Best Trade EVER!

Over the past week, I picked up a large lot of cards from someone who was getting rid of 'all of his cards.'  I'm sure that this collection omitted his Mickey Mantle Rookie Card  and MJ RC Card  though.  Either way, I got a pretty good deal on the rest of his stuff , well at least I think (remains to be seen)....but in diving into the sea of cards, I managed to pull of this beauty:

1989 Jerome Walton (high #) RC Card

WHO IS THIS BLOKE???

Good question!  This card provoked many wonderful memories of my youth, but before I go into that, here is a little background about Mr. Walton.  He was one of the most highly sought after players during the 1989 MLB campaign (in the card industry)....along with some Griffey guy!?   Anyhow, Griffey and He were considered to be the next BIG DEAL (see Puig, Abreu for comparison)  He ended WINNING the rookie of the year in 1989!   OK, so he was kind of a BIG DEAL, and no joke in comparison to Ken Griffey Jr.  They were both considered the (respective American League / National League) rookies to watch!  

 Now, I digress.....so pulling this card over the weekend made me reminisce about my BIGGEST card trade in history!   Well, it was my biggest card trade:)   Upper Deck was the newest kid on the block, and they just started putting out baseball cards and they were all the buzz!  These cards were like no other--from the style to the card stock, and their price-point was definitely higher than Topps, Donruss, and Fleer, but well worth it.  I was in Middle School at the time, so my budget was limited.  Anyhow, the famous 1989 UD Ken Griffey Jr. was card number #1 in the set.  The really cool thing is that shortly after, they came out with the 'high series' cards, and those were much more difficult to find.  They were only found in special packs, and were about 5 times more expensive.  Jerome Walton was in that series, so definitely harder to pull.   At a card show, a guys says hey, I guarantee 5 HIGH CARDS in this pack--which was kind of shady because normally only 1 or 2 cards came in the high pack, yet he was guaranteeing FIVE!!!  I salivated at the thought of getting a Jerome Walton, but the price tag was $15 or $20 bucks..... didn't matter, I did it!  I bought the pack, and pulled this beauty.  It was an UNBELIEVABLE hit!   Of course the next day at school, I had to show it off.   A friend of mine (Robert) was also an avid collector, he had the other great--Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck RC, so this is when the magic of trading happens.  Fortunately for me, MY card was a little harder to get, but they were both in demand.  He wanted an even swap, but I couldn't just give up the card I had been searching all of my life (well the past 6-months!)  After much haggling, he threw in a sweeet 1989 Upper Deck Jim Abbott 3-D RC Card!  He was also a huge prospect at the time, but not quite on the level of Walton/Griffey--anyway, that sealed the deal for me!

Well within a few years, I was the 'winner' of that trade as Walton went on to play about 9 years in Pro Ball (1989-1998) and hit a career total of 25 home runs.  To put things in perspective, Ken Griffey Jr. hit 56 home runs in one season...TWICE!

This definitely goes down as one of my BEST trades in baseball history!

I'd like to hear about YOUR biggest trade in history--the funnier the better.  Thanks for taking the time to read and God Bless!