Friendly Rivals

Noted Cubs fan P-town Tom recently hooked me up with cards and beer! So far I've only gotten through one of the beers so that review can come at a later date.  As usual the card portion was fantastic.  Tom always finds unique cards for my collection.  

A couple of weeks back I featured both Al Martin and Mike Spanky Lavalliere on a post and ever since it feels like they have been hitting my mailbox on a steady basis.  That is awesome.  For the sake of Science let's see if I have magical powers.  Future posts are planned on Clemente rookies and Honus Wagner cards.  Now the waiting game.....

Tom has sent me quite a few unique TTM/IP autos over the years. This is a great card to have signed. Al Martin has some cool cards out there. 

Over the past year I've been trying to add a many Keller cards as possible knowing that he was likely going to skyrocket the top prospect lists once he hit AA.  Sure enough most publications list him as the Pirates #1 prospect and a top 20 overall.

Tom is keeping up with his current events!  Moran was part of the Cole deal and will likely be the starting third baseman for the Buccos.  He has kind of an interesting career arch already.  He was the 6th overall pick by the Marlins in 2013, but really struggled.  He eventually got traded to the Astros and seemed to regain his form last year, with the big caveat that he played in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League.  He will be given every chance to succeed in Pittsburgh.

A rare shot of someone warming up the pitcher in between innings!

I actually didn't remember Phillips.  He appeared in 6 games for the Buccos in 1999.  I'm mad at myself as I'm usually pretty good remembering guys from that time period.

Tom is just showing off now.

Things are getting crazy.

Tom is just hanging on the rim after a monster dunk.

Back when Neil Walker was a catcher!

Inception is an underrated base set.

I'm glad I've been getting some Gallery cards via trade.  I didn't open any boxes when they released. Kind of regret it....

Cardboard legend!

I want all the Keller's!

Keller just got his first Chrome auto in 2017, but his Bowman rookie base card is in 2014.

Topps Game cards are always fun.

This is awesome! I thought I had this card, but I"m pretty sure this is new to my collection.

Still in the pack!

Glasnow was a disaster last year.  I'm guessing he'll be given one more shot to start then it will be a permanent move to the bullpen.

Taillon has battled some serious arm injuries and cancer already in his young career.  The man deserves a break.

The Jamestown Jammers was the Pirates NYPL affiliate up until 2014.  It was then moved to Morgantown about two miles from my house!

I think it was my Dad that told me he remembers seeing "sets" from Renata Galasso being sold in the JC Penny's catalog.

Sigh.....The Pirates fan in me is going to have a hard time not seeing Cutch in uniform.

World class athlete, Mike Spanky Lavalliere. 

Tom sent a ton of cards.  My photos were only the tip of the iceberg.  You rock Tom.  I just got stocked back up on a few Cub cards so I'll be hitting you back very soon! Also I'll have some beer.  Beer and cards in the mail.  What a world we live in! 

Thanks for reading.  

Fire Walker

P-town Tom may have just completed the fastest turnaround for a trade in blogging history.  Last week I hit him with a Vogelbach auto and about 2 minutes later I had a return package. I thought it could have been a coincidence, but he reused the note I had sent him.  Well done Tom!

 What made this trade even weirder is that I've been talking about Topps Fire on here with a few people saying that I've been interested in buying a blaster at Target.  Well Tom (who could possibly be some type of wizard) read my mind and sent me the most desirable Pirate.

While hard to give a review based on just one card, I will give Topps credit for doing something different. Being a fan of 90's cardboard I found this card reminiscent of the crazy inserts of the time. My buddy GCRL told me he bought some and the collation was poor so that may prevent me from going out and spending money on it. Looks like I'll just rely on the generosity of some of my trading buddies.

The main event in the magical trade package was this Topps Super Luke Walker.  I recently mentioned this card a few months back in that it seems like it should have a good back story.  Either way it is absolute great card.  What are you looking at Luke?!!!

Thank you for the great cards Tom.

Poisoned by Tom

P-town Tom and I have completed a lot of trades.  By my counts I have received around 15 packages over the years.  I always admire Tom's quickness. It seems like as soon as I hit him with something a return shot is in my mailbox within days. As always Tom's trades have quite the variety...

