Another Russell Martin Rainbow

I've shown off my 2013 Topps Chrome Russell Martin rainbow I was chasing in the past.  Earlier this year, I also showed off my 2014 Topps Mini Black printing plate of RussMart.  I'm going to attempt to put as much of this rainbow together as possible and since a seller had 2 of the colored parallels I needed I decided to grab both the pink and black parallels for $25 combined shipping.

You may recall that I showed the 2014 Topps Pink parallel of the base card back in October's Save the Boobies month.  That pink parallel was numbered to 50.  The mini featured above is numbered to 25.

Above are the backs of the cards and their low print run numbers.

"The Greatest Day" STARRING RUSSELL MARTIN!!!

The best words a baseball fan can hear "Pitchers and Catchers report today"

Russell Martin, despite having only a short term part of the Pirates history, may be easily one of the top 5 catchers the organization has ever known.  Manny Sanguillen and Jason Kendall will obviously be above him and a lot of fans have fond memories of Tony Pena and Mike LaVaillere, but in a very short time (2 seasons), Russ helped to reunite an entire city with their love of baseball.

I'm going to miss not seeing him be the backstop for the black and gold this year.  I purchased the above printing plate earlier in the year for under the price of a blaster.

It goes well with my Tony Sanchez black printing plate I showed in January.

Chasing the Rainbow: Russell Martin X Fractor

I have been chasing the 2013 Topps Chrome Rainbow of Russell Martin for well over a year now.
I've already shown off the following cards
Blue Refractor
Orange Refractor
Pink Refractor of Russ numbered /5
black numbered/100

camo numbered 10/15

gold numbered 34/50

red numbered 12/25 and sepia numbered 45/75

The 1/1s will be extremely tough for me to pick up as I am missing all of them and don't even know if any of them have made the secondary market yet.

Today's latest addition ran me $0.76 delivered.

$15 Lil Man, put those team sets in my hand...

I've been on a roll adding some great ebay deals for $15 lately.  My latest acquisition is a bunch of Pirates 2014 team sets for $15 delivered.  For a winning bid of $11 I received complete or near complete team sets of 2014 Topps, 2014 Donruss, 2014 Topps Opening Day, 2014 Finest, 2014 Topps Heritage, 2014 Gypsy Queen, 2014 Bowman, 2014 Archives, 2014 Bowman Platinum and a few inserts as well.

Included were 3 really nice inserts or parallels of young outfield prospect Gregory Polanco

Also included were 4 different brands of cards using the same image of Pedro Alvarez.

Of course there were some Hall of Famers in there too with Clemente, Stargell, and Kiner all being represented.

Gerrit Cole made several appearances in the 102 card lot.
The white border Gypsy Queen is especially nice

A Nice Tyler Glasnow Purple Bowman Platinum was included

Along with a bunch of the Pirates top prospects (both hitting and pitching)

And of course it wouldn't be a Pirates lot if this guy didn't show up half a dozen times or more

Along with soooooo many others

Somewhere Near a Rainbow: Russell Martin Blue (Jays) Edition

I've been chasing a Russell Martin 2013 Topps Chrome rainbow for sometime and I have gotten down to needing very few thanks to my most recent COMC purchase.  I don't want to show them all in one post yet, but since Russ has recently signed with the Blue Jays, I thought it be best to show off the blue parallel.  I will continue to show off one a month until they are all shown.

Last month I showed off my Orange Refractor
Here's some others I have
Pink Refractor of Russ numbered /5
black numbered/100

camo numbered 10/15

gold numbered 34/50

red numbered 12/25 and sepia numbered 45/75

Chasing Rainbows: Russell Martin Orange Chrome Refractor

Last month I showed off my Pink Refractor of Russ numbered /5.  It marked my 6th different parallel of this card I had shown off.

I had already shown off a few of the rainbow parallels in the past dating back to last year.

black numbered/100
camo numbered 10/15

gold numbered 34/50

red numbered 12/25 and sepia numbered 45/75

Today I'm showing off my 7th parallel of the recent free agent backstop.

It's the un numbered orange prallel.  I'm going to keep trying to add these to my collection as long as they come up.  This one ran me just $1.25 delivered.  

Russell Martin sketch card by Chris Henderson

It's time to deliver another great sketch card by Chris Henderson.  Chris does some of the best sketch cards I have ever seen.  They truly are works of art.  

My latest addition is none other than the player who has the highest Free Agent contract ever issued by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the sensational backstop that helped the Pirates get back to .500, the former Gold Glove and All-Star Catcher Russell Martin.

Like all of Chris' sketch cards, these are 1/1s that feature an uncanny likeness of the player depicted.  This one of course features Russ before his scruffy I'm not going to shave all season long look.

