My First Trade (Through the Blogs)

It was bound to happen eventually, but I made my first trade through the blog (TTB) recently.  Play at the Plate stepped up to the, well…um..plate, and we exchanged a boatload of Ginters.

He had seen our trade show loot, inquired about the minis and I sent off virtually all I had in return for him filling out a good portion or my set need list.  By the way, you can find my need lists here, or there’s a tab at the very top of our blog above all our headers.  At some point 2010 Heritage will be added to that list as well.

A few of the inserts

I was on the fence about going for these two insert sets (and didn’t really have interest in collecting the 09 mini inserts – 2010 is a different matter, I think from what I’ve seen), but after 2 highlight sketch and a good handful of National Pride (not all pictured) were offered up, I think I have to try for them.  I felt like I had this Jeter already, but I didn’t.

Not pictured: Meathead

I got about 70 cards from the main set overall, so I’m just going to show some of my favorites.  I kept seeing this on checklists and it always confused me.  Why was Archie Bunker on baseball card, and why with someone else?  If anyone were to share a card, it should be Norman Lear, not this Simpson guy.  Now I know.  So glad the confusion is cleared up.

A meta card

Next we have a card featuring cards.  One of the great things about A&G is all the odd-ball inclusions such as this.  I think I recently saw an article about this guy recently and the picture in that was really impressive.  You don’t get the full experience of what he can do from this little space.  Still, it beats any house of cards I ever built.  Barely.

Eyes on your own paper, Beethoven!

Cheating Beethoven is one of my favorites mostly because I can imagine that’s what’s going on in this picture.  I’m sure he has some answers hidden in his massive scarf, too.  You just can’t trust people with crazy hair.

"No, I don't want it. You take it!"

Another one I like due to the story I make up in my head.  The expression in those eyes is unmistakably fear.  Of what, I don’t know.  But my guess is he’s having flashbacks and thinks the baseball in his hand is a grenade.  Someone’s about to lose an arm in this lethal game of hot potato, and he’s gunning for Zito.

Chugga-Chugga chugga-chugga woo woo!

Who doesn’t like cards of Negro League players?

I think he's trying to "Scan" me

I just like that Pettitte is trying to strike me out with his mind.  Try all you might, you aren’t going to win this staring contest.

As you can tell from that last scan, the bottom corner is a little messed up.  The block of cards was packed tightly and securely, but somewhere along the process about 20 cards got dinged corners.  I’m not really a condition freak, so it doesn’t matter to me.  However, I have put those numbers in red on my want list.  I’m not going to actively replace them unless I really feel a need down the line, but my guess is I won’t feel that need.  It’s more for “if” rather than “when.”  As far as I’m concerned at this moment, these are crossed off in my set.

Then there’s the bonus stuff he sent along:

Pippens make me Merry. Wow, I'm a nerd.

To “fill out the box” he sent over all of these extra goodies:  7 2008 Sweet Spot base, 8 2009 Playoff Prestige football, 16 2009 Topps 206, and 29 assorted 80’s-90’s basketball.  This was a very generous and unexpected surprise.  I did get other B-Ball cards besides Pip, but I’m a Bulls guy (especially Jordan-era), so of course those get featured.  Also, I’m quite impressed by Campy’s bat collection.  It’s either that or he thinks those are his pets.  Hopefully the former.  I only sent one bonus card in with mine….  Next time.

So there’s my first trade and I’d say it was quite successful.  Thank you very much to Brian.  It was a very smooth and easy going agreement and I look forward to trading again sometime.

One last thing before I go.  This will be my last post on here for a short while.  As of Saturday I am going out of town for 2 weeks and I will be bringing back my girlfriend and all her worldly possessions.  I’ll basically be on the road the entire time and won’t have much internet access and even less sport card access.  Hopefully the withdrawals won’t be too bad, but I’ll be able to read a little and comment occasionally while she’s checking Farmville if we hit a wi-fi spot along the way.  Andy will hold down the fort as much as possible in my absence.  See you in April!