The Greatness that is The Collective Troll

It's no secret there are a number of very popular bloggers. You see them mentioned in trade posts, they have large (by baseball card blog standards) followings and get big hit counts.

One of the most popular bloggers has to be Marck, the multi-blogger behind The Collective Troll, The Nitty Gritty, Leading Off for the Orioles ( a Brian Roberts lovefest) and the Tampa Bay Rays News. I know Marck would love to be updating each of these sites multiple times throughout the day, but sometimes work just gets in the way.

Marck always sends great card in his trade packages. If you've ever gotten anything from him, you know what I'm talking about. I was fortunate enough to get another Trollific package late last week. I promised myself I wouldn't post it until Frank Francisco did SOMETHING postive for the Rangers and he did that last night so here goes.

I'm not a big fan of graded cards (modern ones especially) and the number one thing I think about when I see Robin Ventura is Nolan Ryan making Ventura sorry he ever left the batter's box. That said, one way to get on my good side is to send something for my kid and the kid loves anything USA related. I haven't given him this card yet, but he's going to love it. He'll think it's super special since it's in it's own protective case.

This 2007 Turkey Red Ivan Rodriguez is no Turkey. I like the TRs, especially when they show a little action. I can live with Pudge in a Tigers uni, but I'm not looking forward to seeing the first cards of him with the Nationals....meh.

Here's the reason I delayed posting the trade while waiting for some sort of positive contribution by Frank Francisco. Last night, Frankie got his first save of the season by pitching the final inning in a win over the White Sox. Thanks for rejoining the party Frankie....keep it up. The design on this card is terrible, the sticker is atrocious, but Frankie's sig is decent and it's my first auto from him.

Now for the true greatness of the Troll. He has vintage and he's not afraid to use it.

This is a new addition to my Johnny Bench PC (that's player collection all you haters...lol). The 1971 Topps N.L. Home Run Leaders with Bench riding high with 45 homers. It's dinged and creased and damaged...but so is every catcher I ever saw and it gives this card some character. This card looks like it was just involved in a play at the plate and I love it.

If you don't believe in the power of the blog-nation, just put out that you're starting a new collection and see what happens. I posted that I was going to start collecting Washington Senators (the ones that moved to Texas) and bloggers have blown me away with their generosity. Marck has sent over a few Senators and this 1966 Topps Johnny Orsino is the latest. The fact that he's a catcher is a bonus.

Johnny didn't make the trip alone.

Woody Held, circa 1965, made the trip from Florida with Orson. What a great name! I seriously need to make a wantlist/checklist for the Senators. I like these '65 cards so much, I'm thinking about adding them to my collection goals along with the '73s.

Marck, thanks so much for the incredible cards. You know I'll be on the lookout for more goodies to send your way.