Mail Day: Trade with All Cardinals All the Time

 Ray from All Cardinals All the Time reached out for a trade after reading my post of a 2020 Topps blaster.  He threw up a post about some of the cards that went his way and it's always fun seeing those.  I was excited knowing this Chipper Jones patch was headed my way.  I liked the look of this insert but the odds of grabbing one in the wild was pretty low.  He also sent more Chipper which is always a good thing.

  

I'm not a Cardinals guy but there are some Redbirds I do like to include Ozzie, Mac, and Vince.  All three were so much fun to watch play.  

I'm really enjoying all these cards but that USA Baseball rookie card is the highlight.  Such an iconic card.  So many of these have great photos but the Fleer art is one I've always liked as well.  

Lucky for me Ray's son is an Altuve fan so he had some extras running around.  The Astros deserve all the grief they've gotten the last few years but I'm still a big fan of Jose Altuve.  Thank you so much to Ray for reaching out and for the great cards.  He really went above and beyond with these cards.  

And these guys...

Mail Day: Trade with Johnny's Trading Spot

Great trade with John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.  Check out that blog.  I sent him a couple Topps SP Holiday cards and an ornament.  He sent me lots of great cards. This John Elway is my favorite.  I may have seen one of these somewhere but I didn't have one 'till now.  Cool card and my favorite of what he sent me just edging out a Dale Murphy card that I'll show off at the end.

Love both these cards.  Gary Matthews didn't play for the Braves long but I've always been a fan of his.  This photo is great and it look like he has some tobacco in the right cheek.  That and the pinstripes uni make this a favorite of mine and somehow I didn't have one.  Ironically he was traded for Bob Walk who is another of my favorite players.  This Murph is a Retro 1986 insert from 2020 Donruss and another card I didn't have.  

A great trio of Braves.  I love that Allen & Ginter Glavine.

Nice cards.  Bob Horner is my all-time favorite player so any time I get his cards I'm so excited.  Nice looking Hank Aaron.

Did I say how big a fan I am of Bob Horner?

Football cards?  Yep!  A few of my favorites here with Dan Fouts, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Tony Dorsett.

John went crazy with the autos and relics.  Loved these.  My favorite is DeMarre Carroll who was an Atlanta Hawk small forward for two seasons.  He had a solid career but wasn't a star.  I think it was his hair I liked the most.  These Hawks and Trail Blazers were really fun.  John really outdid himself with his generosity and taking the time to look for players I collect.  My sincere thanks and hopefully we can do another trade in the future.

I'm not a Turkey Red guy but this is one of the few I wanted and now I have.  I think this is a great looking photo capturing that Braves uni of the era and Murph's batting follow through.

Prize from Cards That Never Were

 Cards That Never Were held a contest recently and I was one of the lucky winners.  I won this 1982 Fleer inspired prospects card with Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg.  Cards like this are great because when you look back this is definitely a card we'd want to see.  And boom...here it is.  The card is great. The card stock is very sturdy and similar to a regular card.  The back of the card also gets a nice treatment which is the topping on the cake.  He has also started selling customs on eBay.  The link to his seller profile is here.  He's on Twitter at @CardsThatNever  Wanted to show off this really cool card and say thanks to Cards That Never Were. 

Save Second Base Campaign by the Collecting Cutch Blog

 

Collecting Cutch blog does a great job every year in promoting breast cancer awareness with his Save Second Base event in October.  Today he kick started the campaign with a post about Kelly Preston who died this year from breast cancer.  It's something that touches so many and it's awesome someone uses their forum to promote awareness in any way they can.  Everyone should do what they can to help those who fight this terrible disease.  

As John Travolta is her husband the question about our favorite Travolta movie came up.  That's a tough one as he has so many good ones.  Pulp Fiction, Wild Hogs, The General's Daughter, and Primary Colors come to mind quickly.  But my favorite has to be Grease.  That is a movie I can always watch and enjoy so much.  And who doesn't want to sing along?

You should already be reading the Collecting Cutch blog but if not, start and be ready for his posts in October.  He does a good job promoting the cause with ladies you may or may not know.  Thanks to him.

Mail Day from Bump and Run Football Card Blog

 Trevor over at the Bump and Run Football Card Blog sent me some cool cards after I commented on one he was showing off on his blog.  These aren't all the cards but some of my favorites.  This Andre Rison is my favorite of the lot.  It has a cool design and photo.  Rison averaged 90 receptions and 1100 yards per season in his five seasons with Atlanta.  He was also good for a little drama here and there but was always entertaining.  

