sports cards that blew my mind

sometimes when i will try to initiate a trade, i'll get a response along the lines of 'i don't think i have anything that you would want for that card'.  that's ok - no problem.  of course, it usually doesn't take much to get  stuff from me, but if you have sent all of your dodgers to any of the other dodger collectors out there in our blogosphere, that's ok.  i understand.

i don't have a trade bait page, and conversely not all of my want lists are up to date or even comprehensive.  maybe i can be tough to trade with from that aspect.  still, i have been able to complete a number of trades over the past few months and i have not been disappointed.  hopefully, my trading partners can say the same.

case in point, i contacted scott at sport cards ate my brain and offered a vintage brave and some others for some random dodgers.  then i noticed his trade bait page (maybe i have to get me one of those) and i asked about a couple of cards he had listed.  he agreed to send me the cards i inquired about, along with some other dodger cards.  um, yeah.

here's one of the cards that caught my eye - a 2008 topps co-signers dual sticker auto card of andy laroche and chin-lung hu

in addition to the cards i specifically requested, he sent some bowman.  gold bowman

shiny bowman

refractor bowman

crazy xfractor bowman

photoshopped shiny confusing set name bowman (of the son of the dodgers' third base coach)

seriously, what is this set?  2009 bowman chrome draft? 2009 bowman chrome draft picks and prospects? 2009 bowman chrome draft picks, prospects, and wbc?  put the name of the set on the back like upper-freakin'-deck did in the last few years of their existence.  that would be a big help.

here's a 2008 upper deck goudey card that i must have even though it didn't look familiar to me at all.

do ken griffey jr. super collectors include the national league cards from this set in their collections?  just curious.

there was even a 1995 classic 5 sport auto card of roger cedeno in the package.

but the coolest card in the package was probably this 2010 topps update manufactured bat barrel card of manny ramirez

thinking back, i asked if the manny 'relic' or the laroche/hu auto would be available.  scott sent them both.  that is several kinds of awesome.

consider my brain eaten, or mind blown.  just a great trade.  thanks scott!

waaaaaaaaaxaholic, from whom the cards come rushing down the plains....

forgive me for channeling my inner rodgers & hammerstein.

this is another batch of cards that were scanned upon receipt and then promptly forgotten about.  apologies, captain.

2002 upper deck superstars brian jordan

upper deck took a shot at a multi-sport set in 2002.  while i didn't buy much of it, i do have a few relics from this set, including a gretzky/kobe/shawn green card.

2008 upper deck sp authentic authentic achievment jeff kent

celebrating kent's opening day home run in 2008.  he also homered on opening day in 2007, but that must not be 'authentic' enough to worry about.

2009 bowman russell martin - blue parallel thingy

a play at the plate!  it happened on september 18, 2008 at pnc park in the bottom of the 10th inning.  with the dodgers not yet having clinched the division, the score was tied at 3 with morgan on second and nate mclouth on first.  with one out, jason michaels hit a ball that glanced off of chan ho park's glove.  park picked up the ball and threw to second.  problem was, no one was there.  blake dewitt made a diving stop to keep the ball in the infield, and then he threw home in time to get morgan and preserve the tie.  the dodgers went on to win it in the 12th.  (thanks tony jackson!)

1981 fleer star sticker bill russell

'davy' lopes

and reggie smith

i think i have the complete dodger team now.  i paid no mind to this set back in 81 because stickers weren't cards!  now, though, i quite enjoyed seeing them in the mail.

thanks brian!

mr. (night) owl, how many packages do you have to send to gcrl before he writes a post?

let's find out.

one:

1980 kellogg's davey lopes
if only that mustache really were in 3-d.

1986 topps glossy send in fernando valenzuela this set reminds me of a tcma issue. but in color.

2009 upper deck spectrum matt kemp (the heretofore unbeknownst to me blue variation) the question is, why?

2006 bowman heritage wilson betemit

interesting that we had, at one time, both furcal and betemit at the same time. just like the braves did.

2006 upper deck sp authentic julio lugo thankfully, lugo was a short-timer. unfortunately, ned traded for him in the first place.

2006 fleer greats of the game dusty bakeras seen on night owl's blog recently!

2009 upper deck spx clayton kershaw here's hoping the 2009 postseason is really his month long coming out party.

2008 upper deck timeline james loney sp perhaps my favorite first baseman since popeye himself.

ta-whooooo:

1985 fleer frank dipinoa very nice card with the right field pavilion and it's color palette complementing the astros uniform.

2002 upper deck kaz ishiinow we have the left field pavilion with diamond vision, a carl's jr ad, and half of tommy lasorda's outfield fence mural. plus the overhyped ishii in street clothes. ishii, because of the hype, was the dodger that got all the short prints which sucks when trying to complete my 2003 upper deck vintage set, among others.

2009 upper deck a piece of history james mcdonaldmcdonald hasn't made or seen much history yet.

2009 upper deck clayton kershaw 20th anniversary

another kershaw. this one from a subset within an insert set. i don't understand upper deck sometimes.

2009 topps target throwback chan ho park

did topps do this for series 2? did anyone care?

2009 topps attax vladimir guerrero

shiny must mean parallel. again, why?

three:

2009 topps finest russell martin

a disappointing season hopefully means fantastic postseason. or at least a bargain in next year's fantasy draft.

2009 topps jackie robinson turkey red insert

now that's a nice card!

2009 bowman manny ramirez

sans umpire. very very bad.

2008 upper deck goudey pee wee reese

i wonder what ken griffey jr does say about pee wee? any guesses?

2008 topps chin-lung hu trading card history

a glossy version of the 1959 set. as opposed to the more traditional versions in the 2008 heritage set. speaking of which,

2008 topps heritage vladimir guerrero chrome looks like it's snowing in anaheim

1997 pinnacle zenith wilton guerrero

i wish wilton had been more like vlad.

1993 score select rick trlicek

a pitcher with a hockey name. he actually debuted with the blue jays in 1992. recorded his only career save and hit (off of tom glavine) in his one season as a dodger.

so, the answer is three. each package filled with dodger and set building goodness, which is even better than the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.

thanks greg. i'll get another package out to you soon.