You make the call

I just completed a long delayed trade with reader Howard today when I dropped off his package at the post office. Lo and behold, the cards he sent were waiting for me when I got home. The trade was a little strange, it started out as a swap of American Heritage cards we both needed to finish off our sets and it ended up including some jersey and autograph cards.

The base cards that were swapped were just about even. He sent six cards off my want list* including Houdini, Edgar Allen Poe, George Washington and an Obama SP. He got three cards from American Heritage and a healthy pile of Cubs cards. Two relics and an autograph were swapped as well. Here's a comparison of what was sent and what I received:

I sent:
A 2008 Allen & Ginter relic of Carlos Zambrano. I got this from Tribe Cards in his Scratch Off Tournament contest. I love A&G, The swatch is a pretty blue, Zambrano is a good pitcher, but Howard will enjoy this a heck of a lot more than me.

I received:

A 2008 Spectrum A Piece of Hollywood jacket swatch from Capote. I already pulled a bit of Austin Powers' pants from a pack so I'm familiar with these cards. It's a nice gray wool swatch, no pinstripes. A nice touch with these cards is that Upper Deck shows the original pre-chopped-up jacket:

Unfortunately Upper Deck didn't bother to pony up the license fee to put a photo of the actual actor the cloth was wrapped around on the card. The writeup signed by Dick McDouble-U does indicate that the jacket was worn by "Philip" in the movie. We all know who Philip is, and I'm actually pretty thrilled to have a bit of memorabilia from one of my favorite actors, Philip Lockwood.

I know, I know. It's supposed to be Philip Seymour Hoffman. The man was in Lebowski and I worship him for that. He was also pretty cool in Charlie Wilson's War, check it out**. My point is that it could be Philip Lockwood for all we know, because Upper Deck half-assed the driving gimmick in their crummy set. Still, I like the movie, I like the actor and therefore like the card.

I also sent:

A 2003 Topps Pristine Sammy Sosa bat card. High end set, funky chromey design, thick as a brick, 600 home run hitter, bat piece without any cork, what's not to like about this card? This is a very nice card, I just have over a half dozen Sosa relics. Time to let someone else appreciate one. I think I got this as the bonus in a repack box anyway. I know for a fact I've never bought a pack of Pristine in my life.

I received:

A 2009 American Heritage Franklin Pierce Letter patch #28/50. I know manufactured patches are cheesy, and this is a pretty contrived set, and Franklin Pierce is one of the most disasterously inept Presidents in history (including the bumbling batch of bubble brained buffoons we've had in my lifetime), and the concept of an 18th century president wearing a baseball jersey is ridiculous at best, but the card is kinda nice looking. The red and black/very dark blue letter just plain looks good. I can see why Joe Collectors go nuts over these things. And now I have an example of one to put in my American Heritage binder. You know how I dig the type cards.

Now to the autographs. I sent:

A 1996 Old Judge autograph of Ed Larregui. Ed never made the bigs, sadly. Actually two years after this card came out, he was out of baseball. Ed never got a major league prospect card, but he's on about a dozen or so minor league cards. This guy wants seven bucks for a copy, so it has to be worth something, right? If you're a really hard core Cubs collector this is a check off of the "every Cubs card ever made" checklist at least.

I received:

A 2009 Upper Deck Chris Resop Inkredible autograph. Since these are the first two cards that can be directly compared let's do so.

Ed: minor league set, Chris: major league set. Ed 0, Chris 1
Ed: on card autograph, Chris: sticker auto. Ed 1, Chris 1
Ed: clear, legible autograph, Chris: epileptic chicken scratching in an earthquake***. Ed 2, Chris 1
Ed: peaked at Double A, Chris: 4 years in the bigs before being sold to the Hanshin Tigers. Ed 2, Chris 2.
Ed: mini retro card, Chris: generic autograph insert with a goofy name. Ed 3, Chris 2
Ed: airbrushed minor league Cubs uniform, Chris: Braves spring training uni with full tomahawk visible. Ed 3, Chris 3.

Dang, a tie! So, who do you think got the better of this deal? Or as is the case in many transactions, is the beauty of the cards ultimately in the eye of the beholder?

* I just noticed that Hookman posted that he needed a bunch of cards from that set. If you still need 'em, e-mail me if I don't e-mail you first. I have a lot of doubles.

** Great acting, stuff blowing up and Tom Hanks in a hot tub surrounded by nekkid ladies. What more could you want in a movie?

*** Per Night Owl's request, an artist's rendition of a typical Upper Deck signing session: