At the Trade Deadline 14: Cards from Zippy Zappy

I recently received some cards from Zippy Zappy over at Cervin' Up Cards. I have been delinquent in getting his return package out, but it is sitting here by my elbow, ready for my trip to the post office this evening. I have scanned some of the cards from his package for this post. Montero has had some hard times lately, most recently being involved in the Biogenesis scandal. Jerry Reed shaved approximately two hours before this photo was taken. Mark Reynolds is still looking for a team, but it sounds like he has several offers to choose from. I may not pursue his cards too actively, but I'll probably collect them wherever he winds up signing.

Up next are a couple of nice parallels of Andrew McCutchen from 2013 Topps Update. I can't say that Emerald and Light Blue go particularly well with the Pirates color scheme. Tim Lopes is numbered # 711 / 799 and is toiling away in the Mariners' minor league system, while Tom Paciorek got caught pooping by the photographer.

Mascot cards are kind of fun, although I don't like being around people dressed in big furry suits in person. They make me nervous. Ken Phelps took time out from his job as a middle school biology/math teacher to DH for the Mariners. Bob Knepper is lost and looking for directions, and David Cook bounced around in the minors from 2003 to 2011, while taking time off from baseball in 2010 to sign 25 stickers for TRISTAR, who placed the 11th one of those stickers on the card in the bottom right of the picture.

That George Springer Bowman Sterling card is numbered # 170 / 199, which is pretty cool. I don't know anything about Bowman Sterling, so I am not sure if that is a base card or a parallel. Delino DeShields has got some nice blue and orange going on in his picture. Carlos Correa rounds out the prospects, and then we have an Upper Deck card of Chris Burke in a throwback uniform.

Finally we get to the real stars of the trade package, some 2012 Sega Card-Gen cards from Japan. Felix Hernandez gets a full eight stars, but he also gets a 19 rating and a 20 rating on the back of his card. I hear that 19s and 20s are pretty tough to come by, and even his 'low' ratings are two 18s and a 16. By contrast, Wandy Rodriguez gets half as many stars and his highest rating is an 18. One cool thing that Zippy Zappy does is provide a handwritten translation of the text on the back of the cards.

He included a total of 6 Card-Gen cards, with Astros filling out the rest of the lot. I have thought about how cool it would be to put together one of these sets, but with the prices these things fetch on eBay and the frequency at which they pop up it would be a nightmare. But it would sure be a cool thing to have.

None of these guys are Astros anymore, but that is what happens when a team is rebuilding and trying to stock up the farm system and/or keep costs at a minimum. I think Del Rosario gets the most backhanded blurb next to his total score, being described as a 'decent middle reliever.' At least Lopez gets recognition for eating innings.

This was a pretty fun bunch of cards to open up and sort through. Thanks for the trade! Sorry it has taken me so long to send a return package, but it is in the mail now.