Luis Severino PC Additions: Spring 2016

Hey everyone, Drew back here. I've been back in the US for almost a month now, and unless you keep tabs with my Twitter or Instagram accounts; you haven't seen any of my new Luis Severino PC additions. So with that, let's get you all up to date, shall we?

- 2014 Bowman Scout's Breakouts Insert

- 2014 Bowman Scout's Breakouts Die-Cut Insert

- 2014 Bowman Scout's Breakouts Die-Cut X-Fractor 61/99
- 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospects Black Refractor 

I purchased these four cards off of Check Out My Collectibles just before I fly off to Italy, and arrived home to find them waiting on my desk for me. I'm going to try to fill as many holes in his early Topps/Bowman rainbow checklists as I can without breaking the bank, and I believe these all came to me for less than $10 shipped.

- 2016 Topps #265 Rookie Card (x17)

Not one, not two, but seventeen. It's safe to say I won't be needing any more copies of Severino's official Topps rookie card. They really put together a solid debut card of his, more than likely thanks in part to him being represented by them.

- 2016 Bowman Chrome Rookie Autograph Refractor 177/499

When I initially started collecting Severino, I told myself I would only focus on his prospect years and his rookie year, and only went after his Topps/Bowman releases. I didn't think it would be much. I was wrong. His autograph is featured multiple times in every single Topps release this year, which I can only imagine is part of why they hardly sell for over $10 a pop (though, in fairness to Topps; his performance in 2016 has left much to be desired). I want to at least have one autograph from each set he's been included in, but as for completing the rookie year rainbows.... we'll see.

- 2016 Topps Museum Collection Signature Series Triple Relic Auto 95/99

Museum Collection has produced some of Topps' finest quality since its birth in 2012. This year, I feel like it may have taken a bit of a step back. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a card like this any day; but it does feel a little busy. Regardless, there are a few other Severino inclusions in this year's release that I'll be trying to add sooner or later.

- 2016 Topps Archives 1969 Super Auto 70/75

When I first saw these cards appearing out of this year's Topps Archives, I was so pumped. I quickly made an offer on a Severino autographed version on eBay and it was accepted. The card came in yesterday, and it is undoubtedly one of my favorites in my growing collection of the future Yankees ace.

And yes, I said ace. Because I still believe in the kid, and so should you.

Severino (+ Sabathia) Sunday: January Edition

What a wild weekend for the NFL. All three road teams have won thus far into Wild Card Weekend, and we have witnessed the strengths and weaknesses of the league as a whole. The Bengals organization was a complete embarrassment last night against a gritty Steelers team that barely held on to win. Earlier today, Vikings kicker Blair Walsh missed a game winning field goal opportunity to allow the Seahawks to advance. Seattle will take on the Carolina Panthers next week.

In hobby related news, I added some more cards of Luis Severino to my collection. It may be Football Sunday, but it is also Severino Sunday!

2014 Bowman Chrome Green Refractor 74/75

2015 Topps Pro Debut Orange Parallel 6/25

2015 Bowman's Best High-Def Heritage Orange Parallel 5/25

I'm beginning to compile a very orange Severino collection. However, in recent years most Bowman and Topps products limit orange refractors and parallels to just 25 copies. The only lower parallels commonly outside of 1/1's are red parallels, which are normally numbered out of just 5. The Pro Debut and Bowman's Best cards are the 4th and 5th orange parallels in my PC, and will hopefully not be the last. I'd rather buy the lowest numbered cards when I can find them for cheap costs over just about anything else. But once in a while, I have to splurge.

2015 Bowman Inception Jumbo Patch Autograph 41/50

I bought this card several months ago, and somehow never showed it off. This is my current favorite Severino card that I own and probably will be for quite a while. The patch is bright, differing from the common base colors of blue and white you see on most Yankees relics. The relic should be from the 2014 Future's Game, but who really knows anymore. It still looks pretty cool if you ask me. I really like the way the Yankees have worked this kid into their rotation. Everyone knows how good he can be, but until the team becomes a World Series contender again he will likely be overlooked. This should give him the chance to work his way into becoming the potential ace the Yankees need.

