Johnny On the (Trading) Spot: a Trade Post

You know that thing of when you’re reading someone’s blog and you realize they have a card that you desperately want, and you post a comment to that effect not even knowing that the blogger already mailed you said card? Then it comes in the mail a day later and you’re like, “Awwwwww! What a guy…!” That happened to me recently.

John of the positively delightful blog Johnny’s Trading Spot was on his game. He’d found a rare Chuck Finley and immediately sent it out to yours truly no questions asked. These Leaf Preview cards are a tough find, too. I only recently completed the Griffey Leaf Preview rainbow and at somewhat heavy expense which I justified only with the fact that hey - it’s a Griffey, and I must have it. I didn’t even know there was a Finley to be had.

On top of that, John proved once again why he’s got “trading” right there in the title of his blog. He’s one of my most prolific trading partners. Here’s a bunch more stuff he sent my way:

A really fun pitcher-on-defense action shot from Upper Deck with Chuck bracing for impact. It’s a little annoying that the answer to the Fun Pack trivia question is right there in the illustration. How ‘bout letting me guess, guys?

Here’s a bevy of micro-Buhners and an itty-bitty Dan Wilson Star Attractions kinda-rookie.

And how ‘bout that elusive Leaf Gold rookie? With the addition of these cards from John I’m now a tad closer to having all the Dan Wilson rookies (he had “rookie cards” for three years, all from the Reds). His rookie year years were right in the middle of the early 90’s collecting explosion, so there are plenty.

John sent me so many cards, he gave me a Buhner. (rimshot)

Here’s a bunch of new-to-me Javy Lopez cards (including one of my favorite Topps Future Star designs). Javy is another guy with far too many rookies.

And a fabulous Drake’s Kittle, now one of the earliest Kittles in my collection.

And some just-for-fun photography from ’91 Upper Deck. That giant baseball glove has really made the rounds on cardboard. Somebody make a post about it.

And apparently there’s something else on the way – a “surprise” as he calls it. Chomping at the bit am I.

Thanks a ton, John! Looking forward to the next one, though it is most decidedly my turn.

It's Like Having My Own Chuckstache: a Trade Post

I got Chuckstached by Daniel from It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. My Chuckstache rainbow grows ever larger.

I had zero Will Clark relics before this package landed - now I have two of them, both with some pretty low numbering. I opened this piece of mail while in the company of cardboard-disinterested friends, and even they looked less annoyed than usual that I was trying to make them look at baseball cards.

We're on the downslope, guys (the Saints, I mean - not this trade package). Brees is aging and PT isn't even running the ball for us anymore. We have a couple of good years left before it'll be time to name a new starting QB and the city burns down in the riot. Drew can do no wrong in this town. Even I've bought the guy a beer (sushi restaurant, pre-Superbowl).

A nice late Vida I was missing.

Some Update help. I still need Update help.

Even more Clark including an elusive white-bordered GQ parallel.

And a lovely mix of Finleys that span a decade. I keep thinking I'm going to meet this guy some day. I know he lives in Cali; but he's from Monroe, a town not too far from NOLA. People don't usually leave Louisiana for long. This is a sticky place in more ways than one.

Thanks for the great stuff, Daniel! While I have no connection with Chuck Finley, I do have one with Will Clark. Those relic cards you sent might see some ink once hunting season comes back around...

Wallet Card Wednesday: Celebrity Principal Edition

Believe it or not, I’m still taking as many Wallet Card photos as ever. Most of these find their way onto Twitter, but I haven’t posted any to the blog in some time. Meanwhile the backlog of WC photos continues to grow. Something’s got to give.

So I’m taking advantage of the alliterative nature of this post’s title to bring you a new feature: a new #WalletCard photo every Wednesday. I already have enough to last the remainder of the year, so I may end up doing a few two- or three-fers. Lucky you.

I’m starting this feature with a real doozy: the biggest celebrity I’ve ever convinced to pose with the 1989 Upper Deck Griffey rookie that is my wallet card. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Dennis Haskins:

Mr. Haskins played the loveable Mr. Belding, principal of Bayside High, on the hit teen sitcom Saved By the Bell. He also appeared as Mr. Belding on the show’s predecessor Good Morning, Miss Bliss and reasonably successful spin-off Saved By the Bell: the New Class. You can find Mr. Haskins playing characters other than Richard Belding on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mad Men, and A Million Ways to Die in the West.

