An Instagram Trade for Some 2021 Heritage Minors

Many times I have stated that I hate trading.  It usually is a pain, but when a guy on Instagram offered me a one for one trade for some 2021 Heritage Minors extras that I had, I went ahead and swung the deal.

I'm not building a signed set by any means, but I do like the 1972 Topps design, and it was easy to tell the guy which guys I had missed in order to quickly complete the deal.

I had missed Terrin Vavra in January at the Orioles Caravan; he was paired with Adley Rutschman, and I was unable to get in on that signing.  I was glad to finally get a Vavra 2021 Heritage Minors signed.

I missed Cade Cavalli and Brice Turang on the cards because they were already beyond the Carolina League when the set came out.  So, those two were easy picks.

I'm glad I got the trade done easily.  I'm ok with them in the future if they're as easy as this one was.

A Ton of Autographs From Drake

This post may seem like a card/scan dump.  I regret that I didn't break my friend, Drake's shipments up and post them when they came in.  I know Drake was disappointed that I waited to scan and post everything that he has sent me this past year.  I got busy trying to catch up on TTMs and then in-season graphing, I let his stack of cards get super huge.

Still, I finally sat down to scan everything, and even though my scanned froze several times, I finally got through it.

Drake has taken a ton of cards for 50/50s from me over the last two seasons.  He sees some teams in Florida and also Illinois.  He also has been able to see some players on rehab assignments in Florida, and I believe he also went to Tampa for a Rays game.  He was going to get Randy Arozarena and Wander Franco for me, but I don't think he was able to.  I am really happy with the Josh Lowes he got signed.  He has my 2020 Topps Heritage Minors blue parallel still, and that should be coming in the mail soon.

It was really hard sorting the stiff he had sent into some kind of pattern that would make it easy to post and discuss, so I decided to try to put stuff together that was similar, even though they may not all be the same teams.  Drake knocked out a bunch of Bowman products for me.  Several minor leaguers I may not have been able to see, he got them.

That's what appeals to me the most about doing 50/50s with folks.  They take cards from me of guys I wouldn't normally see, and I get them guys that I see.  We swap, and everyone is happy.  It also helps me clear space in my Bowman boxes for new product, and keeps teams that I never see from just sitting there collecting dust.

I especially like knocking out 2021 Heritage Minors cards.  I'm not working on the set, by any means, I just like the colorful cards and I also like reducing the stack that I have here at the house.

Drake took a couple Jordan Walkers from me that helped reduce the leftovers I had from my trip out west.  Maybe next season, he and I can get together and graph.  I'd enjoy it.

Drake also has helped me clear out some extras that I have here at the house.  He loves doing "blind trades" where he is happy taking any set number of cards and exchanging them card for card.  He doesn't mind obscure players or team personnel, so I try to send him some stuff he wouldn't normally see.  He does the same for me.

This has put several random team set cards in my album, and since I enjoy the randomness of my album pages, the cards fit right into my theme.

Here are some older Heritage and Heritage Minors cards that Drake has sent me.  I feel like Heritage and Heritage Minors are nice cards to get signed.  I also appreciate that they don't have to be prepped.

The Bowman cards Drake sent go back to the early 2010s.  I have some from those years, but seeing guys who were in those sets are getting tougher and tougher to see.  I have to go to places like AAA to see some of those guys, or wait until they become coaches.

I wonder just how man extra autographs Drake must have, since he sent me a ton.

He also included some older Topps cards that I can use to check off of my Topps ledger for some of those early 2000s sets.

This Tirso Ornelas was one of those 2017 Bowman Chrome minis.  I have seen them around, but never pulled any.  I have a few of them from some former Wood Ducks.

So, Drake really hooked me up with a bunch of stuff.  I hate that it took me so long to scan and post them, but they're finally here, and also have finally been added to my autograph album.

Thank you so much, Drake, for all of the cards, and also for taking all of the 50/50s the past two seasons.

A Couple Trades With Drake

I've been talking with a guy named Drake (awesome name, by the way) lately, and we got a couple trades completed in the last few months.  I have been sending him some extra IP autos that I have gotten over the years, and in turn, he has done the same.  Except, of course, for the above 2004 Just Minors auto of Joey Votto.  I think Votto is a great player, and I was glad to add this early-career auto to my collection.

