trader crack's traded crack

first the disclaimer - crack is, as you know, whack. but cards are not. i sent ryan at trader crack's a bunch of expos and 1978 opc and other goodies, and he fired back with a mess of stuff. including, but not limited to, the following.

he sent 16 dodgers, of which i have chosen these.

the (in)famous 1996 upper deck vj lovero insert mike piazza.

with karros and a cardboard tommy lurking about. karros is a well known lurker, and tommy has appeared uncredited in a few cards, too. eating generic cereal and donuts at home. i knew the guy who bought the place in manhattan beach after karros and piazza lived there. he would get mail, mostly for karros, and it was all from women who enclosed naked pictures of themselves. true story.

2006 upper deck odalis perez.i have a soft spot for perez, actually. acquired in the trade for gary sheffield (thank you very much) he tossed a ball our way at anaheim stadium in 2006, despite the guy next to me riding him the whole game. thanks odalis!

speaking of sheffield, here he is on a 2000 fleer impact card.

boo.

next up is a 2007 topps opening day 'just disabled' drew.

healthy enough to opt out of his contract, which has been a good thing, i think.

2006 upper deck rafael furcal.

you know i love these cards - they are reminiscent of the o-pee-chee variations of my youth. there was a 2007 jason schmidt with the same deal going on, but i didn't want to post a giant uni.

next, he sent five bryn smith expos cards. smith is from my neck of the woods, so i was glad to see these guys.

1990 donruss.

at dodger stadium. very nice.

1987 topps tiffany, i believe.glossy, with the brighter back. that's tiffany, right?

1983 donruss.

beardless.

finally, he sent 54 (54!) different vladimir guerrero cards, most of them from his expos days.

1996 topps. the classic prospect card - four to a card.

with andruw jones and two other guys. unfortunately for me, it was andruw and not vladdy who wound up with the dodgers.

2000 upper deck five-tool talent insert.

six tools, if you count hitting non-strikes for home runs.

2000 topps stars walk of fame insert.a walk of fame card for a guy who hates to walk.

2001 fleer ultra tomorrow's legends insert.

another burlap set!

2000 pacific invincible reyes del diamante insert.i love love loved this set. 2000 pacific invincible had some kick ass inserts, and this was one of them. there was also a similar diamond aces subset for pitchers and a bunch of other inserts. i remember this product being heavily delayed and i was so disappointed each time. but when it finally came out, it was worth it. awesome.

2001 donruss studio leather and lumber game used bat card.un-numbered. i don't care for these cards that are clearly designed for the full boat of multiple swatches that are only numbered to 10 or so. the other, more plentiful single-swatch cards have too much wasted space. the bat piece down at his feet is almost missed at first glance. still, i appreciate having it in my collection!

and a 2004 upper deck diamond collection dean's list game used jersey.

officially it's an angels' card though the swatch is from an expos jersey. now, vlad on a dean's list doesn't make sense. he's not a college player, after all. commissioner's list, yes (although now that sounds like a bad type of list). manager's list probably would have been more appropriate. why doesn't upper deck think of this stuff?

ryan, thank you so much for all the great cards!