Maybe the last Incoming Cardboard Post before the move

Time for another Incoming Cardboard Post (or ICP, as my ninjas call it) showing off cards that've made their way to me since I last did one of these, that weren't purchases and didn't already get their own post.

Two or 3 weeks ago I was showing off the 1970 Topps Willie Mays that Daniel surprised me with, and a friendly Twitter guy named Todd at @Bookman30022 saw that and offered up a Rod Carew if I needed it, and I happily took him up on the offer, with the sweet Batting Leaders card getting in on the action too. Not wanting to be too big of a mooch, I was able to get him to share his wantlists with me so I could send him a thank-you. Thanks again, Todd!

Mr. Carew turns 75 today, assuming I get this post published by the end of the day here on the west coast.

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I called dibs on this 1963 Fleer Jim Kaat that Jon graciously offered up for an anniversary giveaway event at A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts. I dig this vintage kinda-oddball set and don't have many cards from it. A welcomed addition to my Kaat PC. I'm gonna post that one song I like again in celebration.

Thanks, Jon! Very nice of you. Keep up the great work on your blog!

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Here's a big trade I did with reader Oren V. a couple weeks back.

The key card coming my way in the deal was this Kris Bryant RC black parallel #'d /64. It's not his base rookie (#616), but still, this All-Star Game rookie from 2015 Topps Update is pretty nice. Sparkles had a down, injury-plagued 2020, but he's still in his 20s and will most likely bounce back to being one of the best in the game. That said, I feel like my PC of his has achieved "good" status now with the addition of this low-numbered rookie, and have now "retired" him off my main wantlist.

Here are a pair of solid players that I've missed in MLB this season-type-thing of 2020. Puig couldn't quite escape free agency, while Jones had a just-ok season in Osaka. Gotta mention that the red Puig is numbered 1/50.

A couple parallels of dudes I collect round out the package. Right on. Kershaw just threw a postseason gem.. good for him. (Still rooting against the Dodgers, though.)

Thanks for the great first trade, Oren! Hope to do it again sometime.

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Last one for today...

Padres, baby! Won a postseason game for the first time in a long time tonight. With recent injuries decimating the starting rotation, they're probably not going to get too far, but they're getting their cuts in! I hope to witness a whole bunch more quality seasons from Fernando Tatis, Jr. He's a real fun player and really good.

The fella from Once A Cub pulled this Topps Now parallel numbered 12/25 and thought of me. Aw yeah! He kindly let me dig up a few Cubs cards to send his way for it. A Christmas Card of a top tier PC guy of mine? A double-bullseye, as I say. Don't get much better than that!

Thanks again, man! Big hit for my collection.

And thanks again to everybody who's brightened my day with cards recently.

Heads up to my trader-buddies that I'm moving around the middle of October. I'll likely send out a mass email to my frequent trade partners with the new address once I'm good to go in the new house.

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

The Return of 1993 Topps Black Gold

I've mentioned on the blog before that I'd probably consider 1993 Topps Black Gold cards to be my favorite inserts of all time. I pulled a Frank Thomas back then as a kid and felt like I had won the lottery. Just awesome looking cards.

And I've expressed hope for the design to pop up in Archives, thinking it'd be cool to see current players (and perhaps greats from the pre-93 past) on the cards.

Well, that hasn't happened yet... but.. Topps brought the design back for a Throwback Thursday set recently. I was on the fence about it at first-- not too hot on the player selection of the 6-card set-- but ultimately I pulled the trigger (price of a blaster), drawn in by that classic design.

I'm giving Kershaw top billing even though he's the 2nd card in the set. Out of the six players in this set, he's the guy I collect the most and I suppose the card I was most interested in getting. But that's not really saying much. It's basically a "finished" PC for me. It'd be nice to score his rookie card someday, but otherwise I'm content with the 100+ cards of his I have, highlighted by a Christmas Card auto. That said, it's a nice card.

Oh, and I should mention that Topps crapped out on the "gold foil" parts. As I suspected when I ordered online, they just used a picture of gold foil. No dancing in the light here, just a static image. Kind of a bummer, though I would have been shocked had today's Topps gone the extra mile correct number of miles called for rather than be lazy. But that's how it goes.

Gio Urshela isn't a guy I'm very familiar with. I think The Lost Collector did a post about him last month, and that's about the extent of my knowledge. Not even a rookie card, though. I would have rather gotta a different young New York corner infielder.. but I guess Topps can't put Pete Alonso in every small weekly set they put out.

Never heard of Bryan Reynolds. Looking him up, he's quietly having a real nice rookie year. Cool. This is the only "RC" of the six cards.

I've never PC'd Justin Verlander at all, instead sending off his cards to Dennis at Too Many Verlanders. But now that he's locking up his HOF credentials, I'm feeling some remorse. I probably should have collected him, at least a little. Oh well. Can't collect everybody, as the saying goes. But sorry, Dennis, I don't want to break up the set, so I'll be hanging onto this one.

Besides Kershaw, Yasiel Puig is the only guy in this set I player-collect. He's low priority for me-- as with most collectors, I've grown frustrated that he hasn't been able to recapture that Puigmania promise he had when he burst on the scene in 2013. But he's still a solid player and a fun dude. I'm hoping he can breakout for an MVP-caliber season one of these years.

Last card is Marcus Stroman. I don't have much feelings on him one way or the other. Seems like a good guy.

Like with all #TBT cards, not much time was spent on the backs. Same picture from the front. Generic blurb.

Notice the mistake here? "Black and Gold"? Often feels like the people who work at card companies aren't actually collectors themselves, rather just graphic designers and manufacturers or whatever.

Speaking of that.. Did you hear Sooz is leaving Topps? That's a bummer. As I told her, it was cool having "one of us" on the inside. She started as a cardblogger, then went to work for Beckett, then got a job at Topps. Not sure what's next for her, but I wish her the best.

Back to this set, yeah, it's fine. No regrets picking it up, though it could have been a lot better. Wish they had used real gold foil like the original cards, for one thing. And would have loved some more exciting players... Tatis? Acuna? Guerrero? Trout? Bellinger? Yelich? Alonso? Gleyber? That rookie on the Reds who hit a dozen homers in a row? All guys I would have rather been in the set.

Looks like the print run was 362 sets, which is on the lower end of these weekly sets from Topps (they often top 1000), probably due to the uninspired checklist with a lack of hot rookies and superstars. But on the other hand, at least the cards are kinda scarce. So there's that, I guess!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Bumgarner vs Puig custom

I just can't help myself.

I had a template already made from the Odor/Bautista brawl, so it was easy to tweak it for the recent tussle between Madison Bumgarner and Yasiel Puig. I got into some hot water with the first one due to the photo. This time I just used a video image grab instead.

Not my greatest custom card ever, but kind of amusing!

If you'd like to trade for a copy, take a look at my wantlist and get in touch. Thanks!