Top 5 2025 Bunt Base Cards

The Major League Baseball season has come to a close which means we are in the final quarter of 2025.  It is time for my annual series of Top Base Cards from Bunt, Marvel Collect, and Star Wars Card Trader.  This week I will cover 5 of my favorite Bunt base cards. 

In December and January, we will take a look at the insert cards of Common, Uncommon, Rare, Super Rare and Epic rarities.  I do not get Legendary cards in my collection.  But today, we focus on what makes a card set special...it is the base cards.  

With no further delay, here are my Top 5 Bunt Base Cards in no particular order: 

5.  Gunner Henderson 2025 Bunt Base - Series 1

Anyone who has read my past assessments of digital baseball cards knows I love cards that show action.  Action makes this card of Gunner Henderson a top card of the 2025 Base Set. 

4.  Josh Winckowski  2025 Bunt Base - Series 1

This card really catches the moment.  In this case, an intense moment of Josh Winckowski looking in for the sign for his catcher.  This is a great card to play "What Happens Next."  

3.  Julio Rodriguez  2025 Bunt Base - Series 1

A good base card catches the personality of a player as in this card of Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners.  Cards like this really make the game and players likeable.  

2. Alexis Diaz  2025 Bunt Base - Series 1

That wind-up!  What a leg kick from Alexis Diaz!  This is what a baseball card is all about that action moment that shows us the moment something great is about to happen.  That moment when the baseball is about to be up in play.  Magnificent! 

1.  Lawrence Butler  2025 Bunt Base - Series 1

The cool factor.  Lawrence Butler looks super cool in his wrap-around mirror glasses.  By the way, there is no sarcasm in that statement.  He does look really cool in this card (even with his neon green and pink mittens).  Look at the full seats in the background.  This is a great card.  It caught my eye from the release of the set.  

My Top 5 Topps Bunt 2024 Base Cards

Ah, collecting the classic Topps baseball cards as a kid in the 1980's.  That was me.  Coming home from the drug store with 3-4 packs in my pocket.  I was looking for Chicago  Cubs players: Ryne Sandberg, Ron Cey, Leon Durham, and others.  My friends and I would trade, but we would always end up with doubles of players we didn't know or care about.  So, we would slap a clothespin on the back forks of our bike, slide that baseball card double in the clip and stick it through the spokes.  We would cruise up and down the street with our bike-cycle buzzing.  Base cards of a set are like that; you end up with a whole bunch.  But they are a great way to get a good look at who these players are.  Some card pictures are staged and profile-like.  Some cards are position players up to bat, and the pitchers often get a mid- throw shot.  All of them are pretty cool when flipping through the cards and checking career stats on the back of the card. 

In Topps Bunt digital card trading app, there are 450 series 1 base cards, and while I haven't checked recently, I would bet I have dupes of most of them if not all.  The other day I decided to flip through the base cards, since I don't really take a good look at them after the initial release.  Who are the names?  Who has had a good season?  Are there any rookie sensation base cards?  It is fun; it's why we collect.  

Here are my Top 5 Bunt 2024 Base Cards with a comment about the style of each one:  

5.  Brandon Lowe, 2024 Bunt Base Series - White

Classic shot of the backswing of a hitter while catching most of his face so fans can recognize him.  Also does a nice job of showing the "battle worn" helmet.  Super cool.  

4.  Andrew Abbott, 2024 Bunt Base Series 1 - White

If I were a pitcher, this mid-pitch action shot is definitely what I would want on my base card!  

3.  Ezequiel Tovar, 2024 Bunt Base Series 1 - White

The action shots get my attention, and what better way to capture a short stop than on a throw over to first base.  This is a great mid-motion shot for Tovar.  

2.  Kyle Hendricks, 2024 Bunt Base Series 1 - White

I love this "in the stretch" position for a pitcher's card.  This card also gives a good sense of background.  A good card will also place you in the game like you are there watching.  This card, blurred, has lots of fan space.  That is a good quality for a card.  

1.  Francisco Alvarez, 2024 BUNT Base Series 1 - White

I love this in-game action of Alvarez lifting his mask and his colorful chest pad popping on this card.  It also has the background factor too.  

