A Pair of Franchise Faces: Matt Kemp and Ryan Getzlaf.

It makes collecting a lot of fun when your favorite players to watch and collect happen to be the faces of their respective franchises. Not that collecting lesser players isn't fun, but I love that three of the main four guys I collect are elite players teams build around. One seller on eBay had cards of two of those guys. I snatched both up. But of course.

First up, one of the most beautiful cards I've ever laid my eyes on. Seriously. The scan doesn't do it near enough justice. If you haven't picked up one of these Faces of The Franchise die-cuts from 2012 Topps Finest, DO SO NOW. They are simply stunning, and major props to Topps for coming up with them. The blue border works so perfectly with the Dodger Blue Matty is sporting, and of course, the name of the insert is nails, especially when you take into account it's The Bison. I wish there was a Kershaw one as well; honestly, I have no idea why there isn't one. These run one per master box, so a tough pull indeed, and I landed it for just $2.69 delivered. It's a fantastic addition to my Mattycakes Collection.

The second card of this two-card showcase is yet another sweet Ryan Getzlaf autograph. It's on-card, he's wearing the C and the Ducks' new third-jersey, and I like UD's Ultimate Signatures set. A great trio of characteristics for a card that I scored for a paltry $1.25 before utilizing the seller's combined shipping rate.

I picked up another auto that's already become trade bait, and all three cards totaled just under $8 shipped.