Old friends on TCDB

In addition to all the new trading partners I've found on TCDB, nothing beats it when a blogger friend sends a friend request or a trade offer. I have made some swaps with a few bloggers on there, the latest from Paul of Scribbled Ink.

Paul is a TCDB veteran, and even gave me a bunch of tips when I first started (including a few traders to avoid). I saw Paul had a couple cards I had wanted, and we were able to work out a small deal.

The card that caught my eye was Trevor Hauver, the Yankees 2020 3rd rounder. I only have a card or two of his, but Paul had some of the college Prizes for trade, so I focused on this:

And I also requested this. I have no desire to collect this guy, but his girlfriend is Haley Cruse. So yes, I was basic and figured I'd snag a card of this lucky guy.

Paul also threw in a really nice looking Jonathan Loaisga Chrome RC X-Fractor. It's awesome looking.

I appreciated catching up with Paul to make this simple swap!

30 to go

Just last Tuesday, I did a post titled "40 to go." That was my start of the countdown until I hit 1,000 unique Tino Martinez cards.

Here were are, just eight days later, and I've already cut that number by 10. All due to some TCDB trades. Pretty great site, if you're into that kind of thing.

One trader had six Tinos I needed! That never happens. I traded him 10 random cards on his list for these six. It's entirely possible I already have the 1991 Topps with the dark logo, but I don't have record of it. The 1992 O-Pee-Chee is pretty sweet. Never seen it in the wild. Plus, three of these cards were Pacific?! I love Pacific.

In this trade, I was only supposed to get the SI card, but the trader told me he didn't like the edge (it looked fine to me), so he threw in a Yankee Stadium Legacy. Yes, I do count those ones as unique Tinos. They are different cards.

The last card that came in was courtesy of Paul of Scribbled Ink, also by way of TCDB. Nice one for one swap. Tino as a Cardinal. Meh. But I needed it, darn it!

So there we are. Just a handful left. It's getting harder and harder to find the ones I don't have, but I'm going to keep trying like heck to get there. I've got nothing else to do!

Finding some bloggers on TCDB

The Trading Card Database continues to be my preferred method of trading right now. It has everything I need. It's easy way to track trades, and a good way for me send 5-6 cards away just for one or two back. Cutting down on some of the clutter, Zippy Zappy-style.

It can all be done via PWE (for the most part) as well, which suits my life because I don't have the opportunity to get to the post office during the standard work week. I hate relying on my rinky dink post office that is only open from 9-12 on Saturdays. So it's easy for me to pull cards for one or two trades at night time, stick a stamp on the envelope, and send off in the mailbox outside of my work.

What's also fun, besides all the new traders I've met, is that there are lots of familiar faces on there! I just completed a handful of swaps with some well-known bloggers.

The latest comes from Matt over at Summer of 74. I sent Matt a couple of Brewers and a Bo Jackson he needed from 2019 Archives, and got these two cards from 2019 Optic: Judge and Stanton. Very easy!

The awesome toy man Colbey from Cardboard Collections and I then engaged in a quick trade. I found a Gleyber Torres insert in exchange for four inserts from 2019 Topps Update. Even nicer, he sent a team bag of Pokemon cards for my son, which he absolutely loved. I really appreciated that!

Next is from Laurie of LV's TTM autographs and baseball cards, who is quite the prolific trader on the site! I found a Stanton and Gleyber I could user, and sent along a Jorge Polanco insert and a Nicky Lopez 150 Years stamped Topps card.

Lastly, although done via Twitter and not TCDB, my friend Paul of Scribbled Ink sent me these two Yanks for some Jose Cansecos. The Judge was a bonus throw in I wasn't expecting and it's a beaut.

I'm now up to 45 completed trades, which is bonkers. It's a blast making these quick swaps.

I'm glad I stopped being so stubborn and finally took the plunge!

The National comes to me!

Unlike most collectors, The National isn't really a bucket list thing for me. If I go at some point, cool. If I don't, I'm not worried. Most of the pictures I see on Twitter give me anxiety versus envy. Even when the event moves to Atlantic City, about a two hour drive from me, I don't plan to be there. If it ever finds its way in to the Javits Center in NYC (doubtful due to travel and accommodation costs), I'll probably pop in for a day.

But what I do appreciate the most about The National is when others take time out of their day and set aside their own want lists to help fellow collectors out. The fact that someone is going through bins and bins of cards, comes across one, and immediately thinks, "Hey, I'll pick this up for so and so" is a gesture that really blows me away.

I think that just goes to show what an impressive community we have here, and is certainly a bright spot in an increasingly negative hobby.

In this case, Paul from Scribbled Ink came across a Tino and thought he'd pick it up for me. And I appreciate it, especially because I needed it. And as fate would have it, I was outbid for this exact card on eBay earlier this week in a $.99 + free shipping auction. It was meant to be!

Paul, thanks so much for taking a small portion of your day at The National to think of me. This is now Tino #887 for me. 900 is on the horizon!

1 PWE. 2 new Tinos.

A few weeks back, Paul of Scribbled Ink was kind enough to shoot me a 4-card PWE.

The highlights for me were two Tino Martinez cards that were new to my collection. Cards like this show me while I'll always have Tino cards to collect. There were just so many of them made from 1996-1999. It's easy for ones to slip past without even knowing.

I would have definitely thought I had this Score Dugout Collection, and I'm right, I do. However, this is an Artist's Proof, which I definitely didn't have.

The next is from Donruss Collections, which is like a glossy, embossed version of regular Donruss/Pinnacle cards. But I needed this one too!

There were also two Aroldis Chapman cards, including this Panini that is numbered to 99. The refractor-like shine and pattern make it look great!

