The First TCDB Monday of November 2023 (Another Great Week!)

Once again, it's Monday which means it's time for another TCDB weekly recap.  This past week was absolutely bonkers at the mailbox - so buckle up because there's no time to waste.

Let's start with an older, forgotten set:  2012 Topps Archives Combos.  

That card came courtesy of user bpaul14 and it's an insert that has been languishing on my want list for over a decade now!  In fact, out of the 10 card Combos set - I now finally own 9 of the 10 cards.  The last one that I need is the CC Sabathi / Whitey Ford Combo card #58-SF.  Unfortunately, the only person on TCDB who has that particular card listed for trade hasn't logged into the site since late spring.  I guess the hunt will continue.

Speaking of continuing (how's that for a transition), we need to continue going through the mailbag!  Next up, a trade with TCDB user Ymmat:

You knew I'd be continuing my attempt at collecting all things related to 2023 Allen & Ginter, didn't you?!  Definitely nice to be able to grab more than one needed mini from the same trade partner - even nicer when those minis are both of interesting places.  I, for one, would love to get to see Chichen Itza someday in person!

Up next, user Mungojerrie sent me an oddball Barry Larkin card that I didn't yet own:

That's a 1996 Team Out card of Barry.  It's tough to tell from the scan, but the card is a fair bit smaller than your average baseball card.  I'll definitely need to do some research to try and figure out what's the deal with the set as I know nothing about it right now!  The card back simply says "Team Out! Baseball" on it which isn't very helpful...and frankly, doesn't even make grammatical sense!

For those that like numbers, by my count, that Team Out card is my 129th different Barry Larkin card from 1996.  Amazingly, there are another 59 Larkin cards from 1996 that I still don't own!  

Next, a rather strange two package, two trade exchange with user Jllong22 made in the same week.  The first of the two packages held three 2023 Allen & Ginter minis that I needed including another great looking World of Wonder card (this time of Petra, Jordan).

The other trade from Jllong22 held one more 2023 Ginter mini for me, this one celebrating 4-Home Run Games.  

I don't often make two trades in the same week with the same person, but hey, if that's things work out I'm not complaining!

Let's stick with 2023 Allen & Ginter minis as we move on to the next envelope, this time from user timreiss:

The Rookie Variation inserts are a retail-only insert set so I'm relying 100% on my trading partners in order to finish the set.  After buying a case of hobby boxes for myself, I can't justify spending even more money on retail packs!  On the bright side, I have sold a bunch of cards from my case so my overall cost for the year isn't as bad now as it could have been!

Next, from user chemistclete comes two more 2023 Ginter minis, this time from the Wonders of the World set:

Personally, I can't wait until I get the full Wonders of the World set in my binder - I think it's one of the best mini sets that Topps has put out in quite some time.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say the 2023 A&G minis overall are some of the strongest, most interesting minis that Topps has done in years.  

More minis in the next package, this time from long-time blogging favorite marcbrubaker:

If you've ever bought furniture-in-a-box, then you are well aware of the Allen Wrench!  I am much less aware of Sancocho.  Apparently it's a thick stew made with up to seven different kinds of meat and is quite popular in the Dominican Republic.  

Believe it or not, I'm still not through the entire stack of trade envelopes that showed up in the past week.  However, my poor scanner is tired (as am I) so I think I'll cut off today's post with one more package.  I'll show off the remaining packages next Monday...at least this way I know for sure that I'll something for that post!

We'll end with yet another PWE, this time from user emw362:

Yep, more minis!  Machu Pichu is one of those places on my bucket list.  Poutine, while not necessarily a "bucket list" food item is something that I'd like to try some day.  I don't live terribly far from Canada but I've never had Poutine!

That'll do for this week's post.  As you can see, I've been trading like a mad man trying to complete this year's Allen & Ginter mini sets prior to everyone forgetting about the set.  I've still got a ways to go, but it definitely feels good to make this much progress in a single week!