The Hook Is Baited

On our way home from NW Minnesota, I got a message on my cellphone, and it contained this picture —–>
Turns out nephew Dima and Grandpa took advantage of the calm after virtually all the relations had left, and went fishing off a dock at a neighboring lake. Well, Dima is quite the fisherman, pulling in this lunker after a nice fight. Northern Pike never looked so good.
I’ve been busy with work, watching the Olympics, as well swinging trades (most of them at The Bench), and thought I’d best point out my trade bait page again. A lot of great cards are disappearing from there! Should also mention that I’m participating in Spookymilk’s latest writer’s challenge. It’s minus the Survivor part of it, so we’ll see how that goes. So far my mind is a blank for the first challenge

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Josh at Royals and Randoms posted a puzzler a while back, and I happened to figure out the answer was Orange Julius, leading him to send me this awesome pile:

a fine variety of Fleer, Upper Deck, Topps, and Donruss

I responded in kind with some items off my trade bait page for him.

Meanwhile, Wicked Ortega from The Cardboard Don nicely polished up a trade as well, which included an upgrade for my ’70 Oliva.

clockwise, from top left: 2007 Upper Deck Goudey Graphs #GG-GP Glen Perkins (auto); 1970 Topps #510 Tony Oliva; 2005 Topps Heritage Chrome refractor #THC26 Torii Hunter [080/556]; 2012 Topps Walmart Blue border #230 Justin Morneau

btw, I like the new blog look and feel, Wicked. Thanks for the trade, guys!

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An Olympics Friday Random 10

Time for the Friday random ten songs again…

1. “Domingo Hirsch and His Internal Flying Circus” – The Citizens, Post Cro-Magnon Drift
2. “Clouds” – Level 42, Retrograde
3. “Face to Face” – Keith Emerson, Nighthawks soundtrack
4. “No. 15” – Chick Corea, Children’s Songs
5. “In a Big Country” – Big Country, The Crossing
6. “Stranger by the Minute” – Porcupine Tree, Stupid Dream
7. “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” – Paul Simon, Graceland
8. “Spirits in the Material World” – The Police, Every Breath You Take: The Singles
9. “Pulse” – Rick Wakeman, Rhapsodies
10. “The Time Has Come” – Mike Oldfield, Islands

Bring home the gold, folks!

A Flurry Of Pre-Vacation Packages

With a vacation coming up (more on this in a future post), I mailed off several packages to get them on their way, and a corresponding flurry of them arrived here as well.

Dhoff at Coot Veal and the Vealtones is one of the most patient traders out there, and I put his patience to the test, as we casually threw emails back and forth over the course of a couple months, finally pulling the trigger just recently. I got a fine collection of Twins (some pictured below), and several Tigers and Cabreras are on their way to him shortly.

clockwise, from top left: 2010 Topps Chrome Refractor #187 Luke Hughes (auto); 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP158 David Bromberg (auto); 2002 Topps American Pie American Sluggers #AS-HK Harmon Killebrew; 2003 Bowman Draft Picks Prospect Premiums #PP-JM Justin Morneau (bat); 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History Box Score Memories #BSM-JM Justin Mauer [074/149]; 2003 Topps Stadium Club #107 Joe Mauer

Benched!

Here are a couple more of the multiple trades I’ve been putting together since joining The Bench. First, my old friend ED HENDERS found a few more Barry Bonds cards that he needed, and exchanged a wad of Johan Santana Moments & Memories cards for them. I’d previously traded with Ed at Sportscardfun.

thirteen 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones #87 Johan Santana [#/150] and three 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones #87 Johan Santana [#/25]

The second trade was a beaut: I stumbled upon a post by Brettfan not too long after it had gone up, and after scanning the list and realizing I had very few of the Twins cards she’d listed, I put out a hesitant “yes” towards them, waiting to see if her asking price would be as good as claimed. When she asked for $18.50 (delivered!), it was a no-brainer.

