big little guys

i recently completed another trade with oren, a collector who is familiar to many of you out there in the blogosphere. he sent some great stuff my way, including some 2023 topps allen & ginter clayton kershaw cards of big and little sizes.

those are a boxtopper and a mini parallel, and the mini is an a&g back to boot!

i am always happy to be adding kershaw cards to the collection, but my favorite card of the trade is this one

that's raul mondesi's 1996 leaf signature series silver autograph card. it is the first mondesi auto i have from that set, and while it is not his "base" bronze auto (that is the only one i still need to complete the dodger team bronze set), it is a really great addition to my collection. here's the back:

which notes that he hit two homers on opening day in 1995. while true, my favorite two-homer opening day for rauuuuuuuuul was on april 5, 1999 when he hit a two-out three-run home run in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game, and then hit a walk-off two out two-run homer to win it in the 11th.

oren also sent some parallels, including a 2022 topps stadium club chrome cody bellinger xfractor

and red foil parallels of noah syndergaard

and mookie betts

from 2023 topps stadium club.

one more parallel to rule them all - a 2023 topps series 2 1988 all-star relic mookie betts black parallel

another great trade in the books. thanks oren!