Trade Me Anything XV Has Arrived!

I've been having a really nice weekend.  Once the Friday workday ended, I got my miles in, did some planning for the next week, and then I was home free.  This year's box of Update arrived, I believe, on Tuesday, so it's been sitting there taunting me all week long.  It was the first box of baseball cards I've opened in all of 2021, which I suppose tells you all you need to know about my thoughts on the state of the hobby.  Doing Trade Me Anything is the most fun I have with new baseball cards in a given year, and I love doing it, but it's too bad that once a year is the totality of it all.  (Speaking of once a year, did you see that this feature is now in its 15th iteration??? Boom whackers and Club crackers, kind of hard to fathom, ain't it?)

Actually, it feels like last year's TMA just happened, back when I was operating out of my basement man cave/office.  The ping pong table was my desk, and across the net sat all of the fun card stuff.  I still work here on occasion for after-hours tasks, but the table is a lot clearer now.  It's been a weird couple of years, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to another global pandemic at least once in the next decade or so.  A real good one, too, that scientists just can't seem to get a handle on for a couple of years.  I actually told my wife the other day, in response to some news about people acting shitty toward one another, "You know, outside of family and a handful of close friends, I really don't want to be around anybody."  And it was the truth.  There's more entertainment available to me than I could consume in fifty lifetimes, and I have the capacity to create universes within my imagination far more interesting than what the daily drudgery holds.  

That said, I appreciate the time many of you take to be part of this ongoing series, and there are even some of you I would consider friends, even though we have never met in person, or only have so fleetingly.  To everyone reading this, thank you.

Now let's get on with the proceedings.

1. Check out the list of available cards below. Select one (or a few) you want. Just remember, the more you claim, the better your trade material should be.

2. Send me an email with your choice of card(s) at bill13boehm@yahoo.com or DM me on Twitter @THORZUL
Please don't leave a request comment on the blog. This just confuses people, so don't do it, it will just be deleted and will not count.

3. I will reply to you as to the card's availability. First come, first serve. I will include my mailing address.

4. When I confirm the card of your choice, pick out one or more of your own cards or anything else you want to send me. A few guidelines about what you can't send: Nothing that should really be in the garbage, nothing perishable, and nothing illegal. (Notice I didn't say nothing immoral.) I've got a want list you could check out, too!

5. Send me whatever is was you picked out. Don't tell me what it is before you send it, I'd like to have it be a surprise! Include a SASE or you won't be getting your card.

6. When I receive your item, I will take a picture of the trade materials and post the happy couple on my blog, and then I will send you the card. Here are the cards you may choose from. Cards that have officially been claimed are in BOLD.

Gold Parallel (#/2021)

62 Kyle Cody - Rangers

Orange Foil Parallel (#/299)

52 Checklist/Cory Cluber No-Hitter - Yankees

Red Foil Parallel (#/199)

222 Brady Singer - Royals - Samuel

Rainbow Foil Parallel

17 Taylor Walls - Rays - David

98 Magneuris Sierra - Marlins

113 Aaron Civale - Indians - Tim

All-Stars

5 Shohei Ohtani - Angels - Kerry

10 Rafael Devers - Red Sox - Tim

27 Teoscar Hernandez - Blue Jays

30 Adolis Garcia - Rangers

33 Buster Posey - Giants - Tim

38 J.T. Realmuto - Phillies

40 Kevin Gausman - Giants

42 Carlos Rodon - White Sox

1986 Topps 35th Anniversary

1 Mike Trout (Blue Border) - Angels - gcrl

3 Nick Castellanos - Reds

16 Bo Bichette - Blue Jays - Tim

19 Jonathan India - Reds - Jon

27 Shohei Ohtani - Angels  - David

30 Ramon Laureano - A's

49 Yermin Mercedes - White Sox

1986 Topps 35th Anniversary Refractor

12 Javier Baez - Cubs - Mike

27 Jonathan India - Reds - Jon

38 Manny Ramirez - Red Sox - Zpop

42 Mike Trout - Angels - gcrl

Topps Black Gold

10 Aaron Judge - Yankees - Mike

Platinum Players Die-Cut

69 Willie Stargell - Pirates

70 Years of Topps

8 Don Mattingly - Yankees - Tim

16 Alex Bregman - Astros

31 Mark McGwire - A's - Tim

55 Cody Bellinger - Dodgers - gcrl

And that's all we got, folks.  This year's Update Series hobby box yielded no doubles, and was 22 cards short of a full set.  Kind of disappointing after a nice string of years where one box could complete the set for you, with last year ending that trend, I believe.