Trade Me, Something-A-Ruther: Dave in Michigan

Dave sent me 93 cards. Unfortunately, I only needed sixteen of them.

OBTW, all cards that I receive that I do not need/want automatically go into the prize pool. This is in addition to whatever I can come up with for the grand prize. Right now there are 101 cards in the prize pool.

Card #1 1995 Studio Albert Belle

In 1995, Albert Belle became baseball's first 50-50 man: 50 HRs, 50 2Bs. Somehow, this was not MVP-worthy. (One Point)

Card #2 1996 Pinnacle Aficionado Charles Johnson

Aficionado was one of dozens of one-off products Pinnacle would release in the last few years of their life -- most of them, about as pointless as Aficionado. (One Point)

Card #3 1998 Bowman's Best Kevin Brown

Remember when Bowman's Best was actually collectible? (One Point)

Card #4 2001 Topps Before There Was Topps Honus Wagner

The theme behind the BTWTs is what Topps cards might have looked like if they had in the baseball card business back in the day. I have a feeling that if Topps was in the baseball card business back when Honus Wagner was playing, instead of making a card of Wagner, they'd pull a gimmick.

Come on, you know they would. It's Topps we're talking about. They'd list Wagner on the initial checklist of 1908 Topps series two but pull the card from production at the last minute without ever telling anyone, then issue a stealth card of Wagner in his World Baseball Classic uniform. (Five Points)

Card #5 2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers Gallery Cy Young
Card #6 2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers 20th Century Showcase Cy Young

2001 UDHOF was one of the first of the retired-player themed sets. As the name suggests, all of the players in the set were Hall of Famers. (10 Points)

Card #7 2006 Topps Wal-Mart Roger Clemens

As previously mentioned, the 2006 Topps Wal-Mart insert is similar to this year's Trading Card History set. This particular Roger Clemens card is done in the style of '86 Topps. (Five Points + Five Point Bonus)

Cards #8-#10 2007 Ultra Iron Man (#s 29, 35 & 45)

While last year's Ultra SE sucked, there's one good thing that UpperFleerDeck did. Unlike the base cards, all of the non-parallel, non-autogamer, SE inserts are indentical to the ones in retail. With so many Joe Collector's ripping deep-discounted leftover waxboxes of Ultra SE, lots and lots of Ultra inserts are making their way onto the secondary market, at deep-discounted prices. (15 Points)

Card #11 2008 Upper Deck The House That Ruth Built #11

For those who continue to ask; yes, Upper Deck was allowed to make Babe Ruth cards this year. (Five Points)

Cards #12-#16 Five 2008 Upper Deck StarQuests

Dave sent me 33 different StarQuests of different colors -- including a pair of (scratched) SuperRare Prince Fielder's. Unfortunately, I'm only collecting the Commons, and of those, I only needed the ones of Ryan Braun, Travis Hafner, Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols and ManRam. (25 Points + 25 Point Bonus)

Grand Total: 98 Points