I think last year I felt a bit weird knowing my baseball hero was turning 50, and I remember him when he was in his late 20s and early 30s, cranking high fast balls over the right field wall at Old Yankee Stadium.
There's not much special about 51 (other than being Bernie's #!), but hopefully Tino continues to enjoy his 50s and then I feel extra old in 9 years when he turns 60.
This card is 199 Skybox Molten Metal. Specifically, it's an Explosion parallel, and is actually a metal card with rounded die cut edges. The best I can compare it to is that it feels similar to a printing plate. These Xplosion cards fell at a rate of 1:2, so while not rare, it's not always the easiest set to find for player collectors.
I don't think this metal card will replace 1999 Topps Stars N Steel as my favorite metal-based set of all time, although this has a bit of a cleaner look and feels a little sturdier.
Regardless, it's a great card to show off of Tino on his birthday, and puts me at 856 unique Tinos.
Happy Birthday, #24!
I do not think I've ever seen a metal card. Congrats on number 856!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there were other metal sets after that 1996 Leaf one (not that it surprises me there were).
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for making me feel old as well. Tino's 50! Good night.
I'm 6 weeks older than Tino...and I honestly don't know how I feel about that...
ReplyDeleteNice find! I'm always surprised when I see you find a new Tino Martinez card for your collection... I thought you had almost all of them at this point.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be sad when Bartolo Colon retires... he's the last active major leaguer who's older than I am.
I love those Molten Metal parallels!
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome cards!!! I put together a set of these last year as a project. The box is ridiculously heavy, but the cards look great.
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