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!

Flip it Over

I haven't been sharing many this year, but I'm still very active buying the Pirate related NOW cards. One of the early releases this year captured Jameson Taillon's one hit shutout.  It was exciting to see the dual image.  Card looks even better since this was a Sunday game and the players were wearing throwback uniforms.

Once again the Pirates have been on a reasonable pace NOW wise that allows me to pick up all the releases.  I was a little worried at the beginning of the year when I purchased several cards in one week.  The pace has slowed down to the point where I feel once again they will be middle of the pack release wise.

Thanks for reading.

New NOW

Finally had some time to get through some non JBF mail today.  Pretty excited about two cards that were unearthed.  As many of you know I'm an unapologetic NOW supporter. 

For the first two years the Pirates have been middle of the road in terms of cards produced which has made it a fairly easy set build. The most notable card produced happened to be card #1 in the NOW set (Francisco Liriano). I remember spending $30 on it and feeling ashamed.  Now it can fetch about 10X that so it turned out to be a wise move.

This year the Pirates are setting a higher pace in terms of production.  As of today they've had 6 produced. The above are the first I've received so far.  I'm most excited about the Colin Moran card as it marks his first card as a Pirate (minus the Spring Training NOW card). It was a legit cool moment too as he blasted a Grand Slam in his first home at bat.  Always refreshing when a non walk off NOW card is produced.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Thanks for reading!

Cue Sad Music

/Sara McLachlan plays in the background.....

I really punished myself with this purchase. I'm pretty deep in terms of collecting anything Pirate related that comes out of the Topps Now sets. I made my bed when I purchased cards of Pirate players that participated in the World Baseball Classic.  Guess I felt I was pot committed with the Cutch and Cole

The NOW program is very polarizing in our community, but I look forward to every year.  This year should be fun in that the Pirates could have several top prospects make their MLB debut.  Usually this generates a fun rookie card to chase. Hopefully I won't be buying any more TRADED cards before the season starts. 

On a much happier note I was able to spend a couple hours scanning cards today.  I'm officially caught up on all trade packages that came my way.  If you haven't seen a post featuring cards you sent my way it will be going live sometime this week.

Thanks for reading! 

NOW or Later

Keeping up with the NOW releases is not very hard during the season.  I follow every move of the Pirates so when a unique moment happens I know to check the next day to see if a card is created.  The ones I struggle with are the releases during the offseason.  

I was caught off guard when Topps created cards for all the award finalists.  I knew Josh Bell had been nominated as a "finalist" for the NL Rookie of the Year, but didn't pay much attention because Cody Bellinger was going to be win in a landslide.  It never entered my mind that a card would be produced for the honor to lose to Bellinger.  

Thankfully I was tipped off by one of my buddies that a card was produced.  So thanks to him and Topps for having a longer purchase window.  This allowed me to snag it from my normal spot on eBay for the discounted price.  

Nothing really special about the card other than the fantastic throwback uniform.  This officially puts to bed my NOW buying for the year unless the Pirates trade a big name today or tomorrow. 

I haven't added things up, but I'm guessing the Pirates once again fell middle in the road in terms of overall releases.  I'm perfectly fine with this as it allows me to buy all the cards.  I don't see how Yankee collectors can keep pace. 

Thanks for reading.

I Was There!

Back towards the end of September I hit my last Pirate game of the season. In turned out to be a good game as Andrew McCutchen had a night to remember.

Believe it or not McCutchen had gone his entire career without a Grand Slam.  It had gone so long that it was mentioned on a regular basis during broadcasts.  Thankfully he was able to cross that off the career milestone list. The night was far from over as Cutch would also hit a three run homer and have 8 RBI's for the night. He received a lot of love from the fans and took multiple curtain calls.

I'm thankful that Topps added a unique card back featuring one of the curtain calls. That has been a nice addition to the NOW cards this season and I hope it continues with next years installment.

Hope everyone is enjoying the World Series.  How about that crazy quick game last night? I don't think Rich Hill has that kind of efficiency in him so it will be up to Justin Verlander to keep things moving at a reasonable pace. 

Thanks for reading.

NOW I'm Caught Up

I have been diligent keeping up with all the Pirate related Topps NOW releases. This is possible because the Pirates haven't had any special releases like playoff sets or in season auto/relics.  The only autos released were if you purchased the autographed version of the Spring Training set.

