How I play the game.

I'm a nerd. I embrace the label. My career is in computers. I have been doing support of one form or another 20+ years. When I was younger, I was way into NASA and the space program. And if my regular email address isn't enough of a clue, I sort of like this certain pair of trilogies from a galaxy far, far away.

Though I nerd quite a bit, I am not going to call myself a gamer to the extent other people are. Oh - I game. When I can. I just don't feel the need to purchase every single release. There are a ton of games I have never played, and I have had zero desire to play them. And when it comes to MMOs, I only ever played three: Grepolis, Star Wars Galaxies and The Old Republic. I stopped playing Grepolis because I didn't have the desire to put in the time required for the changes they implemented. Galaxies got shut down. And TOR - I still have an account, but I have taken a break for a few months.

One of the main components of any MMO is the economy. Crafting and selling, or looting that rare item and putting it on the market gains you the game credits to do whatever. Me? I like wrecking economies. I think the whole premise is a bit silly, especially when you consider the price they put on some items. Think Listia cards from 1990 with a 999 credit start bid. So I am the guy that gets items, and completely undercuts the market. My basis is simple: an item is only worth what is sells for. I don't give a crap some rare crystal is "worth" 25 million credits. And the fifteen that are listed are no lower than that. However, they have been on the market for months! In my world, those are all worth zero, because that is how much credits each one has earned. So I get that crystal, post it for say 5 million, and it sells in less that 4 hours. Now I can go shopping.

Ok, "nice story, nerd" you think - "get to the point". My point is you would be surprised what I will trade for.

Those 5 SPs came from Roger at Sportscard Mask-a-Rade. Roger asked about a few A&G and GQ relics on my trade bait and offered these five SPs, plus another 7 cards. I said "pick out five". I hate stuff just sitting there, going nowhere. So 5 relics for 5 SPs is an awesome trade in my book. And when all 12 cards knock off wants, it's even better. Thanks a ton, Roger!

Continuing the SP train, here's a couple GQs from Listia

The Ginter SP of Barney comes from everyone's favorite Netherlander, Jereon, the Dutch Card Guy.

Well, everyone except for Nigel I guess. I have dropped a couple PWEs on Jereon (yes, it can be done with a forever international stamp), and Jereon stated he would return in kind. And he did - with about 60+ cards! Wat de hel ya grote flater!! (Google Translate don't fail me now!). In with that shortprint was a nice stack to kill my A&G wants for 2013. We have all seen them - do I really need to scan some? Fine, I will....

Pretty women all in a row.

Remember me from last year?

Daily, sweetheart. Daily....

And then, somehow, Jereon added about 20 ChiSox cards that I don't think I have a single copy of any. One would think, by now, I would get a dupe here and there when someone throws in some random team cards. Jereon did the improbable. Here's a small sample.

Good ol' Metal! Thanks again, Jereon. You have upped the ante on my return package.