Trade With Reader Eric: I Got An E-Mail. I Was Offered A Clayton Kershaw Rookie Auto. I Made It Happen.

Seriously, I would be in heaven if I woke up every morning to an e-mail with an offer of a Kershaw autograph I needed/wanted/had to have at all costs. Will it happen again? I don't know, but it has happened once already. I completed my first trade with Eric S., who to my knowledge has no blog. He e-mailed me about a Kershaw autograph. I bit. Quickly.

This absolute stunner was the prize, without a doubt, of my end of the deal. I knew it would be difficult to obtain, but thankfully my previous eBay binges left me with an extra Carlos Santana sig, and Eric is an Indians fan. So a trade was born. It marks Kershaw autograph number sixteen. The Kershaw was the massive draw (on-card all day baby!), but Eric hooked me up with some more awesome stuff in return for other relics I sent his way.

Keeping with the Kershaw theme is this Photographer's Proof - #'d 05/50 - from 2008 Topps Stadium Club. It's an interesting parallel, and one I'm very pleased to knock off and not have to worry about anymore.

Next up, a sick, sick Mike Piazza jersey swatch with the majority of a Mets pinstripe! I'm in bad need of a Piazza as a Dodger relic. And a Piazza cardboard autograph.

I've somehow become an unofficial Josh Lindblom collector, much as Night Owl is the resident Jon Link SuperCollector. I don't mind being a haven for Lindblom autos though, as I like Josh and think he'll be a solid bullpen contributor for a number of years. Plus, the Bowman Sterling RC auto above - my fourth Lindblom signature - is an awesome card.

My second Jonas Hiller autograph! Wooo! This is the first of the two that's on-card. And it's a mini. Boosh. The man, aside from being an excellent goaltender, graced us with the greatest mask in hockey history.

And finally, a pair of player collection cards I needed/wanted/both. The Kemp is from 2009 and is the Ginter-back variation - which I needed - and the Kershaw RC mini is a standard back and my second of Kershaw's Ginter rookie in mini form. I love me some Ginter rookie mini madness.

Thanks for the great trade Eric! I hope you enjoy your end of the deal as much I love the cards you sent, and you should definitely start blogging. I look forward to trading again!