Draw Your Own Walk

Some of my normal trading buddies know how to make me laugh. 

This work of art is from GCRL.  Jim and I have been trading back and forth for quite sometime and he always has a knack for finding something unique.....or creating

Nice Wrigley cameo.  While I'll always prefer Pirate Walk cards, his coolness supersedes any team affiliation.

Jack Wilson was probably second to Jason Bay in terms of personal favorites during the mid to late 2000's.  

Eat your heart out JBF.

Jim is helping me continue my over indulgence of Glasnow autos.  I really do have a problem.  I feel like I'm adding at least one a week.

I feel that maybe Jim is dealing from his own collection since Cey is on the card.  The coolness factor is off the charts here.

That's a nice stripe running through the Wilson patch.  It always kind of boggled my mind how Leaf numbered their cards.  Two identical jerseys could be numbered to /50 and /250.  Fortunately I'm a team collector so I don't have to think too hard about which parallels are which.

Jim knows me all too well.  I love Bay and whenever I can add a cool card it is a great day.  Very nice looking patch from SPX.

Excited to get some Gypsy Queen in a trade!

Jung Ho Kang just got his work visa.  I don't know if he will ever get back to the level he was when he got in trouble.  Hopefully he has his drinking in check and can get his shit together.

Some more "newer" cards.  Nice mix of some of my favorite sets.

My buddies and I often talk about Kip Wells.  He was the master of throwing a great game right when you think he was going to get pulled from the rotation.  So we often use the comparison with current struggling Pirate pitchers.

The Frankie Frisch is perfect.

I've said it a few times, but I want all kinds of crazy seasonal Topps cards.  Might as well throw some fireworks, hearts and Easter Bunnies to fill out the season.  I actually think one of the Bowman parallels has a turkey on it already so we are covered for Thanksgiving.

This was a fun mix of players.  I was really rooting for Daniel Hudson, but he just couldn't get it together in Pittsburgh.  The guy had two Tommy John surgeries so the fact he is still pitching is a testament to his determination.

I probably should just start a Parrot mini collection.

Just two more pieces of evidence to prove that Kendall is the most underrated card guy ever.

Technically a Mets card, but still awesome.

A young Ramirez.  Letting him go was just soooooo bad.

Last but not least is one of the greatest oddballs in my constantly growing Bob Walk collection. I threw this card on Twiiter as soon as I pulled it from the envelope.  A true work of art. Just look at Walk.  So much greatness.

Thanks for all the great cards Jim! My turn....

Thanks for reading!

Beer and Bats

I've had a few of my ongoing blind trades morph into beer and card trading.  It is pretty much the best thing ever.  I highly suggest it. This time around it was my good buddy Jim aka GCRL who hooked me up.

I'm looking forward to trying these in the coming weeks. Mad Butch beer has a 10 WAR design in my opinion.  

I'm not sure if I have any of these HBP cards.  I knew about them, but it might be new to my collection.  Awesome!

A pair of Glasnow relics from high end sets.  Glasnow dominated AAA again this year, but sucked something awful in his Pirate starts.  Some scouts see him as a high end reliever so maybe that is where he will find his success.  I'm sure the Pirates will once again give him every opportunity to start before making the conversion.

It was cool to see Danny Ortiz get a card this year.  He only made a couple of appearances and likely won't have a clear path to the MLB again unless the Pirates have multiple injuries.

I'm thankful my blogging friends continue to throw some of the Fire cards my way.  I kept telling myself that I was going to buy some, but just never pulled the trigger. I know reviews have been all over the place, but I'm a fan of different and these are definitely different.

The lone football card is this numbered Willie Parker.  Parker topped the 1000 yard mark three consecutive years with the Black and Gold.

Thanks so much for sending me the brews and cards Jim. I already have one high end card for you, but need to fill out the package a little more before sending.

Thanks for reading.

