Night Owlish

Night Owl is one of my favorite trading partners. Like Condition Poor and White Sox Cards, Greg has a pretty good want list over at Night Owl Inc. (I'd love to know about any other completist team collectors with exhaustive wants lists.) Here is a choice selection of cards I recieved:

New York Mets Upgrades:

Much like the real Mets of 2009, my 1-of-every-Met collection could use some upgrading. While not the best all-time Mets, these 2 dudes deserve the shiny/fancy treatment just like all the big stars.

Sweet Goodwins Portrait:

From the stack of Goodwin needs, I pulled out this nice close-up of Justin Verlander. Nice looking card of a quality pitcher. Great card!

Mets Frenchy:

That still doesn't sound right. Here's hoping the Mets have a player that is better than Jeff that stays healthy in 2010. This is my first Frenchy in Mets duds. (Did anyone notice how little I blogged about the Mets this year? It was a tough season!)

As usual, thanks for the trade, Greg.

Roll Out the Democratic Roadkill Barrel

I recently posted some non-baseball baseball cards for trade. The request s poured in, the cards shipped out, and then the cards rolled in. Here are a few I particularly liked:


From Ed at Roll Out the Barrel: Carlos Beltran - Showcase StitchesCarlos was injured for much of the 2009 campaign, as were most of the Mets. If you didn't notice that gigantic "O" in showcase, you may not have seen that bit of game-used fabric. I still like getting jersey cards of Mets and other guys I like. This one will replace some other Beltran card in my 1-of-every-Met collection.


From Duane at Democratic Roadkill: A&G Done Right and 08 Goudey SPsI love the A&G cards of the retired players. Both of these make the cut in my 1-350 A&G set. Why did Topps stop including these type players in the regular set?

My 2008 Goudey Baseball Only Want List is getting small thanks to Duane, ebay, and Check Out My Cards. These B&W are especially nice when compared to all the over-the-top designs of the 90's and 00's. Two cards closer!

Thanks Ed and Duane.

Dinged Corners Assignment: Favorite "On Card" Autographs

When Patricia, of Dinged Corners, assigns us bloggers some homework, we best get to it without complaining. So here are my favorite on-card autographs (of which I have very few).

#3 - 1996 Signature Rookies Torii Hunter
My mom has been on the yard/garage salecircuit for a few months now and happened upon a big box of baseball cards. She paid $10 for the lot. The cards were super fun to go through. I kept a few, my brother kept a few, and the rest will find their way to the blog world in due time. One of the gems of the box was this Torii Hunter autograph, numbered to 5000. Torii has turned out to be a pretty good player as well as an excellent Topps card poser. Thanks Mom!

#2 - 1991 Score Brian Barnes

I got this one in person at a Jimmy V fund event. Brian is from North Carolina, not too far from my hometown of Tarboro. My brother asked him if he remembered playing our high school team. He did and even remembered who the opposing pitcher was. I got cards signed by Marquis Grissom, Lee Smith, Kenny Lofton, and others that day but the interaction with Barnes was the best.

#1 - 2004 Topps Cracker Jack Lucy (Silver Ink) This remains my one and only TTM autograph. Unlike many stars who scribble their names without regard to what it looks like, I have heard that Lucy practices first so that each fan gets her best. That is how it should be.

There you have it. My 2006 Turkey Red Roy Oswalt on-card auto may be my most collectable card of this type but the previous three are my favorites. The thing they all have in common is some personal connection.

Cards from Slangon

I got an email from relatively new blogger Sean of the graphically elite, Condition Poor, about our mutual love for the Mets. He thought it would be beneficial to us both to aid each other in our quests for Mets cards. It took me a while to send my part of the trade, as I was once again pairing down the old collection, but I finally filled a small box and sent it on its way. Here's a sample of what I got in return:

A Mets team logo card to commemorate our shared disappointment of the 2009 season:A digitized Obak of sure-thing prospect Greg Jefferies (not Jeffries!) The info on the back of these cards is better than any product that I can remember. I have only bought 2 packs so this former Met is much appreciated.A few Goodwin Champions from the want list. I wrote a controversial, albeit late post on Goodwins being better than Allen & Ginter. I guess everyone agrees since I got little opposition! These 3 look outstanding.My 1-350 A&G set is a little more complete. Sean sent a few, including this horrific card of future HOFer Pudge Rodriguez. Wouldn't this card look better if Ivan had a catchers mask on with his head in the clouds. (See Godwins comment in above paragraph.)Sean did his homework and noticed that I read comics. I really like the fantastic four so this was my favorite of a stack of marvel comic cards. Johnny Storm is too cool.And last but far from least is this slightly mis-scanned Slangko original of Mark Sanchez:
I am no huge football fan but this card gets a spot in one of my albums. It looks fantastic! Sean makes custom cards as good as they come. The only thing I liked better than the front was the back. (I am partial to Stats on the Back.)
Gridiron Stars No. 6 is awesome. Thanks for sharing your talent with me.

Sean sent a note saying he owed me a little more in this trade. I think his quality trumped my quantity but I wouldn't say no to another Slangko original!