Delivery Time! Trade with Cardboard Collections

It feels great to be back blogging...even if I am writing the majority of my blog posts at 2:00 AM (or later).  Lucky you that Blogger has an automatic scheduling feature so you can read my fresh posts at a much more reasonable hour of the day.

For today, I'm still trying to get caught back up - and as part of my efforts I have a trade that I believe actually arrived at my house when I was in the hospital with my wife having our baby.  It's an envelope chock full of 2018 Donruss -  a set that no one cares or talks about any more...except me since I'm the sucker still trying to complete the darn thing.

Luckily for me, Colbey (from Cardboard Collections) had a big ol' stack of cards for my set - and since I finally sent off his stack of cards to him last week, I can now rip this envelope for myself!

This year's Donruss set really drove home the issue of Panini not having the ability to show team logos.  While the Donruss set is nice enough, the lack of logos (both on the card and in the photographs) is both distracting and rather sad.  There are a number of interesting photos that are simply begging for logos...and truth be told, there are a number of super boring photos since Panini had to make sure there weren't any logos showing. 

For example, even a simple card like this Max Scherzer is screaming for a logo. 

Oh sure, Panini did a good job of "sprucing up" the front of the card by using an older design element, but still...it looks like Scherzer is pitching for one of those drug commercials (you know the type, where the guy with a solid red hat is pretending to throw a fastball or something).

While I am bagging on a lot of what Panini did here, I will say there are still a number of nice cards.  For me personally, I liked this pair of Reds that I needed - a past legend and a current legend!

However nice the two Reds are, the true highlight card for me is actually one that features one of my least favorite players of all-time:  Yadier Molina.

That's a "picture perfect all-stars" card of Molina and Nelson Cruz.  While I still wish there were logos present, the photograph itself is top notch...both fun and a true sign of the modern times that we live in.

Colbey, thanks for all the help making my goal of completing the set that much closer to reality!  As for anyone else, I'm back to trading so shoot me an email and make an offer after checking out my want list!

Trade Stack 90: Let's Do This! (Where You At, Twins Fans?!)

Here is how this works:

Every so often (i.e. whenever I feel like it), I will add a card to a "Trade Stack".  Whenever the stack becomes appealing enough to someone, that person needs to comment on the post saying they'd like to claim the stack AND tell me which card they are sending off of my want list.  That's all you have to do - trade me ONE card (or more, of course) card from my want list for the entire stack of cards that I'm offering.  Each time, it will be first come, first serve...so act quickly (unless of course you are a gambler and hope to wait it out until there are 10+ cards in the stack that you want in exchange for a single 2004 UD Vintage card that I am looking for)!

New rule:  Please note that shipping large packages to Canada (or overseas) has become too expensive, at least when it means that all I am getting in return is a single base card.  If you happen to want me to ship to a place not in the US, please contact me first.  Maybe we can work out a larger deal that will make the increase in postage worthwhile.  I am sorry for that as I have a number of great traders in Canada but I have no control over what the USPS charges for shipping!

The Trade Stack:

Last update: 6/23/18

Right before the (early) arrival of our baby boy, I was in the midst of completing a number of trades.  Those all got pushed to the back burner for me once the baby arrived...but I can happily report that as of this week, I have mailed out all the promised cards to people from those mid-May trades. 

Thus, now that my desk is empty of pending trades, it's time to get back into it!  What better way to kick start some trading action than by adding another card to our rather large Trade Stack.

Remember, you can claim the current Trade Stack in exchange for at least one card off my want list (or anything LEGO since I've been getting more and more into collecting LEGO as well)!

2016 (?) Bowman (Something or other):
BD-90.  Alex Kirilloff (Twins)
BD-129.  Daniel Palka (Twins)

2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Baseball:
Black bordered parallel:
250.  Manny Ramirez (Dodgers)

2018 Topps:
102.  Wil Myers (Padres)
151.  Ryan McMahon (Rockies)
277.  Aaron Slegers (Twins)

2018 Topps Gypsy Queen:
133.  Lance McCullers Jr. (Astros)

1998 Upper Deck Retro:
120.  Eric Milton (Twins)

2018 Panini Donruss:
American Pride Insert:
AP20.  Tim Cate (USA)

If you want the stack, remember - all you need to do is offer up any one card from my want list.  

