Circling Back Around

As most of you know I'm an unapologetic Topps Now collector.  I got in early so I have several of the hard to get Pirate cards including the very first NOW card produced Francisco Liriano.  Since I've been quiet on the new card front, I decided to see if I could fill a hole in my collection.

Until just a few weeks back the Pirates only had two NOW autos that were both related to the Spring Training set from the beginning of last season.  When the set was announced I used the coupon that has been given each year and got a nice discount.  I was lucky enough to get this parallel Marte autograph.

The original checklist had originally announced three signers (Marte, Glasnow and Taillon).  As it turns out the production was so low that the Glasnow was never produced to my knowledge.  So the hunt was on for the Taillon.

I finally tracked the Taillon down last October

That left the base Marte auto to finish out the Pirates auto set.  I had seen a few hit eBay, but for the longest time I didn't care.  Basically it took a seller marking the price way down on a BIN or best offer.  The seller took my first offer and here we are.

Not too shabby! So far the NOW ride has been pretty fun.  The Pirates have had the perfect checklist since the start of the program.  They fall right in the middle in terms of cards produced and have only had one auto that wasn't Spring Training related (Austin Meadows).  I took a gamble and jumped on it quick as they sold out super quick.  Hopefully that one doesn't bite me in the ass.

Thanks for reading!

Majestic

2017 Donruss Starling Marte Patch 1/1

Cards like this are not really my cup of tea.  I appreciate a nice patch card, but whenever I buy one I always regret not putting the money towards an auto.  I've probably only purchased a handful of Pirate patch cards this year. With that being said, when the right circumstances come together I will happily pull the trigger for a unique card.  

Marte has the biggest variance for active Pirates when it comes to card pricing. I've mentioned before that it seems he has a few super collectors that try and hoard the really high end cards.  Many of which will go for over $100.  Once the dust settles from those guys he becomes much more in line with my spending habits.  Autos and patches will fall into the $5 to $15 range. 

This card was sitting around $20 towards the end of the auction.  While not a deal by any means it was still below the threshold of what most Marte 1/1's would sell for.  I put a final bid of $30 in which was more than enough to capture the card. 

The photo used is a nice one for skirting the licensing. Plus the gold border works well with the gold throwback uniforms.  The highlight is the nice Majestic tag which makes for a unique collectible. While not my favorite card in my Marte collection it does make for a unique addition.  At least that is what I'm telling myself so I don't have buyers remorse.  

Thanks for reading. 

Hook Line and Sinker

For better or worse I've committed myself to everything Pirate related to the Topps NOW program. As a Pirate collector I've been pretty happy over the course of the two years.  The Pirates have been middle of the road in terms cards produced so the investment has been minimal.  In terms of the actual cards themselves their have been ups and downs, but the overall body of work has still been positive.  My biggest complaints have been some boring photos and the fact they've gotten a little walkoff happy.

Last month the NOW program went all in on the Players Weekend.  They produced a set for every team featuring five players chosen nickname.  It was a guaranteed purchase for me.

 I was kind of hoping to see a Felipe "Nightmare" Rivero, but overall it was a nice selection of players. The Bell makes for a unique rookie card so that was pretty cool.  Cards like these is what I like about the NOW program. 

Thanks for reading!

Triple Threat

I've been away from home most of the weekend, but I wanted to showoff this bad boy. It is one of the nicest cards I've added in a long time. 

2016 Triple Threads Marte/Polanco/Harrison Auto /27

You don't often see triple autos that feature three every day players, but such is the case with this awesome Triple Threads card sent to me by my good pal Kevin of Card Papoy fame. He had told me to expect a high end direct delivery from eBay, but you don't really prepare for an awesome triple auto. 

I have a bunch of cards from Kevin to showoff soon, but obviously you can see why this one needs a post all to its self.  Wow Kevin!!!!!!!!

Performance Enhanced Blog Posts

Starling Marte was busted for PED's a couple weeks into the season. His suspension has had quite the trickle down effect for the Buccos.  Coming into the season you could make the argument that Marte was the Pirates best all around player and maybe the hardest guy to replace. His suspension, plus some other key absences has put the Pirates behind the eight ball at what has turned out to be a wide open division. Who knows where the Pirates would have been having a non cheating Marte plus a sober Jung Ho Kang. That is about 8 War worth of players right there.

