Zistle Trade #77: scottbdoug

Back to Canada we go with another trade with Scott.  This was a larger trade then some of our previous ones, but Scott has always been a great trader and getting things sent down from Canada safely.

Scott has always been a great source for 1980's and 1990's junk wax cards.  I can probably estimate that he has sent me most of my needs for that period than anyone else. 

My favorites from this trade are those 1981 Fleer cards along the top row below.  That year was the first release for Fleer since 1963.  I am more partial to action shots compared to posed shots, so it is nice to see some in a 1981 set.

Overall, this was another great trade with Scott.  Lots of 80's needs filled and some good FFM needs. Thanks, Scott!

Zistle Trade #55: Gerry

Not too long after our first trade was completed, Gerry reached out with a second trade request.  Our first trade went down with out a problem, so of course I was down for another.

We have another appearance of a mustached Bartolo Colon during his first stint with the Mets.  This time showing him before he was about to go out a bash a few home runs during Spring Training batting practice.  I also received a nice card of Dave Magadan playing with the Florida Marlins.

Zistle Trade #54: scottbdoug

Here is another trade with user scottbdoug.  Scott has not been on Zistle very long, but he has settled right into the community.  He is one of the more (maybe even the most) active member on the forum and often times posts useful information for traders.  Also, it looks like he has a blog going on over at Cardboard Collecting.

This time he reached out with a request with some Fleer set needs.  Here are the Mets (along with some post-Mets Gary Carter) I received.

I am not sure if it is mandatory or just customary for Canadians to offer O-Pee-Chee cards, but I seem to get them mostly from Canadian traders.  I am sure those cards are just more plentiful up north, but I wonder if anyone feels like they have to throw them into an offer just because, you know?  I am not complaining though, as I can just ask for them to be taken off the trade.  Just wondering.  I will stop now.

Zistle Trade #53: Gerry

Next up is a Zistle trade with new trade partner Gerry.  I think Gerry reached out to me in the past with other requests, but I was either taking a quick hiatus or was dealing with a number of other trades at the time.  It was really just bad timing.  This time though, we got something worked out.

I received a few 1996 Topps Bazooka cards from Gerry.  Bazooka cards were around all throughout the 1960's before disappearing in the early 1970's.  They had brief comebacks in the late 1980's, 1995/1996, and early 2000's.  They have now be relegated to being a subset, most recently as part of the Topps Heritage releases. 

Zistle Trade #52: BucCollector

Next up is another Zistle trade with user BucCollector.  David reached out prior to last season's playoffs with a trade request for some Pirates with some Mets coming my way.

He had high hopes for his Pirates making it to the NLCS to face my Mets.  It was definitely the match-up I wanted to see, but it just was not meant to be for the Pirates.

eBay - 2015 Topps Archives and more

I missed out on Brent's Mets team sets for 2015 Topps Archives.  I ended up finding a seller that had a decent price and was able to combine it with some other listings, too.  I ended up with some 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects and 2015 Bowman.

First card up is Michael Conforto.  He was drafted by the Mets in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft being just the 10th overall pick.  He made his MLB debut over one year later.  He is also only the third player to play in the Little League, College, and Major League World Series.  He already has a 2 home run World Series game under his belt.  This is one of his first Mets cards.  It is badly photo shopped.

Next up are the 2015 Topps Archives cards.  Not a bad looking card in the bunch.  I like the first four cards with the 1957 Topps design.  I think it is cool to see Mets players on card designs from a time when they didn't exist as a team.  Overall, though, I think David Wright's card shown below is the best looking card.  It has such a great mixture of different shades of blue.

Zistle Trade #43: dannicole2112

Well, I had a good run of getting some things posted.  I still have some more posts to burn through before I catch up to present day.  I have not done many trades so far this year.  Work and such get in the way at times.  I still intend to get those posts out there and hopefully I have not overlooked any trades.

Up next is a Zistle trade with Dan and Christian, a father and son collecting team.  Nothing too special here, but still filled a few holes in want lists.  Decent looking Keith Hernandez, though.

If any one is looking to make trades, large and small, Zistle is a great place to find trade partners.  The trade process is so easy to work and the vast majority of people on Zistle are quite pleasant. 

Zistle Trade #29

So, here we are before the start of game four of the World Series.  It has been a tremendous ride so far this postseason.  At the start of the season I said that a successful season would be a playoff run.  Well, we made it to the World Series!  The Dodgers made it a tough Division Series.  I thought the Cubs had our number before game one of the League Series, but we rolled through them with a four game sweep.

Things have not started out too well for the Mets in the World Series, but they have played well.   The Royals have just played better.  The Mets showed some life in game three and look to continue their swinging ways in game four.  

Now, on to another Zistle trade!  This one with user ccards.  Tim was looking for some various card needs and I requested some various Mets needs in return.

Next up is a nice full sheet of 2003 Topps.  This time with Cliff Floyd in an actual Mets uniform. 

There wasn't anything too ground breaking here, but still a nice set of cards that fills some holes in my binders!

Zistle Trade #24

We are now into September with the Mets in first place.  They look to continue their forward momentum into a playoff run.  Due to the Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs playing great ball, but being in the same division, the Mets must win their division to make the playoffs.

The Mets and Nationals started a crucial series on Labor Day.  The first game was exciting with the Mets giving up the lead, but then coming back for the win.  The entire team looked ready for this game and did not seem distracted by the recent media hoopla.  Now, it is the person at the center of the hoopla to make his start to continue the Mets path to the playoffs.

Moving along with another Zistle trade with user SDre31.  Steve was one of the first few trades I completed on Zistle a couple of years ago.  This was our second trade.

