Robbing Rob

KO Rob doesn't blog, but we actively communicate via my blog, email and Untappd.  Rob and I share the love beer and card collecting so we make a pretty good trade team.  Our last trade was beer, this time we went back to our roots.  

This is a quality start for sure. While not listed on the box it does come complete with stunning good looks and rocket arm throwing action.  

I actually have a good bit of Starting Lineups in my collection.  I've been contemplating taking them out of the box to save space.  Not sure what I'm going to do.  

"Hey Ladies"

Rob showing off....

Rob must have unlimited funds.  He can throw around 90 UD Walk's like it is nothing. Definitely explains how he sent me so much great beer at one time.  He is obviously an astronaut cowboy millionaire.

Rob knows my collection all to well....

The logo is obviously a welcome addition.

West is kind of like Gene Hackman.  He always looked old, but then just stopped aging.

This one is much nicer in person.

Now for some cards of my youth....

90 UD for the win here. I have a soft spot for Diamond Kings, but I love the unique photo.

Bobby Bonilla is not fondly remembered by most of his former employers, but I would say the one exception would be Pirate fans. He had his best years as a Pirate and played on some great teams.

Skinny Bonds galore!

The Shawn Harvey card is super cool  He played at super small West Virginia State University! Earl Lloyd went to school there...He would go on to be the first African American to have played in an NBA game.

Now we get into the super sexy portion of the program.

Card reeks of world class athleticism.

I talk about Spanky all the time.  Hard to not like the guy.

Now for a card that I put on Twitter as soon as I saw it.

Now that my friend is a gum stain.  Little did Topps know that this would be a prelude to a Heritage variation 20 years later. The stain adds some great character to an already great card.  Manager cards are already awesome, the gum made it legendary.

Thanks for all the great cards Rob.  They were a blast to sort through.  We need to trade some beer soon!

Thanks for reading.

Tony Pena, Croissan'wiches and Mountaineers

KO Rob is a frequent participant in our community without running a blog himself.  He and I have talked beer and swapped cards a few times over the last handful of months. I loved our first trade as it featured a lot of vintage Mountaineers.  This time it was a little bit of everything, but the main event was a couple of Mountaineer beauties.

 I love these tall Topps basketball cards.  Rob started off with a bang by sending me the most famous Mountaineer of all time.

 Rob apologized about the condition of this Rod Thorn.  I say it just has more character.

 This doubles as a sweet oddball and an excellent coupon!  I wonder if my local Burger King will honor it.  It is only 30 years old..

 Rob has a great feel for my collection. Always fun to see a card of former WVU great and Collegiate Hall of Famer Darryl Talley.

I've been neglecting my Jerry West collection for too long.  Maybe seeing these great cards Rob sent me will motivate me again.

 Now for the Pittsburgh portion of our show. The star of this bunch is the Harry Greb boxing card. Some guys just naturally look tough, I feel Greb falls into this category.  I feel like I would have had trouble even making eye contact with.

You really have to squeeze in everyone to fit a football team shot onto a card.

I had these six cards appraised. 7.5mil seemed a little light. Time to get Sotherby's on the phone. 

Thanks again Rob.  This was such a unique bunch of cards. Thanks so much for spending the time putting all these together.  I'll be hitting you back soon.  Shoot me an email sometime and we can talk about some beer trading too! 

Thanks for reading. 

KO'd

When I first started blogging it blew my mind when I was approached for a trade by a non-blogger. You mean people actually look at this stuff! Fast forward to today and I still swap with many of these same people that either commented on my blog or sent me an email.  I've even met one in person. Shout out to Mark Hoyle!

Recently Rob, who comments under the name KO Rob reached out and told me he had some vintage WVU guys I might be interested in.  Obviously my interest was peaked and sure enough after a couple of emails I had a bubble mailer from Rob in my possession.

 Rob went big right away with this one! WVU's most famous athlete.  You know you had a good career if your image is the logo!

 Ron Williams was one of WVU's first African American basketball players.  He played 8 pro seasons and stayed in the game as a coach in the college ranks.

 I love the tall cards! The only issue is they are so hard to keep in good shape.  Ron sent me one that looks great!

Ron didn't stop the generosity with the WVU guys.  He even threw in some baseball.

 Manuel was signed by the Pirates but I don't think he ever suited up for them in the regular season.  He had a nice long career as a Cardinal.

 These two had nice careers! I actually just saw something about Parker.  He has been suffering from Parkinson's for a few years now and has been doing various fund raising ventures in the Cincinatti area. He seems to be doing pretty well.

 The only Pirate in the National Baseball CArd Day set was Cutch.  Super cool for Rob to send one my way.

Tons of Bowman rookies. The only one I remember having played in Pittsburgh was Tike Redman. The Moises Alou STAR card was a nice trip down memory lane.

Thank you do much for the great cards Rob. Also, big thanks for commenting on the blog.  Always fun to find new trade partners.  I'll be working on a return package real soon.

Thanks for reading.