I'll trade ya this for a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle

Elemenopeo

Here's an idea I've been tinkering with for a while -- to try to gradually trade my way up from some dime-a-dozen card to a PSA-graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. It's not an original idea. It's based on the same idea employed by the guy who, a couple years back or so, started with just a red paper clip and made a series of trades until he ended up with a house. I haven't heard of anyone trying something similar with sports cards, but I imagine someone has. Even so, I'd like to give it a shot myself. Today, seems like as good a day as any to get things started.

Here are the basic ground rules I'm setting for myself: The trades can only be one card for one card, though the cards involved can be sports cards or non-sports cards. No monetary exchange can be involved. The only expenses I'm willing to incur are those for shipping the card from my end of the deal. And the ultimate goal is to acquire a '52 Topps Mantle graded PSA 1 (or better, I suppose) with no qualifiers. Pretty simple rules, and they aren't likely to change, but I'll reserve the right to do so if some unforeseen circumstances arise.

I'm not looking for grossly lopsided deals (though I probably wouldn't turn them down), but I'll always be looking to gain value. Of course, I'll be gauging value based on the various guides and resources available to me and my own best judgment. And there are no particular kind of cards I'm looking for, but I will take into consideration a card's future trade-ableness.

And just so this won't be a completely self-serving venture, my plan for the Mantle, if and when I acquire it, is this: to hold on to it long enough to enjoy it for a while and show it off to family and friends (a few months, I imagine); then, auction it off and split the net proceeds with half going to charity and the other half going into my 2-year-old daughter's college savings plan.

In keeping with the red-paper-clip theme, I wanted to start with something truly pathetic. And here it is, a 1986 Topps #418 Alan Knicely in no worse than EX condition ...




Yep, the plan is to parlay this baby into a '52 Mantle. I dug around the dregs of my collection a bit today, but didn't find anything that could really get under this one in terms of value and overall visual appeal. (My apologies to any Alan Knicely fans out there.) I actually pulled this last year in one of our group rips.

Obviously, the first trade, at least, will have to be with someone very sympathetic to the cause here because to say this is a dime-a-dozen card is really overstating its worth.

If you would like to make an offer for this or any other future card on the trading block, please send me a PM or email me at elemenopeo@gmail.com rather than post your offer on this thread. After the first few trades or so (if it gets that far), I'll probably fish around for offers on other boards as well.

Blackie

I hope you find a trader

Davemri

Good luck with that one.......

elsnorto

I would be willing to offer a 1986 Alan Knicely in NRMT-MT condition.

Snorto~

bigfische

Awsome idea! Ill be following along and jump in with a trade if i like anything. Having said that, in the true spirit of the red paper clip, you shouldnt take grosly lopsided trades. If the trade is way in your favor, it is like a charity case, not a true trade. I DO very much want you to get your Mantle!


edited to add ----nt

Sheamaster

Do you have a scan of the back?

mosaic

I don't know if you've had any offers yet, but I will trade you your pick of a 1987 Topps Nolan Ryan (4 sharp corner, NRMT+), a 1986 Topps Nolan Ryan PSA 8, a 1973 Topps Nolan Ryan (OC w a bent corner), or a 2005 eTopps Nolan Ryan Classic eVent card (uncirc, still in sealed eTopps slab) for that 86 Knicely. Not all four... just one *grin*

It'd be fun to be part of such a nutty, but cool undertaking.

sayheykid54

I will trade you a 1981 Topps Mike Schmidt card. Let me know.

Elemenopeo

<< <i>Do you have a scan of the back? >>









And thanks, mosaic and sayheykid54, for those offers! Some great cards to chose from there. I've already received a couple other interesting offers as well, but I'll probably wait until tomorrow to see what, if any, others come in and then chose the best deal. And, again, I'd prefer if folks would PM or email any offers.

mosaic

Either way, please keep this thread updated.

If you don't accept one of my offers now, I'm sure I'll PM you in the future until the antes get too far outta my range *grin*

Allen

I will give you a PSA 1 1952 Topps Mantle and you can try to upgrade from there.