I want to take a second to discuss the boarder features.  The boarder has a modern look all the way around with the right side multilayered.  Pretty coo.  I like the team logo in the bottom right.  It is clear, but it doesn't dominate the picture/card.  The name of the players is clearly found at the bottom of the card.  The only criticism is the that the player's position does blend in at the bottom.  I don't mind the placement, but maybe a bit larger font.  Still, I really liked this set.  How about a bonus card?  

Bonus: Austin Gomber, 2024 BUNT Base Series 1 - White

What's up the the bonus?  It is my list and I couldn't leave this one off.  As the top 5, this card has good action in mid pitch, but what I really like about this card is it shows rain falling.  The drops are all around him.  Once again, anything that makes me, the collector, feel like I was there to take the picture myself is awesome.    

My Top 5 Marvel Collect Base Cards

I love opening packs of trading cards.  It makes no difference if they are physical cards that I can hold and flip over or digital cards that I flip on the screen of my device.  The hope of getting something special, an epic card or even a legendary card, is always hiding right behind the package. But the heart of a trading card pack is the base card.  These cards are fun to collect at first, but over time they start to pile up and the value seems to be lost.  However, I believe they all deserve another look because they are the the heart of the set.  

Here are my Top 5 Marvel Collect base cards from the 2024 set.  

5.  War Machine, '24 Base, Series 1 - White - Tier 1- Search Term: 24base

I have a couple of these "in your face" action cards in the Top 5.  This one just kinda catches your eyes.  I like the use of light in this card, quite dramatic. 

4. Old Man Hawkeye, '24 Base, Series 1 - White - Tier 1 Search Term: 24base

The grit and action here really capture the character of Old Man Hawkeye.  You can see the movement, and I'm pretty sure I know what is about to happen.  Somebody's day isn't going to go how they thought it might.  

3. X-23, '24 Base, Series 1 - White - Tier 1 Search Term: 24base

As promised, another "in your face" action card.  X-23 is a super cool character, so I was glad that she got a super cool base card.  Don't blink, she'll get you!  

2.  Spider-Punk, 24 Base - Series 1 - White - Tier 1 Search Term: 24base

Okay, you all know my love for Peter Parker Spider-man, but Spider-Punk has really caught my attention in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.  Spider-Punk is from Earth-138, and let's just say, he's a pretty cool punk.  He definitely has a great look.  

1.  Green Goblin, '24 Base - Series 1 - White Tier 1  Search Term: 24base

He is the only villain on the list, but take a look and you'll see why.  Check out the use of color on this card!  It really pops.  I especially like this card with the Base Tier 6 purple boarder.  It is just a beautiful card with some pretty beautiful awfulness coming Spidey's way.  

Top 5 Topps Bunt Cards of 2022

Another year of Topps Bunt digital card trading in 2022 brought out some really cool and fun sets.  This is a Top 5 list of some of my favorite cards and sets.  I digitally own all of the cards shown, but I may not own the complete sets.  Here we go!  

5.  Topps Original Artwork 22, Juan Soto, Rare, 13,111 card count

Original art always stands out to me, and while there isn't anything particularly fancy about these cards themselves, I really like the simple nature of them.  The focus is very much on the players.  I also like that this variant of the set only has five cards.   

4.  Halloween Collection 22, Javy Baez, Uncommon, 64.626 card count

While I don't always collect all of them, I do enjoy the holiday sets that come out.  This Halloween collection stands out.  It is very colorful and has a real, spooky feel.  A lot of variants and subsets came with collecting cards from this set.  To quote my digital card-collecting friend and host of the Rebel Base Card podcast, Greg McLaughlin, "this set has lots of tasty nuggets."  I think what he meant is with all the uncommon, rare, and super rare variants, there were a lot of insert cards to collect, and once you got deep into cracking packs, the odds were that something would be popping out often.  I have four copies of this Javy Baez card, so I am trading for any uncommon 2022 card I don't have if you are in need of this card.  I highly recommend checking out the cards in this set.  They are full of spooky baseball fun.  

