eBay: Brent

I think it is time to clean up my scanned folder and show of some of these great Mets cards I have picked up from eBay super seller, Brent.  Brent specializes in case breaking and does a great job at getting it done.

First up is 2015 Topps Heritage High Numbers.  There is no difference design-wise from the standard release, but instead focuses on the younger talent.  Not much variety photo-wise either, but Heritage has never really been used for the action shots.  The Mets got a few insert cards that showcase their young pitching studs.  Favorite card is probably Noah Syndergaard's rookie card.  Biggest missed opportunity is not getting Alex Torres wearing his extra protective hat.

Next up is 2015 Topps Hi Tek.  I do not believe that Brent had any team sets available for this, but it would be pretty hard to put one together considering how many different patterns the set utilizes.  I kept it pretty simple here and picked up a few cards, a couple of "base" and one numbered Kevin Plawecki.  No real opinion here.  The cards look cool, but the various patterns make it difficult to collect.

Finally, 2015 Topps Update.  Here we have the first Mets cards for a few players who debuted or were traded for during the 2015 season.  Yoenis Cespedes, Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson, and Tyler Clippard were all apart of the teams late season run into the postseason.  Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz both debuted in 2015 and helped get the Mets further and further through their playoff run.  It is interesting to look back knowing that this team was the one that made it to the World Series that season.



The Mets were also given a near page full of inserts.  This time the inserts show the Mets rich history of pitchers.  From Tom Seaver to Dwight Gooden to Buddy Carlyle to Jacob deGrom.

I purchased nearly all of the 2016 releases from Series 2 onwards from Brent.   I doubt I will get around to scanning those cards at this point.  It would probably be best to start fresh for the 2017 releases. 

eBay: 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen

Like most collectors, I browse eBay from time to time looking for some good deals.  I came across a seller who does a lot of case breaks of Topps products.  I recalled the seller's name from Twitter and remember reading nothing but good things about him.  I am almost sure most of you have done business with Brent before and I have to agree with everyone's comments about him.

I decided to give Brent a try for the 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen release.  I enjoyed this release and like the design and look of the cards.  I think the Mets have some pretty good looking cards in this set, too.

The Mets have some pretty good looking inserts, too.  I think I like the Lenny Dykstra the best.  The Queen's Throwbacks is an interesting card, too.  Curtis Granderson is shown wearing a throwback jersey from a 2014 game against the Pirates.  The jersey says "Royal Giants" and would actually foreshadow (coincidentally, of course) the 2014 World Series match-up between the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants.

I also decided to try some of Brent's single card auctions and picked up an auto and relic card.  Overall, I have to say this was a great experience just purchasing the team's master set and along with a hit card or two.  It does take a little bit out of the chase of completing a set, but I still have plenty of sets to complete.  Doing things the easy way is sometimes the way to go.

eBay Summer Purchases (plus a contest pimp)

I had another round with eBay this summer.  I decided to change things up this time around.  Instead of watching the auctions until the end, I decided to just place one or two bids and see what would happen.  Well, when all was said and done, I ended up with a nice stack of Mets cards.

First, lets start with some vintage Mets.

Next up are some modern cards.

The two auto cards are Juan Urbina and Fernando Martinez.

Urbina is one of the young Mets pitching prospects who has been playing in the rookie and low A leagues for the past few years.  He turned 21 years old this year and is the son of former All-Star closer Ugueth Urbina.  The older Urbina, a 2003 World Series champion with the Florida Marlins, has had an interesting post-career life.

Mets fans will remember Fernando Martinez as a promising prospect that eventually went bust.  He was highly ranked amongst multiple publications as the top Mets prospect.  He played very well in the minors, but just never materialized in the majors.  He also played briefly for the Houston Astros who ended up trading him to the New York Yankees.  He was suspended in August 2013 as part of the Biogenesis scandal.

To close out this post is a little contest pimping.  CaptKirk42's Trading Card Blog is having a contest celebrating the fifth anniversary of his blog.  Check it out and join in!

More from eBay

Here are some more cards from my last eBay run.  I have auto cards for both David Wright and Zack Wheeler, so I needed some game used relics to complement the auto cards.

A couple more autos...one of the Mets lone 2014 All-Star selection, Daniel Murphy.  I still think David Wright was snubbed since his numbers are similar to Aramis Ramirez.  Either way, Daniel Murphy deserves to be there.

  

 

This card was probably the one I looked forward to receiving the most.  With a little copy-and-paste magic, you can see the front and back.  The relics are a bit on the small size, but I am not complaining about a Willie Mays relic.

  

These are my first attempts at scanning cards.  A little crooked, but I am getting there.

eBay

During my younger days of collecting, there was no eBay.  I bought my packs at LCS, card shows, or traded with my friends.  I never really thought about a card as being a must have card.  I ended up with my cards mostly due to the randomness of packs.

eBay is a good and bad thing to me.  I enjoy browsing through listings and seeing ridiculous starting bids, weird lots, and unknown (to me) cards.

This one seems a bit unnecessary...

The bad thing is when I get lost in it.  I have only used eBay twice since I started back with the hobby.  Both times they ended with me thinking to myself, "why I am doing this when I have a mortgage and student loans to pay off?"  Luckily, I have been able to keep myself in check before things get too out of hand.

My second round with eBay ended last week.  I ended up with most of the things I was watching while only missing out on a couple.  I should have enough yellow padded envelopes and boxes to go through soon to keep me busy for a bit.