For those who don't know the Spring Training sets were a huge foul up by Topps.  The buying period ended before many of the checklists were officially complete. This in turn lead to poor sales.  The Pirates checklist was only missing a few cards so I went ahead and put my order in for the auto version of the set as the checklist featured Marte, Taillon and Glasnow as signers.

When my set arrived I got the Marte auto so I figured I could hit eBay for the Taillon and Glasnow.  As of now I don't think the Glasnow was ever produced as I haven't seen one hit eBay.  So in my mind all I needed to do was try and secure a Taillon.  This proved to be easier said then done. 

Since so few sets were produced. the autos that did make it on eBay had very high BIN prices. I put what I thought were competitive offers on a few of them, but had each denied.  Finally after months of no action a Taillon finally hit normal auction. 

Jameson Taillon Road to Opening Day Topps NOW auto /25

The final price for this card was right around $60 which is the most I've spent on a card in quite sometime. The good side is that my original offers were all more so I did save some money.  I now have all the Pirate released NOW cards in my possession.  

Here was the Marte I originally showed off a few months back. 

Thanks for reading! 

NOW Trolls the Dodgers

The beauty about baseball is that even when your chosen team is bad for most of the year, memorable moments still have a way of popping up during the season.  Such was the case August 23rd for the Pirates/Dodgers game.

Rich Hill was straight dealing the entire game. The Pirates could not touch him. The only tense moment was a liner to second base that was robbed by Chase Utley.  Hill would lose his perfect game in the 9th on a Logan Forsythe error but the no no bid was still alive.

To tell you the truth I was kind of rooting for the perfect game. It had been several years since one had been thrown so I'm all for witnessing a cool moment.  The big problem was the Dodgers offense could not muster a run either. After the error I went back to rooting for the Buccos to break up the no no.......extra innings!

When the Dodgers were blanked in the 10th Dave Roberts decided to bring Hill back out.  His pitch count was low, but it was an odd decision since Hill could only lose the game at that point. Obviously if you looked at the card above you know that Josh Harrison would ruin Hill's  no hitter, shutout and win all on one swing.

Yeah, I know the Dodgers are going to the playoffs and the Pirates are limping into the offseason, but for this one day the Pirates got their unique moment of the year. 

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!

Little League Classic

I'm hopelessly addicted to adding all the Pirates Topps NOW cards so this card commemorating the first Little Little Classic was a guaranteed buy.  By all accounts the game was a success.  All the players seemed to get a kick out of hanging out with the kids. I had heard that baseball might be interested in making this one a yearly thing.

 I saw lots of cool pictures leading up to the game.

As for the NOW card itself I thought it was neat to show the two teams in the traditional end of the game hand shakes. It was nice seeing the Cardinals players be good sports about it even after a tough loss.

Thanks for reading.

Baseball is Fun Again

This is a nondescript card celebrating a walkoff win by the Buccos back at the end of May.  Not a whole lot to talk about in terms of the card.  Topps NOW loves their walkoffs.  I do like the cameo of Clint Hurdle in the background.

What is worth talking about is the major resurgence from Cutch! It was so depressing watching him struggle for the better part of last year and going into April this year.  While the Pirates have been treading water much of the season, it has been a joy having Cutch remind baseball that he isn't quite dead yet.

Obviously the negative side of things is that Cutch has made himself a more desirable trade target. While this seems likely to happen I'll still be depressed to see the face of the franchise on another team.  The only thing I hope is that the Pirates don't trade him within the division.  Cutch as a Cub or Cardinal would make me throw up.

Thanks for reading!

Back to Back to Back

Here is a card that is right in my wheelhouse.  Two guys that haven't received much cardboard love lately in David Freese and Jordy Mercer and obscure rookie Jose Osuna all on the same card! If only John Jaso could have somehow got on the card it would have been perfect!

I'm glad the Pirate NOW pace has slowed down some.  They had a week in which 3 cards were produced which is a little pricey.  Since I'm hopelessly addicted to adding these cards I'm glad they are back to their middle of the road production pace like last year!

Thanks for reading!

