Buzz made a trade: I gave up some of my KOFY for some ink

Late one night back in August -- literally just as I was unplugging for the day -- Buzz got an email.

The subject? That part was totally familiar -- Creepy KOFY Movie Time -- but the sender's name was one I needed to check as I thought I recognized it ... but I needed to check a profile. I did just that and I saw the account was now following me. It was a message from a collector, of course, and he wasn't alone contacting me about this cardboard -- it happened quite a few times.

But this one? Well it was a little different.

This story from back in June was one that got a lot of attention -- only Black Friday topped it in terms of attention over the past year -- and that's because it's all about a small card set that was a surprise to me ... and also apparently a surprise to many others. After I picked up my jaw, the email got a quick reply from me 20 minutes later ... and then I waited.

For a few days, I was living in a mix of shock and awe -- like a tank had hit me (or something) -- and then I waited. Then, about a week later, business picked up.

The message was from Shotzi Blackheart's husband, Jesus Alfaro, but he didn't mention that in his message. It was a simple, brief inquiry about if any of my cards could be available late on a Friday night -- one where she had probably just finished a tag match in Rhode Island as one of countless indy appearances since the end of her WWE run earlier this year. Rather than try to figure out a dollar value on my sets -- and despite one collecting friend's initial reaction that said "Get gear!" -- I settled on something simple for everybody, knowing what I'd be giving up has good value but also knowing what I paid for them and knowing that simplicity in my reply could/should lead to a reality. I also knew where the sets would end up and not elsewhere -- and that was cool enough for me. (The story here writes itself ... I'm just getting in the way here telling it.)

Before this, I had been asked by several collectors whether I'd let any of my amassed cards go -- I declined all requests (I'm rarely a trader or seller) but told them I'd give them first notice if I ever changed my mind. I even was contacted by one of Blackheart's wrestling school trainers from the very start of her career, when she was briefly known with another name. But, I even turned down the inquiry from Rick Scott Stoner who helped bring Blackheart to the ring as part of the Stoner Brothers back in Hoodslam all those years ago.

I threw out a simple, oldschool idea ... a trade.

In a later email, we settled on a deal -- a few sets for a few autographs on cards that I'd send to them -- and once I figured out my lineup the wheels were in motion -- no, not her spin the wheel, make a deal kind of wheel that's common this time of year given her horror movie-loving, scream-queen style. (She's, to me, more of a character than just a character but this time of year all of that hits maximum overdrive, including elaborate cosplay homages of some of her on-screen favorites.) I knew that this might not be the easiest thing to pull off this time of year when the already heavy bookings would be maxed out, meaning plenty of October travel for the new Indy God.

Just late last week, the deal was completed after a postal adventure -- that's with 15 appearances in 15 cities and two countries with a New York Comic Con stop in there (for her) after that initial email. My USPS tracking was almost as eccentric -- but not nearly as eventful -- save for its arrival. (Big pop!)

Shotzi's trainer Rick Scott Stoner with his KOFY card.

All it cost us both was some postage, a little time and some collecting need/want-to. ("I collect all her stuff," Alfaro said in an email.) For my part, I opted for some simple classics among my 10 cards with a couple of green parallel tank cards in there (naturally), a KOFY card (of course as that's the reason we're here), some early WWE picks and even two cards where some complete memorabilia items I own are worn on the card (story here and story here). As part of an all-eras collecting thought, I also threw in her first card as part of her new indy run, a Panini Instant MLW creation. (I still need to track down something inked for Missy and Pizza Cat but there are no cards there ... that I know of.) I already had one of the few pre-WWE card she appears on in signed form so I didn't go there, while two other indy cards I own -- Sabotage! -- are too rare for me to send ... plus my lower-grade copies there are graded. (I did ponder going for a signed KOFY slab but figured a clean raw copy would be cool enough.)

As part of this, I touched base with Stoner and got a card in his hands, too, and Alfaro was kind enough to document the signing for me in the images you see here. They even went so far as to replace an Instant card for me when the Sharpie ink didn't hold -- he had some in his collection despite them being pretty rare -- since I forgot to rub down the surfaces for signing, though most didn't need it. (Rookie move on my part -- it's been more than a few years since this collector chased in-person or even through-the-mail ink.) He even helped me out on pen choices as I defaulted to Sharpie with perhaps a couple of color requests for a couple cards that needed something different.

The end result? You can see it below -- it had me howling at the moon -- and it's perfect. I'm happy to say that some of my cards ended up in the collection of somebody on my cards. That's an absolute first for this veteran collector.

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