My 200th Russell Martin Card is The Pinnacle of My 2008 Spectrum Swatches Rainbow.

It took me a long, long time, but I was finally able to land the most short-printed card in my quest to complete Russ Martin's 2008 UD Spectrum Swatches Rainbow. I present the long-ago arrived and thankfully in-hand 1/1 Black Printing Plate of Russ' 2008 Spectrum Swatches card!

I had only ever seen one of the four plates this rainbow produced, and it was an eBay auction I bid on and lost out on. I wasn't terribly upset, however. Let me explain. This auction was prior to my decision to put together this Russ Rainbow, so while I wanted the card, I didn't need it. So it was just another auction lost at the time. However, when I did decide to piece together this colorful rainbow, I thought back to that auction and immediately felt shame and regret. I wasn't sure if I'd ever have another shot at picking up one of these necessary plates. But then, as it almost always does, eBay came through and another auction popped up in early February. I knew what had to be done, and I was determined to see it through.

The auction thankfully ended during the Super Bowl, which surely helped ease the amount of New York fans online at the time. When the auction originally appeared, I quickly put in a bid, and this was without a picture to verify the authenticity of said auction. The picture soon followed, but I was also soon outbid. I waited until just a few moments remained on the auction (as the third quarter of the Super Bowl was getting underway), and placed a bid. It was the high mark, so I added a protector bid in the waning seconds and waited.

Well, you already know how it ended. I snagged it for around 13-15 clams. The seller even went above and beyond, shipping the printing plate in a magnetic. This is one of those great eBay sellers that often gets overshadowed. This plate marks Martin Printing Plate number five, my seventh 1/1 in total, and hit number 66 overall in my Russ PC. It also serves to push me over the 50% completion point for this rainbow and gives me my 200th unique Russell Martin card! What remains of the rainbow is as follows:

-Light Purple /44
-Green Patch /15

-Light Blue /15 INCOMING

-Light Grey Patch /5
-Dark Grey /1

I finally bit the bullet on the light blue and paid what I feel was a handful of dollars more than I'd like to have, but grabbed it from the eBay seller that had it listed for ages. If you can help me acquire any of these, you will most certainly be rewarded handsomely.

This is the final purchase made with Card-Draft #1 funds to be posted, though it's one of the first cards I actually bought with those funds. Thanks to everyone who participated in that draft and helped me pick up some cards I'm extremely excited to own!