Earlier in the week,
I shot my mouth off pretty good about actually attending a Tuesday night auction at Cleve's rather than just writing in bids and hoping for the best. I fully intended to go Tuesday night, but was foiled again by work duties and had to miss out on the action. I thought there might be a chance of that happening, so I went put in some write in bids on a few items ahead of time.
Other than losing out on a fantastic 1955 Topps Phil Rizzuto, I got most of what I wanted:
Winning a great card like this of former Razorback Cliff Lee is a little surprising, given his popularity around here. But I'm thrilled to add another
Five Star card to my collection. There's a line of stitching that curves across the card that's gives it some uniqueness too.
The only auto I picked up this week was pretty good I think. Alfonso Soriano will probably be one of those almost-but-not-quite Hall of Fame candidates when his career is done. But he's had a really nice career, including a 40-40 season, several All Star appearances, and will almost certainly retire with over 400 HRs.
I put a bid on the Curtis Granderson relic above, not knowing there was a Jim Thome relic in the toploader behind it. I guess no one else noticed because I won the lot for $2. Bonus!
Finally, I picked up this lot of Bryce Harper cards. I mostly bought it because I needed both of the Bowman inserts for my 2011 Bowman master set that has stalled out.
Grades:
Cliff Lee 5 Star Jumbo Patch $8: B+ It was kind of expensive, but I'm a big fan of Lee and it's a super premium product, so I'm happy to have it.
Alfonso Soriano Auto $4: A This is a great addition to my skimpy autograph collection. Great value.
Granderson/Thome Relics $2: A+ I would have been thrilled with just the Granderson for $2. Getting the Thome was a nice surprise.
Bryce Harper Bowman Lot $10: B I needed the insert cards, and there not any cheaper anywhere else, so what the heck. If he takes off this year like everyone is predicting, that $10 will look a lot better.
