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!

When prospecting goes right

I am not a prospector in hopes of striking it rich when a guy makes it. I just enjoy picking up cards of Yankee prospects and watching them develop. I send TTM requests, and ultimately get a head start on a small player collection in the event they become a Major League regular with my team.

There are plenty of instances where it does not work out. I have a ton of cards of guys like Mason Williams and Eric Jagielo and Manny Banuelos. But when it does work out, it's pretty awesome to see. I felt that way all last summer with Gary Sanchez.

I had read somewhere that Aaron Judge Topps RCs from the 2017 flagship set were selling north of $5, so I got curious about the market value for some of my other Judge cards. I was floored when I did an eBay search for completed listings.

For example, his 2013 Bowman Chrome Refractor is selling for at least $50. This is the regular version, not autographed. I have at least two of them, as I won a 12-card Bowman lot of Judge for $2.99 in late 2013 that included a few Refractors, a few Chrome, and a few paper base. Even the Chrome are selling well, going in the $20 range.

And you bet I'm kicking myself for never picking up the Bowman auto, although I did use one of the cards in the lot above and got this:

In 2014, this Bowman Sterling auto was an eBay win for me at $2.25. The last three on eBay that I just view sold for $89.99, $107.50, and $111.50. Cripes.

The prices will come down as the season goes on, as this is a lightning-in-a-bottle type of moment. Still, I can certainly say I got in on the ground for, and in turn, am in possession of some extremely high demand cards right now.

Prospects will break your heart. But once in awhile, they'll also make you really glad you got in on the ground floor.

The Kraken keeps smackin'

In December, Yankees GM Brian Cashman had a bit of a prophecy:

Unleash the Kraken.

Well, nine months later, the Kraken has most definitely been unleashed. Gary Sanchez continues to be the hottest hitter in baseball. He just hit his 10th HR and had his 20th RBI in his 20th MLB game.

I know he won't keep up this pace (duh), but man, it's fun. I'd think he'll end up with an AL Player of the Month Award for August, but we'll see.

Anyhow, here's a new Sanchez I surprisingly didn't have this 2011 Bowman Sterling, courtesy of San Jose Fuji:

I also just came across this, which I never added to my Sanchez PC list:

Sanchez cards are crazy high right now, so if you're looking to own a card of his, I'd certainly wait until the market starts to correct itself a little bit.

See you never, Redemption

Back in the spring, I redeemed this on Topps' super modern looking redemption website:

Now, I already have a Ty Hensley 2014 Bowman Red Ice Auto redemption that is outstanding with Topps and has been for over a year. Not happening, I know. The Hensley/Montgomery is from 2013 Bowman Sterling.

So my chances are slim, right?

But here's the thing. The card exists in Bowman Platinum! It's been on ebay! Look:

So where is the Bowman Sterling one if Platinum exists? Did Topps run out of stickers? The set seems to be all stickers, so what gives?

Topps doesn't have answers and keeps offering me a replacement. Nope, sorry, guys. Give me my card.

Prospect excitement

Since I started this blog in 2011, I've collected cards of many Yankees prospects. Some were traded. Some were released. Some made their debuts. Some never panned out.

I love prospect cards, but I'm not a "prospector." I'm not acquiring cards of prospects, then hoping they make it big so I can flip them for cash. More than anything, I just like having a head start on collecting guys who could be the future of my favorite team.

I enjoy following prospects and learning more about them. This goes back to growing up in a city with minor league baseball (Binghamton Mets), and seeing those guys succeed and make the big leagues. Guys like the Mets' Generation K (ok, so not succeed like expected), Butch Husky, and Egardo Alfonzo are players I watched as a kid, and eventually saw them in the Majors.

Tyler Austin is a guy I've liked for a long time, and he's on the verge of his ML debut. He's so close! I'm sure he can feel it, and hopefully it's driving him, knowing how close within reach his dream is. I couldn't imagine being so close!

It's going to be very rewarding seeing him in the big leagues, and that's just from a goofy card collector. I can't imagine how Tyler and his family will feel when he steps up to a Major League plate for the first time.

Good luck in 2015, Tyler Austin.

The Duel

Hello! Hope everyone had a great Christmas. Between my family's holiday celebrations, as well as my son's third birthday, it's been a whirlwind of a few days. I'm still recovering. We're not even home yet, actually.

