Well, THAT Was A Mistake

I've really been enjoying the Topps Diamond Giveaway promotion this year. I know it has its detractors, but it's been cool playing the site, with a goal other than just grabbing up some common 1973 Cubs. My main goal this year was a team set of the Chicago Cubs from the Diamond Die Cut Series.

There were only six card in all for the Cubbies, and after accumulating an insane amount of singles from throughout the Topps years, I managed to turn my collection into all six Cubs die cuts, and just for fun, I grabbed up a few others, just to see what I could get in return. Before I knew it, my Cubs set was also accompanied by Josh Hamilton, Jackie Robinson, and Andre Ethier, which I soon traded for a 1984 Ryne Sandberg, the only regular issue Topps card of his that I do not own.

My collection was set, and I was ready to place my order, when Topps announced via Facebook that it would let collectors vote on three new die cut cards. Sure enough, Ryne Sandberg was one of eight in the Legends category, and he won. After what seemed like forever, the new cards went live and I was able to trade the Jackie Robinson straight up for my all-time favorite player, Ryne Sandberg.

I finally had my collection complete. Now I just had to place my order and call it a year for Topps. I soon saw somewhere that the new die-cut cards wouldn't be available until the end of November, so I decided to hold on to what I had until then.

Soon afterward, I had an offer for my Ryno for a 1953 card of Red Sox Catcher Gus Niarhos. I know it is no 1952, but '53s are few and far between on the Diamond Giveaway site. My thinking was, make the trade now, and wait for the offers to roll in for it. After all, I can flip that card for a large sum, trade some of it back for a Ryno, and have a few cards left over.

Well, three weeks went by, and nothing. No offers of any kind, no big trade proposals, nothing. I decided to put an end to this experiment, but I was sad to see that no other Sandberg Die Cut owners were as gullible as I was, so I began to panic. Trade offers of all kind were thrown out there, but no takers.

It was time to get creative.

The first thing I needed was another die-cut at the very least. Knowing that I needed a die cut of a hobby-friendly player, I threw out offers for any die cut of a hall of famer, as well as any current player who's name is pretty hot at he moment. One of those offers was accepted for a Clayton Kershaw.

Nobody took a straight up Sandberg-for-Kershaw deal, so I knew I had to sweeten the pot. I begrudgingly added my Josh Hamilton and within a 24-hour period, the deal was accepted. I was a feeling a little down about basically losing the Hamilton just to get a card I had a month ago, but I felt better when I looked on ebay and saw a few Hamiltons going for less than $10.

Sandbergs have been selling for $50.