Two new

I always enjoy seeing new cards.  Things I haven't seen in the past, especially when they are shiny or do things that you don't expect a card to do.

Take for example this pair of cards I received from new trade partner David (TCDB ID:DavidAndrew21).  One card each for two of my player collections.

Andrew McCutchen gets the shiny portion of this post.  2016 Finest Franchise Finest insert.  If I didn't have so many sets and players to collect, Finest would probably be a set that might interest me.  For now, I'll just stick to picking up parallels and cheap inserts for my guys, or trade for them as I did here.

This 1997 Pinnacle Inside Dueling Dugouts card is something I hadn't seen before.  It was quite interesting for me, since you can rotate the dial on the left hand side, and the year and stats change.  It covers the 5 year period from 1992-96.

I decided to scan the card twice with two different years to show it off.   Even better, check out the other side...

Chipper Jones is on the front of the card, and as you dial the years, they match on both sides so you can see stats for 1993 for both players just by flipping the card.  A pretty cool idea indeed.  We're probably way beyond this now, meaning you likely will not see companies doing something unique such as this anymore.

I could certainly handle more 2 for 2 trades such as this one....

Enjoy the hobby!!

Robert

Now I know where the Thome cards were

Out of the blue not too long ago I received an offer from another new trade partner, Ora (TCDB: OrainPA) with quite the trade offer.   Ora is a Red Sox fan, and I had a few cards that he wanted.  In return he decided he was going to increase my Jim Thome collection by almost 5%.  When you have just over 500 cards of a player, that's a sizeable increase.

In the lower left is the Pinnacle Inside card from 1998; in doing a little research to see if there was a Jim Thome can (there isn't), I was surprised to learn that Inside ran for 2 years, instead of the 1 that I had thought.

The Topps HD card (Center row right) was thicker than I remembered the set being.  The MVP in the lower right is a set design that I don't remember, I guess 2001 is a set that I haven't come across yet.

I find anytime I come across a Diamond Kings card from the early 2000's, a smile comes across my face.  The artwork on each card is top notch, and the feel of the card is a little like canvas.  Very cool.  I don't have a lot of Thome's cards from later in his career, so it's nice to get a couple base cards from the 2011 showing off his time with the Twins.

You almost got away without seeing a serial numbered card in this post....almost.  The SPx Star Focus card is #'d out of 7000.  The Aficionado card I believe is only the 3rd card from that set that I've owned (it may be one or 2 more than that, I don't exactly remember), but the look is pretty cool as well.  And who doesn't love Crown Royale?  Diecut cards that fancy are always a treat.

547 cards in the Thome collection now.  I remember when I first started collecting him back when I lived in PA, I never thought I'd get anywhere near that number.  There are still hundreds of base cards that I haven't managed to find/trade for yet, so who knows how high this collection will grow!

Ora, thanks for the trade, the cards really are appreciated!!

Enjoy the hobby!

Robert

The same, only different

I guess that I could have posted all the cards that I've shown over the past couple of days on the same post as tonight's, but I really am trying to keep a steady flow of posts.   It doesn't hurt when you have just over a half dozen trade envelopes arrive on your doorstep in a 2 day period.  It's more hockey today as these two envelopes also knock down some OPC want lists.  One old, and one not as old.

Let's start with the newer part of the post, with a set that's coming along nicely, 2009-10 OPC.

3 time trade partner, and fellow blogger Joseph (TCDB ID: CrazieJoe) sent me a page worth of OPC cards, nearly getting me to the halfway point of this set.  The trade market has been the biggest source of cards for this set, as I may have had only a dozen or so when I put this set up on the site as one to build.  Up to 278 out of the 600 for the set, so we're doing all right.  Joseph also sent me another card for my Keith Tkachuk collection:

Very nice looking card, and it helps that UD put the year of manufacture on the front of the card, as often times it's very hard to see it when it's on the back.

Next up is an older OPC set that I've worked off and on since it came out in 1990-91.

25 cards off of this set's want list make this another set that's completable by the end of the year.  71 cards is not a whole lot for a set that doesn't have any cards that are high value.

These are the other two cards I received from another repeat trade partner, Andy (TCDB ID: andyroy3) who I'm sure was glad to unload all these cards for a few inserts and base cards from the 08-09 season.  As you can see, I still haven't figured out the new computer and scanner combo, as I keep cutting off the top of cards on my scans.  Practice makes perfect.

What has been great lately is that I've been able to knock off a lot of wants for my player collections as well.  It hasn't just been one or two of the ten, it's been most of them that have had cards added, which is great!!

With all the trades coming in, these posts are pretty much all the same, only different.

Enjoy the hobby!

Robert

These aren't exactly on the radar but...

