Catching up with Trades

A high quality Cardinals bounty. 

I believe I have finally turned a corner in my organizational skills when it comes to my Cardinals collection. Soon, the want lists will be expanding and I'll have a better idea of what I need and what I never need more of. In the meantime, however, the trade packages keep pouring in. Here's one from Catching up with Collecting, in what was pound-for-pound the best package I've received in 2016.

I haven't bought a ton of Panini baseball, but I'm starting to get so fed up with Topps that I'm considering turning towards the dark (unlicensed) side. This card is just weird, playing off of some vague ideas of what an '80s Donruss card might have looked like. It's fun! It's got the border of an '85 All-Star set and the rainbow stripe circa 1989.

This was a weird unlicensed set, coming out just before DLP became Panini. It looks like they just decided to make Gibby's cap logo a little blurry and called it good.

This one is a playing card style insert from the 2013 Panini Golden Age set. Nice.

This is just ridiculous, which is why I scanned it. I don't even know what to say.

Nothing wrong with a little Carp goldie!

This is a really nice shiny new addition to my Matt Carpenter collection. The serial number isn't the easiest to spot, but it's 64/78 to fit with his 78 career doubles to date. He has a ton more now, as he would go on to lead the NL in doubles for the second time last season.

The medallion cards from 2016 Topps are enormously thick. I could definitely use this as a weapon against would be intruders.

It's a Shimmery Shelby.

I wasn't at all familiar with this release and wonder if it might have come late in 2015. I received a bunch of cards from the 2015 Panini Diamond Kings set including this Waino.

A dual Kolten Wong relic card! How about that? I'm hoping for a breakout year at the plate from Wong, especially with his double play partner sidelined for a good chunk of the season with a thumb injury.

And speaking of thumb injuries, it will be interesting to see how Yadi recovers from his rough 2015. There are no catchers more valuable in the game with their all around knowledge of the game, and the Cardinals cannot afford to see him on the sidelines for an extended period of time again.