What?! A 2019 Tino?!

This morning, while browsing my Tino Martinez saved search, I came across this:

Whoa! I had no idea Tino was going to be included in 2019, albeit as a buyback autograph. Tino does have a 1989 Bowman, which is his first RC that isn't his XRC from 1988 Topps Traded.

I guess it's his true RC.

I don't love 1989 Bowman for the reasons many don't, namely the oversized yardstick. But still, a certified signed RC?! That's pretty cool.

Tino hasn't appeared in a Topps set since 2006, although I guess that's not entirely true because he did have stamped Bowman Anniversary and Rediscover Topps card. From what I can tell is that he hasn't has a Topps contract since then, as he was left out of recent Home Run Derby insert sets. He was the 1997 champion, after all.

I'm hoping that by signing some of these cards, he has a new contract at that might open him up to a random appearance in Archives or something, similar to Paul O'Neill or Orlando Hernandez. I'd say he's fairly on par with those guys.

Regardless, I thought the $39.99 was a little steep, and sent an offer of $20 figuring seller would counter at $30ish or so. But he accepted the $20, so I won the card. I'll be curious to see how rare these are are where the price ends up going to new ones listed as people open more Bowman. The other players featured are:

• Andre Dawson
• Bert Blyleven
• Cal Ripken Jr
• Carlton Fisk
• Dale Murphy
• Dennis Eckersley
• Edgar Martinez
• John Smoltz
• Ken Griffey Jr
• Mark McGwire
• Roger Clemens
• Ryne Sandberg

And Tino! Solid checklist. Now, I just gotta hope this redemption gets fulfilled. Yikes.

A bunch of shiny Schmidt

A few weeks ago, I mentioned I had been picking up a bunch of Clarke Schmidt cards. I'm not going to officially collect the guy. I'm not at that point of my collecting life right now where I want to commit to another player. But I do think he's still undervalued right now, although most people (and prospect investors) are catching up.

Pretty much when I find a low-numbered parallel or autograph for a decent price, I pounce. And over the past couple weeks, they've been rolling in.

This was the best of the bunch.

Then came a couple Leaf autographs I don't really know about. They don't scan well but one of them is Blue I think.

Lastly, some low-numbered parallels. I don't follow Contenders much, but this is a cracked ice version.

I have a couple more rolling in, but for now, my Schmidt autographs are looking good. Too bad I never bought the Bowman Chrome autographed refractor though. Oops. Too late now.

But I still I love Tek-nology

The other day I got a warning from Bob Walk The Plank that a mysterious card was arriving at my house that day. I assume he picked up a card from eBay or another online site and had it sent to me directly to me. He also warned me that it was not the card he purchased for me on our epic wager on the Camping World Bowl, in which Syracuse beat West Virginia.

Instead, I opened the envelope and found this:

Cool, a 1999 Topps Tek Gold Tino Martinez, numbered to just 10!

I think this is my only graded Tino.  I might have one or two others I don't recall. This card didn't grade out too strongly, as the corners and surface dragged it down. I think I might free it at some point.

Topps Tek is both an awesome and stupid/frustrating set at the same time. The cards are really nice - and I loooove clearcuts - but it's super confusing and the concept is pretty maddening. 1999 had both home/away versions as well 30 different patterns. Oh, and the year before had 90 patterns. WTF.

But still, for far too long I treated these cards as a "have" for a single card on my Tino list, but that's silly. They are parallels and different cards. So I need to go back through my collection of these and pull out all the unique ones. It'll inflate my Tino numbers a bit more, but they are different cards, dumb as it may be.

This is definitely my first gold though, so I thank Matt for thinking of me. Any time I can get a super low numbered Tino, I'm very happy. Thanks, Matt!

A little Tino spring cleaning

Going through my scanned folder, at some point over the winter I did scan these five Tino cards without doing anything with them in terms of a post. So why not lump them all together here?

My favorite of the group is 1998 Leaf, the Fractal Matrix parallel. This was another one of those confusing '90s sets with a ton of parallels and versions, but they were quite attractive cards. There also aren't a ton of cards where Tino is sliding into a base.

