Hidden In My Collection To A Quick Flip: Aaron Judge 2013 Bowman Chrome RC

A handful of weeks back I was looking for cards to send to a fellow blogger. I decided to look through just about everything I had set aside as trade bait and stumbled upon a pair of cards I had entirely forgotten about. They were tucked away for yet another blogger and after finding them I knew I needed to capitalize on a hot market and do a quick flip with these hidden gems.

Behold many dollars worth of Judge 2013 RCs sitting in a random box for years. I don't fully recall how I came to possess these in the first place, although I have an idea. If my notion is indeed the way it occurred I paid nothing for this 2013 Bowman Chrome and 2013 Bowman Draft Picks RC of the young Yankees' slugger, so the quick flip was all profit for me. I was happy with the amount I got after selling them on eBay, and those newly found funds remain in my PayPal account and will no doubt go towards something much more apropos for my collection.

Hidden In My Collection: Alex Bregman 2010 Topps USA Baseball RC

I was recently attempting to clean up some areas where I store my collection when the below card popped up in a stack of 2010 Topps USA Baseball cards.

Bregman had a fine introduction to the bigs and I think he's going to be a really, really good player. He's already become one of my six keepers for my fantasy league in 2017 and I'm happy to have stumbled upon this hidden gem. While it's not an official RC I essentially consider it as one. Because if Topps can call 18 different cards a rookie, I can think of this one as such.

A New Dodger Hidden In My Collection: A.J. Vanegas (Stanford, Round 11)

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected righty A.J. Vanegas out of Stanford with their 11th round selection in this year's just-completed amateur draft. The name was very familiar to me and I immediately knew why I recognized it.

The above cards were trade bait lying around that I had in my possession for well over a couple of years. I picked up the dual USA relic out of 2010 Bowman Sterling way back when from my now-defunct LCS. It was probably 99 cents, and it's a refractor numbered 012/199. The 2010 Topps USA RC came from one of those boxed sets you could find at Target.

The relic was ticketed for my upcoming (at some point, I promise) card draft but for the time being I'll hold onto it. This happened once before when the Dodgers drafted Corey Seager in the first round back in 2012.

I'm A Dumbass, Maybe?

Some people might find that statement to be a given. Story time boys and girls. I was very recently handed an envelope by my mom which was prefaced by the statement "I found this and I think it would be better off with you." Or something to that effect. I open the envelope to find a number of COAs that go hand-in-hand with my memorabilia collection. I had only halfheartedly looked for them months back and then quickly given up, knowing I'd never be selling any of these pieces from my collection. One of the certificates stood out, as I couldn't place it with an item seeing as I believed I didn't own the item it pertained to.

Well, apparently I do own that item and it has been sitting on my shelf unprotected for about a decade. Oh, and it just so happens to be an autograph from my childhood hero and favorite player, a guy who will remain in my top five for as long as I live. Yes, I own a Mike Piazza autographed mini-helmet signed in sharp silver on the bill. A helmet which has collected dust for years and been exposed to the elements of my room as I always believed it to be a facsimile signature.

It seems to be legit considering the COA, except for the fact that it looks nothing like the Piazza autos I do have (linked above) and the negative press the authentication service and authenticator himself have received on message boards. Seriously, comments are scathing towards Drew V. Max. No idea what to believe....what the heck, it's real; it's not like I'm going to sell it. So, to wrap it up - minus the nifty machine - I might have my sixth Piazza autograph and the knowledge that I should probably make sure nothing else is hiding in my collection and praise the baseball gods that this potential new John Hancock withstood the test of unprotected time.

A Surprise Hidden In My Collection: Corey Seager, The Newest Dodger.

Assuming he signs, which I believe he will. A rather appropriate blue border and some great foreshadowing.

Numbered 148/199 with at least one seam, I picked this up from my LCS's eBay offerings months ago for a paltry sum (either 99 cents or a buck and change). Seager is a current shortstop but future third baseman who projects to have good power, a good eye at the plate, and an above-average to excellent glove. I'm stoked Logan White and the Dodgers went with a bat, considering the Dodgers consistently develop pitching but struggle with offensive guys, who are usually sent packing in terrible deals anyways.

Hidden In My Collection: 1997 Topps Finest Refractor Mark McGwire Warriors Promotional

I was looking through what I have set aside for trades, hoping to find a few cool cards to offer up to another blogger in a trade we were working on. I saw that he liked Mark McGwire inserts, and I remembered I had a cool promotional card he might like. I grabbed it amongst a group to offer up, and scanned 'em. I was curious exactly what the card was, so I checked out COMC.

I found out that there is a regular and refractor version of the card you see above, a 1997 Topps Finest McGwire Warriors insert. I quickly grabbed it and flipped it over. Much to my delight, it was the refractor version, which books for thirty bucks. It is denoted as such in the bottom right of the card in the tiny white box outlined in black.

What really makes me happy about this is that I grabbed it with a huge lot of cards from a collectibles shop near me that I frequented much more often as a young lad. This was my first time back in the shop in forever (the trip was about four months or so ago) and I basically just grabbed a bunch of Piazzas and some other randomness that looked moderately appealing. The Big Mac was part of that randomness. It probably ran me a quarter, maybe two, and at the most three.

The card has been traded to that blogger, The Diamond King. Enjoy Kevin!

By the way, I have no idea who was the first to come up with the hidden in my collection idea, but kudos. I hope you don't mind me borrowing your creation.

Oh, and I should probably hit up this collectibles shop again. Who knows what I might find.

Some more awesome stuff, I would hope.