Inserts Galore

Prior to the trades that I've been making over the last few weeks, it had been a long time since I had completed many trades. Usually, I strive for one every couple weeks, but I certainly realize that I had fallen short on that during a number of months leading up to and including the summer.

While my excuse is pretty much the same as anyone's reason for not doing something (I was too busy), I really have tried to pick up the slack over the last few weeks. From initiating trades myself to having people reach out to me, I've been able to figure out multiple trades over the last month or so, the 3rd of which arrived in the mail today.

After seeing the Rafael Devers Freshman Flash card pulled by Chris of The Collector, I knew I wanted to get my hands on it. However, he said he was up in the air as to if he wanted to trade it. Nevertheless, I found a bunch of 2017 Topps Heritage High Number cards that he needed, and he was able to send inserts galore my way in return.

Like most bloggers or viewers that I trade with, Chris was nice enough to send me a few random Red Sox cards for my collection. Even being a Sox fan himself, Chris was able to send over 4 cards. While the Saltalamacchia and Vazquez will go to their respective team sets, the Yaz from 2016 Archives and the Porcello from 2017 Panini Donruss will serve as boosts to each of the 2 player collections.

But that wasn't all Chris would send me for Red Sox player collections. Nomar may have been a controversial teammate during his time in Boston, but there's no denying he was definitely a fan favorite. The last time I checked, his player collection was just under 70 total cards. Not only did this come as a shock to me, but it also proved that he could be a 100-card player collection in a little over a year, a tier in my collection that only around 20 players have reached.

However, the main reason for this trade, just like most every trade I make, is to knock cards off my want list. In the case of this trade, it came in the form of multiple inserts, mainly from 2015 Topps.

Believe it or not, Topps didn't really go super crazy with insert set size until the Salute and 1987 inserts made their debut in 2017 Topps Series 1. Up until then, Topps would still create large insert sets, but they'd be stretched out over Series 1, 2, and Update. In the case of 2015 Topps Highlight of the Year, this was roughly a 100-card set in total, with the set being broken up into pieces and continued throughout the Flagship sets in 2015. To me, this is a much better idea than what they've done for 1987, 1983, and Topps Salute over the last 2 years.

Instead of producing these monster insert sets, Topps would concentrate more on smaller, 15-25-card insert sets, placing a few of them in Series 1, 2, and Update respectively. For example, their 2015 Topps Heart of the Order set is around 20-cards total and features power hitters that make up the "heart" or middle of a teams' lineup.

Of all the 2015 Topps inserts, the Archetypes insert set could very well be my favorite with a healthy mix of retired and current players chosen for the 25-card checklist. Like most of the other 2015 Topps insert needs, Chris was able to help me out and send a few of the Archetype inserts my way as I continue to reduce the needs for these sets that I've been working on for a couple years now.

Among the other 2015 Topps inserts Chris sent over to me, we have 'Til It's Over, Stepping Up, and Inspired Play. Again, these are examples of smaller insert sets that existed and were prominent as little as 3 years ago. While some of the concepts seemed a little repetitive, I'm much more fond of these as opposed to cramming 100 cards into 1 insert set in Series 1. Another example of something I'll take advantage of come the COMC Black Friday sale, I'll definitely be looking to finish off some of these smaller insert sets by then.

While the majority of what Chris sent me had to do with 2015 Topps, he also included a couple 2016 inserts that I needed. The Unique Unis insert from 2016 Topps Bunt remains one of my favorite concepts from the last few years while the Jake Arrieta Superstar Celebrations card from 2016 Topps Opening Day is a pretty cool concept, but not something I've ever gotten extremely excited about.

As you can see, Chris was definitely a big help in piecing together these past few years of insert sets. However, towards the end of the trade talk, while we were finalizing some details, he surprised me.

He included it! The Devers Freshman Flash from 2018 Topps Chrome, a card that looks even more gorgeous in person than the scan gives it credit for. I honestly do not think I've been this excited over a card I traded for in a long, long time.

This card helps to check off another big need from my 2018 Topps Chrome master set. With the addition of the Devers, another big name from the Freshman Flash insert set is a part of my collection.

And so are a ton of insert cards and Red Sox randoms. Thanks for the trade, Chris. Good luck with your 2017 Topps Heritage master set.