Trade with Fellow Blogger : Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby

It's been awhile but I was finally able to complete a trade as Frankie of My Life in the Sports Card Hobby finished up our second transaction. As with the 1st one this one went smooth with no issues. The trade would have been completed sooner but I was dealing with my grandfather's passing (R.I.P.) so my concentration was a tad lacking. Thank you again to Frankie for being patient and understanding in this matter.

He will probably put up his own post about this trade but what I ended up sending him were these 4 cards :

• Tony Gwynn Five Star autograph BGS 9
• Craig Biggio Five Star autograph BGS 9
• Nolan Ryan Mini Frame autograph BGS 9
• Bo Jackson Five Star autograph BGS 9

The top 3 cards were part of a group of throw ins that Frankie was kind enough to include in the package. I already have the Brigham so that will go into the trade pile or I will pay it forward in another trade with someone else but the Urias and Seager are new additions to the collection so thank you for those.

Corey Seager Bowman Chrome refractor

Another Seager throw in but like with the Brigham I already have this BUT since I am doing the rainbow collection for Seager I am going to put this under the microscope to see if it might grade out to gem mint. Either way, I can't get enough Seager cards.

Brandon Trinkwon Bowman Chrome autograph

The trade for me was centered around 2 autographs with 1 being the more important one but Frankie was nice enough to throw in a couple more. 1st up is this base Bowman Chrome of Trinkwon. I already have this one as well but it's always a good day when you get to add an autograph to the collection.

Jose Bautista Five Star autograph

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Now this card is the best of the throw ins. I have had Jose Bautista's autograph on my to acquire list for quite sometime and even had a different copy of this Five Star on my eBay watch list but I never pulled the trigger on it as my resources went to more pressing "needs". Well, Frankie did me a solid and sent me this beauty. This was a great and unexpected bonus.

Now onto the main event of the trade . . .

Strata autograph of Padre great Tony Gwynn

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This card while very nice was not what I was after when this whole process started. Frankie ended up wanting my BGS 9 of Gwynn but if that was to happen then I would want this one to replace Gwynn. Since Tony has passed on there obviously will be no more on card autographs coming from him. Even when alive there were not that many to chose from as the Five Star the Frankie received was the 1st one that I found acceptable. While they are both on card autographs this one is at least twice the value of my BGS 9 one that I sent so there was the back and forth between us in trying to make sure we both received equal value and were happy with the trade. With that said that is why is was a 4 for 2 swap.

And now for, literally, the big card of the trade . . .

Over sized Bowman purple ice Julio Urias autograph

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You probably can't tell from the photo but this is one massive card of the Dodger's phenom Julio Urias. With only 25 copies in existence I never expected to acquire this card. Other than this copy I have only seen 2 others out there. One from a fellow blogger and another that sold on eBay, I never approached Frankie about this card as I never expected he would let it go since he mentioned he really liked it in one of his posts but it just goes to show you that you never know unless you ask. On top of my rainbow project of Urias I am trying to pick up as many autographs as I can before the prices really get out of control which they border on already. 

So that concludes my 2nd ever trade with Frankie. Some of you might say I overpaid for the two cards I received but that is the beauty of trades, it is what you think is equal and not what others might think. I was able to replace my Gwynn with another, I already have picked up another Biggio autograph so that BGS one was okay to let go and the Bo Jackson and Nolan Ryan while a lot to let go was about equal to the Urias card and value difference between the 2 Gwynn cards. I am happy and I hope Frankie is also happy with our trade. I do feel that he gave me a little more than I sent over in extras so I am already trying to find some other cards to compensate a little. 

In addition both the Gwynn and Urias look to be in great condition and are ear marked for BGS grading. I expect the Urias to come back a gem mint and the Gwynn also has a chance at that grade but a 9 on a thick card like that is fine as well. 

Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Brandon Trinkwon Black Collection Autograph ( # / 25 )

It's been awhile and since I haven't had a problem yet with Topps ( knock on wood ) I went and acquired another redemption card.

Julio Urias is included in the black collection within this year's Bowman set and with the cards numbered to only 25 and the demand of Julio in general I have yet to get my hands on a copy. Don't know if I ever will as I have lost out on a few auctions which means supply is drying up.