This meet and greet took place at a New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins AAA affiliate) baseball game last month. Dennis was extremely friendly and accommodating - class act all the way. The line to meet him was long, but everyone walked away with an autograph and a smile. He even sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” for the whole crowd.

Dennis signed autographs for everybody, even my wife who initially didn’t even ask for one; so we went home with two. Here’s mine:

Hers is on the fridge, cuz Mr. B is cool.

My Long Hockey Nightmare is Over: a Trade Post

There are not that many T.J.'s laying around, so we notice each other. When I meet a new T.J., I find we size each other up, ask probing questions, judge their T.J.-ness. We have conversations about how annoying it is that all the other initial names seem to rhyme with ours or who we will and will not allow to call us "Teej," and we laugh at all the Alexanders and Sebastians who have to pay so much more for engraving - you know, T.J. stuff. And of course we discuss all the things T.J. could stand for that we learned in school - things like "toe jam," "turd jar," and "toilet janitor." Sometimes we share a good cry. #stopbullyingTJs #initialsaresexy #lizardtruth

But some T.J.'s make it past the crippling psychological abuse of elementary school and on to greater things. Guys like T.J. Miller, comedian and Yogi Bear actor. And T.J. Ward, who is Maurice Jones-Drew's cousin. And of course, T.J. Housh....Houshman....the Bengals guy. These are some quality T.J.'s, but the most famous T.J. in my opinion is this guy:

It's Blues center and Olympic hero, Mr. T.J. Oshie, of course! Doug of the very satisfying Sports Cards From the Dollar Store made it his mission to find me a T.J. Oshie autograph, and he came through in a huge way. In fact the title of this very post is from the e-mail he sent me when he finally landed it.

Now, I always like to study the way other T.J.'s sign "T.J." because it's something I do a lot, and I want to find the best technique. It also tells you a lot about the nature of the T.J. you're dealing with. Let's look:

Ah, yes. Mr. Oshie does what looks like a large cursive L with a heavy bottom loop to emphasize it's J-ness, then crosses the end of the loop vertically to complete the T. Hm. I can already tell we wouldn't get along.

I'm kidding of course. I would gladly share a beer with T.J. And we could do that sitcom thing of when someone calls us from off-screen and we both look and say "What?" at the same time. It would be hysterical.

Oh, good Lord - more T.J.'s! Why that's simply...

You said it, teen romance pseudo-novel I saved from the trash.

I have a small pile of T.J.'s on my shelf as I type this that Doug helped grow substantially. It is simply impossible to have too many. Clutterbucks on the other hand...

Yes, there is another Clutterbuck in addition to my oft-overlooked PC, Bryan. I was a fan of Bryan Clutterbuck ('s name) long before I officially named Bryan a player collection, and at some point in the early 2000-teens I found a Minnesota Wild jersey tee at a T.J. Maxx (yeah, not kidding) of this other Clutterbuck and bought it on the spot for four bucks. I've been wearing Cal's name and number for years, and this is literally the first I've ever seen of him. That's how deep my Clutterlove runs. Or would that be ignorancebuck?

Thanks for spending so much time looking for this, Doug! I know it took a while to find, and I absolutely appreciate it.

Please enjoy these T.J.'s:

Represent.

Smoke if You Got 'Em: a Trade Post

It's the post title that's setting the blogsphere ablaze! Who are we to resist its power?

I really like Night Owl’s handwriting. And I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ve single-handedly depleted most of my trading partners’ Griffey reserves. No matter – I’m ecstatic at all the PC and set-building help I’ve been getting.

Like this attractive (but more than likely reviled by Night Owl) base card from 2015 Topps Series 1 with one of my favorite backgrounds from the set. Remember big, orange Marlins Guy? What was his deal, anyway?

I’m also still plugging away at ‘92 Donruss and 2014 Topps, if you can believe it. This is kind of embarrassing on both points but for different reasons

New Buhners, which I call Newhners. And a pair of Buhners is known as a Twohner. A twonher of newhners, though, is called a “cackle.” Names for groups of things are weird.