I don't believe this season's team has a true "ace" caliber pitcher. Masahiro Tanaka is a good pitcher but doesn't appear to be any better than a #2 or #3 in the rotation. Their former ace is towards the end of his deal, and shocked us all when he left the team late last season to treat his alcoholism in rehab.

2015 Topps Triple Threads Triple Relic Autograph Gold Parallel 8/9

CC Sabathia has given the Yankees an awful lot over his seven year stint in the Bronx. His overall record with the team is 97-56 with a 3.73 ERA. He's made three All Star teams and has finished in the top five in Cy Young voting three times. If he were to retire today, he would be viewed as a Yankee great and a borderline Hall of Fame pitcher. I'm not going to let his alcoholism affect my admiration for the man and player he has been for much of years as a fan. In fact, I think he did the right thing by treating his issue and I really hope rehab has gotten him back on track. Who knows, perhaps he'll get back to his winning ways next year if all goes well.

I was able to find this card at the White Plains Thanksgiving show for $30, and I worked the seller down to $20. I'll do that any day for an autograph this nice of a Yankee great such as C.C. I love the three different relic colors, and that it is only numbered to 9 copies.

Luis Severino and C.C. Sabathia may be on different career paths at this point, but I would be so happy if Severino became the workhorse C.C. has been. I felt like it was only right to include the big lefty in this edition of 'Severino Sunday'.

Enjoy the rest of Wild Card Weekend!

Severino Sunday: November 1st (PLUS Contest Results)

Hey everyone, Drew back here. I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween! Mine was relaxing, as I got to sit back and watch game 4 of the World Series after powering my way through a never ending week. I've been rooting for the Mets because I honestly don't have any emotional attachment to the Royals at all, and because I'm a big fan of David Wright's. It doesn't look ideal for the Mets, but crazier things have happened.

I have been able to add 13 new Luis Severino cards to my collection since my first edition of Severino Sunday, and the quality hasn't decreased as far as I can tell.

 

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Blue Paper Parallel 279/399

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Green Paper Parallel 6/75

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Red Ice Parallel 49/150

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Purple Ice Parallel 58/99

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Black Wave Refractor

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Black Refractor 60/75

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Blue Refractor 217/399

- 2015 Bowman Prospects Silver Paper Parallel 54/499

- 2015 Bowman Prospects Purple Paper Parallel 226/250

- 2015 Bowman Prospects Blue Paper Parallel 106/150

- 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospect Profiles

- 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospect Profiles Green Parallel 66/99

- 2015 Bowman Autograph

Many of these additions came together via Check Out My Collectibles, but the autograph, ice parallels, and black refractor arrived through separate eBay purchases. I now have his regular and refractor Bowman rookie autographs, and hopefully won't be my last Bowman autograph parallel of his. I completed the mini 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospect Profiles rainbow with the regular and green parallels (the gold and orange cards were featured in the last post). It's quite difficult working on four separate set rainbows at once of a highly touted prospect, but its refreshing to get the newest set out of the way before the cards become more rare and expensive.

To see my current Luis Severino collection all together, click here.

Before I let you all go and enjoy the rest of your football and World Series Sundays, I would like to announce the winner of my Victory Fine Art contest I ran this week. I was a little disappointed by the total number of entries, but those who did get involved were fantastic and it really seems like I'm not the only one to see the potential of this company.

I placed all of your names on random.org and after five randomizations, the winner of any Victory Fine Art print of their choice is...

Congrats Rich B.! I'm going to send Victory Fine Art an email announcing that you have won, and if at possible, please send them an email also (marie@americanpopdigital.com) with your mailing address and the Ali print you are interested in winning so they can ship it out to you!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest, and I just hope this helped bring more awareness to a great up and coming company. Once again, if you haven't seen their work yet, click here.

