I already showed off the first batch of cards from Dennis yesterday. Today, I am back to show off even more of the goodies that he sent my way including some more completed sets!
Let's start with 1997 Fleer Sports Illustrated
Those were the final three cards that have been eluding me for years! In fact, I've ripped at least two boxes of the stuff within the past five years or so and I still managed to miss out on all three cards. Luckily for me, Dennis was able to track them down and now they are mine, mine, mine! I really ought to show off the '97 SI set in its full glory sometime, it's a lovely, lovely little set!
Moving a few years ahead, we get to our next set that Dennis completed for me: 2000 Skybox Metal - Fusion insert set.
I've always been a bit of a sucker for cards like this that show multiple players from the same team. I need to emphasize the word "same" though - I actually generally hate cards that show multiple players from different teams. I never know how to properly categorize those types of cards and so they sit out in a pile and generally annoy me. Not a problem with the Fusion insert set though, each card features two of the best players on whatever team is being featured. In the stack that Dennis sent me I'd say that really only Rick Ankiel sticks out as someone who wasn't a bona fide star (though around the turn of the century Ankiel was certainly expected to be a star so I can't fault Skybox too much there.
Besides the 2000 Skybox Metal help, Dennis also helped me out with another set that I've been working from the year 2000: 2000 Fleer Tradition - Dividends insert set.
Of the three cards, I think A-Rod's is the most interesting because of the write-up on the backside. According to the card, A-Rod is like "money in the bank for Seattle fans ... They can count on Rodriguez being a dependable clutch hitter." That's funny because I seem to recall that once A-Rod went to New York the main complaint against him was that he wasn't all that clutch, especially in the postseason. A quick look at A-Rod's baseball reference page though shows that he actually ended up performing quite well in the postseason over the span of his entire career.
Sure, he had a few bad series but 13 HR, .259 average, 8 SB, and an OPS of .822 isn't bad when you consider postseason play is generally only against the very best pitchers in the game at the time!
I might feel a little bit "icky" about defending A-Rod the player but the next set that Dennis helped me complete might make some of you baseball purists feel a bit "icky" since the set is an unlicensed, logo-free set.
That's the final three cards that I needed from the 2018 Panini Donruss set. A set that wasn't much loved by most people it seemed (though if you do love the set I have a lot of trade bait available)! Somehow, someway for all of the Dodgers I've pulled lately of the final three cards that I needed from the base set two were of Corey Seager.
And finally, last but certainly not least from 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter:
That's the third and final unannounced mini that I needed for my set. I always love Ginter for the "oddball" stuff it includes and that means I usually love the secret mini insert sets. I don't think this particular set is as cool (though the whole Asbury Park saga is actually quite fascinating) as some of the past secret minis (the 2007 Snake set comes to mind, another set that I'm still working on) but it's still fun to get the secret minis.
That does it for all of the sets that Dennis finished off for me - what an amazing trade package! There's actually a bit more from the envelope to show off but that'll wait for another day...for now, I'm simply going to enjoy deleting all of those entries from my want list, one of the best feelings in the world for a set collector such as myself! In fact, thanks to Dennis' trade I have now completed 33 different sets in 2019, not bad at all! Of course, that's due in big part to Dennis who finished off NINE different sets for me with this current trade! Simply amazing and definitely a huge help towards my goal of whittling my want list down to under 100 sets by the end of 2019!
Let's start with 1997 Fleer Sports Illustrated
Those were the final three cards that have been eluding me for years! In fact, I've ripped at least two boxes of the stuff within the past five years or so and I still managed to miss out on all three cards. Luckily for me, Dennis was able to track them down and now they are mine, mine, mine! I really ought to show off the '97 SI set in its full glory sometime, it's a lovely, lovely little set!
Moving a few years ahead, we get to our next set that Dennis completed for me: 2000 Skybox Metal - Fusion insert set.
I've always been a bit of a sucker for cards like this that show multiple players from the same team. I need to emphasize the word "same" though - I actually generally hate cards that show multiple players from different teams. I never know how to properly categorize those types of cards and so they sit out in a pile and generally annoy me. Not a problem with the Fusion insert set though, each card features two of the best players on whatever team is being featured. In the stack that Dennis sent me I'd say that really only Rick Ankiel sticks out as someone who wasn't a bona fide star (though around the turn of the century Ankiel was certainly expected to be a star so I can't fault Skybox too much there.
Besides the 2000 Skybox Metal help, Dennis also helped me out with another set that I've been working from the year 2000: 2000 Fleer Tradition - Dividends insert set.
Of the three cards, I think A-Rod's is the most interesting because of the write-up on the backside. According to the card, A-Rod is like "money in the bank for Seattle fans ... They can count on Rodriguez being a dependable clutch hitter." That's funny because I seem to recall that once A-Rod went to New York the main complaint against him was that he wasn't all that clutch, especially in the postseason. A quick look at A-Rod's baseball reference page though shows that he actually ended up performing quite well in the postseason over the span of his entire career.
Sure, he had a few bad series but 13 HR, .259 average, 8 SB, and an OPS of .822 isn't bad when you consider postseason play is generally only against the very best pitchers in the game at the time!
I might feel a little bit "icky" about defending A-Rod the player but the next set that Dennis helped me complete might make some of you baseball purists feel a bit "icky" since the set is an unlicensed, logo-free set.
That's the final three cards that I needed from the 2018 Panini Donruss set. A set that wasn't much loved by most people it seemed (though if you do love the set I have a lot of trade bait available)! Somehow, someway for all of the Dodgers I've pulled lately of the final three cards that I needed from the base set two were of Corey Seager.
And finally, last but certainly not least from 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter:
That's the third and final unannounced mini that I needed for my set. I always love Ginter for the "oddball" stuff it includes and that means I usually love the secret mini insert sets. I don't think this particular set is as cool (though the whole Asbury Park saga is actually quite fascinating) as some of the past secret minis (the 2007 Snake set comes to mind, another set that I'm still working on) but it's still fun to get the secret minis.
That does it for all of the sets that Dennis finished off for me - what an amazing trade package! There's actually a bit more from the envelope to show off but that'll wait for another day...for now, I'm simply going to enjoy deleting all of those entries from my want list, one of the best feelings in the world for a set collector such as myself! In fact, thanks to Dennis' trade I have now completed 33 different sets in 2019, not bad at all! Of course, that's due in big part to Dennis who finished off NINE different sets for me with this current trade! Simply amazing and definitely a huge help towards my goal of whittling my want list down to under 100 sets by the end of 2019!
Yeah, that was the rap on A-Rod until 2009, where if you look at those stat lines above he basically carried the Yankees to the World Series. 5 HR in 2 series will do that.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he had himself a good series and made his overall playoff numbers look quite good. A-rod's grown on me a bit since he retired, I actually like listening to him call baseball games on ESPN.
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