"Gift" from Trade Cards Now

I always enjoy getting a package unexpectedly and that happened today, but when I saw the return address of Trade Cards Now (TCN), I knew exactly what was inside.

TCN is slowly becoming one of the better trade forums on the Internet. Granted, it is not SCF or The Bench quite yet, the site has made serious strides since I became a regularly active member in Dec. 2006.

One of the things that has come with the growth is a sponsored from Topps in which Topps send boxes of products to the owner, Lynn, and he then gives away all the cards to his members. Products have ranged from base Topps to the current box offer of Topps Triple Threads baseball.

I call it a "gift" because it was but wasn't free all at the same time. The way these giveaways work is that users bid on hits and divisions using what is called TCN Cash. TCN Cash can be earned through contests as well as posting on the message boards. The longer your post, the more TCN Cash you get. So you have to put some work into getting these cards.

The first time I won a part of one of these auctions was on the last break of Topps Allen & Ginter. I received the second hit pulled from the box, an Ivan Rodriguez framed, mini bat card and the base and insert cards of all the AL Central teams. Included in the base and inserts were seven of the US State cards, two rookies, three minis (including one rookie) and 20 regular base cards.

To get in on this action, please visit Trade Cards Now and use intelliracer as your reference.