Tigers Win! The Stars Revived

Game 4 was a nail-biter. Game 5 was a little smoother. Once this guy sent one over the fence.

And what a beautiful thing it was to see Miggy doing what Miggy does. He's still hurt, but perhaps we're seeing an upswing. Speaking of a beautiful things, this snazzy card comes from a trade with Mr. Baseball Scott.

But it wasn't just Miggy having a comeback.

Verlander's game was a masterpiece. Let's take a moment to humbly reflect with Justin.

Ohm.

Done?

So are all the doubters finished asking what happened to Verlander, as if he's been a junk pitcher all season. He had what would be a career year for most pitchers, and now he's pitching at an unbelievable level again. Let's take this right on over to Boston!

Trade Trifecta: The Plain Gray, the Fantastic, and the Napkin

Trading is one of the best parts of being a blogger, and I'm way behind (as always) in showing off my trade goodies. If you trade with me, man, I will put my all into sending you great stuff, but know that I'll take twenty-two and a half years to post about it.

So, speaking of a trader who deserves thanks, I traded with Roy at Plain Gray Swatch, back when he was still getting his blogging legs. Hell, now he's a veteran. I sent Roy some stuff off my trade bait, and here's what I got in return:

A very shiny, very smiley Miggy Cabby Icons jersey. This one's a plain white swatch. What gives? I expected plain gray.

Even plainer white is this Pudge Masterpieces GU. I'm such a sucker for framed cards, and I love this one, despite the humdrum headshot. This card is classy, as is everything Masterpieces did. Now, I owe Roy extra thanks for parting with this beauty, as he's a Pudge fan himself. That's blogger generosity for you.

Here come the extras, and what fine extras. I especially love the Archives Ripken. I'm getting closer to finishing that Ultra Iron Man insert set. Sweet trades are made at Plain Gray Swatch, as well as some great writing. Be sure to check them out. And, Roy, I have a stack of cool Jays I've been holding for you when you're ready to trade again.

Next up, Fantastic Catch answered my plea for an Inge GU. I still need an Inge auto, if anyone has one.

But now I have some Inge jersey goodness. This is a great looking card.

Here are some of the sweet extras sent to finish off this trade with Fantastic Catch. Love the Kaline.


To finish off this trade trifecta, I have cards to show from everyone's favortie Napkin: Mr. Doon. We've had a few trades before, and he always sends great stuff. He's also one of my favorite blog writers--a well-yielded sense of humor goes a long ways.

Nap posted this card on his blog, and I had to have it. I love all Cabrera cards, whether in Marlins gear or the correct uniform.

Nap tossed in some shiny Cabrera extras. I wondered if I'd ever snag one of those Spring Fever cards, and I hardly even had to wait, thanks to everyone's favorite Doon, Mr. Napkin. With this grouping of shiny Cabreras, this post has reached its cyclical end.

Thanks to all these great bloggers for their trading generosity. And if any of you out there want to get a trade going, just send me a message.

Cabrera's Triple Crown: Farewell to My Miggy Steals

Mr. Cabrera is forcing me out of my mini-hiatus. The Vealtones must congratulate Miggy on his triple crown.

To celebrate, here's a recent eBay purchase for the player collection. A great-looking card of Miggy wearing the wrong uniform. But that's a magical piece of bat there.

That's a little better with Miggy in his proper, current uniform Both of these cards cost me around two bucks a piece. And it just goes to show how undervalued Miguel has been to collectors for a long time. This is no breaking news. Many have discussed this before. Now I fear I won't be nabbing such great deals anymore.

Like this rookie card I got for under three bucks shipped. Try finding a deal like that now.

And here's the lowest numberd Miggy card in my collection 5/10. It's from the most ridiculously redundant set Topps ever made, the set that killed the coolness of getting a numbered card. I got this card, along with the Sheffield for one dollar shipped. (Any one need the Sheffield?)

So maybe the days of great deals on cool Cabrera cards are done for a while. I had to ease off on collecting Verlander last year for obviously similar reasons. I still need a Miggy auto for my collection, and I might be waiting a while for that now. If anyone has one to trade, I'll send you a brick of cards.

