Johnny's Trade Post

John Miller surprised me with some cool cards recently.

Card Twitter was buzzing today at the revelation that 2021 Topps Update is slated to feature inserts in the classic '93 Black Gold design. Let's just hope Topps goes all-in with actual gold foil like the originals, not the shine-less TBT versions from 2019. But yeah, if those Update cards are done right, I might have to chase the set, or at least go after my PC guys. I'm still working on the originals, but this lot from John helps.

Here are highlights from the many San Diego cards in the package. The 2017 Gypsy Queen Wil Myers throwback variation seems to be a pretty tough pull. Looks like John broke a few small sets like Donruss Opening Day and Fleer Update, passing the Padres onto me. I never had much from those near-oddballs so I get a thrill out of them with their less-familiar alternate designs. And always love adding cards to PCs of guys like Bip and Templeton.

John seems to dig up a few Gavin Floyds to include every time he sends me cards. While I already have most of Floyd's mainstream cards, there were a couple needs and an upgrade here.

Saving the best for last with this pair. Might seem unassuming at first, but...

A glossy parallel of Gavin Sheets and a 12/25 press proof of Matt Clement. Sheets is the frontrunner to be the next guy named Gavin to crack the big leagues, off to a good start in AAA this season. Clement is a guy I remember rooting for during his days in San Diego.

Great stuff.. thanks, John! I sent you a little return the other day, hope you like.

Pair of PWEs and COMC consternation

 
I hammered out a quick PWE swap with Bo for a couple cards from my sidebar wantlist. Hank Aaron bookends the 1975 Topps set and this #660. Still need the #1 highlight card among the 95 cards left on my '75 Topps wantlist. I'm closer to the finish line with '74 Topps-- more on that in a minute. Great leg kick photo on the Juan Marichal.

And a few nice bonus cards of PC guys along for the ride. Love the O-Pee-Chees (O-Pee-Cheese?).

Thanks, Bo! Always a pleasure.

 -  -  -  ---o

Chris The Collector recently celebrated a blogging milestone and sent out cards to some lucky readers to say thanks for reading and commenting. Great to score more cards of instant Padres legend Joe Musgrove, my first additions since his no-no. He's joined here by fellow Padre Eric Hosmer and fellow San Diegan Stephen Strasburg.

A couple Xanders, a Doolittle, and the star of the envelope Jim Palmer. I'm now down to just 27 cards left on my '74 Topps wantlist, with about half of those being variations that I ultimately might not worry about when it comes right down to it.

1974 Topps needs (not counting Washington "Nat'l Lea." variations)

7 Jim Hunter

20 Nolan Ryan

85 Joe Morgan

160 Brooks Robinson

201 Batting Leaders Carew/Pete Rose

202 HR Leaders Jackson/Stargell

207 Strikeout Leaders Ryan/Seaver

212 Rollie Fingers

273 Checklist 265-396

300 Pete Rose

338 Jackson/Billy Williams AS

414 Checklist 397-528

598 Rookie Outfielders (Ken Griffey)

599A Rookie Pitchers (Padres reg font)

599B Rookie Pitchers (Padres big font)

608A Rookie Pitchers ERR (Apodaco)

654B Jesus Alou COR (outfield)

I should really hit this hard and close the book on '74 one of these days (..seems like I've been saying this for a couple years now, lol). Please let me know if you've got any of these available for trade and I'll try to find you something nice in return.

Great stuff, Chris-- thanks! Congrats on 500 posts and here's to many more!

-    -   - ----o

And one purchase to squeeze into this post.

I've got a ton of Wil Myers cards and don't really need any more, but in a moment of weakness last week I pulled the trigger on this Christmas Card for a decent price.

I didn't realize it until just now scanning through my blog's archives, but this is the 4th 12/25 "Silver Signatures" card from 2013 Topps Five Star in my collection!

Neat. Cornering the market on these things. haha

Anyways. So I got a "Shipment Update: Shipped" email from COMC the other day and I got really excited that my order from last November was finally on the way. But then I was crushed when the just above Wil Myers card arrived in a lonely, small bubble mailer. Turns out I didn't even look at the seller when I bought it, but it was through COMC's ebay consignment account.

So that was a bummer. BUT then yesterday I got another "Shipment Update: Shipped" email from COMC, and this time it really is my big order from last November. So I've got that to look forward to soon. I barely remember what-all is even in there at this point, but I'm sure there's a bunch of fun stuff that I'll show off on the blog in the near future.

card show bonus box from Rod

Always nice to bump into Rod at the monthly card show; And when he surprises me with a box of cards.. even better! Let's check out what this one's got in store.

I love shiny, numbered cards. That orange Wil Myers is #'d a scant 7/25... wow!

Hot rookies representing!

Some hits and inserts. Tanaka relic, pink Giancarlo, Big Hurt rookie reprint, and a couple Twins. That /25 Sano may come in handy if I ever attempt hammering out another trade with his Twitter supercollector.

