A momentary shift in focus

While boxing my cards up and moving them to the house, I realized I just had so many. Do you ever think about that? What the hell am I doing with all these cards?

I have every intention of passing my cards down to my kids, specifically my son. My dream is that he'll one day want them and cherish them. However, there's always a little voice in my head that says he might not care for thousands of Yankees cards, but rather a handful of "nicer" cards. I know we all have our own definition of what a "nicer" card might be, but to me, it's either a vintage card, rare insert, or autograph.

I won't shift focus for myself. I love being the dumping ground for your unwanted Yankee cards (and you all do have a lot of those). However, with the above in mind, I've decided to periodically splurge on some "nicer cards that might be a little more appreciated at some point in time by someone other than me. Plus, with the HOF binder I have started for him, I should have a nice collection for him that isn't too overwhelming.

So equipped with a few extra bucks in my Paypal account, I snagged three certified autographs from newer products.

The first two come from 2015 Stadium Club, which put out some really nice on-card autos. As soon as I saw the David Cone, I wanted it. It's actually my first signed Cone card. I have a small 4x6 signed picture of him that was a TTM success, but nothing on a baseball card. The photo is obviously from his 1999 perfect game vs the Expos.

I have several autos of Dellin Betances (thank you, Zippy Zappy), but I submitted a fairly low "best offer" for this one, and the seller surprisingly took it. I was willing to go a few bucks higher if he countered.

Lastly, I snagged this Paul O'Neill Topps Museum on-card auto. I had a great TTM success from O'Neill, but felt like a certified autograph would be a nice addition. He seems to be signing for several of Topps' products these days, so it wasn't too tough to acquire.

All-in-all, the three of these ran me less than the price of a blaster. All are on-card too. I'm not a sticker snob, but I do enjoy a good on-card signature.