While I'm angry at Marte's greediness I still like to collect his cards. Maybe that is a bit hypocrytical of me, but hey....it is my collection.

Marte has a good following on eBay.  His new releases sell for good money.  The deals can be found on older releases.  It also help that some people have soured on him after the suspension. The below lot cost me about $10.

 While Prizm lacks a license you do get a nice on card auto.

This is a sepia auto parallel /75 form 2016 Triple Threads. 

The seller had several Pirate cards, but the only other one I could win was this Brock Holt Chrome rookie auto.  Holt made his major league debut as a Pirate, but was traded the following offseason to the Red Sox in the Mark Melancon deal.  The trade was odd in that Melancon and Holt were secondary pieces at the time, but turned into the centerpieces almost immediately. 

As a fan of the Pirates I'm upset that Marte knowingly cheated the system. Ultimately he has to answer to his teammates and the fans. I'm just not one of those holier than now people that shun a guy after the suspension.  Once he serves his time I will continue to root for Marte. I have better things to do than boo athletes.  

Thanks for reading. 

My First NOW Auto

Back before Spring Training started Topps sent out a coupon for anyone that was going to take the plunge on one of the 15 card Topps NOW team sets.  After some debate I decided I would take the plunge on the auto version since the checklist was Marte, Glasnow and Taillon.  I had my fingers crossed for a Glasnow since it would be considered a rookie auto, but it didn't end up like that.

Quick side note....Sells of these team sets were really poor.  One big reason besides the asking price had to be that Topps really dropped the ball on the checklists.  Many teams including the Pirates didn't have all 15 cards announced by the deadline.  Seemed like a really lazy mistake unless I'm missing something.  It wasn't a big deal for me as all the players I wanted to see were announced already but some teams only had about half listed.

 For obvious reasons this is probably not the most desirable card to get right now, but I didn't mind.  It had been a while since I've added a nice Marte to the collection and this goes down as one of the more unique.  This is actually one of the parallels, but since so few sets were produced I'm wondering if all the autos are short printed.  So far of the three signers I've only seen two Marte's on eBay. One was /10 and the other /25.

 Here is the base version.

 Love the Cutch card. It has a nice Spring Training feel to it. The Bell might turnout to be a nice rookie card since the set is so low numbered.

 Harrison for the win here.  Nice to see a David Freese Pirate card too.  He has only had a couple so far.

 Another Glasnow rookie and a rare Nova Pirate card.

Real life Pirate John Jaso.

Overall I'm happy with the purchase. Obviously it wasn't the best of times to receive a rare Marte auto, but either way it is a welcome addition to the collection. I was torn on whether I would have found these cheaper on the secondary market, but I feel I probably made the wise decision with ordering straight from Topps.  Right now I'm not even sure if the Glasnow and Taillon autos were produced and the Marte's I've seen are super expensive on eBay.  I just don't think many of these will make their way to the secondary market.  Time will tell I guess.

Thanks for reading.

Cool Now but I'm Sad Now

This Marte has been the only Pirate NOW card at this point of the season. Love any card featuring the Buccos in their 79 Sunday jerseys.  I was watching the game when this happened so I kind of figured this moment would be made into a card since Topps absolutely loves walk off cards. They seriously make every walk off card a NOW card.

Speaking of Marte, I was pretty upset about his suspension. The Pirates were considered a fringe contender at the beginning of the year. That means they have little margin for error. Losing arguably your most important player for the most selfish of reasons is hard to take. This could have a trickle down effect if the Buccos are out of the playoff hunt around deadline time. Really no one is safe from being traded minus Polanco and Taillon. I hope they can stay afloat.

I was a little disappointed that Topps didn't make a NOW card for Dovydas Neverausks. He made his debut last night becoming the first Lithuanian born player to play in  the majors.  He was sent back tonight to make way for Gift Ngoepe who became the first player from Africa to play in the majors. Pretty cool stuff.  Maybe we will get a dual card tomorrow, although I'm sure someone will hit a walk off single.

