Trio of HOF Traders

I know I talked a big game about doing a trade bait post today, but that'll have to wait because I've got an incoming trade roundup to get out.

First up is a great "farewell" package from JBF Wes.

Love this pair of Padre Winfields. Been wanting that 1980 Burger King card for a while now.

Very nice selection of Michael Sam cards just in time for Pride month.

Some Gavins highlighted by a blue Escobar.

A couple solid Chargers. The team is dead to me, but hey, I can still appreciate nice cards.

And some cool Padres to close out the package. Zech Lemond couldn't get it together in the Padres system, but has been pitching well in the Marlins' chain this season. Andy Ashby /150. And some sharp vintage.

Big thanks, Wes! I'll try to scrape up a decent return for you soon, and I'll be hoping this isn't our final swap.

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Next up is Zippy Zappy hitting me back for those Bowman guys I set aside for him recently.

Tatis Jr has been on fire after a slow start. Loving this Heritage Minors card from last year.

A couple RCs to bump up my little PC of hometown guy Quintin Berry.

A bunch of Bowman Padres.

Philip Rivers and Gavin LaValley.

Thanks a lot, Zippy! Always a pleasure.

-     -  - - --o

Last for today is a PWE from Sport Card Collectors.

Everybody get up for these Aaron Judge cards! Matt also collects Judge and had some dupes to share with me. Sustained!

But what really banged the gavel was this Tim Duncan jersey card. Love it.

Thanks, SCC! I'll be dropping you a return ASAP.

Simply the Wes, better than all the res

The ever-generous Wes has been dropping packages of cards down the chimney of many-a cardsphere boy and girl over the past week or two, and I was lucky enough to be included on his rounds.

Let's kick off with this beauty. The relic cut-outs on this Dave Winfield Triple Threads card trumpet the impressive fact that not only was he drafted by the Padres, both the Atlanta Hawks (NBA) and the Utah Stars (ABA) drafted him, too. And even though he didn't play college football, he was such an amazing athlete that the Minnesota Vikings selected him in the 17th round of the NFL draft just for the hell of it. I've got a pretty legit Winfield PC going these days, and this is a great addition to it.

Here are some more shiny Padres.

A couple Canadian Templeton cards (recently listened to an interesting interview with him on the Super70s podcast) and a jumbo relic of Rymer Liriano. Bummer that Rymer never panned out for the Padres. Looks like he last surfaced with the White Sox.

Wes tossed in some vintage too, including a bunch of 75s.

Of course any large Padre-centric mailing of cards will include some solid Tony Gwynn cards. I seem to recall those black-bordered Hometown Heroes parallels were tough pulls, just one-per-box or something like that.

But the real featured player here was definitely Bip. I don't mind a good Bipping now and then, especially when I can add a couple new cards to the PC.

Crossing over to football, here's a gorgeous Kenny Britt Christmas Card. If/when I do another "12 Days of Christmas Cards" countdown, this would be a good pick for Day 10.

A couple big hits for my Michael Sam PC!

Gavin Escobar hits galore!

When Wes asked if he could dump his Chargers cards on me, I reluctantly agreed to take them, but I had assumed they were just a boring stack of base Score and Pro Set or whatever. But no, some good stuff here, for sure!

But the best Chargers card...

1 of 1 Antonio Gates relic. Very nice!

Awesome stuff. Thanks so much, Wes. I'll hit you back with some stuff soon.

San Diego Chargers Mount Rushmore

The Chargers officially (re)enter the books as the Los Angeles Chargers during Monday Night Football this evening. Now that the San Diego Chargers franchise has come to a close, we can step back and take a look at the past. I'm from San Diego, though I haven't lived there for a few years. Still though, I don't see myself rooting for the LA Chargers. I mean, I suppose they're still my favorite football team by default, seeing as I don't give a shit about the NFL these days. But still, I think I'm rooting against them, at least at the moment. I want them to lose a lot and be last in the league in attendance. I know it's a longshot, but maybe then the owner would come crawling back to San Diego with his tail between his legs.. or better yet, sell the team to someone who isn't a dipship who will bring them back to SD.

With a soft spot in my heart for the glory days of the team, here's a little collecting goal I set out to complete. I don't collect football too heavily, but wanted my card collection to include decent cards from the top guys from my favorite NFL team. I came up with a "Mount Rushmore" model and chose these 4 players.

There they are.. carve them into the side of a mountain.

Oh, Junior Seau, the heart of the 90s Chargers teams. Picked up this foilboard Stadium Club certified auto a few months back. I thought it was the coolest looking auto card I could find of his and it was reasonably priced.

LaDainian Tomlinson. No athlete besides Tony Gwynn fills San Diego sports fans with more pride. Love that this is a Christmas Card, plus has some game-used material in the "21", though the auto is a stickergraph. Might have to "upgrade" to an on-card auto someday.

