A Gold Refractor Of Russell Martin and A Ginter Death

I scored this sweet gold refractor /50 - from 2008 Topps Finest - of Russ Martin for the low low price of $3.36 delivered (and yes, it did arrive in a PWE, although it was safely packaged, I'm pleased to report). So basically, I passed on a pack of something I wouldn't have splurged on to begin with and went with this awesome PC addition instead.

Easy. Decision.

This particular card is #'d 45/50, and is a nice and different addition to my Russ Martin PC. I'm a big fan of Topps Finest, and anything golden is always awesome in my book. I'm fairly positive this is the first gold refractor of any kind that I own. I could check, but it's late and I'm lazy. A fine combination if there ever was one.

The aspect of this purchase I found most interesting is the card fodder that was used to add extra protection in the PWE for Golden Russ. You see, I thought this card was just thrown in willy-nilly to add some bulk to the envelope. But no, the seller made sure this card would be nothing more than trash when all was said and done.

Yes friends, that is indeed the Brooklyn Bridge with a massive amount of super-duper-hard-to-remove masking tape on it, plastered on the outside of the toploader the Russ Refractor arrived in. I originally assumed the card was on the inside, and thus salvageable. Unfortunately, my removal skills failed due to the tape that just wrecked the card. It's a truly great card in my book, and one I wish I could have saved.

I mean, I'm not going to throw it away or anything rash like that. Rather, I shall tuck it into some nook in a box somewhere. But I wish it could have been rescued from its sticky tomb, because History and Ginter rock, if you didn't already know.