A Whopper of a Trade!

A while back I was contacted by Chris of the relatively new blog A Blog to Be Named Later.  We worked out a rough framework of a trade, and I was more than happy to purge out some unwanted Heritage and Archives baseball cards, especially to someone who lives right here in my corner of New England!  I have to say that the package Chris sent my way blew mine out of the water, and I'm certainly indebted to him after our first swap here.

In fact, it was such a large package that I've got to split it into two posts.  And that's with only showing some select favorites.  Even then, this post ended up being pretty lengthy as you're about to see.

Chris is a fellow Zistle user, so for starters he was able to knock some cards off my want list for a couple of sets I've been working on forever.

There were somewhere around 20 of these 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes cards that I needed, which I'm pleased to say put me over the halfway mark on the set.

The checklist is only 200 cards, so at some point I really should just get on Sportlots and put this one to bed.  Would probably cost me less than $20 to knock it off the list for good at this point.

My favorite of the batch by far has to be this Stan Musial.  A classic photo that reminds me of spring, which is right around the corner now.

Another set I've been "working on" forever now is 1994-95 Parkhurst Missing Link.  By working on I mean picking up any I see in dime or quarter boxes but putting in very little effort outside of that.

Chris laid a nice batch on me, close to 30 of them in all and I needed every single one.

Love the old, striped Bruins sweaters on these.  I wish they would bring these back for a couple of games each season.

I think the goalie cards from this set are probably my favorites, I love seeing the old brown pads as well as the mask-less netminders in action.

Terry Sawchuk is a guy I don't have nearly enough cards of, was happy to land a new one especially since he's depicted with the Bruins.

Nick Mickoski gives us a great look at the Blackhawks sweaters of the time period.

Coach cards!  I'm continually amazed by how little love coaches get in the hockey card market.  Aside from '90-91 Pro Set I can't think of too many modern-day sets that feature them prominently.  Also, totally unrelated, but if I was a Canadiens fan I'd definitely want one of those vintage sweaters.

The in-game action shots that come towards the end of the checklist are some of the more aesthetically pleasing cards in the set.

I mean tell me that's not a great hockey card?

Just like with the Upper Deck Baseball Heroes cards, this lot pushed me past the 50% mark with my set.

Chris even included an insert in the form of this Dave Keon Future Star!  Awesome stuff, indeed.

One of the few remaining '95-96 Upper Deck Series 1 needs spilled out of the box, much appreciated!

As if this package wasn't already great enough, I received a nice batch of new-to-me Whalers cards.

As I've stated numerous times, it's getting more and more difficult to find junk wax era Whalers cardboard that I don't already possess.

Chris must have one hell of a stash on hand though, because he came up with dozens of cards that plugged holes in my collection.

The various Chris Pronger rookies are some of my favorites.  There aren't many guys in the HOF who donned a Whalers sweater, so I really appreciate them.

Even got a couple of new Metal Universe cards!

I think most collectors agree that these are some of the most obnoxiously loud cards of the '90s, and I love them.

From '94-95 Pinnacle I got a new base card...

...and a new Rink Collection parallel.  I've been making an effort to pick up more and more of these within the last year or so, very happy to find this one in the box Chris sent.

Some cards were a reminder that I still have a ways to go with my Whalers collection, like this Brendan Shanahan which is my very first Whalers card from this particular Bowman set.

I don't know how it's possible that I still need early '90s Pro Set cards, but somehow that is the case.

Same goes for '91-92 Score.

A couple of Leaf cards were included that represent one of the more memorable trades in Whalers lore, when a disgruntled Brendan Shanahan was sent packing in exchange for Keith Primeau...

...and veteran Paul Coffey.  I like this one because the look on Paul's face is probably close to the same as when he found out he was heading from perennial contender Detroit to Hartford.  Disgust.

Chris even hit on some minor league/draft Whalers cards...

What a great shot of Chris Pronger from his OHL days on this one.

After the bevy of Whalers, I next encountered a good chunk of relatively new Bruins cards.  I love how young Patrice Bergeron looks on this Victory card...

...as well as this Game Breakers insert from the same set.

Here's another one from a couple of years later.

Even got a couple new cards of HOFer and current team president Cam Neely.

I found a small variety of Charas also, some from his days with Ottawa...

...others from after he signed with Boston.

Another of my collecting guilty pleasures, Mikael Renberg!

Finally, to wrap up today's post, a couple of cards I was missing towards some early '80s O-Pee-Chee sets.

As I said, this was only a small fraction of the great stuff that Chris sent my way, plus I have another entire post planned for next week as well.  There had to be 200 or more new cards, every single one of which was a hit.

Chris, thank you so much for your generosity.  I have not forgotten about putting together a follow-up package to further convey my gratitude!