Trade round up : Brett Cooper, Zippy, The lost Collector

Matt forwarded a bunch of trade packages for me in his various envelopes that have been French-bound the past few months. I won't lie, it's really convenient for me (thanks again Matt !) and allows me to stay in the (waning but still a great idea) Supertrader group.

First, the Nationals representative : Brett Cooper

I was really  psyched about that card, as I didn't have it yet in my collection (for some reason). Just like Danny Ainge, can't say he made a bad choice by choosing another sport...

A little bit of everything, including a nice Sprewell from his T-Wolves days. The least we can say is that he left a mark in NY ! Thanks Brett for thinking of me !

You know you've been Zippy Zapped when you receive a Torrens custom card ! Especially since it says so on the back.

You also know there might just be a few Japanese cards in the mix. I love those Kellogg's UD oddballs

Surprising card to find in a trade package, but it's still a very cool 1971 fleer  World series Laughlin, before they got their official license for current players.

As always with Kenny, it's all about prospects

My first taste of Topps Bunt ! Doesn't really make you want to buy a whole box, but I applaud the concept.

Sorry, Rangers fans, but I'll never grow tired of that bat flip. The Lawrie die cut is real nice too

Finally, AJ (The lost collector) recently had Matt forward cards to me :

Always nice to add a Delgado insert/relic, especially from my favorite brand

Blue Jays cards from recent years, including a Perspectives insert and some 2017 Heritage I needed

And some from my main collecting years, that always bring back a ton of memories !
Thanks AJ !

Hits and run

One month after ordering them, I finally received some cards I had waiting at COMC. Mainly some cards for my trade partners, along with some cards I'd won on Ebay a few months ago. As always, you know the drill, I don't always get cards that truly fit my collection. Rather, I bid on cards that are cheap to complete a package in case I win a card I really want, as there's a $2 minimum fee for cards you send to your mailbox at Comc, and then it's .50ct per card. Which means I might as well get 4 cards for $2 instead of just one (that's just to save from .50ct to 1.5$, so I might as well bid on cheap cards).

Anyway, I thought those looked nice and pretty, so I snatched them, usually for a couple of bucks each.

Here's a card I actually wanted, of a player no longer with the Blue Jays organization. He was born in 93. I was 16, in 93, collecting Upper Deck cards. I feel so old right now...

I'm really happy to see Heyward bounce back from his horrible season last year. So far so good !

I don't have much to say about Wheeler other than I like the Mets and the card

The photo I took doesn't really do this card justice, but it really looks very nice. Topps the Mint has pretty cool cards. Then again, at $600-900 a box for 5 cards, it can look nice. I almost feel bad for the seller who pulled that card and ended up selling it for a hefty $5 to me. Almost.

20 odd years

So apparently, we've had around (if not precisely) 20 transatlantic box breaks with Matt and Brian. Not bad at all ! Like I've often said, I know the hassle (and cost) of international postage, and I'll always be deeply grateful for all of you who allow me to live my hobby fully. It's one thing to buy cards online, all it takes is a credit card and some patience, but  it's another to be part of a community and to be able to trade cards.
Maybe I feel all lyrical because of the French election, I don't know !

Anyway, this time Brian, from HSCA, decided to open a box of 2017 Diamond Kings (PANINI !!). I'm pretty sure those are my first cards from the new season, as I'm always late to that kind of party.

Pretty much what we've come to expect from DK over the past years. Don't know how long they can keep this up, it's really more and more of the same.

I didn't get any hits per se, but there were a couple of numbered parallels, including a #01 (woohoo).

 Those cards confuse me. Apparently there are about 30 base card variations in the set. And I really, really do not see the point there.

Because there was only one Blue Jay card for me in the entire break (the Donaldson), Brian, as always, pimped the package with a bunch of cards for our ongoing trading. He warned me that he'd got my back, and that may just be the understatement of the year. Major haul !

So this is what 2017 flagship looks like ? I'll have to see more to have an opinion though. Some nice high end brands in there too, that I'd never get otherwise !

 Obviously, my first 2017 Heritage and GQ cards. I understand the heritage set is based on one of the least liked Topps sets of all time, but I still think it works well. The GQ design is a major improvement from previous years !

Brian sent me A TON of hits/relics/autos of all sorts. They kept coming and coming.

 So far this season, Bautista has hit 1 HR and has a .132 BA. Not sure about those 500 career Hrs...

Autographs galore ! I don't know what those 2005 Topps Pack wars were. I'll need to look into it. I've always liked Melky, even though he only spent a couple of seasons in Toronto. Happy to add an auto of his. Nice looking Adam Lind card too !

Woohoo, more Delgados ! For some reason, parallel autos annoy me. But I'm happy to add a low numbered one to the collection

A little bit of everything there ! A very cool Baerga and a couple of IP autos (I suppose). It's kinda difficult to obtain Warren Moon autos (ie : too expensive for me), so even if it's unofficial, it came as a great surprise to me ! The Kaat cut signature looks sooooo strange cut up like that. Why not keep the entire 78 topps base card and just frame it ? Ok, it defeats the whole purpose of "cut signature", but still...odd choice. Makes it interesting though !

For obvious reasons (they suck big time), I haven't been adding many Knicks cards lately, so here's a nice clear welcome addition of a player who spent one season in the organization. Very cool card nonetheless.

A little bit of everything, including one for the Mets binder !

90s !! It's fun to see Willie Keller in a Toronto uniform. It appears that the HOFer played one season for the Malple Leafs after retiring...

Oh, and not shown here are a 1978 and 1979 Blue Jays media guide (and a couple of Topps coins) ! I love those things, they're a blast to look at, and filled with stats.

Thanks again Brian, that was one amazing trade package !

Various packs of various things

Last Christmas (I gave you my heart) I received a special collated box from Dave & Adams, with 20 packs of sets that were mainly new to me. The price was right so I put it on my list (I'm not a difficult person). Nothing too exciting came out of those packs, but they were fun to bust, as the designs and player selections are solid. It's typically the kind of product I would've picked up at the time, one pack at a time, had I not been...well...in France and away from the hobby.

It looks like a mess, but I really like what they did with 2008 Timeline. You have the 100 card base set (the first 2 cards shown, and I suppose the Thome is a parallel), and then so-called SPs, using designs from previous years (mainly SP - No pun intended). I love seeing the 93 and 94 SP designs used again.

I got 2 numbered hits, so wooohooo. Not sure many people chased those, though. Maybe they were trying to compete with A&G, and don't know...still kinda fun.

Whoever thought that set up probably didn't spend enough time brainstorming the idea. So if I understand correctly, that Derek Jeter black parallel card is numbered out of 25 (the base cards are SN 150). Seems pretty cool and I should put it in a safe until 2020. Except there are 25 cards of hit #40 out of 214, celebrated by that card. You really need to be one hard core Jeter fanatic to try and collect 214 cards, one for each hit.

But at least it means it's very easy to get low numbered parallels, and even 1/1s. I wonder if that person still works for Topps...

Finally, some SP Rookie edition. The veteran's design reminds me somewhat of Select. Then again, anything horizontal with the nameplate on the right would remind me of Select.

I really like those (for the SP reasons mentioned earlier in that post). Not a bad rookie class...

So like I said, nothing really mind blowing, but still nice cards to put in binders here and there !