Trade from North of the Border - Supporting the Minnow

Trevor from Supporting the Minnow reached out to me earlier in the month after he saw that I had some old O-Pee-Chee cards in addition to a nice stack of 2009 Upper Deck OPC that he needed. We quickly worked out a trade and off our packages went...traversing a large chunk of North America.

I used to not mess with Braves prior to 1990, the year I really got interested in following the Braves and collecting cards, but over the years my eyes have been opened more and more to the glory of vintage cardboard. I was able to grab a few from '77, '79 and '85.

Somehow I didn't have this 1991 Classic Chipper Jones, a travestry, right?! Being that Trevor resides in Canada he had some cool Canadian cards such as the 1991 Post of David Justice and the 1992 OPC Brian Hunter. The Glavine card comes from a set I wasn't familiar with, Allan's Kaye's Sports Cards News & Price Guides. The card measures just a smidge larger than your traditional trading card. Love the odd ball stuff like that.

Grabbed a few cards of the Iron Man too. Another Canadian Post card and an Upper Deck Post card from 1995? I don't remember those two companies working together. To finish it off a nice Then & Now hologram from 1993 UD.

Just in time for this weekend's NCAA Men's Final Four, we have a 1991 Classic card of UNLV's Larry Johnson. LJ was a big time college player who would go on to help put the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA on the map. 

Thanks again for the trade Trevor!

Opening Day Eats

I think that most (adult) card collectors realize that the annual Topps Opening Day set isn't for us, however that isn't to say that from time to time us older collectors can't still find some fun with the set.

I picked up one rack pack of 2017 Topps Opening Day, well, just because I like to experience new card sets first hand. Nothing in this year's set really impressed me. In years past with this set I've collected the lenticular Opening Day Stars, but Topps dropped that "3D" technology on the set and now it's just another plain looking insert set. However this new Incredible Eats set stood out to me. Instead of trying to build it by hand/trade, I just ponied up $3 and purchased the complete set on eBay.

Not living in a city that calls a MLB home, I have to live vicariously through others experience when it comes to ballpark food. Yes, the Chicago White Sox's AAA team plays in uptown Charlotte, NC and it's not that bad of a drive for me, but you still can't compare it to the big leagues.

I know there are some collectors that still won't find this set fun or fascinating, but I like food and I like cards so until they make edible baseball cards this will have to do! I find the region/team specific foods to be a lot of fun and it makes me want to live the dream of visiting more ballparks that much more of a reality.

That nacho bowl on card #9 (Miller Park) looks appetizing...even if it's just nachos in a bowl! I knew card #16 had to be from up north by the hot dog bun! I remember the first time I visited my wife's family who are from Massachuets and Maine. A BBQ to them is a cook out, not a food...and if you grill hot dogs your dogs go in split top bread "buns", not a traditional hot dog bun.

If you have a MLB team in your backyard, or at least a team's stadium you visit frequently, what is your favorite food to eat at a baseball game?

Trade with Collating Cards

Getting tired of trade posts yet? I'm not because it feels good to be active once again on the trade front. Steve from Collating Cards jumped on the bandwagon to help me complete my 2017 Topps series 1 set and sent over a nice little stack of commons...but it was the other cards that really put a smile on my face.

1988 Topps Fright Flicks! Believe it or not this is the first time I've seen these cards in person. I'm a big fan of horror movies, especially the stuff from the 80's. You would think that someone like myself would already own this set, but I don't so the inclusion of these just made the trade that much better. The captions on the cards may be goofy, but dang do I love them. I really wish I would've picked up a wax box of this stuff when it was dirt cheap. I really need to pick up this set and give it a proper blog post! Thanks for the trade Steve!

2017 Topps WWE Road to Wrestlemania: Want List & Trade List

I was sit down the other night watching my normal routine for early in the week...WWE programming. While my interest in WWE may have waned a bit recently, I still picked up a blaster of 2017 Road to Wrestlemania. The base set is only 100 cards so I thought I'd give building the set a go. Problem is, the collation is horrible. I bought a rack pack after I bought a blaster and I didn't get one single new base card. None. I did get a few of the Wrestlemania 33 Roster insert cards, but that was it. Needless to say, I fear wasting my money on buying anymore packs. I'm hoping I can find someone else that has bought some of this product and is willing to trade. Below is my want list:

2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 44, 45, 47, 51, 52, 55, 56, 59, 60, 63, 65, 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 76, 77,  79, 81, 87, 88, 89, 93, 94, 95, 96, 99, 100

Daniel Bryan Tribute

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ,7, 8, 9

John Cena Tribute

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10

Undertaker Tribute

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Wrestlemania 33 Roster

1, 2, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41, 43, 45, 50

I updated my Non-Sports Trade list with the commons and bronze parallels I have. If you can help, let me know.

Trade with Facebook reader Brent Koehler

I guess all these years in blogger world I've been spoiled by the overall generousity of fellow bloggers/collectors when it comes to trading. What I mean by this is whenever I've saught something, such as commons to complete a set I've posted my want list and waited to see if anyone could help.

We would exchange emails, letting each other know what we wanted that they had. There have been many times where I've sent more than I would receive and vice versa. Correct me if I'm wrong, but most bloggers aren't running to the price guide before we make a trade, especially for low end stuff. It's just one collector helping out another collector.

However as I've ventured out into various trading card groups on Facebook, the people there haven't been so kind. I was trying to work out a deal with a guy just last week. He had several 2017 Topps commons I needed, but could only find about 8 cards on my want list. The guy wanted me to pay him the difference in cash. Needless to say we didn't end up with a deal.

I say all this because Brent Koehler came into the picture and offered to help. He looked over my want list and sent me a list of cards he wanted. A Twins collector, he gobbled up several cards. I also threw in some extras just because. Brent messaged me that his cards safely arrived and that he was happy. On Monday, his trade package arrived as well - more 2017 Topps Series 1 commons plus several of the 1987 inserts!

I'm very close to finishing off series 1 base now thanks to a few trades. Thank you Brent for helping me out. I'll try to remember to set aside any new Twins cards for you in the future.

1st Trade with Remember the Astrodome

Last week I posted my 2017 Topps want list and Marc from Remember the Astrodome kindly replied to my Facebook Group post and offered to help out. We struck up a little trade and off sent each others cards. On Monday, I got a bubble mailer from Marc that contained several Series 1 commons and one more 1987 insert. Thank you Marc...let's do this again sometime.

2016 Topps GQ MVP Minis

Buried on my work desk from September 2016, I came across a stack of cards that Duane from Democratic Roadkill sent me. He single handedly finished off this set for me and I have to say it looks good in a mini pocket plastic page.

I feel embarrased that 1) it took me this long to get to the cards and this post, but also to knock those off my want list, but 2) I don't remember if I sent him anything in return! Argh!! Duane, if you are reading this post please let me know what I owe you. In the meantime, I'll track down your blog and want lists to see what I can do for you.

Low End Freeman

When you have multiple hobbies as I do you have to be frugal at some point. Thankfully it's a little easier to be frugal with trading cards, especially if your patient and sometimes a little lucky. I can't say I won this lot of cards recently because I haven't bought much outside of some 2017 Topps, but none the less I scored this two card lot of Freddie Freeman relics for about $4 shipped. Needless to say I was very happy as Freeman is currently one of my favorite players to collect and watch play.

2016 Topps Tribute Diamond Cuts Relic #DC-FF (175/199)

I usually stay away from the higher end products for several reasons, so this relic from Topps Tribute is my first exposure to the brand. Decent cardstock, rainbow sheen to the card front a large piece of red jersey...I love it.

2015 Topps Gypsy Queen Relic #GQR-FF

I've been building the annual Gypsy Queen set since it first launched several years ago. I've had modest success at pulling relics from retail packs and blasters, but this Freeman relic has evaded my grasp until now. Nothing fancy, but some times that's OK.