3. MLB at Field of Dreams 22, Wilson Contreras, Uncommon, 31,286 card count

The Field of Dreams games that the MLB has played in Dyersville, Iowa at the sight of the filming of the iconic film Field of Dreams the last two seasons have been very successful and brought lots of attention.  When Topps Bunt brought out a set of the two teams who played there in 2022, I knew I would have to pick up this set of 50 cards, because my beloved Chicago Cubs played and are highlighted in the set along with their opponent the Cincinnati Reds.  I love the classic look of the border and font with a different player from each team highlighted on the card with a cornfield in the background.  So cool.  I have all but 3 cards in this set with lots of dupes.  I would love to fill this set if you have the cards I need. 

2. Topps Now 22, Aaron Judge, Uncommon, 18,024 card count

This is one of my favorite sets.  I don't collect them all, in fact, I don't come anywhere close to collecting all of these daily sets of the season and off-season.  I generally collect when players of my teams (Cubs and Tigers) appear on the Topps Now cards, or I will chase them when I feel something significant has happened like a No-Hitter or something.  So, when Aaron Judge belted home run 62, that seemed appropriate.  These cards always have sharp images of the highlights of the prior day's games.  

1. Topps 206 22, Anthony Rizzo, Uncommon 42,530 card count

This set topps my list (pun intended).  I really enjoy when Bunt creators use throwback borders and card styles.  These mini-cards from way before my time are cool when they show players of today.  This set had 4 series in 2022, and I didn't get nearly enough of these cards.  I am very willing to trade dupes of these cards for cards of this set that I didn't get which is a pretty significant number.  

Top 5 Marvel Collect Sets for 2021

The Topps Digital Cards "Top 5" lists continue!  If you missed the first post that revealed my choices for the Top 5 Insert and Award Cards from Marvel Collect, click here to view that first.  Today, I will be looking at the  Top 5 Marvel Collect sets for 2021.  The criteria for this list are that these are sets that I chased during the year.  I may not have been able to finish the sets, but I did chase them and I have several cards from the sets.  It is likely we collected different sets; therefore, your list will be awesome but different.  The purpose of this list is not to evaluate all sets in the app for 2021, just the ones I attempted to collect.  Have fun and let me know what your top digital sets are for Marvel Collect in 2021!  If you want to see more cards from these sets, check out my collection on Marvel Collect Username: CYCLELIBRARIAN

I only trade doubles, but if I have doubles, make a fair trade.  I just might accept!

5.  Black Widow Premiere Collection, Rare, 12 card set, DNF 7/11 collected

This set was released in coordination with the film last spring.  What drew my eye to this set was the "dirty," unrefined style of the art to match the grittiness of the film and the Black Widow story.  I also was drawn to the dramatic use of the black and white format with the red splashed in on select cards.  There were a couple key cards to this set that I was not able to get (there are only so many credits!), but the cards I do have in my collection are cherished.  

4.  Avenger Bookmarks, Uncommon, 8 card set, finished 8/8 collected

As a librarian, how could I pass up on this set?  Avenger Bookmarks?  Yes, please.  Turns out, I really liked the modern art and style of these bookmarks.  I am waiting for these to come out as actual bookmarks one day!  Love these.  

3. Sanctum Sanctorum, Rare, 9 card set, DNF 4/9 collected

If you are a fan of Dr. Strange like I am, it would be hard to keep this set off a "best of" list.  This set is full of dark purple and red colors as Dr. Strange is depicted in different scenes of spell casting.  He is joined by other Marvel characters in several cards.  Characters like Clea, Spider-Man and Loki make appearances in this set.  It hits number three on my list for the dynamic value of color and scenes of magic.  

2. Vintage Panels, Uncommon, Waves 11 and 12 include 10 cards each wave, finished 20/20 collected

I have been collecting these cards from the first wave.  In fact,  I am only missing three cards from all waves and all three missing cards come from the first wave.  As you may remember from past lists, I really enjoy comic panels on cards and that is what this set is all about!  Each panel focuses on one character and each set follows a variety of classic characters including, Spider-man, Ghost Rider, Iron Man, Ant-man, Nova, Hawkeye, Rocket Racoon, and many more.  

