An Extra Grande Group Break

I joined my first Nachos Grande group break for the 2015 Topps Heritage set. I completed the 2014 set because I loved the 1965 Topps design, but I'm not really in love with the 1966 version. Joining the break was great for me, I planned on limiting myself to just Twins and maybe a few singles here and there for the set, and that's pretty much exactly what I'm getting.

Here are some of the highlights:

An original 1966 buyback of Sandy Valdespino, who was certainly a fan favorite in his days with the Twins, though he didn't make the same impact as his countrymen like Tony Oliva.

Sandy has the interesting distinction of being a Seattle Pilot, but NOT an "original Seattle Pilot." He was traded to Seattle (with Danny Walton) in August of 1969 from Houston. The Pilots only played one season in Seattle, and Sandy had to settle for being an original Milwaukee Brewer instead.

Ok, history time is over. Hey, what's the deal with those non-Heritage cards? Well Chris joined my Group Trade, too, so included in his package to me was the return for the Cincinnati Reds that I sent to him. You can see a pretty awesome Killebrew in the top left, along with a Koskie, Morneau, and Mauer from years I missed.

Here's everything at once:

My part of the Group Break included the Rockies as well. This works out great for me since the Rockies have two former Twins, Morneau and LaTroy Hawkins, and in general they've been one of my favorite NL teams.

The other "hit" from the break was the Advertising Panel:

Super Cool! Now, how do I store it?

Just a quick digression back to the first image:

Some awesome Mini Munnatawket originals, can't beat that.

This was the second group break I've signed up for - it was a ton of fun to watch the break, and I'm looking forward to many more in the future!

If anyone is looking to add some Rockies or Twins to their 2015 Heritage collection, I've got doubles! I plan on keeping one copy of everything, though, so the hits are probably staying with me. Oh, but if you recall I do have another post with more 2015 Heritage Trade Bait 

Group Trade: Off Hiatus

Tony from Off Hiatus Baseball Club has generated quite a reputation around the blogosphere. A reputation for inventive and engaging posts, generosity, and for sending some great packages!

Tony joined my 1995-2005 Group Trade, and along with some earlier discussions we worked out a blind trade. I sent him some Brewers, and he tossed this brick through my proverbial card collecting window:

The Box says 330 count, but I think Tony managed to fit more than that in there.

It's hard to know where to begin . . . suffice it to say every single card in the box was new to me - - oh, I've seen pictures or knew that the cards existed, but none of them had made it into my collection. Pretty much every card was from the lost years of 1995-2005, and they included Diamondbacks, Devil Rays, Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Rockies, and of course Twins. Excited about Devil Rays from the early 00's? Brian, didja hit your head on something?

Even though I'm not specifically collecting those expansion teams or otherwise underrepresented clubs, they were cards I didn't have the chance to shuffle through the first time around, so very fun to see them in person for the first time.

My first Topps Tek cards!

Jose Mijares auto and Glen Perkins All-Star Relic! The Relic is especially cool to me because the All-Star game was here in Minneapolis. I attended the Futures Game that weekend, and was at Target Field just before the All-Star game started (I ended up watching the game from a nearby bar). A very fun night and a proud moment for my hometown.

A big stack of guys for my player collections -  all in all, this one will be hard to beat! Thanks so much Tony, it was a ton of fun to go through all these cards!

My Trade with My Life in the Sports Card Hobby

Frankie from My Life in the Sports Card Hobby posted awhile back about a great Joe Mauer (#'d to 10) card he pulled and was looking to trade. I was happy to do it, but I have to say I was a little intimidated!

Sure, Frankie is probably about half my age (I don't plan on doing the math on that), but as a collector he's light years ahead of me. Did ya see his post about meeting Mariano Rivera? Getting Mo to sign a pitching rubber? Goodness. That's just the tip of the iceberg, Frankie has a great collection going and his posts showcase some really nice autos and relics, etc etc.

I generally don't have a lot of stuff like that, so I put together what I could find to fit his PCs and sent over the shiniest things I could get my hands on.

Here's the return, starting with that fantastic Joe Mauer:

It's actually my first card numbered to 10 (I'm hoping to make the Clear Acetate Kennys Vargas 2015 Topps Series 1 my second, if I can ever find one...), so thanks very much for making that happen, Frankie!

In addtion to Joe, Frankie added some more cool Twins:

Can't go wrong with Harmon! Thanks again for trading with me Frankie, these are great!

Taking a Walk Off the Plank

Another return from the group trade - Matt from Bob Walk the Plank sent me another round of awesome early 2000's HITS!

Seems unassuming all wrapped up...

Carew and Killebrew - Hall of Famers, numbers retired by the Twins... check them out!

back of the Killebrew:

More Serial numbered goodness with Molitor, Carew, and AJ:

Probably the best trade in MN Twins history?

Matt Garza! Every fan also has that trade they wish their team never made... Well, if the Twins could have a do-over on the Delmon Young trade, that would be great. Garza hasn't won a Cy Young or even led the league in any major categories, but he's been a solid anchor on every pitching staff he's been on. Even though he's no longer a Twin, I'm still a fan.

And last but certainly not least, Miguel Sano! He was recently sent to minor league camp, but I'm about 99% certain he'll be making his major league debut later this summer. He projects to be a 30+ homer guy, and along with Vargas, Arcia, Buxton, Danny Santana and company, the Twins should be all set on offense for several years to come.

Thanks very much Matt, these were awesome!

2015 Donruzzzzzzz

OK, so maybe we're being unfair to Donruss?

I bought two packs at the last card show I went to.

They sure are trying to keep people interested! In the two packs there were three different Hall of Famers, a total of five insert cards, one serial numbered, and one autographed.

Here are the base cards from Pack 1:

Nice little synergy with the Big Hurt and Abreu - same dugout in the background, two great Chicago Sluggers.

Base cards from Pack 2:

Again, no shortage of star power, and Rickey will find a place in my collection... but the design is just... oh well. Not interested in beating a dead horse.

Now, for the Inserts/Hits:

Very nice, but once again I feel just a bit underwhelmed by the design. Pretty much everything here is up for trade - I will be keeping the Rickey Henderson Card... the rest I am not all that enthusiastic about.