In an attempt to clean out my scanned folder a little bit, here's a new Ty Hensley I picked up from 2013 Bowman Sterling's "The Duel" insert set. Sadly, a Red Sox player is on the card along with Hensley. Devin Marrero was a 2012 first rounder as well, and he's advanced to AAA already.

I had seen this card on eBay forever but never pulled the trigger until I could win this for under a buck shipped. It finally happened!

PCs and Tweets

I haven’t been shy around these parts on how awesome Ty Hensley is. From his TTM generosity, to his mother answering a few questions on my blog, Ty has quickly become my favorite player in baseball. Add that to the fact that he’s a former first round pick of the Yankees with massive potential to be a rotation anchor, and it’s a no-brainer for me to collect his cards.

In one of my Twitter show and tells, I featured three new Hensley cards that all arrived on Halloween. As he has been known to do, Ty replied to one of my Tweets, which was cool, even despite my bad Halloween joke which should have turned him off.

Hey, if making his big league dream come true wasn’t enough motivation, he now has the added pressure of making it so that my card collection can continue to flourish. I’m sure that will drive him all off-season.

Oh yeah, the cards. Here are the other two brand new Hensleys (the Red Ice above is new as well), bringing my total to 43 unique cards, not counting dupes and whatnot. I’m hoping to hit 50 before the end of the calendar year.

The Michael Pineda stock market

With the two new Michael Pinedas above, I'm sitting at 85 unique Pineda cards. My goal was to get to 100 by the end of the year. I could probably do that easily on COMC or Sportslots if I wanted to, but I've been picking up one or two at a time through trades or on eBay. Maybe I should just go through and make a cheap purchase of 15-20 that I don't have.

But it's hard.

Pineda's cards fluctuate in price more than any player I've ever focused on.

He has had a weird career, card-wise. His prices were high when he was first dealt to the Yankees. I'm assuming they were pretty high during his 2011 rookie season, but he was a Mariner and never crossed my mind as a possible PC guy. Once dealt to the Yanks, I picked up a few of his cards.

But then he got hurt.

His prices dropped. They dropped even more when he spent two years injured and/or in the minors. Many wondered if he'd ever pitch for the Yankees, myself included. Then he made the rotation in 2014, and pitched very well out of the gate. His prices went up. Quickly. Then there was pinetargate, a 10-game suspension, and ultimately a shoulder injury set him back once again. Thinking his early season success was just a blip, his prices went back down. I swooped in.

Then he came back toward the end of the season, pitched very well again, and was pine tar free (or at least he hid it like a normal pitcher). His card prices went up again, somewhat unreasonably actually.

So what's the future hold for Michael Pineda and his volatile cardstock? I have no idea. He's showed that when healthy, he's one of the best pitchers in the game. But he just seems like a guy who won't stay healthy.

It's going to make for a very interesting PC over the next few years.

Tino #651

I didn't have a very creative post title, so I'll just use what # Tino card this is in my collection...#651 unique. I swear I have a bunch of uncounted Tinos somewhere, because this number feels low. I know it's a decent number, I just think I have more.

Whatever.

 

I found a really good deal on this 2005 Bowman Sterling Black Refractor bat relic. It's #'d 01/25. I think it's my first Tino that is #'d 1. It also came in this fancy case. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was a redemption or something? All of the others on eBay seem to be in the Topps sealed case as well, although this seal was peeled at some point. No big deal to me. I got this for $1.49 + $2.24 shipping. Pretty solid, indeed.

You be the Judge

One of my goals this past year was to pick up Bowman Sterling autographs of the Yankees three 2013 first picks: Eric Jagielo, Ian Clarkin, and Aaron Judge. The last, and most expensive, was Aaron Judge, the massive outfielder from Fresno State.

Judge is off to a great start in low-A ball, hitting .359/.488/.469. Scouts are raving about his game and approach so far. He's a little old for low-A, so it's only a matter of time before he's bumped up to A+ Tampa. I'd be shocked if he was still in Charleston come mid-May. He played three years at a major college program, so he should be mashing at low-A.

It's been a long time since the Yanks had a legit OF prospect, but Judge fits the bill. He's not a Melky Mesa/Zoilo Almonte 5th OF fill-in of the past few years. He's a cornerstone player if he plans out the way the Yankees hope.