Thanks for reading.

Sometimes These Actually Pan Out

2011 Bowman Chrome Starling Marte Auto

It is always nice when you buy one of these Chrome autos and the guy actually turns out to be a decent player. Thankfully as a Pirate collector we haven't had many high $ guys out of the gate. Right now only Austin Meadows carried a big price tag from day one. Guys like Josh Bell and Tyler Glasnow had lulls where you could buy them on the cheap.

The cool thing about Marte is that he has found ways to make himself a little better every year he has been in the big leagues.  Last year he stole more bases and actually learned how to take a walk every once in a while.  That led to his best season as a Pirate.  If he can manage more of a power stroke then he could put himself into superstar territory.  

Do you guys actively chase these? I kind of put myself in the middle category.  The desire to add these is always there, but I use extreme patience.  Obviously this style can bite you in the ass for the guys that turn themselves into superstars right away, but for the most part it has worked out for me. I don't really have a story where I got burned paying $50 for an auto and the guy peters out in AA. 

Thanks for reading.

A Blue Transcendent Monday

March is always a huge pain in the butt for me.  Historically I blog less, comment less, and trade less due to work responsibilities. While I planned ahead more this year by scanning some cards in bulk, my cardboard time is severely lacking. Thankfully by Thursday it will be smooth sailing and I'll celebrate by watching my Mountaineers play in the Sweet 16. 

New purchases have been lacking minus one huge WVU acquisition that I'll eventually showoff in the coming weeks. Baseball wise this has been the cream of the crop lately....

2016 Topps Chrome Transcendent 65th Party Starling Marte 1/1

I'm sure most of you heard all the hoopla surrounding the Topps Transcendent set. The whole 25k box of cards that included an invitation to a private party in which Kris Bryant attended.  At the party cards were given out to each participant.  Of course like anything card related many ended up on eBay. These special stamped 1/1's were about the only thing you could find a halfway decent deal on. 

This Marte sold for around $20.  I actually kind of regretted the purchase after I made it, but at least the card has a decent story and utilized the blue chrome card. This will probably be it for me with these stamped Transcendent cards.  One taste of how the other half live was enough....

Thanks for reading! 

The End so I Can Begin Again

2015 Gypsy Queen Starling Marte Photo Variation SP

This was the last card on my white whale list! I referenced it the other day when I was creating my new list.  The new list can found on this post and on the right side of my homepage.  It was fun to complete and I really appreciate those who helped with the cause.  They are immortalized on my "found white whales" page.  

I'm not a huge fan of photo variations.  Don't get me wrong I appreciate a nice photo, but I find them way overpriced. This card cost me more than what a Marte auto would cost (~$20). So chasing this card was never on the agenda, but I think I just got sucked in by the photo.

Most of the fun celebration cards for Pirates feature Cutch or Josh Harrison. When I saw the Marte card I knew I had to have it.  I was a little surprised how long this one took as they were all over eBay for the longest time, but going for crazy high prices. Thankfully it was found on COMC and I could reset my list.  

Thanks for reading. 

The Replacements

This is a story over 4 years in the making. ....

I've been a frequent purchaser of redemption cards on the secondary market. They have always been a nice bargain if you are patient.  Usually by the time I make the purchase I already know the cards are live and being shipped out. For some reason sellers don't research it, or are just lazy to redeem them personally. Whatever the reason it almost always benefits the buyer.....almost always

I've only strayed from my method twice, and it was on the same card. Within a couple of months I purchased two redemptions for an Andrew McCutchen auto /49 from 2012 Panini Signature. I can't remember what I paid for them, but I'm thinking at that time it was around $15 to $25 a piece.  Shortly after that time Cutch developed into a bonafide superstar and for whatever reason  stopped signing Panini products.

These redemptions sat to the point where I knew they weren't going to be filled. Late this past fall I tried on two occasions to call Panini and sat on hold forever.  I left my contact information, but never received a call back. On to Twitter......

I sent a Tweet to Panini's main account and their Customer Service account and nothing happened. A retweet of that same Tweet finally got a response and a message to send an email to a specific customer service representative. Finally some help!