When I initially set this up, I asked for two things from Chris.
1) That he uses the black alternate uniform to keep it consistent with the other sketch cards he's drawn for me (Morton, Marte, McCutchen, Cole)
2) That Russ is shown with his mask off getting ready to gun down a runner attempting to steal

I will continue to hit Chris up throughout this year and next for more Pirates sketches and most likely some Penguins and Steelers.  If you're interested in arranging to purchase something from his website visit his site.  Let him know that Brian, the Pirates fan sketch collector sent you.  Information can be found on his website below.

It started with Russ, it's ending with Russ

I hope this isn't an omen of things to come by me stating the above headline in case Russell Martin leaves for free agency, but I thought it would be a good idea to bookend my Save Second Base by spotlighting the catcher who threw out a lot of potentials stealers of second base over the last two years.  It's almost inevitable that Russ will leave for another team via free agency, most likely the Dodgers.

2014 Topps Pink Parallel 9/50

During his very brief time in Pittsburgh, I legit had a man crush on him and his giant beard.  Now I know why Greg at Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle collects him so much.  He's an easy guy to root for and a heck of a baseball player.

Last year, the Martin 2013 Topps Chrome featured him tagging out a player at the plate and I have been rainbow collecting it since.  I'm thinking about rainbowing this one too.  It's just a great looking play at the plate.

Since today is Halloween, I thought it be good to show off some boob worthy Halloween costumes.

Pink Rainbow Update: Russell Martin 2013 Topps Chrome

Today kicks off my month long event of pink cards.  For those that have forgotten, I am donating money to charity based on the number of comments left on my blog.  For a complete listing of how the event will take place please click on my Pete Rose autographed/inscribed Save Second Base post from last week.  I will be raffling off some cards as well throughout the month.

Because it's a big game for the Pirates today, if you leave a comment below and also say "Let's Go Bucs" I will put your name in the contest for the card I'm showing off tomorrow.  If the Pirates win today, one lucky person will win tomorrow's card.

Here's a card that I've had in my collection for almost a year, but never got around to posting because I have been planning out this month long Breast Cancer Awareness event.

As you may recall, I was at this game and more importantly am on this card.  It became a goal of mine to try to complete the rainbow.

The above pink refractor from 2013 Topps was had for around $20 shipped when the product hit shelves.  Numbered to only 5 copies, I couldn't pass it up.  I don't know why my scanner is suddenly miscropping everything, but I am sorry.  The card is actually perfectly centered unlike the scan above.

Last year, Russ had a huge game for the 1 game Black Out Wild Card game when he launched 2 homeruns in the Pirates 6-2 defeat of the Reds.  Let's hope he can do the same this year too.

My first RussMart jersey

Since the Pirates signed Russell Martin as a free agent after the 2012 season, I've been wanting to add a relic of his to my collection.  There were many options available from his Dodgers days, but I was really hoping Topps would produce something of his.  The only relic that I know of though that Topps has produced of Russell wearing a Pirates uniform was this 1/1 Bat Nameplate from Topps Museum I bought last year..

Fortunately Panini was able to pick up Topps slack and produce this Jersey King in 2014 Donruss Series 2 of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club backstop.  The card above cost me just $1.99.

Russ has had one of his best offensive years of his career this year and will likely be one of the key free agents on the market this winter.

Congrats Russell Martin!!!!

I only have 1 Russell Martin autograph in my collection.  Since joining the Pirates last year though, he's been one of my favorite guys to root for and I know that if he elects to hit the Free Agent market after this season, I will continue to follow his career.  He's a gamer every day.  Last night, Martin hit a double to score the tying run for his 1,000 career hit.

I got the above quad auto on ebay late last year for $19.99 and for the extremely low numbering and the fact that there is 3 other players on the card with one of my main player collections, Jason Bay I just couldn't pass it up.  This card is numbered 4/5 and marks my 21st, 22nd, and 23rd unique players to have autographs on a card with the former Pirate Rookie of the Year.

Due to the landmark moment of Russell Martin's career, I decided to cancel this week's Throwback Thursday.

Russell Martin Returns!

I thought about doing some kind of X-Men Days of Future Past tie in today since the movie is coming out and I am a HUGE X-Men fan, but just couldn't wait to show off this Russell Martin any longer.  I've greatly missed Russ' bat and glove in the lineup everyday despite Tony Sanchez being one of my favorite players in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

2013 Topps Black 45/62 Russell Martin

This low numbered black parallel (45/62) is my only parallel of the 2013 base set from Russ that I own.  Remember though I am trying to complete the trifecta to the 2013 Topps Chrome rainbow of Russell.

Somewhere near a Rainbow: Russell Martin 2013 Topps Chrome

Even though, it's barely been 30 days, it feels like it's been forever since I showed off my last rainbow update for Russell Martin's 2013 Topps Chrome.

Here's my latest addition.  It ran me a solid 50 cents from COMC.  This is just your standard 2013 Topps Chrome Refractor, no color parallel.

