Another post on patience

It's fun to get the shiny new toy as soon as it comes out. For me, that shiny toy is usually whatever new release Topps has decided to include Tino Martinez is.

Which lately, has been a lot.

It can be hard for me to not wait and to pay "new product prices," but more and more I'm finding that's just not necessary. My latest two Tino Martinez autographed cards are cases in point.

The Tino 2020 Topps Inception Dawn of Greatness are some very attractive cards. For real. Very aesthetically pleasing design. This card had a bit more of a competitive market because it is Tino's first Mariners certified autograph.

I eventually landed the /20 (which is the highest print run) and I felt pretty good about it, and didn't think I'd purse the Orange /10 or Blue /5. An orange was on eBay for $90, but I'm not paying that for a parallel when I already was content. I know some "supercollectors" feel the need for every variation, but I'm not one of them.

Eventually an Orange hit eBay with an auction, so I put in a max bid and never checked it again. Literally never did. I ended up winning it for the price of a blaster! And since blasters can't be found anymore in the real world, I thought it was a pretty good deal.

Similarly, Tino has this cool looking autograph in Topps Tribute called Iconic Perspectives. It's a thick, clearcut card. I'm a sucker for clearcuts. Always have been.

The highest print run for these are /99, and there are a few color variations with smaller runs. I made an offer on a /99 on eBay, and thankfully it wasn't accepted. The seller then reached our saying he'd give me my price shipped "off eBay", which I suppose was done to avoid fees.

I said "no thanks" and he couldn't understand it, because it was actually cheaper than my original offer since shipping wasn't included in my offer. I still said "no" and that "I'll wait for the price to come down." He still didn't understand.

As is the theme here, the price did come down. Once again for a blaster-type cost, I won won of these. This is actually a slightly rarer version Orange parallel /25.

Interestingly, his autograph looks a little sloppier and shorter here. He signed a bunch for Tribute, and I'm going to guess he was getting tired. 

You might be sick of hearing me talk about patience. These are things you already know and live by. But it's things I already know too, but don't always stick to.

So these posts are more a reminder to me to stay patient. The price will come down. It always does.