Lucky 13

My 13th trade via Zistle is in the books!  The highlights of the one, which netted me a whopping 85 new Mets cards, were absolutely the oddballs.  I mean, when are oddball cards not a highlight for a team collector?

There were oddballs cut out from sheets inserted into early '90s baseball card price guides, such as the HoJo up top.

And these...

Clearly, this Jefferies is my favorite in terms of photo choices.

My trading partner (Zistle member dmk250) was very up-front about the condition of these cards since they were hand-cut.  I absolutely always appreciate a trade partner like this, and I told him so.  And, honestly, he was way more critical about their condition than he needed to be.  I've seen (and own) waaay worse than these. Are the cuts razor-perfect and straight?  Mostly, no, but it also doesn't look like they've been ravaged or abused.

Also on the oddball menu was a card from the late, great Topps Magazine...

I loved Topps magazine and I remember how excited I was when I discovered it in 1992 at the age of 12.  I still have the cards from the issue or two I had -- some I have since traded away.  But, this is my first Mets card from the defunct mag.

Of course, what oddball lineup would be complete without food issues?

Ronnie looking a tad bit stoned on this one, from Kraft Foods in 1987.

By far, this Gary Carter Drake's Cakes box cut-out from 1988 was the worst in terms of cut quality.  But, the funny thing is that I have the Gooden from the same edition and it is terribly cut in much the same way as this one!  Done by my own eight-year-old hands, even!  So, from that standpoint, I wholeheartedly approve of the condition of this card.

Do we consider the Classic brand to be an oddball offering?  For the most part, I think I do.

Pacific's "Tom Terrific" set?  Check.

What about something like Pacific Spanish edition?

These are from the 1993 set.  I actually really like this design, I have to admit.

And, wrapping up the oddball portion of the trade are at trio of MLB Showdown game cards from 2004.

Pretty pumped to get a couple of new Piazzas, especially oddball Piazzas!

Ditto for a good-looking action photo of Cliff Floyd.

Okay, let's try to get a little bit normalized before we end today's post.  There were plenty of non-oddball cards in this recent trade.  So, here are some of those highlights...

In terms of photos, does it get any better than this '94 UD Prospects card of Brook Fordyce?

Oh.  I guess it does.   Both pretty awesome in their own ways.  I have been without this Brogna beauty from '97 Topps for way too long!

Newly-minted Hall of Famer.

Old-school Hall of Famer.

Not a Hall of  Famer.

Lovin' the intense photo of my boy Aaron Heilman.  Go Irish!

A golden Lo Duca.

This is an "All Latino" insert from 1994 Pacific.

David Wright is set to begin a rehab assignment in Port St. Lucie.  Hallelujah!!

Another Saberhagen.  This one's a Silver Signature parallel from '94 Collector's Choice.

Cool insert of a very young and hungry Rey Ordonez.

An early card of Daniel Murphy.

In my estimation, these are the nicest inserts or subsets ever produced for an A&G set.

A very Ginter-y insert of a forgettable Mets player.

Great card!  Been on my 'wish list' for a long time.  Gotta be Stearns' best card, right?

Not a thing to hate about 1994 Studio, is there?

This friggin' thing was on my want list forever and a day, too.  Who knew it could be such a trying process to track down an '89 Topps Traded card of Juan Samuel?

Yup, this was missing from my Met collection, too.  Shameful.

Le Gran Orange!!

The Mets will be seeing Jose a lot over the next month.  Four games at Citi against the Rockies next week and then three in Denver the following weekend.

Again, why didn't I already have this?

From top to bottom and from oddball to common, this was a tremendous trade!

I'm hoping to reach the 7k mark for my Mets collection by the end of the summer.  Still a smidge over 200 cards shy of turning that trick, but I have faith.

As they say in the Borough of Queens, "Ya Gotta Believe!"

MK