 How about a 61 Fleer Little Poison.

 And a Big Poison!

What a way to start out a trade package.  Thanks for sending these my way Tom.  Of course we are not done because Tom is the man.

 Tom must know someone who is a master of TTM's or IP autos. I believe this might be the second Bell auto that has been sent my way.  Since Bell doesn't have a certified auto in the Bucco uniform this is the cream of the crop.

My cardboard wish is that Bell gets a Fan Favorites Archives auto one of these days.  

 Got a love the real auto over the facsimile.

Craig Wilson was another favorite of mine during his Pirate days.  He probably would have had a much longer career if he played in today's game.  His skill set of high obp and position flexibility would be sought after. 

 I want to dub the red parallels from Prizm "Reign in Blood" parallels.  Slayer!!!!!  Reese Mcguire is now in the Blue Jays system as he was part of the Francisco Liriano deal.

 So far the Polanco Topps is my favorite Pirate card in 2017.  The Polanco Opening Day card is my first taste of that set so far.

 Josh Bell is still a little raw, especially on the defensive side. The bat looks like it will play though so I'm hoping he continues to develop. The Pirates need him to have a big year to be competitive.

Now this Cobra is super cool. It is from the 1981 Perma Super Star Credit Card Series. What a great oddball. 

Thanks for the cards Tom.  I'll hit you back soon.

Thanks for reading! 

Delayed Reactions (Sorry P-town Tom)

A couple months back P-Town Tom hit me with two packages about a week apart.  One was a bubble mailer and the second was this box full of Pirates and Blue Jays to forward to Kevin in France.

Why am I just now posting about the box? Well, it got buried on my desk. My wife put it in a different spot than my other mail and I covered it with other card related items on my desk.  I shot Tom an email to apologize and let him know it was here and will be posted.  It took me a little longer than I hoped as I was still trying to dig out from JBF's bombings and get through a pile of envelopes that had accumulated on my desk over the holidays.  Sorry Tom! 

The contents of the box was a nice variey of Pirates. 

1996 Pinnacle Aficionado was an odd set.  Supposedly the cards were sprayed with a bubble gum scent.  Seriously I'm not making this up.  Read the description..... I love getting cards from these mid 90's one off sets.

I love multi player prospect cards.  It was a guarantee that pretty much every Pirate put on one of these in the 90's and early 00's failed to make any type of impact.  Of these three cards only Jermaine Dye and Richard Hidalgo had decent careers.

I remember loving the Ovation cards when they came out.

Ugh..Kevin Polcovich.  The Pirates were such a mess during this time frame.  I guess if their is a bright side it makes it easier to find obscure parallels and inserts since the Pirate checklists are small and acquisiton cost is cheap.

Beard game was strong in the early 80's.  Enriqe Romo loos like he coudl be the Geico Caveman.

Ke'Bryan Hayes is Charlie Hayes son and is a rising prospect in the Pirates system. Injuries slowed him down, but most reports still have him as a top ten Pirates prospect.

I belive this was the set everyone went crazy for because of the JD Drew rookie card.

Cole Tucker auto!

Love the Honus sliding pose.

More legends.

Stadium Club for the win. 

I've received so many cool Kendall cards lately.  He would be in my top 5 for Pirate cardboard overall.

This was a nice surprise.  I don't mess with Museum Collection other than cherry picking a few cards here and there on eBay.

When I was in high school my local Kmart would always carry boxes UD Ionix.  It was one of my more frequent purchases during the time if I was splurging on something fancy.

Skinny Bonds.

The Topps HD is cool.  Forgot how thick those cards were.

I feel like Van Slyke was everyones favorite Pirate in the early 90's. Guess that just goes to show how big of an asshole Bonds was.

Giles on the front....

Pudge on the back. Million dollar error card!

Former WV Black Bear Kevin Kramer.

Even the base cards of Bowman Best during this time frame looked like crazy inserts. 

Thanks for the cards Tom.  Sorry for the delay. I'll be sure to get the Blue Jays to Kevin.