 I always like Bobby Hebert though his years in Atlanta weren't fruitful. One of my favorites in Devonta Freeman.  Injuries shortened his peak but he was fun as a Falcon.

 These guys were all big reasons their teams went to the Super Bowl.

 Those Coca-Cola Monsters of the Gridiron cards is one of my favorite sets.

 Finding a good Quarterback has been a tough road for the Bills after the Jim Kelly days.  

 I didn't know these Bowman Road to the Super Bowl cards existed.  I'm excited and will have to track these down.  

The aforementioned card I liked on his blog was this diecut Chuck Finley.  I like Finley and this is a nice design.  Thanks to Trevor for the great cards and hope I can return his generosity soon.  

Mail Day from Topps Cards That Never Were

Mail day from the Topps Cards That Never Were blog.  Jeremy reached out about a trade and boom a box of over 100 great cards ended up in my mailbox.  Make sure you check out his blog.  He does a great job doing up custom cards how he'd want to see them done.  He's extremely talented and it's fun seeing his alternative card universe.  Picking a favorite from what he sent was almost impossible but this Hank Aaron 3000 hits club card is a great place to start.  I really like this card and you hardly ever hear his hits total brought up when his name is mentioned (chicks did the long ball) but he is third all-time with an amazing 3,771 hits.  

 I received some great custom cards of some of my all-time favorite players.  Again he does such a good job.  I wasn't expecting these cool cards and was stoked to find them in my package.

The cards were mainly Red Sox and Braves so I was a happy man.  Many of which were PC guys including these three studs.

So many of these I'd never seen so now owning these cool cards is awesome.

Babe Ruth (Red Sox) <insert crying emoji here>  I really like these Ted Williams and Jimmie Foxx cards.

I like this Legends in the Making set and didn't have this Albies card yet.  The Dale Murphy and Hank Aaron cards are both cards I've never seen before.

I'd never seen any of the Father's Day cards so this Jackie Bradley Jr. was a fun inclusion.

He also took the time to look over my PC guys.  The McCutcheon is great.  I love All-Star game cards and I like that jersey.  Mike Trout - 'nuff said.

  Tim Wakefield is a PC guy for me and Youkilis and Varitek will always have a special place in Red Sox fandom as players from that '04 Championship team.  That Varitek is one of a few numbered cards I received.

More PC guys.  

There were quite a few minis as well including the Glavine below.  Thanks again to Jeremy.  Check out his blog and card handiwork.

Mail Day From Padrographs!

Suprise mail day from Rod at the Padrographs blog.  I also received cards from him last year which was also a great haul.  This group of cards was centered around the Chicago White Sox as well as a surprise entry.  This Fernando Tatis Jr. 1st Bowman is a sweet card.  White Sox fans are still trying to forget the trade that sent him to San Diego for James Shields.

  I had no clue about the 2019 Topps X Tatis Jr. Baseball Set until I saw this Eloy Jimenez card.  He was part of the Dominican Republic subset.  Sweet looking card and Jimenez had an excellent rookie year for the White Sox in 2019.

Big Hurt.  Legend.  Enough said.  Some really cool Frank Thomas cards but that Allen & Ginter Baseball Star Signs is a great looking card.  I'm really digging it and may have to look for others from that set.

Jose Abreu is a guy who seems to not get his due for the great production he puts out.  And he can't seem to land that big contract due to his age.  He was 27 when he won Rookie of Year in 2014.  Hope for more good things from this guy who is playing on a one year contract with Chicago this season.

I really hated seeing the Red Sox give up this guy to the White Sox in the deal that netted Chris Sale.  He had a break out season in '19 and is still only 24.  

These are only a sampling of the cards Rod sent my way.  So many good players and a few sets I've never seen in hand before like this Topps Total Wellington Castillo.

Rod through in quite a few Dave Dravecky cards.  It is so easy to forget how good a pitcher Dravecky was.  He never had an ERA over 3.58 in any of his eight seasons.  His career ERA was 3.13 in just over 1000 innings.  You know what - he is now a PC guy for me.  Amazing what a few cards can do for you.

And my all-time favorite White Sox player - Hall of Famer Harold Baines.  I always liked Baines as a kid.  Something about that swing I think just made him look good - and boy was he good.  That Donruss is another set I wasn't familiar with.

Thanks Rod!  I really appreciate all the fun cards.