Trade Meet-Up

   I'm a team and player collector, so I keep all of my cards organized with the same formula. (team name -alphabetically, year, then publisher -alphabetically.) It's easier to organize 30 teams that it to organize 100+ years of card publishers. As such, it is almost impossible to find want list hits on web pages strictly composed of card numbers, without using The Trading Card Database. The thing is, that I find almost all of my card trading partners through The Trading Card Database. Through The Trading Card Database, I have come across trading partners in the Chicago area, but Chicago is a big area, and sending trades through the mail is easier than the travel involved in a meet-up. That is, until this week!

  Justin G. of  The Hopeful Chase blog, aka Lightningfan7609 at The Trading Card Database lives close. Real close- within walking distance! Yesterday morning we met at the Argo Tea shop that is located about halfway between about us. It was fun to actually trade cards in person. That is something I haven't done since the 1970s! I am a rather timid person, so I am downright pleased with myself for meeting face to face. Turns out that Justin is a calm, friendly sort of guy, and a loyal Orioles fan. As an added bonus, we both brought extra cards to the table. It was a fun trading experience and it was nice to meet and get to know Justin.

  Below are a few of my favorite cards, highlights from our trade.

  The Harold Baines card was one of the final three cards I needed to finish my 1988 Topps White Sox set, and Justin brought all three! Baines is also one of our pc guys.  -I realize now, that I've really got a thing for baseball cards with green on them. Wow.

And the 1988 Topps Cubs cards Justin brought, put me to within three cards of completion. 

  I acquired, the first (for me), seven 2003 Topps Cubs cards for my collection. One card stands out because I don't usually add cards to a team collection if the given player is not wearing the 'right' uniform.

See? Wrong uniforms because I don't collect Orioles or Diamondbacks.  

But, the back of the card is loaded with Chicago history. I like that. It's a keeper.

And the cream of the original trade we made, that was spared the postal system.-

Upper Deck Masterpieces. I really like these cards. Fantastic trade Justin! Thank you. 

Everyone have a wonderful evening!