Today I took a much needed extra day off from work. I realized a couple of weeks ago that since I started my job back in February, the only time I had taken off was the day we closed on our new house, and then a few weeks later when I took off two days to move in. I was burned out. The job can be high stress, yet I’ve done it for years. I’m used to it. Management of that stress occurs by taking the occasional day off. I deserve it. And so do you. Mental health days are impactful people. If you can, take them!

So I decided to run a few errands. Get out of the house without the kids. Take my time doing stuff. I didn’t have to rush. That was nice. When I got home, I took a nap. Sleep is good, especially because I routinely stay up too late watching baseball and hockey on Hulu. When I woke up, the mail was here, and it was all for me! I thought I’d do a quick recap to highlight the newest entries in the collection.

Every Sunday, I try to participate in a couple of different trade threads. I really enjoy the group interactions that these threads bring, and it’s an opportunity to swap doubles for specific cards. This trade from user @lacunajuncards brought a couple of Series 2 Silver Pack refractors, and another Nolan Series 2 All-Star. I already have this Nolan for the set, so this one will go into the PC Binder. This trade saw a 2020 Topps Chrome Yordan Alvarez go the other way. Thanks Luke for the trade!

Silver Set Refractors: 10 / 50 Cards (20%). Got a long way to go before this set will get done.

Speaking of Nolan, we’ll quickly transition over to eBay and talk about this Action Variation from 2019 Heritage. I like this card in its simplicity. You can tell it’s another routine groundball that Nolan makes the play on 999 times out of a 1,000. You can tell he’s taking his time before making the throw over to first. A simple card that works, and another for the PC.

2019 Topps Heritage Nolan Arenado Action Variation

I will talk more about the Trading card database as I get into more of a routine of writing blogs. But I am a very active trader on TCDB (www.tcdb.com), where I joined the platform in March. Since that time, I have completed over 100 trades through the mail. Today’s trades are courtesy of users @Kep75 and @PhillipKnightScott.

The four 2019 Stadium Club cards from @Kep75 were received in exchange for four singles from 2020 Topps flagship. I am attempting to complete the Stadium Club set entirely through trade. These four bring my total up to 20 / 301 cards, so I’m 6.6% of the way there.

2019 Stadium Club courtesy of TCDB user @Kep75

The lack of retail at Targets and Wal-Mart also means that I am trying to put together Bowman through the mail. TCDB user @PhillipKnightScott sent me my second Mike Trout base card that I will use for this set. The first one I got was also through a TCDB trade, but it had a pretty rough corner thanks to some shoddy Postal Service work. This one looks much better. And when it’s coupled with an 85T insert of the hottest ball player on the planet, Fernando Tatis Jr., it’s a trade well executed. My half of this trade consisted of seven base cards from 2020 Topps, so this was a 7:2 swap. I don’t mind over paying if the cards I’m sending will help someone complete a set, and the cards I am getting back are star players.

2020 Bowman Base: 15 / 100 cards (15%)

2020 Topps Series 1 1985 Anniversary: 53 / 100 cards (100%)

2020 Bowman and ‘85T Insert Tatis courtesy of TCDB user: @PhillipKnightScott

Back to eBay though to finish off the day. I couldn’t resist this when I saw it. An iron on screen print of the classic Denver Broncos logo. Only cost me $5.00, but well worth it in my mind. This logo takes me back to my childhood, traveling over to Denver for every home game, watching Elway throw the ball a mile and generally rip the opposing secondary to shreds. This hobby is all about nostalgia, and this pick up shows that perfectly. I love it!

That’s it for today. Got a few more packages than normal today, but I wanted to show off the goods anyway. There should be more TCDB trades coming tomorrow. Hopefully I can find the energy to do another post on them (this was fun!), but work and family call. Until next time, stay safe and keep collecting.

J.D.