2015 eBay purchases: Rich Hill hits 250 (and 300!) with nothing higher than 25

April and May were good months for me when it came to finding new loot for my Rich Hill PC.  Besides the 2009 Heritage Ad Panel you saw last week, I've got six additions for you tonight, and they're all relatively rare with the most common card limited to 25 copies!  Here's what I got:

Rich Hill 2007 Sweet Spot Signatures Black Bat Barrel Silver Ink auto (#13/15)

Rich Hill 2007 Sweet Spot Signatures Glove Leather Silver Ink auto (#15/25)

This pair includes today's most common card, but these are anything but plain!  The Bat Barrel version was part of a four-card lot that set me back a ridiculous $3.80, which is about 1/3 of what I would have paid for the Hill alone!  The Glove version was a bit more expensive, but sometimes that's just how it goes on eBay.  As I've said ad nausem I love these Sweet Spot cards, especially how Upper Deck produced multiple versions:  manufactured bat barrels, glove leather, and baseball sweet spots.

Rich Has 17 cards in the product not numbered to 1, and four of those include Aramis Ramirez, none of which I've ever found.  Of the remaining 13 I now own 9 (three of each type), which is actually pretty great as nice as these look!

Rich Hill 2007 Upper Deck Premier Emerging Stars Autographs Triple Bronze auto (with Hamels and Liriano) (#17/25)

Here's my second version of this card, which can be a bit tough for someone like me to acquire since I'm competing with Hamels and Liriano collectors, and both pitchers are quite good right now!  I realize Rich's inclusion in this trio is now an obvious miss, but back when this card was made he really did show a good deal of promise.  Anyway, I'm happy to add such a high-end Hill to my collection while at the same time getting signatures from Hamels and Liriano once again.

Rich Hill 2008 Upper Deck Goudey Mini Taupe Backs (#8/8)

Taupe?  TAUPE?  Man this minis thing is just out of control.  As rare as this version is I'd never seen one until it became available on the bay last month, so I quickly snapped it up for about $13.50, a price that might make some of you think I'm crazy, but then again Hill's my main baseball PC guy, so I was happy to shell it out.  Since I've already picked up the Black, Blue, and Red versions, I need just the Green, #d to 88 (which has been on COMC forever but I've never gotten the seller to budge).  One of these days I'll get it.  But more importantly--really, TAUPE?

Rich Hill 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum Spectrum Swatches Printing Plates Black (1/1)

After the Sweet Spot Bat Barrel card above, this plate was somehow the next cheapest card of this bunch, a penny less than the other Sweet Spot card!  It's also my most recent Hill pickup as I won it on May 31.  I hadn't seen any Hill plates for a while so I was very happy to find this black plate from 2009 UD Spectrum.  I even already have all four cards it produced:  Blue Jersey, Jersey/Auto, Light Blue Jersey, and Patch.

I now own 13 of Rich's 148 1/1s so I just need a couple more to claim 10%, which would be a fun milestone.  This is also my 36th 1/1 of any type, which is a number you couldn't have convinced me I'd ever reach just a few years ago.

Rich Hill 2010 Topps Allen and Ginter Autographs Red Ink auto (#06/10)

I'm posting these chronologically as usual which explains why I didn't end on a "wow" card like the plate, but then again it doesn't get too much more "wow" than this beauty.  Hand-numbered to a mere 10, this is one of A&G's famous Red Ink autos, and was the last of Hill's four 2010 entries (including the regular issue) I needed.  The fact that the border is mostly red and that Hill is pictured with the Cards (for whom he never actually pitched in the Majors) means the red ink just enhances the card that much more.  That's a nice feat since these framed minis are already winners as it is!  Anyway, adding an autograph this rare is a big win for my pursuit of Rich's collection.

Speaking of that, it's numbers time.  I now have 239 of Hill's 348 to go along with 13 1/1s, and that means it's milestones time too!  Hill is my second Michigan player to reach 250 cards, joining Barry Larkin.  He's also lapping my Michigan Baseball collection at a crazy 117 hits.

And while we're on that subject, today's haul finally pushed me over the 300-hit milestone to 303!  I have no plans to slow down, and as always I appreciate everyone who has contributed and continues to send me cards towards that collection.

So all that said, I think you'll all agree that this has been a very productive few weeks for Hill's collection.  And with my eBay stuff pretty much caught up look for some trade posts and a card show recap soon.