Oh wait, I didn't PM you the deal. My bad, I guess that nullifies it.

Elemenopeo

<< <i>I will give you a PSA 1 1952 Topps Mantle and you can try to upgrade from there.

Oh wait, I didn't PM you the deal. My bad, I guess that nullifies it. >>



Wow. Just trying to have some fun, Allen. Sorry if the PM thing is obnoxious. It's just what I thought would be the best way to do it. If anyone would rather post an offer here, it's no problem at all. Sheesh.

jamesryanbell

<< <i>







>>



He made those at-bats count in '79, '80 and '85.

Allen

Just tryin to have some fun here too. Relax mate, you'll live longer.

MooseDog

Elemenopeo - I'll hopefully provide you a little incentive in your quest. At some point in your trading up I will trade you a card and free website hosting so you can document your dealings for everyone to see.

For what it's worth I like the Sharks and A's and vintage baseball and hockey autographs.

Good luck.

Allen

He said he will only do one card for one card deals, nothing else involved. So I guess AlanKnicelytoMickeyMantle.com will have to wait.

BunchOBull

Cool idea. Beckett Baseball Card Monthly ran a monthly update sort of like this in the mid-90s. They started with pack of cards, and for several years traded up. Every month they would document the trade ups in the magazine. I don't remember how it ended, but it was in the thousands of dollars. Good luck.

TNTonPMS

Interesting idea, I'll be staying tuned .

Too bad for the contract thing though , it would have been sweet to have it done so fast !

Elemenopeo

Just to update... I've accepted an offer on the '86 Knicely, and I'll post a scan of the new card on the trading block when it arrives. Thanks again to everyone who made such generous offers. It was a tough choice, but I really couldn't go wrong with no way to go but up.

EagleEyeKid

Just out of curiosity, how long did it take that guy to get a house
from a red paper clip?

Elemenopeo

Exactly one year, apparently. LINK to the red-paper-clip guy's site.

rube26105

that is absolutely nuts,i just read the whole red paperclip thing,alice cooper holding the giant red paperclip lol-too cool of a story,wonder what somebody would give for a native american indian arrowhead i dug up on riverbank?i could use another house to store stuff in!!!!!
Randy

JackWESQ

Dear Elemenopeo,

If you make it, I think the most interesting trade will have to be the final trade that gets you the 1952 Mantle. For a person who actually has a Mantle, I can't imagine there are too many cards he/she is looking for such that he/she is willing to give up the Mantle. I'm guessing it would have to be something from a completely different spectrum. Some thoughts:

1. A car ...
2. Super Bowl tickets ...
3. Sony 52" XBR LCD TV
4. Babe Ruth Single Signed Baseball

/s/ JackWESQ

thekid8

Great Idea and congrats to the person who completed the trade for the Alan Knicely --- if this works and after the book and movie(s) come out I am sure that the Alan Knicely card will fetch a very nice amount of money.

Elemenopeo

Well, here's the new card on the trading block, a 1950 Drake's #8 Whitey Lockman for which I traded away my 1986 Topps #418 Alan Knicely.





I have board member ZodiacMindwarp to thank for the trade. Like I said before, it was tough to chose from the offers I received, but I went with this one primarily due to its relative scarcity compared to the others. Currently, there are zero 1950 Drake's cards up for auction on eBay, though there are a few to be found in eBay stores, starting at $60. Obviously, this one is in poor shape, but is still serviceable as a type example of the 36-card set which I had never seen prior to this... and I find small, vintage, off-the-beaten-path sets like this really appealing. So, in the end, I couldn't resist.

Anyway, a big thank you to ZodiacMindwarp (who has an incredible collection of 1965 Topps Embossed cards, by the way).

And, of course, if anyone is interested in the 1950 Drake's Lockman and has something to trade, please let me know.

ZodiacMindwarp

Good luck with the trade and thanks for the props on my embossed set.

