trading

There's been some talk lately about trades gone wrong. Trading is one of the best aspects of blogging, well for me anyway. You can walk into any card shop and see boxes upon boxes of base cards, left discarded in lieu of the hits from the box. Most people I've run into at the local shop could care less about anything that doesn't have a signature or a piece of something in it. Thats what makes this community great, we all seem to care about the cards themselves. players or teams we like, or even the odd stuff like guys who won awards in their careers, guys from our hometowns or even something as silly as a pitcher holding a bat. I've always felt that we're the true collectors. The ones that appreciate the effort that goes into making a card set. Not just who signed what or what piece is in what low numbered card. Those are great too but surely not our focus. Where am I going with this?

There are no rules persay about trading here. Though we do all follow an unwritten 'code' of sorts that maintains an order of balance in the blogging world. More or less it's just morals and knowing that if someone send you something, usually you send something in return. It's just good manners. About the part above though, no where else that I've been to, can I send someone a stack of base cards and that person be completely happy with what they have found in their mail box. Cards they may have needed for a set or simply just their favorite team, filling in team sets or player collections. It's incredible really and truly is an example of "one man's trash is another man's (or woman's) treasure. Not that base cards are trash. In fact any set put out by Topps before 1995 is nothing BUT base cards and we were all happy with that. I'm merely referring to the guys who think base cards are a "waste of their time" and leave them in a box to rot at that local shop.

Back to the trading front though, I've run off on a tangent for too long here and I hope you're still with me.

Community. That's what it all boils down to. Trading is a wonderful experience and again, the best part of blogging. I haven't been burned in a trade and I do feel for those that have. I would like anyone who has ever felt that they have gotten the short end of the stick by me in a trade to please let me know. I'll do what I can to make it right. That or if you were expecting a package from me and it never came, I'd also like to know that as well. I've sent everything out that I've promised but sometimes things do get lost in the mail, you just never know. This is an open letter for anyone who may have felt wrongly about a trade we've done either recently or the past. I love blogging and love trading even more, so I'd really hate to risk any wrongdoing of fellow traders by sending an inadequate package of cards. There is obviously a certain level of trust associated with trading with essentially, strangers. Thankfully I don't feel anyone is out to screw anyone over around here but sometimes trades just go wrong.