Back to the present ... sort of

I've done a lot of reminiscing on this blog the last couple of days, and with all the work I've put into nostalgiazing, I suppose you think there's been no time for trading.

Ha!

There's always time for trading.

That is if you define "trading" as taking forever to respond to a trade request, taking even longer to find some cards for your trading bud, taking even longer, longer to send out those cards, and taking even longer, longer, longer to post about them.

If that's what you mean by trading, then, yeah, I'm all over that.

This is a deal made with GCA of The Collective Mind. In my usual backward way, I am posting the cards before I get his return package in the mail, so I've already turned what I wrote two paragraphs ago into a bold-faced lie.

But disorganization aside, isn't it nice to see some present-day activity from me instead of wallowing in memories of the '70s and '80s?

Here are some relatively recent cards from a relatively recent trade. It's the closest to the present that you'll get from me:

For starters, GCA almost annihilated my 1994 Pacific Dodgers wants. These are just some of the items sent of what was the beginning of a gaudy run for Pacific.

I also received a bunch of Upper Deck 40-Man from 2002. I don't think I've ever received this set  in a trade. I was so shocked that I displayed only two of the cards that GCA sent and assembled them haphazardly on the scanner bed.

One of everybody's favorite sets, Upper Deck's Timeless Teams from 2004. Again, this is just a selection of the cards sent. The '81 Alejandro Pena is an odd choice. He pitched in just 14 games in 1981 and didn't play in the World Series.

Mid-1990s Dodgers that I really should have by now. And I apologize for beating myself up for my high collecting standards.

These Team Heroes cards of Don Sutton and Pee Wee Reese will make that Team Heroes card of Omar Daal all the more inappropriate.

A couple of Nomo needs, including the strangely fascinating Pinnacle Mint card with the back of the coin jutting out from the back of the card. I don't know how any of these cards survived intact.

Going way back to the past again. Sorry about that. But Carl Erskine rules.

And some Jackie Robinson needs. I absolutely love the last card, especially for the line at the bottom:

"Robinson Integrates Baseball"

That headline beats just about any other headline doesn't it? What did you do today? I integrated baseball.

A couple of inserts that GCA thought may be just "fancy dupes" as they weren't on my want list. But here's a little tip: If it's an insert and it's from the '90s or even early '00s, I probably don't have it.

These cards are the most modern items in the package. I received a few more '08 Timeline needs. I'm still not sick of that product.

I don't know what Gagne's smiling about. The Padres beat the Dodgers by one game in the '96 NL West race. Rickey probably stole third on the next pitch.

Last card. From the Metal Hardball Galaxy set of about a decade ago. This card rules anything that will come out in 2011. I guarantee it.

Those cards may not be recent enough for you. But for me, cards evoke memories, and I am trying to build as many memories as I can with my cards, from the time I first collected (and before) until today. Thanks to GCA and others, they're helping me fill gaps in the timeline.