The Boring Side of NOW

Here is where I get a little more critical of Topps NOW.  Overall I really like the concept, but sometimes the delivery leaves something to be desired.  To me this concept should really capture the moment. This photo used to commemorate a very efficient "Maddux" complete game by Ivan Nova is just so boring. It might as well be his 2017 flagship base card.

I think I like the flagship card better.  I know Topps is handcuffed by what Getty gives them, but come on.  Maybe a shot of him and the catcher shaking hands.  How about him fist pumping coming off the mound.....Seriously, anything would be better than what they chose.

I guess the joke is on me since I still bought the card.

A Gift

Last month the Pirates made history when they promoted Gift Ngoepe.  Gift became the first African born MLB player.  It was a feel good story that was made even a little more special when he got a hit in his first at bat.  Of course you know what that means.....

As of right now it is hard to see Gift as anymore than AAAA type of player because the bat is weak. The thing that will keep him around in short doses is that he defense is top notch.  If the bat can come around some then he may have a future as a utility infielder but right now I see him more as frequent short term call up.

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.

I Splurged

Team USA Topps Now Game Used Base /99

I actually don't regret this purchase as much as I thought I would.  When I saw this Team USA relic card get announced I kept telling myself I wasn't going to go after it.  Well as you can see I have little will power.  I ended up buying every Topps Now WBC card that featured a Bucco.  Thankfully it was only 4 and this was the only relic. 

As for the card itself it is nice enough.  Topps does a nice job shipping these out in magnetic cases and a custom Topps Now container. I also really liked the photo used of Cutch and Christian Yelich celebrating. I'm curious to see how the Spring Traning sets will be shipped. 

Big night of sports tonight with the Pens and Pirates both playing.  Enjoy all the games tonight.

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.

A Possible Helpful Hint With Topps Now

As most of you know I like picking up Topps Now cards.  I soured on them early, but they recaptured my attention with better subject matter around the All Star break last year.  With a year in the books I've been reevaluating how I pick them up.

For team collectors it really doesn't benefit you to buy directly from Topps.  Even with new programs the bottom line price is still higher than most BIN prices on eBay. The big question now is to pay $6 or $7 bucks at release on eBay or roll the dice and wait and pick them up later.

For those who want to pick them up on eBay I recommend ebay seller spw2214.  He prices the cards at $6.99 when they go on sale and has a best offer function.  He recently accepted my $6 offer the other day.

One thing I did notice at the end of last year is that some sellers were dumping inventory and created some nice team sets of Topps Now Cards.  In hindsight this would have saved me a significant amount of money if I would have not purchased at time of release.  Many of these had BIN prices that would work out to be $4 to $5 a card.  It is probably worth watching out for if your team doesn't have a ton of sought after rookies.  Rookies seem to be the only cards that sell on the secondary market.

Hope this helps you save a few bucks.  Here are a couple of recent Now purchases.

Thanks for reading.

Opening Day Dud

The Pirates and Red Sox played a weird game today.  Both teams had one big inning, but the Red Sox got the bigger blow by hitting a homer in theirs which proved to be the difference.  Both starting pitchers were probably a little better than their stat lines will show as the game was moving at a vigorous pace until the fifth inning.  The Pirates will have their work cut out for them on Wednesday having to face Chris Sale.  I'm hoping our success against left handed pitching continues into this year!

I was happy to see Polanco do well for the Dominican Republic in the WBC.  It was cool to see him and Marte in the outfield together.  Of course I was a sucker for the Topps Now cards featuring any Bucco at the WBC. I nabbed a couple Cutch cards that I'm still waiting for.

Hope everyone is enjoying one of the best days of the year!

Year 2 NOW

The Pirates got card #1 again with this Tyler Glasnow.  I wasn't even aware Topps was producing individual Spring Training NOW cards. I knew about the team sets and I figured they would go all in on the World Baseball Classic (which they have).  Thankfully a friend of mine gave me a heads up when this Glasnow went live.  I would have missed it for sure.  

I plan on experimenting with different ways of getting the Pirate releases.  I'll continue with eBay for the most part, but I may purposefully let a few go and see how much I can find them for a couple months down the road or even after the season.  I noticed several of the non rookies only selling for a few bucks on eBay. We'll see how this plays out. 

Hope everyone is enjoying March Madness.  WVU punched their Sweet Sixteen ticket this afternoon! Looking like we will have a date with Gonzaga. 

Thanks for reading.