But I really could care less about the impending cardboard Miggy gouging. I'm just so thrilled that my guy won the triple crown, made such history. He's such an exciting player to watch and treats his fans so well. He's earned his day in the sun. Really, he's been earning it for the last ten years. And if he doesn't get MVP this year, then there's something seriously wrong with those voters.

Can anyone ever be upset when a player they love and collect becomes expensive to collect for these kind of reasons?

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?

Spankee Shares His Mistresses

Those trades just keep on coming. I contacted Spankee at My Cardboard Mistress, offering him a few cards I thought he might be interested in and he sent me some awesome stuff.

Here are a few cards we talked about in the trade. The Perry/Iorg auto is about as shiny as shiny gets. Shiny to the eighth power, to be exact.

We'd also talked about this one:

I'm not really a Gypsy Gueen collector, but I love getting new Kalines, and I'm a sucker for framed cards. This card is just stunning. As classy as the Perry/Iorg card is shiny.

This card was a complete surprise. Spankeea didn't even tell me he was sending it, though it would have been the keystone of our trade, and it just goes to show what a generous trader he is.

Here's some other surprises:

A low-numbered Pudge card and a shiny blue Clete. Clete's a Twin now, but I still dig this card, the ball frozen in mid-air, the fancy blue chrome-ness, and just the fact that "Clete" is a cool damn name.

He also sent some nice Ripkens for the PC. I'm getting closer with this Upper Deck Road to the Hall set, but this is my first Iron Men card, a set I'd also like to complete one day. There sure were a lot of Ripken insert sets in 2007, and a lot of pairings with Ripken.

This was a trade that just kept on giving. Various minis and refractors.

Some more great Cabreras, including a numbered orange parallel from 2012 Bowman. I'm glad to pick up some 2012 Bowmans, since I still haven't, and probably won't, be buying any of this product this year. So I'm glad to snag these cards in trade.

We both collect Verlander, so adding these Verlander cards to the PC was a nice suprise in a trade full of surprises. I especially dig the Heritage duo card with Weaver. Something about that picture looks a little shopped to me, but maybe they really posed together.

Finally, the biggest surprise of all:

Some super creepy, ultra-rare X-Files cards. Not sure how these ended up in there, but I like it. I like the whole thing. Thanks, Spankee, for a great trade.

Belated Trade Posts: Trade Bait Ate My Brain

I completed two trades recently. Well, not so recently. These awesome traders will have to forgive me for taking so damn long to say thanks, but the thanks is of the utmost sincerity. First off, Oscar at All Trade Bait, All The Time and I had been discussing a trade since before he got his blog up and running like the well-greased trade bait machine it is. We eventually got our trade going, and finally I'm getting caught up on posting it.

Oscar sent some sweet Lous I needed. The card on the right may have been Lou's most foily card. Lucky for him that he just missed the foily madness of the late '90s.

Here's a less over-produced Trammell from the junk wax era. Only 5000 of these babies.

Two key Ripkens for the player collection.

This Cabrera GU was much-needed.  I'm not a huge fan of this jersey set, but Cabby can always make a mediocre set cool.

If you haven't checked out his blog yet, and you're looking for another Dodgers trader, be sure to check it out. You have to love the purity of his blog's theme, just like the title proclaims: All Trade Bait, All The Time.

The other trade I'm catching up with was with Sports Cards Ate My Brain. This blog may be one of the best-kept secrets in the Blogosphere. If you haven't stopped over there before, be sure to do so. Scott's a great writer, and an insanely generous trader, as you'll soon see.

We talked about trading for a few GU cards for my player collection.

I never bought much Unique. I picked up a few base cards and parallels, but I never saw any of their GU insert sets. I dig all the baseball thematics thrown in here, with the stitches and the base-shaped swatch. And it's kind of nice to see Cabby fielding for a change. Let's hope he doesn't become a gaping whole at third base this season.

Always great to add some more Verlander fabric to the collection.

So these two cards would have been perfect for a trade, but, like the generous trader he is, Scott threw in a slew of extras.

Some very cool numbered Tigers inserts here. I especially dig the Gomez with the bastardized Mondrian background. The Porcello rookie is great, too.

