Zistle Trade #36: Olerud363

This Zistle trade is with Rodrick from the Great White North.  Rodrick reached out with a request from some various Topps needs.  I know some US-based traders are concerned about doing trades to other countries, but trading with those up in Canada has been pretty easy going.

Rodrick has probably the most complete John Olerud collection (at least that I know of).  Check out his collection at Cardboard Corner.   Not one John Olerud card was traded during this trade, though.

Hey!  It looks like Olerud does make a cameo appearance in this trade!

It looks like to me Donruss stopped caring right around the time they were putting together their 2004 set. 

Apparently, a stray Bryce Harper got in with these scans.

This was my third or maybe fourth trade to Canada.  Since then I have done another five or six and once or twice over to Europe.  There are some great traders outside of the U.S. that have a hard time finding good trade partners for whatever reason.  There is not that many hobby shops left here, but there is probably even less outside of the U.S.  Give these collectors another look.

Zistle Trade #35: MiJohn

Let's squeeze out a third post for today.  Trying to burn through these drafts to catch up with more recent trades.

Next up was a quick trade with John.  He requested some various Topps Archives cards with me getting some various Mets in return.  These are the highlights from that trade.

Nothing too special here.  Some set needs filled.  Still a solid trade!

Zistle Trade #34: dmk250

Here we are with a back-to-back large trade (and two posts in one day!).  It is nice getting rid of a stack of cards that do not get a whole lot of love in my collection, but will somewhere else.  Dean is a Phillies fan and requested some Phillies needs along with some set needs in return.

I was a little confused by the 1992 Confex cards of Gregg Jefferies and David Cone (shown below).  Neither of the cards have an image on Zistle, so the first time I saw them was when I received this trade package.  I thought it was kind of strange for baseball cards to poke fun at players.  As it turns out, this set if full of such cards with some being more cruel than others.

Cone's card is not too cruel with it making light of his partying ways during his time with the Mets.  Jefferies' card is little more cruel that depicts his open letter to New York Mets fans.

Finishing up this trade is a nice eclectic mix of cards.

Zistle Trade #33: hpennington22

Here is another trade with Henry.  He reached out before the trade offer making sure I was ready for a large trade offer.  This was definitely the biggest trade offer on Zistle, yet.  I think it was this trade that has made me decide to not scan each and every Mets card I receive in a trade.  So, here are some of the highlights of this trade.

First up are some various 1980's cards.  If I knew how to make Gifs, I would make those Sportflics cards come alive. 

I think Fleer made some cool cards with those earlier Flair releases.  I guess you can call it their fancy release along the same lines of Topps Stadium Club back in the early 1990's.  Or was Fleer Ultra their answer to Stadium Club?

Henry was nice enough to throw in a Dwight Gooden auto card he obtained in person.

Finishing up this trade is an MLB Chipz, uh, poker chip.  These are a pretty cool novelty item, but not very liked by collectors.  Maybe it was too novelty.  It reminds me of the old Topps Coins.  I remember having a tall stack of those coins.

All in all, this was a great trade!

Zistle Trade #32: Rosenort

Here we are with my first post of 2016.  I have not been reading many blogs recently, but have noticed a trend of "State of the Blog" type posts.  I do not have anything against those posts and those that I did read were well done.  That whole thing is just not for me.

I like my current setup of showing some cards I get via trade or whatever with a little commentary here and there.  I will have better, more well-rounded posts on occasion if the creative juices flow.  For now, though, we keep it nice and simple.

Speaking of nice and simple, here is another trade completed on Zistle with user rosenort.

Not much "Wow!" factor, but still a solid trade to fill some holes in my collection.  

Zistle Trade #31: tidalwav90

It is the end of 2015 with 2016 just a few hours away.  This has been a pretty great year for Mets fans.  We went into Spring Training with a returning Matt Harvey, but then lost Zack Wheeler for the season.  We started the season strong, but then lost a couple of big bats to injuries and stopped scoring runs.  We traded for a big bat then went on a tear to the top of the NL East.  We made it to the World Series then lost it in five games.

I have read a lot of Mets fans being upset at the lack of a big signing this off season, but I think the signings we have made are just fine.  Cespedes would be nice, but not at the cost he is asking.  Zobrist would have been nice and filled many needs, but he wanted to play somewhere else.  Murphy signing with the Nationals hurt a little, but we got a nice replacement in Neil Walker.  We still have a couple more needs to address, but this off season has been good enough so far. 

Now back to the cards!  Here is another Zistle trade completed, this time with Jesse.  He reached out with some Cubs needs and offered up some Mets in return.

I always like to get 1988 cards since they show Mets players in their 1987 uniforms.  The 1987 season was the only time they wore those New York script uniforms.  Here's to hoping they bring it back for some games in the future.

Finally, here is nice Jeff Kent card depicting him about to make a play at second base.  Kent had a great career and showed a lot of promise with the Mets, but played his greatest elsewhere.  For Mets fans, at least for me anyway, it feels like there are a number of players we can look back on in the same regard.

Zistle Trade #30: hpennington22

The last time I posted the Mets and Royals were going into Game 4 of the World Series.  Well, we all know how that turned out.  I was not heartbroken with the lost.  The Royals played great baseball, but ultimately I think the Mets beat themselves.  They had every chance to maintain the lead or take it, but failed to hold on in the end.

Even with this lost, there was a lot gained by the young Mets players like Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Michael Conforto.  They each made their MLB debut this season and ended up playing in the World Series.  There are a lot of great players who never even got that chance.  Ken Griffey, Jr., Ichiro, and Ernie Banks are some of the first to come to my mind.  No doubt that this experience will help each of those players out tremendously.

All things consider, the 2015 season was an enormous success for the Mets.  Most people probably thought the Mets were a fringe playoff team at best.  The Mets exceed all expectations, in my opinion.

Now, back to some trades.  This is my second trade with Henry.  He reached out to me with a rather large trade offer.  I believe it was, and still is, the most cards I have traded and received via Zistle.  Here are just some of the cards that I received.

I enjoy these 1996 Upper Deck cards.  I like how each card is game dated to the photo depicted.  It really puts the photo into context more than today's cards.

Later Upper Deck releases didn't really do much for me.  I think the only thing Upper Deck had going for them in their later years was that they were able to get more players on cards, but that came at the expense of large, massive sets.

And we finish up with another player who never played in the World Series and one who was a big part of the 1969 World Series champions.