Bowyer, Travis 2005 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Red #241 #’d 094/100 Carew, Rod 2005 Diamond Kings Framed Red HOF Heroes #18 Casilla, Alexi 2009 Bowman Blue #122 #’d 457/500 Durbin, J.D. 2005 Skybox Autographics Insignia #111 #’d 142/150 Ford, Lew 2004 Leaf Certified Cuts Marble Red #116 #’d 064/100 Gibson, Kyle 2010 Bowman Platinum Prospects Thick Stock Variation #20 #’d 259/999 Gomez, Carlos 2009 Bowman Orange #125 #’d 078/250 Guardado, Eddie 2003 Donruss Stat Line Season #152 #’d 38/45 Hrbek, Kent 2005 Donruss Signature Series Century Proofs Silver #70 #’d 50/75 Hunter, Torii 1997 Bowman Chrome Refractor #168 Hunter, Torii 2000 Stadium Club Chrome Refractor #118 Hunter, Torii 2003 Upper Deck Victory Tier 3 Blue #46 #’d 430/650 Hunter, Torii 2004 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Tools of the Trade Red Spectrum #145 #’d 025/100 Hunter, Torii 2005 Donruss Classics Timeless Tributes Silver #48 #’d 084/100 Hunter, Torii 2005 Leaf Limited #73 #’d 198, 311/699 Hunter, Torii 2005 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros Red #48 #’d 189/700 Hunter, Torii 2005 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros Red #48 #’d 510/700 Hunter, Torii 2006 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor #113 Hunter, Torii 2007 Topps Chrome White Refractor #268 #’d 043/660 Johnson, Adam 2002 Donruss Elite RC #192 #’d 0557/1500 Jones, Jacque 2001 Fleer Focus Black Gold #86 #’d 474/499 Killebrew, Harmon 2001 Greats of the Game #11 Killebrew, Harmon 2003 Fleer Tradition #77 Koskie, Corey 2003 Bowman Chrome Xfractor #144 LeCroy, Matt 2000 EX #64 #’d 1516/3499 Macri, Matt 2008 Topps Update Chrome #36 Manship, Jeff 2010 Finest Refractor Blue #141 #’d 168/299 Mauer, Joe 2007 Upper Deck Goudey Heads Up #271 Mays, Joe 1999 Fleer Mystique #137 #’d 1961/2999 Miller, Colby 2005 Donruss The Rookies Red Press Proof #25 #’d 057/200 Morneau, Justin 2007 Topps Chrome Generation Now #213 Morneau, Justin 2007 Topps Chrome Generation Now Refractor #216 #’d 478/500 Morneau, Justin 2007 Topps Own the Game #15 Morneau, Justin 2008 Topps Update Gold Foil #113 Morneau, Justin 2009 Upper Deck Starquest Emerald Super Rare #47 Oliva, Tony 2005 SP Legendary Cuts Glory Days Gold #GD-TO #’d 59/75 Ortiz, David 1999 Aurora #106 Ortiz, David 2000 Invincible Holographic Purple #85 #’d 014/299 Puckett, Kirby 1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond #289 Puckett, Kirby 1995 Topps Embossed #71 Puckett, Kirby 1995 Topps Embossed #71 Radke, Brad 1998 Finest Refractor #21 Radke, Brad 2005 Leaf Limited #55 #’d 546/699 Radke, Brad 2005 Leaf Limited Silver Spotlight #55 #’d 13/50 Rivas, Luis 2001 Donruss Stat Line Career #189 #’d 283/310 Santana, Johan 2005 Absolute Memorabilia BLUE #4 Santana, Johan 2007 Topps Own the Game #21 Santana, Johan 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones #87-15 #’d 110/150 Santana, Johan 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones Black #87-33 #’d 04/25 Slowey, Kevin 2010 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor #78 #’d 100/150 Stewart, Shannon 2004 Topps Chrome Gold Refractor #416 Stewart, Shannon 2005 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor #107 #’d 033/150 Stewart, Shannon 2005 Leaf Limited Bronze Spotlight #98 #’d 62/99 Stewart, Shannon 2005 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros BLUE #83 #’d 370/900 Stewart, Shannon 2005 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros GREEN #83 #’d 227/350 Stewart, Shannon 2005 UD Blue #369 #’d 142/150 Tolbert, Matt 2008 Stadium Club Photographer’s Proof Blue #121a #’d 69/99 Walker, Todd 1998 Bowman Chrome Refractor #54 Puckett, Kirby 1996 Topps Mystery Finest #8 w/Ripken, Gwynn (Twins/Orioles/Padres) Sabathia/Hunter 2005 Donruss Leather & Lumber Rivals #9 #’d 1473/2000 (Indians/Twins)

I’m still having fun sorting and storing these. More trades in the pipeline, too…