More 2018 stuff. This is my first look at '18 Gallery in-hand. Although in my eyes this product is just a step above Panini Triple Play-- unless they're vintage or 1/1 sketchcards, I have very little interest in drawn/painted baseball cards-- I will give Topps credit on the solid design this year.

More good stuff from the box I can use.

Half dozen certified autos! Some familiar Padres From The Past for me here. Rymer Liriano didn't make it out of AAA this past season (Angles and Brewers systems), but did crank 20 homers, so maybe he'll stick around a while longer. Dane Phillips was a 2nd round pick in 2012 that didn't pan out and seems to have been out of baseball this year. Ben Davis was another highly touted Padres catcher who didn't live up to expectations, but at least he made the show and saw action in 7 MLB seasons.

A trio of signed customs! Always nice when there are extra Padrographs that Rod can share with me.

The backs look good too. I know firsthand that making custom backs can be a pain (they usually take like twice as long as the fronts if you include stats n' such), so I appreciate it when anyone takes the time to not just leave a custom as a blank-back.

I'm sure there are a few needs for me here in this nice Gwynn lot.

Rounding out the surprise box from Rod was a big stack of WWE divas. Some keepers for my "girlie card" minicollection here, including a pair of Alexa Blisses and rookie cards of Liv Morgan and Ronda Rousey.

Huge thanks, Rod! I'm in your debt, per usual, so please don't hesitate to let me know if I can help you out with anything.. cards, customs, photoshop work, whatever!

A Tale of Two P-towns

Got a great bunch of cards from Peoria shipped over to me in Portland courtesy of Tom at Waiting 'til Next Year.

Woah, sharp looking Wil Myers relic!

And this one isn't too shabby as far as manufactured relics go.

Another Myers, plus a big name for the future in Gore and a big name from the past in Colbert.

Francisco Mejía is another big prospect for the Padres, having given up our best reliever to get him from the Indians. He seems to be tearing it up in AAA since the trade. I hope he pans out.

Tom ripped a good amount of 2018 Big League and had neat extras of some guys I collect.

A tiny Gant, a shiny Minnie, and another card for my Marquis Mania project.. very nice.

While all the cards in the package were cool, this 4-pack of Buccos I needed for my '57 set was what lit up my eyes the most. Solid names here, too. Hank Foiles was an all-star that year. Bill Virdon was ROY in 1955. Vernon Law won the Cy Young in 1960. Bob Skinner was an all-star in '58 and '60. Very cool to check 'em off this ambitions setbuild of mine.

Since Blue Tape And Pull Tab Awareness Week is over, I won't be featuring the packaging, but Tom would have earned himself an A. Blue tape, pull-tabs, the whole 9 yards.

Great stuff.. Thanks a lot for the trade, Tom!

Trade Recapitation

Got a few nice trades packages from the past week or so to show off.

Ozzie Smith rookie bringing the boom! Story behind this is an Ozzie collector came across my old Simpsons customs being talked about on Reddit and got in touch asking if he could buy copies of the two Wizard cards in the little set. I don't sell my customs, but told him I'm up for trade offers, and specifically I could use an Ozzie RC if he happened to have an extra. Lucky for us both, he did have a poor condition copy he'd be willing to part with. That was fine with me, and we swung a quick trade. It's miscut and has some wrinkles, but I'm happy to refill this hole in my collection. (I used to have a '79 Ozzie, but had to give it up in order to seal a big trade with Matt Prigge last year that netted me a nice Carlos Correa auto.)

Thanks again for the trade, Benjamin!

-  - - ---o

Next up is a quick swap with notable reader Mark Hoyle knocking off a bunch of my remaining 1982 Topps needs.

Thanks, Mark! Hope you like what I sent you back (should arrive any day now).

-  - - --o

Chris the Collector is next up.

Seven cards now checked off my '84 Donruss setbuild. Much appreciated!

Also a Dick Williams and Steve Lyons. Jedi Jeff gave me a heads-up on the '89 Fleer card a while ago and so I put it on my wantlist. Check the batting gloves. Figured this would make a solid card for my "We Didn't Start The Fire" binder for the Psycho entry.

Thanks, Chris! I'll hit you back with a return soon.

-  - - --o

Next we have a surprise Stealing Home package. I was happy to be included in his latest wave of outgoing cardboard.

Nice Goldy lot highlighted by a blue parallel.

A couple Bryants and a Fernando.

But the most impressive card of the package was this Wil Myers commemorative not-a-patch. I've cooled on collecting White Queso in the past year or two, but still like getting hits or numbered cards of his in trade. (UPDATE: he hit a couple three taters today!)

Thanks, man! I'll round up some Dodgers to send your way shortly.

-   - ---o

Last one for the week, a trade with reader TSHenson, who seems to be the most active Indians collector on the cardsphere these days.