Dan Fouts. Really put the Chargers on the map in the 70s and 80s. This is the only card of the four in today's post that's not a certified auto. But when I looked at the prices for his certified autos, and noted that he was a dependable TTM signer, it was an easy choice for me to go this route. Of all my TTM successes over the past couple years, this signed 1973 Topps Baseball-inspired custom is definitely among my favorites. Thanks again, Dan!

And of course Philip Rivers. Still the Chargers' QB. While I basically hate the team now, I still love the guy. I hope he does well, even if away from SD. Great talent and seems like a hell of a guy. Wish they could have put together a Super Bowl championship team in San Diego at some point over his career, but that's just how it goes, I suppose. Picked up this card a few years back, and it's since been a favorite of my modest pigskin card collection.

The backs. That's Bill Romanowski on the back of the Seau co-signers card.

You'd be hard-pressed to bump anybody from that top 4, but I think honorable mentions gotta include Lance Alworth, Stan Humphries, Natrone Means, Antonio Gates, Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joiner, Drew Brees, Chuck Muncie, Marion Butts, and Shawne Merriman. Anybody worthy of Top 10 consideration I'm forgetting? Let me know in the comments. Hey, I'm a baseball guy.. I ain't no football guru, so I'm not claiming to be infallible here.

Anyways, yeah, I've never been a huge Chargers card collector though I grew up rooting for the team in the 90s/00s, and now that they've moved away I'll be even less likely to add more cards to my collection, but I still can't forget the San Diego teams I pulled for in the past.

Thanks for reading. Best of luck this year to your favorite football team, whomever they may be.

LaDainian Tomlinson PC

LaDainian Tomlinson was inducted into Canton this weekend, elected in his first year of eligibility. As a Chargers fan, it was a treat for me to watch him back in the day. He's a class act and you couldn't ask for a better face for your franchise. Great player and great man. You can check out this HOF speech on YouTube.

I've never been a huge football card collector, but I've compiled a decent LT PC over the years. Let's take this opportunity to check out the cards of his I have.

Easily the highlight is this auto/relic/xmas card.

A few memorabilia cards, including a bit of metal from a face-mask (#'d 85/400) and a couple jersey swatches.

Some cards from Score, including an Artist's Proof #'d 10/32.

Good ol' Upper Deck.

These are Leaf, Panini, and Fleer cards. The orange Etched In Time is #'d 12/25 (woo!). The Leaf Certified Materials is #'d 71/150. The Timeless Triples is #'d 17/100.

Some Topps cards. The card in the top-loader is #'d 136/149.

And we close out with a bunch of 2007 Topps/Chrome cards.

I'm always up for any other Tomlinson cards I don't have in trade.

Congratulations on making it into the Hall of Fame, LT! Thanks for everything.

Simply the Wes

Wes a.k.a. jaybarkerfan over at Willinghammer Rising is a great dude. Sad to see it seems like he's retiring from trading, but at least he's going out with a bang via his World Cup of Trading. You can see part 1 of what I sent him here (heavy on Willinghammer customs), with a small encore on the way shortly. Let's check out the great stuff Wes sent back in exchange.

A couple sweet relics with Bryce Harper (a very blue card with a clashing red swatch) and Mark Messier (one of the very few hockey guys I kinda collect).

That Donaldson is #/25. And love the early Hoffman auto. Comes with a separate COA slip. Looks legit to me for the era, though as with most players, his signature got lazier over the course of his career.

A couple Michael Sam autos for my Pride PC.

I know I've said "I'm done with the f*ing Chargers" over a dozen times on my blog by this point, but still, if a buddy of mine is giving away Chargers hits, I'll speak up for 'em. These are both very nice.

So those above were the cards I called dibs on in the WCOT, but of course Wes also include a brick of bonus cards.

Rod Beck gold winner! And always happy to add later-career Benito cards to the PC.

HOFers!

Julio Franco! Love those Revco cards, represented here by Big Mac. And how about that Teke box-bottom!

Here are some active guys, highlighted by a Lindor fishfractor.

Gavins!

Big lot of nearly 50 Josh Donaldson cards! Wes PC'd Donaldson for a while there. I wasn't collecting him at the time, and sent Wes a bunch (including, I think, that gum-stained Heritage that has returned home). But then I started collecting him, meanwhile Wes decided to focus on collecting a different Josh. This lot doubles my PC of the Bringer of Rain (who has only been bringing the drizzle this year, but hopefully he turns his season around soon).

Great selection of Gwynns. Needed most of these.

Wes really Bipped me good, with a big stack of nearly 100 Bip Roberts cards. While much of it was junkwax I already had, there were many neat parallels in here I needed.

We wrap up with this trio. While I love adding to my PCs, what really widens my eyes in trade packages these days is setbuild needs.. especially somewhat-obscure sets I'm working on. Those Bohemian Bread cards were a big surprise. I've mentioned I had the Garvey from the set way back as a wee tyke before I was really a collector, so it's a sentimental set for me for sure. These 2 aren't in mint condition (these cards came packaged in bread, for what it's worth), but I'm very happy to be able to check them off my needs.