GCRL Sends Suds and Cards

My long standing trade with Jim from cards as i see them has been chugging along nicely. Recently we have even dipped our toes into beer trading.  Minnesota has a lot of good beer that I've been wanting to try and Jim was nice enough to send a few cans on separate occasions. Now I'm on the clock to hit him back.

Looking forward to these!

Of course Jim didn't stop at beer. He always has a full arsenal of Pirates to send my way.

 This is a great in person signature of Manny Sanguillen.  I love that it is on an MCI Ambassadors of Baseball card.

 John Smiley was a nice addition to the Fan Favorites set this year.  My work on earth won't be complete until we get a Bob Walk. Thanks for sending this one my way.  I will always love the Fan Favorites set, but they really tested me this year by putting Skip Bayless and the guy who fights for baseballs at games.

 The Mercer card was one of the better Pirate cards from last season. Nice cameo from AJ Burnett too.

 Nice to see Adam Frazier get a card.  He was a guy that wasn't thought of as much of a prospect but hit at every level of the minors.  His rise through the system was much like Harrison.

The surprise of the package was some Steelers with the big highlight being these Polamalu cards. When I was actively adding Steelers to my collection in the mid 2000's Troy was probably only second to Hines Ward in personal favorites to collect.  The main issue with Troy is that he came at a premium price.  During his playing days he was a notorious hard guy to get an auto of so collecting him came at a big price.  Man, he was fun to watch play.

Thanks for the cards Jim.  I'm definitely on the clock to get you some beer!

Thanks for reading!

Harpooned

2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Bill Mazeroski Auto

This past Thursday I received a great package from long time trade partner Jim, aka GCRL.  It was a dual headlining package featuring this beautiful Maz auto and a trio of local Minnesota beers.  I'll wait to post about the beers once I have consumed the last of the three.  

I knew this card was coming as Jim warned me as soon as I updated my white whale list. Still it doesn't take away from the excitement.  The Greats of the Game auto sets are some of the more desirable on the secondary market so they are not the easiest to secure.  Thanks to Jim I'm off to a nice start with the new white whales.  I'm soooooo excited to have this card.  

I'm already close to having another pile of cards for you my friend, so rest assured you will be getting a few heavy hitters.  Also, I'll secure some cool local beers for you and your coworkers to sample. Cheers my friend.

Thanks for reading.  

Trade: Cards as I See Them

Cards as I See Them is Jim's (GCRL fame) newest project.  Jim and I've managed a nice long blind trade over the past few years. He hoards Pirates for me while I try and figure out what Dodger card best suits my many Dodger collecting friends.  

I received a bubble mailer early last week full of great cards. 

It has been fun trying to chase all the new Tekulve autos that were in this years Archives Signature Series. When I saw this card in the envelope I was super pumped.  Tekulve is on the short list of favorite Pirates to collect.  He just has so many great cards.

Tabata flashed a ton of talent early in his Pirates tenure, but couldn't sustain any type of success long term.  He eventually got pushed out once Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco became more established.

With all that being said Tabata was well represented cardboard wise so I still have plenty to chase. The Golden Moments autos had a nice look.

This card brought a smile to my face.  Lofton was only in Pittsburgh for half of season so cardboard representing him in black and gold is limited.  This Topps Gallery card is awesome!

How about a 55 Bowman!!!!

Chad Hermansen has some cool cards out there.  He was an uber prospect in the lates 90's early 2000's so plenty of wild cards exist.  This "Who to Watch" insert has a cool look.

1997 Topps had some cool photography to help you get past the odd name placement and random green line.  I love this Jay Bell card.

I'm sure this has been a Dimebox Nick card at some point.

A few old legends on newer cards.

The Cervelli Stadium Club is my favorite here.

The Pitt Power card catches Marte and McCutchen celebrating a win.

The Doumit has always been a favorite of mine.  A unique photo for sure.

Broken bat!!!!

Aroldis Chapman has nothing on this guy.

Let's round things out with a 67 Topps Manny Mota.

Thanks so much for the cards Jim. My Dodger pile is pretty much depleted right now so it is time to accumulate for our next round!

Thanks for reading.