See Ya!

Severino Sunday!

Hey everyone, Drew back here! Midterms are just about complete, and I finally have some time to show off what I've been doing between studying and writing papers. I've been falling in love with eBay all over again of late - and with their recent promotion allowing users to list just about as much as you want for free, I've been flipping cards like a mad man. 

Many of the cards I let go of were sacrificed to make room for my ever growing Luis Severino collection, which is now officially listed on my Wantlist page. However, there is one catch to collecting Severino: I'm only going for Topps and Bowman products. I enjoy his inclusions in other sets such as Panini Elite or Prizm, but keeping it to only licensed products will allow me to have more of a budget for higher end cards. I won't refuse anything of his from other sets, but my priority is to collect and complete as many parallel rainbows as I can.

Check out some of my recent acquisitions of the Yankee phenom rookie:

- (3) 2014 Bowman Chrome Base

- 2014 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor 201/250

- 2014 Bowman Chrome Purple Refractor 60/150

- 2014 Bowman Chrome Bubble Refractor 95/99

- (2) 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Silver Ice

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Refractor

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Blue Wave Refractor

- 2014 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Green Refractor 128/150

- 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospect Profile Gold Refractor 18/50

- 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospect Profile Orange Refractor 23/25

- 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autograph Refractor 295/499

You must all think I'm crazy. I'm just having fun! Of the bunch shown on this post, my personal favorites are obviously the Refractor autograph but also the Bubble Refractor from 2014 Bowman Chrome. Some of the Bowman parallels out there are pretty unique but that one has to take the cake. I don't have much familiarity with recent Bowman products, but this new goal should provide some insight on the various parallels Topps created. A few of them are particularly pricey, but I got some good deals on the cards listed above so hopefully the good fortune will continue.

With all of these included, I now own 22 unique Severino cards, and I have about 9 more on the way (including my best card of his yet) that you will all hopefully see next Sunday. If at all possible, I would love to reach 50 different cards by the end of the year. I don't think that will be too difficult of a task to handle, but we'll have to wait and see.

You can view my Severino collection here. If you have any of his Topps or Bowman cards I may be missing, please feel free to leave a comment and we may be able to work out a deal. Now that Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano are long gone in New York, it's about time I have a new Yankee to collect. I have a feeling this one could be worthwhile too.

See Ya!

All In

Hey guys, Drew back here. I was glad to see that a lot of you really liked my Top 10 Best Yankees Cards post from yesterday, as I definitely had fun writing it. I recently took a gamble on eBay hoping to take on what may have the potential of being ranked highly on that list in the future. 

Outside of his most recent start against the Blue Jays, Luis Severino has been awesome to watch in his rookie season. He has the poise and stuff necessary to dominate in the league for years to come, and I look forward to seeing more of him hoping in the playoffs this year. One night I splurged on eBay and wound up winning 3 separate auctions from the same seller; all Severino. In total, I spent about $20 on 22 cards; an investment opportunity I'm glad I took advantage of. 

Here's what I ended up with:

- 2014 Bowman Draft (x9)

- 2014 Bowman Chrome Draft (x3)

- 2014 Bowman Draft Silver Ice Parallel

- 2014 Bowman Draft Bowman Is Back

- 2015 Bowman (x4)

- 2015 Bowman Chrome

- 2015 Bowman Farm's Finest Mini

- 2014 Bowman Chrome Draft Black Wave Refractor Parallel 

- 2014 Bowman Chrome Draft Blue Refractor Parallel /399

I originally just wanted the two Chrome parallels, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to add several of his other rookie cards as well. This is just one of many examples of my love for combined shipping.

If any of you has Severino cards for trade and sale, I'd be most certainly interested. I'm not quite ready to declare him as my next PC, but I think it's getting closer and closer to happening as each of his starts come to pass.

See Ya!

