"O" Yeah, Trade Post Time

I currently have stacks of cards on my bedside mantle.  The stacks have never been this big before.  This is a good and bad thing.  The good is that I have tons of baseball cards.  The bad is that I have to take the time to catalog and put them in there own resting place.

The stacks are separated by trade bait, computer catalog, and straight to binder cards.  I also have a growing stack of commons that I put in boxes based on year and set. 

I also have a bunch of trade packages that I have to sift through.  I have already opened all of them to see the awesome cardboard that people send me.  Now, I just need to write a post about them.

Posting about the trades is a fun project for me.  I don't view posting as a chore.  Sometimes I feel that actually putting my cards away is a chore.  I just wanted to inform you guys on the state of my collection.

Newly married Ryan "O" Another Orioles Blog, sent me a really grand trade package a few weeks ago.  I sent him a Cal Ripken Jr. GU and he sent me a slew of cards that fit my PC.  One of those cards that he sent me is a classic early 90s Upper Deck card of Fernando.  I love the triple photograph displaying Fernando's wind-up. 

Here is a 2005 Bowman Gold Kurt Suzuki card.  Suzuki is looking mean.  He is trying to intimidate me with this photo.  Suzuki is a mad dog just waiting to attack.  I must make sure that I keep this card safe or else he may jump out of this photo and smother me in my sleep.

These retro mini game used cards that came out in the 2011 Topps Lineage set, may be my favorite part of the 2011 collecting season so far.  They have a 70s coolness to them and they are mini!  Mini cards just look better to me.  This card also contains a piece of jersey worn by Ian Kinsler.

Kinsler is repping the Texas Rangers in the World Series that is currently being played.  Kinsler is one of the reasons that I am rooting for the Rangers to beat the Cardinals.  Despite my last statement, I hope the Cardinals win the next game because Game 7s are the golden game of sports.  I am pulling for a Game 7 Rangers victory because of the excitement that will bring to baseball.

Adrian Beltre is another reason why I'm rooting for the Rangers.  Beltre is probably the best fielding third baseman that I have ever seen.  I lived outside of Philly in the 90s so, I got to see a lot of Scott Rolen also.  I give the nod to Beltre because he fielded the hot corner in Doyer Blue.  I am biased.

This is the best Beltre GU that I have.  I love the low serial number and the enlarged jersey piece that Upper Deck crammed in there.

Ryan also sent along a card that fits into my faded Dodger prospects PC.  Joel Guzman was supposed to be a stud coming out of the Dominican Republic.  He did look like a ball player.  Guzman was tall and lean.  He had the body type that scouts probably said he has room to grow. 

Guzman never panned out in the big leagues.  Guzman was given a big bonus by the Dodgers back in the time when the Dodgers actually tried to sign top teens from the Dominican. 

This card has a piece of jersey from the Futures Game.  Ryan was nice enough to send this to me because I may be the only guy to appreciate a Joel Guzman card.  Except, maybe for Guzman's mother.

Thanks for the trade,Ryan! 

Trading With A Dude That Runs A Hall Of Fame

Tim from The Great Sports Name Hall Of Fame is a very easy guy to trade with.  I just mention that I have some cards that he will like and pick a few off his extensive trade list and the deal is done.  We exchange very few emails back and forth when trying to get a trade going.  Very simple.  Just the way I like things done at the Platter.

I also enjoyed a simpler time in my life.  That simple time was my childhood.  Mike Piazza was a Doyer.  Pauley Shore was releasing movies.  I also was easily entertained by the wrestling organization formerly known as the WWF.

Tim had some WWF Action Packed cards from the 90s.  I saw them on his trade bait list and had to request that these get sent my way.  These cards are golden and embossed.  Awesome!

I have mentioned on this blog several times about how much I love the 90s.  Cards of Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels is more proof that the 90s is the king of all decades.  Razor Ramon was a favorite of mine as a child.  He dominated opponents with his greasy hair and gold chains.  Razor Ramon would then finish guys off with his signature move, the Razor's Edge. 

Also, Shawn Michaels had a cool mullet. 

Andre the Giant is a wrestling legend in most circles.  But, in the world of Spiegel, Andre the Giant is an acting legend.  Andre the Giant was in a movie called The Princess Bride.  It was one of my favorite movies as a kid along with The Bad News Bears and Major League. 

This card is awesome.  I am so happy to get a card of an actor that was robbed of a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Tim also sent me some cards that feature baseball players.  I guess I will show you some cards with ball players on them as opposed to more pictures of wrestlers and actors. 

Pacific made some really innovative and shiny cards back in the day.  I miss the creativity that the 90s card companies gave us.  This card will be considered vintage someday.  It is a lot different from what is considered vintage now.  What will they call cards that are vintage now when a 1993 Pacific card becomes vintage?  I say "they" because I may not be alive when a 1993 Pacific card becomes known as vintage.  For the record, I am a heavy smoker and love red meat.

