Trading with an Underdog

A little while back, Zach, from the great blog The Underdog Card Collector posted some 2015 GQ that were up for grabs. There were three cards that struck my interest so I sent him a message. Though we hadn't traded previously, our interaction was welcomed readily. I'm a touch behind on the trade posts so this envelope actually reached my mailbox a few weeks ago and I must say that I was impressed. A small package that was put together quickly sure did pack a good punch. Let's dig into it.

The Jeter Walk-Off Winners insert was one of the ones that started this ball rolling. It features the well known picture of the Captain celebrating after his final Yankee Stadium at bat which resulted in a walk-off single. The other Jeter GQ insert was a pleasant surprise. With the addition of another DiMaggio streak insert, I'm almost at the point where I should probably create a want list to finish that insert set off. It's incredible to me that when I started trading with my fellow bloggers, I didn't have a single one of these and now I am getting close to halfway done! Yankees Rookie Stars from '69 round out the first scan in vintage style!

A little more vintage finds a new home as a well loved Nate Oliver joins the collection. A trip of Yankee legends was also a welcome addition! I hadn't seen these GQ No-Hitters inserts before, but seeing the Jim Abbott fall out of this stack was a pretty darn good way for me to discover a new insert set, and it's always nice to get a new(to me) card of The Warrior.

Next, we have the second card that I had requested. The Souza Glove Stories immortalizes the incredible catch that he made to preserve Jordan Zimmermann's no hitter last season. Zach is one of the few trading partners that has reached beyond my affinity for new Yankees and hit on my love of baseball history. The Nolan Ryan and Joe Carter 'highlight' cards are prime examples of this part of my collection.

In the end, my collection always comes back to the Yankees. We round out the highlights of this package with two Topps '72 minis and the final GQ card that I had wanted. The Rizzuto is the silver parallel mini and it is serial numbered /199.

Overall, this trade package left quite the first impression. Zach had told me to hold off on sending anything back his way until I received this. In the weeks that have passed since opening it, I have been putting together your return package, Zach. I can only hope that when I am done, you dig what I send your way as much as I have enjoyed the cards in this post. Thanks for a great first trade, I look forward to another one soon!