A Completely Arbitrary Group Trade

As many of you know, Brian from the relatively new blog Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary recently held a group trade. I thought it was a brilliant idea so I jumped at the chance to participate. I won't go into too many details since many of you are already familiar with his concept, but I definitely wanted to show off the new Yankees cards that came my way as a result. 

Brian busted a box of 1996 Pinnacle, 1999 Ultra, 2002 Gallery, 2002 Great of the Game, and 2003 Stadium Club. I must say he chose a great variety of products. Without further delay, here are the highlights:

As if Brian wasn't already generous enough to host a unique break like this, he even included some 'bonus' cards for my collection. All three of these are semi-shiny, foil-y insert goodness. Finding these was a nice surprise, especially since I had some pretty good luck with the break products.

I used to have a copy of this 'Boomer' Wells Ultra card celebrating his perfect game, but it somehow got lost, so it's great to have another copy. I find the perspective of the shot on the Jeter Stadium Club to be quite strange, having a blurred Giambi in the foreground and all. It's still a great shot though, but not as great as the sliding Soriano.

Here I've got two Yankee prospects that never lived up to their hype and one that proved to be all that was promised and more. It's funny, now that I've been reminded of Drew Henson, he's showing up in a second consecutive trade package. 

Three of my favorite Yankees from my generation get the painted Gallery treatment here. I feel like these should be printed on stock that feels more like canvas, but alas regular card stock it is. They are still quite nice.

This is the box I was most excited for. I had a few singles from this set and really liked the way Fleer executed the design. These three true Yankee Greats here are my faves from this set's base cards.

Next, we go to the inserts. I love the World Premiere 'El Duque'! Back in 1999, I pulled a few of these inserts, but never this one. I haven't written about how big a fan of Orlando Hernandez I am, but it's forthcoming at some point. I'm really happy to have this one in the collection now. It's also great to add 2 new cards of the Captain.

Stadium Club makes up for the lackluster design on the Beam Team set with the Stadium Shots insert. The view of Yankee Stadium is really great. If I had the choice, it wouldn't showcase Giambi, but I can't argue. This is one beautiful card! It's a shame that both of these from the box Brian opened were Giambi, giving me dupes. It would have been nice to have seen another park showcased.

Last, but certainly not least, a hit from the Fleer Greats came my way. It's not of some of the older generation players that I had dreamed of, but I can't complain. Mr. October is certainly nothing to sneeze at!

All told, my haul from the group trade was far better than I expected. I've been pulling plenty of great cardboard to send to Brian as 'payment' for my slot. I hope once my payment box finds its way to his doorstep that he is as pleased with its contents as I was with the spoils from his break. Thanks Brian for setting this up and hosting it, it was a blast!