Just because I found Baby Starks the other day doesn't mean I am done with Al, the vendor I've been going to since last year. It's fun picking out cards to trade with him, and I did another deal with him on Friday. He had a bunch of the Mets cards I gave him last time out on his table, and I came up to him just as he was selling a couple of Keith Hernandez cards to somebody.
This time I gave him eleven Don Mattingly cards, mostly junk wax. In return I picked out nine cards from his box of stars. Here are eight of them:
The 1994 Stadium Club Nolan Ryan and 1995 Sportflix Ozzie Smith turned out to be dupes and are up for trade. The others are a Sportflix Pedro Martinez, a 2016 Topps Brett Gardner, and random shiny cards of Paul Molitor, Kirby Puckett and Chipper Jones.
Then I pulled out a 1992 Topps Gold card of Brien Taylor with an autograph on him. I asked Al, "This isn't real, is it?" He pointed out that tucked behind the card in the plastic sleeve was a certificate of authenticity. Doing research online later I found out that the card was only issued in autograph form - #793 in the Topps Gold factory set, it was one of the first autographed cards to be inserted into a set.
I see an O Pee Chee peeking out of there as well.
ReplyDeleteAhh Pedro as an Expo.. There was a giant uproar when the 'Spos traded for him. Accused management of trying to save money both on players and uniforms.. lol
Dennis had become a free agent so when they got Pedro, fans accused the team of getting another Martinez to recycle the uni.. lol
Congratulations on grabbing that Brien Taylor. Once upon a time, I was building a collection of athletes who were busts and that card was way high on my list. That set still sells for over $30... and I'm still waiting to snag a Taylor for under $5.
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