I forgot that there was one other Dodger in the set, Brandon Trinkwon. I already had his refractor and blue refractor parallels of his autograph and thought I was done with him. Well with the discovery of the existence of this card I added one more to my list to acquire. Even with only 25 copies in world not surprisingly there was minimal demand. A few have sold already so when this came up on a BIN on eBay for $15 I was all over it. The seller included a best offer option and I shot over my offer which he countered and I soon accepted.

Code has been sent to Topps and I now await this great looking card. Silver ink on black background is always awesome.

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Brandon Trinkwon Base Silver Ice Parallel and Base Chrome Autograph

One card I needed and another I didn't.
I actually only needed and wanted the silver ice card as I was not looking for the base autograph.
Granted I didn't have the autograph but I wasn't looking to add it to my collection.
I made the decision this year that I would only be collecting the refractor and blue refractor parallels of the Dodger prospects when it came to autographs. I would hold out for the black ones too but not holding my breath as those could get pricey.

Well on a basic search for some silver ice cards I found the Trinkwon one that I needed on multiple auctions. Searching for the cheapest option these two popped up for just $5 combined and shipped. I expected to pay $1 or so for the silver ice but if I could score an autograph for just $3-4 I would be a fool to turn that down.. They were on a BIN auction so there was not bidding process and I had the two cards in hand shortly thereafter.

For now the base autograph is in my collection but I could easily be persuaded out of it or I may use it for a trade of my own.

Card(s) of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Whole Lot of Blue, Silver Ice, Home/State and Chrome of Multiple Dodgers

Silver Ice of Ryu, Greinke, Coyle and Crawford

The latest and probably last big purchase (volume wise) of 2014 Bowman has hit my mailbox. Wanted to put a big dent in my need list so I went back to one of my most reliable sellers on eBay to see what he might have in stock for me purchase. Still needing over 30 cards I was hoping to comply a big buy from him.

Silver Ice of Yimi and Ethier

At the same time I wanted to keep costs at a minimum. One reason I always go back to this seller is that he has most of his cards up on BIN auctions but if you are a past customer and you don't try to low ball him on offers he is receptive to working with you.

Blue parallels of Trinkwon, Crawford and Yimi

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Needing all different types of parallels with the blue ones being a priority I searched his store and came up with a nice sized list of what I wanted. Every single one was a BIN auction with prices ranging from $1.50 to $2.25. Started shooting him the offers as fast as I could so he saw that I was intending to buy more than one.

Mini chromes of Yimi and Coyle

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After about the 5th offer ( not even half way done ) I started to receive emails stated he was accepting my offers which gave me the go ahead in my head to keep going as I assumed he would accept them all. 

Mini chrome blue parallels of Zach and Corey

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In the end I sent him 13 offers for 13 cards and he accepted every single one of them. The grand total would have been an average of a $1 a card but Corey's blue mini was "pricey" which bumped up the average to a little over $1.40. 

Reasonable I thought. As always I promptly paid him and he promptly shipped out the cards the next day and I had them in hand within a few days. Another smooth and painless transaction with a trusted eBay seller. The end is in sight for the 2014 Bowman set.

Card(s) of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon Trinkwon and Bobby Coyle Base Blue Parallels plus Others

The lengths I will go to acquire all that is blue when it comes to Dodgers and their cards. I pick up these two rookie cards of Brandon and Bobby in a purchase from a seller but in 4 different auctions.

Brandon 365 of 500

Bobby 128 of 500

The seller had those two and then these two of the veteran Dodgers Adrian and Carl. I needed them all for my set needs but everytime I saw them online sellers wanted at least 2-3 dollars for each one. Wanted them just not at an inflated price.

Carl 412 of 500

Adrian 91 of 500

Well I finally found all of these on one sellers site but there was one side problem to acquiring them. I had to bid on all of these...

That's right. 40 more blue parallels that I had no need for any of my projects. In 4 separate auctions had the four cards I wanted but to acquire them I had to try to win the other 40. Thankfully I sell as well as buy on eBay and I would do one of my patented buy what I need then sell the left over sales. I ended up winning all of cards which included the 4 I really wanted for a total of just a little over $15. Now to get rid of the 40 card excess.

