A trade with GCRL

I've been hanging around and partying hard for several days, so my blog has been a bit ignored.  Here's a quick post to make up for that.  I recently completed a trade with GCRL.  It was cool to trade with him, as Jim is one of the longest-standing and most prolific Dodger bloggers around.  I sent him an Adrian Beltre autograph from 1999 Gallery (plus a few extras) that I originally posted at the Blog of Trade Bait.  This is what I received in return:

2004 Upper Deck Legends, Timeless Teams #181 Pedro Guerrero auto.  On card.  Sweet!

I don't have many Pedro Guerrero cards, but this is a great one to own.  Opening Day is today.  Baseball!  Yaaay!

I accepted an offer to work for Pinterest.  So, I will be moving back up to the shoddy half of California soon.  I will definitely try to fly back for some ballgames at the new and improved Dodger stadium though.  Go Dodgers!

A trade with Brad

I recently completed an awesome trade with Brad of Brad's Blog.  You can see some of what he got from me at his blog.  Brad's a rad dude and he was very easy to deal with!  I forgot to take a photo of the 1989 Fleer #616 card of Bill Ripken that Brad sent to me in the trade.  However most, if not all of you, should already know what that infamous "Fuck Face" card looks like.  Here are the hits I received (Brad sent an awesome chunk of Dodgers cards, which I will post separately):

2012 Chrome, Yu Darvish sepia rookie refractor, #'d 66/75.  As I mentioned to Brad, I have an odd affinity for collecting cards numbered "66."

2011 Chrome, Brandon Beachy base rookie autograph.  Beachy is one of my favorite young gun pitchers, both for spectating and in fantasy baseball (when he's healthy).  This card is an upgrade over my first Beachy rookie auto, an ugly dud from Tier One.  He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012, but should return this upcoming season.

Here is a gorgeous 2012 Chrome blue rookie refractor auto of Jesus Montero, #'d 055/199.  Brad actually sent me both Montero rookie autographs that he owned - a black and a blue refractor from this set - so that I could choose which one I liked best.  A class act, that's what Brad is.

This card is the highlight of my trade package.  2012 Five Star Fergie Jenkins auto, #'d 17/25.  I've always wanted an autograph card of Ferguson Jenkins - first Canadian enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Cy Young winner, member of the 3,000 strikeout club, and a Harlem Globetrotter.  Sweet!  On card signature to boot!

Thanks for a great trade, Brad!

A trade with Plaschke (in-person)

Greg of Plaschke and I traded some cards while we waited in line at Mike Piazza's Long Shot book signing in Pasadena last week.  I posted about the event here.  Here is what I received from Mr. Zakwin:

Per usual with my trade posts, here is a selection of some of my favorite cards from the trade.  The Anze Kopitar parallel (top row, second from left) is numbered to 25.  The Dee Gordon blue parallel on the bottom right is #'d to 500.  My Hideo Nomo collection has been quite neglected of late, so it is nice to refresh the ol' binder with some new "Tornado" cardboard.  Charles Nagy is on the back of the Nomo card in the bottom row, second from left.  He was pretty good.

On the left is a 2010 Upper Deck Series 1 Baseball (hell, there was only one series before UD was shut out), Hong-Chih Kuo gold parallel, #'d 75/99.  Some of you may know that Hong-Chih Kuo is one of my favorite players.  I have an impressive collection of his cards that I plan to post at some indeterminate time.  This gold parallel was one that I insanely desired.  Now I have it!  Cue maniacal laughter.  My Nomo rookie card collection has also been disregarded recently.  But, the rookie card above was definitely one I needed.

2009 UD Signature Stars, James McDonald rookie autograph.  McDonald is not on the Dodgers, having been traded with Andrew Lambo to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Octavio Dotel in 2010.  The trade seems ultimately pointless in retrospect - because Dotel kind of sucked and Lambo tested positive for substance abuse - but at least McDonald got the opportunity start in Pittsburgh.  McDonald had himself a half-awesome, half-shite season last year, and I am rooting for him to have an all-awesome season this year.

Such an odd card.  I like it!  Card collectors and bloggers have all probably seen these 2003 UD Game Face Gear cards before.  This is the first one that has come into my possession.  I wouldn't call it a "good" design per se, but I enjoy it.

2008 Red Hot Rookie Redempion #11 of Clayton Kershaw.  It is a gorgeous card.  This was actually a contest prize from Greg, not part of the actual trade.  Nevertheless, it is awesome!  Kershaw's nickname is "Kid K," though I prefer to call him "Kid Kilowatt."  If you know who or what Kid Kilowatt is, then you are a pretty cool cat.  (Hell, I'll just tell you... to me, "Kid Kilowatt" alludes to two great things - baseball and a certain supergroup composed of Massachusetts hardcore and metal stalwarts.)

2007 Tristar Elegance Showtime game used patch #CK, Clayton Kershaw.  It's a three-color patch.  Might be hard to tell from the photograph.  Elegant, indeed.  Looks fabulous.

Thanks for a fantastic trade, Greg!  It has been a while, but we got it done.

