Zistle Me, Again

I'm up to three trades on the Zistle website, and all three have been terrific!  I'll take this opportunity to recap my second foray into Zistle trading, which was an exchange with member BucCollector.

Kevin Mitchell's '87 Topps card had been missing from my Mets collection for way too long.  And I'm pleased to report that this beauty is now secured thanks to this trade.  Is this the best action shot from the '87 set?  Gotta be, right?  It's certainly the dustiest photo.  I mean, it looks like the General Lee just peeled away.

Here's another that was firmly on my radar for quite some time.  From the SSPC set in 1976 when Say Hey was the Mets' batting coach.  As far as Mays as a Met, this card's the next best thing to owning a vintage copy of Willie's 1973 Topps card, which I do not.  Yet.

A pair of Lenny Dykstra rookies from 1986 Fleer and Donruss, respectively.  I don't think either tops Nails' Topps rookie in terms of photo choice, but both were essential pickups.

I really enjoy these Swell cards.  And I especially enjoy them when they highlight a guy like Harrelson who may not have been a superstar, but was nonetheless an important cog in a championship team.

In addition to Mets, I'm always eager to trade for a cool horizontal card or two for my frankenset quest...

Probably not the flashiest or most unique, I was still drawn to this John Cangelosi card from 1999 Pacific.  It gets bonus points for taking place at Shea Stadium and we've got a decent look at bat-ball contact.  Plus, it was a chance to get the scrappy journeyman into the set.

And, trading with a guy whose member name is BucCollector, I had to find a Pirates card to acquire!

Jason Kendall sure does have a good number of fantastic horizontal cards.  Great action here.

The two horizontal cards I received in my next Zistel trade are even better than these two.  But, that'll have to wait til next time...

MK

Mail from Marcus: Mets and More

One of the primary reasons I began a baseball card blog was to trade with fellow collectors.  Not exactly a revolutionary idea, but that's what began this whole mess.  And what a beautiful mess it has been.  I can't put into words how trading has amplified my collection and my collecting horizons.  I went from a narrow-minded, unfocused compiler to...well...whatever I am now.  Point is, I'm having more fun collecting these past few years than ever before.  Maybe since I was a kid, at least.

The first blogger I ever traded with was the handsome devil at All the Way to the Backstop.  Marcus and I have been exchanging cards for over two years now.  Hard to believe how time passes!  The constant over that time period has been the quality of the loot he sends my way.

And that trend continued with a recent mailer I got from the Lone Star State.

For instance, a Hubie Brooks common normally wouldn't be much to write home about.  However, when that Hubie card happens to be his epic '92 Topps issue, then we've got something to talk about.  I've been needing an extra copy of this card for my Horizontal Heroes frankenset...and now I've got one secured!

Here are a few of the other highlights of my latest delivery from Marcus...

Ah, David Wright's 2015 Topps base card.  It's always an important milestone to get the first Wright card of the year.  Though, it's kind of an awkward picture of the Mets captain.  Though, it's probably deserved after a below-average and injury-marred campaign in 2014.

Speaking of milestones and firsts, this Dilson Herrera card is my first of the prospect infielder, thus eliminating another need from my ATMP list.  Herrera has a bright future thanks to a potent bat that produced a .323 average with 13 homers and 71 RBIs in the minors last year.  He could supplant Daniel Murphy at second base in the not too distant future.

While we're on the subject of second-baggers with pop, here's one that the Mets let slip away a tad too early, eh?  This is the Topps rookie of the future HOFer, and a good one it is.  Though, it's strange that Kent didn't appear in the prior year's flagship offering or the Traded set at the very least.  After all, he was in both the main Pinnacle set and the Fleer Update release in 1992.

Ya ever heard of this guy?  Me neither, but who cares -- it's a Mets card!  Andy Sides was a Missouri high schooler taken by the Amazins in the 11th round of the '03 draft.  He never made it above short-season rookie ball and was out of pro baseball following the 2004 season.  So, my obvious question is this:  How in the heck does Topps choose some of these guys for their checklists?!?

I can't be sure, but I think I've given up trying to chase after the WalMart blue parallels from 2013.  It was fun while it lasted and, who knows, maybe I'll pick up the torch again someday.  In the meantime, this one completes the red (Target), white (base) and blue (WalMart) chain of 2013 Jordany Valdespin Topps cards in my collection.

And now to the non-Mets portion of this trade post...

Now this is a cool checklist card!  If it wasn't such a high number (#779), Swisher would have a guaranteed spot in the HH frankenset.

And we close with a Gabe card...

Trust me, it says Gabe somewhere under all the foil and scanner smudge.  And it's a Bowman International parallel, too.  Neat card!

For the umpteenth time, a well-deserved hat tip to Marcus for another great lot of cards.  I hope we'll have many more exchanges yet to come, buddy.

