TCDB Completed Transactions #19 jlcre2003 and #20 MarcoD70

 As I was sorting some Upper Deck cards to load into TCDB as traders recently, I realized that I was only around 200 cards short of a complete 1989 set. I don't know how it came about that I accumulated so many of them, I'm sure I didn't rip all those packs, assuming they're not cheap with a chance to pull a Griffey rookie. Someone must have offloaded a big chunk of them to me. Since I had so many, I decided instead to keep them and trade other stuff for the rest (except for the Griffey most likely). Most of my recent trade returns have included '89 Upper Deck.

Trade #19 jlcre2003

The 1991 Topps dark logo is a team set variation that I like to collect.

Trade #20 MarcoD70

More '89 Upper Deck

'87 Fleer for the team set.

1989 Topps/LJN Baseball Talk

Such a cool oddball set. This is the first I have towards the team set.

And some more variations for these Company Store cards.

Junk Mall Junk Wax Wednesday

 Ripping a random pack of junk wax from the local junk mall.

1991 Upper Deck Comic Ball 2

A pack of 12 featuring Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson with a chance to pull a hologram card.

Wouldn't you know it didn't even pull a card with Nolan OR Reggie!

AND it's a pack with a dupe.

The card backs form puzzles of the all-stars. I've often toyed with the idea of included these puzzles with my Player and Angels team sets but haven't pulled the trigger on that idea yet.

TCDB Completed Transactions #17 Yankeefan714 and #18 ericcapemay

 #17 Yankeefan714

1984 Topps Stickers

For some stupid reason my mind tries to tell me these little stickers have a lesser value that a card, so I hesitate to do a 1-for-1 swap. There's no justification for that thought process though, they are every bit as collectible as a card. And still needed for the collection.

This trade had a small smackering of a bunch of my interests.

#18 ericcapemay

TCDB opens up a whole new world of access to O-Pee-Chee and Leaf cards.

TCDB Completed Transactions #15 Statsnerd, and #16 brianJ83

#15 Statsnerd

Needed another of these because many years ago I sent one out for an autograph and it never came back. One of several reasons why I no longer do TTMs.

I was fairly unfamiliar with those Score Rookie sets, I like the designs though.

Fleer Ultra didn't change all that much between 2004 and 2005.

#16 brianJ83

Pecking away at the 1989 Upper Deck master set.

You might have noticed that same checklist card in the last post. I also collect checklist sets, so one for the Angels team set, one for the checklist set.

TCDB Completed Transactions #13 wvcabo, #14 Killtaker

 #13

I suppose with all the trading going on through TCDB it's inevitable that every once in a while, someone will accidently send you a damaged card. Such is the case here. Fortunately, wvcabo is fixing the situation and sending me a replacement. And that's how trading should work. Kudos wvcabo.

The rest of the stuff was all great.

These are from a couple gap years when I wasn't collecting much. Nice to fill some in.

The '91 Classic Green are one of my favorite Classic designs, the '92 Classic draft one of my least favorite.

#14

It wasn't even a month ago that I pulled 2 stadium checklist cards from a pack of '94 Score and proclaimed that I wanted the subset, now here I am knocking out 14 more through a trade with Killtaker. I love that TCDB enables me to do that so easily.

I also picked up this 1991 Topps variation (MAJ. LEA. TOTALS in larger font).

I'm not into the myriad of A*, B* copyright variations but I thought that this different font size warranted attention.

Junk Mall Junk Wax Wednesday

 Ripping a random pack of junk wax from the local junk mall.

1990 Upper Deck Comic Ball

Pack of 12 cards with a chance to pull a Chuck Jones autograph, or a hologram card.

The initial release of the Comic Ball line.

One thing I never liked about these is that both sides are numbered.

Also, barely noticeable on some of the caps/jerseys is an MLB team logo.

This first set did not feature any major leaguers like the subsequent sets did.

Hey, I pulled an Elmer Fudd hologram, one of nine different holograms in the set.

(And it's already been traded!)

Again, noting the tiny MLB logos, you can see a partial C on Elmers cap, some will consider this a Cincinnati Reds card.

Would you include these in your team collection?

Nolan Ryan Binder Tour - 1990 Beckett

 Various clippings and odd keepsakes found in my Nolan Ryan Binder.

An ad page from the December 1990 issue of Beckett Monthly.

Nolan gets a two square appearance in his Rangers uniform. I can also pick out Patrick Ewing, Barry Sanders, Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, Gretzky, and Canseco. Not sure who the goalie might be. Any guesses?

