Patience is key

For the last year or so, I've seen this card in my Ty Hensley saved eBay search.

I set my mark of $7 (plus shipping). I decided I would not pay above that. For months upon months, the listing fluctuated between $9.99, 12.99, and 14.99. Each time I offered $7. Each time the seller tried to get a little more out of me. I balked.

Maybe I was being cheap for a card I wanted. But also if it's listed that long...and only one person is inquiring...maybe it's listed too high.

Finally I wore him down. Maybe? He did accept $7, literally after almost a year my first offer. Maybe I could have gotten it for less. I don't know. But at this point rare autographs and 1/1s are the only Ty Hensley's I don't have, and they don't come up often, so I think it felt it was an ok price since I only buy one every couple of months.

Regardless, I like it. It'll look nice in my collection.

Not neglecting Ty

In my chase for 1,000 unique Tinos, picking up old basketball rookie cards, and trading for Gleyber Torres cards on TCDB, it may seem like I've neglected my Ty Hensley collection.

Wrong!

I still actively search and seek out new Hensley cards I need. There just aren't a ton of them out there, so I do get excited when one pops up.

Recently a 2012 Bowman Sterling magenta plate popped up on eBay. It was a 7-day auction, so I waited anxiously and bid toward the end. Of course, I was the only buyer, but you never know.

The fact that it is autographed makes it even cooler to me.

This is my 123rd Hensley card, and ninth printing plate. If you ever see one out in the wild, let me know!

I thought the Glossies would be a little...Glossier

"That John Denver is full of sh*t, man."

That was the line that popped into my head when my 2019 Topps All & Ginter Tino Martinez Glossy Mini card arrived. It is a 1/1, and my first modern day Tino 1/1!

I wasn't sure why, but the card didn't seem very glossy. It would be easy to flip right past in a stack of minis. Luckily I knew I had it coming to me, but I wonder how many of these get overlooked by people ripping wax.

I spent a lot more on this card than I planned (and I blame Zippy Zappy). I made what I felt was a low offer to a seller on eBay, and it was accepted. However, even the "low" offer was a lot more than I typically spend on cards.

Still, a Tino 1/1 from 2019? Sign me up!

And if you have a stack a of minis, take another look, because you might have a glossy without even knowing it!

A unicorn is spotted in Michigan

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Ty Hensley was no longer on the roster of the Evansville Otters. There was a press release over the winter that stated he was returning this year, so I was concerned he was once again injured.

A few weeks went by, and it finally popped up in my newsfeed that Ty had signed on with a new independent league team, this time the Utica Unicorns of the United Shore Professional Baseball League.

I was unaware that Utica, NY had a professional baseball team, as that was the only Utica I know. A quick browse of their website shows that I'm incorrect, as this team is based in Utica, MICHIGAN, just outside of Detroit.

Here's Ty in his new duds, courtesy of the Unicorns' website:

Pretty cool logo. Fairly Rumble Ponies-esque.

I wish Ty nothing but the best this year, and hopefully he has a successful season. I'll be sending some cards his way to Utica to distribute to his new teammates and local fans, although I think with independent ball it's quite hit or miss as to whether or not mail is actually delivered to players. Hopefully he gets it!

So far this season, Ty has appeared in four games, with a save and 16 Ks in 10 IP. Nice numbers there! Maybe he'll dominate out of the pen and an organization will give him another shot!

Just yesterday, my 116th different Hensley arrived, yet another 1/1. This is a 2012 Leaf Memories yellow plate, with a sticker autograph obviously attached.

Good luck, Ty!

Oops, sorry Gavin

I knew it was going to happen.

A few weeks ago, I posted that I was officially calling itquits on my Michael Pineda collection. The problem with publicly doing something like that is that we have all these amazing people in our collecting community who are always picking up cards for each other to hold to for future trades.

In this instance, Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown proves the point. He commented the following on my post:

I've been sitting on a Pineda 1/1 (just a "blank back" gimmick), waiting for an excuse to send it to you. I guess I was waiting for him to turn things around first, but looks like I waited too long. Lol

Shut up, Lost Collector. I definitely felt a bit guilty. I’m sure Gavin was pumped to snag this card to send my way at some point, and then I ended up raining on the parade a bit.

But of course I still wanted to the card! It’s a 1/1 of Yankee, and I will never get tired of such things. Even the gimmicky ones! And I will never turn down a Pineda card in a Yankees uniform. I have an excellent collection of his that ranges from autographs to printing plates to other 1 of 1s. I’m just going to turn away my focus, that’s all. But I will never say no. 

