The Trading Post #30: The Junior Junkie

Between getting a promotion at work and spending more time with friends and family (including the start of hockey playoffs), I haven't had much time for baseball card blogging.

That doesn't mean that trade packages stopped, though. A plain white envelope (PWE) from The Junior Junkie arrived a couple weeks ago, and it packed a real punch for only including seven cards!

A quick apology: you might have noticed a bad link from this blog in your feed a few days ago. I had started a draft of this post, but just nicked the edge of the "Publish" button. I reverted to a draft almost immediately, but not before it populated the feed. Sorry about that. I guess it's a double edged sword (as are most swords), in that it's cluttering up the blog feed for you all, but at least it went out quickly.

Anyway, I was a bit surprised that seven cards (mostly of the thick, shiny variety) can be mailed with just one stamp!

1995 Pinnacle Museum Collection #343 Mike Harkey

Ex-Cub Mike Harkey was one of the first out of the envelope, and this is a "Museum Collection" parallel. Pinnacle applied that brand to cards long before Topps thought it would be perfect to slap on a horrendously overpriced product. It's not quite as rare as an Artist's Proof card from 1995 Score Select, but it has a similar look, along with a fuzzy orb of a baseball in the upper right.

They get shinier than that, though.

2014 Topps Stadium Club Triumvirates Luminous #T6C Carlos Gonzalez

Not only is this a shiny card, but it is quite "shapey" as well, according to my girlfriend. It's the rightmost card in a three-card "Triumvirates" jigsaw puzzle, and the second one I own from 2014 Stadium Club. One from the left side of the puzzle and I'll have enough to build a full one, albeit from different teams.

2014 Finest #44 Josmil Pinto (RC)

Speaking of different teams, I found a Minnesota Twin in this envelope. I am sent mostly Rockies cards, but occasionally there will be another team to mix things up. No problems there, as I don't label myself as a team collector. I'm just fine with anything shiny, especially from a brand like Topps Finest.

That wasn't even the only card from 2014 Finest, a set I've blogged about before, including in my previous trade post from The Junior Junkie.

2014 Finest Rookie Autographs #RA-EB Eddie Butler (AU)

That's an on-card autograph of Rockies pitcher Eddie Butler, who started against the Dodgers today. The Rockies are having a sweep-heavy season so far. They swept the Brewers to open the season, and the Giants earlier this week. They didn't manage to pick up a win in Los Angeles this weekend, so the only series so far in which each team picked up wins was the home opener against the Cubs.

Butler is one of the more interesting prospects in the Rockies organization, at least according to Topps. Rosenort at Condition Sensitive put together all six acetate patterns and an autograph from 2014 Topps High Tek. Topps must think he's something special to put him in such a high-end set.

There have only been a few Rockies pitching prospects throughout the years that have panned out. Jason Jennings comes to mind, as does Ubaldo Jimenez. If Butler can get to their level, he'll put himself in rare company.

Unlike elite pitchers, the Rockies have fielded plenty of Gold Glovers in their 22-season history, and Nolan Arenado might be the best yet.

2013 Topps Chrome X-Fractors #78 Nolan Arenado (RC)

In case you didn't see it, have a look at this amazing no-look catch he made in foul territory last week.

I'll just wait here.

It's drawing plenty of comparisons to Derek Jeter's catch in the 2004 ALCS, and with good reason. Though he just lined out to end the game against the Dodgers, he's quickly becoming a fan favorite. He was a little shaky defensively for his first month or two in the majors, but he has my All-Star vote for many seasons to come!

Though Topps Chrome does go pretty overboard with the number of parallels, X-Fractors remain among my favorites. It's not nearly as rare as the /50 X-Fractors from 2003, but since it's of my favorite Rockie (and since his surname is at the front of the alphabet), this one will go right toward the front of my 2013 Chrome collection.

I'm still a little bit in shock that a mere 49-cent stamp can deliver so much great cardboard! Thanks to The Junior Junkie for my first PWE!