Not too slabby

I'm not a huge fan of graded cards.

I don't purchase enough high end or vintage cards to really be concerned about them. I do have a couple that I've gotten sent to me or purchased, and that's all well and good. With so few in my collection, they aren't easy to store and sort of stick out like a sore thumb.

However, there are instances where a graded, slabbed card is more affordable than unslabbed. For instance, in March, this same card, ungraded and #'d 1/5, sold or $35.99 on eBay. The bidder was not me.

I bought this same card, graded and #'d 2/5, for $1.99 + 3.99 shipping last week. That's quite a price swing for the same card. It's a 2013 Bowman Platinum Orange that was exclusive to the National Convention. I've had the regular version of this (Orange #'d to 125) for years, but the autograph /5 is fairly rare and I've only seen it pop up once or twice.

I think I scored quite the deal, especially compared to the person who purchased the ungraded version two months ago!

Loving the PWEs

I think I've previously stated, but it feels like PWEs find their way to me in bunches. I could go months without getting one, then three pop up in one week. That's why it's always fun to go to the mailbox.

Last week, Adam from Cardboard Clubhouse sent an awesome PWE. It definitely struck a really nice vintage chord, and are some big-name players!

 I love it! They were all in great condition too. I definitely didn't have that Jim Hunter, and the Murcer is a really special card given what we meant to Yankee fans.

I really liked this Ken Greer card from Star. I've gotten a lot of Star cards over the years, but I don't recall seeing the purple border. I kind of like it! Very different.

Tanaka time! Being that this is his fifth Yankees season, I need to start counting how many Tanaka I have. It's gotta be in the 50 or 60 range.

Adam, this was a most appreciated and unexpected surprise. Thank you!

Yankees cards coming to life

One of the coolest blogs out there, Baseball Cards Come to Life!, recently sent me a great trade package. Bo runs a very cool blog, complete with some awesome player interviews and #walletcard posts. I wish I had his ability to notice so many cool things in NYC. I probably walk by so many each day that I never take the time to notice. Bo does.

It all started with this card, the 5x7 Zenith Tino. I didn't have this one, so jumped at that chance.
Bo also protected these cards in a fun way:

I'm glad Pat LaFontaine was a Ranger for a short time. I remember watching their team quite a bit when he was there.

To me, the best part about the trade package was how random it was, and I mean that in a good way. It was filled with cards from all years, many from sets I don’t remember or had forgotten about. Here are a few cards that stuck out to me:

Topps 206 was one set I missed as a kid, but I do recall there being several versions of each card, as on display here:

SI Yankees!

Ziploc!

There were a bunch of Classic cards, including the ones featuring the Saved By The Bell design. I thought I was being original by calling it that but it looks like this is well known by Night Owl and every other blogger.

How have I never seen this Prime Time card? It’s great, although that looks like a brutal sun. Good concentration, Deion.

And I can effectively say, this is my first card of Meatloaf. Wonder if he signs TTM?

Bo, such a fun package. Thank you so much!

I bid $1,775 for this card...and won!

Having eBay on our smartphones can both be a blessing and a curse. I've used it to easily search for and buy cards when I otherwise wouldn't have been in front of a computer. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've actually been to eBay's website on my computer.

The problem is that it's a lot easier to screw up a bid. I recently did this for the Matt Sauer 2018 Bowman Chrome autograph pictured above. At the time, most were selling in the $2-$3 range. So I put in a very low bid of $1.75 to see if I'd win. However, my less than agile thumb hit the 7 twice. So my bid was actually $1,775. Oy!

Upon a google search, I saw that I could visit eBay's website and go through a process to retract my bid. But I don't like it when I've had people retract bids on me. Plus I didn't want to go to the website versus the app. I also knew that this card wasn't going to skyrocket, so I was pretty safe winning it for a decent prize. I let it ride out, and ended up winning the card for $7.50 plus shipping. It's more than I would have paid on it's own and I probably could have gotten one in the $4 range, but oh well. I'm happy to have it and it's a fun story.

Maybe the seller saw my bid and felt bad, as he tossed in 12 Bowman cards to protect the autograph. I haven't found any Bowman in stores, so I guess it's like I ended up with a pack that contained an autograph of a prospect on my favorite team.

And remember to double-check your bids before pressing "submit"!

Thrice as nice

The latest Topps NOW card in my possession arrived at a time when I'm feeling pretty good about the Yankees. They've won 17 of 18 games and have showed some serious resolve over that span. The winning streak has been against the best the AL has to offer, so that makes it all the more impressive.

This card is from the wee days of season, April 4 to be exact. Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, and Aaron Judge each hit 2-run homers in that game.

While these guys hitting homers isn't particularly rare, I thought having a card featuring all three of them would be pretty cool, even if it leaves a bit to be desired since each player is squeezed into a third of the card. Although I shouldn't complain given the same tactic was used to jam 4 Dodgers pitchers in one card after their combined no-hitter.

Anyhow, the Yankees will endure some rough patches this year, no doubt. But for living in the NOW, I'm a happy fan.

Prime numbers

5 is a prime number.

It's actually my favorite number. Growing up, I always tried to be #5 in sports. My older brother's # was 5, so I sort of inherited it. I was #5 on my high school baseball and soccer teams. I even wore a silver chain with a #5 pendant on it. I've since retired wearing that because I am old and don't view myself as cool any longer.

This card is also my fifth different 2005 Donruss Prime Patches card, one of the most confusing/frustrating sets in existence. It is a triple relic featuring two bat pieces and a jersey. I also have a single relic, quad relic, jumbo relic, and number patch. And there are still many, many more out there. I'll chase them down one by one, but will never have them all. Still, it's always cool to add another Tino Martinez to my collection.

This is #847, which is not a prime number. But that's ok. Next prime number in my Tino collection? 853. I'm six away!

Sometimes, the simplest cards can elude you

It always makes me laugh when I think about simple cards missing from my Tino Martinez collection. I always feel like there aren’t many early 1990s cards I haven’t unearthed, but then all the sudden I’m like, “wait, I don’t have the 1994 Donruss base card?”

This happened recently when all-around nice guy Kin reached out with this 1993 Pacific.

I was sure I had it, but still checked my “have” list. Would you look at that? It wasn’t there. Somehow, in my 20+ years of collecting Tino, and in all the times when I’ve bought 100-card lots for the two I didn’t have, this card wasn’t there.

Kin sent me two copies and apologized because each had a little paper loss. That’s what happens to 25 year old cards. They stick together! It doesn’t matter to me. I’m just happy to add it the 1993 section of my Tino collection.

It’s Tino #23 for 1993 and #846 overall.

Thanks, Kin!