Anxiety over the Topps Yankees Project

I won’t lie. On the eve of pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training, I’m nervous about the 2017 edition of my Topps Yankees Project.

For those that don’t know, I’ve collected a TTM autograph of a Yankee on every Topps issue from 1951 to 2016. There are no repeat players, and everything was done via the mail. I completed it a couple of years ago, and now my only focus is adding the next season. In this case, 2017. Here's a link to view, although I don't believe I've done a full rundown since 2015.

I'm anxious because the Yankees checklist in 2017 isn’t on my side, at least for Series One. Usually there is a reliever or role player I can count on, such as JR Murphy or Austin Romine or Boone Logan. This year, I’m not sure how this is going to work out. Here’s the checklist, with each player’s signing habits:

Gary Sanchez – Does not sign

Tyler Austin – Signed in minors, but likely not now

Brian McCann – Does not sign

Dellin Betances – Signed as a minor leaguer, but not now

Billy Butler – Decent signer during Royals days, but currently a free agent

Aaron Hicks – Does not sign

Jacoby Ellsbury – Does not sign

Masahiro Tanaka – Does not sign

Yankees team card – Doesn’t count by my made up rules

Nathan Eovaldi – Signs, but is rehabbing from injury and will miss the season. He just latched on with the Rays.

Aaron Judge – Signed as a minor leaguer, but that was early in his career

Tyler Clippard – Has not signed in a long time

So there you have it. Not encouraging. Eovaldi is going to be my best chance, assuming he signs with a team soon. I think I’ll send to each player, knowing that I won’t be getting them back. I always end up with a decent amount of Series One from trades, so I’m not too worried about losing the cards. Still, you never know! It’s worth a shot. Otherwise, I have to wait until Series 2, or <grasp> Update.

TTM Success: Charles Hudson

Former Yankees pitcher Charles Hudson returned my three cards in 26 days time. Hudson had quite a few cards as a Yankee during the Junk Wax Era.

Traded to the Yanks from the Phils for Mike Easler, Hudson pitched in the Bronx in 1987 and 1988. I can't say I have recollection of him pitching for NY, but he had a decent year in '87, going 11-7 with a 3.61 ERA.

SuperTraders #29: Angels In Order

I’ve had quite a few PWEs show up lately, which I love. I need to get back to sending them out! Especially with my extra 2017 Topps cards sitting around.

My latest PWE came from #SuperTrader Tom of Angels In Order. It was a fun one! My favorite card was a 2007 Fleer ARod insert. I won’t lie, with all of these boring 2017 Topps inserts (other than Five Tools), I’d do anything for more of the crazy inserts that were around when there were multiple brands. This one isn’t as crazy as some, but still feels like it compared to 2017 Topps Salutes.

 

I can say I never collected any MLB Showdowns when they were out, and this is one of the shiny ones. It looks better than my scan would indicate.

This Salt Lake Bees set is just so cool!

All-time fan favorites needs to make a comeback…and include Tino! That is my wish for 2017.

Here’s the rest of the PWE. Great assortment of nine cards, Tom. Thank you!

The Lost Collector Turns 6!

It's hard to believe, but this small little blog of mine turns six today. Outside of a bit of a lull in the Fall of 2012, I've consistently made 200 blog entries per year. While not daily, one every other day or so isn't bad, even when 95% of them are "hey, look what I got" posts.

It's funny. In my first year of blogging, I did 546 posts. That's absurd. See, I follow a couple of sports blogs closely, and I thought that I needed to do at least three posts per day, as some of my favorites do. That was downright silly and impossible to achieve, and I quickly learned to pace myself. Those blogs have thousands of readers and several staff writers. I was just dumb thinking that was the necessary formula to be successful.

I wish I had some better kept records, like amount of trade packages in or out, total numbers of TTMs, total times Napkin Doon did something outlandish, total cards JBF has sent me, total Zappings, etc. While I can't do that, I can say that my collection has grown in ways I could have never imagined, and I've gotten cards - mostly from you guys - I would have never thought possible.

Regardless, thank you for stopping by these last few years. It's been a blast, and I plan to keep going as long as it's still interesting to me.

Joining the SUPERFRACTOR club

 I finally have a Superfractor.

And the best part is? It’s of Ty Hensley, a player I avidly collect.

It’s the most I’ve ever spent on a card – by far. And at a time when I’ve been saving up my card funds for a Jeter autograph, it certainly could have come at a better time. However, I didn’t think I’d ever see this card, and had to make it happen.

The card was first listed on eBay with a starting bid of $125. I messaged the seller with an offer for substantially less than that, to which he/she declined. You know, Yankees first round pick. This was going to fetch big bucks, the seller must’ve been thinking.

After a week, it did not sell, and was dropped down to a starting bid of $100. Still nothing. I messaged the seller my offer again, this time without a response. The card went unsold again after a week.

The next week, it was listed with that same $100 price tag, but this time, the words I’ve been looking for were included…”Or best offer.” I sent a lower offer than my original, and the seller responded with a counter just below the asking price. I then sent my final offer, which was the same as my original offer from three weeks prior, and waited…and waited…and waited. Finally, while sitting in a Dunkin Donuts while my car was getting serviced, I got a notification on my phone.

“The seller has accepted your offer.”

I had the PayPal funds to back it up, and quickly made my payment. A few days later, I had it in hand.

The card itself is ungraded, but slabbed in a Beckett case. I asked Beckett about this on Twitter, and they said that collectors have the option of just slabbing for protection/display without going through the grading process. I haven’t decided what I’ll do – if I’ll break it free or re-submit it for grading or what. For now, I’ll leave it alone.

I’m just happy to have it. And now my rainbow is truly complete.

TTM Success: CC Sabathia

Recently, I've been feeling a little bummed. In a few of the forums I follow, I've seen some CC Sabathia TTM autos rolling in from guys who sent to him a year or two ago. I sent him a request last spring, but as I mentioned yesterday, mail forwarding hasn't been very kind to me. I was worried I'd never get it back.

However, in the stack of mail that the current tenants graciously put aside for me, there was one lone TTM SASE. I really, really wanted it to be Sabathia, and was thrilled when this fell out:

Yessssss!

I couldn't remember which card I even sent to him, but I think I made a good choice. The signature looks great, and you really can't argue with a Topps Heritage of any kind. The surface is ripe for an auto, so there was no bubbling or anything of the sorts.

This is my first Sabathia auto, as I don't own any certified autos of his. I'm very, very happy to add this!