I also got some prospect autos of Alex Kiriloff, Alec Bohm, Thomas Beal and Hunter Renfroe.  All of the cards are great, and I've really enjoyed my chats with Drake.  We agree on a lot of things, so that has been nice.

Thanks for the deal, Drake!

A Long Awaited Trade With Sam

What can I say about Sam?  I've known him for a long time.  A very long time, really.  I finally got to meet him in person back in 2018 when Chris and I went to Texas, and that was a really nice time.  We used to talk every day, now I may hear from him once a year.  Maybe.  It's a common thing, really.  You become friends with someone, get pretty close, then start drifting apart, until you finally realize that you hardly talk at all.  Or you get a text message from them, and realize their number isn't even in your phone anymore.

I liked Sam so much, I took all of the photos he had sent me over time that had him with baseball players, and I made him a shutterfly book that he could share, and maybe get signed by said players.  It took a lot of work, but I felt like it would be a nice thing to do.  I hope he liked it.

I got a message out of the blue from Sam a few months ago, asking me if I would trade him an extra DL Hall autograph that I had gotten IP for some cards that Sam had gotten himself over the years.  I wasn't sure what all he would send, but it made for a nice "blind trade".  Those can be fun, really.

I thought I would maybe get one auto back, but Sam, in fact, sent 4.  None of which I had, which was even better!  The above Mike Nikorak 2015 Bowman refractor is especially nice, since I missed out on him when I saw Asheville a couple years ago (it's ok, I got Riley Pint on EVERYTHING I had).

Sam also included these three cards.  I had sent to DJ Peters TTM, but it got returned to sender, so that helps.  I also was glad to get a Sean Murphy auto back, since I tried to 50/50 on him, but the person missed him.  I sent TTM to Logan Allen, and those cards are out somewhere, hopefully coming back sometime.

So, it was nice to hear from Sam, finally.  I don't hold out any expectation that more trades are in our future, but I do wish him the best.  I hope his knee heals, and he can continue to pitch in college and realize his dream.  He has all of these players he met who he holds in high regard, and I know he aspires to achieve success like they have.

Thanks for the deal, Sam.  Hope to hear from you soon.

Instagram Trade With Brandon - Several Autos

My friend Brandon messaged me recently to let me know that he was getting out of the hobby and that he had several signed Braves cards from the 1987 Topps set.  He sent me over  alist of who he had, and the only one I needed was Braves legend, Dale Murphy.  I actually had a conversation with Murphy at the National a couple years ago. but of course I don't just walk around with a stash of 87s in my pocket, so I wasn't able to get one signed.  I'm sure Brandon had met him a few times.  Murph was really nice, and I'm glad Brandon was willing to part with it for the stack of Christian Pache cards that I sent him.

I wasn't expecting Brandon to send anything extre in the trade, but he included a bunch of other autos for my album.  I needed all of them, and a couple were pretty unique cards.

I had gotten Barbaro Garbey at a Danville Braves game a while back, and was happy to see this one was a Topps Buyback 86 Topps.  So, it is pretty cool, and was something I definitely didn't have.  The John Mosts is a Topps Tiffany (super glossy version of the original set).

I also liked the 1988 Donruss The Rookies card of Damon Berryhill.  I didn't have any Pedro Florimon cards, either, and these two look great.

Thanks for the deal, Brandon.  I know you'll be back in the hobby sometime in the future.

An Instagram Trade With Al

Believe it or not, I actually hate trading.  Usually, it is a long, drawn out process where you have to haggle with folks and/or meet their demands to pull something decent off.  I prefer the arrangements I have with friend such as Max or Gerard where we just send each other stuff we think the other would like, and in the end, things kind of wash out.

That's not to be said,though, that I won't pull off a trade here and there.  Recently, a guy on Instagram named Al approached me about trading our extra prospect autos from IP graphing.  I keep a box of extra autos just for this reason, and with the cards that I had built up, I made a pretty sweet deal.

