First Completed Trade

Courtesy of BA Benny I got my first package of trade material in the mail today. He was very generous with me, especially considering the fact that we are both Met fans. I got some great game used cards and other Mets singles in return for the vast majority of my yankee collection including the one game-used card I have ever pulled (of course it would be a Bernie Williams card) and all my Jeters and Posadas. Thank you for taking them off my hands and sending me back some NL New York cards! I even got an Edgardo Alfonzo card that I did not already have.

First, my favorite game used from the bunch, a Turkey Red Pedro Jersey card. Yes, I am posting back-to-back Pedro game used cards, but I have always enjoyed Turkey Red and I love the texture on this card (which you can see from the scan) in addition to a black uniform piece that will compliment the white ones from the last post. I was looking at the statistics from Pedro's first season with the Mets, on the back of a Topps Opening Day card from the trade, and I had forgotten how good Pedro was that year: a 0.95 WHIP and almost 9K/9. That was one of the best years in Pedro's career.

My favorite completely cardboard card was the David Wright on the right. I like the return to classic card designs that the industry decided on several years ago. The bright colors on this card are awesome and contrast nicely with the black and white photo.

So thanks again BA Benny! I will let you know when I get some more Yankee cards worth trading.

I should be getting several other packages in the mail this week from trades and ebay, so I have some fun stuff to look forward to.

Tuesday Visit to the Card Shop

So I stopped by my local card store today and picked up some nice game used cards. I grabbed a Matt Cain, Adam Dunn, Johan Santana in a Twins uniform, and this Pedro (all but the Pedro would be available for the right offer).

I am a big fan of this card as I have been fortunate enough to see him in person at Fenway in his prime and at Shea (once each when it was his first home start of the season). Even after he was clearly past his prime with the Mets it was always an event to see him pitch.

As for the card itself, it is my first dual jersey. Jersey cards clearly are more than just cardboard, and I do not think that it is merely coincidence that game used cards started becoming more common at about the same time that card companies began experimenting with different card stocks.

While I am a huge fan of this card for sentimental personal experience reasons, I do wish that the two uniforms had been different colors. Why not one home and one away? The way it is makes it very easy for me to imagine that both pieces are from the same uniform, which would defeat the purpose of the card. And why do neither of the Pedro pictures show him in a white uniform when the two pieces of uniform are white?

Those are the kind of details that separate a good card like this one from a great card. On the bright side at least he has the jerry curls in one photo and not the other! Oh Pedro, I was rooting for you even when you pitched for the Phillies this past season. I wonder where you will end up this year.

PS: There is a seem in the top jersey piece, though that is not as exciting as a pinstripe.

Weekend Bonus Card of the Day: An Ambitious Start

2007 Upper Deck Elements #111

Jose Reyes

Materials: Acetate (PETG)

The Card:

So when Upper Deck came out with a set called "Elements" I was already excited by what eX had been doing and looked forward to getting my hands on some cards from the set.

As you can see in the scan, if you look closely, the card is translucent and made completely of the acetate (you can barely see the white rectangle containing the statistics on the back of the card through Reyes' torso).

I actually just purchased my first several of these cards at the end of the 2009 Baseball season, and I am pleased with them. I was quite happy to obtain this Jose Reyes gem along with some other nice ones.

Elements was an interesting set as you can see from this press release, which was the best information I could find on the set: http://sports.upperdeck.com/news/article.aspx?aid=2643. Each player had three different cards: one in acetate, one in foil board (which is textured), and one in light fx (which seems like a smother foil card). Each had its own distinct picture on the front.

I have to say, though, that the acetate cards were the most special of the bunch. I have all three versions of Johan Santana and while the foil board and light fx are nice, to me they do not appear much different from many of the traditional inserts. Though, they are all base cards. The acetate base cards are some of the nicer alternate material cards in my collection; however, I think Upper Deck could have made more use of the transparency of the acetate than they did in the design of the cards.

The Acetate:

Chemical Name - Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol

(aka PETG)

Brand Name - Vivak

Description - "VIVAK is a transparent thermoplastic sheet. In the point of purchase industry, VIVAK is the brand and market leader for all clear plastics. Among its advantages, VIVAK offers superior impact strength over acrylic and cost effectiveness compared to polycarbonate. VIVAK offers deep draws, complex die-cuts and precise molded-in details without sacrificing structural integrity. It die-cuts and punches easily and can be bonded or fastened with adhesives, ultrasonic welding or rivets. In addition, VIVAK is easily decorated by painting, silk screening or hot stamping. Easy to fabricate, form, bond and decorate, VIVAK is well suited for a variety of point of purchase and sign applications.

Applications: Typical applications include video tape shelves, greeting card displays, revolving merchandise racks, indoor signs, point of purchase displays, menu displays, photo frames and slat wall inventory displays."*

* This information along with additional technical information on PETG can be found in the following pdf file: http://www.plasticsintl.com/datasheets/PETG.pdf

Card of Day #1

Todd Hundley E-X2000 1997 #85
Construction: Cardstock frame with blue sky style translucent plastic window


So why in a blog entitled "Clear Cut Cards" do I choose a card that is not really clear at all as my first choice?

Well, for one eX was one of the first brands that I became aware of as using non paper based materials well in card construction and I was hooked right away. Unfortunately, I did not have the means to purchase packs at the time, so I stuck to a few reasonably price singles such as this one. Happily, several of eX's subsequent releases continued to up the ante when it came to using plastic as the card's base.

Another reason is because Hundley, definitely my favorite Met of his era, worked in New York during the most productive part of his career while being from the Chicagoland area and I find myself in the opposite situation: being from New York while working in the Chicagoland area. So, I guess part of the reason for this selection is in way of an introduction. Hi!

Oh, here is the back of the card. You can tell that the card certainly has its flaws (missing thumb and cut off brim to the helmet), but it is interesting!

I hope to be updating the list of cards I have in the coming weeks. I decided to start with my Piazza collection, probably the largest of any player I own.