I look forward to reading about your progression.

rube26105

cool card,1st one i have ever saw before!
Randy

Elemenopeo

Reached a deal today for the Drake's Lockman. Woohoo! Of course, I'll post scans of the new card when it arrives, but it may take a while to get here from Canada.

rube26105

everybody read the red paperclip link, its crazy good lol- gene simmons and the guy on stage witha big red paperclip/alice cooper,you got a website for this yet elemenopeo?
randy

Elemenopeo

No, I haven't given any thought to a Web site for this. This thread will have to do for the time being.

TNTonPMS

<< <i>Dear Elemenopeo,

If you make it, I think the most interesting trade will have to be the final trade that gets you the 1952 Mantle. For a person who actually has a Mantle, I can't imagine there are too many cards he/she is looking for such that he/she is willing to give up the Mantle. I'm guessing it would have to be something from a completely different spectrum. Some thoughts:

1. A car ...
2. Super Bowl tickets ...
3. Sony 52" XBR LCD TV
4. Babe Ruth Single Signed Baseball

/s/ JackWESQ >>


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmmmmm . . . . .

TheCARDKid

What a cool idea! Two thumbs up for creativity. People should do more trades in the hobby.

Have you thought about blogging your story. It might get picked up by word of mouth and spread (I remember reading that paper clip story, it certainly got around).

Estil

I wonder if this would work with sets as well. Like, I have a spare 1995 Ultra regular set lying around; I wonder what I could get from that with enough trades?

Goodsport40

This will be a ton of fun to watch develop. Another great thread! This is more like the fun of a few years back. Kudos to Elemenopeo, Ron B. and Rube, among others, who are making this board fun again.


Robert

jmbkb4

Elemenopeo,

I'll give you a mint 1993 Refractor of Kevin Mitchell for the Drake's card.

uniship

I'll give you an 85 topps Alan Knicely for the drakes card.

Elemenopeo

I think you guys may have missed the earlier post that the Drake's card is already spoken for, but I appreciate the (K)nice offers.

jlzinck

<< <i>I think you guys may have missed the earlier post that the Drake's card is already spoken for, but I appreciate the (K)nice offers. >>



Can you tell us the 2nd card?

As a way to make this grow and get some publicity out of this venture I would you should auction off the Mantle for charity if it gets that far.

I see Teddy Ballgame is your avatar so the Jimmy Fund is a good charity!


Good luck and I may joing the trade up fray!!!

Elemenopeo

<< <i>Can you tell us the 2nd card?

As a way to make this grow and get some publicity out of this venture I would you should auction off the Mantle for charity if it gets that far.

I see Teddy Ballgame is your avatar so the Jimmy Fund is a good charity! >>




I don't want to advertise what the next card is until I have it in hand and the person I'm trading with has their new card in hand and everything's kosher. Just want to avoid any confusion if anything were to go wrong.

And I'll hold off on picking a charity for now, but as I said in the original post, if I do somehow manage to succeed at this, I'll auction off the Mantle and split the net proceeds between a charity and my little girl's college fund. She may need a back up plan though.

chaz43

<< <i>Here's an idea I've been tinkering with for a while -- to try to gradually trade my way up from some dime-a-dozen card to a PSA-graded 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle. It's not an original idea. It's based on the same idea employed by the guy who, a couple years back or so, started with just a red paper clip and made a series of trades until he ended up with a house. I haven't heard of anyone trying something similar with sports cards, but I imagine someone has. Even so, I'd like to give it a shot myself. Today, seems like as good a day as any to get things started.

Here are the basic ground rules I'm setting for myself: The trades can only be one card for one card, though the cards involved can be sports cards or non-sports cards. No monetary exchange can be involved. The only expenses I'm willing to incur are those for shipping the card from my end of the deal. And the ultimate goal is to acquire a '52 Topps Mantle graded PSA 1 (or better, I suppose) with no qualifiers. Pretty simple rules, and they aren't likely to change, but I'll reserve the right to do so if some unforeseen circumstances arise.