As luck would have it, just a few days later I pulled a Rhys Hoskins manu-relic from 2018 Topps, a card that piqued Gavin’s interest, and a very fair trade was made for the Pineda. That made me feel good and a bit redeemed.

And as he has been known to do, Gavin sent a few of his dominant custom cards. He really creates some of the best out there that I’ve seen, so much so that I’ve actually flipped past them in trade packages only to later realize they were customs.

Respect for taking the time on the card backs too. In the few times I've made cards on the Rookies app (which is total cheating compared to Gavin's originals), I was too lazy to do card backs and just used the generic logo one they have.

Gavin also sent a Tino insert. I love this card! I think it looks great, and commemorates Tino's 3-HR day in 1997, which I actually remember very well. That set the stage for his 44-HR season.

Lastly, a surfer dude! And one named AJ!

Thanks, Gavin!

I want my buyby, buyby, buyby back

I don't think that post title worked. Baby back? Buy-by back? Buy back?

Oof. Lay off the spiked eggnog, Lost Collector.

Anyhow, my dude over at Collecting Cutch sent me a finder's fee for helping him track down that Andrew McCutchen card of the year he recently showed off.

It was a gesture he really didn't need to do. He's sent me far more Tino's that I need versus anything I've done to help his 2,000+ McCutchen collection along. Still, I very much appreciate it.

I'm not sure if he found these grouped together or what, but here are four Tino Martinez buy back cards from this year - 1 Rediscover Topps in blue, and then three Bowman 70th anniversaries. I believe two are gold and one is bronze.

 

 

From what I can gather, the blue buy backs from Topps are amongst the rarer ones. In terms of Bowman, the golds are rarer than the bronze.

And to top it off, there was also a Tino Martinez printing plate from 1998 Pacific Online! I think this is the second plate he has sent me. I don't have many Tino 1/1s at all, so this is quite special as well.

Brian, thank you for thinking of me and helping my Tino collection at all! I hope 2018 sees you add even more amazing McCutchen cards.

The late plate

On Tuesday, I received an email notification that an eBay purchase had been delivered.

However, when I got home from, it wasn't there. My wife told me nothing was delivered all day.

I checked the mailbox. I checked the backdoor. I even looked in the front bushes to see if maybe it had blown off the porch and landed in the mulch.

It definitely wasn't there. I checked eBay again. The tracking number still said it was delivered to my mailbox. I was stumped.

I contacted the seller and asked to confirm the address where it was sent. I decided to give it one more day before reaching out to the post office.

Luckily, at about 5pm yesterday, my wife texted me saying she thinks my envelope just arrived.

And it did! My 1998 Tino Martinez Pacific Omega printing plate was safe. I have no idea what happened. Perhaps just a postal error, but I'm glad it all worked out in the end.

My first Tino 1/1 by way of Andrew McCutchen

Frequently we discuss the generosity of other bloggers and collectors. I was recently on the receiving end of another one of these instances.

As a player collector, I know how hard it is to assemble a collection you feel proud of for being truly unique. I’d like to think I have the best Tino Martinez collection out there, but I don’t believe that’s true. I’m missing too many high end cards. Therefore, I frequently find myself “oohing” and “ahhing” over Brian’s collection over at Collecting Cutch. Brian quite possibly has the greatest Andrew McCutchen collection on Earth. That is not an exaggeration. While there may be others who super collect Cutch, I’m not sure anyone can boast over 100 different autos, rookie superfractors, bat knobs, etc. But Brian can. And I admire his dedication. Now I just hope Cutch doesn’t get traded…

For being a loyal reader of the blog Collecting Cutch and giving him a Twitter shoutout, Brian hooked me up big time. He said he was focusing on quality over quantity. Hmmm, I thought. Either way, always appreciate freebies. What I got definitely floored me:

My first 1/1 Tino!!!!!!! Oh man, I’ve been wanting one of these. Since Tino isn’t someone featured on current cards, his printing plates and 1 of 1s are not easy to find. I couldn’t be happier to finally have one from 1996 Pacific! Just the other day I was trying to figure out what my rarest Tino was. Now I know for certain.

As if that wasn’t cool enough, check this out! These are the photo matches of Tino’s 1996 Bowman – front and back – from the Topps Vault! 

I need to frame those, right?!

Man, Brian. I can’t thank you enough. Two very unique, one-of-a-kind items. I really appreciate it!