Thanks for thinking of me, Paul!

Strut my stuff, my stuff is so...SHINY

Easily, my favorite song in Disney's Moana is Shiny, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed by Jermaine Clement. It's got some very humorous lyrics and is super catchy. It's definitely an underrated part of the movie.

Plus, that's one hilarious looking crab.

I can't help but hear the song in my head every time a new shiny card arrives. I literally sing "shiny" to myself in the crab voice. It's weird, but I do.

So when I received these cards from whatever Panini set this is (Chronicles I think?), I couldn't help but have this song on repeat in my head.

I saw a few bloggers post cards from this set, and it's extremely confusing to me. I think they are all base cards from various past designs? I'm honestly not sure how it works, but I think some of the cards look really nice, plus with some nods to some past Pacific names, makes for appealing trade targets for me. Luckily, Paul of Scribbled Ink was down to trade a few to me.

The two SHINIEST cards were from the Revolution portion of the set and have a very nice glow to them.

These were more of a Chrome versus a shiny, but I still needed 'em. I think I'm at the point now where Panini should retired Crusades since they'll never match 1998.

Back to SHINY! I mentioned in a Twitter post, but I think the Chrome 1983 anniversaries are the nice cards this year. They look awesome.

More shiny from Ma-shine-iro Shine-aka. See what I did there?

And maybe not shiny, but I'll take any card of this guy I can get.

Thanks for the great cards, Paul!

Thanks for looking out for me

Every couple of weeks, a blogger reaches out with a photo of a Tino Martinez card, asking if I need it.

Most of the time I can tell right away if it's a yes or a no. In this instance, I actually had to look when Paul from Scribbled Ink reach out with this card:

What threw me was the "UD PROMO" stamped across the card in foil. Hmmm. Turns out, this is a promotional card versus the regular Game Face, which I have. Cool!

Paul threw in three more cards into the PWE. First off, another Tino, this one a 1998 Ultra Gold Medallion. I'd say that this is my second favorite Gold Medallion design behind 1996.

The third card is of AL Silver Slugger winner Gary Sanchez. I always appreciate cards of this guy.

Lastly, a cool Robinson Cano Bowman Gold. I had been on the hunt for a Cano autograph for awhile, but obviously his PED suspension came as an unfortunate surprise. Maybe I'll pick one up on the cheap now.

Paul, thanks for the cards!

Eff Miggy!

Screw Miguel Cabrera!

I'm not his biggest fan after the skirmish between him and the Yankees last year, notably Austin Romine. So when Paul from Scribbled Ink decided to hold a contest because Miggy screwed him, I was totally on board.

Here's my Eff Miggy 1/1. I especially like the unicorn tattoo.

Besides the sweet custom, Paul took care of me with Yanks. First off, a Jeter I've never seen. Cool Vegas theme!

He also included a blue parallel of the 2018 Jeter Highlights set, as well as one of the Topps NOW inserts.

I love cards of obscure Yankees, and I have to admit I did not remember Michael Coleman. Even cooler that it was a gold parallel. Great Topps Gold design, by the way. Huge fan.

Tino! I did not have the 2003 Gallery Rainbow Refractor. Great find, Paul!

Collect-A-Books!

I like this Reggie a lot. The gray border looks pretty cool, I have to admit.

Unrelated to the contest, Paul needed a 2018 Topps base card I had, and was kind enough to hook me up with four solid 2018 Topps cards, including two Judge base card, a Bellinger insert, and a Moncada foil.

 

 

Thanks for everything, Paul!

The curious case of Billy Mays Hayes

In the package that Paul of Scribbled Ink sent me, there was a curious card.

It was an autographed card of Bill Hayes of the Yankees, featured with a picture of Joe DiMaggio. I hadn't heard of Hayes, but that's not uncommon for some of the lesser known players of the '30s.

I also hadn't seen "Big League Cards" brand.

I had some digging to do.

From what I can tell, Hayes never made it to the Majors. The back of the card says that he spent 14 years in pro ball, but I assume they were all in the Minors. I can't find any of his stats, however. Perhaps I am not very good at Google.

That is a lot of "quotes".

The most info I can find comes from his obituary (credit: Amarillo Globe News):

Bill spent 16 years in professional baseball, starting in the spring of 1937, including two years in spring training with the New York Yankees. During his baseball career, he also served the Chicago White Sox, Boston Braves and Detroit Tigers. After the 1951 season, he appeared on the cover of the Sporting News magazine as the Minor League Executive of the Year. In 1954, he moved to Texas and became well known as a pioneer in developing a two-party state. He won the first contested Republican primary for lieutenant governor of Texas and delivered more than 1,300 speeches. In 1964, he was nominated unopposed as U.S. congressman-at-large and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention pledged to Sen. Barry Goldwater in his bid for the presidency. He flew with Sen. Goldwater to many cities, including Amarillo, where he spoke preceding Sen. Goldwater's address.

Interesting. It looks like he was obviously a very bright and well-rounded guy to play pro ball for so long, serve as a successful minor league executive, and then have a very accomplished career in politics.

As for Big League Cards in Teaneck, NJ, here is a Google image of the office since the address was listed on the card.

Upon searching, it is actually the brand of cards that Jim Bouton created! Check out the website here. It was most recently run out of Dayton, OH, although the link no longer works to order cards. But clearly the same card design!

My biggest question is where did this card come from? Did Hayes himself order a bunch of these as a keepsake for his career or to sign and give to fans? Did a fan order this to sent to Hayes for a TTM autograph? Who put the sticker on the back that says "Bill Hayes/Joe DiMaggio at Boston 1938"?

So many questions still unanswered, but this is certainly one of the more unique cards I've ever received from another blogger.