After going back and forth with someone online for a few weeks, a guy was finally able to break free from his engagements, and come over.  He brought with him a few items that we had talked about over email.  A Barry Bonds autographed baseball bat, and a Nomar Garciappara autographed baseball.  He traded those for some unopened boxes I had left over from my Black Friday monster purchase, so I’m now enjoying them in my office! 
 
I particularly enjoy the Bonds bat – I mean, what’s not to like?  The all time home run king autographed this puppy, and it is sitting right next to me as I type this! 
 
Perhaps the more exciting thing for me was another item he brought.  A Bo Jackson autographed baseball!  I am a big fan of Bo Jackson.  The stories of him are stuff of legend.  He grew up playing catcher with a milk carton as a glove.  He once ran for a touchdown and was going so fast, he couldn’t stop until way beyond the end zone.  He ran up the wall in the outfield, etc.  Bo was the man!  And now, I have his autograph.   
 
 
 
The guy the came over with them, had it signed himself when he was stationed in Alabama several years ago.  The cool thing is, is that Jackson put #16 on it – that is quite rare on his signatures!  Oh, and it is on an Official American League baseball.  Gotta love it! 
 
To top it all off, I was able to get this beauty (plus a few bucks) by doing some trading with the cards in my Quest for Hamilton.  So, I started off with an…
 
’89 Fleer baseball set. 
Sold for $10
Invested the $10 in 12 jersey/autographed cards
Sold some of the jersey/autographed cards for $8 and traded for the Bo Jackson autographed baseball
So now, I have Bo Jackson autographed baseball, $8 and 5 autographed cards.
 
I’m really happy with how this trade up thing is going so far!  1999 Topps Traded Josh Hamilton is not too far off in the distance for me, so it seems … though I may have a hard time parting with Bo!  I have considered splitting off, and using just the $8 + the 5 other autographs and trying to get the Hammy, while keeping the Bo, but it would be so much quicker to use the Bo in this deal.