It's Been so Long Since I Received This Trade Package, His Blog Has a New Name

You can probably guess who this trade package is from. The 'Waiting Till Next Year' blog is now 'Eamus Catuli!'. I reached out to Tom about a Freddie Freeman card from National Baseball card day last Fall. I received a package that had much more than the one Freeman a short time later. This post is much more delayed than it should be, but I'm still glad to be able to recap Tom's package and to congratulate him on the Cubs World Series win!

Here is the card that started the conversation. Glad to have this one in my binder. It have to say it actually resembles a past Upper Deck base set. I hope Topps continues with this promotion. Even though I don't have a local card shop close by, the generosity of collectors is what brought this one to my collection.

Not just one Freeman, but two, showed up in this package. I'm starting to go back and fill in cards from previous years for Freddie and this is one less card I need to track down. 

Believe it or not I have a decent sized Randall Simon collection. I enjoyed seeing him play at AAA Richmond in my childhood, a common theme for former Braves in my collection. It kind of tailed off when he was involved in this sausage incident.

Maybe Randall has been in my collector doghouse long enough. I think this one is my first rookie card of his.

I once got an in-person autograph from Scott Thorman at a AAA game. He never achieved much success at the big league level, though he displayed good power in the minors while manning first base. This is the first card outside of that autographed card that goes into my collection.

What an awesome card of the two-time Braves all-star shortstop on what looks like attempting to turn a double-play, could be wrong. Any Flair card of a team I collect is a good one. Really enjoyed opening mid-90s Flair packs. In fact a few years ago I opened a box of 1994-95 Flair basketball and broke it down here. Blauser's last year with the Braves was Atlanta's first season playing at Turner Field.

Also included in this package were a number of prospect cards, the best of which was this refractor of third-baseman Austin Riley.  The 19 year-old hit .271 with 20 home runs and 80 RBIs for class-A Rome this past season. He's rated the 13th best prospect in the loaded Braves farm system. Last year he was in the top 10.

What would a trade package full of Braves be without a few Chippers? These are the first Braves in my collection from both of these brands, 1999 Upper Deck Century Legends and 1999 SP Authentic.

And what's one Jones without the other? The card on the right, an insert from 1999 Upper Deck Series 2, reminds me of graph paper. Unique insert set and cool design.

I have the box set for 1993 Upper Deck, but my 6 year-old self took the cards out and I'm sure it's no longer a complete set. 

Two more cards to add to the Klesko collection, which is still my largest of any baseball player collection. These two were new to me, and the Metal Universe brand ranks among my favorites.

Awesome card of Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's home run record. A gold moment indeed.

So many cards in this package that I had to pick my favorites to share. Thank you again Tom! I'm setting aside Cubs to form a new stack to send your way at some point down the road.