Blogger Trade With Crocodile and Fuji

I wouldn't say my focus has been on TCDB trades, but they have been taking up more of my time lately. That doesn't mean I'm neglecting blog trades, those are still going on as well. Trying to keep the balance. Great thing about blog trades is often you don't know what you're gonna get, so it's exciting to rip open an envelope to see what's inside, like these two trades with Crocodile Sports Cards and The Chronicles of Fuji.

Crocodile Sports Cards

I remember being stoked when finding a Members Choice in 1992 Stadium Club. For a long time I thought they were a special insert. I was a little disappointed when I found out they were part of the set. I've always thought they were cool though.

For how overdone relic cards are, it's still great to get one you don't have.

I first did a double-take on these, then realized they are lightly signed. Pretty sure the Mauch is legit, but the Bryan Harvey is so small and in an odd spot, I'm not so sure. I've gotten his autograph in the past, and usually it's pretty bold.

A ton more Angels.

And a bunch of Patriots!

The Chronicles of Fuji

Signature Rookies were always great for obscure minor league autographs, but they've always struck me as odd, kinda like the unlicensed "promo" cards we used to pick up at card shows in the 80's.

Morris had a great college career but never made it past AA in the Angels farm system.

Always nice to complete a baseball checklist set.

And the best of the rest. I think that micro is even smaller that the Cracker Jack minis. Super tiny.

TCDB Completed Transaction #12 cory79

Made a bit of a bigger trade with cory79, knocking off some low-hanging fruit in a bunch of different collections.

Getting close on this little 1993 Cracker Jack 1915 Reprints set, just three more to go.

1986 Fleer Team Stickers

This one is a variation back (Ed Reulbach).

1988 Topps - Topps Company Store

Yes, I collect these, and this is the missing "Cards Not Included" variation.

1986 Topps Stickers #6

For the team set.

And lots of Patriots.

Junk Mall Junk Wax Wednesday

 Ripping a random pack of junk wax from the local junk mall.

Pack of 12 with a chance to pull Joe Namath Football Heroes card, an SP2 Don Shula, or a Game Breaker hologram.

Favorite card:

Howie with George Brett.

So many questions:

Is Brett a Raiders fan?

Are the Raiders at the Chiefs (although I think it's the Coliseum shown) and Brett was in attendance?

If the Raiders are at home, why was Brett there?

Eight cards in the pack are the 1992 hologram variation.

These make good traders on TCDB.

Resale Shop Treasure Find

My daughter works at a resale shop and occasionally she finds me some cool stuff like scale model kits and such. This time she found me some baseball cards. She sent me a couple photos of two boxes of cards, I chose this one:

Sealed in plastic and labelled "1975-1976 Topps" for $49.00. She gets a pretty good discount, so these were about $15.00 less. The other box was labelled "1986-1987 Topps" which I already have a ton of so I passed on that one.

After sorting I found there were actually 708 cards from 1973-1988, which makes that about 5-cents a card if I did my math right. Here's the breakdown:

1973 - 2

1974 - 14

1975 - 235

1976 - 152

1977 - 297

1987 - 7 (all Darryl Strawberry)

1988 - 1

There weren't really any big hits or big stars in the box, and there aren't enough of each year to justify trying to complete these sets (even when added to those I already have), so they'll probably end up in my traders on TCDB. 

Here's some of the cards I liked:

There were a decent number of Angels in the box, but I already had them all. I'll have to see if I can swap any out based on condition.

The Monteagudo card (looks like he's pictured at Angels Spring Training in Tempe) talks about him being traded from the Angels to the Phillies (also mentioning Billy Grabarkewitz, Denny Doyle and Chris Coletta).

Do I include this with the Angels team set then?

Interesting fact:

"Aurelio Monteagudo was killed in a car accident in Saltillo, Mexico nine days before his 47th birthday. He, Aurelio Rodríguez and Aurelio López are the only three players in MLB history named Aurelio, and all three were killed in car accidents between the ages of 44 and 52."

I wish there had been more checklists in the box, this was the only one.

I had forgotten that Piniella had played for the Royals for several years and won ROY with them.

Also didn't realize that Rick Dempsey was ever a Yankee.

Both these cards are awesome.

Some of my favorites from the 75's.

I prefer a nice Spring Training crooked background/posed shot over a blurry in-game action shot.

From the 1976 cards I love the Wilbur Wood, and more great Spring Training poses.

There was a nice assortment of airbrushed traded cards in there as well.

The biggest name in the box was this card of Hank Aaron.

In the 1977 set, a classic pose of Jim Umbarger at, I think, the old Arlington Stadium.

All-in-all I'm pleased to get this box, and at the price I paid for it...pretty awesome.