The Best of the Best

The trade packages have been piling up by my bedside.  I am always glad to see new cards that other people send me.  The more packages that pile up the more new cards I have.  The packages that I had waiting to be cataloged and posted about are all grade "A" trade bundles.

It is time to give a warm thank you to the generous bloggers that trade baseball cards with me.  This is going to be a massive trade post at the Platter.

Only the best card from each package has made it onto this post.  It was a tough battle between cards because many of the bubble mailers were filled with cards that were worthy to be considered the Best of the Best.  Also, these cards weren't chose because they have the highest value.  They landed on this post because they were my favorite card that was sent to me.

The Diamond King sent me this top notch card.  This card is in good enough condition to possibly get a PSA 10.  Also, this card was #1 on my most wanted list.  The Diamond King is da man!

The 1992 Bowman Mike Piazza rookie card has been alluding me since childhood.  I have wanted this card since the mid-90s when Piazza was a hitting god and I was really starting to get into collecting.  It was way out of my price range in the 90s.  I didn't have the means to spend big money on one baseball card.  Thanks to blogging and card trading, I was able to obtain this card and fill the void in my collection.

Thank you, Diamond King!

Ever since I have put Adrian Beltre in my minor PC section on the sidebar, I have been getting a lot of nice hits of his.  It was a great idea for me to start a minor PC section.  Many more nice cards have been sent to me since I expanded what I collect.  It was a great idea by me.  Let me just pat myself on the back real quick because I am all about boasting my own self esteem.

This card was sent to me from David at the blog "e rayhahn, rayhahn".  This is the first time that I have traded with him.  I sent him some nice Twins loot for his collection.

This card states on the back that this piece of jersey is from a World Stage Game.  I am not sure what that tournament was.   I do like that it is a little different and kind of an oddball GU.

Justin Sellers was a Dodger minor leaguer before he got called up and has been getting some playing time with the big club.  He has been playing stellar defense at short stop and second base.  Sellers is becoming one of my favorite players this season. 

Ray from the blog called Shot Not Taken and I have traded once before.  He really hooked me up last time.  This time around was a much smaller trade.  The Sellers autograph was a pleasant find on Ray's trade bait section on his blog.  I didn't even know Sellers had any autos out there.

This card shows the great uniforms that Sellers got to wear while playing for Team USA.  That jersey just screams patriotism.  USA!  USA!  USA!

This 1981 Topps Pedro Guerrero was sent to me by Dustin from No Relics Pulled and he also sent along some other 1981 Topps cards that I need for the Dodgers team set.

This is one of my favorite cards from this set.  The picture of Guerrero makes me wonder what the night before was like for him.  I seems to be smiling at someone with a devilish grin.  Guerrero must have seen or done something crazy that makes him equal parts guilty and satisfied.

I picture Guerrero and Dodger relief pitcher Bobby Castillo going out to a hip LA nightclub.  Of course, the booze was flowing and the women scantily clad.  It was the 80s.  Ball players would go out and get into crazy antics.  This was before TMZ.  A player in the 80s could do a line of coke off a bowie knife in the middle of a crowded intersection and there would be no photo evidence to prove it. 

Here is a card that speaks to me.  It is an old school tobacco card that is promoting Player's Cigarettes.  I am a big fan of smoking cigs so, its cool to have a piece of history from the tobacco promotions before my time.

Greg Zakwin from Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle sent this to me.  I mentioned to him that I was interested in a card like this while we waited in line at a Clayton Kershaw autograph signing. 

This is by far the oldest piece of cardboard that I own.  I like the picture on this card.  The man is dressed as a Gentleman at Arms.  Which was a body guard to the King of England.  Dudes, like this back in the day probably some some sleazy antics and had to cover up a lot of dirt to save the name of the King. 

This is a great card for my collection.  A card of this caliber is one of the best of my collection.  Thanks, Zakwin!

Robert is the name of the dude that runs the blog called $30 a week habit.  He sent me a very nice trade package.  I sent him a bunch of Blue Jays that he seemed to appreciate.  He just posted about the cards that I sent him the other day on his blog.

My favorite card that he sent me is this Ichiro card with a guest spot from Mr.Met.  I hope Ichiro is having a good laugh right in Mr.Met's face just before Ichiro spikes him in the groin.

For a little background, for the basis of my last statement, I hate mascots!  They just annoy me so much.  Mascots are distracting and juvenile.  Baseball is a very serious and important game.  The game is the distraction from whatever else is going on in your life.  I don't need a mascot to try and divert my attention from a baseball game. 

Mascots also appeal to little kids.  When I see young children laughing it up while seeing a mascot at a ballgame, I just get really tense.  My temperature goes up and I clench my fists.  Luckily, I only see this happen while watching a game when the Dodgers are on the road.  The Dodgers don't have a team mascot like they do for less important teams.

I have made several trades with a blog called Cards From The Quarry.  The blog is run by a cool dude named Johnny.  We have made several Dodgers for Rockies swaps.  This time around the big ticket items in this trade was to bulk up our other PCs.

I sent him a Brady Quinn GU and he sent me this awesome 2009 Icons Ian Kinsler autographed manupatch #ed/10.  This is a crown jewel in my slowly growing Ian Knisler collection.  I was surprised to see such a nice card sent my way.  This is a prime example of blogger generosity.

This will conclude my Best of the Best trade post.  I thank everyone that has sent me some nice cards.  Now it is time to get another pile of cards from the blog world.