Like someone flipped a switch

 

After an initial rush of trades on TCDB, what were my first dozen-or-so deals on the site, the offers dried up for several weeks.

I could have jumped-started some trades myself by making some offers finally, but I find that part very time-consuming and I've got limited time already. That's why I'll never whine about no TCDB trades because I know it's a two-way street.

But I don't have to deal with that particular issue right now because it's like someone flipped a switch, all of a sudden the offers are pouring in again.

This time several of the offers were from people I've dealt with a long time through the blogs, either they have their own blog or they've been a frequent commenter. As often is the case with my blog buddies, these trades are much less formal, even on TCDB, and we side-stepped some of the rules that are in place for when I transact with people on that site that I only know as a collection of letters and numbers.

But before I get to those trades, here's a quick one I turned over with a non-blogger, Jaysredlegs.

A couple of new-to-me Mike Piazzas. These are quite welcome because I've been sitting on a total of 666 Piazzas for a long time and that's made me a little uncomfortable. I know he decided to go into the Hall as a Met, but that doesn't mean he's evil.

OK, let's see some of the goodies from blogger types.

 

Dennis from Too Many Verlanders reached out to arrange a trade that for me meant getting a whole bunch of 1988 Pacific Legends.

 

This lot really got me close to finishing the '88 portion of the Legends, which is a little head-spinning considering how few of these I had just a few months ago. I'm down to the final 24 cards!

 

In typical blogger fashion, Dennis found a couple of Dodgers I needed and threw them in unannounced! I meant to do the same for him, but then stupidly forgot to include the card. I'm a bad blogger.

I also received these throw-ins for my 2005 Topps set chase from Tom of The Angels In Order. These weren't the main cards in the send.

 

These were.

Yes, 1985 Donruss.

I put in a claim for these when Tom pulled them out of a repack. A few of them are miscut, but most of them don't bother me. I can always replace the couple that are drastically off, because ... yes, here it comes:

I'm going to try to complete the '85 Donruss set.

Out of all the 1980s sets that I haven't yet completed or chased, this is my favorite. I've always liked it. You have to put yourself in the sneakers of a '70s kid to know why. The only black-border set that I had known since I started collecting was 1971 Topps. The appearance of '85 Donruss with a black border was wild (I didn't collect football so I knew nothing about 1985 Topps football).

My collecting in '85 was next to nothing. It is the start of my first collecting hiatus. So I think I bought maybe two packs of Donruss at the most. But I liked them.

So, Tom's cards, which he sent me by setting it up as a deal through TCDB, are kick-starting the quest.

But mr haverkamp just put it into overdrive with another TCDB trade.

All I had to do was send him some 2022 Topps extras -- he's decided to complete the set -- and I got all those Diamond Kings, plus ...

All of these!

After owning like 35 cards from the set for years, I've got more than 100. That's still a long way from 660 but I don't plan to chase this set heavily for quite awhile. The only want list you'll see is on TCDB.

 

I want to work on a few other sets that I've been chasing longer and Jim added one more card for one of those pursuits, 1986 Fleer. Down to 25 cards needed to finish it now.

So those TCDB deals have kept me busy. It's still keeping me busy. I just sent off my portion of a trade today and there are three more offers I need to get to, two of which include '85 Donruss.

Yeah, making offers myself may require a vacation. I'm having a difficult enough time keeping up with other people's offers.