Trade With Cardboard Icons

This is not the first time I've traded with Ben, from Cardboard Icons, and I certainly hope it's not the last. Ben is a very generous trader, and always sends a ton of cards. This round arrived in a 400-count box that was almost packed full. Here are a few personal favorites:

1993 Pinnacle Cal Ripken Jr.

Classic Cal at his best. He has one of the most fun stances to emulate, but it can get a little rough on the knees. I don't know for sure, but I think the knee-bending was how he kept such great timing at the plate. Sort of like Strawberry's high leg lift. Skip all the way to the last 25 seconds or so of THIS video if you don't know which stance(s) to which I am referring.

1993 Pinnacle Hometown Heroes Cal Ripken Jr.

Another solid Ripken card from back in the day.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Frank Robinson black parallel

Doesn't matter how many times I look at this card, it's still one ofmy favorites from '08. Don't think I had this parallel version yet.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Frank Robinson

See, there it is again. What did I tell you? This card is fantastic.

2005 Bowman Heritage Brian Roberts "Pieces of Greatness" bat relic

This is one of the largest pieces of bat I've ever seen in a card that isn't considered a "jumbo" relic. It could just be an illusion, caused by the curved window edges. Regardless, I really dig the design of this card. It reminds me of the Jetsons for some reason, but I can't quite place it.

2009 Topps Series 2 David Hernandez silk #'d /50

Call me crazy, but I like silk cards. They're totally manufactured cheese, but at least this cheddar is based on baseball cards from days gone by.

Thanks a lot for the great cards Ben! Yours are on the way, so enjoy. On an unrelated note, the 2009 Gummies are heating up and a lot of the polls are REALLY close, including the Best New Card Blog. If you haven't done so already I encourage you to go forth, and make your voice heard! Click HERE to access the polls, and remember, a vote for beardy is a vote for freedom!

My Favorite Early 90's Insert Set

1992 Leaf Studio Heritage Series

My scanner bed is filthy, and it really shows in the borders of these cards. 1992 was probably the year I collected most heavily as a kid. I was 11, and there were card shops everywhere. The Cal was one of the best cards you could own around here, and I remember giving up a lot for it in trade (probably 2 Phil Plantier rookies... HA!). Most of these were picked up at various card shops in 1992, and to the best of my knowledge the only one that was personally pack-pulled by yours truly was Mattingly. I'm a few cards shy of a full set, and know that Molitor, Dawson, and Van Slyke are missing. The Boggs is my favorite of the ones I own, but that's probably because of the beard, which really brings the whole old-timey look together. It could be even better, but only if he was rocking it A La Souvarov style.

Leaf kept these Studio Heritage inserts around for a long time, and I think it served as the perfect addition to the set, since it added that vintage feel while also maintaining the "studio" theme. Too bad they had to screw it up after the new millenium by featuring retired players, instead of current players in their throwback unis. How sweet would a Studio Heritage relic set, featuring swatches of throwback uniform be? Very, if you ask me.

Well, there you have it, my favorite insert from one of my favorite sets of the 90's. Actually, scratch that. 1992 & 1993 Studio ARE my favorite sets from the 90's.