Making the Trade

I've been really lucky to get a slew of good trades going lately, and I only regret that it's taken me weeks/months to get these posted. I'll go over a few in this post, some new traders, some old, all great.

This is the third time I've traded with Ryan over at "O" No Another Orioles Blog. I first traded with him before I had a blog, when I was just a reader. And since he took a chance with me, he gets pretty much all my Orioles cards. Of course, this is far from generosity on my part. Ryan is a hell of a trader, a guy who pays attention to your want lists and always sends exactly what you need.

I contacted him about a couple Miguel Cabrera jersey cards.

I always like when a jersey piece has some imperfection, like a mysterious stain from Rollie Fingers. There's a little bit of rough stitching here that makes it a bit more interesting than just a gray swatch.

I really dig the design of this set. Lots of foil, minimal colors without being drab, and a nice shot of Cabby. This is a great-looking card, and a nice addition to the player collection.



To top things off, Ryan sent Ripkens to fill some gaps in my player collection. I'd been wanting that '92 Fleer Ripken card for a long time--me likey art cards. The Os bros card is cool, too. Little did Billy and Fleer know the history that would happen a year later.

Another trade I recently completed was with Carl Crawford Cards. I didn't have much in the way of Crawfords, but I did have a few legendary Jonny Gomes autos to send his way. And for those he sent this beauty:

This is my first and only Kaline relic, and I love everything about this card. All the foil makes it feel like I just won a trophy. Just an amazing card here of one of my all-time favorite players.

This was a great trade, and we had a lot of fun talking dissertations and qualifying exams--the pains of academic hazing he's too familiar with. If you have some Crawford or Gomes cards be sure to head on over and make an offer over at Carl Crawford Cards.

Finally, Eric over at Maupatches & Chrome-staches sent me some sweet Boesch rookies I needed for our first trade. 

I didn't have either of his regular Bowman cards, and now I have two. Awesome. Here's to hoping for a healthy season for Boesch. That is if he can stop sliding headfirst into every base.

Thanks for all the great trades, guys. Looking forward to many more.