Play at the Plate Dips into the Personal Stash

We all know Brian over at Play at the Plate, who runs one of the best blogs around and is about as generous as it gets with contests. I'd been hoping to trade with him for a while--I love me a detailed want list to scour through. We finally got a trade going, and Brian dug deep into his pockets full of cardboard and sacrificed some cards that were probably a little hard for him to part with.

My first graded card ever and this is now a cornerstone card of the Pudge rookie collection. A grade of 9 at that. I believe it lost a point because of the dirt on Pudge's pants. I still am so surprised that Brian could let this one go. It couldn't have been easy. I know he likes catchers in gear, and this is probably the coolest looking Pudge rookie card.

I imagine this Scherzer mini was a little easier for Brian to part with.

Some more great cards that will find a good home with the Vealtones. I really dig the Heroes card here. You can't really come up with more star power on one card than this card contains. And this is my first Elite Extra Edition. I'm none-too-blown-away by this set, but it's a Verlander, so it's a cool card.

Now that's a damn sweet card--a woodgrain Kaline that actually fits into a regular 9-pocket page. I didn't even know Bowman Heritage reprinted this card. And that's certainly a card worth reprinting.

To wrap up the trade, here's a hunk of Pudge bat. Another card I can't believe Brian could part with. Could he possibly have had a double of this? Instead, I'm guessing this is just another example of how generous Brian is. Ovation had a really classy design with this card. Not sure what's up with all the green, but I like it. I like it all. This was a great trade, and I hope Brian enjoys what I sent as much as I enjoyed these cards. Thanks for the great trade.