Grass is always greener...

Duane, from Democratic Roadkill, made some real roadkill of my wantlists and sent me several dozen cards from '08 Goudey, '09 Goudey and '08 A&G. The grass (Duane knows what I'm talking about) is definitely greener on his side of the collection table, and he is willing to share some sod with me. He has been a great trade partner, so check his blog and wantlist out.

He also killed off what I thought was the last card from 2008 Masterpieces, #96

I still need 104 (Mattingly) and 106 (Berra), so if you have them, I'd like to trade for them. I must have sent them off in another trade to get something I wanted more, though I don't know what I could want more than to finish off this set. I regret the UD did not see fit to release it again this year.

Duane took a big chunk out of my Goudey wantlists with many short prints, so many that I'm embarrassed that I might not be able to keep up with his generosity. The '09's he sent include some Sport Royalty, which are a difficult catch and a few other straight SP's.

The '08 Goudeys included more Sport Royalty and straight SP's, as well as some presidents and Play Ball cards, but also included the rest of the Hit Parade of Champions that I needed. Great! Another list completed! WOW!

When I fist saw the Pujols, I thought it was C.C. There is a bit of a resemblance. And the Staubach is interesting in that his helmet has a funny red-white-and-blue design that I had never seen on the Cowboys helmets before. Any clues?

He also threw in a few A&G minis from 2008, including two that I have been chasing out of a subset for quite some time now. They are very difficult to obtain, so I am very grateful to Duane for the Baseball Icons that he sent of Cobb and Ott.

Man, Duane do I owe you or what! Thanks again, my friend.

Mini Me

Many people have written about their affection for the Allen & Ginter set, especially the 2008 version. There are many reasons to love it. It is the perfect set for getting autographs, although I defy anyone to get Pluto's. It is simple, elegant, and interesting. The pictures are great, much better than Goudey. The only problem is that, in order to collect a Master Set, you need to collect five entire sets: normal, miniature, mini A&G backs, mini black-border, and mini no-number. You may even throw in the mini A&G bubble-blowing back.

Early on, I decided that I was not going to collect all the minis. I have resorted to taking whichever mini I have for one complete set of minis. So now that I'm getting closer to finishing, I'm finding it harder and harder to track down all the cards. Don't even mention the inserts!

Then, along comes a trader like Duane of Democratic Roadkill, who blows away all common sense and sends nearly forty, that's right, 40, minis, including three Baseball Icons, a World Icon, a Mini Aviation and four World Leaders. 

  

Also included were the two Indians minis that I didn't have:

 

To top it off, Duane also sent some 2008 SP Authentic inserts that I still need. This is one of those sets that snuck up on me and surprised me by how much I like it. It's well-designed, bright, interesting, and isn't overly-burdened with a huge base or too many inserts. 

Thanks, Duane. More Blue Jays are on the way.