A New Year Begins - The First TCDB Recap of 2024!

Happy Monday, Happy New Year, Happy 2024!  I do have a couple of outstanding trades from the end of 2023 to wrap-up, so let's get right to it!

First up, from TCDB user Bob Obert comes a new-to-me Barry Larkin insert from 2003.

I don't know how this (relatively) common insert eluded me for about 20 years but I finally found a copy on TCDB that I was able to do a quick one-for-one trade for.  The above card is from the Hit Parade insert set.  You might be wondering why Barry Larkin is included in the 2003 version of the set but he did have 124 hits in 2002!  Also, this card celebrates active career hits leader (Larkin had 2,172 at the time of the card's release, good for tenth place among active players).

My other trade was with TCDB user wmj2890:

Actually, this wasn't so much a trade as it was a purchase but the end result is the same - more new-to-me Barry Larkin cards!  Of the three, I think the 1987 card was the one that convinced me to make the purchase since that card was the final Barry Larkin card that I needed for my 1987 portion of my collection!  

In fact, here's an updated look at the early years of my Barry Larkin cards:

As you can see, I now have the full (known to me) run of Barry Larkin cards from both 1986 and 1987.  In addition, I'm one away from having 1988 complete (I'm only missing the 1988 Score promo card with green borders).  In fact, from 1986 - 1995, I can proudly say that I own 89.19% of all Barry Larkin cards with a stated print run of 25 or greater.  

That was a fitting way to end trading in 2023 but I hope that 2024 will result in even more trades!  For now though, I'll simply wish everyone a Happy New Year - and as always, thanks for checking out my blog.