RTP #19 - Special Guest Tom from The Angels in Order

Welcome back to another exciting edition of The Rockie Trading Post.  Tonight's special guest is Tom fro The Angels, In Order.  In addition to being one of the only Angels collectors in the known universe, Tom is also is working on a few sets and is an avid autographs collector.  I really like the concept of his blog highlighting every Angel player ever (1961-present) in the order of their debut.  I had a bunch of Angels hanging around sucking the coolness out of my collection so I contacted Tom and sent them to their proper home.  In return he sent me a bunch of cards he found on my wantlists (wow, those things were worth the time to make).  Here are a select few of the big stack Tom sent me.

This is the 1995 Skybox E-Motion set.  Tom didn't see it on my wantlist and wondered if I already had it.  I did not and I appreciate him going to the extra effort to ask.  For future reference regard all my team want lists every set I know of will be listed along with either needs from that set or the word complete.  If a set is not listed, I overlooked it and need all Rockies from it.  Tom sent me the ENTIRE five card Rockies team set along with the only insert from this set.  I have always liked pics of guys behind the camera even if they do look a bit cheesy.

That wasn't the only team set that Tom knocked out for me.  The last two cards I needed for my 1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Special Edition team set were sent also.  I really like the blue borders and foil of this set and may eventually get around to building this entire set.  In case I haven't mentioned it before Dante Bichette is probably my favorite Rockie ever (WAR be damned).

This trio is led by Vinny Castilla's 1993 rookie card.  I don't think it is his "true" rookie card, but it says rookie so that's what I am going with.  The Scott Aldred is odd but great, you don't often see a card of a pitcher pretending to go through a pitching motion whilst seated on a bench.  The Hayes is another of his awesome face mask cards (my third so far).  This one is an extreme close up of him right before hiking the ball to John Elway.  Unfortunately, this card lost a battle with a pack crimper, but it will hold the place until I upgrade it. 

This 1993 Stadium Club Roberto Mejia is a little bit of an oddity.  I always liked how Stadium Club used to put a small version of a player's Topps rookie card on the back, but this one shows the exact front of the card.  I had seen a few of these from Stadium Club cards before, but they always seem like a bit of a paradox in space and time.

Funny picture time.  The back of the 1993 Upper Deck Alex Cole features him in an interview (not that funny).  The funny part is the seemingly grown cameraman with the colorful bracelet that you might see on the wrist of a 12 year old girl.  The 1993 UD Vinny Castilla shows him apparently hungry because it appears that he is getting ready to take a bite out the ball (great camera timing).  The 1994 Collector's Choice Greg Harris shows him with a bucket of sunflower seeds on the field.  Yeah it was probably used for balls during batting practice, but it also could be an addiction to those tasty treats for Mr. Harris. 

I was completely undecided whether the 1995 Ultra Larry Walker was a Rockies card.  It wasn't on my master wantlist and it has Expos blue foil rather that the Colorado silver used that year.  In the end I decided it was a Rockies card because of the logo.  The insert is also from 1995 Ultra.  It is not the best looking insert ever, but I will always take another Dante for the collection.

Rounding out this trade were a couple of late 90s cards that were not listed on my wantlists because I was only through 1995 when we traded (I have 1996 on there now and am working on 97).  Luckily I needed both cards.  The Jayhawk Owens (great name) is from 1996 Ultra.  Catcher's gear makes an otherwise boring card enjoyable don't you think.  The Jeffrey Hammonds is from 2000 Skybox.  I saw Jeffrey Hammonds play with several teams and not once did he move like The Flash which this card seem to imply.



Thanks again Tom for the trade and as I mentioned you have first dibs on any Angels featured for trade on my site.  On a quick side note, with the relatively recent success of the Angels and the fact that they are a big market team, it was probably my biggest Blogland surprise that there weren't many collectors of that team.  Don't forget to check out his excellent blog here.  Well, that just about wraps up this edition of The Rockie Trading Post and I am officially caught up for the moment.  Tune in next time for a trade with a Packers fan who surprisingly still deserves to live.  Until then, we are officially signed off.