the only thing dull about this trade package is the pair of scissors used to cut the first card...

nick at dime boxes and i have completed a couple of trades recently, and here are some cards from the most recent package i received from him.  this 1962 post tommy davis card

was very likely liberated from its box by a young boy using the butter knife or perhaps a spoon at his kitchen table.  it's got some great character and i am thankful for it.  it was also the oldest card in the package, although this 1988 reprint of whit wyatt's 1941 goudey card

features an earlier dodger card.  wyatt had a big year in 1941, leading the league in wins (22) and shutouts (7) while finishing 3rd in the mvp vote.  he had a solid run as a dodger (80-45 with a 2.86 era over 6 seasons) as they converted him to a starter and reaped the benefits.

here's a 1980 laughlin famous feats card of hugh casey

who was 10-4 as a reliever in 1947.  rg laughlin was the guy who did the illustrations for the fleer world series sets in 1970 and 1971, as well as the sticker backs in later years.  he was on his own in 1980 and produced this set, which also features jackie robinson.  i picked up a jackie card, but i'll show it another time.

1984 milton bradley championship baseball steve sax

saxy was an 'nl super star' not too long after replacing davey lopes at second base. i find it interesting that milton bradley was allowed to use the team name but not the logo on these cards.

1990 score young superstars jose gonzalez

score used the term 'superstar' lighting in 1990 with jose gonzalez.  yes, he was a highly regarded prospect, but 1990 was his sixth season and he had not done anything to make us dodger fans feel like he was going to be a superstar.

1997 score eric karros showcase parallel

karros, on the other hand, won the rookie of the year award in 1992 and was a very good player. not a superstar, though.  that term was saved for the 1993 rookie of the year, mike piazza.

here's an all-star insert piazza card from 1994 o-pee-chee

the italian-american superstar slugger is wearing the roy campanella/don drysdale commemorative patch on his right sleeve, and the tim crews patch is partially visible on his left.

continuing with the rookies of the year, here's the 1994 nl roy raul mondesi on a 1996 fleer emotion xl card

i do not know what sort of emotion 'fense' is.

well, i bet you thought the next card would be of 1995 rookie of the year hideo nomo.  that would be incorrect.  instead, it is of short time dodger pitcher ricky nolasco on his 2014 topps museum collection card

topps went all-in with nolasco in its 2014 products, and he was a twin before any of them were released.  i wonder if we'll see a bunch of nolasco sticker autos on twins cards in 2015 releases.

thanks again nick! we'll trade again soon, i am sure.

cards and cards and cards and cards from cards on cards

i recently completed a trade with madding at cards on cards. i sent him a box of cardinals, and he returned the favor by sending a great big bunch of dodgers and 1979 topps. yes, he noticed that i had decided to upgrade my 1979 set, and so he sent me 454 of the 726 cards i will need to do so. awesome.

here's rick monday to testify.
if you or someone you know would like to contribute to the 1979 topps upgrade project, here's the want list. thanks in advance!

here are a few of the non-1979 dodgers i received:

2004 mlb showdown fred mcgriff
the crime dog is on the hall of fame ballot for the first time. i wish he could have hit 7 more home runs as a dodger to get to the 500 mark.

1994 topps (gold) dax winsletti wonder how often he is called 'kate'. he pitched in the dodgers' organization for 3 years before going to the cubs in the forgettable trade that brought willie banks to the dodgers. winslett pitched one year at aa, but did not advance beyond that level, unfortunately.

2009 upper deck goodwin champions clayton kershaw
kershaw didn't pitch in aaa either. but for different reasons.

1990 score young superstars chris gwynn
part of the dodgers' 'other brother' collection.

1988 topps uk mini orel hershiseri assume this was an attempt to get the folks across the pond interested in american baseball. so who better to influence the minds of the english than a guy who looks like a librarian.

i also received a couple of checklists. the good kind. like a 1995 donruss brett butler checklist celebrating his 2000th hit

finally, there was this - a 2009 upper deck matt kemp jersey card.very nice.

thanks madding! let's do it again sometime!