Before I get to the cards, I have to say I'm enjoying MLB's unified trade deadline. August waiver deals weren't anything to complain about, but it's a lot more exciting to know that if you don't get a deal done today then that's it. And the Yankees didn't get a deal done! Neither did the Red Sox, but I wasn't expecting one because their payroll is maxed out.
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| Trevor Bauer's last start for Cleveland was a memorable one |
How about Houston trading for Zack Greinke? Man, that Astros rotation is filthy! The Indians got great value for Trevor Bauer, adding a couple of powerful outfielders in Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig (side note, what the heck are the Padres doing?) Nicholas Castellanos going to the Cubs is interesting, especially here on the blogosphere where the Tigers and Cubs are well-represented. But my favorite trade this week has to be the Nikita Gusev deal.
I know, this isn't exactly a deadline trade since the NHL is in its off-season, but it has been a hell of a summer for the Devils. Drafting Jack Hughes #1 overall, trading for P.K. Subban (bonus: Lindsey Vonn at the Rock!) and signing Wayne Simmonds was already enough to generate some serious buzz. Now we've got the Goose* - a top-six forward who dominated in the KHL and only cost Jersey a couple of draft picks to pry away from Vegas. Can't wait to see this guy in action alongside Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, Hughes, Subban, and Kyle Palmieri. Forget baseball, let's drop the puck already!
*I know Rich Gossage is the real Goose.
My own wheeling and dealing has brought in bunches of new cards. The first of three trade packages I received this week comes from TCDB user nwcardsupplies. I was offered eight inserts from my wantlist in exchange for a dozen 2019 Donruss cards from the surplus box. I quickly accepted that deal, because '90s inserts are awesome.
A pair of Diamond Kings inserts from 1992 Donruss, a pair of Score Franchise inserts from 1993, and a pair of Flashbacks from 2014 Topps Heritage. The Smoltz Strikeout Kings card is from 1993 Ultra, and it really makes me want to buy a box or two; I love the look of the 'planet baseball' inserts. And I'm a fan of any card that celebrates Gonzo's Walk-Off World Series-winning single.
My second trade comes from TCDB user iggywrestler2. Will approached me about a trade for some Indians cards and I added a little football to it; including a Kareem Hunt Prizm rookie. In return I got four new Brett Favre cards (actually five, but the 1999 Fleer single he added as a bonus had rough corners)
The four baseball cards were part of Will's original offer. Matt Chapman is the highlight here, and I had to get a Rookie Davis rookie card, haha.
The third and final trade I received was a bit of a tough one. TCDB user Hafengr rejected an offer I'd made in February because the BVs were way off (wth do I know? I don't read Beckett unless Night Owl is writing for them) But he was incredibly cool about it and I made a mental note to try again. After a fair amount of haggling we got a deal done - I sent 77 surplus singles from 2018 Topps (and a 1991 Score Randy Johnson) to Greg for 72 cards. Most of them were for my 1992-93 Fleer Ultra basketball set. I won't scan them all, but here are the highlights:
I completely forgot that all '92-93 Ultra cards curve (until Billy's comment reminded me) but I guess it's not a major issue since I'll probably put them in 9-pocket pages anyway. That's what I did with my Ultra hockey set - which is why I forgot all about the curving.
I have over 150 cards from the 1956 Topps set, yet this Keith Foulke is just my third single from 2005 Topps Heritage. I really should add a lot more of these to my collection.
Here's the highlight of this trade - seventies singles. I wanted the Bert Campaneris as soon as I saw it on the Nine Pockets blog. It's got a tiny crease, and the '78 Sal Bando has round corners.The rest of them are in acceptable-to-excellent shape.
The best of the bunch is this Toby Harrah card. Overall I'm happy with this deal, I got to help a fellow trader fill a flagship set and I got some seventies and set fillers of my own.
If I'm going to hold myself to this deadline day thing I should probably get going. I've only got three more hours to finalize more TCDB trades, make the rounds on Blogger, and check out the summer sale on COMC. I really don't need much there, and I might even pass up a sale promotion for the first time ever. Though there is one card that I'm tempted to pick up...
Thanks for reading!
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Ultra curves for the first three years. The card stock was made noticeably thicker in the 1995-96 set and it doesn't have any curving issues again the rest of it's run. The packs I opened in the 1990s were curved out of the pack, although they were already a couple years old by then as I didn't start collecting the NBA until early 1996.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, I honestly couldn't remember if the basketball cards did, but I know 1992 Ultra baseball didn't. Now that you mention it, the '92-93 Ultra hockey cards curl, too.
DeleteI was wondering the same thing about the Padres. Seems like they gave up quite a bit for a "top" prospect who is having a down-ish year.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see how Castellanos fits into the line-up and who sits. I have to imagine will be platooning players even more than before.
So you're getting ready to disappear again? This is starting to become semi-regular occurrence with you, and I don't much care for it :)
ReplyDeleteUhh... there's someone on that site who's using Beckett values to trade common cards? That's really lame! I'll have to write down their name so I know not to bother with them. Pfft, using Beckett for dime box (or less) cards, people never cease to amaze me.
I don't think I'll be disappearing for a month. Might have to cut back on posting (especially after I exhausted my creativity at the peak of summer when no one reads blogs!) but I need to balance out my free time with some other projects I've neglected.
DeleteNice Chapman rookie card! The 2004 Topps Favre is cool too. As for the trade deadline... I was happy to see the Astros land Greinke. Hopefully it's enough to win another World Series Championship... or at least keep the Yankees from winning another one.
ReplyDeleteNice trades you swung there I'd say! That big box of trade fodder is really working out well!
ReplyDeleteLooks like your '74 Campy is a nice specimen! And also, yes, the Devils are certainly an intriguing team at the moment. I'm impressed with their summer pickups -- and without Lamoriello doing the wheeling and dealing!
ReplyDelete