Delivery Time! The Bucs Stop Here!

I'm continuing my tour of the trade packages sitting on my desk - today's happens to be from Nate over at The Bucs Stop Here.  Nate is back blogging after quite a long hiatus (his last post prior to this summer was way back in 2015).  It seems like baseball card bloggers are dropping like flies lately, so it's awesome to see one of those "dropped flies" get back up and start up again!

Nate contacted me a few weeks ago saying he had a bunch of stuff from my want list and asked if I wanted to trade.  That's basically a great way to get me to reply "yes" since I'm always looking for ways to reduce the amount of cards on my want list and I love trading!  Nate certainly didn't disappoint and, in fact, he even knocked off a set from my want list (hooray)!

Let's start with the set that Nate finished for me.  It actually happens to be a set where I was only chasing a single card - in this case, Johnny Bench.

That's the 1972 Basketball themed insert from 2013 Topps Archives.  With that card now safely tucked away in my set binder, I'm down to one more insert set from that particular year of Archives - the awesome Gallery of Heroes set.

2013 Topps Archives Wants:Gallery of Heroes:  BR, CR, DJ, MC, MR, MT, RC, SK, TW, YB

I imagine a lot of people like this set which is probably why I haven't done well in terms of finishing it off via trades.  Still, I can hope, right?

The rest of the cards that Nate sent me all belonged to various years of Allen & Ginter.  Among the cards he sent my way were a pair of box toppers.  The first being a N-43 from 2012.

My collecting of Allen & Ginter is mostly the same each year - I go after the entire base set and all of the full-sized inserts.  I also usually chase after all the mini sets (though sometimes I don't go for the super rare sets such as 2019's In Bloom cards that you plant in the ground).  There have been a few years where I've also gone after the full mini base set while other years I only chase the Reds (most years I don't do either).  The other thing that I'm not overly consistent on is the box loaders.  Back when I was able to buy a case of Ginter for myself (back before I had a child basically), I often went after the box loaders and in 2012 that's exactly what I did.  In fact, if you take a look at my remaining cards on my 2012 A&G want list, you'll notice that I really went all in that year!

2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Wants:N43:  N43- 11
Guys in Hats:  GH- 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
Fashionable Ladies:  2, 7, 10
Reg. back minis:  45, 96, 97, 108, 156, 171, 181, 189, 197, 199, 245, 262, 288, 289, 322
Ad back minis:  206, 236
Black border minis:  70, 74, 173, 325
Gold border minis:  13, 64, 70, 325

Moving on to the second box loader from Nate, we go to the year 2015.

I often love the landmarks in Allen & Ginter and in my opinion the 2015 "Pride of the People" box loader set was one of Ginter's better offerings.  I've never been to St. Basil's Cathedral (or anywhere else in Russia for that matter) but perhaps some day.  The box loader set features a grand total of 10 landmarks and of the ten, I've had the great fortune of visiting three of them (Mount Rushmore, Big Ben, and the Colosseum).  I'm hoping to add a fourth to that list in a few years:  Great Pyramid of Giza.  One of my current students is from Egypt and she has promised to set up a "tour" for me if I go visit her in a few years.  For those that are wondering, the other landmarks in the set are Christ the Redeemer, the Great Wall, the Eiffel Tower, Mount Fuji, and Angkor Wat.

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter Wants:Mini Inserts:A Healthy Body:  Body- 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10
A Healthy Mind:  Mind- 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10
Box Loaders:Pride of the People:  PCB- 2, 3, 6

From the Pride of the People set, I'm now only missing the PCB-2 The Great Wall, PCB-3 Mount Rushmore, and PCB-6 Mount Fuji.  Like many sets that I'm close to finishing, I sincerely hope to knock this one off my want list prior to the end of 2019!

Nate actually finished a second set for me as well (though I had bought a copy of this card prior to our trade it hadn't arrived yet).

That's the final Constellations mini that I needed from the 2017 edition of Allen & Ginter.  In fact, my entire 2017 A&G want list is probably one of the smallest for any recent year of Ginter:

2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Wants:Minis:Horse in the Race:  HR- 4, 6, 9, 16, 22
Required Reading:  RR- 6
World's Dudes:  WD- 25, 37

Unlike a lot of other years, none of the mini sets on my 2017 want list are actually overly rare.  With even a little bit of effort, I should be able to knock all those sets off my want list soon!

And finally, last but not least, Nate sent the final six cards from the 2017 What a Day! insert set my way.

That's right - Nate finished a grand total of THREE sets for me with this trade - a huge help towards my goal of getting my want list down to 100 or fewer sets by the end of 2019!

Thanks for the great trade Nate.  As for anyone else interested in trading - be sure to check out my want list and make an offer.  I'm greatly enjoying reducing my want list and I need your help to do so!