A trade with Too Many Verlanders

I very recently completed an excellent trade with Dennis Blay of Too Many Verlanders and Too Many Manninghams - two exemplary blogs, indeed.  Dennis has been a generous and affable trading partner, and I definitely look forward to trading with him again in the future!  You can check out what he got from me at his blog.  Here's what I received in return:

A selection of Lakers cards from the big pile that Dennis sent.  I especially enjoy the Stadium Club cards of Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel.

A smattering of cards from the Dodgers and Yankees I received.  My Derek Jeter and Ryne Sandberg collections are quite substantial.

2009-10 Upper Deck Be A Player, Dual Signatures autograph card of identical twin brothers, Henrik and Daniel Sedin.  The Sedin twins are two of my favorite hockey players.  Isn't it neat when brothers play on the same team?  It is even more awesome when both brothers are elite performers.  Looking at you, Upton bros.

2012 Topps Chrome, rookie refractor autograph of Zack Cozart, #'d 146/499.  Cozart was a mix of solid and streaky last season, his rookie year.  I hope he improves and continues to start in the lineup this coming season.  The Reds should probably drop him in the batting order though.

2005 Flair Significant Signings auto of Zack Greinke, #'d 231/250.  This is a simple, elegant card.  It is a definite upgrade over my other Greinke signature card, an ugly foil sticker autograph from the rather unattractive 2009 Topps Unique set.

Awesome!

Much thanks to Dennis for a ballsy, easy, and fair trade!  Party hard.

Please to check out my trade bait, if you'd be interested in trading with me!

A trade with Spiegel (in-person)

I completed an in-person trade with cool cat Spiegel of Nomo's Sushi Platter at Dodgers FanFest 2013 last Saturday.  This was my first in-person trade outside of a local card shop since I started collecting cards again in 2009.  I traded autographs of Chin-Lung Hu and John Ely to Spiegel.  Here are some of my favorites from Spiegel's trade package:

Chin-Lung Hu is currently playing for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.  I did not know that team or league existed until I looked up what Hu was doing nowadays.  Hell, I thought he was still on the Mets.  The Matt Kemp card is one of those holographic deals.  I think I still like the old "Rookie Card" logo more than the new one.

1995 Score Gold Rush #238, Orel Hershiser.  It is always nice to get new cards of Bulldog.  Hershiser has some interesting photos on his cards.  Look at that expression he's making on the back of this one!  Great.

1978 Tommy John #375 and 1979 Charlie Hough #508.  Nice condition vintage cards.  What do you think, should Tommy John have been elected to the Hall of fame?  The Dodgers have had quite a few knuckleballers in their history, the most recent being Charlie Haeger.  There was also Hough, of course, as well as Hoyt Wilhelm, Tom Candiotti, Dennis Springer, and Nap Rucker.

Three TTM autographs!  1991 Fleer Ultra Rick Honeycutt #249, 1974 Claude Osteen #42, and a 1991 Fleer Mickey Hatcher #206.

Thanks for the trade, Spiegel!

Ballsy Trade Bait

I finally uploaded some photos of cards I have up for trade.  I will add more soon.  You can now find my trade bait here.

Hopefully my photos are not too difficult to navigate and browse.  I've found Photobucket to be a bit slow in the past too.  I decided to take pictures of my trade bait in bulk, instead of scanning or photographing individual cards.  I do this because I have a high turnaround rate for the cards I do not keep in my collection - either from trading them away or selling them off.  So, please keep in mind that some of my displayed trade bait cards may suddenly become unavailable if I decide to sell them.  I will do my best to keep up-to-date and note what cards are not available in the photo descriptions.  Also keep in mind that, as I am currently unemployed and sometimes need to sell off cards quickly, I can not reserve or save certain trade bait cards for long periods of time.

Looking forward to maybe trading with some of you fine blogging fellows!  If you see a card you want to trade for or want more information about, please feel free to email or ping me (contact info in Blogger profile).

Go!: I'm Ballsy's trade bait

A trade with The Dimwit 2

You can see what Sam of The Daily Dimwit got from me at his blog.  This is what I received in return:

Front.  2012 Leaf Ultimate Draft Football, yellow printing plate rookie autograph of Bernard Pierce (Baltimore Ravens running back), #'d 1 of 1.  Awesome!  Pierce is a great young player.  He got 89 yards rushing and 4 yard receiving today in a loss to the Bengals.

Back.  Thank you, Leaf!  These plates were used to print the "TD Countdown" inserts, which are serial numbered to the player's final college year touchdown total.

And, most of all... thank you for the trade, Sam!

A trade with The Dimwit

I am super late in posting about my first ever trade with The Daily Dimwit.  You can see what I sent Sam here on his blog - two Delino DeShields Jr. autographs from 2011 Bowman Draft and 2011 Playoff Contenders.  Sam has a nice scan of the cards on his post.  I am stoked for what I got in the trade:

First up, a Jameson Taillon autograph from 2011 Bowman Platinum.  Sweet on-card signature.  This is my second Taillon auto.  Got high hopes for him!

I love old school Dodgers autographs.  2011 Lineage, Bobby Morgan.  More on-card sweetness.  Morgan played for the Dodgers in 1950 and 1952-53, and thus in the '52 and '53 World Series.

I pretty much hate Topps, but all these recent on card signatures are a good direction to take.  I especially like the 2011 Lineage old dude autograph cards.  Thanks, Sam!