A Trade and Extra Cards For My Contest

I recently completed my third trade with Weston of Fantastic Catch. Along with the cards we discussed over email, Weston sent over a few cards to max out his entries in the contest I am running right now. Be sure to enter if you haven't yet.

I'll start with a card one of my favorite Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw. I feel Topps has dropped the ball lately on the images they are choosing for Flagship, but they have been doing great on the horizontal shots. Kershaw has a slightly unorthodox delivery, and Topps was able to capture the lefty mid stride. 

I already had a copy of this card for my Kershaw binder, but I needed an additional copy for my Topps Team Set Project. Weston also sent along the much needed Matt Kemp card from 2012 US, which means I have now completed the 2012 Dodgers Team Set. Doesn't seem like much, but I am pretty happy. Only 60-odd-years to complete. Be a doll and see what you can help me out with by clicking here and scrolling down to the Topps Team Set Project section. 

Weston didn't just help with my 2012 Set Needs of course, he added 5 cards from the 2011 set that I badly needed. Included was this awesome shot of the Dodgers outfielder. It was only 3 short years ago that Topps was producing vertical cards that didn't bore you to death. 

There were more set needs that I chose not to scan, including a sweet Ian Kinsler SP from 2013 Heritage and the Joe Kelly base card from 2013 Flagship. The addition of the Kelly means that I am ONE CARD AWAY from completing the 2013 Topps Flagship set. Somebody help a blogger out and keep an eye out for card #67 San Francisco Giants. I would greatly appreciate any help on that front.

In seemingly every trade I make nowadays, new Shawn Green cards fall into my lap. My Green PC is closing in on the century mark, and I am sure it will reach that point in a couple of days. I have quite a few trade packages on my desk that I have yet to inventory. 

Though Green cards may be never-ending, cardboard of Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen is few and far between. Picking up a rookie card of the best closer in the game won't get old anytime soon.

To top it all off, Weston sent over a pretty cool card of Dodgers prospect, James Baldwin. The scan came out absolutely horrible, but this is a cracked ice card #'d 154/299. Baldwin isn't exactly a top prospect, but he has the tools to be a come a decent 4th outfielder for a big league club. His biggest strength just may be his legs, as the speedy outfielder is an advanced base stealer. His elite speed also allows him to tracks down a ton of ball in the outfield, and an above average glove makes up for his lack of bat. Chances are Baldwin will never see time with LA, but best of luck to him.

Once again, thanks for the trade Weston. Cards should be headed out your way in the next few days.