I had already shown off a few of the rainbow parallels in the past

black numbered/100
camo numbered 10/15

gold numbered 34/50

red numbered 12/25 and sepia numbered 45/75

Somewhere near a rainbow: 2013 Chrome Russell Martin Purple

Because I am somewhere on this baseball card, I am trying to complete the 2013 Topps Chrome Russell Martin rainbow.

I've already shown off a few of them in the past

black numbered/100
camo numbered 10/15

gold numbered 34/50

red numbered 12/25 and sepia numbered 45/75

My latest acquisition ran me under $2 shipped for the purple variant (not numbered).

One more down, just a few more to go.

Somewhere near a rainbow: Russell Martin Black Refractor 2013 Topps Chrome

I've been piecing together my 2013 Topps Chrome Russell Martin rainbow very slowly since it's release.

I've already shown off a few of them in the past

camo numbered 10/15

gold numbered 34/50

red numbered 12/25 and sepia numbered 45/75

I can now cross off the black version limted to 100 copies as I recently picked it up for under $4 shipped.

I'm on the lookout for the remaining cards for the rainbow.  I have the purple coming, but need several others including the base.

Somewhere near a rainbow: Russell Martin 2013 Topps Chrome Camo Edition

One of my ongoing goals is to collect the rainbow of Russell Martin's 2013 Topps Chrome

This marks my 4th of the bunch.  This serially numbered 10/15 chrome specimen of cardboard ran me $12 shipped.
The Gold version numberd 34/50 can be seen in this post.
The red (12/25) and sepia variants (45/75) can be found here.

Russell Martin is Gold

There's no doubt with the amount of baserunners that Russell Martin threw out that he would be a top candidate for a gold glove behind the plate.  Add in the amount of Fransisco Liriano sliders and Charlie Morton sinkerballs he had to catch and it becomes obvious that he was a huge part to the team's success.  Although he failed to capture the NL Gold Glove award for his terrific performance, I managed to grab the below gold chrome card off ebay.

2013 Topps Chrome Gold 34/50

I am trying to complete the rainbow to the 2013 Topps Chrome Russell Martin card because I'm somewhere on this card..

I'm somewhere on this baseball card

I recently came across the Russell Martin 2013 Topps Chrome image and said, holy $#@%! I was at that game and sitting just 4 rows behind the tarp.  I've tried zooming in to find myself, but the image gets fuzzier everytime I try.  Somewhere though, I am on this baseball card.

And it's because of that, that I'm going to track down as many of the parallels I can find.

Here's what I have so far.

2013 Topps Chrome Red Refractor 12/25

Red Refractor $9.99 delivered

2013 Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor 45/75

Sepia Refractor $4.66 delivered

I've got a few more coming, but now that many of the lower print runs are going to cost a lot of money.

Russell Martin Bat Nameplate 1/1

Calling this card anything less than SICK!!!! would be an unjustice.  I know of at least one blogger that would love to add this card to his collection, but this card ain't going anywhere.  Sorry guys!

2013 Topps Museum Russell Martin Bat Nameplate 1/1

While I paid more for it than I would have liked, I can't help but admire this museum quality (pun intended) piece of cardboard.  This marks my 2nd Pirate bat nameplate.  My first, of Andrew McCutchen, can be seen here.

I thought it would be nice to show off the back too...

Yup...This is staying in my collection for some time.

On another note, the seller included several other Pirates cards in the auction including 2 Gypsy Queen black mini parallels (Neil Walker and AJ Burnett) and even included a new Andrew McCutchen for my collection.
All the cards can be seen below.

The black minis numbered to 199 (Walker and Burnett) and 2013 Panini Father's Day Studio are all new additions to the Treasure Room.  SWEEEEETTT!!!!

My loot from the Crackin Wax break

I decided to participate in the Crackin Wax Allen & Ginter 2013 Case break and of course chose my beloved Pirates.  The Bucs had several good hits from the set list and I was hoping to add one or two to my collection.  Unfortunately I got shut out, but that also meant I got a $5 reimbursement which I've already used to purchase a Starling Marte auto which I'll show off in a future post.

2013 SPs: McCutchen & Martin

The Pirates did have two SPs in the team set (Andrew McCutchen and Russel Martin) and I managed to grab two cards of each.  I will consider trading a copy if the offer is right.

2013 Base team set: Clemente, Mazeroski, Kiner, Stargell, Burnett, Jones, Alvarez, Walker, Marte

The rest of the Pirates team set includes 9 base cards

2013 Across the Years inserts: Stargell and Clemente

The Allen & Ginter Across the Years set includes two Bucs greats (Roberto Clemente & Willie Stargell).

2013 Minis: Walker Black Border, Kiner base, Kiner A&G back, Stargell base, McCutchen A&G back

One of my favorite things about A&G is the minis.  I didn't exactly hit on anything of major note, but did get two A&G backs (Kiner and McCutchen) along with a black border Neil Walker.

As an added bonus I received two cards from 2013 Platinum that I desperately needed to add to my collection.  They are of top prospects Gerrit Cole and Alen Hanson.