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| Living the Dream |
Starting with the whole Triad Bundle or whatever the TF2 Team decided to go with, I launched and thought it may be a chance to profit, starting with weapons, I only managed to craft a Neon Annihilator, and it was already out of the 100s. So, about to get off, a quick look in my backpack told me that I could do some hat crafting, and so I figured, why not? What was the worst thing that could happen? Putting in 2 Pyromania hats, and next thing I knew? I was sitting on a Last Breath. Not believing my good luck, this time I tried a 3 refined craft, and came up with something unimaginable: the #13 Champ Stamp.
The crafting gods had smiled upon me this day, my friends. For all of you wondering, #13 is not only a low number to get, but also popular with a couple of collectors. So, I kept pushing my luck. I got a liquor locker, a Point & Shoot, and Outback Intellectual, Apparition’s Aspect, and then the Marxman #23 came into my possession as well. Overall, my haul was pretty good. My friends were mad, mostly since I was yelling at the top of lung in our Ventrillo channel. Going immediately to Outpost and Trading Post to show the world my winnings, I saw this as my chance to really hop into some new wealth, and decided to take a break and play some Dustbowl to celebrate.
In the meantime, I got into contact with one the owners of a Sunbeams Ten Gallon on Outpost, this time offering him my two craft number items, with my two unusuals (the Stormy Ten Gallon and Merryweather) altogether. After much conversation he decided against it, and said that if I could liquidate my items, then maybe we could do business. With some new items in my inventory, I began on the path to my Ten Gallon, this time with a new gusto.
Biding my time, I eventually received an offer of a Massed Flies Tosslecap on my #13 Champ Stamp. Price checking with some of my unusually inclined friends lead me to find out the hat was worth anywhere from 2-3 buds, and so I waved goodbye to the first of my truly rare items, and quickly waved goodbye to the Tossle for a nice 2 buds and 4 keys, at about this time though I realized that liquidating the two unusuals would take longer than I would want. So, I asked how many Earbuds he would want with the two unusuals to take my offer. After much negotiation, I talked him into taking 4, and already being halfway there, I got to work liquidating items in my backpack.
Looking at hats and misc. items in my backpack, I quickly found an easy 50 keys (the equivalence at the time to 2 buds) and started selling items. In the matter of 22 bays, I was up to 26 keys, and was feeling like it wasn’t long until my 500 hour goal would be reached. However, I reached a long, dry patch on day 3; until some came into contact with me about my B.M.O.C.s. I was reluctant to sell my babies, since it was harder to find them now that Christmas was coming close, but I relented. I gave up my two babies in return for 24 keys, and asked him if 2 buds and 50 keys would suffice him. He added me 5 minutes later.
The guy had the same views of TF2 as I did. Engineer was his favorite class, this was his baby, but he had reached a point where he needed liquidation, and so he asked me my trading story. I told him about my ventures from beginning to end, and he thought about it, and made me a deal: put a mark on the hat, and it’s yours forever. I couldn’t be happier to oblige.
And with that, my first and longest goal since I began trading had come to
an end, completing a loadout that I had been working on for over 500 hours, but
still needing only small patching up in the miscellaneous department. In the
end, I had around 7.5 Earbuds invested in the items I gave for the Ten Gallon,
paying around 10-12 in a mix of promo and unusual, and coming out with my
dream. It was expensive, it was time taking, but it was worth it. From here,
I’m not sure what my new goal is. I was thinking a vintage item collection, but
it may take some time. Then again, it’s always fun to set a high goal. It may
not be as expensive as the 10 Gallon, but it’s a time waster. I’ve always loved
vintage items, and I think a collection would do them justice.--Santa
