At the Trade Deadline 3: Topps Archives from Cardboard Conundrum

A little while back Matt of Cardboard Conundrum posted some trade bait from 2013 Topps Archives, and there was quite a bit of stuff that I needed to fill holes in my set. In return, he asked that I surprise him with a card package. I hope that I sent him an adequate envelope for my part of the deal. His blog seems to feature some very nice cards, which overshadow the kind of stuff that I can offer at this point. My outgoing trade packages tend to be a kind of patchwork of whatever I can find by working through the other blogger's need list and player collections. Anyway, I am trying hard to be a good trader, and I hope I am sending out stuff that people actually want.

The cards from him arrived in my mailbox a couple of days ago, and my need list for this set got a lot smaller. First up is a Cliff Lee Triumvirate insert, which is one set that seems awfully hard to pull, almost tougher than the Gallery of Heroes or the 72 Basketball sets, which are also tough pulls.

My Gold parallel set is a very slow-going project, and this Prince Fielder card is much appreciated. I've got a great many empty pages left to fill, and every card helps when putting it together.

Another tough get is these two short prints from the Fan Favorites subset that fills out numbers 201-250 of the base set. I especially like the shot of Otis Nixon tossing his helmet in disgust.

No, Darryl Strawberry is not featured on a giant-sized card, he is just in the scan with a bunch of 4-in-1 stickers that I believe bring me pretty close to completing the sticker set. I love that colorful Mets uniform. In fact, I think the Strawberry is right up there with the Otis Nixon as one of my favorite cards from this package. I wonder how Matt Kemp feels about being featured right next to Ryan Braun on that sticker card?

And speaking of All-Star cards, here are a few more I needed for this set. None of them quite live up to the Strawberry card above, but Andre Dawson looks ready to do some damage with the bat he is holding just outside the picture frame.

And lastly, a quartet of Mini Tall Boys, which are just a fun design. I think I am almost done with this set, but the checklist on Cardboard Connection is not in touch with reality. I guess I need to find a better checklist.

I really appreciate all of these cards and the willingness of the other members of the blogging community to send cards back and forth with me. I've had a good time during my short time in the sports card blogging community.