Put my own auction up and surprise, surprise I sold it for a little over $15 and taking out shipping it was a little under $13. So for pennies I picked up 4 cards for my set needs and received a positive feedback for my selling transaction. Win win for the Penguin.

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Brandon Trinkwon Base Chrome Blue Refractor Parallel ( 71 / 250 )

What better way than to spend 130 pennies than to purchase a needed blue chromed Dodger for my 2014 Bowman set needs.

On the hunt for singles and focusing on the blue chrome 1st due to them being numbered to 250 and I want to finish the set within a month of two after the release of the set. Already had both versions (refractor and blue refractor) of Brandon's autograph so the last big one to acquire was this blue non autographed version. Traditional auction was needed to buy this card but after 3 bids I was the winner for literally a handful of change. Another card of the checklist and now onto the next card.

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Card(s) of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Kemp, Guerrero, Kershaw, Puig, Trout and Rookies

Hometown parallels of Kershaw and Puig 

... and now for my 1st "big" haul of 2014 Bowman cards that I did not acquire in my case breaks. 

There are a lot of cards that I need to get my hands on but thankfully for the most part they probably will average no more than a dollar or so which makes this year doable. 

Hometown parallels of Trinkwon and Coyle

I do love the flag/hometown parallels in the Bowman brand. The value is minimal but adds a little flavor other than color after color parallel to chase after. 

Garcia Hometown

Base Trout

Guerrero Silver Ice

I still do love the sparkly silver ice but not to be confused with silver parallel as Bowman has added that color to the parallel rainbow this year. 

And can't forget to get all the Trout cards as well. Would love to have him off the Angels so I didn't have to have Angel cards in my collection but at the same time I love that I can watch him up to 83 times a year down in Anaheim.

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Can't forget about the bison or my favorite colored parallel. Still nothing like a Dodger player on a blue card. Once again this parallel is numbered out of 500 which makes it easy enough to finish up the Dodger team set. 

64 / 500

To finish off my purchase I picked up the base refractor of Alex Guerrero. Not sure what to expect of him as he is mashing in the minors but plenty of players have done that and fizzled out once they made up to the big leagues. The main problem for him is that the Dodgers have no current place to play him. He is not trade bait so how long does he stay in the minors is the question.

EDIT - Now he is missing an ear and possibly can't play for 5 weeks. Damn...

A small yet decent 1st "haul" post case breaks. Many more to come as I am on the lookout for a lot of parallels. Any traders out there?

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Brandon Trinkwon Chrome Base Blue Parallel Refractor Autograph ( 11 / 150 )

... and now onto the blue parallels autographs of the Dodger prospects.

Still waiting to acquire my 1st Urias autograph from this year's set but till then I still need to pick up the blue parallels of Brandon and Jacob as I already acquired their base refractor versions.

As with the base ones I assumed Brandon's blue would be cheaper than Jacob's blue. Once again I was correct as with Jacob's autographs closing north of $30 and some over $40 I was able to pick up Brandon's here for just a little over $10.

I believe when book value comes out for this I will be able to consider this a deal but even if it's not book wise I am happy I was able to pick this up so soon after release for what I feel was a small amount.

11 / 150

Card of the Day - 2014 Bowman : Brandon Trinkwon Chrome Base Refractor Autograph ( 187 / 500 )

Well with the case breaks behind me now it is time to pick up the singles of all the Dodgers I did not acquire in said breaks.

I have decided this year for the autographs of Dodger prospects that I will only be collecting the base refractors and the blue refractors and no longer the base unnumbered versions ( unless it is for a ridiculous small cost ) in the Bowman brand. The Dodgers are represented 3 times and Brandon here is the first that I was able to acquire.

Brandon is the least heralded of the rookies behind Scavuzzo and Urias so I assumed it wouldn't take too much to pick his autograph up. I assumed correctly as there plenty of Brandon copies to choose from and won this for a small handful of $1's.

One autograph down, a few more to go.

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