Trade Post - The Daily Dimwit

I have done a really nice job in scanning cards in preparation of putting together some blog posts.  As a matter of fact I have over 150 images in my Blog Stuff folder.  It used to be that getting stuff scanned was my challenge, now it seems to be the writing and posting that is slowing me down.  One day I will have a nice balance.

When I was trying to decide to put a trade post together I figured showcasing some recent cards from trades with Sam over at The Daily Dimwit would be a good place to start.  Yes that is plural trades and not plural meaning 2 trades, more like 3 trades.  In my defense it has been 3 trades in less than a month but still that is not an impressive backlog.

So let's go in order starting with the first one, this one involved knocking off a chunk of my 2012 Allen & Ginter want list.  First up are some of the base cards:

I picked out some of my favorites to share.  Not really sure why Johnson made the cut, hmmmm.  Well I do have good reasons for the rest.  First we have Cal Ripken Jr. - who doesn't like Cal?  I also like the hat he is sporting, the Orioles have brought them back and I am a fan.  The Moustakas is included because he became my starting fantasy 3B this year.  I am in a deep 12 team, 40 players per team keeper league and 3B was a huge hole early this year.  Scott Rolen was my starter and he got hurt so I swung a trade for Mike and he really helped me out.  Verlander is a stud, he would fit in great for the Giants but that will never happen.  I like him rubbing up the ball.  The Cespedes is a nice rookie, he is having a pretty solid rookie year for the "other" Bay Area team.  Maybe a repeat of the Bay Bridge series is in order this year - hopefully with a different outcome and no earthquake.  I love the trick shot being lined up by Mataya.  One of the things I like about Ginter is the inclusion of a few non-baseball cards - typically just enough so it still feels like a baseball set.  I like the picture on the Rollins cards, nice action shot.  He is one of my two fantasy SS's so that scores him bonus points.  Gardner has a very cool Olympic story and at the time I scanned this I think the Olympics were still on.  Finally Alonso - I am a fan of his because I pulled a Bowman Refractor Auto of his which I used in part of a trade to score autos of Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey.

Little less commentary on these cards.  These are the inserts I got in the trade.  Still have tons of work do to on the What's in a Name set - these must be well liked as they don't seem to come my way in trades too often.  The Tallest Buildings just got completed in a newer trade that should be featured soon.  I like the sketch cards, the Brooks is my favorite of these 3.  Finally the Historical Turning points pairs my love of history with my love of cards - great insert set.

Finally what would be a card trade with Arpsmith (like how I went all 3rd person on you?) without some Giants?  Scored a regular and mini Panda, the greatest player in baseball history and Angel Pagan who is doing fairly well since the Melky suspension leading off for the 1st place Giants.  Pretty nice 1st trade.

Next up, lets dive into trade #2.  This one was of the "hit" variety with an exchange of some Giants for Astros.  I am quite happy with my end of this deal.

This Pablo Sandoval is the final Gypsy Queen relic I needed from this year's release.  I was able to pick up both the full sized versions and mini versions - a total of 7 relic cards.  I know some weren't excited about this year's design but it has grown on me and I am happy to have all the relics.  Something tells me I won't be able to complete the Auto set of 2 - I have the Brandon Belt but haven't scored the Willie Mays (like that is going to happen).

 Next up is my first every 2007 UD Black card - an auto of Fred Lewis.  Now Lewis isn't the greatest player but he was a Giant so he fits nicely into my collection.  I used to watch a lot of box breaks on youtube and saw tons of this product cracked and I am happy to have a card in my collection - might need to be on the lookout for more.

 Next up is a sweet blue refractor Auto of Eric Surkamp.  Surkamp is out for the year but he is the only Giant rookie in the auto rotation of Topps Chrome this year.  I will probably look to add some more variations of this card, it should be reasonable and they look real nice.

Speaking of color, how about this Gold Refractor of my favorite for 2012 NL MVP, Buster Posey. He has been on a tear since the All Star Break and plays the toughest position on the diamond.  Gold parallels are very hard to come by and to be able to score one of the Giants top stars in this trade put a smile on my face.  Pretty nice score in trade #2.

 Trade #3 was a quick and easy one.  Right after we finished our trade, I noticed Sam's want list for 2012 Chrome.  I dropped him a note with a list off his want list and shipped them to him in return for this beauty!

 I am a huge fan of this die-cut insert set. If it wasn't so large, I might be tempted to seek out the entire set but I am going to be happy to collect the 3 Giants.

Thanks for the great trades Sam!