Some Didis including a gold parallel, neat Judge insert, a Gavin, and a glow-in-the-dark Utley.

Cool Marquis selection to boost the PC.

But the real star of Tim's package was an impressive lot of 1982 Topps, featuring a bunch of big names I needed. Thanks to him and Hoyle, I'm down to single-digits left to put this set to bed:

66 Howe/Ryan TL
200 Brett
450 Bosley
496 Grubb
549 Brett AS
582 Luis Pujols
586 Fingers IA
610 Rickey Henderson
754 Joe Morgan

Thanks a lot, Tim! I've got a bunch of solid Indians rounded up for you and I'll drop them in the mail very soon.


Thanks again to all my trading pals. If anyone else wants to trade, take a look at my wantlist and get in touch. Thanks!

Bonus Content! In my continuing quest to get attention on Twitter, I've made another card gif. This one may be one of my best, if I say so myself...

The great Satchel Paige would be celebrating a birthday today, were we lucky enough that he was still with us. Love to get a look at his incredible windup!

p.s. Unsolicited plug, but the "boom" background on the top Ozzie pic is a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Shredded Wheat. Picked up a couple boxes for a great close-out price and it's pretty good stuff!

Julie trade

Good stuff in the mail from Julie!

A Beltre blast!

Neat cards from new HOFers!

O's goes!

Bringer of Rain has been brought!

Keep on rocking!

Never too old for this Schmidt!

Pads and sods. Maybin black mini super scare, #'d 10/10!

2018 Heritage base team set!

A couple dudes basically traded for each other.

And some minicollection hits with a Pride PC addition, glowing Griffey, and parallel Gavin.

Big thanks, Julie! You're the best! (I was tempted to make this a post in my GNR series for "Your Crazy" [meant with all the love] but I didn't want to offend.. lol!) I'll get a return package out to you soon!

Group breaking my heart

I hadn't done a group break in a long time, but recently jumped in and snagged the Angels in Nacho Grande's break of 3 hobby boxes of 2018 Topps Heritage. I was hoping for an Ohtani (preferably an auto, but even a base SP would've been cool), and/or a nice pull from Mike Trout. But sadly I got shutout there.

The collation sucked in the 3 boxes. I didn't even get one single Trout base card or All-Star card (which is also a base card), neither of which are SPs. No inserts, either. At least I got his checklist card, I guess.

Each slot in the break also came with a randomized bonus team. I coincidentally lucked into the Padres which is cool because they're "my team", though not exactly bursting with value, and plus I will likely end up with these base cards unsolicited in trades over the next few months. Again, the crappy collation of the boxes gave me 2 or 3 copies of half the team set, and zero copies of the other half. That's ridiculous. How is it 2018 and Topps is still struggling with the technology of properly "shuffling" their cards?? Shouldn't be that hard.

I did score 3 SPs, though.

And one nice pull I ended up with was this /69 black refractor of Wil Myers. That definitely made me feel better about my haul. He's a guy I collect, after all. Hopefully having Homser in the lineup takes pressure off him and he can relax and have a great year. I know some collectors don't particularly like chrome cards in Heritage, but I think this one looks great.

Chris also ripped a few lower-end packs as bonuses in the break, and I was able to find some keepers there.

Thanks a lot for the break, Chris! It was fun, even if we didn't score many big hits.

-   - - ---o

On the same evening as Chris' break, I also decided to snag a spot in a break via eBay. It was a player slot in a case break of 2014 Bowman Draft (which recently got back on breakers' radars thanks to Rhys Hoskins having a card in the set). I threw a bid on the Gavin LaValley slot and ended up being the only bidder, so at least it was cheap. I have already completed that rainbow besides the superfractor and some printing plates, but I figured in an entire case I might have a shot at those 1/1s, or at least a nice dupe of a low numbered parallel. But guess what, I got shutout there too. Boo!

Here's all I got. One base refractor and 3 base chrome cards. It was one of those auctions where the base paper cards don't ship. And while I knew that going in, it still sucks. The funny irony of it all is thanks to crap like this, the base paper is actually scarcer and worth more, per COMC:

Chrome - 42 from $0.32
Chrome - Refractor - 30 from $0.69
Paper - 9 from $0.74

The "crummy old paper" base card that isn't worth shipping out, according to many breakers, is going for twice as much as the chrome parallel, even more than the refractor parallel, and there are much less of it available. Pretty funny.

Anyways, since then, I've deleted my saved search for Gavin group breaks. I'll probably still jump on a cardsphere group break once in a while because those can be fun, but I really gotta stay away from other group breaks and just pick up cards on the secondary market.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Oh, and every card in this post besides the Wil Myers parallel is available for trade (and I'll keep one each of the guys I collect). So if you're working on '18 Heritage and need any of these, check out my wantlist and get in touch!