Blog Trade #12: Nomo's Sushi Platter

I love trades that are quick and painless... and are beneficial to both traders. Last Thursday... Spiegel, who runs the baseball card blog: Nomo's Sushi Platter... contacted me about a 2008 Goudey autograph of Nick Swisher that he had just pulled from a box.

I've been looking for that card for awhile now... so I responded within a few hours and told him to look through my bucket & tradelists.

He picked out an autograph of Luc Mbah A Moute and a jersey card of Kosuke Fukudome. In addition to the Swisher he offered to throw in some cards of players/teams I collected... which was totally unnecessary... but much appreciated.

Here's a sample of what he sent:

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not... but I'm a huge fan of retro looking cards. Allen & Ginter, Topps 206, UD Goudey, and my favorite off all-time 2009 Goodwin Champions are all awesome. So when I saw these cards, I was pretty stoked. I was especially happy to see the Mat Latos Topps 206 rookie card. He's had to deal with a shoulder injury and has had a slow start, but he's one of the bright spots on the San Diego Padres roster.

Spiegel also included a bunch of Oakland A's cards for my collection. Once again he included some retro-looking cards, but also inserted a few 90's classics like Fleer Ultra, Donruss Elite, and Donruss Triple Play.

Of course... my favorite card from the lot is the Topps 206 Kurt Suzuki. Like Latos, he started off slow, but has four hits in his last seven at bats. Either way... he's my favorite player on the Athletics.

The last lot he included was of another PC player... Ichiro Suzuki. His Topps Town card features his iconic pre-batting pose. I love it!

All of these cards are awesome... and surprisingly... I didn't have most of them. So before I get to the main card... I want to say thank you for these bonus cards.

Now... for the main attraction:

I've found a couple of people on Sports Card Forum who had this card, but neither trader was realistic in what they wanted in return. Both felt that Swisher was a rising super-star and his autograph should command more than the $10 book value listed in Beckett. I understood where they were coming from, but wasn't willing to give in to their crazy requests (especially when one of these sold for $6.69 (free shipping) last week on eBay.

Thankfully, Spiegel is fair and reasonable. I'm stoked to add this card to my collection. Actually... he's way too generous and didn't need to add the 30-something bonus cards. If I come across some Dodgers stuff... I'll definitely make things square.

Domo arigato Spiegel-san!

You're an excellent trader and I hope to do business again with you in the near future.

If you haven't checked out his blog... Nomo's Sushi Platter... and you collect baseball cards... I encourage you to check it out. He collects Dodgers, Hideo Nomo, Ryan Braun, Ichiro, Ian Kinsler, and Kurt Suzuki... so if you have any of those hit him up and maybe you can work out a trade.

Well... I have to go meditate and get ready for tonight's playoff game between the Sharks and Kings. You have no idea how stressful it was watching Saturday night's game. I'm just glad tonight's a new night... so I'll end on a positive note: Go Sharks!