Delivery Time! Trade with Dennis from Too Many Verlanders!

I've mentioned a few times about how my desk got covered with packages resulting from a ton of trades I sent out back when I was on Spring Break.  While that is all true, the dirty little secret is that I also still have some packages sitting on my desk from my Christmas break!  I think it's about time to clear off the last of the 2015 trade envelopes, don't you?

Back in December 2015, Dennis (from Too Many Verlanders) sent me a nice surprise package that contained my first ever Starting Lineup figure.

That's Scott Williamson - a pitcher who had a couple of decent years with the Reds before he fell off the baseball map.

I never got into the whole collectible figure thing...which is admittedly kind of strange since I'm a HUGE LEGO minifigure collector.  Sometimes I confuse even myself!  Of course, a Starting Lineup figure wouldn't really be complete with the corresponding baseball card that it comes packaged with, right?  Luckily for me, Dennis threw that in as well.

Pretty cool - but not nearly as cool as the next item.

Inside the trade envelope was this little gem:

Now, I didn't even know such a thing existed - according to the insert card packed with the team set...

...this is a "rare" set of which there are less than 5,000 of each team set produced!

Baseballcardpedia (a great resource) has this to say about the Platinum Team Sets from 1995 Score:

As part of a promotion, hobbyists who collect all the Gold Rush cards of a particular team in a particular series could then mail in those cards along with a platinum redemption card, which was seeded at the rate of 1:36/packs. In return, the collector would receive a complete Platinum Team Set, and all their Gold Rush cards back. Some of the returned Gold Rush cards came back with holes punched in the shape of the Pinnacle logo. Most did not. It's assumed that Pinnacle was overwhelmed at the number of redemptions and quit punching holes to expedite the process. No Series Two punched Gold Rush cards have been found.
There have been examples of the holes being punched in the lower right hand corner (more common) and in the upper left hand corner with the Pinnacle logo being flipped upside down (less common).
The Platinum Team Set cards are similar to the gold cards except they have sparkling platinum-foil fronts and come in a factory-sealed baggie. The top card is the certificate for the team set. Only 4950 of each platinum team set was produced.
Platinum cards for the checklists do not exist.
Spike Owen appears on the Rockies checklist but he appears in the Angles team set.
John Jaha and Frank Thomas card appear in their team sets (Brewers and White Sox), however they don't appear on their team checklists.
The Mariners checklist incorrectly lists Ken Griffey Jr. as card #1. He's card #437, Series Two, which weren't punched.

Pretty cool stuff - and I love reading about the history of some of the stranger sets out there (such as the fact that Pinnacle stopped punching holes in cards they returned - presumably some of those cards were sent back in a second time for a second set knowing how some people are out there).

Of course, as a Larkin collector I immediately thumbed through the set to see if Barry was represented...and he was!

That's a very shiny Barry!

Of course, I had to split up the complete team set since my Barry Larkin binder gets priority in my collection.  Speaking of Larkin Collections, I'll eventually get this card posted to my collection (here) but if you want to see someone else's collection, here's Dennis' Larkin collection (here).

Many thanks to Dennis - and again apologies for my lateness in getting this posted!  As for anyone else, if you'd like to trade - check out my want list and make an offer.  And I promise to get your trade post up before next Christmas!