Want the card(s) in the stack?  Act fast - tell me which card you will send me off my want list in the comments below!  You must leave a comment on the trade stack post in order to claim the card - no more claims via email!  If no one claims this card within a reasonable amount of time (a few hours up to a few days, depending) - I'll add another card to the stack and the process will start again!

Previously Claimed Trade Stacks:

Stack 01:  2 cards by dayf
Stack 02:  8 cards by Justin
Stack 03:  17 cards by Cam
Stack 04:  4 cards by Cam
Stack 05:  9 cards by Daily Dimwit
Stack 06:  4 cards by The Lost Collector
Stack 07:  1 card by Baseball Dad
Stack 08:  1 card by M. Spiegel
Stack 09:  6 cards by bwsmith25
Stack 10:  6 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 11:  1 card by Patrick
Stack 12:  5 cards by Matt B.
Stack 13:  4 cards by Steve G.
Stack 14:  3 cards by ShaneK
Stack 15:  7 cards by Ryan G
Stack 16:  1 card by longlivethewho
Stack 17:  4 cards by hiflew
Stack 18:  4 cards by Potch
Stack 19:  2 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 20:  5 cards by by Play at the Plate
Stack 21:  5 cards by BA Benny
Stack 22:  1 card by IkesCards
Stack 23:  8 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 24:  1 card by BA Benny
Stack 25:  2 cards by Jeff P.
Stack 26:  10 cards by Axemanohio
Stack 27:  1 card by BA Benny
Stack 28:  7 cards by ThingsAreFunnerHere
Stack 29:  3 cards by TheBrooklynMet
Stack 30:  4 cards by Adam C.
Stack 31:  10 cards by Play at the Plate
Stack 32:  8 cards by Josh D.
Stack 33:  6 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 34:  1 card by Potch
Stack 35:  9 cards by Cool Breeze
Stack 36:  11 cards by Kev 
Stack 37:  6 cards by Tunguska
Stack 38:  12 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 39:  8 cards by Spiegel83
Stack 40:  1 card by Kyle4KC
Stack 41:  4 cards by dayf
Stack 42:  1 card by AdamE
Stack 43:  1 card by madding
Stack 44:  10 cards by Commishbob
Stack 45:  1 (almost complete) puzzle by Baseball Dad
Stack 46:  8 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 47:  5 cards by The Junior Junkie
Stack 48:  4 cards by dayf
Stack 49:  9 cards by Swing and a Pop-Up
Stack 50:  9 cards by Commishbob
Stack 51:  3 cards by Need More Cardboard
Stack 52:  1 card by Play at the Plate
Stack 53:  12 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 54:  4 cards by The Junior Junkie
Stack 55:  9 cards by Spiegel83
Stack 56:  2 cards cards by Joe Frecker
Stack 57:  4 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 58:  2 cards by Chunter
Stack 59:  9 cards by Baseball Dad
Stack 60:  8 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 61:  13 cards by Mark Hoyle
Stack 62:  9 cards by Nick
Stack 63:  9 cards by buckstorecards 
Stack 64:  7 cards by Mark Hoyle
Stack 65:  2 cards by Play at the Plate
Stack 66:  10 cards by Roger
Stack 67:  14 cards by buckstorecards
Stack 68:  5 cards cards by Jeff Jones
Stack 69:  17 cards by Steve D.
Stack 70:  2 cards by Jeff Jones
Stack 71:  8 cards by defgav
Stack 72:  24 cards by Trevor P.
Stack 73:  1 card by Night Owl
Stack 74:  3 cards by David
Stack 75:  4 cards by Trevor P.
Stack 76:  14 cards by Trevor P.
Stack 77:  15 cards by Dayf
Stack 78:  29 cards by Chris
Stack 79:  26 cards by John H.
Stack 80:  14 cards by David G.
Stack 81:  3 cards by Trevor P.
Stack 82:  6 cards by Matt S.
Stack 83:  26 cards by Gavin
Stack 84:  1 card by Gavin
Stack 85:  29 cards by arpsmith
Stack 86:  10 cards by Henry
Stack 87:  15 cards by Henry
Stack 88:  5 cards by Adam K.
Stack 89:  7 cards by TSHenson
Stack 90:  ?? by ??

