Trading Mania - Losing My Virginity at The Bench

Reader James saw my Topps205 Luis Castillo scribble auto and sent me an e-mail stating he has the same card with the exact same scribble. He also noticed I was missing the 1956 Braves team set card with the "1955" variation in this post. James is apparently a very loyal reader! James happened to have a duplicate of that card that he upgraded for his set and offered it to me for trade. I said heeeeell yeah, what do you need? James is working on a Topps206 relic set (!!!) and wondered if I had any I could trade. I had a few (mostly Braves, natch) but no dupes. I did offer him the Bernie Williams and Doug Mientkavich ( I have no idea how to spell his name and I don't care) relics I had since I didn't mind giving them up as much as the others. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:


Problem is James already had both. Argh. However, James is a trader on The Bench and he said he could use them for future trade bait. Hooray! I've actually had a login on the Bench for a while but I never made any trades. I used it mostly to comment infrequently and to swipe ideas for posts from their threads. So we worked out a deal, these two cards and a fiver for the 1956 card I needed, plus I get to get my first post on The Bench. Then the Monster popped up.

I have a little critter who lives way back in my brain that acts irrational whenever I try to give up a "good" card. He's kind of like Daffy Duck in the cartoon with Bugs Bunny where they both find a genie's treasure. He jumps up a lot and yells "MINE! MINE! MINE!". This guy can be a real pain in the ass (Just ask Chris Harris about a Donruss CC. Sabathia card, go ahead) when I'm trying to trade and I had to fight him off to make this trade. Here's how my mind works: If it's a double, it's worthless. If it's a card I don't care about, it's worthless. If it's a card I like and not a double, it may as well be the Hope Diamond. Unfortunately, I happen to like Bernie Williams, so the Monster started making racket. It would have been no problem if James had actually needed the card as I respect anyone actually attempting to make up a difficult set like that. I finally beat the Monster into submission and made the deal. Here's my beauty:


Once I got it in my hands I forgot all about Bernie. This is a tough variation from that set that I have had problems finding. Now my 1956 Topps team set is really complete. Plus James actually needed the Bernie Williams card! It was a third series relic that he didn't have. Here's the back:

I've always liked these team cards for the diagram of the ballpark in the corner. It's a really nice looking card, shame about the marks on the front, but I'll never begrudge someone for marking a checklist. Plus there was a bonus:

Two more Goudeys off my want list. Brilliant! Great trade all around and one of these days I'll have to do some more swapping on the Bench.