A second eBay win

And, to be fair, it's not much different than my last win. A couple of weeks ago, I paid -- probably too much -- for a Carlos Gomez 5x7 card that Topps had/gave away at the Fan Fest at the All-Star Game at Target Field in Minneapolis this summer.

I think the cards were made only for the guys who were voted in as starters and/or started in the game. At that point in the season, Milwaukee looked like more than a .500 team -- which is what they are, it seems -- so three of their players made the starting lineup: Gomez, Aramis Ramirez, and Jonathan Lucroy.

I collect Gomez and Lucroy as PCs, so of course I had to go after a Lucroy. I paid about $4 less overall for Lucroy than I did for the Gomez, so that made me happy.

Here it is in all its glory:

When I wrote about the Gomez version, I asked you whether you had bought anything directly from Topps of this nature.  Well, I broke down and bought a couple of items...and they should get here in the next couple of days.  I'll be sure to share when I get them.

Thanks for reading!

An eBay Win, with Instant Buyer's Remorse!

I've been staying away from eBay lately. Earlier this year, I spent far too much time looking at as many Brewers cards as I could find on there -- particularly Robin Yount cards -- and ended up spending a bunch of money getting cards. 

Now, I don't regret having spent that money, but I do regret that I didn't do more research before I purchased some of those cards. I probably could have saved some money by being smarter, shopping around, comparing prices, and looking a little deeper for the cards I ended up buying.

The same, though, can be said for a recent purchase. 

In the wake of the All-Star game, a number of cards that seem to have been given out or sold as a part of the Fan Fest with the game have hit eBay. One of the items that came out was a 5"x7" set of the starting lineups for the All-Star Game. I haven't gotten my hands on a Jonathan Lucroy as of yet -- I'm close, though -- but I did get one of my other PC member to start the game:

This is printed on cardboard stock -- like the Heritage cards -- with a blank back. It's a pretty damn cool looking item. I mean, my non-card-collecting wife saw this card and said, "Wow, that's pretty awesome." 

So I felt validated.

Has anyone else taken the plunge with their PCs or their team collections on these 5x7 cards?

And, another question: Topps has released a number of team-specific items this year that have been available for either a limited time, in limited numbers, or both. Has anyone gone after these - other than those Major League cards of Ricky Vaughn and Roger Dorn and Jake Taylor?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your comments!