Flashback Friday! Ripping Some Old School Wax

Happy Friday everyone - and with it being Friday, let's do another Flashback Friday post!  For today's pack of cards, I have a 17 card pack of 1992 Fleer baseball.

I don't recall buying all that much of the 1992 Fleer set (I think I OD'd on the bright yellow 1991 set and so I mostly avoided the next year's edition).  That said, I'm looking forward to seeing what the pack holds - and with 17 cards within the pack, there should be some fun to be had!

Here's what I got...in the order I pulled them.

52.  Ruben Amaro, Jr.

First card...fairly simple design, much more "classy" than the 1991 yellow tragedy.

348.  Eddie Zosky
215.  Junior Ortiz
661.  Henry Rodriguez

Prospect cards are always fun, right?

707.  Designated Hitters:  Wade Boggs & Harold Baines

Fleer's Super Star Special cards were a favorite of mine back in the day.  Donruss tried to do something similar with this year's set but it felt lacking due to the absence of team logos.  Fleer was able to do it right and as a result, some of the Super Star Specials cards are pretty darn cool.

414.  Joe Oliver

First Reds card of the pack.  I'm not even sure if I own this one - score!

42.  Dennis Lamp
604.  Tony Fernandez
341.  Dave Stieb
462.  Eric Karros

The backs of the cards are pretty nice as well - I especialy like the large write-up that some of the younger players (without a lot of career statistics) get.

522.  Kim Batiste
397.  Rick Wilkins
22.  Joe Orsulak
645.  Francisco Oliveras
355.  Francisco Cabrera
122.  Rudy Seanez
24.  Arthur Rhodes

Well, the back half or so of the pack was kind of dull but overall it still a fun little rip.  I won't be collecting this set though - so most of the cards are available for trade should someone be jonesing for a 1992 Fleer common.

Barry Larkin Collection 609: 1999 Upper Deck Encore - #23

Barry Larkin
Year:  1999
Brand:  Upper Deck Encore
Card number:  23

The 1999 Upper Deck Encore set was a partial parallel set of Upper Deck's flagship release from the year.  Luckily for Larkin collectors, Barry was indeed featured in the 180 card set (Sean Casey and Greg Vaughn were the other two Reds featured in the set).  There is also a FX Gold parallel of every base card in the set (including Larkins) which is numbered out of only 125 copies.  I don't (yet?) own the parallel but for now I'm simply pleased to have the regular base card in my collection.

The card itself isn't bad.  I never heard of the Encore set prior to obtaining this card but I did buy a few packs of the 1999 Upper Deck flagship set back in the day...and that's enough for me to like this card alright even if I feel that the design aged rather poorly.

Finding Time for an eBay Win!

Now that I am in full-fledged "dad mode" with a baby son, I find that while I don't have much time to sort (or scan) baseball cards, I do have quite a bit of time to use my phone to browse the internet...and sometimes that means I end up on eBay.

Those eBay visits?  Once in a great while, I buy something that I want - and while I've only actually purchased a single card since the baby arrived, I'd say it's a nice one for a lone purchase.

For $5.50 (including shipping), I can't really complain about that triple relic...though if I were to complain it would have to be about the rather boring bits of cloth!  Still, it's a nice card from an expensive set that I will probably never open on my own.

Even better for me, the seller included a few freebies including this pretty cool Joe Morgan card which was new to me.

The rest of the freebies - that Opening Day Reds' parade card is also rather neat and I'm glad to now own it!

Not a bad little haul...but getting back into the habit of browsing eBay could quickly become an expensive idea.  I'm not sure that is so wise for me to do right now!