eBay Dollar Value Menu

Living in NYC for seven years, and now just across the Hudson in Hoboken for the past year, "value menus" infuriate me. For whatever reason, NYC fast food establishments do not need to honor the national promotion. I never understood it. What makes this area of the world so special that deals don't apply to them? Even in the commercial promos, the fine text would read "Offer not valid in Manhattan." Look, I'm not a fast food junkie, but when Big Macs are on sale for $1 each, I might want one. Except here, they aren't. Even the McDonald's Dollar Menu is basically the $1.49 menu.

Just last two week, two instances of this reared it's ugly head. First off, my mom was in town visiting, and she had seen the McDonald's commercial running that offers any sized iced coffee for $1. She went into my McDonald's here in NJ, ordered a large iced coffee, and it rang up $2.17. She said, "isn't it a dollar? I just saw a commercial this morning." The employee answered, "Oh, not here." Not here? Because we're so damn rich here? Because of the massive tariffs to import McDonald's to the tri-state area?

Then, we were bringing Dunkin' Donuts to my kid's daycare for their Valentine's Day party. We stopped in DD's to grab his teachers a half dozen and take advantage of the six donuts for $3.99 deal. We pick out our six, and guess what? Not $3.99. Come on.

One reason I love eBay is because they can't discriminate against where I live. Deals are deals. A seller can't jack up the price just because of my geographic location. I'm sure some would if they could.

Anyhow, for $1.02 total from the same seller (including shipping), I got the following cards.

The first set me back exactly $.30, and it's a Michael Pineda I needed. A numbered parallel of a guy I collect for $.30? That just doesn't happen.

The second, I didn't really need, but I put in a low bid and won it. For $.72 shipped, I got this 2013 Topps Pink Austin Romine #'d/50. I had never even seen this color variation, and winning a Yankee #'d/50 for just $.72, regardless of the player, is a nice win.

Next time you're at a McD's and chowing a double cheeseburger from the dollar menu, think of me, and how that exact meal would probably cost me double just because of where I live. Savor it. Every bite.

A Zipp-ity Zapp-ity doo dah trade

A few weeks ago, reader Kenny aka Zippy Zappy reached out about a possible trade. Zippy Zappy has been a frequent commenter on my blog, so I was all for it. As seen in many of his comments, he too is a Yankee fan. He mentioned he had some prospect cards and other goodies, and that he collects Cervelli, Posada, and Cano. I figured I had enough dupes around that I could help him out, and a trade was born.

Kenny’s package arrived first, as I was a slacker and took forever to send out my portion. Kenny exceeded any expectations I had by a longshot. He sent some sweet autos, a relic, and an overall large stack of awesome Yankee cards. I had been missing out by not trading with him sooner!

I’ll start with the autos. When he was my favorite Yankee prospect, I always coveted a Jesus Montero autograph. I was about 0 for 12 with him TTM. Although he’s no longer a Yankee, I’m thrilled that Kenny sent this:

These 2008 TriStar Projection cards were always a favorite of mine. I love the white, and signatures stick them very well. Kenny sent me a stack of the base cards and the foil parallels.

Here are a few more Montero and other prospects that Kenny included: 

Kenny also included two other autos of Yankee farmhands – Austin Romine and Daniel Brewer. Romine just got called back up to the Yankees to replace Frankie Cervelli. 

The Brewer is really interesting. His autographed card says “Danny Brewer”, but the base card says “Daniel Brewer.” I found that to be quite odd. 

Here is the relic that Kenny sent. I didn’t have any from 2012 A&G. 

Check out this sweet Sabathia. I have NO IDEA where this is from. It’s issued by Topps, but also co-branded with Sega. The back is in Japanese as well, and the stats appear to be some sort of rating system. It’s a very, very cool card. CC’s gut looks completely massive in this photo. For all you Dodger fans, Kenny also included a Matt Kemp Sega card. 

Here are some shiny inserts that really caught my eye. That Montero die cut is actually gold and #’d 03/25. I didn’t know there was a gold parallel for these. I couldn’t get it to scan well, but the gold is really cool…almost like a diagonal rain. 

 

Finally, Kenny added a few cards to my son’s HOF binder.

Kenny, this was a great, great trade. Thanks for being a loyal reader, and I hope to trade again soon.

TTM recap - 2012 Spring Training

This spring, I sent 41 TTM requests out. I received successes from 17 of them. I also received one failure (a card returned unsigned). Therefore, 23 went unanswered. Now, I will never write any of these off. They could still trickle in, but for the most part, it looks like I batted a little under .500 this spring. I know that’s part of the game, so I’m not upset. A few players were reaches and I knew that going in.

Here are my successes from 2012 Spring Training:

Ackley, Dustin

Adams, David

Brackman, Andrew

Higashioka, Kyle

Kuroda, Kiroki

Laird, Brandon

Martinez, Tino

Melancon, Mark

Nix, Jayson

Noesi, Hector

Pendleton, Lance

Rivera, Mariano

Romine, Austin

Soriano, Rafael

Stoneburner, Graham

Taillon, Jameson

Warren, Adam

TTM Success: Five in one day

Two Thursdays ago, I had a really nice TTM day. I arrived home from work to find five SASE’s. I’m nearly certain five in one day is a record for me.

The card featured in the first envelope has already been shown in a blog post. Austin Romine signed my 2012 Topps card. I hadn’t been able to get a success from Romine in a few attempts while he was in the minors, so this was very welcome. 

Next up, Brandon Laird signed three cards for me. I’ve gotten him in the past, and I actually asked him to keep two of the three cards I sent. He signed all three. The Obak looks nice. 

Third, we have Kyle Higashioka, a catching prospect. He signed my Bowman Chrome and Topps Heritage Minors cards.

Next, Adam Warren signed two cards. He is a good prospect who would fit in nicely in the back end of most pitching rotations in the league. If the Yanks need a spot start, he’ll probably get called on ahead of both Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos.

Last, pitching prospect Graham Stoneburner signed my Bowman Chrome. He has one of the most badass names in baseball. Look for him in the Yanks bullpen in the next few years.

So no huge names here, but all great successes.

Topps Yankees Project - 2012

As many of you know, last year I completed by Topps Yankees Project through 2011. The project consists of a signed Yankees Topps card from 1951-present, all done TTM. No player is allowed to appear twice. My 2012 quota has already been filled, as Austin Romine returned my 2012 Topps card signed yesterday. Very cool, and I'm happy to be done this early and not have to wait for Series 2 or Update.

This was actually part of larger TTM day - five in. I didn't have time to scan them last night, so you'll see those in an upcoming post.

Trade with Trey

I made a small trade with Trey from Rants, Reviews and Fandom. I saw a couple of 2012 Topps he had, and we struck up a deal. I like the blue bordered Austin Romine. I believe it’s the Wal-Mart parallel. The blue is nice – sort of the same shade they used in Pro Debut and Opening Day.

Trey, thanks for the trade!