It’s The Little Things
Despite all the uh, *gestures around while shrugging* stuff going on at the moment, I’ve somehow managed to be a busy little trader. I’ve got a few folders full of scans to unload – some requiring more lengthy posts for proper acknowledgement and whatnot – but today I’m just going to go for some quick hits. The tiny boxes (well, not actual boxes), as you will. I’ve been prepping for my Salesforce Admin certification, and honestly I just need a quick break before I dive back into it. So for lack of any better reason, here are some cards that arrived in the mailbox at some point in the past two months thanks to Trading Card Database.
Jack (jackcutch1) offered me a 1-for-1 swap to start off our TCDB relationship. This Rapture parallel of Yordan Álvarez’s The Rookies insert from 2020 Donruss did the trick. This came in about two weeks ago and I just dropped Jack another envelope yesterday.
Brian (bigblue88) offered me up this 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Team Trios Spectrum parallel (woof, that was a mouthful!), which is numbered 31/125. He nabbed a pink parallel Juan Nicasio which I’d pulled from 2015 Topps in exchange. Alou? Well, at the time this set came out he was fresh off an All-Star season with the Cubs and en route to one with the Giants – not an Astro. This isn’t the first mid-aughts Alou I’ve found (I think a Portraits relic as well?), so this is a perplexing phenomenon.
We’d swapped last month as well. That bounty netted me a pair of golden Astros from 2017 Topps. I think once I’ve gotten my post-75 flagship team sets done that I’m going to put a little focus on completing the gold parallels. I’m pretty close on the 1992, 1993, and 1994 runs, and it’d be a fun chase to get the post-2000 ones complete, I think. At any rate, I’m going to focus on little parallel runs here and there, where I’m only a few cards away. God, I miss Jake and we still haven’t played a game yet this season.
Bruce (bbcards56) finished off my Defensive Wizards needs with this Correa. He also had a pair of Swell cards to put toward my neglected set builds. A lovely, clean little swap. Not too much more to it. Someday I’ll get my Pacific and Swell needs in order, but that day isn’t today, or even soon.
I had picked up the other Defensive Wizards with this Springer via Robert (redbirdcollector), as well as one of the many League Leader Astros from Big League, and another in Orange. Big League has a League Leaders problem. It’s like a quarter of the set between that and awards, and who is out here clamoring for a WHIP leaders card? Ah well. I need all the Orange ‘Stros, stat. And the Blue ones. Big League parallels were built for me this year, I suppose.
RJ took a little junk wax off my hands in exchange for these two cards. I think I’m down to just two Astros from the 1993 Topps Gold cards. Better check that and throw them in the sidebar, I suppose. I’ve had a copy of this Gutierrez forever, but it’s had sharpie on it since 1996. I will go to my grave defending the glories of 1996 and 1997 Fleer.
Sean (Burefreak – yep, he’s one of those bent stick collectors) had a few of my Heritage needs, and I was able to supply some Harrison Bader goods in exchange. I finally got the Álvarez / Aquino rookie combo, and the Verlander SP was a nice pickup as well. The Blyleven/Cole insert finished off my Then & Now needs, too. Still no Álvarez or Urquidy in Summer Camp. I don’t like that one bit.
Tim (tcarter) at TCDB had some new Topps Now cards at his disposal, and used them to pluck some new inserts and parallels from me. The top two are from an MLB Network Top 100 Players set. They’re fine, they’re kinda stuck between flagship and Bowman, and I probably wouldn’t mind it too much as a flagship design. That second Altuve, though! Damn! This one is from an all black & white set, and I may have to look more into that one. It’s a beauty of a card, even if it’s from something as cringey as a Topps Now mini-set.
And another Tim (jfcard) sent the most recent envelope to hit my box, complete with a little ink. But first, some metallic “ink!” These two 2017 Holiday cards are the “metallic snowflakes” versions, meaning someone in the arts and crafts room at Topps got handed a huge ol’ shaker of silver glitter and some Elmer’s, and I’m assuming Tim Gunn stopped by for good measure to tell ’em “Make it work!”*
I kid, but I do enjoy these. The thing in this little three-card envelope that really works, though, is the Derek Fisher autograph that Tim offered up. I’m always down for more Astros ink, so this was particularly exciting to see. Thanks Tim!
* Yes, we’ve been binging some old Project Runway. God bless this show.
Alright, I’ve had a pretty up and down day today. Time to get back at it. I’m going to try and knock out my Salesforce certification this week – I’m not anticipating difficulty as I did this stuff for 5 years and the initial certification is pretty simple. But I’m going through the study materials just to brush up.