In stitches

Normally, there's not much to get excited about with a plain gray jersey swatch. It's always nice to have a relic, but plain gray can be very boring without a stripe or patch.

Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised when I received this Michael Pineda relic card with a thread stiched through a portion of it. I had wanted to pick up this card for my PC and got it cheap on ebay, but didn't know there would be more than some boring gray. Very cool! It certainly didn't cause the seller to place a premium on it, as it was one of the most affordable Pineda relics on the 'bay right now.

What about you? Have you ever been surprised by an ordinary swatch? Did it have some stitches, rips, or dirt?

Two new Ty Hensley autos

Aside from my TTM successes from Ty Hensley, I picked up two really nice Ty Hensley certified autographs.

The first might be my favorite Hensley yet. It's a 2012 Bowman Sterling Refractor Auto and is #'d /199. I won this for super cheap on eBay. I actually forgot I bid, and was pleasantly surprised when I got the email. I have the non-refractor version of this as well. It's a very sharp looking card. I like it more than the blue non-refractor version.

Next up, some unlicensed goodness. Ty must've signed a ton of cards for Leaf, as he's got a bunch of autos in their sets that I'm trying to acquire. I've got a ways to go! This particular card is from 2012 Leaf Draft.

My first Ian Clarkin auto

I grabbed my first Ian Clarkin auto on eBay recently. Ian was one of the Yankees three 2013 first rounders, a lefty out of the San Diego area. He's got a ton of upside, and is one of the main reasons I expect the Yanks' farm system to have a pretty big bounce back year. Any time you can add three first rounders, including two advanced college bats (Eric Jagielo and Aaron Judge), you can make up some ground quickly.

Anyhow, Clarkin's autos are starting to shoot up in price, so I picked up this one for a few bucks while I could. he has a unique signature, with a very large "I". I like it though.

Some eBay sellers rock

Sometimes, eBay sellers are awesome for no reason. Seriously. A few weeks ago, I picked up a few Bowman Yankee autographs. Each one was running about $2, and I noticed the seller had combined shipping. I always hear other bloggers talking about taking advantage of combined shipping, so I looked at what else he had ending around that time, and nabbed two more Yankee autos.

When the package came, I noticed a few additional cards in between the two of the Yankee autographed cards. The seller correctly assumed I was a Yankee fan, and threw in some truly sweet Yankees parallels! Check out what he sent: 

 

Truly awesome cards. Hensley is a PC guy, so love the sweet Bowman Ice of him as well.

My first Pineda relic

I finally snagged my first Michael Pineda relic, even though it's of him in a Mariners uniform. You know, I guess he actually needs to pitch in a game for him to get a true game-used Yankees jersey. He does have a few Yankee jersey issues, which is weird since he's never pitched for them. He had a few spring training appearances in 2012, so I suppose that's what those are from. Wooooo.

Anyways, this is a dual-relic card with Zach Britton of the Orioles. I remember Britton being a pretty big prospect for them. It seems like he's had a rough go of it in the Bigs so far. At the time, I'm going to say this would have been a pretty desirable card. Now, it's nothing special, but it is my first Pineda relic, so I suppose it's still special in that sense.

A blatent look what I got post

I don’t have much to say here. This is blantently a “look what I got” post. These cards have trickled in through various purchases/auction wins. I don’t have much to say other than I like them, and here they are. Now I can put them away.

 

 

 

AAA - Austin Aune Autos

While I haven't had time to sneak out and pick up some 2013 Series One yet, the eBay packages have still been rolling in. I recently picked up two cards of Yankees 2012 2nd Round Draft Pick Austin Aune.

The first was a 2012 Leaf Valient. These cards are awesome, as they are in the design of 1998 Donruss Crusaders. The auto is on card and really jumps against the background.

I nabbed my second 2012 Bowman Sterling Auto. The first was a Ty Hensley, so now I have a second card in the set. Again, on card.

Yankees first rounder auto

I recently treated myself to a certified auto of Ty Hensley, the Yankees first round pick in 2012. Ty’s an exciting prospect and the Yanks haven’t grabbed a highly touted high school arm in the first round since Phil Hughes (not counting Gerrit Cole since he didn’t sign in 2008).

 These Bowman Sterling on-card autos are pretty nice, despite scanning crappy. The blue is actually mirror-like and very vibrant. There are a few more Yanks in the set which I may try to pick up.