Pucketts With Extras from A Shoebox Legend

Shane of Shoebox Legends fame swapped PWEs with me this summer, I made out like a bandit with three new to me Pucketts.

Nick Gordon is making steady progress through the minor league system, though he might run into a roadblock at the MLB level with Dozier and Jorge Polanco in the middle infield.

Learn something new everyday! This is my first Steve Singleton card, he went to the University of San Diego (just like Kris Bryant and fellow Twin Anthony Slama). Singleton advanced as far as AAA in the Twins system, but was released mid season in 2011. He signed with the Phillies, played on their Single-A and AA teams, and was done playing pro ball after that season. He's currently the hitting coach for the Twins Single-A Fort Myers Miracle, managed by Doug Mientkiewicz.

Old school mid 80s Jersey, back when Puck was a speed guy first and foremost.

So many inserts in the 90s! I've now collected over 400 different Puckett cards and that's still only about 15 percent of his total cards! Big thanks to Shane for helping make a dent in that number.

Winner Winner Chicken (Parm) Dinner

 Shane from Shoebox Legends was already a winner in my book, and not just because he won one of my playoff contests, but because he's one of the more thoughtful and generous bloggers out there.

Shane fired off a PWE to the Twin Cities this week, and here are the goods:

 We start with the heaviest hitter - Harmon Killebrew and the highlight of his 500th career homer, by far the most in franchise history.

 The envelope packed quite a punch - Danny Lehmann was the BMOC as an Owl at Rice university, but didn't quite pan out. This refractor auto is nonetheless dazzling in its own right.

Topps takes a page from the Sportflics playbook and Mauer is in motion on this insert.

 Some fan favorites including Cuddyer and the great Luis Castillo, acquired from the Marlins in probably one of the better deadline deals for the Twins in recent memory.

Shane hits again with the great Chicky Chicky Parm. Parmelee is still in organized ball, doing his damage in the AL East now with the Orioles off the bench or on the farm.

Shane, thanks so much!

Shoebox, Meet Envelope.

Shane from Shoebox Legends has been kind enough to keep an eye out for Twins to send my way from time to time. Here's another recent PWE that arrived in my mailbox:

This one was Morneau heavy, which is never a bad thing!

Morneau is joined by the Twins' Skipper Paul Molitor and Glen Perkins, a couple of local kids. I sure hope they meant "Consummate" the adjective, and not "Consummate" the verb... because, well, that would be awkward.

 Benson had all kinds of hype in Minnesota, and Topps believed it too. He's still kicking around the minors, he just finished out 2015 with the Mets organization. No matter what happens in his career, he'll always have this cool Finest refractor rookie card!

 A sweet Cognac Diamond Ben Revere rookie, and a 2015 Bowman Autograph of prospect Zach Jones.

 Jones started 2015 with AA Chattanooga, and was the closer for a while, notching 10 saves for the Lookouts. He hit a rough patch (along with a few other young Twins arms this year), and finished the season back in high A ball in Fort Myers. He's going to have to step it up in 2016 to regain his prospect cred in his age 25 season.

 Hey remember that Morneau was a Catcher?

Those are both new to me, awesome!

Ah.... Todd Walker. Poor guy found himself in Tom Kelly's doghouse for his defense, and probably could have lived up to some of the expectations placed on him if he could have convinced the Twins to stick with him a bit longer... This is a cool card, anyway!

Thanks Shane, these are great!

From A Shoebox To My Mailbox

Shane From Shoebox Legends sent over a PWE this week:

Let's take a look inside!

 I'm a big fan of those O-Pee-Chee modern/retro/ripoffs. These look like a riff on 1976 Topps (though this Jesse Crain card is a black border parallel). The Sportflics card is Bert Blyleven and friends.

 A couple guys that came to the Twins with a lot of promise, but it didn't quite work out. I had real high hopes for Matt Walbeck taking the reins from . . .

 Brian Harper! A big part of the 1991 World Series team!

The Bowman Yellow Retail Parallels are a bit odd, but still pretty cool! Nick Gordon is Dee Gordon's younger brother, the Twins have big plans for him in the next couple years.

Thanks Shane, these are great!

A P.W.E. from Shoebox Legends

 Shane from Shoebox Legends dropped a surprise envelope in the mail for me last week- chock full o' Twins

 Sano is just about ready to start mashing some taters in MLB, you wait and see.

 That Jacque Jones card is a new brand to me.... very shiny!

 All the cards were new to me - I might have that 1992 Topps, but if I do it's in an 800 count box somewhere ...

Nice feature of 1992 Topps are these awesome panoramic stadium shots.

Thanks very much, Shane! I'll get some people wearing red socks headed back your way soon!

werbelliK nomraH

All month long my collection has grown on a nearly daily basis thanks to trading. Even though I feel like I send out a ton of cards, it seems like more come back. This is a good problem to have!

Shane from Shoebox Legends is the latest to fire back a return from the big group trade. I send him Red Sox, he sent back two team bags bursting with Twins and other goodies.

As usual, here's what the whole stack looked like:

Check out little Ben Revere! Serial numbered to 99, this little guy is the sepia tinted parallel.

Shane included this awesome Glen Perkins Autograph, from the very cool Upper Deck subset, Stroke of Genius:

The second bag was full of all kinds of cards from the missing years of 95-2005, and it was all new to me, so that's a big plus in my book.

But I'm saving the best for last - just in time for the 1966 style Topps Heritage set, here's a 1966 Topps rub off of the great Twin, werbelliK nomraH. 

What's that? Oh, sorry, I mean Harmon Killebrew, of course! That's a real beauty!

Very cool stuff Shane, thanks very much!

A Shoe-in for a Great Trade

I made a trade with Shane from Shoebox Legends and set him up with some Red Sox cards.

Here's what I sent his way . . .
On Monday (that's how far behind I am on these trade posts, could've done several in a day, but wanted to feature each trade on its own for a while before showing the next one) I received a bubble mailer from Shane with some Twins and a few other treasures.


Check it out:

The start of a Mauer Rainbow:

Some nice old school Twins:

Very Cool Shane. Hope this is the first of many more trades in the future!