1. Marvel Architechs, Rare, 11 card set, DNF 7/11 completed

Most of my list is made up of some pretty classic art and comic panels, but the Marvel Architechs set is digital candy for the eyes!  With black backgrounds, the color make the characters pop right out of the cards.  Characters whose uniforms are dark, as seen on the X-Force card, create a menacing tone with white and gray shading.  The detail in the characters are sharp, and perspective lines coming out of the center of the card push the characters right off the screen.  This set is exceptional and worth a look.  

Top 5 Marvel Collect Insert and Award Cards for 2021

It is time for my second annual review of the Topps Digital Card apps top cards.  This week I will be looking at my Top 5 Marvel Collect Insert and Award Cards for 2021.  Sticking with the same criteria as last year, this is a list of the Top 5 cards that I collected.  If you are looking at your sets, it is likely we collected different sets and cards; therefore, your list will be awesome but different.  The purpose of this list is not to evaluate all cards in the app for 2021, just the ones I have collected.  Have fun and let me know what your top digital cards are for Marvel Collect in 2021!  If you want to see these cards and others from the sets, check out my collection on Marvel Collect Username: CYCLELIBRARIAN

I only trade doubles, but if I have doubles, make a fair trade.  I just might accept!

5. Peter Parker from the Comic Impact Collection, Super Rare, 842 Global Count

Spider-man makes several of my top five cards.  I like the aesthetics of this card titled Peter Parker with the black/gray brick border.  The card features Spider-man with his mask off, suspended on his web over New York City.  This card is all Spidey, but it shows his uncertainty of having his mask off in public.  Being Spider-man, though, his identity is probably pretty safe up in the sky.  

4.  Infinity Cover #8 from the Infinity Comic Collection set, Super Rare, 1086 Global Count

This card is a reproduction of a variant cover to the Infinity Comic.  The card is fun to look at and very light in content as the baby Avengers play on a classic arcade game that has Thanos on the outer case of the video game console.  I like the retro feel of the hero community playing an arcade game console along with the dire situation of combating Thanos.  I especially appreciate a brooding hulk letting Cap stand on his shoulders to command the battle. My guess is these baby Avengers probably don't have enough quarters to finish the game.  

3.  Spider-Man #5 from the 90's Collection, Rare, 3605 Global Count

I love the comic panel cards and 2021 brought us a common set with tons of cards with comic panels.  Spider-Man #5 comes from a different set, the 90's Collection which has some really cool and unique cards in a sharp-looking card design.  I like how the right-hand side of this particular card has the larger border on the right and the Spider-Man title printed down the side with the Marvel logo at the bottom right corner.  This page of panels is cool, and the card is very appealing.   

2. Carnage vs. Spider-Man Award Card

There is so much happening in this classic Spider-Man vs. Carnage battle card.  First, the border is all comic book look with comic box and lettering background with blue, black and red colors.  Then, the action is in the center of the card.  It appears that Carnage has the upper hand on Spidey (as he often does in a battle with Spider-Man), but it appears that maybe Spidey has a plan to perform an upper kick to the face of Carnage as they battle on the top of a skyscraper in NYC.  I love the realism and detail to this card and the blinding white of the background brings the battle to focus. I've spent more time than I should just playing this moment of battle out in my head.  

1.  Cable from the Topps Weekly Original Art Set, Rare, 5258 Global Count

While the Carnage vs. Spider-Man card is full of color, action and detail, my top card of 2021 is all about the simplicity of a sketch card.  It isn't often that you come across a card with Cable where the focus isn't massive guns, weaponry, and armor that Cable typically carries with him.  This card is just the man.  The techno-organic virus is clearly present on the left side of his body, and his organic arm, showing the massive bicep and musculature that we have come to expect, is all Cable.  This card demonstrates Cable's dominance as a soldier and a leader of the X-Men.  I love original art, and I love original art of my favorite X-Man, Cable. 

A Fun Trading Card Activity

I recently read a short article published online by Becket that gave me some ideas and fun ways to display a baseball card collection.  It would work with any card collection.  In essence, take a set of baseball cards, film cards, game cards, and choose your favorite nine cards from a set.  The criteria could be nine players from the same team, nine favorite signature cards, nine cards with your favorite art.  It could be anything that strikes you at the moment.

