And so it begins...

A while back, I was lucky enough to stumble across a link to Ben Henry's Baseball Card Blog. A card collector since I was six, it was truly great to see that not only were there people out there who got the same sort of enjoyment from collecting, but also were posting entertaining content about their memories about sports and the hobby. Seemingly overnight dozens of other collectors have set up sites/blogs to discuss their views. I have been fortunate enough to trade with several of these folks (Ben Henry, Dayf, Thorzul, and Andy from 88 Topps Cards), which is actually the inspiration for this blog.

When I was younger, my favorite aspect of baseball cards was making trades. Whether it be to complete a set or just to acquire cards of players that we liked, my friends and I spent a lot of time swinging deals. At the time, we didn't know much about values of cards aside from whether a player was good or sucked - call it innocence or ignorance, whatever you prefer. I know that more than once I traded a perennial All-Star for Mackey Sasser while my friend was willing to give up Ken Griffey, Jr. for Howard Johnson. Beckett would surely say that we each took one on the chin, but given that we were getting cards of our favorite players, I'd do the deal again in a heartbeat.

This got me thinking about what I hope can be a fun concept. I, along with everyone else, have a bunch of players of which I am a fan. I also have a ton of cards of players and teams about whom I am indifferent. So, why not try to find other fans and swing some deals?

What I would like to do is try to have both sides come up with a 25-man roster for the other person. You let me know which players/teams/sets you collect and I'll devise a package with 25 different players, with you doing the same. I will then post the results on the blog. Additional specs can be worked out. My list of favorite players appears on the right-hand column of the main page and my email appears under "About Me." Feel free to drop me an email as I'd love to hear from anyone about potential deals.