how's that for a quick blog turnaround?).  Of course, I do have a few other envelopes sitting by my desk that need to get posted but I thought it'd be fun to pretend I was completely on top of things for a day.

Anyhow, my barely coherent ramblings aside, I do enjoy getting trade envelopes in the mail - even more so when they are unexpected and full of goodies (including cards on my want list).  The latest package, from Jeff over at Cardboard Catastrophes, fit the bill perfectly.  Let's take a look!  (And if you want to see the latest stuff I sent Jeff, you can read about that here.)

First up, a nice pile of shiny cards from the update set of 2011 Topps.  Included in the pile were two of the sparkly legend variations, one of Paul O'Neil (who I'll always think of as a Red even if no one else does) and a sparkly Tom Seaver (also someone I prefer to think of as a Red or else a Met, never as a White Sox though)!

Also in the pile, a strong front runner for possible card of the year:
US297.  Chase d'Arnaud

How is that for a rookie card?!  A beautiful photo (check).  Gimmick parallel of the year (check).  Interesting angle (check).  Blue sky (check).  Green grass (check).  Star player cameo (check).  I'd say this is one great card!

Next up, a pair of Topps Lineage Stand-Ups.

At this point, I am only missing three of the stand up cards (Aaron, A-Rod, and Pence).   I keep holding out hope that I'll be able to finish off the Lineage insert sets that I decided to collect but cards have been rather slow to arrive...maybe I'm the only one who bought much of the set?

Jeff also included a nice sized stack of assorted Reds cards for me.  Here are my favorites from the pile.

Barry Larkin (duh)

Anytime I get a Larkin card, especially if it is one I didn't previously own, I'm happy.  I'm way behind on my Barry Larkin Collection posts -  but this particular card will (someday) be featured there as well.

In addition to the above Larkin, there were a bunch of Reds from the 2001 Topps Heritage set.  I didn't collect many cards in 2001 (I was graduating high school so I had "better" things to spend my money on that summer), and so, these cards are all mostly new to me.  I think I had purchased two packs of the set at most.

And finally, it wouldn't be right of me to end the post without first showing the Topps Gallery card of Jason LaRue.  I didn't know anything about the Topps Gallery brand until I busted a box of the stuff for one of my group breaks.  Since then, any time I can get any card from the brand, I'm happy!  I wish Topps would bring this set back.

Thanks for all the great cards Jeff!  And, as always, if anyone else would like to trade - check out my want list and make an offer!

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