MK

YDF, 2.25.15

2015 Topps Future Stars Pin Vintage

Yer daily fix for a frigid Wednesday was a truly accidental find.  Then again, that's how you find most of the good stuff on eBay, isn't it?  I didn't know these pin 'relics' existed, much less in a "Vintage" variation that pays homage to the '87 Future Stars logo.  But I stumbled across an auction for this one about a week ago and won it for about five bucks delivered.  Probably didn't need it, but I had to have it.  The card itself is made from super-thick stock like most of the Topps gimmick inserts these days that contain embedded coins, rings, medallions or Monopoly pieces.

MK

YDF, 2.23.15

2009 TriStar Obak

Yer daily fix for today is probably one of the best non-vintage Seavers I own.  This one was uncovered in a quarter box at a local card show a few months ago.  I can't readily think of any other cards of Tom Terrific that feature him in a minor league uni.  I don't own many Obak cards, but they can't get any better than this one, right?  By the way, Seaver posted a 12-12 mark and a 3.13 ERA for Jacksonville in 1966.  He was in the bigs the following year and rest, as they say, is history.

MK

YDF, 2.22.15

1998 Fleer SI World Series Fever #94

Today's daily fix was a card show pickup a few months ago.  I'm pretty fond of this one and was excited to find a handful of these Fleer Sports Illustrated cards in a dime box at one vendor's table.  Hideo Nomo's 12-year, 323-game career included a brief detour in New York in the late '90s.  The former Rookie of the Year posted a 4-5 record with a 4.82 ERA in 17 games (16 starts) down the stretch for the '98 Mets, who failed in their pursuit of the NL Wild Card.

MK

YDF, 2.19.15

2011 Bowman Draft Gold #BDPP47

It was halftime of the Super Bowl and I was fighting back the urge to retch at the thought of the terribly tacky halftime show that was about to unfold.  So, I took to eBay in search of an affordable Russell Wilson rookie card. I found this one which was paired in the same auction with a Madison Bumgarner first-year Bowman gold parallel.  The duo for five bucks.  It's my first baseball card of the should-be two-time Super Bowl champion.

MK

Franchise and Friends

I don't know how he was able to dig his way out of his house and tunnel to the mailbox with all the snow the folks of New England have been getting, but Shane from Shoebox Legends somehow got it done!  Two envelopes full of cards for your's truly.

And most of them were Tom Seavers.  It doesn't get any better than that.

The up-top card of Tom Terrific is my favorite of the batch, as you've got a great look at the Rheingold Beer scoreboard advertisement over his left shoulder.  Rheingold used to be the official beer of the Mets back in the day.  Never had it personally, and I'm not even sure if they still make it.

Anyhow, let's look at some more of my new Seavers...

This is the same photo as the horizontal card at the head of the post with the same Rheingold ad over The Franchise's shoulder.

This one was my second favorite among the Seavers.  Nice to see a different photo choice, for goodness sake!  I mean, Tom played for 20 years in the big leagues, yet Topps and UD both felt the need to recycle the same five or six photos.  What're ya gonna do, right?

In addition to the Seavers, some other goodies from Shane's latest delivery...

Niiiice!  I've really grown fond of Topps Debut cards.  I didn't much care for the minor league issues initially, but I now see the light.  And, naturally, it's extra cool that it's d'Arnaud, who will be New York's full-time catcher in 2015.

Nope, you're not seeing double.  Topps photoshopped and recycled the same image for TdA in the 2012 Debut set.

And then a bunch of 2015 Mets!  Including some of my most-wanted...

...like the 2014 NL Rookie of the Year, Jacob deGrom, replete with "Future Stars" tag.

And EY Jr., who is no longer a Met, but he's still A-OK in my book.

A way up-close look at Duda's manly, Lost-esque beard.  Probably too up-close.

Another from the "Future Stars" lot with Gold Glove center fielder Juan Lagares.  A nice looking card!

These "1st Home Run" inserts are okay, I think.  For a pretty bland array of inserts that Topps offered up in 2015, I like the idea behind these the best.  It's pretty neat to read about the first long ball delivered by our current-day superstars.  And, better than that, Topps actually chose a photo from the 2004 season, as you can see the edges of the Shea Stadium 40th anniversary patch on David's sleeve.  Well done!

These, on the other hand, are just completely uninspired and unimaginative.  Let's just throw two cropped and overused photos of guys from the same franchise onto a drab background and...Poof, Insert City!  Don't get me wrong, it's a Mets card that has Seaver and Harvey on it, so it's better than most.  But, I mean, did someone get paid to think this up?

And we finish with a non-Mets card, but a good one nonetheless.

Yup, A-Rod!  I kinda feel like Topps did the free agent theme a couple of years ago in their Update offering, but whatever.  I think these are pretty well done, all things considered.  Not an insert set I will chase, but getting my favorite players from it would be nice.

Shane, thanks for taking a timeout from building your snowman army to send these great cards my way.  As always, I appreciate the thought and care put into each mailing!

MK