2016 eBay purchases: rarefied air

Now that I'm all caught up on trades for the moment I can finally show off some outstanding eBay pickups from March and April, plus my only May purchase so far.  When I say "outstanding" I mean it as today's most common card is numbered to 16!  If you like 1/1s you've come to the right place.

Chris Getz 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Red Refractor (#1/5)

OMG eBay 1/1 you guys!  I would have been happy with any of the five cards in this print run since the Reds are so limited, and everyone knows the closer you get to 1/1 without actually being a 1/1, the more expensive the card gets, so I was happy to pay under $10 delivered.  This beautiful Getz is my 79th of his 106, so I'm just about 75% of the way to his collection, not to mention one card shy of this set's rainbow.

Chris Getz 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Printing Plates Yellow (1/1)

And I even managed to land a plate to add to that rainbow!  Just my second Getz 1/1 after this 2011 Topps Black plate, I picked it up on the cheap for a nickel over $6 at the end of April.  This serves as a good reminder that Chrome plates feature reversed images.  Besides being plate #2 this is my 15th hit of the former second baseman.

Rich Hill 2006 Topps Printing Plate Cyan (#1/1)

I was quite happy to see another Rich Hill plate appear on the Bay in mid March so don't be too surprised that I didn't mind spending a bit more than I ordinarily would have thanks to Hill's 2015-2016 pitching success.  Given that I already landed the Magenta and Yellow versions I just couldn't pass this up, even for more than $15 delivered.  I'd love to complete a second plate set of Hill though who knows how long I might have to wait for the Black version to be put up for sale, if ever?  Anyway, it's my 16th 1/1 of Hill and 122nd hit overall.

Ryan LaMarre 2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Signature Status Black auto (1/1)

You really can't predict when 1/1s are going to pop up, especially the "true" kind that isn't something like a plate.  I was able to add Matt Miller's version of this exact card last year via COMC thanks to Tim from GSNHoF, and then towards the end of March teammate Ryan LaMarre's card became available on eBay, so I jumped all over it and landed it for $20 even, putting me just a couple cards shy of his true rainbow from 2010 EEE, one of my favorite sets ever.  This is my first 1/1 of the former Red and ninth hit overall.

Ryan LaMarre 2016 Topps Framed (#12/16)

LaMarre may be with Boston now, but thanks to making his Major League debut with Cincinnati last season he was pictured with the Reds in 2016 flagship series 1.  Jeff was nice enough to flip Ryan's base version my way, and then I found this silver Framed version on eBay for an absurd $4.44 on the first of this month (still my only purchase of May to this point!), which is a paltry sum since these tend to go for double digits at least.  I'm thinking of doing a series of TMV posts covering things Topps has done that I've loved and hated, and this fun--not to mention super thick and heavy--parallel will definitely be in the former category.  Just my second LaMarre from this set, it represents #22 of his 37 made so far, putting me just outside the 60% mark.

J.J. Putz 2014 Topps Printing Plates Black (1/1)

J.J. Putz 2014 Topps Printing Plates Cyan (1/1)

The last three cards, including this pair, came to me from one seller for about $36 on April 1 (no foolin'!).  So what's better than getting one plate from a set?  How about two?  I still have a ways to go to finish Putz's rainbow from his farewell Topps appearance, but at least I have a couple plates to go with it when I do!  Angry Pitching Face Putz is on full display on the sharp Black version while his face is harder to see on the Cyan.  I now have six Putz 1/1s (all of which are plates) as part of 18 total hits.

Clayton Richard 2013 Topps Printing Plates Magenta (1/1)

Richard is scuffling a bit early on in the Cubs bullpen this season but was pretty good as a reliever and spot starter last year in his return to the Majors, and he has plenty of time to turn it around with a team that's just gonna keep winning.  Here he is on a Magenta plate back when he was with the Padres after being shipped there by the other Chicago team.  It's my fifth plate of Clayton, and it happens to be my second from this set since I picked up the Yellow version at some point.  Halfway there!  It's also cause for a small celebration as it gets him to the 10 hit mark, the eighth player in my baseball PC to hit that milestone.

Speaking of milestones, you had to figure I'd be celebrating some sort of mark after adding six new 1/1s today, right?  Well, you were correct; I am the proud owner of 55 cards of that extremely-limited variety!  All but one of those (a Verlander) are part of my various Michigan PCs, proving just how much my collecting focus has changed since I began blogging.  And I'm not done adding to that collection yet with a couple more in-hand I still need to show off, which I may very well be doing soon now that I can return to posting COMC pickups.