The customer service rep looked up my account and noticed I had four pending redemptions (2 Cutch autos, Paul O'neil auto, Kevin Jones auto). I already told the customer service agent that my favorite team was the Pirates, but was informed they would be unable to provide me enough in Pirate cards so I told them Penguins and Steelers. About 10 days later I received these cards.

This Marte auto is numbered to 10!

I was happy that Panini tried to give me cards that best suited my collection, they could have easily went the way of how Topps use to do things and give some sticker auto that had nothing to do with my collection. In Topps defense they have gotten away from that recently. Nice to hear some good stories about redemptions.

The next question is do I feel the cards are worthy replacements to the originals? I think so. I realize that I'm leaving some eBay $ value on the table, but I got four nice cards for the collection. I'm not one to get too hung up on $ value.

The biggest issue is the shear fact Panini was unable to get me a Cutch auto.  It is also a little aggravating that I know they have Cutch stickers on hand because he has some high end autos in the new National Treasure set. Between that fact and the hoops I had to jump through even get to someone who would handle my case leaves a bad taste. My hope is that they continue to improve the redemption process for other people down the road.

Thanks for reading!

Framing Marte and Back from San Diego

I'm finally back from San Diego.  Looking forward to being back in the loop of baseball cards. I should have most of the day tomorrow to get caught up as my wife is taking my daughter out of town to visit a friend. FREE DAY! I'll have plenty of pictures to share soon.

I've been active adding silver frame and acetate cards since early last year. What has been lacking was finding a good deal on a more prominent Pirate.

2016 Topps Series 1 Starling Marte Silver Frame /16

This was an exciting addition.  I used my eBay Bucks to pay the majority of it so the cost out of pocket was less than $10 bucks. I had pretty much wrote off the likes of Marte, Cole and Cutch, but like most parallels the prices can be all over the place. 

I was a little pissed I missed out on a Cutch that went for a reasonable price this weekend. The selling price was right around $40 which is way too much for a parallel, but I had a gift certificate for $25. That would have been a great opportunity to snag a card I would normally not even try for.  It will pop up again....hopefully.

Thanks for reading 

The Worst Part of Stadium Club

2014 Topps Stadium Club Starling Marte Gold Auto /25

Everyone loves Stadium Club and rightfully so. Once the price came down on the box price it was one of the more fun breaks in the last few years. It was refreshing to have a set where you actually want to look at and collect the base set.

My only complaint was with the auto distribution.  Between the boxes I opened myself and ones I witnessed it was some of the worst collation I have ever seen.  I swear I saw a thousand Dean Anna autos pulled. It was crazy. Of the boxes I opened, Mookie Betts was the only notable player I pulled. I opened a lot.

To eBay I went....  I already had the base Marte in my possession. For whatever reason it sells super cheap. I expected to pay a decent amount for the gold version, but like the base it sold for less than $10! Not to shabby for an on card auto.

Now I will say the gold parallels don't look that much different than the base. Maybe that hurts value. The only difference is the nameplate is in gold. Maybe I like late 90's parallels too much and expect crazy holograms, lines and so forth.  Either way it is a nice auto of Marte for cheap. End of story.

Thanks for reading.

Walk, Papoy, HSCA Collaboration #11 (Marte Partay Addition)

As you can tell our box breaks were very close together this time around. I received packages from Brian and Kevin just a couple days apart. Obviously not a bad problem to have.

Kevin decided to roll the dice with a box of 2002 SPX. This set doesn't provide much in the way for base cards, but gives the opportunity for a monster hit. While that didn't happen, part of my haul was a Frank Thomas jersey that I immediately traded to Kevin for a Pirate card to be named later and some foie gras.

Since that was really my only card of substance I'll just show a couple of base cards that proves we actually opened the product. SPX is a very star oriented set so most of the big names are in there.

 I'm guessing the Captain is enjoying retirement.  I believe he is engaged to Hannah Davis.

 She seems nice.

 I got two Pirates out of the set. Giles and Ramirez are welcome additions.


So that pretty much sums up the break, but we are far from done.  Kevin sent some crazy nice Pirates to keep our long blind trade going.

