A card-filled Holoday

I’ve been painfully slow on trade posts lately. I feel badly about it, especially when a blogger sends their cards to me first, I take forever to return my package to them, and then they post about it before I do. No excuses.

For the first time, I traded with Matt from Doc Holoday. He had a big ol pile of Yanks, so I claimed them in exchange for some Red Sox…a trade that clearly benefits both of us.

Matt wasn’t joking when he said he had a pile of Yanks. The packaged arrive in a large box. When I opened, here is what I saw:

Yep, packages within packages. In the first two team bags, there were nearly complete sets (with dupes!) of 2012 and 2013 Topps. It made me realize how bad I have been at assembling team sets of the Yanks. It is inspiring me to go after all Yankees Topps team sets from 1980 through now, then I’ll focus on the older stuff. I had always wanted to do that, but this gave me a kick in the pants. Want lists to come. I’ll also be doing this for Heritage.

I pulled out a few of my favorites from the package Matt sent, as well as some of the cards from an envelope labeled “The slightly better stuff,” which I’ll show off below.

Here is what the flat rate box looked like…three giant stacks of goodies! 

There is no excuse for me not having all of these UD Masterpieces cards here. This set…is just…beautiful. The cards are magnificent. I’ll have to look at the checklists to see what I still need, but it’s a crime if I am missing some Yanks for this set. 

This Pineda jumped out at me. I really look forward to seeing him pitch this summer. If he could come back healthy, it would be a nice mid-season acquisition. I have an unofficial Pineda collection, so this is a nice score.

 Yankee cards of Ichiro. Can’t get over that. 

I had never seen this Upper Deck release before. I believe it’s from 2006 Future Stars. The cards are a bright teal color. They are certainly different from any I have seen, almost in a refreshing way.

Here is Gehrig on a 1995 Topps. So silly.

And here is some of the “slightly better stuff”:

X-Fractors! I’m starting to like X-Fractors more than Re-fractors.

Ok, I like them equally the same.

And even more when Mason Williams is on one.

Colored parallels! Man, I am really taking to these more and more.

Ichiro…again…on a Yankees card.

Russell…you look better in green than in Pirates gold.

More shiny stuff!

And some of those sweet 2011 Topps that had the wooden/cardboard backs.

I’d take these four on my team any day.

And finally, some manufactured goodness!

Matt, the package was a blast. Looking forward to our next inter-rivalry trade.