My First Online Trade, Part 1

I can be such a procrastinating moron. A couple of months ago I completed my very first online trade with the proprietor of Ike's Cards. We put together a kind of gentleman's trade where I grouped together a large lot of Cardinals cards for some Dodger cards. No specific players were discussed. I guess you can say that we figured the surprise of each others package would be pleasure enough. I will add, though, that I did specifically request modern issued cards since there are so many sets and cards I have no familiarity with. Go here for some of the cards I sent his way.

My package was better than I had hoped. In fact, it was so good I've decided to break up the bounty into several post to highlight my favorites. Check out my first series of scans below.

(Click any of the photos below to enlarge)

Most of the cards received were from issues totally foreign to me. For instance, the three cards on the top row in the photo above are 2006 Bazooka cards. I had no idea Topps made a Bazooka set. Not only that, I am totally fascinated by the Gagne card. Remember when McCourt took the players names off the back of the uniforms? That's a bit of recent Dodger past I'm glad is over. The best card of the group of 6 is on the bottom right. This is my first Greg Maddux card with him in a Dodger uniform. Awesome!
The group of 9 cards above include some old friends. There are 2 Ramon Martinez's. That man could pitch. Nomo, Belcher and Grissom round out the other old Dodgers. The Matt Kemp card is absolutely wonderful. It is from a set I've seen before, but have not really searched for. It is designed after the vintage 1952 Topps set and looks great. I think it came out in 2006. I've got to get more Dodgers from that set.
The nine above include Russell Martin, Jeff Kent and Chad Billingsley. The best card of the group, though, is Nomar Garciaparra. This is my first card with Nomar in a Dodger uniform.
I love those Heritage cards of Saito and Furcal. The use of vintage designs with modern players was a good call by Topps. I might be forced to complete an entire set of these. At center is should-be Hall of Famer Maury Wills. Thanks you Ike's Cards.