Trade With Chavez Ravining: A Mini A.J. Ellis and a Grip o' Ginter (2014 Edition)

I completed my third trade with my good friend Alex over at Chavez Ravining. You can check out our first foray here and second swap here. Alex has sent me a couple of card-filled packages over the last few months and I've been a bad and super-slow blogger. Apologies. Away we go....

A.J.! This brilliant mini relic was a card that caught my eye when Alex posted it and thankfully he was willing to move it even though it fits into his collection. A.J. will have a lessened role with newcomer Yasmani Grandal now wearing Blue but I think it will suit the future voice of the Dodgers well.

Let's wrap up the scanned portion of the show with some random goodness. Shiny Greinke, Kenley, and Ryu cards for those modest PCs; it was real Hanley; a pair of Gerrit Coles for my collection of the former UCLA standout; and minis of Cole Hamels and one-time Dodger draft pick Chase Utley.

Alex was also purging a ton of cards from his collection and I decided to take the plunge and go after the 2014 Allen & Ginter Base Set (including SPs) as well as a number of the inserts, all of which he was able to help me out with. And when I say help me out, I mean he sent me a tremendous amount of cards which I need to go through as I slowly put together my Want List for '14 A&G.

As always, the cards are much appreciated Alex!

Clayton Kershaw Throws A No-Hitter!

So I had another post scheduled and ready to go for today, but as you might imagine circumstances -- namely my favorite pitcher and a huge part of my collecting life throwing his first career no-hitter -- changed those plans. It will always be a perfect game in my mind, a game in which his teammate was not perfect. Considering Hanley Ramirez is a god-awful defensive shortstop, I'm not totally surprised he committed an error. But enough about HanRam, as Clayton was magnificent as is his custom!

 

Congrats Clayton! Well-earned and well-deserved!

[gif via my old boss, Chad Moriyama]

Trade With Bob Walk The Plank: Kemp, Kershaw, Puig, Bauer, Magill, Ryu, Cole.

I completed my first trade with Matthew from Bob Walk The Plank, a relatively new card blog. Matthew contacted me about a swap of cardboard and he sent over some fantastic cards. Go check out his site and work out a deal of your own, as you will not be disappointed.

Another Yasiel Puig RC in the books, and I'm very grateful I've been able to trade for the vast majority. This will forever be one of my favorite photos of ManBearPuig.

Matt had this fantastic Trevor Bauer on-faux-baseball John Hancock as bait, and it immediately caught my eye. Bauer and I attended UCLA at the same time, and I enjoy picking up hits of his. I still believe he'll be a good starter at worst in the bigs.

A brand new Matt Kemp and a new Clayton Kershaw are due up next. The Kemp card is awesome and that Kid K is just all sorts of perfection. A mini with a black border; a vintage-y throwback look; a great action shot of Clayton; and the Brooklyn B on the cap just go oh so well together.

This Matt Magill auto is my first signature of his, and though he struggled last year in spot duty, I think he can still be a solid number five or even four starter due to his swing-and-miss stuff and youth.

A potpourri of Blue Crew goodness. The Kemp gold rookie is my second, and I'll take as many Bison cards from 2005 Topps Update as I can get my hands on. The Ryu Archives Rookie is sweet and the Koufax and Jackie are obviously nails.

And finally, some randomness highlighted by three Gerrit Coles (go Bruins!). This will be the second Juan Uribe card to call my collection home, which is two more than I ever thought I would own.

Thanks for the great trade Matthew and welcome to the blogging community! I'm working on a return package of Pirates that I hope you'll enjoy!

A Pair Of 2013 Dodgers' Bobblehead Additions: The Bison and HanRam.

I attended the Matt Kemp Bobblehead Giveaway game on May 14th and walked away with this sweet nodder.

I also picked up the Hanley Ramirez "I See You" bobble, though I didn't make it out to that particular game. My buddy and his girlfriend went and he's not much of a baseball fan, so he asked if I wanted it.

As much as I despise the "I See You" gesture, I wasn't going to pass up a free bobblehead. Thanks Jer!

Trade With The Daily Dimwit: A Triple Threads Treat and A Mess of 2012 Ginter.

I completed my eighth trade with Sam from the wonderful The Daily Dimwit. You can look back at our first foray here, second swap here, third trade here, fourth deal here, fifth exchange here, sixth encounter here, and seventh transaction here. Sam pulled a card many months ago that I had to have, and after a while I found something equivalent to send his way. We expanded our trade and had another great one in the books. You can see what I sent his way here.

The meat of the trade that I saw way back when and knew I had to get. Numbered 11/18, it's a sweeeeeet triple relic from 2012 Topps Triple Threads. I love that there are two blue patch pieces and they belong to the two gentlemen on this card I care about, Messrs. Kemp and Kershaw. Why Dre got center-billing, I do not know. The relics spell out "Bleeding Blue," which accurately describes the 2013 season.

Pee Wee! Wool jersey! Exclamation points!!!! Numbered 193/199, it's just the second Reese relic to call my collection home, joining a slice of bat. I told Sam to save this bad boy for our next trade but he sent it along anyways. A kind gentlemen, you are. You'll be getting something extra next time, of course.

Billy Wagner was a fantastic relief ace and I'm stoked to land his John Hancock. On-card and as an Astro, to boot. See Sam, not everyone hates Houston.

3 awesome Bisons and a pair of Kid Ks. Matty wearing 42 in mini form is NAILS.

Koufax and Verlander make a great pairing. I already have the A.J. Ellis Spring Fever auto, so the base card is a much appreciated throw-in. My first Hanley and Adrian Gonzalez cards as Dodgers were nice surprises as well.

Sam also took a big bite out of my remaining 2012 Ginter needs, sending me 4 of the World's Greatest Military Leaders, 23 of the What's In A Name? behemoth subset, and the last 3 SPs I needed to complete the Base Set (SPs included).

Thanks for yet another phenomenal trade Sam!