I was the winner of the inaugural Five Card Friday giveaway, which you can find over at The Daily Dimwit. Sam was offering some Ichiro cards, and of course I jumped at the chance of getting those. What was great about it was that cards were all 2010 Topps inserts - card that I had collected for the insert set, but that I could use doubles of for my Ichiro PC. Yes, just what I need, more cards to scan. Well, I have, and here they are:

The two copies of Ichiro's rookie card are just that - Yo Momma copies, both the standard and the original back. I already have the original back, so this is my second - perfect for the Ichiro binder. The Turkey Red I *don't* have, so it's still on the want list. The Legendary Lineage card is great because of the connection - I started "semi-collecting" Sisler cards due to Ichiro. But perhaps the best-looking card is from the series I don't collect - the Peak Performance. I think it has a classy look.


Sam also tossed it a pack of 2007 Fleer Ultra. It has Ken Griffey on the outside. Does it have Griffey on the inside, too? Let's find out:


Gary Sheffield...


Ryan Howard...


A Cal Ripken insert (now we're getting somewhere)...


Ichiro! (pretty exciting)...


Hey, whaddaya know! It's a Griffey! So in a five card pack, I got a Griffey, an Ichiro and a Ripken. That's a great outcome. Thanks, Sam!

When I got back from my holidays, there was a package waiting in the mail for me from Richard over at Dawgbones, a Phillie Fan. He and I had been working on a trade, my first involving cards from 2011 Topps. Thankfully, I had a lot of cards that he needed for his collection, and he had more than a few to fill some gaps in my set. While these cards aren't all of them, they are a representative sample.

Richard sent about 15 of the 2011 base cards. These three were the ones that I didn't have, although there were also quite a few White Sox and Orioles for my team sets as a few cards that were upgrades from the damaged cards I pulled from my box. But thanks to the Dawg, I now have Messrs. Wright, Conger and Revere in the binder.




There were also some insert cards - once again, I'm being a fool and attempting to collect the 60 Years of Topps set, even though I haven't finished collecting last year's Cards Your Mom Threw Out (a fact shown by the Maris card from that set that I needed). Thankfully, the Diamond Duos set appears to be a much more reasonable target, even though the pairings are a bit strange. Hornsby and Holliday? Outside of the uniform, there doesn't seem to be much in common. Ramirez and Stanton are at least teammates, so they're a duo that shares a diamond.


As I was hammering out the trade details with Richard, I pulled out my 2010 Allen & Ginter binder and realised that I have a lot of work to go on this set. Thankfully, he had 13 cards from A&G to put in the binder, so I only have a great deal of work to go now.


Now for the big-ticket items. As you might remember, I had pulled a Matt Holliday manu-patch out of my 2011 blaster. I also pulled a Hank Greenburg short print so it wasn't a total loss. Thankfully, not only did Richard want my manu-patch (since he collects players who were the No. 7) but he had an Ichiro patch card from the same series to trade. In fact, I think this my have been the impetus for the trade in the first place.


Another thing that Richard collects is currency. And for the price of AUD 3.85 (approximately US$4.00), which is one of each coin (that's right, we have a dollar and a two-dollar coin, and they're lovely), he was kind enough to throw in this card. It's not a manu-hit, it's the real thing. Ichiro's 2007 Night Before the All-Star Game batting practice jersey, all cut up and preserved for posterity. I like the color.




Besides the cards, which I was expecting, were a few things that I wasn't. First up, these three Fatheads, which will find a place on the front of their respective team binders. Now I'm going to have to chase up the Orioles and the Athletics, too.

But the best thing in the package wasn't even a card, or a Fathead. Richard included a really, really nice note that let me know how much he enjoys reading my blog. It was very touching because, as I've said before, I write this for all of you. I enjoy getting to share my collection, and my opinions on the game, but it's the comments and the interaction with you guys that keep me writing.

He specifically mentioned my Travels With Raleigh series, which was abruptly cut off due to our arriving safely in Derby and not having any internet access up here for a few weeks on my arrival. By that point, it was time to start writing about cards and the new baseball season again. But I should finish the series, because there's a few more stories to tell. Richard's note is the impetus to get that finished. Please hold me to this.

Thanks for an absolutely great trade, Richard. I hope to complete another one with you in the future!

When I went to get the mail today, there was a padded envelope from Duryea, Pennsylvania, USA. On the customs declaration it said "replacement cards" but I knew what it really was. My five redemption cards for my ten Jumbo wrappers.

