The perfect trade

I'm always kicking myself for not thinking of the most simple, most ingenious ideas. I hear about what someone has come up with, how they've gotten rich inventing soap-on-a-rope or some other such thing, and I think, "you could've figured that out, dodo. What's wrong with you?"

For instance: Cliff of Capewood's Collections (yeah, I know some of you know him as "Capewood," but he's got an actual real name and I'm telling you it's Cliff), came up with a terrific idea that I can't believe I hadn't thought of myself.

What he did was, before the cards came out for the 2009 season, he contacted several bloggers and offered a team swap. The person he contacted would accumulate either Phillies or Astros -- Cliff's two favorite teams -- from any 2009 sets and Cliff would set aside '09 cards from his trade partner's favorite team. Then, at mid-season, they would check in with each other and swap teams.

What a great idea! It's the perfect trade!

It was an extra great idea for Cliff, as he was dealing with more than just me. So he had a bunch of Phillies and Astros coming his way. But I'm certainly happy with the Dodgers I got from him. And all I had to do was ship him some Astros, including all those Carlos Lees that multiply in the dark, humid corners of my house.

So let's see what 2009 Dodger needs that Cliff took care of for me.

I'll start with Goudey first, because it's like eating your vegetables so you can get them out of the way before all of the good stuff. This set is so freakin' terrible. And I wish they'd drop that Brad Penny pose. It's all over his Upper Deck cards.

See? There's Mr. Penny winding up on First Edition. I haven't bought much First Edition for awhile and it's been a long time since I held a First Edition Friday, which was created to show how you can find enjoyment in cheaper sets.

You may think that means that I'm not as poor as I was then. But that's not it. It's just that Topps Series 2 came out and OPC came out and Allen & Ginter came out and I don't even remember what I was talking about.

I still like First Edition better than the main Upper Deck set. Garciaparra was one of the last first-series Dodgers that I needed. Still looking for #199, Rafael Furcal. And a few of those '75 OPC cards.

One of the last Topps Series I Black Dodger cards that I needed. Two to go. And who knows when I'll finish off the Series 2 Black Dodgers. Since they're seeding them in two packs per random blaster, completing a team set could take forever. I guess that means the Series 2 Black variation cards will be more valuable than the Series I cards.

So if anyone pulls a Black Russell Martin, James Loney, Randy Wolf, Andre Ethier, Mark Loretta, Clayton Kershaw, Blake DeWitt, etc., I'm interested.

Speaking of black-border variations, here is Upper Deck's version. Neither of these guys are contributing a whole lot for the Dodgers this year. I still like DeWitt. Still think he needs to play more.

And while I'm talking about Dodger matinee idols, here are two Andre Ethier cards that I needed. I wasn't even aware that there was a Turkey Red insert of Ethier. I could completely miss cards like this for YEARS. There are just too many to track down.

I'll end it with the only non-2009 card on this post. It's a 1996 Pinnacle/Select/Certified something-or-other. I find cards from the late '90s very confusing. The only thing I know about 1996 was it was the year I bought my house. I certainly wasn't thinking about cards then.

Fortunately, Cliff seems to be an expert on 1996 cards, as he posts periodically on them. So that's how I learn about what they were doing in '96. And, let me tell you, they were doing a LOT.

So there you are. Thanks to Cliff, I've made a bunch of headway on collecting 2009 Dodgers. I hope we'll do it again next year. It's too good of an idea to let slip away.