Those 1987 Topps cards that you can find literally from anyone.  These are from the Topps Traded set which I believe finishes off that 1987 set for me.

The bottom-right card is a rookie card of Kelly Stinnett.  I know he is not one of those players you trade for, but I was glad to get this card.  

I have been to over 20 MLB games, so far, in my life.  I have always wanted to catch a foul or home run ball, but have not done so yet.  The closest was when Kelly threw me a ball after batting practice.  I was maybe 11 or 12 years old and pretty far away from what I recall.  I was waving my glove and he threw the ball up to me.

Zistle Trade #15

Here is another trade completed through Zistle.  This one with user pb68.  I sent him some Cleveland Cavaliers and Oakland Raiders for some Mets.

Here are the cards I received in return:

Nicko Riesgo is an interesting card (and a name that rhymes!).  He never appeared in an MLB game as a Met, but had one decent season playing for their single-A Florida league team.  I think that this 1991 Bowman card is noting that accomplishment.

He would make it to the majors with the Montreal Expos in 1991.  His first of only four game appearances was a contest between the Expos and the Mets.  He recorded his only MLB hit off Frank Viola that game.  He would go hit-less in his other three appearances and after that he was pretty much bounced from team to team.  He would never reach the big leagues again.  He would later become a replacement player with the Boston Red Sox in 1995 during spring training while the players were on strike.  

Zistle Trade #14

Another trade in the books with Zistle user neckababy1.  He offered a handful of Mets for a few cards in return.  He has been a good source for Darryl Strawberry cards thus far.

Here is what I received:

The Hall of Fame ballots were made official yesterday.  Mike Piazza will have to wait another year to be elected.  It was a pretty stacked list this year with those getting elected being very deserving.  Piazza will be the top holdover next year and will only have one sure thing in Ken Griffey, Jr. in front of him.

I think the biggest oversight on this year's ballot was Carlos Delgado.  He did not receive enough votes to remain on the ballot next year.  Oh, and this was just his first year of eligibility.  He definitely had an amazing career.  Some might say he was not quite a Hall of Famer, while others will say different.  He does deserve, at the least, to be on the ballot longer than one year.  I feel it is another reason to throw amongst the many others to reevaluate the voting process for the Hall of Fame.

eBay Summer Purchases Continued

It has been a little while since my last post.  I went on vacation with the wife then started back to work full steam.  Things do not really settle down for me during flu season (protip: get your flu shot people!), but I have some more posts to put out there.  I have completed some more recent trades and box breaks that I will get to at some point in the near future.

In the mean time, here are some more of my summer eBay purchases.  This time we will focus on the hits.

Here are some relic cards I received.

Some autos from various Mets, some who made it to the majors, some who did not, and one who has yet to get the call.

Wilmer Flores is projected to be the Mets starting shortstop Opening Day 2015 if no deals are made.  There has been a lot of talk about the Mets pursuit (or lack thereof) of a shortstop this offseason.  There were more options available earlier in the offseason and now there are less options.

Is Flores the worst option?  No.  Should the Mets give up top prospects for someone with a large contract who has been injury prone?  Probably not.  I see Flores as a fine option with most other options being not much of an upgrade.  His defensive skills need to improve, but he can provide some offense that the team lacks at a much cheaper cost.

Zistle Trade #7

Another post.  Another Zistle trade.  This time I traded with user bjbernier78.  He was featured on the Zistle blog as he is out serving in Kuwait.

I believe he initiated this trade looking for some 2013 Topps for his set needs.  Among the Mets I received included:

That is another Keith Hernandez (and that stache) with the Cleveland Indians.  This trade was actually started after the previous Zistle trade, but I received these cards all the way from Kuwait first.

Here are a couple more modern cards I received as well.  Not pictured are a few 2013 Topps Chrome cards.

Juan Lagares was one of the bright spots for the Mets this season.  He leads the majors in awesome catches* and deserves some Gold Glove recognition this off-season.  He ranks among the top defensive outfielders in the National League and has been earning the praise of many players and coaches throughout MLB.  Oh, and that is without having played in as many games as the other top ranking outfielders.

*not an actual statistic

Zistle Trade #5

Another Zistle trade in the books.  This one with user hpennington22.  He has completed the most trades on the site and the only user with over 100 trades completed.

He initiated this trade for some of my 2014 Topps Heritage duplicates.  This time the Mets cards were not the majority of what I received.  Since I show my Mets cards here, though, these are the Mets that I received:

The scan does not do justice to the R.A. Dickey card.  It is so much better looking in person! 

Only one current Met of the bunch.  As much as I like Ike Davis, it looks like the Mets made the right choice by trading him and giving Lucas Duda more playing time.  Duda has really turned into a respectable player and has shown he can handle being an every day player at first base.  He hit his 22nd home run of the season in today's lost to the Cubs.  

Zistle Trade #4

Another "recent" Zistle trade.  This time with Raz over at The Raz Card Blog.

I recall starting this trade because he had a Hakeem Olajuwon card on his want list and I want to get rid of all of my non-baseball cards.  I found another dozen or so cards he wanted and a dozen or so cards I wanted and sent him the request.  This was probably the least back-and-forth trade I have done so far on Zistle (which is a good thing!).

Here are the Mets I received in the trade:

Look at those nicely scanned cards...

That is my first Jacob deGrom card.  Jacob has been pitching quite well his last few starts (really, overall since being called up).  He didn't get as much talk as Noah Syndergaard has gotten, but that has not seemed to matter to him.  His recent success can get any Mets fan excited about the team's future.