I'm not looking for grossly lopsided deals (though I probably wouldn't turn them down), but I'll always be looking to gain value. Of course, I'll be gauging value based on the various guides and resources available to me and my own best judgment. And there are no particular kind of cards I'm looking for, but I will take into consideration a card's future trade-ableness.

And just so this won't be a completely self-serving venture, my plan for the Mantle, if and when I acquire it, is this: to hold on to it long enough to enjoy it for a while and show it off to family and friends (a few months, I imagine); then, auction it off and split the net proceeds with half going to charity and the other half going into my 2-year-old daughter's college savings plan.

In keeping with the red-paper-clip theme, I wanted to start with something truly pathetic. And here it is, a 1986 Topps #418 Alan Knicely in no worse than EX condition ...




Yep, the plan is to parlay this baby into a '52 Mantle. I dug around the dregs of my collection a bit today, but didn't find anything that could really get under this one in terms of value and overall visual appeal. (My apologies to any Alan Knicely fans out there.) I actually pulled this last year in one of our group rips.

Obviously, the first trade, at least, will have to be with someone very sympathetic to the cause here because to say this is a dime-a-dozen card is really overstating its worth.

If you would like to make an offer for this or any other future card on the trading block, please send me a PM or email me at elemenopeo@gmail.com rather than post your offer on this thread. After the first few trades or so (if it gets that far), I'll probably fish around for offers on other boards as well. >>




What crack pipe are you smokin' ???? chaz

digicat

<< <i>What crack pipe are you smokin' ???? chaz >>



Probably the same one that the dude who thought he could trade a red paper clip up to a house toked from.

It's a magic crack pipe with a genie in it.

Elemenopeo

Here's the next card on the block, a 1964 Philadelphia Forrest Gregg PSA 6, courtesy of xbaggypants who took the 1950 Drake's Whitey Lockman in a smooth trade across the Canadian border. Thanks, Eh! The Lockman took a little more time and effort to move than I thought it would, but I think I ended up with a good deal.

I like this as a next step because it's a graded card from a popular set (here's a LINK to an old SMR article on the set), has good eye appeal and has decent name recognition with Gregg... and it could have particular appeal to Packers or Bengals fans eager to make a trade.

As always, drop me a PM here or an email at elemenopeo@gmail.com if interested.

ZodiacMindwarp

That's a sharp looking 6!

Good luck with your next trade.

Bosox1976

Looks like a sure 7 - does your trade policy preclude crack and resubmit?

Elemenopeo

<< <i>Looks like a sure 7 - does your trade policy preclude crack and resubmit? >>



That's a good question, and one I've been pondering in case the situation arises, but it's not an issue with this card. Six is the right grade. The corners are sharp, but the bottom right corner (and the bottom left to a lesser degree) has a ding to it that doesn't show up in the scan and that you have to hold at a bit of an angle to see.

nam812

What does the Gregg usually sell for, and once we know that number, what do you need above that number to make the next trade?

Elemenopeo

<< <i>What does the Gregg usually sell for, and once we know that number, what do you need above that number to make the next trade? >>



Well, the only PSA 6 sale that VCP has on record went for $6.50 (plus $2 shipping) in March. I'd be looking for something with a value at least a couple bucks more than that, but I'm also looking for something with as much trade-ability (for lack of a better word) as possible. It's not a requirement at all, but cards that have something unusual about them or that are a little more off the beaten path than say a regular issue Topps card would probably better suit my purpose.... I think. We'll see.

rube26105

<What crack pipe are you smokin' ???? chaz>


take time to read the link on the 2nd page about the red paper clip for a house,sounds nuts but its true,alice cooper and gene simmons,and a guy with a ton of snowglobes are in there too!!very interesting story!

bifff257

<< <i>a 1964 Philadelphia Forrest Gregg PSA 6, >>




Nice card, good luck with your next trade...

Wondo

I offer this Mattingly Rook for the Gregg.

gemint

I'll trade you a mint 1986 Alan Knicely for that Forrest Gregg.

Sorry I couldn't resist.