This card reeks of America, and I like it.

I was surprised I didn't have this Panini die cut, but again, parallel colors that are hard to keep track of.

Here's a cool minor league issue from when Tino was in AAA.

Lastly, here's a card I accidentally bought for a second time, which I do all the time. At least it's #'d to 100. I don't really get why Tino is a Mariner here, as it was from 2002 when he was going from the Yanks to the Cardinals. Maybe because it's Rookies and Stars and he was a rookie with the M's? But that is not a photo of him as a rookie, so I really don't know.

Anyhow, four new Tinos and a low-numbered dupe!

Boredom

I know we all go through it here and there. I do. But this time feels a little different.

I'm bored with collecting.

I think it's because I don't really have a focus right now. I'm still picking up Tino Martinez or Ty Hensley cards when I can, including this one that set me back a little over a buck after the $3 eBay coupon. It's not a particularly special card, and the jersey swatch is tiny and underwhelming, but it's one I didn't have for my collection.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's just a bit of a melancholy or uninspired feeling right now when it comes to collecting. Even when I snag a blaster, which I've still been doing, it's just sort of a 5-minute, uninspiring feeling. Open cards, look at them, set them in a pile that remains untouched for a while. Just going through the motions.

I'm not sure what I need to do to snap out of it. Maybe a set will come along that I enjoy, or a new prospect will emerge that I'll start collecting. I did just snag a bunch of 2017 Yankees first rounder Clarke Schmidt, and then he went out and out-pitched last years #1 overall pick in his season debut.

Maybe I'll send some more TTMs, although it feels like dwindling success rates are also to blame for this lackluster time. Plus those damn $.55 stamps.

Even when checking online marketplaces for cards, my next search term is "golf clubs" because it's been more fun to try and find a nice set that someone is unloading. In fact, I just got a pair of really nice Taylormade irons for $40 that someone was getting rid of.

Anyways, this is just becoming whiny, so I'll stop here. I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon, and maybe I need to fire up trading again or send a few "just because" packages to make things a little more exciting.

Most of us go through it, and most of us snap out of it. I look forward to that happening soon.

Signed Chicken Man RC!

Wade Boggs has been a pretty good TTM signer these last few years. Probably 6-7 years ago, he'd sign a card or two with no fee. Then he started requesting $5, which still wasn't bad given that he's a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest hitters of all time.

After a while, he stopped signing for $5, and started charging his present-day rate of $10. Still not unreasonable.

About a year or two ago, I sent him his 1983 RC with $5 to sign, and I got it back unsigned, along with the $5. I had missed out on the window when he was signing for $5, but at least the card and money were returned.

They sat together in my "outgoing" TTM box for awhile, the $5 bill still wrapped around the card. I'd get around to sending it one day, I told myself. Just need another 5 bucks.

I notoriously don't carry cash. I don't like to. It has nothing to do with being in NYC all day or anything, I just prefer to use my debit card. I use my debit card on everything, even purchases that are only a few bucks. Maybe that's annoying to people, but it's just my preference.

Anyhow, I did happen to have a $10 recently, and broke it on a cup of coffee. Amongst the change I received was a crisp $5 bill. I decided to take that new $5, and add it to the other $5 I still had, and send to Boggs again.

This time....success!

It's pretty cool to have a signed RC of a HOFer!

You're fooling' me, that's not Tino!

A few days ago while browsing eBay, I came across a listing for a Tino Martinez card I didn't have.

The only problem was, it wasn't Tino who was shown!

The description was for Tino, but pictured was former Mariner Carlos Guillen. I wasn't sure if this was meant to be a Tino card, or a Guillen card.

Luckily, it ended up being a Tino card once I notified the seller and he updated the listing, and for $2 I was able to secure a Tino #'d to 99 that I didn't have!

I liked Pacific Private Stock a lot. I believe it was Pacific's answer to Topps Gallery. While the set wasn't around for long, it did look pretty nice. Plus, I have a soft spot in my heart for Pacific.

I'm glad that in the end, the bogus listing ended up being for a card I needed!