october nue jays

This October, I made what was probably my 5th or so return to card blogging. I've had a pretty good outlet over at Jays From the Couch in regards to analysis and speculation, but there was always that urge to write beyond that wall, to really just spill out my love - and frustrations - in a more appropriate arena.

Luckily, my ebay, comc and blogspot passwords all still worked, so I didn't lose much time there. However, I needed some material, and pulling nothing but Yankees from 2017 products wasn't going to cut it. So I resorted to ebay, and it went well.

I don't recall which year of heritage this came from, but this one had been on my radar for a long time. Stieb is a legend in the land of the Blue Jays, and his silky smooth autograph on the 1990 Topps is just beautiful.

I don't have the original, but I am sure one of you out there does. Unlike the nice blue border above, it's purple, but still represents the obnoxiously 90's flavour of that set:

A couple weeks back, I complained almost endlessly about 2017 Topps Fire. Don't get me wrong - it's a total trash fire. I was, however, drawn to the following card:

It's the blue parallel of Jose Bautista's Monikers insert, under the guise of "Joey Bats." The graffiti on these is a nice touch, with the player bursting through a brick wall. The blue works well with the Jays uniform. These might be the only redeeming part of the Fire set.

Here's a 2017 Bowman Green parallel (90/99) of future super-utility Jay, Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., making his debut here at PGS. Personally, I find the "paper" designation to Bowman flagship demeaning. Baseball cards are paper. 

Chrome is what brings everyone to the show, and as much as I do like the chromes and their associated refractors, I enjoy the flasghip so much more, even in the worst Bowman design, possibly ever. The above Gurriel auto was purchsed in conjunction with the Stieb that led this post off, coming in at about $7 American. 

At this point, you might notice a theme growing. While most Jays prospectors are going heroically strong on Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., I'm doing the same on Gurriel and the next guy. Gurriel has some development issues at the moment, but I am pretty confident in the guy. This gold refractor (44/50) came from the National Convention packs.

I was really excited about Justin Maese once he was drafted by the Jays in 2015.He has struggled a bit, but much of that was due to injuries. One thing he's already mastered, though: The Pitcher Struggle Face. 

What's a ZJ?

Zach Jackson checks off two important collections of mine: Team USA and Blue Jays. Not to mention this 2017 Panini Baseball Stars & Stripes is limited to just /99 and features a swatch of digital camo jersey, which I am admittedly a sucker for. 

While only featuring seven scan-worthy cards, I feel like I did pretty well in October 2017 in regards to ebay pickups. Already for November, I have two Gurriels and one Marcus Stroman on the way, not to mention countless Anthony Alford and Marcus Stroman auctions ending soon. November should be a good month. 

*If you have to ask, you can't afford it.