Kirk Gibson had a good run with the D-Backs this year.  Luckily, they failed in there quest to getting a title.  My head may have exploded if in back to back years, a divisional opponent won the World Series as the Dodgers sat at home and watched.

I have never seen this 1987 Topps set called Boardwalk and Baseball.  Does anyone have any info on this set?  Once again, I came unprepared with information for this post.

Rudy Meoli?  I have know idea who you are.  I would just like to say congrats on growing a sweet mustache.

Thanks for the trade,Tim!

The Godfather and Graded Goodness

Trading baseball cards with a fellow Dodger fan is the way to go for me.  I feel better about myself when I know that the cards I have sent will help out with a Dodger fan's want list.  The joy of helping out another Dodger fan is an added perk to trading online. 

Night Owl is the Godfather of Dodger card bloggers.  I thought I should reintroduce that, just in case I have any new readers.  If your new to the blog world check out Night Owl's blog.  You will be entertained on a daily basis and you may even be inspired to start your own blog by reading his. 

I love getting graded cards that have no business ever getting graded.  I can't imagine what was going through the sucker's mind that sent this one in for grading.  This is just the type of card that I love acquiring in a trade.  There probably aren't too many 2000 Bowman Draft Chin-Feng Chen Graded 8.5s out there.  This makes this card a little more rare.

This Chen card also fits into my failed Dodger prospects collection.  Chen was a power hitter in the Dodgers minor league system but, couldn't handle major league pitching.  Chin-Feng Chen cards will be placed alongside cards of Andy LaRoche and Karim Garcia.

I also wish that you had to turn in an explanation every time you send in a card to get graded.  You would have to write out the reason why you think it is a good idea to get a specific card graded.  Some possible used explanations could be for future investment, its your favorite player or team.  Then if the graded card ever turns into a poorly made decision, the explanation sheet would give the card a good back story.  The explanation sheet could travel around with the card like a certificate of authenticity does for autographs.

Night Owl was kind enough to send me this 2004 Cracker Jack Mini Paul LoDuca GU.  Retro cards plus mini plus game used equals awesome!  This card was an unexpected gift from Night Owl.  The generosity in the blog world is off the charts. 

Gypsy Queen has just disappeared.  I am not sure if I will ever open another pack of this set.  I really enjoyed it this year.  But, I haven't seen a rack pack at Wal-Mart in months.  I haven't even seen many in trade packages or at the card shop.

This is a green bordered Matt Kemp from 2011 Gypsy Queen.  I am looking forward to the end of the baseball playoffs so, I can see if Kemp gets named the MVP.  I am totally confident that Clayton Kershaw has the Cy Young locked up.  Bu, when it comes to Kemp, I am not so sure about his MVP bid.  I am pulling for him though.

Here is another one of those quickly vanished Gypsy Queen cards that luckily appeared in my trade pack from Night Owl.  This is a cool action shot of Kurt Suzuki tagging someone out at Fenway Park.  I should have stocked up on cards from this set when they were available.  It is a collector's blunder that I will try to make up for.

Thanks for the trade,Godfather.  You once again sent me a solid variety that I appreciate very much.

Raidering and Writing a Trade Post

Today was a good day for me.  My day started early by making a drive out to Pasadena to watch the Raiders/Texans game with some friends.  We had the usual fun times with morning beer drinking and shouting.  The Raiders won today in honor of the late Al Davis.  It is weird for me to think that the Raiders won't be run by Al Davis.  I truly believed that Al Davis would out live me.

After watching the Raiders win in dramatic fashion, I made a trek from Pasadena to Tarzana in the valley to stop by the card shop.  I was going there to meet up with Josh from Dodgerbobble.  Normally, a trek like Pasadena to Tarzana is a tough task.  But, today the freeways were clear and the sun was shining.  Well, I live in LA, the sun is always shining.  I made it to the shop very quickly.  I believe that Al Davis cleared the way for me to give thanks for all the times that I have defended him to Raider haters as well as fellow Raider fans.

Before, this starts to sound like my October 9th journal entry, lets get to the trade post.  This package was sent to me by Napkin Doon, who is a great trader and has an awesome blog name. 

I love serial cards from the 90s.  You know, the cards with the extremely high serial number but, was meant to show scarcity.  For some reason, as a kid, I never pulled any cards like this Eric Karros #ed/6000.  I may have been opening up to much Collector's Choice back then.

These were the cards that got my interest when Napkin Doon posted them on his blog.  The Topps Chrome this year looks really nice.  I am glad that Topps had made the proper changes to make up for last year's debacle.

