A Gold Parallel Russell Martin 2005 Bowman's Best Rookie Card. Another Rainbow, Perhaps? Oy. Vey.

2005 Bowman's Best has a special place in my card collecting heart. Perhaps it's because both Matt Kemp and Russell Martin have cards in the set. Or maybe it stems from the fact that I own parallel versions of both of their cards. But it could also be the distinctly Spring Training feel and aspects that these rookie cards possess.

So when I had the opportunity to add this awesome gold parallel /25 of Russ' 2005 Bowman's Best RC to my collection for a very, very reasonable price, I jumped on it. Because I have this thing about not passing up good deals and regretting it in the future.

As you can see, it's slabbed, a BGS 9. I could care less about the grading; the fact that's it's limited to just 25 copies (mine being #'d 09/25) matters far more to me, as this is the only copy of this gold parallel I have ever come across. Oh, and it was just $5.55 shipped, with a winning bid of two dollars and eighty cents. I do love me some gold parallels when it comes to Martin cards.

With two parallels of this Martin RC in-hand (yet, oddly enough, the base card still alludes me), I am oh so tempted to build another Russ Rainbow. I've yet to list the second rainbow on my Want List, mainly because I think I just need the 1/1, and also because I'm lazy and lacking in the cash department with this ridiculously long eBay splurge which is nearing its end, finally.