Who is Pop Startled?

First, some dude named Pop Startled won my 500th blog post Give-Away. I have not heard from him yet. His blogger account is blocked/private. If anyone knows how to get a hold of Pop, let him know he needs to contact me for his winnings.

Second, I got a nice little trade package from The Tomahawk Chopper, Derek. He was nice enough to send me a few great relics. The J.V. is the key for me.

The more I see these UD Masterpieces cards, the more I am smitten with them.
Thanks for the trade D.

Trade with Tony, er, Ike

I made my second trade with the team from Belleville, Illinois, Ike and Tony of Ike's Cards fame. This father and son duo, once again, lopsided me. What's lopsiding? It's when you make a trade, and the bounty that you get back is above and beyond what you sent. Somehow, I always seem to get the better end of trades. This was a Tigers collectors dream.

First up, a beautiful Dick Perez DK. Dang these are great looking cards!

1991 Diamond Kings Tony Phillips #DK-25

 2010 Topps 206 Jeremy Bonderman 88 (quite possibly the ugliest card ever)

 A trio of 2004 Fleer Platinum cards. 2004 is smack dab in the middle of one of my non-collecting era's. It's always nice to get cards from a year that you have none of. Meat Hook is listed as a DH, ouch.

2004 Fleer Platinum Young, Monroe, Bonderman #'s 84, 165, 70

 A huge mish-mash of Tigers from all era's. A couple of J.V.'s, A Kenny, A Mags, and a Guillen to name a few.

 Another set from a year I didn't collect cards. 2006 UD Ovation. These are beautiful looking baseball cards. I have said it a million times, how can the designers that worked for UD not be doing something for Topps or Panini? I am almost always impressed by UD baseball cards. These Ovation cards are on a nice thick card stock, and have a textured feel to them.

2006 UD Ovation Shelton, Casey, Pudge #'s 73, 59, 74

 And the cream d la cream, and the main card that I thought I was trading for, a 2009 Topps U&H Rick Porcello auto. Porcello is having a solid season so far.

2009 Topps Updates & Highlights Rick Porcello #CQA-RPO

Thanks for the great trade guys. The quick delivery is much appreciated. I will keep my eyes peeled for any Cards cards for you two.

Also, check back later this week as I post my 500th blog entry. There will be a nice prize given away. That's right, given away.

Oh yeah, one more thing... My softball team is 3-1 after a nice win tonight. I continued my hot hitting, and am now 11 for 12 on the season. I love getting out on the field and spitting in my glove, sliding into 2nd, driving in a run, gunning a guy out from my ss position, and just hanging with the fellas for an hour.

Trade with the Dimwit

Amongst all of my recent Gypsy Queen collecting, Heritage has kind of been forgotten. Forgotten until a nice little trade package arrived from Texas. 

Sam of Daily Dimwit fame commented to one of my recent posts about UD Origins, and shortly thereafter, a trade was brewing.

Six more 2011 Topps Heritage cards knocked off the want list. Manny Acta has a double chin.

Detroit Tigers lead-off man, and future gold glove winner, Austin Jackson. When I watch Jackson play, I always think "Mike Cameron". 

Sam also tossed in three 2011 Topps Kimball Champions Mini's. Hanley, Bautista, and Kershaw. What a great looking insert set. 

 The original target of my desires was this 2005 UD Origins Torii Hunter Authentic memorabilia card. I didn't know it has a pinstripe. Cool. Also today, I got a bubble mailer from a recent eBay score. The Man Ram from the same set. Both cards show the player sprinting around the bases. Sadly, my last thought of Manny on the bases is him walking to first on a ground out.

This trade was a breeze. If you're a trader, give The Daily Dimwit a look. Not a trader? Go give his blog a look anyway. There's some great stuff there.
Thanks for the trade Sam!

Cards from the NorthWest

I think I have stated this publicly, but just in case I have not, or you missed it; I am going to repeat it.

Sportscard collectors are the nicest, most generous, and generally helpful people around. I deal with all sorts of people in my life. Quilters are really great people, and rank high, but they can be a little anal about some things. Baseball collectors, as a whole, are great people. Highly trusting.

Last week, I put out a call for 1979 Topps baseball cards. Within a day or two, I had a couple of fellow bloggers agreeing to trades. I am quite close to finishing off the favorite set of my youth.

Today, a package of five bundles came from Larry over at Emerald City Diamond Gems. I will be unpacking them, and loading them into the binder a bit later. Thanks for the trade Lar!

Trade Recap

I pulled off a great trade with Darren of Potch Wheeler fame. Darren knocked off 23 cards from my 1979 Topps want list.

No other card reminds me of the era as much as this Eric Soderholm. The 'stache, the oversized glasses, the lame White Sux uni, awesome. My brother and our friends called him Eric Sodomize.

Hall-of-Famer Willie McCovey. A little rough around the edges, but I don't care. I am building this set as an ode to my first serious collecting days. Most of my '79's look like this.

Two of the best catchers of my lifetime. Both wearing nice powder blue PJ's.

Boone never gets the recognition I think he deserves. 2, 225 games caught. Wow!

Four aces. I love the Pirates hat.

Surprise! A 2011 Topps Verlander. Didn't have it.

Thanks for the sweet cards Darren.

They Came From Contentment Lane

I received a bubble mailer with a return address from Contentment Lane, Red Hook, NY. That must be some place to live.

After my spitter post from a couple of weeks ago, Joe from The Sandlot contacted me about a trade. I was more than happy to offload the Alomar card.

In return, I got this 2006 UD Diamond Collections Jim Edmonds jersey card. Joe also threw in a bunch of 2006 Fleer Detroit Tigers cards.

Thanks for the trade Joe!

Rhymes with "Ton of Good Stuff"

Tunguska =Ton of Good Stuff! You'll see what I mean. I dished off a couple of lovable losers to David of Long Fly Ball to Because... fame, and got back a bevy of Tigers and a Lion. Oh My!

As you can see, Tunguska knows how to properly package a card without f-ing up the top loader. There are a few little things in life that bug me. Scotch tape on a top loader, slow left lane drivers, Ed Hardy shirts, over cooked steak. I could go on. People, a small swatch of painters tape peels off easily. Use it. The Scherzer is from 2010 Topps Series II, and is numbered to 99. Sweet eh? (yeah, eh. I said it).

A few tobacco cards thrown in for good measure.

A 2009 Topps Verlander black background from Target or Wal-Mart, I forget which. Cool looking though.

Wideout Derrick Williams from Topps Mayo. Can you say 3rd round BUST?

Team drunk Miggy Cabrera from Bowman Platinum. Shiny.

Thanks for the trade Tunguska!