Trade with ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession

For the second day in a row, I opened my mailbox to find a trade package from a fellow blogger.  This time, it was aaaalllll the way from California.  More specifically, Adam of ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession.

A big SF Giants fan, Adam was interested in a couple of '12 Archives inserts: a Brian Wilson jersey relic and a McCovey reprint.  Fine by me!  I was hoping to find a good, appropriate home for both, especially the Wilson card.

After a few emails, we came to terms on a nice, clean 2-for-2 trade.

So, here's what I got in return:

Even though he took his talents to South Beach last offseason, Jose Reyes will always have a place in my baseball-loving heart.  Sure injuries took their toll on Reyes during the latter few years of his time in Queens, but when he was healthy there was no player like Jose.  He always brought energy and a smile to the ballpark and, along with David Wright, led the Mets to an NL East title in 2006.  I thought for sure he and David would be the face of the Mets for a long, long time.  But, the Mets are such a mess (financially and otherwise), Jose became a luxury the front office couldn't (or wouldn't) afford.

As for the card itself, this is from Topps Series 2 and features a nice black jersey swatch.  Unlike many (and I do mean many) relic cards, this one isn't ugly, bland or boring.  It has sharp black and silver border, a nice action shot of Jose, and features a cool stat about Reyes surpassing Tommie Agee and Len Dystra on the Mets career list for lead-off homers.

The second card I received from Adam is another NY Met for my player collection:

I don't think I was aware that something called Topps Fusion existed.  But, in 2001 in surely did.  Apparently, it "fused" together the design elements of Topps' upper-crust brands, such as Stadium Club, Finest, Gold Label, Gallery and Bowman's Best.  It was a 250-card set, and there were five different base card designs -- one representing each brand.  And I think some players had multiple cards among the different designs...or something.  I dunno, this is/was a pretty wild concept.  I'm not saying I don't like it, but it smacks of Topps being a little full of themselves.

Anyhow, a byproduct of this madness is the beautiful card you see above of Edgardo Alfonzo.  I'm very happy to have this card for my collection, as Fonzie is an all-time favorite of mine.  And, as a matter of fact, my father and I went to the Mets/Dodgers game this past Saturday, which happened to be Alfonzo bobblehead day.  The Mets lost (naturally), but the Fonzie bobblehead and quality time with my old man made it a great day.

Another great trade in the books.  Thanks for the cards, Adam!  And good luck to your Giants.

MK