Digital Card Trading: Part 3: The Community

Part of the fun of collecting cards as a kid was trading doubles or trading a fist full of cards for the one "holy grail" card that you wanted because it was a certain Chicago Cub player, or Boba Fett, or that final card to finish a set.  Trading gave a whole new value to having duplicates of cards.  There were really only two things to do with a duplicate card.  One was to put it in the spokes of your bike to make that buzzing sound that made us feel pretty cool, or the second was to trade those cards with friends.  

I never really thought of community much as a kid, but the friends we hung out with as kids were our community.  This, being a part of a community, is part of the fun digital card trading. We find a few people who are really fair traders, we make a few trades and we start creating a community.  Even better, the community isn't limited to who is in your neighborhood or school, it could be anyone around the world who shares the passion for cards like you do.  

Topps Digital Card Trading seems to understand this and has created ways for us to easily make connections.  We have the ability to search user names and follow friends and fellow card traders.  When we follow someone, we have the ability to see their collections and a couple different lists: a wish list and a trade list.  Most importantly, we have the opportunity to trade with those we are following.  This is the best way to have fun and finish sets.  I found that when I started building my followers list, my set completion jumped.  When I found my community, I have found that we are all pretty generous.    

Another way that Topps Digital Card Trading started building community was with "Watch Parties."  The first watch party my family took part in was the Disney Collect party for Onward.  Both of my girls downloaded the Disney Collect app and as we watched Onward, we collected the cards that dropped, and then we traded to complete the set that accompanied the Watch Party.  During the movie, we watched the community comments, and I was super impressed with how positive the community was in talking about the movie.   We had such a good time that when it was announced that there would be a Frozen II watch party, we were on board.  We started collecting as many credits as we could, so we could go crazy buying packs to finish the set during the film.   I have noticed that the watch parties have crossed over to Star Wars Card Trader, Marvel Collect, and Slam.  I really appreciated the efforts of the Bunt team to do watch parties during the MLB playoffs this year.  I watched more MLB playoff games than I normally do, to take part in the conversation with other fans of baseball.  

Finally, card collectors have built their own communities on social media.  One such community that connects to SWCT was started by the host of The Rebel Base Card podcast, Greg McLaughlin.  He created a community on Twitter around the hashtag #cardsquadron.  Greg often does a Friday check-in, to connect with his community and keep the conversation going.  It is pretty common for a newcomer to the app to join the card squadron and ask for a little help getting started.  Everyone jumps in and sends trades.  When sets are about to be completed, the community helps out with making connections to help members finish the sets.  Every now and again, I get random trades in my favor from members of #cardsquadron just because.  If SWCT is your thing, search out #cardsquadron and you will quickly discover the community, and you will be a part of one of the most positive and helpful groups out there.

When we are looking for positive ways to connect to others, the Digital Card Trading communities connect people with similar interests.  This is a fun way to build a collection and celebrate fandom with others who share our passions.  Get out there to collects and connect!  Have fun.  

What are some communities you are a part of through Digital Card Trading or even with print cards?  Who do you trade with?  What other ways do you celebrate the community of card collecting?  Share your thoughts, experiences, and ideas below.