Please Mr. Postman (A trade post) -- One of the "Fab Four" (and others)

About a month ago, I took a page from a bunch of other blogs and created my own "most wanted" list, which you can see on the sidebar of this blog.

I affectionately called them the "Fab Four" as an homage to one of my favorite bands, The Beatles (obviously).

Anyways, I am happy to report that the first of my "Fab Four" needs has been hit by blog reader Kary, who contacted me about a week ago.

Even though I think 1989 Bowman was probably the worst set ever made, I still really wanted this card. It was the only card of Manny Trillo in a Reds uniform, and it pained me that I didn't have it. (He had a brief 17 game stint in Cincinnati at the tail end of his career.)

Well, Kary took care of that, sending me the Trillo and some others (which you'll see in a minute) in exchange for some 2012 Topps base cards.

Perhaps the thing I'm most proud of with my collection is that I can still get this excited over a card that Beckett values at a nickel, as we have with the '89 Bowman Trillo.

It's a great feeling.

Coincidentally, three of the five cards in Kary's package were Reds, one of which was the 2010 Topps "Turkey Red" Votto you see above.

Every time I see a Turkey Red card, it takes me back to eighth grade. I started one of my friends down the collecting path that year. One of my fondest baseball card-related memories is going to the local Target with him and hunting down loose packs during the summer after graduation.

One of our favorite sets was Turkey Red. Although 2007 was the final year an entire Turkey Red base set was issued, Topps continued it as an insert set until 2010.

For that, Topps, I thank you.

Kary also included some 2012 Topps Gold Sparkles I needed.

I don't like these near as much as last year's diamond parallels, but they're still pretty nifty.

Here's the other "sparklies" Kary sent.

The Jay Bruce is one of my favorite cards from the base set. It looks even better as one of the "Gold Sparkle" parallels.

Much thanks goes out to Kary for these cards, especially for being the first to hit one of my "Fab Four" needs!

Hopefully it's the first of many.