Trade With Joe Average Collector

I completed one of my most epic trades in recent memory with Jason from the blog Joe Average Collector.  Jason is a Rockies fan and a Veteran of the Iraqui war.  He commented on my trade bait update post saying that he had a Cal Ripken plate that I might be interested in.  Of course I was interested in the Cal plate, but when he emailed me to tell me that he also had a 2010 Topps Nolan Reimold printing plate, well, it was on!

So, here is the Nolan Reimold plate.  It's funny, I got the plate before I got the black parallel.  Once I get the black parallel, I believe I will have every kind of parallel from 2010 Topps.  I'm actually excited about that.  I might keep an eye out for the other plates.

This is another one of those times that I can say on this blog that I was able to pick up a Cal Ripken card that I didn't already have.  Again, it is nice to add a Cal that I didn't have before, but in this case with it being the first Cal printing plate that I have picked up, this is especially sweet.

I'm guessing that at some point, Jason was an Oriole collector.  If he wasn't, man, he ended up with some random stuff.  He sent me a multitude of Orioles memorabilia, including the above pennant that I can add to my wall.  Based on the script, it looks like this was a late 80s, early 90s pennant.

Jason also included a late 80s early 90s Orioles bat/ballboy jersey.  Pretty sweet.  It is definitely aged, but still pretty cool.  I will likely hang this up in the man cave.

Jason included a huge stack of Orioles cards, most of them are Cal Ripkens.  I need to through all of them and see what can be added to the PC and which can go into Chris' albums.  He was really interested in getting some of them, so I think I will pass a few off to him.  That way he feels like he got some mail, too.

Here is a really cool helmet from the late 80s.  It looks like a giveaway or promo deal.  It is pretty cool.  I have a helmet that my brother Andy gave me, so this will probably be put with it.

 Jason also included this really old O's hat.  It looks more early 80s than the rest of the stuff.  I'm going to wash this before this weekend and let Chris wear it to the game.  That is if I can keep a hat on him.

Ok, so, this is where it gets interesting.  As if it wasn't already interesting.  Jason emailed me the trade confirmation and stated everything that he was going to include in my box.  He told me that he was including a relic from the Iraqui War, and I wasn't quite sure what that meant.  I know unexploded ordinance can't really be shipped via USPS, so when I got this Iraqui money featuring the former public enemy number one, Saddam Hussein, I was amazed.  I honestly don't know what to think.  I mean, it is really cool and it is something I am going to hold onto, but that's Saddam Hussein!  Kind of a funny feeling when you look at it.

So, Jason, this was definitely an epic trade and I really appreciate it.  You will be getting Rockies cards from me whenever I can find them, that's for sure.