23 is a magic number

matt at bob walk the plank sent his half of our most recent trade a few weeks back, and the cards he sent reduced my want list for the 2016 topps allen & ginter numbers game insert set to just 23 cards.  (i was trying to fold in some modified schoolhouse rock lyrics here, but am giving up).  coincidentally, one of the cards he sent me was don mattingly's, which celebrates his number which happened to be 23.

so, how many cards did matt eliminate from my quest?  eric hosmer knows the number.

yes, 35 cards put quite a dent in my want list, but there are still opportunities to help me out!

thanks to matt, i also own 2 2016 topps framed cards, and they have both come from him.  first was a yasiel puig card, and now this j.p. howell card

these are thick and heavy and ultimately have no reason to exist, but such is our lot as team collectors.

matt has also sent a few panini cards my way recently, and the two that were part of this package were pretty nice.  first, a ross stripling auto from 2016 panini national treasure

and a mike piazza bat relic from the same set.

the absence of logos is obvious on stripling's card, but panini could and should put out a set of catchers in their gear and the lamentations about no logos would be minimal.

thanks matt! i'll kick off our next round of trading very shortly...