Set Killer

My latest trade package came from TCDB member shaggy69.  It was a small one with only 6 cards, but knocked out 3 team sets for me.

I hate when card companies show a player in a different uniform than the team listed on the card.  I suppose that is less work than trying to airbrush the proper uniform on.  The only positive with the Martinez card is that it finished my 2002 Triple Crown team set.  The Edmonds knocked the 2002 Fleer Genuine set down to 2 numbered rookie cards needed for completion.

Silent George Hendrick brought me down to 7 more Cardinals needed from 2002 Archives.  There were 14 Cardinals included in that set.  I would love for Topps to have made an autographed version of this card.  Hendrick was a big part of Cardinals teams in the early 1980s.

Topps moved away from Archives in 2003 and put out All Time Fan Favorites.  Same concept, different name.  These 2 completed the 8 card Cardinals set.  I also have the autographed version of the Herzog card.  Funny I had it years before the base card.

Sweet Lou finished my 8 card team set from 2004 Fan Favorites.  Nothing better than a vintage Cardinals photo with the baby blue uniforms. 

3 in a Row

It is so nice to get home from work and find a bubble mailer waiting for me.  Last night was the third night in a row that I received a trade package.  It was a mix of trade bait and Cardinals from TCDB member La Loosh. 

Both of these Ozzie Smith cards completed team sets.  The Fleer Exciting Stars set featured 2 Cardinals, Ozzie and Vince Coleman.  The other card is a 1990 Baseball Card Magazine insert.  The two other Cardinals cards in that set are Pedro Guerrero and a dual card featuring Todd Zeile and Alex Cole.  I love getting these late 1980s oddball cards.

Although this looks like a 1992 Leaf base card, it is actually a Leaf Preview card that was inserted in 1992 Donruss packs to show collectors what the set would look like.  I am not for sure if that marketing technique led to a bunch of 1992 Leaf boxes being opened, but there sure are plenty of base cards to be found from that set.

One of these days I will finish a early 2000s Topps Chrome set.  This 2002 Journell card makes 6 out of 10 Cardinals in the set. 

Just like the Jose Leaf Preview card, this is not an ordinary 2009 Topps Colby Rasmus.  This is the rookie insert that was included in factory sets that were bought through the JC Penny catalog. 

First Blog Trade in a While, Well Kind Of

I know quite a few bloggers also use other sites on the internet for trading.  I am a member of 3: The Bench, Trading Bases, and Trading Card Database.  Last week I proposed a trade to TCDB member IndyBean17 without knowing it was Kin who runs the blog I Feel Like a Collector Again.  Small card world we have sometimes.  His package of Cardinals arrived in yesterday's mail.

Mr Brock is my first Topps Fire card.  I like the cards, but do not have a Target within an hour's drive so I will be trading for all the Cardinals.  Wainwright is only my third 2017 Topps Chrome card. 

The Pham is a foil parallel from 2016 Series 2.  It was nice to see Pham have a healthy season, but I have my doubts if he will put up the same 20-20 numbers he did this year.  I will say it is good to see a player speak his mind.  Pham is not afraid to praise himself or criticize the team the team if they deserve it. 

I now have 2 Cardinals from the 2011 Heritage Minors set.  I wish I could find a nice dime or even a quarter box with these. 

My scanner did not pick up the gloss on this 1987 Fleer Glossy card.  I had some of these sitting in my doubles box that I had mistaken for regular cards.  I should take some time this winter to go through the rest of my Cardinals doubles to make sure I did not miss any other parallels.   

Face of the Franchise

My latest trade envelope from TCDB member stevienicks77 featured a run of Cardinals players who could be considered the face of the franchise during their tenures in St. Louis.

Ozzie Smith was a Cardinal from 1982-1996.  He played on some great teams in the 1980s and some really bad teams in the 1990s.  Along with Willie McGee, I would say he is the most popular Cardinal from the 1980s.

The late 1990s belonged to Mark McGwire, but this was a rare trade package where I did not receive any of his cards.  Fast forward to McGwire's last season in 2001 when Albert Pujols won Rookie of the Year.  Everyone knows how great Albert was during his time in St. Louis.  Like a lot of Cardinals fans I was happy to see him falter some when he left after the 2011 season, but it would be nice to see him come back in some form whether it is with some other team or as a coach.  He deserves a proper thanks for all he did for Cardinals baseball.

After Pujols left, Molina became the most popular Cardinal.  Yadi debuted in 2004 as Mike Matheny's backup, but took over full time duties in 2005.  He signed through the end of the 2020 season.  My guess is he will retire a Cardinal with a slight chance of making the Hall of Fame.

Who know what player is going to replace Molina as the franchise icon.  Taveras was viewed as that man until his death after the 2014 season.  His good friend Carlos Martinez could be the man, but he is far too inconsistent right now to be the man.  Kolten Wong has battled through injuries and trips to the minors the last couple of years.  He may not ever be a perennial  All Star, but he could still be a solid second baseman a la Tommy Herr.

These last 3 guys all showed promise at one time, but all could be playing somewhere else next year.  Lynn had a nice year coming back from TJ surgery, but I doubt the Cardinals will pay his price in free agency.  Piscotty signed a 5 year contract extension after a strong 2016 season, but had a terrible 2017 season.  I hope he bounces back next year to his 2016 form.  I would almost bet the farm Grichuk will be playing elsewhere next year.  He has a ton of power when he makes contact, but that does not happen very often.  He is still young and plays good defense, so there should be a trade market for him.   