The highlight of this trade was in the extras. Scott didn't even mention he was sending Verlander rookies, and a huge batch of them at that. These rookies doubled what I previously had for 2005 Verlander rookies, and I'm just blown away. I've always loved rookies, since I came from the generation of collecting that was pre-GU and inserts mania. I especially love the Prestige rookie. Verlander's upper lip is frighteningly clean-shaven and he's wearing some mysterious purple uniform with stirrups.

Thanks again, Scott, and thanks, Oscar. Great trades from two generous bloggers.

All Work and No Play, Except for a Little eBay

I've been hiding in the library, studying for my upcoming qualifying exams--a test that makes every PhD student cower in fear. So sorry I haven't been posting much. Having 100 books to read in less than a month doesn't leave much time for anything. All reading and no blogging makes Dhoff a dull Vealtone. I'm way behind in trade posts, in everything.

But there's always time to waste away a few minutes shopping on eBay. I recently picked up some Pudge GU cards:

Nothing too amazing: an awkward toothy smile and a big ol' swatch of white. I'm always happy to pick up a Pudge jersey card, but I have to complain about the design here a bit. The scrawling "Honor Roll" text makes this card overly busy. Then again, maybe I'm just sick of words.

On the other side of the spectrum, I love the design of this card. The background is all shiny and refractory and fancy. I like the circling of the bat for the bullseye effect, too. And, of course, we have an action shot of Pudge wearing the right jersey.

This is a set I really admire. Diamond Kings just did it right in 2005, as far as I'm concerned. The double GU is always nice, as well. But there's something very wrong about this card. See the big crease.

Here's a close-up of the back to highlight the crease. That's what you get with free shipping, I suppose. I've won a few cards from this dealer, and I think the crease occurred from trying to jam a GU card into a regular width top loader. I have to actually cut the cards out of the plastic when I get them from this dealer. Still, a cool card for the player collection regardless.

Last but certainly not least: my first vintage Mays card. And it's one of the multi-player subset cards that I dig so much from the early Topps sets. A bit of tape residue, but that hardly bothers me. Not like a creased Cabrera, anyway.

Well, back to the library for me.

Making the Trade

I've been really lucky to get a slew of good trades going lately, and I only regret that it's taken me weeks/months to get these posted. I'll go over a few in this post, some new traders, some old, all great.

This is the third time I've traded with Ryan over at "O" No Another Orioles Blog. I first traded with him before I had a blog, when I was just a reader. And since he took a chance with me, he gets pretty much all my Orioles cards. Of course, this is far from generosity on my part. Ryan is a hell of a trader, a guy who pays attention to your want lists and always sends exactly what you need.

I contacted him about a couple Miguel Cabrera jersey cards.

I always like when a jersey piece has some imperfection, like a mysterious stain from Rollie Fingers. There's a little bit of rough stitching here that makes it a bit more interesting than just a gray swatch.

I really dig the design of this set. Lots of foil, minimal colors without being drab, and a nice shot of Cabby. This is a great-looking card, and a nice addition to the player collection.



To top things off, Ryan sent Ripkens to fill some gaps in my player collection. I'd been wanting that '92 Fleer Ripken card for a long time--me likey art cards. The Os bros card is cool, too. Little did Billy and Fleer know the history that would happen a year later.

Another trade I recently completed was with Carl Crawford Cards. I didn't have much in the way of Crawfords, but I did have a few legendary Jonny Gomes autos to send his way. And for those he sent this beauty:

This is my first and only Kaline relic, and I love everything about this card. All the foil makes it feel like I just won a trophy. Just an amazing card here of one of my all-time favorite players.

This was a great trade, and we had a lot of fun talking dissertations and qualifying exams--the pains of academic hazing he's too familiar with. If you have some Crawford or Gomes cards be sure to head on over and make an offer over at Carl Crawford Cards.

Finally, Eric over at Maupatches & Chrome-staches sent me some sweet Boesch rookies I needed for our first trade. 

I didn't have either of his regular Bowman cards, and now I have two. Awesome. Here's to hoping for a healthy season for Boesch. That is if he can stop sliding headfirst into every base.

Thanks for all the great trades, guys. Looking forward to many more.