Sketchy-ness: A humbling experience

The other day, I drew Derek Jeter and Mike Trout sketch cards, each highlighting an amazing catch they have made in their career. I don't know why, but I feel like these types of moments aren't captured on cardboard very frequently, although Gypsy Queen has been doing a good job with their Wall Climbers and Glove Stories inserts. No qualms there. Credit where credit is due.

There are some amazing sports artists out there who make a living drawing and painting. I've always been envious of their skill. So, I did something I've never done. I put these cards on eBay.

I didn't expect big bucks. There are far better sketch/painted cards that don't even fetch much money. I'm talking very beautiful masterpieces. There are some very established artists that churn out sketch cards pretty frequenty, and do sell for $30-$40 each. Not bad. Being unknown, I figured mine might sell for a few bucks each.

The Jeter went for just north of $5, while the Trout went for a little over $3.

I don't have much of a right to be disappointed since I was expecting much. It's a humbling experience. Gratifying to know that someone would fork over a few bucks for something you created from scratch, but also a bit disappointing that it was "only" worth a few bucks.

Will I keep doing this? Maybe. I know I'll never make much money doing this, it's not why I do it. But it is a nice way to add a few bucks to the Paypal account while doing something I enjoy. Mostly, I just need practice so I can improve my skill. I love drawing and painting, and while painting is currently something that takes a lot of time and space, sketch cards don't. It helps my relieve my artistic itch.

Hypothetical question

Sometimes I feel like I should downsize my collection. I don't want to. It wouldn't be by choice. I love having the quantity of great Yankee cards that I do. A lot of it is just due to where I live. In NYC-area housing, space is limited. With two kids, space is even more limited. I'm sure once I do move to a bigger place (in the next year or so), I'll have more room to store my collection and can laugh at the thought of downsizing.

But it gets me thinking sometimes. If my wife said that I can only keep one box of cards, what would I keep? She's very reasonable and patient, so she never would, but what if one day she said, "I'm sick of the daily bubble mailers. You get one box, and only one box." What would I keep?

Now, if I only get one box, I'm going to get everything I can out of it. So I'm going to go with this box:

Now hmmm, what would I keep? Well, i gotta keep my nearly 700 Tinos. And with thick relics and whatnot, that would probably take up at least one whole row.

 

I'd also need to keep my TTM autographs. I've put a lot of time into those, especially my Topps Yankees collection.

I'd keep the majority of my Yankee relics as well. I'm still in the camp where relics feel special, likely because I never pull them from packs. They haven't gotten old for me. I wouldn't be able to keep them all, but I'm thinking 25 or 30.

Jeter. I have a few hundred. Those aren't going anywhere.

My vintage! I couldn't give up my vintage cards. Perhaps 1965 and earlier would stay, plus guys like Mantle, Ford, and Munson later on.

Prospects! I have to keep a few of those around. Maybe even one day one will pan out and I'll be able to cash in. Not why I do it, but still...

Non-baseball. I'd have to keep my 50 or so Michael Jordan cards.

Then, I'd probably keep a large assortment of other Yankees cards, from the 70s-today. Not being a set collector would actually come in handy here, since I wouldn't have to worry about keeping complete sets together.

So now I ask you. If you had to condense to just one box, what would you keep?

Happy Birthday, Ty Hensley!

It's only right that I post and wish one of my main-PC guys, Ty Hensley, a very happy birthday! In fact, Ty was just promoted to Staten Island earlier this week and will be making his debut tonight. Not a bad birthday!

Good luck, and happy birthday, Ty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Mark H vintagely awesome PWE

Ahh, the PWE. I can't say enough for the PWE. I always get excited when there's a PWE from Mark H in my mailbox. He has a seemingly endless supply of Yankees vintage!

Johnny Blanchard 1959 Topps! Whoa, now. Haven't had a 1950s pick-up in while. I've always liked Blanchard. His name just sounds like a ballplayer's name. He hit 34 HRs in the Eastern League in my hometown of Binghamton in 1955 following his military service.

Keane is an odd story. He managed the 1964 Cardinals to a World Series title over the Yankees...and then managed the Yankees the very next season. Could you imagine that now? For any team? Would be pretty crazy.

A few more Yanks from the '60s and '70s. The Medich is actually a mini!

Here are some Just Minors cards of some prospects that the Yankees surprisingly (sarcasm) traded. Nick Johnson and Christian Guzman had solid, but unspectacular careers. Johnson was a complete OBP machine who just couldn't stay healthy. Guzman had over 1400 hits, and led the AL in triples three times. Jackson Melian was included in the Denny Neagle trade, and never made it to the Majors.

And let's wrap it up some gaudy cards from Classic!

Thanks, as always, Mark.

Finally, a Billy Martin

I've long desired to add a vintage Billy Martin card to my collection. He certainly holds a very important part of Yankees history, both from his playing days, managerial days, and post-baseball days.

On Christmas Day in 1989, Billy Martin died in Port Crane, NY. Port Crane is about a 15 minute drive from where I grew up. I had several friends who lived in the area, and one friend in particular lived just past the area of the road where Martin's auto accident occurred. I've probably passed it a hundred times.

Living in the area, Martin received many visits from past Yankees, including Mickey Mantle. In fact, my family once sat on the same flight as The Mick while he was on his way to visit Billy.

I'm not old enough to remember Martin's antics, especially while managing. I do remember him vaguely as the Yankees manager, and remember him being a topic of discussion many times in my home growing up.

I won this card for just a few bucks, but it already holds a lot more sentimental value for me.

Inception!

I can't think of Bowman Inception without thinking of this:

Weird, crazy movie. However, if I keep getting cards like the one below, "Inception" may have a new meaning.

I picked up this gorgeous Gary Sanchez on-card auto from 2014 Bowman Inception, which constantly puts out some fantastic looking cards that end up being fairly affordable. I like the filter Topps uses on the photos (very Instagram-y), and the designs have a cool darkness to them.

While it's a set that doesn't get a lot of love, I've become a big fan of Bowman Inception, and look forward to its release (and subsequent eBay pickups) every year. Here are two I picked up from the 2013 Bowman Inception set. Nice cards. See what I mean?

Simply Fantastic

Weston over at Fantastic Catch is a very thoughtful guy. He always adds a little something to trade packages that is unexpected. Last time, he sent a broken down blaster box with Michael Pineda on it. This time, he sent a USA Weekend cover with Masahiro Tanaka. Very cool!

He also likes to send me Yankee prospects cards. In fact, he sent me this Leonardo Molina card, which I then sent to Molina for an auto. It now looks like this.

Here are a few other goodies.

Weston, I owe you a return package. I haven't forgotten!