Sports Cards Chewed My Brains so much They Could Be Ginter's Next GU Gimmick

I have been so mired in work and family stuff that I've hardly been able to post at all. The Vealtones are getting restless. And I've been so blown away by all the awesome trades I've received lately that I fear my time constraints won't be able to do them justice. For those of you who've sent me trades in the last few months, thank you so much. I can't explain to you how much joy they've given me in a very stressful time. I'll get to posting about them all, even if it's a year after the trade.

But it's time to post about one of my favorite traders, Scott, from the wonderful blog Sports Cards Ate My Brain. He is super generous, and an absolute gem of a trade partner. I'm happy to see trade posts popping up on other blogs, as now you all get to see how awesome he is.

This post will actually cover our last two trades, because that's how behind I am.

Back in mid-summer, Scott went shopping for me at a card show. And that's just such a cool thing to do, to imagine someone printing off my want lists. I'm really honored. He snagged this Cliff Mapes 1952 Bowman card for my vintage Bowman Tigers sets.

But Scott never just sends what he says.

He threw in a bunch of sweet numbered Tigers.

And then some Verlander rookies. That's right. These were just extra surprises. I mean, this guy never disappoints and always makes me feel like I owe him. I love the Turkey Red parallel card. So freaking cool.

And a sweet Cabrera Ginter jersey to boot. I like the new Ginter border, but 2009 may be my favorite.

So that was just some, some I vehemently stress, of the great stuff Scott sent in just one of our trades. Our next trade was based around another Cabrera jersey and an Pudge gold card.

I found these off of Scott's trade bait pages, which are detailed by team and full of great stuff. Seriously, go check them out. I love the jersey scrap here with the stripe. Stripes always make jerseys better.

We'd also talked about this Matt Joyce auto. Joyce didn't spend a ton of time with the Tigers, but he's a player I respect and I love the design of these brick-thick cards. Rather than the boring old sticker, 2008 SP Authentic really got the idea right with the inlay auto. Very cool card.

And, once again, Scott threw in extras. He mentioned having a bunch of Ripkens not listed on my Ripken player collection, and I thought, cool. Maybe he's got some late '90s Score offshoots I didn't have yet.

Instead, how about some shiny Pacifics.

Or maybe some super sweet numbered SPx cards with big ol' badges in the middle.

The amount of shiny and classy and cool Ripken cards were ermergerd-inducing. I love getting new Ripkens and Scott sent so many gems, hardly what you'd expect from extras tossed into a trade. And, really, this is only the start.

Young Ripkens with a bit of hologramizing.

Ripkens from one of the many endless Ripken tribute sets.

And finally some awesome commemorative consecutive games record cards. The crown-cut Pacific card is so cool.

So, as you can see, if you haven't traded with Scott yet, you're missing out. I owe a great deal of appreciation for getting so many cards that added serious depth to my Ripken player collection. Scott's trading is so classy, only Ripken in a cherry red sports car giving some high-fives could conclude this post. Too bad I don't have--

Wait, what's that I hear rumbling through the outfield?