Choosing the nine cards is the fun of this activity!  It gives you a chance to review the collection in more detail.  In some cases, it lets you revisit a set that you haven't looked at in a long time.  Once you've got your nine cards chosen, then grab a clear, 9-pocket sheet for cards.  Arrange your cards how you want in the 9-pocket sheet then use that to display your cards!  You could display them in a frame to look at on a shelf or on the wall of an office, or you could collect sheets in a binder that you keep out for frequent viewing.  Instead of having the entire 2-inch thick set binder, this creates a binder of multiple sets in a small, easy-to-view binder of your favorite cards.  

I really like that in order to create set sheets of favorite cards, you need to really dig through sets of cards.  Pull those binders or card boxes out of the basement storage area, and look at those cards that you love so much!  What good are they doing hiding in the basement or crawl space or closet?  Sure, they are out of the way and protected, but didn't we buy them because they are fun to look at?  I also like when I get tired of looking at the nine I chose, I can revisit the set and switch them out for another nine and continue to enjoy my sets of cards.

I don't know about all of you, but I have cards all over the place that I never get to look at because they are carefully put away in boxes and carefully placed on shelves off the floor in my basement storage area. Why do I do that?  Yes, they are nice and organized and safe, but I never get to look at them.  I have Star Wars cards, Topps Baseball and Football, Pokemon cards, Magic the Gathering cards.  My kids have Hello Kitty and My Little Pony and Pokemon cards.  With this activity, we spent 20 minutes recently filling some sheets to enjoy.  That is all it took.  A few minutes to locate the boxes and 15 minutes to flip through a few stacks of cards that we hadn't seen in a few years.  It was fun and we shared some memories and stories about where we bought them and how hard we tried to fill sets.

Anyway, I am happy that I came across this post from Becket with this fun activity.  It gave new life to those old cards and brought my family together with a quick and fun activity.  Enjoy!

Baseball Cards: How much are they worth?

To be able to answer the question of how much baseball cards are worth, I think we have to explore to whom baseball cards are meant.  At first, I think about when I fell in love with baseball cards, and that was when I was a kid.  Is that who the cards are meant?  It seems, given the packaging, placement on the shelves, and the stick of gum inside (old-school, I know), that they were intended for kids.  If we go far enough back, however, some of the most famous (and expensive) baseball cards came out of cigarette packs.  That changes the audience a little, even in those times.  This makes the answer simple; baseball cards are for baseball fans. 

I love the idea that cards are a great way to introduce kids to the game.  I happened upon a blaster box (I'm not even sure I know what that means) of 2021 Topps Baseball cards at Target a few weeks ago, and with the excitement of the new baseball season and a few extra dollars in my pocket, I picked it up.  But who seemed to be as excited about the purchase as my nine-year-old daughter.  She knows I love the Cubs and watching baseball, so she seemed interested.  She convinced me to let her open the packs with her.  So what is the value of baseball cards?  I have no idea in this case.  How do you put value on your child asking to spend time with you to open baseball cards?  Dare I say that these packs of cards are priceless when the payout is time with our own children.  

As she was opening the cards, she was tossing them in a pile on the ground, then sliding them together and using the floor to create a nice stack.  The instinct in me was to say, "Careful!  Don't bend the corners!"  I stopped myself. What was I thinking?  This is supposed to be fun.  She is supposed to enjoy looking at them, opening them, organizing them, not get yelled at because she isn't being "careful" enough.  Heck, I used to stick them in the spokes of my bike!!  What is the value of a baseball card?  The value is looking at them, checking stats and stories on the backs, organizing them and then reorganizing them, talking about the players and the teams.  

I am sure this treatment makes some collectors cringe, but what is the value of a baseball card?  Ninety-five percent of the cards will be worth less than twenty-five cents years from now!  Heck, my Topps Rookie Ken Griffey Jr. card from the 1990 set is only worth $1.00.  Is that what that card is worth?  Heck no!  That card is worth the stories and my history with the card, my history of watching Ken Griffey Jr. play baseball, my history of trading that card with friends.  That card and set is a history book when I open it up with my kids.  I share those cards and tell stories of the season and the players.  They look at the backs of the cards to discover which players were the greats of my time growing up.  What is that worth?  More than any money, that is no doubt.  

