Lou Brock on a Poster

And other fine cards to take a gander at.

Spring training is just around the corner, and so is a new year of Topps Series One. I'm going to try to avoid buying any packs of it this time around (along with any other sets I deem unnecessary) and just try to focus on building my team sets. We'll see how long that lasts.

This is my final trade post from 2015, and it's a good one. Nick from the Dime Boxes blog sent over a great mix of vintage and current cards, as well as a bunch from the Lost Years where I wasn't collecting at all.

I think we take team themed cards for granted nowadays, but hardly anything beats an old out of focus group photo on a classic design. Yes, I consider 1973 Topps classic.

My favorite photo from the 2012 season became one of my favorite cards to collect in 2013, and here's another one for the collection in the form of this Orange Chrome Refractor for the recently departed (to the Padres, not to the ether) Jon Jay.

I really like how this Ray Lankford 2000 Topps Gallery card reminds me of the Jon Jay photo. Lankford isn't crashing into the padding next to Tony La Russa's likeness, but he's making a similar dent in the wall. Based on the available evidence, I'm going to guess that's Mike Scioscia that Ray is busting into. Am I right, Dodgers fans?

Sometimes there's a junk wax deep cut that I really needed without even realizing it. This is one of those times.

Completing the Lankford Trilogy (for this post, anyway) is this 1998 Topps Gallery Permanent Collection card. It's classy.

When it comes to Ginter game used cards, I vastly prefer the framed mini relics to the full size ones, but I like how the grey swatch here blends in with the gray background blob. This is my 68th unique Matt Carpenter card and 3rd jersey relic. Thanks, Zistle, for letting me keep track of these things.

Can you spot the closer among the seven-headed All-Star monster? If the Cardinals have half as many All-Stars this season, I will be genuinely surprised. I am not predicting doom and gloom for this team, but they are lacking in starpower. Also, it would be really weird if they had three and-a-half All-Stars.

Here's a fun one that I'd never seen before. It's a '64 Bazooka-style mini from the 2013 Topps Heritage minors set. Maybe the Jedd Gyorko acquisition will light a fire under the talented but still not fully realized Kolten Wong.

Oh yes, I promised you a poster...

Look at this thing! Click on it to make it bigger. Save it to your hard drive and make it your desktop background. This is awesome! Today's inserts can suck it. Vintage inserts are where it's at, folks.