Zistle Trade #56: paulb

Next up is a Zistle trade with new trade partner Paul.  Paul reached out with a trade request mostly for some Yankees needs.  A small tweak later and we had an agreement.

Paul sent an nice eclectic mix of Mets.  Here are the highlights.

The 2000 Topps Gold Label is definitely the slickest looking card of the bunch.  My favorite card though is probably the 2005 Fleer Tradition Update Mike Piazza (Tale of the Tape).  It is not the best looking design, but I like the color contrast and the turning down of the background color.

Paul, thanks for a nice and easy trade!

Blogger Trade: The Card Papoy

For most of 2014 and part of 2015, I was on a quest to find good homes for all of my non-baseball cards.  I looked around for bloggers and collectors who would take them off my hands.  I found quite a few of great traders in the process.  One such trader was Kevin over in France.

A lot of you might be familiar with Kevin over at his blog, The Card Papoy.  Check out his blog if you have not already.  Kevin collects New York Knicks, so I reached out to him to see if there was any interest.  He was nice enough to take any Knicks cards I had, so I sent them his way.

When I reach out to people like this, I never request much in return.  Kevin sent back a nice trade package from France.  Some of the highlights are below. 

Thanks for the trade, Kevin!

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.

2014 Topps Stadium Club Group Break at Nachos Grande

The 2015 Topps Stadium Club was released last week.  In honor of the release, I figured I would go ahead and finally post about my 2014 Topps Stadium Club experience (because I am a procrastinator and that is how I roll).

Back in October, Nachos Grande hosted a group break for 2014 Topps Stadium Club.  If you happen to look at the pictures before reading this post, you may notice a lack of the headlining product.  Well, that is because there was not a single Met pulled.  This was my first skunk in three tries with group breaks.

I did not walk away empty handed, though.  Mr. Grande was nice enough to make up for the skunk by sending some Mets my way.  I must say he did a great job with a good mixture of old and new.  He also threw in some custom Allen & Ginter cards.

He also threw in this nice auto card of Lee Mazzilli.

I would eventually get my hands on the Mets cards from the 2014 release.  Decent cards, but it sounded like the release was poorly executed by Topps.  From what I have read and seen, so far, it seems like Topps has improved on this year's release.

I am on the lookout for the 2015 Topps Stadium Club Mets cards.  I will keep you all posted...eventually.

Zistle Trade #20

This Zistle trade is with user 1carddawg.  I reached out to him with a trade offer since we seem to match up well with wants and needs.  For this trade I offered him all of my Atlanta Falcons cards for some Mets.

I like completing a team set with a trade.  These 1994 Score cards are probably not the hardest to find, but finishing the set gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Of course, now I have to start looking into completing these 1996 Leaf and Stadium Club sets.

Zistle Trade #11

Here is another trade completed through Zistle.  This one with user richardsonpilot.

He initiated the trade mainly looking for some Donruss Diamond Kings.  He offered some Mets and a handful of other cards I was looking for to complete some PCs I am working on. 

Here are the Mets I received:

eBay Summer Purchases Continued: Catcher Edition

Here are more of my summer purchases off of eBay.  This is what we will call the "Catcher Edition" and focus on two of the Mets well known catchers plus a cameo from a rising star catcher.

First, Gary Carter.  Gary was traded to the Mets from the Montreal Expos after the 1984 season.  In his first season with the Mets, Gary hit a career high 32 home runs and helped lead the team to a 98 win season.  The following year the Mets went on to win 108 games and the World Series.

Next up is Mike Piazza.  Mike came to the team in 1998 via trade with the Florida Marlins.  He immediately made the Mets a better team and reached the World Series in 2000.

The Mets' current catcher does not want to be left out.  Here is Travis d'Arnaud, who arrived from the Toronto Blue Jays via the R.A. Dickey trade.  It looks like Topps used some of Travis' minor league jerseys for these cards.