Reciprocation.

I have ended a long fallow period of blogging and declared this month the one where I settle all draft folder business so I can move on anew without dozens of unfinished posts hanging over my head.  This past week, I have concentrated on trade posts that for whatever reason, did not get completed. 

       In one week of August 2014, I received not one but two packages in return for my sending out unsolicited cards.  The first bunch is a perfect little pile from everyone's favorite chronicler, Fuji.  Apparently, I had sent him a little something in a fit of mass mailing and these are the cards he came back with:

I must say, two game used cards and two autographs is tough to beat.  I especially love the Jorge Toca, one of my favorite Mets prospects that never panned out.  He was supposed to be the Cuban savior and he wasn't even as good as a Cuban sandwich.  Plus, it is hard to beat a shiny Dickey and an even shinier David Wright.  Allow me to extend a 遅ればせながら ありがとう to Fuji for these great cards I know I can use.

The other package that arrived in the dog days was one from Robert of $30 a Week Habit.  I had sent him a stack of gold numbered parallels I had found in a dime box over the summer for his Insanity Set.  Finding cards for this project of his has been one of my favorite altruistic distractions and he always returns the favor in kind.  This time, he outdid himself:

First of all, more than anyone, Robert looks at and follows my want lists.  He sent me a half dozen 1983-84 OPC hockey cards for one of my pages.  And then, not to be out done, he sent a low numbered camo Mets card from 2013 and a Johan Santana game used Heritage jersey card.  Johan will always be a hero to us Mets fan, so this piece of cloth was greatly appreciated.

I always refer to how endlessly polite Robert is, and his friendly note that was included in the package is no different.  Thank you, Robert.

Apparently A Trade With Fuji.

       This one has been in the queue for a while, but it is important for me to both empty this damn draft folder and highlight the giving nature of the card blogosphere.  This time it is the fine altruism of Mark, aka Mr. Fuji of The Chronicles of Fuji, one of the finest blogs that doesn't get nearly enough love - I blame east coast bias.  A little while ago, he posted about picking up a near complete 1984 Donruss set at his infamous flea market that was missing like five common cards.  I immediately looked and realized I had for of them (three of them were Diamond Kings, a subset I am known to hoard) and sent them off to him, expecting nothing in return.  Well, in early January (yup, I am way behind on my posts) these cards arrived in the mail for me:

The man is a scholar and a gentleman as he looked at my want lists and sent me five awesome cards I needed, all either inserts, shiny parallels, or oddballs I have extolled my everlasting love for.  So thank you Fuji for paying it forward; in the grand scheme of things I seem to have gotten the better of this trade - including a second personalized card that has a different autograph from the first (are these little Japanese affirmations or are you cursing at me in another language?;)

What's a cheap (under $5) cool card you feel every collector should add to their collection?

       This question was recently posed by The Chronicles of Fuji.  I have seen it answered by a few blogs so I am gonna throw my answer hat into the ring (and horribly mix my metaphors).  I am a little torn whether to answer this with a favorite (selfishly) or with a universal truth kind of card (selflessly).  In an odd display for me, I will go with the latter and be selfless.

Obviously, I have also gone a bit vulgar.  This card needs no introduction.  It should be in every collection in one form or another.  I prefer the original naughty error version, but for the more demure of you, there is no end to the "corrected" variations.  I am lucky enough to have pulled one before the frenzy back in 1989, but since this card is from the height of the overproduced junk wax era, even this "rare" card is probably out there in the tens of thousands.  Some thought they might put their kids through college with one back in the day...these days, you can snag one off eBay for about $5.

Two Trades and a Chicken Dinner.

       While I was idle for a couple of weeks in terms of actual blogging, I never rest when it comes to trades.  Let's catch up with a couple swaps and some contest swag.

Robert from $30 a week habit has quickly become a go-to guy for all my obsessive online trading.  First off, he's really polite.  I mean he might not be just the most polite person in the cardblogosphere, he might be one of the most polite people I deal with period.  I am a sucker for good manners.  If I had a daughter, I would totally let her date Robert.

