Plaschke, Thy Trade Package is Amazing!

I have what seems like 20 trades in the works currently, so I'll probably end up posting a ton of trades here in the next few weeks. If they're all like this first one from Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle, then I think I'll do pretty well.
Quite well even.
Fantastic?
Yeah I'd even go that far.
Daring I know, but with so many wants covered, this trade really had it all!

I start with the most unique part of this package - Greg included three cup cards, but not your typical cup cards. See, the usual cup card I get is pretty obvious - the player is holding a cup, or the eye is drawn to it immediately in the background for some reason. Greg's cup cards took a little more work than that - so much so that he included post-its with the cards just in case I couldn't spot them. Case in point:
This is already an amazing card without the cup - It's called "Staying Fit" and isn't attributed to a single player on the card, but as you all probably know, that'd be Bip Roberts front and center. A Bip Roberts cup card - yes! But the post-it was the coolest part for me. As he notes here, the cup is "under his chin, on top of the drawers." And if you look there, you'll see it! Cool!


Tom Lampkin's card cup was a little bit trickier for me to see at first:
But there in the blurry background, there it is! Very nice spot!


The best spot by far, however? This Pudge Rodriguez card, which I never would have noticed without the sticky:
To the far, far right there's the shoulder of a guy on the bench. And over his shoulder, on the shelf, is a cup. A truly incredible spot - Greg belongs in the drinking cup identification Hall of Fame for this one. Here's my completed list of cup cards so you can see these newest three within the span of my collection. Really coming along now!


As is this trade, because we are really just getting started. Next I ended up with two cards of a guy from my random wants list, Mr. Madison Bumgarner. My girlfriend generally cannot stand televised baseball, but she does enjoy watching Mr. Bumgarner for his fancy/silly name. I like his name but also think he's pretty damn good. So picking up two cards of his was excellent:
The left card makes me giggle a lot, because I always say his name now with a stuffy accent. "Madison Bumgarner of the Connecticut Bumgarners," if you will. Try it yourself. Just do it. Seriously. Funny, no?


Ah, the "hits," the meat of any good trade package. I send a few hits Greg's way and so he returned the favor since I have odd tastes. We begin with another current Giant, Cody Ross, from his time with the Marlins:
I liked Ross enough pre-Giants and was stunned the Marlins let him go, and then he went and caught fire in the playoffs and made a lot of fans in the progress. It's great to have an Auto of his finally, and I'll gladly hold on to this one for a long time!

A few relics also made the trip over, one semi-unexpected, the other a mystery that was totally unexpected. First the semi, which is this John Danks relic from Allen and Ginter:
I mentioned I liked this card but Greg only mentioned Ross and Pearce in our trade emails. So I didn't expect to get Danks and did anyways, much to my delight. When I played Fantasy Baseball I ended up rostering Danks and his fellow young Chitown starter Gavin Floyd quite a bit. I already have a few nice Floyd cards so it's good to have Danks now too. And it's got a pinstripe, which is always a bonus!


NOW WE HAVE THE MYSTERY! It was wrapped in paper that said open last, and wow was it worth it. A gorgeous, very shiny, Topps Gold Label Fred McGriff bat relic:
The card looks way better in person (as many do) and is really just a thing of beauty. Topps Gold Label always looks nice to me anyway, but this card really takes the cake. I also like the card above the bat piece. It's McGriff's 1994 Topps, as the card celebrates McGriff's MVP performance in the 1994 All Star Game. Nice little Turn Back the Clock concept there.


And to complete the relic-y goodness, Greg even threw something in for my brother! I mentioned that my brother (who isn't a big collector but does have some stuff) really likes the San Antonio Spurs. Greg had a Tony Parker jersey relic #'d to 99 that he didn't need, so he sent it my way with a Tim Duncan base card:
Much appreciated! My brother's birthday is coming up soon, so it's nice to have a little something besides a simple birthday card. I'm sure he'll be psyched!


Rounding up this package was typical GSNHOF trade filler, aka funny names, Browns, and Patriots. Always nice to dig through and look for gems, and these were some of my favorites:
Sterling Hitchcock is definitely a solid name, and one I had surprisingly forgotten until this package. Irving Fryar (always forget he started out as a Patriot) and Travis Prentice were just favorite players of mine as a youngster. And Kevin Johnson's card just looks really epic - nice planned shot there.


Even better? My first card (somehow) of the immortal Ickey Woods:
This card is beautiful. I love that he's doing the shuffle. I love the random close up of Boomer Esiason in the foreground. I even love the wires on the ground all strewn about. Cards with a ton going on are always fun - that's what made Glenn Hubbard's snake/Phanatic Fleer card so cool, right?

And there you have it! Another fantastic set o' cards from a trade with a fantastic blogger. If you haven't traded with him yet, I highly recommend you consider it, as you'll do quite well. Here's a link to his site again in case you need it. And don't forget to tell him the Mooss sent ya!