Funtime

All aboard for funtime! It's another trade post.

Longtime reader Tim sent me another package of Cardinals cards last month, and as is my wont, I will show you some of those cards here tonight. I was happy to see some of the newer Topps stickers in the lot, as I have very few of those. I really like them, but I have so many other things going on (not to mention a still incomplete 1990 Panini stickerbook) that I just haven't been able to get myself to do a sticker set.

Quick, here's a pop quiz - which of these next two cards is an honest to goodness vintage classic? I will say that if I was going to collect any vintage set, it would have to be the 1959 Topps set. I'd probably have to make do with some lesser versions of some of the best cards in the set, like maybe a Gibby rookie that a dog chewed on a few times.

And then there's this thing, which I had a little bit of trouble identifying at first.

This is one of the "Lost Cards" inserts from the 2011 Topps set, which signifies that there was never a Musial card in the classic '57 design. To further complicate things, this is the more rare "original back" version, a strange concept considering the card never existed to begin with. And on top of that, along with a made-up card number that means nothing because it's not the real card number, Topps mistakenly put a 2010 copyright on the back of this card when the majority of cards from 2011 Series 1 have a 2011 copyright. Weird.

It's rare that someone sends me an Ozzie Smith that I don't already have, so it was great to see this card. It also just goes to show that it would do me a world of good to actually put my Ozzie player collection online. The only one I have a list for so far is Jim Edmonds. I need to do better in that department.

Finally, it's a sparkly parallel of the former Cardinal reliever we affectionately knew as Scrabble. He's a reminder of past trade deadline moves that helped solidify the bullpen en route to the World Series crown a couple of seasons ago. The Cardinals made no such moves this year, and really the only trades they've made since the season started involved dumping bullpeners who weren't quiet working out... like Scrabble. And Mitchell Boggs.