RTP #40 featuring Five New Bloggers (New to Me At Least)

One thing I have started feeling over the past couple of months is that I am no longer a "new" blogger.  I have wandered into becoming a "veteran" blogger.  I am not the future Hall of Fame shortstop on the team or the ace pitcher or even the young hotshot and I have no delusions of thinking that I am.  I do feel that I am probably the equivalent of a solid #3 starter or a #7 hitter in a strong lineup.  Those are the type of players that cannot carry the team, but can be looked on as a decent player and hopefully a good mentor to the newest players up from the minors.  All of this is actually leading somewhere.  I have not been as good a "mentor" to the newest bloggers and I think doing a rookie trade post might give them some new eyes on their blogs.  Let's take a trip around the blogosphere and introduce some of the newer members of the team.

Fantastic Catch

First up is Weston (aka superduperman) who is the man behind the blog Fantastic Catch.  He is a Cardinals collector and in general seems like a really good trader.  We made a deal a little while back that focused on the above DJ LeMahieu camo parallel.  The Garrett Atkins relic from 2006 Upper Deck/Artifacts was a nice surprise addition.

Baseball Card Breakdown

Up next is Gavin (aka defgav) from Baseball Card Breakdown.  Gavin is a Padres fan, but is more of a player collector than anything else.  Gavin has actually already found his niche in the blogosphere through his "glow-in-the-dark" cards like the 2007 Topps Jeff Francis above.  The Todd Helton is a Prizm parallel from the 2012 Panini/Prizm set.  The parallel has the same name as the set (which I hate) and the 2012 Prizm set came out in 2013 (which I hate more).  Kind of a bothersome set, which makes it that much better that the Pacheco finished off this base team set for me.

View from the Skybox

Next we have Chris (aka View from the Skybox) who runs the blog of the same name (VFTS not Chris).  He is a Royals collector and a easy person to trade with.  For a small stack of KC cards, I got something that had been avoiding me for 3 years, a non-Todd Helton '75 mini from 2011 Topps/Lineage.  I had about 10 copies of the Todd Helton '75 mini but 0 from the other 4 Rockies in the set.  This Tulo gets me almost halfway to the team set.

Cervin' Up Cards

Next on the block is Kenny (aka Zippy Zappy) from the new blog Cervin' Up Cards.  Kenny is a Yankees fan and collector, but we shouldn't hold that against him.  Kenny actually did something that most people haven't been able to do, send me Rockie cards from a set that is missing from my want lists.  He not only did that once, but twice, in the same trade package.  First was the 2010 Tristar Pursuit line which I was missing.  I got the Chris Balcom-Miller green parallel auto from that set and I now have the whole line on my checklists.  I also received three cards from the Topps produced Sega Card Gen line.  I didn't have any of the sets from 2010 to 2013 on my checklists and now I have three fewer of those to track down.

Bob Walk the Plank

Last but not least we have Matt from the awesomely named blog Bob Walk the Plank.  As the blog title gives away, Matt is a Pirates fan and collector.  When I was a rookie blogger, the hardest cards to get rid of in a trade were Pirates cards because no one wanted them.  Now Matt is part a parade of Pirates bloggers that appear to have surpassed the Braves as the #2 team in Blogoland behind the Dodgers.  Matt sent me a pair of autographs that highlighted a trade from this past offseason.  The Dexter Fowler auto is my 5th certified auto of his and only one that is not from his rookie year.  The Jordan Lyles is actually a Houston card, but was included because he was the main piece traded for Fowler this year.  I like the card, but if any Astro fans really like it, I could be persuaded to part with it.


I would like to thank each one of these new bloggers and welcome them to the Blogoland baseball card community.  You other veteran guys should contact these rookies and make some starter deals with them.  They seem like they may be in the show for a while.

Thanx for reading.