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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Too Many Awesome Cards!

My good buddy Dennis (Too Many Verlanders) hit me with a blockbuster trade package right before Christmas. I went back and looked and this marks the 14th time I've received cards from the Michigan/Tigers fanatic. That amount probably puts him on the Mount Rushmore of Bob Walk trade partners. 

As usual Dennis mixed in a combination of Pirates and Mountaineers in the package. 



I've had a nice run adding manager cards this month. The only sad thing about this card is that Kluszewski isn't showing enough of the guns.

Dennis knows I'm a sucker for the original Frank Thomas!
For as long as the Pirates have been around they really don't have a great history when it comes to star pitchers. Most of the recent Hall of Fame pitchers that played for the Pirates either had a short stay or were at the end of their careers.  Probably the most notable pitcher in modern times was Bert Blyleven, but he only had 3 seasons with the Bucs and he left on bad terms.

With that being said the Pirates do have some great names in history like Vern Law and Roy Face. What a cool looking card of what appears to be spring training. It appears that Vern Law has to poop from the grimace.
A very young Al Oliver. If he could have had a couple more big seasons he would have made it to 3000 hits and the hall of fame.
A very small stamp of the Cobra!
56 Topps Dale Long
These are the kind of manu-relics that I can tolerate. Very nice Pops!

I was glad to see Archives finally add some cool Pirates to the Fan Favorites autos. The set is always one of my favorites every year, but they were rehashing guys like Al Oliver and Dave Parker over and over again. Having guys like Kendall was a welcomed change.
Cutch is like Tekulve, he doesn't have bad cardboard.
It was a stretch to call Bream a fan favorite since he scored the run to win the NLCS as the member of the Braves. He is from the Pittsburgh area so I guess there's that, but I think if you ask most Pirate fans to give you a top ten fan favorites he wouldn't crack it.

Personally I thought it was a cool card and the bible verse makes it unique.


WVU time!
I was really pulling for Sims to get more playing time with the Bucs this year since Doug Martin sucked so bad last year. Unfortunately for Sims, Martin balanced back.
Bulger is probably the most notable Mountaineer to make a big impact in the NFL in the last 15 years.
One of the cool things about collecting Sims cards is that their is a lot of color in the jersey cards. I've been trying to get some of the patches that feature the full Buccaneer, but they still bring in a good bit of money.
Now for my two favorite cards of the bunch. Geno has had a tough go as a pro, but that doesn't stop me from collecting the ex Mountaineer. He holds just about every passing record in school history so he still holds a soft place in my heart. This is an awesome plate from Bowman Sterling.

I chose this card as my favorite because of the great WVU uniform patch. Ultimate Collection is the go to set if you like players featured in their NCAA uniforms. What a great looking card.

Holy smokes that was a ton of great cards. I could ramble on about them forever. Thanks so much Dennis. Look forward to keeping the pace in 2016. I'll be hitting you back with a few more cards here soon since my last package was a little light.

Thanks for reading.

18 comments:

  1. I recall in the 1980s there were a bunch of guys who signed with bible verses. There probably still are when they aren't certified autographs. I mean, when they have to sign 8000 stickers or 2500 cards or something, there has to be a limit as to what they want to write. So, it's a very nice change of pace to see Bream sign his full signature with inscription.

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    1. Bream has always been nice. He signs all the time in the Pittsburgh area. It was a nice change of pace to see the bible verse and full signature.

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  2. Hooray for some affordable Geno Smiths! Happy new year (of trading), buddy!

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    1. I hope he prices me out again soon, but I'll take advantage of the good deals for now. Thanks again for so many great cards.

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  3. Nice printing plate! I'm a fan of the teammates appearing on the same card. Still prefer the vintage versions to the more recent attempts to revive the practice.

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    1. 2015 Update went overboard with the teammate cards. Some were great, but others failed miserably like the Darren O'Day card.

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  4. Gotta love the variety there has been lately with the Fan Favorites checklist.

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    1. It would be a great set to try and complete. For the most part the autos are all around the $5 to $10 range.

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  5. Good stuff! I need to put that Al Oliver on my wantlist.

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    1. He is a pretty affordable guy to collect. Even his high end autos/relics rarely jump above $15.

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  6. Love the Woody Fryman! Remember seeing him many times with the Expos.

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    1. I didn't know much about him. I had to look at his baseball reference page.

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  7. Nice Geno and Barkley dual! Some great stuff overall. The Kendall auto looks great

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    1. Nice to see him signing again. He debuted in the early stages of the auto/relic boom so he doesn't have quite as much out there.

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  8. Nice package here. I'd say it's a stretch for Sid Slid to be a fan favorite in Pitt.

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    1. Yeah, not many people remember his tenure as a Pirate other than big time Pirate fans.

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