Trade with Bound for Beantown ...

So Joe, a fellow Red Sox Nation member at Bound for Beantown dropped me a line not too long ago about doing a trade. Joe has recently got back into collecting and was eager to help me out on a number of fronts.

First up, three cards off my All-Time Red Sox Roster collection. Nick Green (kinda looks like Bradley Cooper), Paul Byrd, and Lars Anderson. Poor Lars finally got back on track last year only to now be block by Adrian Gonzalez. I don't see Lars reaching Boston again and think he'll be elsewhere come Spring Training's end.

Next up, some YYYYOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUKKKKKKKKKKK!!!! Love this sweaty guy. Kevin has really turned himself into one of the game's top players. He was never your typical top prospect, toolsy guy. He came from University of Cincinnatti—not exactly a baseball powehouse—he's slow, and does not look the part of an athlete, but sure knows how to play the game. His swing was built for Fenway and have turned himself into a great fielder no matter which side of the corners he plays from. The "Greek God of Walks" looks good here in this batch of cards, including his 2003 Bowman rookie that I did not have.

In this batch, we have another rising Sox star in Clay Buchholz. A guy that other teams have coveted in trade talks over the years. Now along with Jon Lester, has given the Sox an excellent home-built, 1 and 1A top of the rotation for years to come. I didn't have too many of his cards, so this was a nice add, especially his All-Star jersey swatch.

 Next up, some more BoSox including a Lester I didn't have in the '10 Upper Deck.

Joe also sent along a bunch of retro minis too!!! First in the lot was three, numbered to 99, T206 Cycle cards.

More Topps T206s from 2009 and 2010. As we now know, T206 is dead and will not return this year.

Next up, some Allen & Ginter minis. I have received a number of these lately and need to update my Frankenstein set wants. When I was at my local shop on Friday, he told me that he has not received any info regarding an 2011 Ginter offering. I wonder if Topps will push this later this year. Above are batches from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 sets.

And finally, we close with more retro minis from 2009 UD's Goodwin Champions. Will be building this set—love the artwork too much to not build it. A nice mix of SPs and black borders.

So thanks Joe!!!  I need to put the final touches on your package and get that out to you this week. You definitely hit on all my likes with this trade.

*******

Coming up this week, I'll have my trade bait Utley patch recap coming on Monday, plus I'll show what I picked up at the local card store, will do another trade bait post, plus will show a card or two I designed for "Cards that Should Have Been." I won't be doing any TTM requests this Spring Training, but for those that do, good luck and this is the week to get those requests in the mail. The earlier the better as most teams don't really get their workout going till later this week.