The Ryan Braun card shares the design of 1995 Topps.  I opened up a lot of 1995 Topps packs as a kid.  The design brings me back to my glory days at age 12.

I am not sure if Ivan DeJesus Jr. will ever get a fair shake with the Dodgers.  He had a breakout year in the minors a few years back and then broke his leg.  He has been trying to bounce back and prove his worth to the team.  He didn't do much with only a handful of at-bats at the major league level this year.  Next year may be his last chance to make a strong impression with the Dodgers before they ship him off to Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh is where GM Ned Colletti sends Dodger prospects to disappear.

Minis!  Minis are awesome, especially retro minis.  2 out of 3 of these guys will be in different uniforms by next July.  In my world, Clayton Kershaw is going to be a Dodger lifer.  I hope I am write.  I haven't invested this much love in a player since Mike Piazza.  I don't think I would be able to get over it, if I saw Kershaw in another uniform.

Thanks for the trade,Napkin Doon. 

Three Cards For The Taking

I have been lagging when it comes to posting.  Some of you readers may have noticed.  I have still been an active trader though.  I have since caught up on most of my trades.  I have one more to mail out but it has already been packaged up and is ready to be sent.

Since, I am caught up on getting trade packages together, it is time to show some trade bait.  I picked out the top three cards that I have sitting in my trade box to show you guys.  My trade box consists of hits of players and teams that I don't collect.  The trade pile has been building and the cards have been begging me to be sent to a collector that would better appreciate them.  Yes, my cards speak with me.  I get along better with cardboard than I do when I speak to most humans.

I haven't made a trade with a Red Sox blogger in a long time.  I have accumulated a lot of Red Sox cards that I would like to send off to a home that is different than mine.  Boston sports teams aren't a favorite of mine.  It may have to do with living in a Lakers household and growing up with a dislike of the Celtics in my blood.  So, having a lot of Red Sox cards is unacceptable to me.  I must unload them on a collector that would enjoy them.

This card is a 2009 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary GU David Ortiz.  It is a very clean looking card.  So, any Boston collector that claims this will also get a slew of other Red Sox cards.

Aren't the playoffs going to be a lot more fun without the Yanks or Sox?  We here about those two teams almost year round and it gets stale.  Now, the baseball world can focus on more deserving teams as the playoffs progresses.

The next card that I picked out of my trade box is a GU of Justin Morneau.  This card is a very stylish hit from 2005 Donruss Leather and Lumber that is #ed/250.  The jersey in this card is a dark blue.  So, this should add some color to a Twins fan's collection.

I picked up this card on the cheap at my semi-local card shop.  I picked it up because I know that there are some Twins bloggers out there and also the card looks cool.  I hope to be able to flip this card for a sweet looking Dodger.

This may be my favorite card of the three.  But, it is still a card that I know will be better liked elsewhere.  This is a 1997 Best Aramis Ramirez autograph.  The auto is on card and is from when Ramirez played for the Lynchburg Hillcats in the minor leagues.  I believe this is from when he was in the Pirates system but, I may be wrong.  So, this card could like nice to a Cubs or Pirates fan.

I really like the autos from the 90s.  They look primitive to me.  It was a time when card companies probably had no idea that the card industry was heading in a direction where "hits" would drive the sales.  It also seems that in the 90s the minor league sets such as Best and Classic knew that on-card autos were the way to go.  It is a shame that on-card autos aren't more common.

Please let me know if any of these three cards interests you.  I would like to get some trades going in order to mail them out by the end of next week.  So, send me an email or leave me a comment and we shall work out a deal.

Sometimes the Best Trades are Made in Bars

During football Sundays, I sometimes spend my time in a dive bar watching the Oakland Raiders as well as any other games that may affect my fantasy team.  The bar I go to is dark, kind of dirty, it is just the type of place that I should be watching a Raider game at.

Before the kickoff, I usually eat a cheap breakfast, wash it down with a beer and discuss the Raiders with friends that I watch the games with.  But, recently, I made a baseball card trade at the bar again.

This was a great trade.  I already was there to watch football and drink beer but, I also left the bar with some sweet cards.

I traded my buddy an extra Johnny Podres auto that I had.  We had worked out a deal a long time ago and now it has finally been completed. 

I have been picking up some cool graded cards recently.  I haven't ever gotten a card graded but, I have some in my collection.  This is a cool Frank Howard 1963 Topps card graded out to a 7.  This was just a bonus part of the trade.

This was the big ticket item of my second bar trade.  This is a jersey auto of hall of famer Enos Slaughter.  I hope to get more autos of hall of fame guys.  Well, I guess every collector wants to get a bunch of autos of hall of fame players.  So, that is not unique.

I love the way an old school jersey card looks.  This is a very flashy card.  I hope to make more trades in a dive bar on Raider Sundays in the future.  So, keep checking back because there may be another one in the works.