Gold borders 27 years apart

I had two Tino Martinez cards come in this past week. They couldn't have been more different, yet they shared one common trait.

Gold borders.

The first was was Allan Kaye's Sports Card News and Price Guides. It's uncommon when a Tino from 1992 I hadn't seen pops up, but sure enough, this one did. I was unfamiliar with it, which is definitely surprising since I have a sound grasp on most of Tino's early stuff. But sure enough, I didn't have it, and it was a quick and easy eBay win.

I was surprised to see gold foil borders on this card, as that was still fairly rare for 1992 and generally oddballs were made fairly cheaply. I appreciate the effort, as well as the nice, clean design.

The other was from 2019 Archives Snapshots, a set I have little use for. But when a low-numbered Tino is available, I'll snag it if the price is right. In this instance, the card is hand-numbered 04/10. Weirdly, I also own the gold autograph numbered 04/10.

These two Tino cards put me at 1,099. Just one away from another round number!

40 to go

My Tino Martinez collection now sits at 960 unique cards.

I honestly think I probably have more because of those weird 1991 Donruss variations, and other odd cards that I have not really kept track of, but am now quite aware of due to Trading Card Database.

I feel like 1,000 is really in reach right now. The number feels very legitimate, and really does feel pretty special. Tino cards aren't easy. I have about 600 Jeter card without even trying, just from various card packages and the amount of products he was in.

Tino was in a lot of products in 1997 and 1998, but other than that, I wouldn't say he has a massive run of cards. According to TCDB, he has 2,416 cards total. While that sounds like a lot, consider that Gleyber Torres already has 3,395.

While it might seem like it's only the rarest of the rare left, it's not the case. I constantly find base cards I need. Like this, from 1996 Leaf Signature:

Didn't have it! Came from from TCDB. And similar to Donruss variations, Upper Deck had all these weird hologram variations. This one is a home plate variation? WTF. Now I have to go through all my dupes and look at the backs of them. This came fro TCDB also.

The recent run of Tino ink has added some new blood to the collection, although is also costing me more money than I need to spend. But they look nice, don't they? The first two are both 04/10.

Shiny cards continue to be sexy,  and these three fit that bill.

Last but not least, oversized oddballs sponsored by the local police?! That helps get to 1,000.

The other day, Mario told me he hopes #1,000 isn't a Cardinal. I have no preference. If it happens naturally, so be it. But if I find myself sitting on 999, I might have to splurge for something rare and one I really want.

I'll worry about that in 39 cards.

Snapshot!

One of the newer releases that Tino Martinez found himself into this year was Topps Archives Snapshots. I believe these are small base sets, with one autograph per pack. As part of the hundreds of cards he's signed for Topps this year, Tino was an also autograph subject.

Mike Sommer of Wax Pack Hero was busting 12 boxes of these of these on Twitter recently, and I told him to let me know if he pulled a Tino autograph. Sure enough, in one of the first packs, out popped this:

Mike gave me a good deal on it and it purchased it directly from him.

I like the design of these cards a lot. Simple, but classic looking. Really nice.

A few days later, I won this blue parallel of the base card on eBay, numbered to 50.

I'm actually still waiting to buy the regular base card, but for now, having two of the rarer cards in the set is a great start.

An ode to Jeff Nelson

I'll always be a Jeff Nelson fan.

First and foremost, he was an incredibly important bullpen cog during the Yankees title runs from 1996-2000. As we've seen by the free agent market the past few years, good relievers are tough to come by and are getting paid handsomely. Nelson was as solid as they came, and created an incredible set-up tandem with lefty Mike Stanton that served as the bridge to Mariano Rivera.

Second, he came to the Yankees in the Tino Martinez trade, so he'll always have that connection to my favorite player. I'm not quite sure why the Mariners threw in not one but TWO relievers (Jim Mecir being the other) in addition to Tino for Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock. Perhaps the prospects were so highly rated that they needed to? Or the M's needed to cut payroll that much? Nelson was just coming off of a season for the M's in which he went 7-3 with a 2.17 ERA in 78 innings. That's valuable!

He was an emotional leader out there, and it's easy to remember his sidearm motion then striking out a guy and doing a fist pump heading into the dugout. He also loved the 'ol fake-to-third-throw-to-first move. It even worked once!

After 2000, Nelson returned to Seattle and once again enjoyed success. However, his time in Pinstripes was not up! In the never ending search for middle-relief help in the mid-2000s, the Yankees once again brought Nelson back, this time trading away the much-hated Armando Benitez, who was never welcomed as a Yankee for obvious reasons dating back to 1998 when he drilled Tino Martinez in the back. So you trade away a hated player and bring back a loved former player? Done deal!

In 2007, Nelson signed a one-day contract with the Yankees and retired as a member of the organization.

I saw him on the subway platform once but didn't speak to him, as I was in the train and I saw him when the doors opened. The card featured at the top of this post is my first and only autograph of Nellie. He has a cool autograph that I hope he signs sidearm!

