TTM Success - Mark Reynolds

A private signing popped up with former Oriole Mark Reynolds.  I had a bunch of his cards that I wanted to get signed, but at his price point, I narrowed it down to three cards.  The above 2013 Topps short print was actually from a game I was at with Ryan.  I believe it was the Brooks Robinson sculpture dedication game. He (Ryan, not Mark Reynolds) can comment and confirm.

I also sent off the above 2011 Topps Black Diamond wrapper redemption card and the 2011 Topps Diamond Die cut card.  Both of these are really great cards to add to the album. 

Reynolds (b. 1983) played in the majors from 2007 to 2019 for the Diamondbacks, Orioles, Indians, Yankees, Brewers, Cardinals, Rockies and Nationals.  He had 1,283 hits, 298 home runs and a .236 batting average. He finished 20th in the 2009 NL MVP race.

I mailed to the signing on October 16 and got the cards back on December 12 for a 57-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $45.00.

Birthday Gift From Andrew

My birthday was back in September, but with all of the TTMs I have backlogged, I have drawn out posting my stuff that I got for my birthday.  My good friend, Andrew, sent me some really great cards that I wanted to show off.  The above 2011 Topps Black Diamond Wrapper Redemption Virgil Trucks auto is just a beauty.  I had one of these, already, but Andrew knew how much I loved these, and picked this one up.  I still am looking for the canary numbered to 10, but have yet to find one.  I'll take as many of these as I can get, though.

Andrew found a few Orioles cards that I needed, which can be tough.  I haven't been able to find much in the way of recent cards, so these come in handy.

He also got me some cards of a couple former Wood Ducks in the Sam Huff and Sherten Apostel seen on the bottom row of this scan.

Thank you so much for the birthday gift, Andrew!

Top 10 Wishlist Pickup - 2011 Topps Black Diamond Virgil Trucks Auto

This is one of those cards that really should be seen in person to be truly appreciated.  When the Black Diamond Wrapper Redemption cards came out, I missed the boat and failed to submit my wrappers.  I didn't catch on to the wrapper redemption thing until the next year with the Topps Gold Rush cards.  Man, did I miss out.  I had seen that Virgil Trucks was a subject in the autograph offerings of this set, but I hadn't bought one because the price was way too much for me.  I had seen several of these sell for $100.00, so I held off.  The prices were really all over the place, then poof, none were to be seen for a while.  I would search for one here and there, never to find any, but autos of the other guys in the set were plentiful.  Trucks was so elusive.

Finally, I remembered to add the search "2011 Topps Black Diamond Trucks Auto" to my Ebay saved searches, and kept checking my phone daily to see if any ever would pop up.  As luck would have it, I signed in to Ebay one day, just to look around, and one was listed right in my Home feed.  Why did it not show up on my app?  Well, as I would find out, I hadn't checked my app that day, and this card was newly listed.  With a Buy it Now price of $29.99, I immediately bought it.  I didn't want to let another one go by without me picking it up, and the price was well below any of the other cards I had seen.

Numbered 56/60, the card is in amazing shape.  Once I scanned it, I put it in a magnetic case and will re-use the brand new toploader that the seller included.  The card is just beautiful, and will now be one of the top cards in my collection.

This is one of those cards that I have been watching for so long, I am excited to add it to the collection.  New Virgil Trucks cards don't show up often, or ever, really, so my Trucks collection is virtually complete.  I may find an oddball card here or there, but in all honesty, I have just about everything I can find that pertains to him.

Not a day goes by that I miss receiving letters from him telling me how his family is doing, or him asking me about my son.  I would have loved sending him a letter a couple weeks ago to tell him that Chris got his first two hits of the season, or that he aspires to be a pitcher.  All of this for a man that I never met once in my life.

Mr. Trucks was amazing to all of his fans, and I am really happy that I can now say that I have this card in my collection.