I know this is long; skip the "I focus on" section if you're just interested in trading from our trade matches.
tl;dr:
Fundamentally, I want you to get the cards you want, via trades that are easy to agree to. I most prefer 1:1 trades of cards with the same rarity from the same set (but I know that market realities will sometimes require some additional return). Other trades are very possible but require more attention to detail, which... well, easier is better! Try to make it easy and do not try to take advantage of me. Buy and sell cards if you're seeking profit; I believe trading is for the mutual enrichment of personal collections.
If I have to think/research hard to consider the value on both sides of a trade, I'm more likely to just decline because I don't want this to feel like work beyond what is absolutely necessary (gathering, packaging, and shipping).
I focus on:
- Baseball
- Phillies (Primarily 2019-present, Harper and Stott in particular).
- Less passionately: Blue Jays and Pirates.
- Shohei Ohtani (how unique of me)
- Sets in progress (base unless otherwise noted):
- 2022
- Topps Heritage (Just RCs)
- Topps Allen & Ginter Good For You Minis
- Topps Update
- 2023
- Topps Heritage
- Topps Allen & Ginter base RCs, base non-baseball, & Music to Your Ears
- Topps flagship Stars of MLB inserts
- Topps Update
- Topps Archives
- Hockey
- Penguins (mostly 90s, post-lockout '00s and 2022-23 forward)
- Crosby, Jagr (even non-Pens cards), and Lemieux
- Not Malkin, actually. I don't like Evgeni Malkin.
- Sabres (mostly post-lockout '00s and 2022-23 forward)
- Peter Forsberg
- Scattered players outside of the above.
- Sets in progress:
- Pro wrestling (I have scattered favorites, mostly outside of WWE; Kenny Omega and Matt Jackson are my most card-relevant favorites, probably)
- Sets in progress:
- 1998 Topps WCW/nWO
- 2021 AEW
- 2022 AEW Main Features
- Subject-used/worn relic cards.
- I actually kind of value "napkin" relics over autographs. Autographs that weren't signed in front of me are very abstract to me (especially sticker autos) and they're of very modest appeal to me, accordingly. I'd almost as soon go for a replica autograph as a design element, and I won't pay a high price (in dollars or cards) for an autographed card; it's just not worth it to me (especially with the prices a lot of top-end subjects demand... I dig a cheap auto card that the market doesn't care much about).
Notes on transactions:
- I mostly do not collect for investment/speculation purposes, but sometimes I pull a card from a pack that I expect will be worth more in the future than it is now. Even if they're on FS/FT, I will be hesitant to move those cards unless it's for a subject with similar potential or something immediately valuable. Basically, if it's a recent, high-demand rookie, I need the return to be pretty good.
- It would take a special card to get me to buy something on TCDB.
- I'm willing to sell cards but I'd kind of prefer to do it for some kind of gift card. I feel like that's easiest.
- Any of my cards older than 2021 I'll want to double-check the condition of before committing us to a trade.
- PWE unless otherwise negotiated.
- I generally am not able to get around to putting together trades and mailing them out until the weekend. Apologies for the delay on early-to-mid-week trades!!
- I don't want duplicates; please don't offer them. If you see more than one of something on my wantlist, it's a mistake on my part.
- For my personal collection, I am extremely flexible about condition; I'd rather have a compromised version of a card I want than not have the card. Just be honest about it and adjust your return expectations accordingly.
- Overwhelmingly, I'm primarily going to want to make apples-to-apples trades (that is to say, same set and rarity, with just some mild sensitivity to market demand). Apples-to-oranges trades are definitely possible but it obviously takes more attention to value. The bigger the trade (in terms of number of cards), the more I want it to be apples-to-apples.
- To this point: sometimes I have wantlisted something purely because I have something FT from a set and just want to give people an option for a 1:1 trade that I'd go for.
- I'm truly not particular about making sure both sides of a trade are balanced to the cent, but please make sure that there's not a hideous imbalance before you propose a trade. If you're offering base and asking for inserts/etc, that's generally not going to be fair and I'm going to reject and/or block. If you're just offering something as a starting point from trade matching, say so or I'll assume that what you're proposing is what you think is fair. I'm never trying to take advantage of anybody here, so I do not have patience for anyone who even seems like they are.
- My overwhelming trading philosophy is just wanting to get particular cards (or set fodder) into the hands of people who will most appreciate them most, with an awareness of (but not a voracious appetite for) monetary value, scarcity, and demand. Accordingly, I am very willing to offer more than 1:1 for a high-demand subject who I'm also interested in. What exactly that means will depend on what I can do for you and just how high that demand is! That said, I generally won't mind giving up card with a higher market value for a "mathematically" (WRT odds) identical card if my personal affection for the subject equals or outweighs the market difference (which is impossible to measure but very likely outside of exceptionally high-demand subjects).
- Wow, you read all of this? Thanks!