Al was super generous with his cards, and I didn't know he would be at the start.  I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to the deal until he sent me some photos of cards he was making available.  The 2017 Topps Heritage Minors Gavin Lux is the card that got my attention, and ultimately what persuaded me to strike a deal.

I had a couple unsigned versions of the card, but I had no way of seeing Lux in person in order to get one signed.  I know he is a really well thought of prospect, so I was hoping I would have a chance to get him at some point.

Al and I basically did a card-for-card trade, but the autograph he was most focused on was Nick Madrigal.  I had one left, and was able to include it in the deal.  I think including that card set the wheels in motion on Al's end, and I think the both of us are very excited about each person's returns.  I was able to get: Lux, Jeff Brigham, Dilson Herrera, Lewis Brinson, Tyler Alexander, Helmis Rodriguez, Daniel Robertson, Chris Ellis, Ryan McMahon, Austin Beck...

 Justus Sheffield, AJ Reed, Forrest Wall, Rosell Herrera, Kyle Freeland, Alex Verdugo, Jamie Westbrook, Cody Reed, Sam Selman...

Jairo!, Tyler Danish, Andrew Sopko x 3, and Pat Neshek.  Al also included autos of Josh Morgan and Collin Wiles, but I already had them, so those will either be included in a future trade with someone else, or they'll make it into a gift or something.

I was very happy with my deal with Al.  He and I agreed to do some 50/50s together, if the season can ever get going.

Instagram Trade With Drake

I completed a trade on Instagram with a kid named Drake a few months back.  I really didn't think I would pull the trade off when we first met, because he would comment on my posts about wanting autos that weren't available, culminating with a direct message complaining as such.  I figured that would be the end of the interaction, but a few days later, I got an apology, and we got to talking.

We ended up working out a trade, and carrying on a conversation about graphing the minors, the propsed changes to the system itself, and just life stuff in general.  I was really glad that I didn't overreact to his initial message, and gave the guy another chance.

I keep a box of extra autos that I accumulate throughout the season, and use that as "currency" in proposing trades for cards that I need.  I have also had to use some to entice some folks to take a card for me to get signed.  Graphing can be a tough business sometimes.

Still, though, I end up with autos that some folks need, and I am happy to make some trades to get some new stuff into my albums.  Once the cards make it into the albums, they don't get removed (which probably was the source of Drake's frustration).

We ended up going through the box via video messages on Instagram, and settled on a 1 for 1 trade (meaning, for every card I sent, he would send one).  I was happy with the stuff I was able to get.

Anyway, we are friends now, and we plan on doing some 50/50s and consignments for the upcoming season, so I feel like we will continue in a positive direction.

Sn Instagram Trade For The 2010 Bowman USA Set

A kid on Instagram posted that he had this 2010 Bowman USA cad signed by Zach Green, and I needed it for my set that I have been halfheartedly working on over the years.  I say halfheartedly, because getting Alex Bregman or Albert Almora is going to be super tough.

I traded some IP autos I had for this card, and got some extras in return.

The extras were decent.  He added the Chrome version of the Green card and then some others that he had.

Mail From Cal

My buddy, Cal, sent me this awesome Jonathan Schoop quad relic out of 2018 Museum Collection a while back as part of a trade.  I can't remember what I sent him in return, but I'm pretty sure it was a signed 1971 Topps.  He will probably read this and comment, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was.

The Museum Collection cards are always some of my favorites.  I can never afford to buy the boxes or even packs, but when some nice ones pop up on Ebay, I try to grab a few.

Thanks for the trade, Cal!

A Trade With Stefan

I did my first Instagram trade in a while with a kid that I hadn't talked to in some time, my friend, Stefan.  He and I used to talk all the time, then the both of us got busy, and sort of drifted apart.  He was looking to trade for some 2017 Topps HM, and I had three cards that he needed.

In return, Sefan sent me the two 1987 Topps that he had that I needed from my list.  I was lucky that he had these, otherwise, I wouldn't have had any idea what to trade for.

Thanks for the deal, Stefan!

Some 87 Topps From a Blog Reader

I received an email from blog reader, Sean, who is also working on a signed 1987 Topps set.  We worked out a trade that landed me two cards I needed: the above Curt Ford, and the below Tim Hulett.

