Clayton Richard 2013 Topps Sapphire (#11/25)
Yes, it's one of Topps' MANY parallels from the 2010s, but the good news is that I kind of like the Sapphires, like this one that set me back a bit more than $4 delivered. The low-but-not-insanely-low numbering makes them challenging but interesting to collect, and while a standard blue is my favorite parallel color, the sapphire effect is nice. In the flagship/Mini rainbow I still have a ways to go, but I now own 10/17 (not counting Padres Topps or the Stickers set), so I'm making good progress.
By the way, milestone #1 for today is that this card gives me exactly 100 in Clayton's PC, including the four plates I own. Of the guys in my player collections, he's the fourth to hit the century mark (Hill, Larkin, Putz). I'm also just shy of having acquired 2/3 of his issues to-date, which is exciting as well!
Rich Hill 2008 Topps Chrome Red Refractor (#11/25)
New Rich Hill #1 of 2 today is this beautiful '08 Chrome Red Refractor, which is a very close second to blue when it comes to these wonderful parallels. Like the Richard, it's limited to 25 copies, and in a fun coincidence, it's actually numbered exactly the same. This also happens to finish my second 2008 rainbow--flagship/Chrome--as I completed the Bowman/Chrome project last year. At some point I may finally get around to showing both of those off! Having gotten into Ice Cold Gold recently, this red Rich might just give me a case of ruby fever at a relatively minuscule cost of $5 delivered.
Rich Hill 2007 Upper Deck Premier Emerging Stars Autographs Triple auto (with Hamels and Liriano) (#18/50)
Hey, that's actually a pretty good triple autograph card! I'd been after one of these for a while, but with prices upwards of $40, I said no freakin' way, at least until someone was nice enough to kick off an auction with a $0.99 starting price. I thought I might have more competition, but instead I locked it down for a little over $11 shipped. Not only am I satisfied to get another Hill autograph, I also can now claim to own signatures of Hamels and Liriano in my collection. While I don't think I would have chased them individually, it's cool to have them on a card along with Rich, who moves up to 217 non-1/1s today.
Speaking of Mr. Hill, today's second milestone is also century mark-themed: this autograph finally gives me my first 100-hit player in any of my PCs! The player who represents nearly 40% of my Michigan Baseball PC is light years ahead of the next best, football's Jake Long and his 67. By my counts, his hits collection comprises 63 autographs and 12 1/1s, and is larger than the next five such players in the baseball collection, which goes to show just how much I value my #1 PC. Definitely a fun achievement to celebrate, and I ended up with something worthy of the honor.
Stay tuned as I continue my JustCommons pickups series, and I'll also let you know that you can look forward to some 2014 COMC scores as well, just around the corner!
Love those sapphire cards, so shiny. The autos are a pretty impressive pick-up at $11. Very nice!
ReplyDeleteShiny is right! Yeah, I can't complain about the price for the triple auto, which is good since there's a bunch more like it for me to chase.
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