Lots of pairs happening here as I have 2 trades to show off (for lack of a better phrase) today, and another pair for the next post, hopefully tomorrow.  First up is someone that a lot of you know from Twitter, Jenny (TCDB ID:  JennyMiller521).  We completed a relatively small trade for our first go on the TCDB site, sending 5 cards her way for a half dozen A&G wants from 2017.

No really huge stars here, but for me it was good to get Joey Bats as he was a favorite of mine during his time with the Jays.  I'm making slow progress on this set, with these 6 bringing the total to 185 out of the 350 needed for the set.   That means there's a lot of base cards to go before the remainder of the SPs get tackled.

Next up I grabbed a few cards from a set I've barely started, 2015-16 OPC hockey.

This represents just over 1/4 of what I have so far for this set, with just 54 cards in hand so far.  This trade came from repeat trade partner Nick (TCDB ID: tenlbpain) and cost me a bunch of dupes that I'm sure that Nick can make better use of.  I have a lot of want lists for the modern OPC sets, and at 600 cards for each set, it'll take me a while to get them all together, but the challenge is what all set builders enjoy, isn't it?

I've already hit the 25 trade mark for 2020 with 4 still in the pipeline, and 2 active offers.  I wasn't sure what this year would bring after a big trade year in 2019, but if the first 6 weeks is indicative on how this year will be, I could surpass last year's total.

I can live with that...

Enjoy the hobby!

Robert

Just two

A big run of trades came in this past week.  7 envelopes in total, which is probably the best run I've had in the 14 months that I've been trading seriously on the TCDB website.  3 of the envelopes were light, containing just two cards each.  All of them were quite good though.

First up was a 2 for 1 deal with repeat trade partner Colin (TCDB ID: nwcardsupplies).  I sent off a Didi Gregorius card and got a couple of base cards for a couple of player collections.

I've had a pretty good run over the past 2-3 months since I've put my Jim Thome collection/want list on the site, adding a great deal of base cards in trades so far.  The Andrew McCutchen collection is still gaining ground, as that's well over the 200 card mark now.   Both of these collections still have a lot of base and minor inserts/parallels needed so those numbers should climb as the summer goes along.

I made a 4 for 2 trade with new trade partner Shane (TCDB ID: obxyankeefan), knocking a couple of star cards off of the '79 and '76 Topps want lists.  Shane was a great communicator, asking me to wait a few days until he pulled the Johnny Bench card and was able to give me an idea of the condition.  Honest all the way, and the cards arrived promptly as well.

With a few purchases on COMC, and the Bench card you see above, my '76 want list now stands at 13 cards.  The '79 set is only missing the Ozzie Smith RC, so once I find a nice copy at a decent price, that set will be complete.

This trade was the most surprising as I was only expecting the Willie Stargell card on the left from Andy (TCDB ID: BrewerAndy).  I was kind of absentmindedly taking the Stargell card out of the Card Saver inside the envelope, when I realized that the Dave Parker card was also inside.  Needless to say, that was a wow moment!

The '74 want list still is in the 80+ range, but finishing this one is a few sets away.  It's nice now though that I have both the Parker RC in hand, and the Winfield RC on its way via COMC.

Thank you to all 3 traders, great stuff filled my mailbox this week!!

Enjoy the hobby!

Robert

Serial Saturday #30: How the mighty have fallen

Managed to grab a couple of more cards for the #'d/99 PC from a twitter seller, both cards combined cost me $3 so naturally, I was happy.  Both of these are footballers, both currently playing, or want to play.  First up is Gerald McCoy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Bit of an improvement with the scanner, card doesn't look crooked and it's cropped well.  I'd never heard of the Gold Standard release from Panini until I bought this card, but it's a real nice look and a little bit thicker than your standard card stock.  It's not the brick that the ultra premium brands employ, but still a nice sturdy card.

Gerald is also the 2nd "McCoy" in the collection, as I previously featured LeSean McCoy a while back.  Yes, in case you're both wondering, they're both real.

Would love to know who, or what got into Antonio's head over the past 18 months.  I can't recall a player hitting the skids as fast as he did.  Going to from perennial All-Pro with the Steelers and almost a lock for the HOF to being released by two teams, including the Patriots who specialize in rescuing players careers, within weeks.

This guy is a heckuva football player, he ran great routes in Pittsburgh and caught pretty much anything that came his way.  I hope he gets whatever help he needs to get back on the football field and resurrect his career, because it would be a shame if his career ends with the crash that it did at the beginning of the 2019 season.

These 2 cards bring the collection up to 31 so far, with football leading the way with 11 cards to date.  I have 2 more basketball and one baseball card to come from another Twitter card seller, so the collection is starting to grow nicely.  I just need to start finding some more hockey players on the cheap.

Enjoy the hobby!

Robert