Trade O' the Day.

       Kevin of O's Card of the Day (and about half a dozen other blogs) is my oldest online trade partner.  Way before this blog existed, my first online trade was sending him some 1965 Topps cards for his set.  After seeing that his love of the Orioles is as strong (if not stronger) for my adoration of the Mets, I started putting O's cards aside for him almost immediately.  It has now become an unbreakable habit.  If I am opening a pack or a repack or even if I am at a show, I just instinctively put aside Baltimore cards and when the pile becomes large or interesting, I send them off to Maryland.  When I am lucky, a return package arrives and a couple of weeks ago, such a package was waiting for me and boy is it a doozy.

There was some 1970's Mets goodness:

Granted I have most of these cards, but the Torre is destined for my page of 1978 Topps manager cards that is now almost complete and the Hodges will find a home on his player page, which is now finished.  That Mike Jorgensen was somehow missing in my collection.

There were some new Mets in there too...

I didn't have any of those 2012 Triple Play cards nor that Lucas Duda.  The 1993 Leaf Fernandez was also a new edition (the backs of those cards are magnificent). And speaking of the backs, that mini Strawberry's back is full of such teasing at how good he could/should have been - "After Darryl's final Mets campaign in 1990, his 252 home runs were 2 more than Willie Mays and 14 more than Babe Ruth through their age 28 seasons" *heavy sigh*.  And then there is Bobby Bonilla, the scourge of both Mets and Orioles fans.  I'll get back to that card...

Kevin also seems to mine this endless vein of oddball and vintage (and oddball vintage) football cards and sends me the Giants and Saints he finds. 

Yup, that is a 1960 Topps Frank Gifford.  Drink it in.  Next to that is a pair of 1969 Topps stamp books for the aforementioned Giants and Saints.  Simply amazing stuff.  And perhaps I can start a rumor that Gary Jeter is Derek's half brother and cause a sudden spike in the value of his cards. 

More 1990's football goodness:

I have precious few 1993 Score baseball cards and even fewer football cards.  I guess you can say I spent my senior year of high school and first year of college doing things other than collecting cards, so those are good additions to my collection.  That Stadium Club card of the Saints punter spinning the ball is great and then on the bottom far right is a Bo Jackson SI for Kids card.  That card is so perfectly early 90's, it scares me.  It will find a place of honor in my Bo collection. 

Last but not least, Kevin sent a little note on the best stationary possible:

He not only mocks the Yankees in it, he apologizes for putting Bobby Bo on top of the package.  Way to scare the shit out of me, Kevin.  The back of that card lists Bobby's hobby as golf and lord knows with the Mets and the Orioles, he did a lot of that after September.  I assume that card was a giveaway with a pack of Ultra Pro pages, man did anyone who bought that package get ripped off.  I will begrudgingly put it with my Mets oddballs and hopefully it won't show anyone the Bronx.