Everyone knows the phrase, "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is." It's a word to the wise, and if you don't want to be fleeced alive, you'd better follow it.But that phrase has almost no meaning when it comes to exchanging cards among bloggers. The deals that I have encountered, that six months ago I would have dismissed as some baseball card version of the Pyramid scheme, are indeed too good. But they are also absolutely, 100 percent, bonafide, scout's honor, cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die true.
I received two card packages today that fall in that category. The first was from Paul of Paul's Random Stuff. The second was from Bailey of The Nennth Inning. Both contained great goodies that I received for next to nothing.
I'll start with Paul's cards first. His deal was that he needed to clear out some of his overstock. All I needed to do was request the cards that I wanted from his list, send an SASE, and they were mine. I spotted the Pee Wee Reese Legends of the Game card from 2009 Topps first and snared that.
Then Paul made some '08 Stadium Club available. I eagerly looked at the list, as I'm still kind of, sort of, trying to complete the set. He had only one card that I needed.
No. 14, Prince Fielder is one of the few non-divisible by three cards that I needed. So I am happy to have it.
I also picked up the Chase Utley card, which I will be sending off to reader Steve, if he still needs it.Paul also sent along a small Mets want list, which I asked for specifically. I've traded with a lot of Mets collectors so my inventory is pretty thin, but a good way to get me to track down a Met you don't have is to send out free cards.
On to the second amazing story: Bailey is the biggest Tim Lincecum collector that I know, and he has a contest going where he will send you a relic/auto card of your choice (from the list that he has) in exchange for a Lincecum card that he does not have.
It's a cool exchange. And it probably blows the mind of by-the-book Beckett thumpers. Because I sent two 2009 Topps Lincecum base cards and ended up with:
That. Very cool. I swear, I am not an Angel fan. It just happened that my two choices were Angels. My first pick was the Carew jersey card. How can you not select that first? I would have preferred him in a Twins uniform, but that's a small thing. My second choice was the Gavin Floyd auto, but Dave of Fielder's Choice nabbed that first. So I received my third pick, the Chone Figgins auto.
The best thing about the Masterpieces cards are the parallels and relics. Easily. The auto cards are great, probably the best that I've seen from 2008. Although I don't think I saw an auto from one major star in Masterpieces. It was mostly guys like Figgins.
I've sent Bailey a handful of Lincecum cards in the past few months, so he was nice enough to send along a few Dodgers. These two Furcal cards are from 2007 UD Elements, a product I know zip about. Bailey had a box break of Elements, and I'm guessing these two Raffy cards are from the break.The card on the left is some sort of see-through deal. You can see the back of the card by looking at the front. I don't know if it's a parallel or insert. It's numbered (106) just like the Furcal card on the right (64) and almost all the back info is similar except the write-up.
I am very pleased that Furcal didn't end up a Giant or an A or a Brave. He's about the only reason I'm feeling positive about the season. That is, until the Dodgers sign Manny.
A big thanks to both Paul and Bailey for your generous ways. No such thing as a free lunch? Ha!
Comments