2014 eBay purchase #16-20: Rich Hill's Mother's Day cards

The last five eBay pickups I have to show off for now are all of one player, and surprise, surprise, it's Rich Hill!  As we all celebrate our mothers today--including mine, who, besides being wonderful in every other way, was nice enough to put up with and sometimes even fund my collecting addiction--here's some Mother's Day cards, four of which are signed, to honor moms everywhere:

Rich Hill 2007 Sweet Spot Signatures Bat Barrel Blue Ink auto (#52/53)

Rich Hill 2007 Sweet Spot Signatures Black Bat Barrel Red Ink auto (#4/5)

Rich Hill 2007 Sweet Spot Signatures Black Glove Leather Silver Ink auto (#22/25)

Sweet Spot...SWEET!  I picked up three new Hill issues from the '07 set in individual transactions.  The Black Bat/Red Ink was the first, all the way back at the end of March, and I had to pony up $15.50, but I considered it worth it for such a rare card.  The Blue Ink bat came a week later for just $6.25, and the Silver Ink glove cost a hair over $9 in early April.  My favorite is the latter as the manufactured gloves tend to look the best in my opinion, plus the silver ink looks amazing.  I actually got a bit confused about what I already had, so this is my second copy of this card, but I've decided to make it the "definitive" version, and we'll see what I decide to do with the other, which may become trade bait.  Oh well!

Anyway, following that is the Red Ink bat, though unfortunately it can be a bit hard to see and looks sort of pink!  Last is the Blue Ink bat only because I don't like the quality of the pen they had him use, as it looks almost like a highlighter.

These are all fantastic, high-end pieces to add to Hill's collection, and they put another nice dent in his group of '07 Sweet Spot cards; of his 17 issues (four of which he shares with 3B Aramis Ramirez), I now own seven, though it'll be tough sledding from here:  the rest are numbered to 25 and below!

Rich Hill 2008 Upper Deck Premier Signature Premier Gold (#01/15)

Speaking of high end, here's a beautiful autograph that's not only numbered to just 15, but is also serial numero uno!  No, I won't use the dreaded "e" phrase, but it is fun to have landed the first copy of this issue, and for just $10 even.  By my count, I now have nine such cards, though I will say I don't actively seek out specific numbers.  I also stand at four of Hill's autograph-only cards from the product, which also included this card:

Rich Hill 2008 Upper Deck Premier Swatches Gold 20 triple patch (#09/20)

Man I love me some patches when they look like this!  I have five of them now (including an autographed version) and there's no losers in the bunch.  This particular version set me back less than $5.50, and the patch choices really stand out, especially the piece embedded in the "C."

All told, I've accumulated half of the 22 cards in Hill's '08 Premier collection, though again, the remainders are all numbered to 25 or less.

Prior confusion aside, I can now lay claim to ownership of 224 of Rich's 347 issues, and 236 cards overall.

Once again, happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, especially the ones whose children became card collectors!