1954 Bowman #191 Karl Drews

I was recently on the good end of a lopsided baseball card trade.  Reader John had contacted me before Christmas to ask if I'd be interested in a trade.  "But of course," I replied.  John had taken the time to go through my wantlists and list out the cards he had to offer in exchange for cards off his wantlists.  He mentioned he'd trade heavy in my favor.  I had no idea how true that statement would prove to be.

John's Phillies wantlist is extremely impressive.  He's down to needing turn of the century tobacco cards, obscure inserts from the '50s and '60s, oddball cards from the '80s and random parallel cards from the '90s, along with one or two cards from base sets throughout the '80s and '90s. I attacked his wantlist with zeal, only to come away with about a dozen Phillies cards from my doubles pile from the '80s and '90s.

1958 Topps #268

True to his word, John still wanted my pitiful little pile and in exchange he'd send me 10 cards from the '50s from my wantlists.  Well the cards arrived today, and I'm sitting here wondering if this is how the Indians' general manager felt when he unloaded Von Hayes for five Phillies players in December 1982.  I received this 1954 Bowman card, two cards from 1957 Topps, and eight cards from 1958 Topps.  (The other Topps cards will be prominently featured in upcoming "Topps Phillies" posts.)

Thank you John, and I've saved your wantlist in the hopes of finding some of the other cards you're trying to track down.

If you're looking for a good trading partner and you happen to have any extra Phillies tobacco cards, Bazooka cards from the '60s, or even a spare '97 Bowman's Best Atomic Refractor, let me know and I'll gladly shoot you John's e-mail.