2015 trade package #29: end of the year breakdown

If you're reading this post you're probably already blown away by all the great cards I showed off over on TMV from my final trade package of 2015.  It came from Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown, and if you somehow missed it make sure to check it out first, then head back here.

I already showed off the fruit of the king of customs' labor in that post, but one more time here's Barry Larkin's Cardsphere Heroes entry:

Nice player selection, Gavin!

Moving on, I was gifted a seven-spot of cards featuring Cubs RP Clayton Richard:

I hadn't seen anything like that Junior Padres card before, so that was a fun addition, and I was even more excited about the 2015 Topps Gold parallel since I hadn't landed any of his flagship cards yet.

I had forgotten that I'd asked Gavin for this '70 Topps Booklet card of Freehan,

so I laughed when I pulled a copy from each of the packages that arrived the other day--Gavin's and the one I posted yesterday from Greg Z.  I still plan to show it off in its entirety at some point!

And finally, out of nowhere, an O-Pee-Chee RC of young star defenseman Jacob Trouba.  Nice job remembering that he's a Wolverine alum, buddy!

As I said in the TMV post, thanks for such a generous and thoughtful trade package, Gavin!  You can be sure that I'll start reloading so we can trade again soon in 2016.

HAPPY NEW BLUE YEAR, EVERYONE!

2014 eBay purchase: a rad Red Richard Refractor, or, Christmas in September

I haven't been too busy on eBay this month, but I did manage to score a colorful PC addition last week:

Clayton Richard 2011 Topps Chrome Red Refractor (#12/25)

For just $2.99 delivered I got one step closer to Clayton's 2011 Topps/Chrome rainbow; in fact, with the addition of this Red Refractor, I just need the Gold version to close the book on that project.  And pending a post covering my COMC scores, that Gold Refractor will also slam the door on Clayton's 2011 issues.

Although I've always been more of a blue (and maize!) kind of guy, I'm a fan of Topps' Red Refractors because they've always worked out well when it comes to the color scheme.  Their relatively limited print run makes them fun--but not impossible--to chase, too.  In this case I would have forgiven Gavin for outbidding me to add this card to his cool #12/25 PC!

I now have 106 of Clayton's 150-card run, with the latter number jumping up a bit thanks to 2014 Topps Mini.

Now that I'm caught up on other pickups maybe I'll finally get to the COMC stuff!