Phishing (and no, this has nothing to do with jam bands)

My return to collecting has been a fun process, and I have a really good start on my Phillies collection- Thank you Ebay!!!

Speaking of Ebay: Here are the 4 steps of enjoyment of ebay/phillies purchases or "Phishing" as I like to refer it:

Cartmen hates hippies- I don't discriminate, but my "Phishing" has nothing to do with petroli

Step 1- Find the cards through my standard search "phillies + cards", and then pull the pages of cards "newly listed", because you know, I'm checking these auctions out on a daily basis.

Things that catch my attention- often older lots of multiple cards.

List me "Lot of 7 - 1962 Fleer Cards Phil Phillies Very Rare", start the bidding at $.01 (and don't jack the shipping charges more than $3) and you have my complete attention.

Step 2- Refreshing the screen for the final minute of the ebay auction until we get that truimphant "You have won this item!" screen. Almost as exciting as being at a real auction and hearing the auctioneer say "Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!!!" With that said, for the auctions that I'm unable to watch as close, it's always fun to see the e-mail confirmation of the won auction as well.

Step 3- Delivery day. My own little mini christmas out at the mailbox on any given day! My one pet peeve- people who go overboard with the application of tape to the package- we get the idea- you want to make sure the card remains in the same condition as you sent it- bottomline, a plastic card holder + a folded piece of paper (maybe my ebay auction confirmation) will be just fine- there is no need for you to create a tape cocoon- I'm buying baseball cards, not butterflies!

Step 4- Adding my new "gift" to my collection! I have reverted back to my teenage years on this one, and it really is great to organize the cards chronologically and by set brands (always alphabetically- Bowman, Donruss, Fleer, Topps, etc.). I then place the cards in plastic sheets, and binders. It's awesome looking through the binders, and seeing the cards in this organized fashion.