Trade with Patrick of Hot Corner Cards

A quicky trade post today.  I send Patrick of Hot Corner Cards some of my 2014 Topps Tigers that I pulled and he sent me some various Orioles cards that I needed.  Patrick has become a good trading buddy of mine and he didn't disappoint with this package.

There aren't a ton of Luis Aparicio Orioles cards out there.  I understand that he isn't normally associated with the Orioles since he only played a few seasons in Charm City.  Anyways, This manu-relic is actually from 2010 Topps.  I'm still not a huge fan of the manu-relics Topps shoves down our throats but this one is ok in my book.  I'm surprised at the amount of detail that is in this particular card.

Patrick also helped out with a few 2014 Topps Orioles needs.  He sent me a couple base cards as well as these 2 Wei-Yin Chen parallels.  The Robitussin-fractor will go in my Orioles Parallel-o-mania binder and the Gold bordered will go into my 2014 Orioles team sets binder.

I'm still in need of quite a few flagship, Heritage and Opening Day Orioles cards from this year and last year. My card collecting budget has been cut in half over the last year so I've almost stopped buying packs and hobby boxes just because new products are out.  I've had to become much more selective on what I buy and search for more deals.  I'm trying to get the most bang out of my buck if you will.  So if anybody has any Orioles cards from my lists that I need I'd love to trade with you especially if I've never traded with you before.  I love making new personal connections with people that read my blog!

Thanks Patrick for the great cards!

Trade with Adam of Arpsmith's Sportscard Obsession

I just completed a trade with Adam of the relatively new blog ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession.  Adam has been around the blogosphere for a while but just recently took the plunge and started writing his own.  He's a Giants fan so I sent him a bunch of cards from his wantlists and the 3 Willie Mays inserts I pulled from my Gypsy Queen packs.

This is the card that started the whole trade.  A mini of JJ Hardy.  James Jerry had a great year last year coming over from the Twins and it earned him a 3 year contract to stick around in Charm City and hand off SS duties to super prospect Manny Machado when he's ready.  Both have had slow starts to the season but I'm sure as the weather warms, so will their bats.  If anybody else has any mini Orioles from Gypsy Queen (especially the regular back minis) let me know, I'd love to trade with you.

Adam was also able to send a few Cal Ripkens that I didn't have before.  I chose this one card to show because he's wearing sunglasses while batting.  I think this is the only card that I own that shows him donning the shades while batting.

I still have a soft spot for Larry Bigbie.  Thanks a lot David Segui for ruining his career.  I really like this shot of Larry taking a secondary lead from 1st base.  You just don't see this odd camera angle that often.

Here's the first of two firsts that was sent to me.  This is my first Roberto Alomar relic card.  Though it is just a plain grey swatch, I still like the card.  Donruss Champions was a pretty neat set when it came to the relic and autograph cards but the base set was a little bit of a mess design wise.  There was just too much empty space for my liking.

And here's the second of my firsts.  A Lou Aparicio Bat card.  I think my buddy William also got one of these in a trade recently.  It's a really classy looking card in my opinion of a great player.  Everybody says that Frank Robinson was the missing piece that was added to the 1966 WS Champion squad before the season started.  That's true but Lou was an integral part who was aquired 3 years before the 66 season.  In my humble opinion, Little Louie was just as big a part of the team as the Robinsons were and I think a lot of people inadvertently forget that.

Thanks for the awesome trade Adam, I can't wait to trade with you again!