Archives blastin'

I was finally fortunate enough to find a blaster of Archives when I had to make an unexpected Wal-Mart run last weekend. It would have been cool to stumble on a box of Bowman Platinum, but I didn’t see any.

As fate would have it, the Archives blaster was a complete dud, again reminding me why I shouldn’t spend $20 on retail. You’d have thought I’d learn by now that I just don’t have good luck busting packs.

I was glad to snag two Jeter Retrospectives, including his ’93 RC reprint.

I was hoping to get a Peach parallel, which I did. Of course, it was of a Blue Jay. Between them and the Astros, I feel like that’s all I pull these days. It also came in the first pack, and I had a feeling it would probably be the best card I pulled.

See what I mean? Blue Jays and Astros.

As for my coins, they couldn’t have been less exciting either.

Pretty boring box, overall. However, I like the product, and at least now won’t wonder “what if” like I was before I was able to bust a blaster of this stuff.

July 4th pack busting

On Tuesday, July 4th, I was able to make an early morning run to Target.

I was hoping for a blaster of Archives, but all I found were a few 18-card jumbo packs. There were a TON of blasters of Series 2, Opening Day, and Bowman, but it was Archives I was after. I settled on two of the jumbo packs. Sigh.

I can't say I pulled anything too interesting, although did snag a few Yankees. As others have noted, the card stock is way better this year, so that's a huge plus. I was hoping for one of those neat-looking Peach parallels, but came up empty-handed.

Here are a few of the highlights, led off by Jeter and Gary Sanchez. I wanted the Jeter as soon as I saw it, so was glad to pull it. It's a cool-looking card.

I love seeing Aaron Boone's inclusion as a Yankee. The Mattingly looks nice too. Great headshot of him from his younger days, as well as his iconic batting stance.

These Retro inserts are kind of neat. I'm on a mini Bryce Harper streak lately.

I also got two of those Bazooka cards...both of this guy.

It was definitely fun to bust a few packs in Independence Day. I was just a bit letdown since there no blasters. Oh well, maybe next year!

Hayes has room...Hayes makes the catch!

“…Swung on and popped up again off third. Hayes has room. Hayes makes the catch! Yankees win. Theeee Yankeeeees win! The New York Yankees have won the 1996 World Series!” – John Sterling

I’ve heard that call many, many times over the past 20 years. It’s one of my favorite baseball memories: seeing the Yankees win the 1996 World Series. I was a seventh grader at the time, but I still remember that night well, including being over at my friend Pat’s house.

The moment above was luckily immortalized in his 1997 Upper Deck card.

While I didn’t know much about the 2016 Archives 65^th Anniversary set, I was happy to see Hayes had an autograph. I can’t imagine many folks would be thrilled with pulling this card as their auto given that it’s selling for about $2-$3, but I couldn’t snatch one up fast enough. Although this photo isn't from the '96 moment, it's still neat that he's catching pop up.

The lot I purchased also had a green bordered back parallel #’d to 150, as well as a base card. Not bad to pick up a few of these at once. 

SuperTraders #23: A kinky package from Cards on Cards

This is the latest package that Kerry from Card on Cards sent me. When it arrived, my wife thought I must’ve gotten her something kinky for Christmas. Sorry dear, it’s baseball cards from Oregon.

Kerry mentioned to me that this envelope has made the rounds from a few bloggers, so I’ll have to keep up the tradition and use it in an upcoming card package. Hmmm, who will it be?

There were two jam-packed bags of Yankees. I was excited that there were some ’16 Archives, as I didn’t get much of those and they really haven’t found their way into trade packages yet. I really enjoyed this year’s checklist and the chosen designs. The one thing I found weird was 1991 – with “New York” being added to “Yankees”, forcing the name awkwardly above the light blue ribbon. Kind of sloppy. However, the rest of the ’91 design looks cool. I like the gray a lot.

This Jeter is one that I’m not familiar with it. It’s from ’04 SPx. I need to count how many Jeter cards I have where he’s blowing a bubble.

I didn’t have this Jeter either, which is from ’06 Bazooka. The gold-bordered versions are much thicker than the base cards. This is a bit of an underrated design. It’s simple. No bells and whistles, plenty of space for a full photo, yet you still get the player name and team.

VIP! I love having cards from the National! I’ll probably never go, so I really appreciate getting exclusive cards from the show.

This Whitey Ford Fleer Hardball is numbered to 1000. Doesanyone remember when Whitey got mad at my TTM request and signed a card “W.Ford” to stick it to me?

Knobby! Flair cards were always nice, although they got a little consuming when they starting doing variations and different levels. But the card itself is really attractive and shiny. Bowman has used some similar technology in more recent releases.

A IIID O’Neill! Neat card. I don’t have much recollection of this set. It's kind of like those modern-day Opening Day inserts that were all trippy to look at.

I think Fleer InScribed is easily overlooked. The cards were nice though. They felt and looked classy. I’d love to get one autographed.

Lastly, there was a bunch of these Sporting News Conlon cards from ’88. There were some great photos! I don’t recall having any of these cards in my collection.

Kerry, you rock. Thanks!