The quest for gold bordered Pirates cards continues. This week features another pair of 2019 rookies who will play a large role in the success of the team moving forward.
Bryan Reynolds - 2016 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chrome Gold Refractor #/50
Bryan Reynolds - 2019 Topps Update Gold Refractor Autograph #/50
With regards to the card on top, I'm bending the rules a bit for the Pirates Gold Room. The idea of collecting gold parallels was to "match" the gold border with the gold colors the you'll find on all Pirates jerseys. Reynolds was still with the Giants for his coveted 1st Bowman card - and orange sure as heck doesn't match with gold. Thankfully his almost-all-black jersey is pretty close to the Pirates colors. I'll let it slide.
I've learned something about myself as a collector: I don't mind collecting cards that picture my favorite player on their former teams. Ideally all of my Pirates cards would have the guys in Pittsburgh jerseys, but if they came via trade, I'm perfectly fine with them donning another team's threads. Even the Yankees... *eye roll*
How about you - will you collect your favorite players wearing their former team's colors? Or do you want your PC cards to only display your teams' logo?
Both of the cards above came to my attention through one of my eBay saved searches, which is about as broad as they get: "Bryan Reynolds Gold." I'm a huge fan of the saved search option on eBay.
The listing was for three cards total - it included both of the Reynolds cards above - but it had two copies of the 2016 BDPP Chrome! It was a Buy It Now, and the price seemed a little low to me. The price would have been fair if it were for just these two cards, so the extra copy of the 2016 BDPP seemed like a real bonus. I jumped on it just hours after it was listed. It might have flown a little under-the-radar since the cards were in a "lot." I've read that eBay sellers that are looking to maximize profit should avoid selling in lots since high-value cards in the group can get watered down by the rest of the cards. I'm thinking I may have been on the right of the the deal!
Cole Tucker - 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chrome Gold Refractor #/50
Gold refractor, or mustard yellow refractor?
It seems that some time between 2014 and 2016, Topps changed their definition of gold. The two Reynolds cards seem to shine and pop a little brighter than gold refractors back in 2014. Not complaining, this card is still a beauty and looks better in-hand than on the scanner.
I wrote a bit about Cole Tucker in my previous post when Gavin hooked me up with my first Tucker auto - he's a first round draft pick and should be the Pirates shortstop of the future. It's kind of crazy to think that this card is already six years old, and Tucker is only 23 years old and made his MLB debut last year. When this card was printed, Tucker had just turned 18 and just graduated high school. I can't imagine being printed on baseball cards a few months after I graduated high school. On the other hand, it's also hard to fathom grown men paying lots of money for those cards, and yet here we are!
Thanks for reading.
My main player collections are of Charlie Morton, Andrew McCutchen, and Roberto Clemente. I still PC Cutch post Pirates career and was very involved in seeking out Charlie Morton pre Pirates career.
ReplyDeleteFor football I have only one significant player collection, Jerome Bettis. I prefer his Steelers cards but don't shy away from his Rams or Notre Dame cards when they present themselves at a fair price.
That Bryan Reynolds gold auto is SWEET!!! I think he's gonna be a really good player for years to come, the same with Cole Tucker. Tucker at short with Newman at second and Hayes at third is one heck of a defensive infield.
I collect other players such as Kerry Collins regardless of jersey, but rest of my Giants PC has to be Giants blue or it's not a PC card
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