I had seen that Parnell rookie on his Insanity Set blog and had to have it, so I swapped him a few other numbers for it.  He also had pulled that Wright and figured I would give it a good home (he figured correctly) so I sent him some other stuff and the trade was complete.  He threw in the shiny and the Archives Mets as well as those minis.  Polite and generous?  Heck, forget my hypothetical daughter, I might date him...thanks Robert.


I broke down recently and bought some Gypsy Queen (yeah, I know) and was underwhelmed as I expected to be.  But I pulled a great numbered mini Colby Rasmus card, which reminded me of a trade from while back with Dennis of Pictures of Men.  Dennis was very receptive to getting that Rasmus into his collection, so we worked out a deal for a David Cone jersey card (a Met that I somehow did not have a jersey card of).

Dennis was also quite giving by sending me most of the Topps Series 2 Topps Mets he had and a couple of my 2012 rookie cup needs (woohoo...someone reads my wantlists!).  Sadly, given my hectic schedule recently, I only just mailed his card out, with a few additions due to my laziness and his generosity.  With any luck, those cards will find their way to Canada safe and sound. 

Last but not least, I won a contest on The Chronicles of Fuji:

Not only are these Japanese cards pretty damn nifty, they were free!  I am a sucker for free.  They will find a nice spot in my small but expanding Japanese card pages.  Plus, how cool is it that Fuji has his little icon on his return address labels?  But Fuji, I have to ask, my bad eyes cannot seem to decipher what your little Fuji Avatar is thinking about...please let me know what it is. (UPDATE: I looked again, is it sushi?) Thanks again Fuji!

Trade with Mark of The Chronicles of Fuji.

        I have a soft spot for player collectors.  I know from the madness they suffer.  I have dozens of player collections, in various shapes and sizes, and they are the last thing I have pared from my collection (the ones I am permanently and  psychotically attached to are listed in my Gotlist, take a look and let me know of there is anything you have I might want).

       When I see someone who has a white whale they are looking for and I can fill that need in my other areas of downsizing, it makes me very happy (ask Night Owl).  So, I came across the blog The Chronicles of Fuji about a year ago and recently saw that he had just three Steve Carlton cards he needed for The "Lefty" Project.  One of the cards was his 1965 rookie card and wouldn't you know it, I had recently come across a slightly off condition Carlton rookie in my piles of piles.  So, I scanned it and emailed him and we hammered out a deal.  I picked some cards from a list he maintains of trade bait (he is very organized; I am, um, not...) and we came to a fast understanding.  The following pictures shows the bounty I harvested:

The Nomar goes immediately into my player collection.  The Dewey Evans joins a page of Red Sox game used cards.  The Eli and Janssen will find nice spots in their respective team collections.  And the Mets, oh, those Mets.  I have a black Ventura from that Pacific set and now it has a dance partner.  And finally, with that Dotel Auto, I now only need the Piazza to have all the Mets from the 1999 SP Signature Edition - a seminal set if there ever was one.  That Piazza, however, is probably the highest priced of all his rare certified autographs and will remain in my white whale dreamland probably forever.

Oh, but Mark wasn't done.  He noticed my love of food issues and the Mets and included some awesome oddballs as well:


For working blind, he only got one card I already had (the Bobby Bo Hostess) and found one (the Hojo) I didn't even know existed.  Those Texas League minor league all star cards are a wonderful epitaph for the once mighty mid 80's Mets. That game used card in the corner? It was part of the original trade, it is of Max Sapp.  Yes, on top of all this, I am a Max collector as well. 

Like I said before, Mark is very well organized.  Our trade got a coversheet, for crying outloud:

and look at that...he has his own personalized baseball card! Let's see it up close:
Wow.  Pretty frickin' sweet. I will certainly find a place of honor for that badboy.

Thanks Mark!