Something Wicked This Way Comes (Epic Trade Post Part One)

For any bloggers who don’t know Wicked… you better get with the friggin program. This guy is simply put one of the best bloggers out there. He is an excellent trader, collector, and friend. I encourage everybody to check out his blog, My Past Time… I Love It! not only to see Wicked’s awesome memorabilia and card collection, but for its excellent writing (especially from its guest writers, wink wink).

Whoever has had the opportunity to receive a package from Wicked knows how generous he is. When I received the large package in the mail from Florida, I know I had something epic in my hands. Sure enough, when I ripped open the package I was stunned to say the least. Here I sent Wicked three measly cards, but he rewards me with four team bags LOADED with awesome Yanks. Now, I received this package about a month ago, and this trade post is long overdue. However, I’m going to honor this heroic trade by breaking it up into four, yes, four, parts. Tonight’s episode: team sets. Wicked sent over a hefty stack of Yanks for about four products spread throughout the years; these sets are now done or pretty close to it.

Simply put, 1996 Emotion X-L is a weird set. The cards are bordered and look nice, but the adjectives they place on the cards to describe the player seems more appropriate for a Calvin Klein ad.

Tenacious.

Flashing.

Flourish.

Passion. Calvin Klein.

No trade from Wicked would be complete without any shiny cards. Here’s the face(s) of the franchise from 2003 Topps Chrome.

Can Mo replicate his success from the past few seasons? Or will age catch up with him?

Will Jeter succumb to another subpar season? Or will he rise to the top as a prominent player once again? And most importantly, will he get the girl?!

Um, yes. It’s Derek Jeter.

The shiny motif continues with some 2000 Upper Deck Ultimate Victory cards featuring superstar Derek Jeter…

and…

Screw you, Nick Johnson. Screw you. Johnson signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians early in Spring Training, and I’m not sure if he made the club or not. Probably broke his arm getting a cup of water.

Last but not least, Wicked sent over about twenty cards from the 2002 Upper Deck Victory set. I’m a big fan of this set; creative design, awesome photography, and the fact that it’s from 2002. This means all the “Postseason Scrapbook” subset cards are gonna feature… yup, Yankees.

It’s nice seeing fan favorites like Tino reappear in your collection. It’s not nice, however, seeing fan favorites like Tino attempt to color commentate. Speaking of which, I am not looking forward to another year of John Sterling and Michael Kay. Ugh.

An example of that nice photography. Although I’m pretty sure Jorge hasn’t sniffed catcher’s gear in eight months.

Look how uninterested they are. I mean, c’mon guys, I know your team wins a lot but seriously? Show some emotion!

“Oh yippe, we won again.” “I’m hungry, what’s the postmeal like tonight?” “Crap, there’s my ex, I better wave so I don’t get the stink eye from her parents.”

That concludes part one of the Epic Trade Post from Wicked. Stay tuned to see some of the nicer stuff he sent over!