The cackle at the top of this group shows the evolution of both the Seattle uniform/logo and Jay’s magnificent facial hair. These are going into the Buhnder.

I’ve always thought Dan Wilson skinny for a catcher. This group shows his voyage from a Red to a Mariner, a move Junior also did but in reverse. I really like the field of purple they used for the Mariners in this Fleer Tradition set. Sadly Junior was in Cincy by this time, and while he got a base card and an Update card in this design, their backgrounds are yellow and red, respectively. Not quite as easy on the eyes.

These early Diamond Kings are some of my favorite DKs ever made, and I love how Panini is using their design as a basis for their relic insert in the 2015 Donruss set.

Also it seems Mr. Grissom is getting a fan favorite autograph in the new Topps Archives. I voted for him in addition to Bryan Clutterbuck. Fingers crossed for a Clutterbuck auto in next year’s Archives set. Or maybe a Clutterbuck 1/1 cut signature. Or maybe one of those cards that has a nickel in it or something, and the card is of Bryan Clutterbuck. With a Clutterfractor parallel. Numbered Clutter/Buck.

Thank you for the set-building and PC help, Greg! May we all get ‘em, that we may smoke ‘em in a spirit of brotherhood and cardboard cooperation.

One Man's Bieber is Another Man's Tittle: a Multi-Trade Mega-Post

I don’t like smooshing together a bunch of trades into one post, but I’m double-digits behind on giving kudos to trade partners. Things are getting desperate. So here are six trades I recently received from French Kevin, The Razinator, Kerry “El Scorcho” Biggs, Magic Mike from Massachusetts, Stealing Homeboy, and Zach “Two-Tittles” Jackson.

Behold bowling Bieber. Bieber bowls bravely. Bowl, Beebs, bowl. If you read any trade posts at all, you probably know who sent this; but just in case you don't, it was Kevin.

Said Bieber was protecting this massive King Felix relic numbered out of 50. I think this is my biggest relic to date for any player, even Griffey. Beautiful.

It's amazing just how many cards were made in the 90's that I've never even heard of. I already have one of these rare beauties in the Griffey binder (His name is on the back! It counts!), but this one will go into the Buhner binder, which I call the Buhnder.

Merci beaucoup, Kevin!

Raz put a huge dent in my 2014 Topps set-building, but what he sent along with these was the real surprise of this package:

Downton Abbey cards! And not only that, he sent me the complete base set. I was awestruck.

This is Sybil, by far the hottest of the three sisters on the show. She's dead. :-(

Maggie Smith absolutely kills it as the Dowager Countess (which I think is Britspeak for "grandma"). And Thomas, the guy on the right, is a massive douchecanoe who you kind of start to like in the later seasons.

I'm super appreciative of this excellent set. Thanks, Chris!

These were in a PWE from Kerry over at Cards on Cards. I think Meb wins the award for best name in that great First Pitch insert, barely edging out Biz Markie. Apparently you can beat the Biz.

The Pel's squeaked their way into the playoffs this year thanks to the Brow. The team color scheme translates well to cardboard.

Thanks, Kerry!

I realized today that I haven't shown a Griffey card in like four posts. Here you go:

2010 Seattle City Light #8

It's an oddball! And a very recent oddball at that. In fact, I believe this is my most recently-produced branded oddball of the Kid. Regionality should have kept this card far from New Orleans, but a reader, Micheal from Massachusetts was kind enough to send it on.

Thanks, Micheal! I'll be sending some 90's oddballs in return.

Here's plenty more on the Griffey front from Stealing Home. I remember pulling that Chase checklist out of a pack of Pinnacle back in '95 and being really excited at the amount of star power they squeezed onto one card. A personal favorite among checklists. And that early Flair insert used to book for $15.

I'm a fan of how Topps did their All-Star card in '99. Some interesting groups. And I only recently was able to snag the Griffey depicted on that Golden Giveaway card.

Finally S.H. threw in a few PC's. Thanks for the great cards, sir!

I like Y.A. Tittle, and not just for his awesome name. Zach aka The Underdog has quickly become one of my biggest sources of Tittle-ation, this being the second, which is helpful because I never get to flip through football cards. Thank you, Zach!

I have another dozen or so trade posts to put together over the coming days, so look out for those. Thanks for reading!