When the season starts, I can't wait to put these new cards into sleeves and a binder.  But this year, my daughter will organize them.  Knowing her, she will ignore the numbers on the back.  She will probably organize them by team, or by position, or maybe by which uniforms she likes best.  But the most important part to me, is that she wants to organize them with me.  What is the value of that?  

The Purest form of a Movie Trading Card

I was recently asked by my friend @whitebobafett, "In your opinion, what is the purest form of a movie trading card as far as what's portrayed: a movie still, set photo, studio photo or some sort of illustration."  

What a question!  Please weigh in below in the comments, but here is my response.  

When I started collecting cards in the late 1970's, there were certain cards to which I was especially drawn.  In baseball cards, I wanted the cards that showed the action of the game.  I didn't really care for the cards where the player posed for the camera.  That didn't seem authentic to me as a kid.  I don't mind those as much these days, but my eyes are still drawn to the action shot.  Take for example the two cards here from the Topps 1994 series 1 set.  The posed Eric Karros card #115 versus the Ivan Rodriguez card #165 which shows Rodriquez in a throw to second base with his mask still in the air after being flung off during the throw.  The posed card just can't hold up to that action!  When I get sports cards, my expectation is I want to see my sports "heroes" in action shots.  Nothing against Eric Karros or the photographer, it just doesn't hold up.  

                        

My opinion is the same for movie cards.  The cards which garner the most attention of my eyes are the shots from the movies.  For my example of this, I am using cards from the Empire Strikes Back (red border) from 1980.  Fortunately for me and a reason this set is one of my favorites, almost all cards are action/film cards.  The set opens with 11 "Star File" cards that have several posed shots.  While I find the back of these cards to be interesting with information, the front, except for Boba Fett, didn't really do much for me as a kid.  If  I wasn't a completist, I would have traded these cards away for others like the Star Destroyer chasing the Falcon (see below).  Now that is action!     

So to answer the question, the action/movie still cards are, to me, the purest form of a trading card.  Those are the cards that take my mind back to the film.  They place me back into the theater or my living room where I first experienced the characters, ships, settings, and conflict.  It returns me to the dialog or the explosions or the ships flying through space.  I don't have a problem with the poses or the amazing art cards, but they don't create a return to the story for me like a movie still card does.  

Top 5 Star Wars Card Trader 2020 Insert and Award Cards

I have written several posts about Digital Card Trading recently, but this week I want to highlight my Top 5 SWCT 2020 insert cards.  I am filtering my collection to just the 2020 cards, and looking at Epic, Super Rare, Rare, and Uncommon cards.  I am also including award cards for this list.  I am only looking at cards that are in my personal collection, so there may be cards in your collection that you have that are not in mine.  I would enjoy hearing what your top 5 or top cards are for 2020, leave a comment below with those or tag me on Twitter @draftline with images of your favorite cards.  

5. In Disguise - Standard - BB-8 in disguise as a First Order Waste Bin *Uncommon

I really liked this set, but this card stood out, because it was unexpected and it made me laugh.  

4.  Valentine's Day 2020: Red - Millennium Falcon *Rare

There is something about Chewbacca spreading the love.  

3. Original Artwork: "Poe Dameron" by Derek Laufman *Award Card

If Poe Dameron wasn't cool already, this artistic rendition screams "Poe Dameron is cool!" 

2. The Mandalorian - From the Outer Reaches - Bounty Hunter *Rare

I just love the vintage feel of this Mandalorian set, but especially this particular card of our favorite Mandalorian.  

1. Topps Women of Star Wars: Myrna Velasco as Torra Doza *Super Rare

The Women of Star Wars set might be my favorite set of the year, but I find the art of The Resistance to be really cool, colorful and fun.  I really like the color in this card.  I like the confident stance of Torra Doza, and I like that I was able to get a digital signature of the electric Myrna Velasco!  

Did you like this list of top 5 cards?  Let me know, and I will continue with a series of Top 5 2020 cards in other Topps Digital Card Trading apps.  What are your top SWCT inserts and awards of 2020?  

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.