Trades Pre-Blog

I have been following a few blogs over the years and made a couple of trades a year or so ago.  Recently I started to look more into making some trades with other bloggers.  I have a fair amount of cards and a fair amount of needs for my collection.  I don't collect any players or teams specifically.  I'm more of a set builder.  To look through a set from card #1 to the end can be time well spent.  As I started looking at the blog-o-sphere, I was overwhelmed with the number of people that have this passion (or obsession to some people) for writing about and sharing their thoughts on the hobby.

I reached out to a couple of people and have been surprised by the response I was given.  I expected hesitancy to this newcomer without a face or name to be known from day one.  Yes, I can share a flawless Ebay rating but that doesn't mean much.  Some writers are very specific in their wants, some not so much.  In each, I find a little something different.  It's easy to open an 800 count box that is in order and pull out a few cards that another needs.  For others, I try to dig into my boxes that have no order, no special tie to the set building collector that I am.  Whether it be early 90's Pacific cards, which for the record in my mind really are some of the nicest cards that pushed the envelope with the "bling" factor of regular cards or finding the oddball Denny's card of a player or team that is of interest to the other trader.  These are the rare finds that hopefully heighten the delight of the package when it's received.  I take it upon myself to really look to make a good trade for both parties. 

When I was recently asked about a blog of my own.....I thought there is no way I can do that.  Time constraints, family commitments, etc would not allow that.  But I reorganized my free time a bit to squeeze this in.  Why not.  It's part of the fun of this hobby.  Finishing a set without spending a fortune on unopened product and helping another with the same, in whatever fashion that takes.  So here I am, a couple of weeks into my blogging career and it's time to recognize the few traders that welcomed my email approach to making a trade.

First Victoriano (aka the Waxcaptain) at http://waxcaptainsdugout.blogspot.com/.  I start here as we've made two trades so far and I would say we have more to go.  What started as a nice single auto card for a single relic card on the first trade became a many for many trade.  The throw this in and I'll throw that in kind of trade.  And the second trade was just as good.  My want lists have been dwindling with every package received.  As I find more in my travels through box after box, I'm already finding more to send to the Waxcaptain.  My thanks goes out to this fine blogger and trader.

My second trade involved Mark at http://clubhousekaz.blogspot.com/.  This trade started as I noticed Mark was looking for 1997 Stadium Club cards to fill his set.  Not the most traded set but I have a fair amount of this set for trade.  I pulled what I had of his want list, found a few more Heritage cards extra for him as well and we were off to the races.  Heritage came back to me from many years and this was a trade that made us both happy collectors.  Thanks Mark for digging deep to find some of those cards to send my way.

Next up was a trader that had the most extensive want list and trade list I've ever seen.  Curtis at http://condition-sensitive.blogspot.com/ collects Rockies and a few other items.  I found myself finding all sorts of cards that was on his list.  After a couple of emails we pared down the list so that we were both getting what we really wanted out of the trade and another one was in the books.  Thanks Curtis for helping out.

The last trade I made pre-blog was with Charlie at http://lifetimetopps.wordpress.com/.  This was the largest trade to date as we sent each other 200+ cards.  I tried to finish his 90's Topps sets and Charlie sent back a multitude of cards from 1982 through 2012.  This is a trade that takes hours to search for the other person but the reward is great when you can sign off on that many cards in one setting.  Thanks Charlie.  I look forward to seeing a few 100% completed sets appearing on your site soon.

And as we speak I have a trade in the works with Dr Hoffman at http://cootvealandthevealtones.blogspot.com/.  We haven't yet put the finishing touches on this trade that has some cards from the early 50's going in both directions.  I'll update that one at a later date.

I probably could have expressed my thanks even better, but I'm not here to write a novel.  Just share some thoughts on the great traders I've encountered to date.  Check them all out and you will be happy with any contact you may have with these traders.