Lightning Strikes Twice

A few weeks back I purchased a Gerrit Cole 1/1 on eBay via the buy it now function.  It was notable because I could count on one hand the amount of times I've made such a purchase. Rarely do eBay sellers have items priced appropriately.  The more common occurrence is the seller having the card listed for $500, but adds the ability to submit offers. 

Sure enough another card popped up for a reasonable amount. 

2013 Panini Prizm Garrett Jones 1/1

This one popped up for $14.99 with free shipping.  While not a steal, it was a more than reasonable asking price for a non printing plate 1/1.  You just never know where an auction would take the price.  I could easily see less than $10 or as much as $25.  Garrett was a fan favorite during his short Pirate tenure so I think demand would have been there for a rare card. 

On a side note.....

Congrats to the Astros.  Always cool to see a franchise get their first championship.  Tough loss for all my Dodger buddies, but that team is stacked in both the MLB and MILB rosters so they should be contenders for the foreseeable future.  

Thanks for reading. 

1st Edition Education

When it comes to collecting I really don't give myself any rules. I just like to have a well rounded collection while trying not to overspend for any one card. During some searching for cards of more obscure Pirates I came across a parallel I knew nothing about.

2014 Topps 1st Edition Francisco Liriano

When these popped up I went to Cardboardconnection.com to educate myself a little more. It turns out that the 1st edition cards were a prize in the Spring Training Access in 2014 Topps Series 1. Each collector that found a Spring Training access pass was given a complete set of the 1st edition cards. Only 10 sets were made of the over 600 card set!

Needless to say a handful of these sets were broken up and put on eBay. Of course big names like Trout and Harper went for huge bucks. Deals could be had on the lesser know guys.  This is where I come in. 

The seller I bought the Liriano from must have been breaking up close to an entire set as he had a slew of Pirates for sale. Being that many of them had low bids, I started bidding on all the Pirates. While I didn't get any of the star Buccos I did end up doing pretty well. 

The big win for me was the Wandy Rodriguez as it was my favorite Pirate card from 2014 Series 1. It had fun cameos of Marte, Harrison and Burnett. I don't remember how much I spent as this auction was won around the holidays, but I'm guessing most of these went for less than $5.  I remember putting an aggressive bid on the Cole, but still came up short. 

In the end the cards I did win better suit my style. When it comes to parallels I really only like to spend money on the silver frames and acetates. For me it is always fun to find rare cards of Buccos that don't get much love on cardboard. 

So if you are ever on eBay and come across one of these 1st edition cards, snag them up. It might be a cheap way to get a card with only ten in existence. 

Thanks for reading! 

Garrett Jones

I'm a huge fan of Triple Threads.  It is by far my favorite high end release  I'm always looking for Pirate hits, most notably from the 2011 edition.  Several months a go I made a purchase of around 30 different relic/auto cards from the set and have made it my mission to see how many of the "triple play" combos I can make.  Each card had 3 variations numbered the same.  I just recently completed all three of the Mccutchen jersey variations numbered to 9.

The card shown is a 1/1 Garrett Jones auto bat piece card.  Garrett had a tough path to the majors as he was originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1999 and released after 3 years in the system.  The Twins picked him up and he slowly made his way up in the system but being a first baseman he was blocked by Justin Morneau. He made his major league debut in 2007, but his time was limited.  After the 2008 season he became a free agent and was signed to a minor league contract by the Pirates.

Garrett instantly became a fan favorite in Pittsburgh as he hit the ground running when he got his chance to play.  He blasted 7 homeruns in his first 12 games and was named NL rookie of the month for July.  Garrett was a mainstay in the middle of the lineup through the 2012 season.  Unfortunately he struggled in 2013 and the Pirates non tendered him after the season and he went on to sign with the Marlins.

At least Garrett can say he is the only Pirate to do this...