The Custom-er is Always Right!

"Hello? Is this Jeremy from Topps Cards That Never Were? Yeah he got your mailer, it was awesome. Thanks for making a sunset card for me, bro!" 

I made a trade with Jeremy based on a claim of a sweet Enny Romero patch card that I put in a Free Stuff Friday post. I knew I could catch the attention Rays fan eventually! He sent over a big stack of Twins, and also included some Edgar Martinez cards and a few 80s needs as well.

The Twins portion of the package really sparkled - a big parallel bonanza! The Rod Carew on the bottom left is numbered to just 1,000 copies.

A boatload of refractor / foil parallels as well. But this was just a sneak peek, an apéritif before the main course:

As his blog name suggests, he made some awesome custom cards that never were! Tom Kelly's "rookie" Manager Card, and a great All-Star entry as well, to go along with a pair of Minnesota legends in their final seasons. Molitor of course finished his illustrious career as a Twin but was a high school star in Saint Paul, MN as well. Kent Hrbek was and remains a legend in MN, thanks to his prodigious home runs and jolly disposition.

This one made me smile right away, with Tom Kelly hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy for the 2nd time in 5 years. Jeremy, thanks so much for these - I really appreciate the extra mile you went to to make them!

Free Trade Agreements

The free stuff Friday train has yielded an unexpected but welcome bump in my trading life. Alex Andy (Sorry!)from Stadium Fantasium claimed a free card and offered me another in trade, this sweet 1969 Topps Rico Carty.

Yikes - I had forgotten about Rico's lost season due to illness, you can see he lost significant time in 1965 as well. Another one of those guys that you wonder what may have been if he was healthy for a full career. Thanks Andy!

Chris aka The Collector claimed some free cards and I received some sweet junk wax needs and Minnesota connected players as well. Brad Hand is from Chaska, MN!

Thanks again Chris!

Of course, as long as we're talking free cards, Let's talk about Jon and A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts. This trio of food issues were too good to pass up, so I claimed them from one of his recent Free Stuff posts.

Last but not least, I bought a pair of Puckett customs on eBay last week - the custom card maker focuses on Don Mattingly, Jose Canseco, and Kirby Puckett customs. These called out to me while I was browsing some "real" Pucketts. I don't mind paying a little bit more for these, they are well executed and will be a fun addition to my collection. I received a few more great packages recently, I'll be sharing those in the next couple days as well. Thanks to everyone who has taken advantage of the Free Stuff Fridays so far, I've had a lot of fun putting them together, and I am happy to find new homes for cards that otherwise would just languish in a box somewhere. And thanks for reading the blog!

Thursday Tradin' Post

Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown sent me a festive PWE just ahead of Christmas. Included was this custom "SANT A" ornament for the tree!  

I am a proud member of Generation X-Treme! Just Kidding, I'm an OLD Millenial/Generation Y. 

The envelope concluded with a Quintet of Twins, all parallels!

Johan was numbered to just 45 copies! Thanks Gavin, that ornament will be a family heirloom!

Shifting gears, here's something that should appeal to Gavin, as it is tangentially related to his "Baseball cards on film" project.

I recently added a 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD/Blu-Ray of the fantastic movie "A League Of Their Own," which included, you guessed it, commemorative baseball cards!

Geena Davis as the power hitting and defensive stalwart Catcher, Dottie Hinson. The cards remind me a little of the Topps All-Star Rookie Team test issue from 1971.

Next up was Tom Hanks, as boozing slugger and reluctant Rockford Peaches manager, Jimmy Dugan. There was a custom made card of Hanks / Dugan in the film, eagle eyed viewers will see that the card he rips in half is based loosely on the 1934 Goudey Jimmy Foxx.

The last card in the box was of Music and Film icon Madonna as speedy center fielder Mae Mordabito. The 3 cards had no wrapping around them and were just floating loosely in the box, so all three have dented corners. A bit of a bummer, but these were throw-ins so I can't complain too much.

The backs all have a quote from the movie and some very basic league-wide stats from the AAGPBL. I wish Lori Petty had a card, too. Kit was favorite character in the movie.

The box also had this booklet "The History of Women's Baseball," which contains a short essay on the development of the AAGPBL and some background on what came after. 

Sometimes, Crime Does Pay

Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown fame had a big fun game, and the best lot in the whole game (in this humble Twins Fan's opinion) was the one that I won stole from Nick from the Dime Boxes blog. Stealing is bad! Stealing is wrong! But thems the rules of the big fun game, and I just couldn't say no to the card above. My scanner makes it look a little blurry and dusty, but in person it is anything but. Just a gorgeous card!

Also included in the lot were these three Baseball Card Breakdown originals. Really outstanding work on these customs, not just the look, but also the feel of the cards in hand is impressive.

Gavin being the generous fella that he is, also included a stack of Twins, like hometown hero Joe Mauer.

Some great older Bowman (always a fan of Metrodome shots like A.J.'s card)

The base card Tony O to match the autograph, and some sweet Kennys!

A Bonus Joe Relic!

And Frankie from the Futures game waaaaay back in 2005. He's still kicking in 2017.

Thanks very much Gavin, for the big fun game, and for all the extras!!

Customizing The Season of Giving

Welp - Gavin has really outdone himself this holiday season. He's been issuing custom gifts all around the blogosphere and I was very lucky to have an envelope arrive last week with my name on it. Lots of really cool an ingenious work coming from the author of Baseball Card Breakdown

 Some great Manny Ramirez cards for the PC

B-Rad is back- in Pog form! I can't believe they only made 50 of this particular platinum parallel.

 Add in an Albert Belle and we've got a very nice holiday PWE.

 Of course, Gavin did not stop there and included a custom built "rip card" numbered to 25

Inside was this fantastic little magnet featuring Kirby Puckett! Eat your heart out, Cracker Jack.The scan doesn't really do this item justice


Thanks Gavin!