Not Missing Out This Time

Hey everyone, Drew back here! I've been having a pretty nice, relaxing week away from the world before I get ready to embark on my second year of college. Last night my family scoped out Atlantic City in preparation for when my Dad and I will be attending the National next year. We saw a performance from America's Got Talent participant and hypnotist Wayne Hoffman. I was shocked by his act, and he truly did blow my mind. If he ever comes to a town near you, I would recommend you check it out.

About two weeks ago, I was feeling quite jealous of all my blog friends being at sports collector heaven, and decided to treat myself. Rather than buying more for my PC's, I wanted to take a risk. Hopefully, this risk will have a high reward.

Out of 2014 Bowman Platinum, I added a gorgeous on card autograph of not only the Twins top prospect, but widely regarded as the best prospect in all of baseball, Byron Buxton. Buxton made his MLB debut earlier in 2015 although he clearly wasn't ready to take on the show just yet. At 21 years old, most superstar prospects still have room to grow before reaching their full potential. After all, not everyone is Mike Trout. He has a great swing, and appears to possess five tool talent.

Mike Trout was actually a lot of the reasoning behind this pickup. I remember passing up on cheap Trout autographs on eBay back when he was emerging through the minor leagues, and I didn't want to miss out on this opportunity. Not only could this card rise substantially in value if Buxton does become what he's said to become, but it is one of his nicest cards as well. Bowman really hit the nail on the head with this card, and I'm going to be hard-pressed to move it even if he does well.

What do you all think of Byron Buxton? Is he worthy of being the #1 prospect?

See Ya!

Surprise College Care Package!

Hey guys, Drew back here! So... I've been in college for a little over a month now, and I have to say, the experience really isn't for me. I've always felt like I was more mature than other kids my age, so seeing people act crazy and lose their minds almost every night is almost sickening to me. I know its what most kids our age are supposed to do, but it doesn't feel right for me, so I may end up returning home to commute to a local school following this semester. 

Anyway, one of the coolest things that has happened since arriving at school was receiving a really thoughtful care package from William and his family! William and I have always had a lot in common, and he really understood a lot of what I've been going through when I explained it to him; so he sent me all sorts of snacks and cards to help brighten my day. And he sure did!

Within all of the awesomeness in the box were 3 packs of Bowman baseball! Here's what came out of them:

Nothing overly spectacular was found in these packs, but I did miss the feeling of opening a pack. When things get stripped away from you and you're in a position to start over, there's absolutely nothing better than going back to what you love; and being able to open packs, even though I haven't been very interested in buying cards lately; was an awful lot of fun.

The highlight of the 3 packs was this mini refractor of Royals star rookie Yordano Ventura. These Royals games have been phenomenal thus far into the postseason. I've been glued to my TV whenever they've played (especially because I don't get Fox Sports 1 on my TV, depriving me of all the NL games). William, your Orioles are an awesome story, and seeing them win would be great for your franchise, but I wouldn't be upset if the Royals made it to the World Series one bit.

William also threw in a bunch of recent Yankees cards he's pulled, including a ton of 2013 Topps Mini cards. I've never even seen these to be completely honest, but I'm really glad I got the chance to see them. It's a cool concept solely because Topps did the same thing in the 1970's, otherwise it'd just be an annoying gimmick. I'll take any Jeter cards I can get though! (By the way, sorry the scan got cut off, I'm still adjusting to my new printer/scanner I have in my dorm!)

Along with the Topps mini cards came some other gorgeous Yankees cards, all of which I'm certain I don't already have. I love the look of this year's Finest, and Gypsy Queen (as overdone as it is by now) still has a soft spot in my heart. I also completely ignored the fact that Topps Heritage covered my favorite vintage set of all time today, and I may have to go out and buy some packs of it now!

William, you're the man. I really appreciate all you do to cheer me up, you're a great friend, and even though we've been used to being long distance friends for a while, I definitely miss being more readily available to talk. Thank you. (And thank Chris again for the awesome letter!)

Congrats to the Orioles on advancing, by the way! See Ya!