The Trades are Rolling In

I have noticed this year that my trading goes in cycles.  One month I will do more than 10 trades, the next maybe 2 or 3.  A lot of that has to do with the time of year as far as my children's activities.  Ball games or practices eat up a lot of my spare time.  Right now the only thing going is my daughter's basketball season, which I am not involved in other than watching.  As a result, my trading has gone up these last few weeks.  I have 6 trades going on now on TCDB.  Another package arrived over the weekend from member tsch67.

I had to pop this 1999 Upper Deck Powerdeck cd into my laptop to see if it worked.  It loaded up just fine and showed a few McGwire  highlights from 1998. 

I had no idea that 2005 Upper Deck Retro parallels existed until a couple of weeks ago.  The cards have a white border on two sides instead of the full bleed photo.  I discovered I had two of them in my team set, so now I have to track down 2 base cards. 

I think these 2006 Diamond Debut cards would look better as a dual card.  I like the contrast of a lefty versus righty, and the home versus road uniform.

These 2011 Topps Target Throwback cards can be hard to spot from the front.  Thankfully the back are not glossy like the regular base cards.

Topps made the 2011 Cognac parallels must easier to spot.  They almost have a Bowman Cracked Ice look to them, just not as shiny.

2012 Gold Sparkle cards are some of my favorite non Bowman parallels.  I wish Topps would use this design for the yearly gold cards.

Although I am not fond of mini cards, I am getting close to completing the 2013 GQ team set including the different photo variations.

While small in stature like a mini, I like these 2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Sportdiscs.  Anything that looks or reminds me of Sportflix are good in my book.  Not sure why my scanner cropped the discs, but they are indeed round.

These 3 inserts are also from 2013 Hometown Heroes.  It is nice to see managers getting a little of cardboard love from time to time.  Herzog is still my favorite.
 

More 2017 Cardinals

I made a small trade with TCDB member ntlwhlr that brought some nice 2017 Cardinals my way.

I think Topps Series 1 and 2 might be the only team sets I have completed this year.  I still lack 3 cards from the Bunt set. 

I like the Programs insert.  The large logo in the background really pops. 

2017 Optic inserts are sharp.  The pink border clashes some with the Cardinals red uniform, but I like it.  The holo insert is more silver/gray bordered than what the scan shows. 

The only non 2017 card in the package was this 2014 Panini Golden Age base card of Enos Slaughter.  I like the sets featuring retired players, but it seems like not too many collectors opened this product. 

Catching Up on 2017

Hard to believe that it is the middle of October already.  I had to make a Wal-Mart run earlier this week and noticed the Christmas section is already up and running.  Of course I saw a few people with wrapping paper in their carts.  I certainly do not have the Christmas spirit yet.  This year is just flying by way too quickly.

I received a trade package this week from TCDB member mzentko that made me realize how far behind I am on completing a lot of 2017 team sets.  I had the privilege of meeting Mark a few years ago at a Memphis Redbirds game.  He is a fellow Cardinals fan who I have traded with multiple times.  His latest package came without much warning.

I am not even half way done with 2017 Stadium Club.  Nice to see Big Mac in a Cardinals uniform again. 

I had to look twice at this Yadi to realize it is a gold foil parallel.  Still need the base card.

These are my first 2017 Finest cards.  The Reyes is a Finest First insert.

Here are a couple of inserts of the 2 previous starting shortstops.  I hope Paul DeJong fairs better than these guys.  The Diaz is a very sharp card in person.  I hope he can rebound and at least serve as a utility infielder.  

These are my first Fathead Tradeables.  Unless my son wants to stick them on his wall, they will go into the collection.

TCDB Trade

My card world has been fairly slow the last week or so.  Aside from filing away a stack of cards on my desk, I have not messed with them much.  It was nice to take a small step away for a few days to recharge the collecting batteries.  I did have one trade come in from TCDB member brianscards that brought a nice lot of Cardinals.

 

I always thought 1995 was the first year Upper Deck produced a minor league set, but this 1992 card proves me wrong.  Nice picture of a pitcher taking bp or maybe playing pepper.  The 1993 Classic Best card is not the most eye popping card I have seen.  Gray border with yellow and red along the sides does not look that great in my opinion.

I need one more Matt Holliday card to complete the 9 card puzzle from 2012 Triple Play.  Lance Berkman will be keeping a watchful eye out for card number 204 to complete it.

In a few short weeks we will be seeing plenty of red and green in the stores.  It seems as soon as Halloween is over, here comes the Christmas decorations.  2013 Prizm also had blue and gold bordered cards.

Speaking of blue and gold, I can never have enough Topps parallel cards.  The Lynn is from 2011 Topps Update, the Garcia from 2012 Topps.  I should be getting very close to completing the blue set.

Every trade package needs to include a Yadi card.  This one is a 2014 Donruss Elite insert.  Molina almost looks out of place without his red chest protector and helmet. 

I love the minor league sets, even the non licensed ones.  The Weaver completed my 2015 Topps Pro Debut set.  The Bader is only my second 2015 Elite card.  Lots of work left to go on that one.

These are my first base cards from 2016 Topps Archives 65th Anniversary set.  I do have the autographed Simmons card.  I have no clue if there are more Cardinals in the set.

Rounding out the package are a couple of Donruss Optic parallels.  The Holo Fowler is from 2017, while the Pink Diaz is from 2016.  The Pink cards are pretty sharp in person.