To get them today, by the way, marks a three-week turnaround, so that's pretty darn good. They must have mailed them out the day they received my wrappers. Here's what was inside:

Cliff Lee


Adrian Gonzalez


Carlos Gonzalez


Jose Reyes


Derek Jeter

Superstarss all, except for maybe CarGo but he's just unproven. Still, the whole pack and not anybody that I am interested in keeping. So here's the deal - they are all available, in a one-for-one exchange. I'm looking for the following players, in this order of want:

Ichiro
Felix Hernandez
Tim Lincecum
Any Red (Chapman, Votto)
Any Oriole (Markakis, A. Jones)
Adam Dunn (White Sox)
Buster Posey

I think that I have the quality in these five cards that make for some fair trades for those players. Comment or e-mail me if you want to trade. I'm sure we can turn it into something bigger than one card-for-one card, but if not, then a one-for-one will do.

I didn't know if I'd ever be able to complete a trade with Scott over at Hand Collated, because he and I both collect the Reds. There's a lot of overlap, and so it's kind of hard to trade cards that I want in the first place, and vice versa.

Thankfully, last month he made a post about 2010 insert sets that he was collecting, and I found that he was collecting a bunch of sets that I wasn't. Here was a great chance to make a trade with someone that I didn't know if I'd get a chance to deal with, and turn some cards in my trade box into cards in my binders.

Here's the cards I got back from Scott. I hope that your package arrived and didn't get delayed by the floods here in the Kimberley!

First up are four Cards Your Mom Threw Out. The Dale Murphy is the oldest. The Ethier is the most resplendent in Green and Gold. The Ramirez looks like he ran into Mr. Tyzik. The Porcello is the most underwhelming because I have the original. But I've got to get this one, too.

Do you think I can just take a spare 2009 Porcello and put it in my binder as an "original back"?


Also in the pile were some Legendary Lineage for my needs. I'm just two LL cards away from completing Series 1 and nine away from Series 2. The Ichiro and Jackie card is, of course, the most awesome, but now I need another for my Ichiro PC. I love the powder blue Royals uni on Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson, and any card with Eddie Mathews is three kinds of awesome, even if Chipper is wearing a batting practice jersey.


Turkey Red? You bet! I'm steadly making progress. At this rate, I should complete the 2009 set in 2017, and the 2010 set in 2018. Have I mentioned how glad I am that I don't have to worry about Turkey Red 2011?


A pair of Rays prospects from 2009 A Piece of History, and a pair of former Red Sox shortstops from 2008 Baseball Heroes. All needed additions.



Scott also sent a couple of base cards I needed for 2010 Topps Series 2. The Carl Pavano was the best - I like the look on his face! He also sent an Ichiro Masterpieces card. I didn't need it for my set, but it will go nicely in my PC! Thanks for the great trade, Scott!

The resolution to get more trades done this year is already into high gear. I can't count the ones that started last year, so this is my first trade of 2011, from Duane at Democratic Roadkill. I sent Duane some Blue Jays and some unwanted insert cards, and he sent back some wanted inserts. I like this idea of turning cards I don't want into cards I do want! Let's see some of what was inside.

Duane put a big dent into my Turkey Red wantlists. I'm starting to think that it was a folly to collect these insert sets, but I'm too far along to turn back now. But I am glad that there isn't a Turkey Red 2011 set to chase, and I'm not going after the Kimball minis. I need a breather!

Duane sent about 20 Turkey Reds from 2010 alone, including many from the Update series (numbered 101 to 150). While there were current stars such as Joe Mauer and Andre Ethier in the pile, a lot of the cards were the legends, which was awesome:

One of those cards is not like the other - I know. But I included the Shin-Soo Choo card in the scan because I liked how it looked, and I needed twelve cards for balance.


2009 Turkey Red got some love, too. Duane sent about a dozen of them my way, including Hambone, Jay Bruce and Lincecum's buddy Matt Cain, plus old-timers Cobb, Reese and Wagner.


But it wasn't all Turkey Red. Here are four 2008 Baseball Heroes base cards that I needed, including ICHIRO!!!! and Matt Cain again.

I'm collecting the base set and chasing the rainbows for my four players (Griffey, Ichiro, King Felix and Lincecum). The King Felix rainbow is nearly complete, thanks to COMC. I only need the two most-rare colors now.


Finally, a surprise inclusion into the package, a 2008 Allen & Ginter mini of Ken Griffey (with the Old Planter back). I don't even need to look at the Frankenset™ (© Dayf) to know that this card is going in there - whatever's in spot #290 (if there is anything) can certainly be bumped for this!

Thanks for the trade, Duane. You've certainly helped whittle down my want list! Hopefully you will receive your cards soon if you haven't already but I guess that's really down to Australia Post, isn't it?

I look forward to more trades from everyone this year! If you think you can help, check out my want list. And if you see something you're interested in, let me know!