Long overdue Pack War trade post

When I was typing up my meeting with Night Owl at a Syracuse card show last month, I realized that I never posted anything about my other meeting with a blogger in the Spring. I remember starting posts a couple of times but discarded them when I didn't like how they looked.


I really want to apologize to Corky over at Pack War for not posting anything sooner.


The meet-up and visit to a card store in Phoenix in March was the second trade that Corky and I had made, the first being before I had this blog while I was a reader of his. One thing that blew me away with the first trade was a sketch card that he included.

I will confess that I was stunned when I first saw it and took a while to see the blog address at the bottom of the back of the card. What an amazing thing to throw into the trade package!


I didn't expect another sketch card when we met in person, but once again he surprised me with a sketch that I absolutely love and that if I ever sit down to design a banner for my blog will probably wind up in there somewhere.

If that is all that he would have had for me, I would have been fine with that, but he had looked at my profile and saw the sports teams that I cheered for and put together a package with representation from all those teams.


Now this is where I have to apologize again. I'm pretty sure that I remembered some of the Browns that he gave me and I will show them below, but I filed the Mets that he gave me away and can't pick out what they were. Sorry to not give you the credit for them. But I will show the Celtics and a couple of Senators that he gave me too. (If these aren't Browns that he gave me, then he's getting credit for them anyways! They were still with the sketch card even though they should have been in the binders of my collection.)

2015 Panini Contenders - Rookie Ink #RI-DS

Shelton had an inconsistent rookie season with a lot expected out of him as a first-round pick, but he's being playing quite well so far this year.

Top (l-r): 2010 Score - Glossy #323; 2013 Topps Magic - Mini #16
2013 Topps Chrome - Orange Refractor #53; 2012 Panini Prestige #242

Three needed parallels and a Trent Richardson rookie card that were new to my collection. There are still so many Brandon Weeden and Trent Richardson cards that I need. The joy of having two first-round picks in a year that played skill positions.


There were a couple of Ottawa Senators cards in the package.

It may get me exiled from Canada but I really don't collect hockey cards anymore, and if I had to rank my sports watching then out of the four major North American sports, hockey would be third behind football and baseball. I still watch and read enough of it to be able to converse with my Senators fan friends that seem to go a little overboard on it. (Although, to be fair, they probably aren't as far gone in their fandom as I am with the Browns.)


Anyway, these cards put a smile on my face. When Alexander Daigle was drafted first overall in 1993 he uttered a comment saying that nobody remembers who was drafted number two.


Okay, let's have a show of hands...who remembers Daigle? And who remembers the second pick, Chris Pronger. Yeah, that's what I thought.


To me, a funnier thing about Daigle is that I remember one of my friends telling me a story about how she was out one night and Daigle was trying to pick her up. Yes, she knew who he was, she just had no interest at all.


Daigle didn't exactly have the career that the Senators drafted him for.


Jason Spezza, on the other hand, had a great Senators career while being treated as a whipping boy for all that went wrong by some of the local media and fan base. He was drafted number two (there's that number again) in the 2001 draft with a pick that the Senators acquired from the Islanders along with Zdeno Chara in the Alexei Yashin trade. He is definitely one of the most talented players to ever play for the team. He asked for a trade after the 2013-14 season, and was traded to the Dallas Stars where I wish him continued success.


A large part of what I was given was Boston Celtics cards that brought a smile to my face.

A team set of the 1985-86 Star cards. This team is the one that I remember watching in my teens. I loved watching the Big Three with Walton coming off the bench.

Of course I am a Bird fan. The only Wheaties box I own is one that I managed to find after he retired.

The McHale cards bring a smile to my face, but sadness comes looking at the other two cards. Both Dennis Johnson and Reggie Lewis died too soon. At least there are memories of watching them play.

I love retro style sets in any sport. It is always great to read about past stars and seeing modern players on vintage style cards. (Although it might just be me as a Browns fan that lives by recalling Browns teams past that I never got to see play.)

It was great to be given a Rondo rookie card, Shaq in a Celtics uniform and a card of Canadian Kelly Olynyk.


Once again, a very belated thanks to Corky and his very entertaining blog that seems like it could just talk about anything card related on any given day.  Too bad he's moved away from Phoenix and I'm not likely to see him there on my next visit.


Speaking of which, some comments have been left on a couple of my past posts, one letting me know that there are other Phoenix area bloggers out there, and one wanting to trade for Steelers cards. Checking your profiles in the comment didn't seem to lead me to e-mail addresses to contact you, so if you're reading please send me an e-mail at the address in my profile at the top right of my blog. Thanks!