I'm now at 335 cards for the set, which is a lot farther than I ever thought I would get.  I have several coming in, especially a few big names from some private signings.  I hope to find some of the tougher deceased players, but I know I need to be patient in trying to corral those.

Thanks for the deal, Sean!  I hope the cards I sent got there ok.

A TTM Success and 50-50 of Lou Whitaker and a Trade

Lou Whitaker ended up being wrapped up in a few events associated with this blog recently.  First of all, I got this card TTM from him, at a fee of $25.  I needed the 87 Topps for the set, but I sent it off before I received a message from a fellow Instagrammer, Brandon, who apparently knows Whitaker personally, and offered to get a card signed for me.  The 87 was sent out on November 28 and got the card back on February 12, for a 76-day TAT.  I had received a TTM success from Whitaker a while back on a baseball, so I needed to get the card done.

Brandon offered to 50/50 Whitaker, so I chose this 1985 Topps to get back, since I knew the 87 would be back eventually.  I sent Brandon a handful of cards along with this one.  For the extra cards, he proposed a trade.

He sent me these Xavier Avery cards that he had gotten IP in exchange for the extra Whitakers.  I didn't have either card, so I was glad to add them to the album.

Instagram Trade With Colin

This is the last thing I had scanned before I start on my Christmas gifts that I got recently.  This was a trade I did a while ago with a kid named Colin from Instagram.  I sent him a bunch of cards for his PC in exchange for this Manny Machado Target Red RC.  I had one in my collection that I had sold, and I held onto this one.  I can't remember who Colin PCed but I know I have more cards set aside for him in a pile somewhere on my desk.  Once I find them, my memory will have been jogged.

Thanks for the deal, Colin!

A Quick Trade With Blaine

Before I get into my Christmas gifts from friends, I wanted to knock out a couple more trades that have piled up to be blogged.  I got an assortment of Chris Davis cards in exchange for something that I have already forgotten to my friend, Blaine.  The main component of the deal was this Chris Davis 500 Futures coin card.  I needed it for the collection, and am glad to have it.

Blaine also tossed in these for the collection.  I hope to see Davis at Fan Fest, and will have a hard time picking out which cards to get signed.  I'll have to think really hard about what I have in my collection, and then I'll also have to get a voucher or two.

Thanks for the deal, Blaine!

Trade With Tim

I made a deal with Tim on Instagram recently that landed me some cool Orioles cards, which included the above 2016 Topps Update Nolan Reimold negative parallel.  I like these parallels, and was glad to add another to the collection.  Nolan is working on a comeback, and I really hope I can run into him and get it signed.

Tim also offered up this Eddie Murray relic, which I didn't have.  All I had to give him was a few of the Topps 87 Chrome cards that I got out of my 2017 Topps silver packs.

Thank you for the deal, Tim.

Quick Trade With Carson

I made a quick and easy trade with my buddy, Carson recently, that landed me an auto that I can't show, because I gifted it to someone else.  I liked the above Nolan Reimold, which I had already, but I didn't mind adding another.

Carson also added this 2013 Bowman Chrome mini refractor of LJ Hoes.  It is a nice little card that I may be able to get signed if he ends up back in the O's system.

Thank you for the deal, Carson.  All I had to send him was a vintage card that I picked up at the Greenville card show.  I hope he enjoyed it!

A Couple Trades With Cal

My friend Cal made a couple trades with me recently.  He and I have been talking about TTMs and autos lately and made a few deals.  He just busted a box of Topps Gallery and sent me these two that I needed for my PCs.

I really like this product.  I haven't seen any that I could open, so getting these from Cal was pretty nice.

The above Trey Mancini is an Artist Proof, which is pretty cool.  It's not numbered, but I like it.  I may take it to Fan Fest in January to get it signed, but I do already have a few Mancinis that I had planned on taking with me, so we will see.

Finally, here is a purple chrome refractor of Derrek Lee.  I always forget that Lee was an Oriole.  I remember when he was traded to the Pirates.  I think I saw his first game with the Pirates, but I could be wrong.

Thank you so much for the deals, Cal.  I hope we can do some more in the future.