And the Jim Abbott gets me one card (sticker) closer to completing the Glow Stars subset from '93 Fun Pack.

Here it is in action.

Huge thanks, Wes! Awesome batch of cards. Hopefully it's not the last card package I ever receive from you, but if it was, it was a great one to go out on. All the best in all life has to offer!

Gary Carter and the rise of the Christmas Eve Cards

Back around Christmastime, I posted announcing a new niche minicollection I intended to grow in 2017: Christmas Eve Cards (any card serial numbered 12/24). They're sort of like harder to come by relatives of 12/25 cards, not only because there's one less produced, but because card companies rarely use 24 as a print run for parallels. We're off to a good start this year already, recently landing a new "best card" for this little group:

Gotta love Gary Carter. His pure love for the game always shined through. HOFer, 11-time All-Star, Expos legend, key part of the '86 Champion Mets. Looks like he was filled with the holiday spirit, finishing with 1225 career RBI. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I'd like to believe it was his subtle nod to ol' Kris Kringle, calling it quits once he reached that magical number. Haha, no, I'm kidding of course.. a deeply religious man, his RBI total was clearly a tribute to the Baby Jesus.

Normally I'm not a fan of stickergraphs, but this one can be forgiven by the fact that this auto card wouldn't be possible otherwise. It's from 2014 Topps Tribute. Gary sadly lost his battle with brain cancer in early 2012, well before this card could have gone into production. Topps must've had a few sheets of signed stickers from him still on hand, as they included Gary Carter autos in a couple products that year. Looks like that was the last year you could have pulled his auto, without resorting to cut signatures.

And I think I like this style of auto sticker-- holographic scroll effect-- better than the "clear piece of scotch tape" style that is used more often these days. You're not fooling anybody with that.

So that's a nice crown jewel of my Xmas Eve cards, but I also went on COMC to score some more. Unfortunately they don't make it easy for you to search by specific serial numbers (How I would love to be able to just type in "12/24" or "12/25" and see everything available with that serial number, but that doesn't work). However, you can do a search and then sort it by print run.. 1/1s through unnumbered cards. I know that Donruss/Panini Elite often has gold parallels numbered to 24, so I did a search for that product line, made my way to the /24 cards, and picked up a few that were #'d 12/24 and reasonably priced. Let's check 'em out...

Elvin Hayes is a HOFer who got his professional start with the San Diego Rockets (How am I from San Diego and didn't know that the Houston Rockets started as an expansion team in San Diego? In my defense, they were only there for a few years and had moved to Houston before I was born.) though he had most of his success with the Bullets. This card commemorates the neat fact that Elvin played 50,000 minutes in his career.. not "over 50,000" or "about 50,000" but exactly 50,000. It's a little hard to see, but dangling out of his shorts is the 12/24 serial number.

Speaking of sports teams leaving San Diego (***grr.. fucking Chargers ownership***), I was happy to see QB Philip Rivers in my search results, a guy I kinda collect despite my conflicting feelings about the Chargers these past few years. At this point, the team is dead to me, but I'm mainly a player-collector after all is said and done, so whatever. I'm just thankful my interest in football has majorly deteriorated since I moved out of San Diego, otherwise this turn of events would sting a lot more. But anyways, yeah, this is a sweet 12/24 card.

Here are a couple more football pickups. Trent Green is a name that's vaguely familiar to me as a casual football fan. He was originally drafted by the Chargers, then went on to get a Super Bowl ring with the Rams (though their championship run was largely due to his backup Kurt Warner filling in). Trent then had a couple Pro Bowl seasons with the Chiefs.
As for Derrick Ross, he's bounced around with 10 teams since this 2006 RC came out. He's currently with the arena Jacksonville Sharks.

Back to basketball, Tyler Hansbrough was a big deal at UNC, leading the Tar Heels to the 2009 NCAA championship, and has since played for the Pacers, Raptors, and Hornets. Ömer Aşık helped Turkey win the silver medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, and currently plays in the NBA with the New Orleans Pelicans. Quentin Richardson played with various NBA teams from 2000 through 2013 and is currently director of player development for the Detroit Pistons.

We'll close today back with baseball. You might have noticed that most of these Elite cards are diecut into wacky shapes. This one might be the oddest of them all. It's just... why? But it's shiny and proudly features an extra thick "12/24" foil pressing, so I frickin' love it! Googling Joe Kennedy will give you a ton of results for The Kennedy Joe Kennedy. But narrowing the search down to baseball, I can tell you that this Joe.. oh man, he died from a heart issue in 2007 at 28. That's sad. Turns out he was from my old stomping grounds of East County San Diego, and is a Guy From Grossmont, attending the same JC as me, Grossmont College. So this card hits 2 of my narrowest niche minicollections. Wow.

So yeah, there you have a bunch of cards numbered 12/24. Great to add to this fun stack of mine, and interesting to learn about these players that I otherwise wouldn't be likely to seek out for my collection.