National Treasures was stocked full of great Pirate cards. I made it a mission to find the Notable Nickname cards and hunted down Polanco's like it was my job. Well, Kevin has helped me in this crusade by sending this unique on card auto of the Pirate right fielder.

A couple weeks back Kevin busted a box of flagship. He was nice enough to send the gold Polanco. 

 Vintage is something that is always welcomed. How can you not love the 55 Bowman tv design.

Holdzkom has one of the more unique signatures you will ever see. He came out of independent baseball in 2014 to help the Pirates make a playoff push. Injuries and command issues kept him in AAA all of last year.

You ready to have a Marte Partay?

 Cool auto from one of the coolest sets.

 Things are getting crazy! A Bowman Sterling rookie auto of the gold glove left fielder.

 How about a Topps Supreme Marte auto /35.

 Or a Triple Threads jersey /27!

Holy smokes Kevin that was a lot of Marte's. You really outdid yourself.......but wait

 The showstopper. A 68 Clemente All Star card. Heck of a way to end the trade.

This Bieber kind of creeped me out.

Thanks a ton Kevin. It was really exciting to see so many great cards in this trade package. Rest assured I got big plans for our next trade. I'm not really sure what direction I'm going in for our box break...maybe PANINI????

Thanks for reading.

Gold Gloves

The Gold Glove winners were announced yesterday.  The process has been improving since they added a saber element, but you will always find a couple of winners that leave you scratching your head. Until they let an independent group vote on these rather than managers who maybe see a guy 6 times a year you have to take some with a grain of salt. Sometimes reputation clouds actual results.

American League	Position	National League
Dallas Keuchel, Astros	Pitcher	Zack Greinke, Dodgers
Salvador Perez, Royals	Catcher	Yadier Molina, Cardinals
Eric Hosmer, Royals	First Base	Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks
Jose Altuve, Astros	Second Base	Dee Gordon, Marlins
Manny Machado, Orioles	Third Base	Nolan Arenado, Rockies
Alcides Escobar, Royals	Shortstop	Brandon Crawford, Giants
Yoenis Cespedes, Tigers	Left Field	Starling Marte, Pirates
Kevin Kiermaier, Rays	Center Field	A.J. Pollock, Diamondbacks
Kole Calhoun, Angels	Right Field	Jason Heyward, Cardinals

I broke down the nominees and compared them with Fangraphs defensive leaders a couple weeks back. Click here to see that.

Probably the biggest surprise was that Andrelton Simmons didn't win. It's not that Brandon Crawford wasn't a worthy nominee, his stats compare nicely to Simmons, but I didn't think it was enough to dethrone the master. Simmons was second in all of baseball in DRS. Crawford stood out with the most plays made outside the fielding zone. 

Not a big shocker that Perez and Molina won. I thought Molina should have lost last year as he missed a good bit of time, but hard to argue about this year. I have a feeling that he will win this award up until the day he is not an everyday catcher. 

The two biggest snubs were Ian Kinsler at AL 2nd base and Billy Hamilton at NL CF. Both were clear cut leaders in every measurable defensive statistic. 

Kevin Kiermaier had one of the best defensive seasons in the history of baseball so it was nice to see the voters pick him. He is cut from the same mold as someone like Andruw Jones who can make everything look routine. Although if necessary he can do this....

Chris Archer's reaction is the best part.

Obviously I'm happy that Marte won his first. He deserved it this year as he was one of the more clear cut choices at any position. Let's celebrate with a Marte photo dump! 

In conclusion it is  not really worth your time to get bent out of shape about gold gloves. While many people still reference the award it doesn't carry as much weight in years past. The defensive stats I reference are by no means perfect, but they give a clearer picture of the top guys.  What the stats show is that defense can slump off year to year just like offense. Just because a guy starts out as a premier defender doesn't mean we have to give him an award like clockwork. Who knows, a guy could have a nagging knee injury all year and not be able to get to some balls like years past. Defensive metrics are helping to capture those type of scenarios. 

It is always fun to see how awards measure up to the statistics. Hopefully I can do something similar for the MVP's and CY Young voting. 

Thanks for reading!