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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Spotlight Stealers

I've been much more proactive trying to locate cards I want out of this years Update. Usually I let the market cool off, but the checklist was very appealing so I wanted to see if I could snag a few of the rarer cards.  The good thing is most of the desired cards are from the more obscure bench/reliever type of players like the Arquimedes Caminero and Joe Blanton that I showed off last week. Plates for these guys usually fall around the $10 range.

Now with that being said I knew if certain cards popped up on eBay I would most likely overpay to acquire.  Such as this one.....

2015 Update A.J. Burnett Yellow Printing Plate

Over the years I haven't made it a point to chase plates for more established players. The ones that are in my collection are more of the Joe Blanton types than Andrew McCutchen. My usual thought process is I would rather have an auto of said player than a plate. It's not that I don't enjoy them, but their is only so much money to spread around. 

A.J. Burnett is kind of a unique case, but I was torn on whether I wanted to chase this card. He kind of fits the mold of a Joe Blanton in the sense that he doesn't have a certified Pirates auto. Cards like printing plates are about as high end as your going to get. The reason I was torn is that I'm not the biggest A.J. Burnett fan.  He was very good for the Pirates, but something about him just leaves something to be desired. I'm sure most Yankee fans agree....

For me the deciding factor is subject matter. I love that the background is PNC park and that it features two of my favorites in Gerrit Cole and Cutch. Just like antiques, subject matter can drive a the price a little higher than normal. This card ran me about $25 shipped. In the grand scheme of things not too bad, but much more than I'm use to spending on printing plates. 

By the way if you noticed I try to always type out the price I spend on cards. Kind of a virtual check and balance in my head to keep me from overpaying. 

Here is the base card of the Burnett for a more colorful reference.


Thanks for reading! 

Also, if you like free cards enter my contest.

14 comments:

  1. Like you said, it's more of a Pirates card at the ASG than an AJ Burnett one. Which makes it very interesting . He had some good times with the Blue Jays, so I kinda like him though !

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    1. It is a cool Pirate card and that was the overriding factor. Burnett has had a nice long career. It was cool to see him make the team eventhough he didn't get to play. If he hadn't made the All Star team I'm pretty sure he would have went down as the highest career earning player ever to not make an ASG.

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  2. I've always liked Burnett. I mean he turned down more money to come pitch for you guys. Is he a bit of an asshole? Sure, but aren't we all.

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    1. From what I hear he was a great teammate. I don't know him so my perception is only based from watching him pitch. If you remember he didn't leave on the greatest of terms because he thought he should have pitched the last playoff game in 2013 but Cole got the start. He said he wanted to pitch closer to home, but he ended up taking more money to only get a little closer (Philly).

      The other thing that bothered me was him getting mad at the shifting of the infielders. It wasn't until he was in Philly that he realized how much the shifting helped rather than hurt. I guess age and experience makes us wiser. He just could have handled it better......at least the perception in the media and during the games could have been better.

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  3. Nice Blanton, er I mean Burnett (I was close right?).

    If I didn't know any better I'd say that's a Cole card or Melancon card or McCutchen card. Or a Blanton card.

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    1. Maybe it is a Clint Hurdle card because that is who is holding Cole's jersey!

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  4. Card looks great both ways. I really like the plate..cause I collect them lol

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    1. I really like plates too, but autos always get priority.

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  5. I usually mention the price I spend too. I don't know why. Like you, maybe it's to keep myself in check and convince myself I'm not spending too much.

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    1. It actually crosses my mind when I buy a card. It's probably not going to stop me, but at least I think it. For the most part I like to think that I'm paying good prices. I can recall a few horror stories, but for the most part I consider my purchases good deals.

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  6. AJ was one of my favorite Bucs. I'm glad this card went to you, but I'm sad I missed out on the B-I-N which I think you won it for around the same price. Congrats on the awesome piece of metal. I'm very jealous of this one. Very very very jealous.

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    1. It was already an auction by the time I found it. I kind of thought even though my winning price was somewhat high that it would go well beyond the sell price.

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