Please Mr. Postman (A trade post) -- The sweet returns

I've opened a good amount of packs so far in 2012, far more than I ever would've thought.

I have to give a ton of thanks to my dad for that, as he's been more than helpful throughout my collecting years, especially thus far in 2012. I like to say that if my collection was on the stock market, he'd be a majority shareholder.

After all, he's the one who's been responsible for a good chunk of my ever-expanding array of baseball cards.

But perhaps the best pack my dad has ever treated me to a seemingly innocent pack of Archives a few weeks ago. (Which actually gives me a great idea for a future post...)

Along with an astonishingly nice Roberto Clemente insert, the pack netted me a Dave Righetti "Fan Favorites" autograph card.

I never pull any type of memorabilia cards, much less autographs.

I don't collect Righetti, but I figured it might net me something nice in the blogosphere trade market.

How right I was.

A.J., diehard Yankees fan and author of "The Lost Collector" (one of my favorite blogs out there), commented on my Archives post and said he'd be interested in the "Rags" autograph.

After a few emails back and forth, we decided on a trade. It was one where I didn't quite know what I was getting, but I knew I'd be happy with whatever came my way. The best kind of trade there is.

Purchasing my Series 2 blaster and having A.J.'s package arrive in the mail yesterday made for one of the better afternoons in recent memory.

The first card I pulled out of the mailer was the above Phil Rizzuto "liquorfractor". I was off the wagon for a while (or is it "on the wagon"?) with these, but the "Scooter" sucked me back in.

Luckily, this type of "liquor" will never require rehab. (Or so I hope.)

More liquor!

Now that Marlon Byrd is gone, these two are probably my favorite guys on the Cubs roster right now. (Although if Castro forgets how many outs are in an inning again, that might change.)

Darwin Barney certainly received a great action shot for his rookie in last year's flagship set. It looks even better surrounded by liquor.

Did that sound wrong?

Sorry, but it's time to move past the liquor.

A.J. was also able to hit a couple of my Opening Day needs, much to my pleasure.

I just got done reading a thread on my trading forum where a couple people called Opening Day "junk".

I beg to differ.

It's the cheapest game in town right now, although that might change if these catch on. Still, I've never been disappointed with a pack of Opening Day.

I'll certainly take the "Opening Day Stars" inserts over those awful "Career Day" thingys.

I'm not sure how I feel about short-prints.

On the one hand, they can get on my nerves from time to time. I still need the 2012 Heritage Casey Kotchman SP for my collection of his. I don't think I've seen any for trade yet.

On the other hand, they're always great to come across in dime boxes. Short-prints are among the best type of "tradebait" out there.

And it's always great when I can knock another SP need off my wantlists, as A.J. was able to do with this Chris Young card.

Love 'em or hate 'em, it looks like SPs are here to stay in the hobby.

Speaking of short-prints, there's another one with the Griffey.

I can't even remember the last time anyone issued a card of Griffey Sr., which is one reason I enjoyed this year's Archives.

I'm lucky enough to own an actual copy of Brooks Robinson's 1972 issue, thanks to the greatest vintage box I've ever dug through.

My Vlad collection has certainly grown since I joined the blogosphere.

I'd have to count, but I'm pretty sure I'm nearing the 600 card mark. A.J. was gracious enough to send me a couple Vlads to get me closer to my goal.

While it may not look like it at first, these are indeed two different cards. The one on the right is a beige parallel, numbered to 250 copies.

I love the Vlad parallel, but it's safe to say that beige probably doesn't belong on baseball cards.

Yes, I know I went on record yesterday by stating that I didn't collect manu-patches.

But even I have to admit that this is one sweet card. Plus, it's Ichiro.

This one is definitely staying with me. I'm happy to say that it will be the first manu-patch in my collection, even though I'm still not sold on them as a whole.

A.J. really went above and beyond what I was expecting to get for the Righetti autograph. This was one of the better trade packages I've received during my tenure in the blogosphere.

For that, I can't thank him enough.