Card of the Day - 2007 Topps '52 : Andy LaRoche Autograph Red Ink Variant ( 25 / 52 )

The $3 eBay special strikes again.

I was eBay dumpster diving again for autographs of past Dodgers and came across this one of former super prospect Andy LaRoche. He had so much promise and fans expected a lot. He finally made it to the big leagues and proceeded to bomb. He was traded to the Pirates in the Manny Ramirez trade and since then has been on two other teams. He is on the wrong side of 30. Oh what could have been.

A seller had this variant up for just $2.99 and I just couldn't pass it up as it was also hand numbered. It was a traditional auction so I had to wait the week to see if I would win the card and when it ended I was the winner. A nice variant card of a prospect that didn't live up to the hype but I welcome it to my collection nonetheless.

Love the retro look

25 of only 52

Card of the Day - 2007 Upper Deck Black : Andy LaRoche Pride of a Nation Autograph ( 64 / 99 )

Sometimes you know you are overpaying for a card and regret it and then there are time you are overpaying and are 100% OK with it. Thankfully this is the latter rather than the former.

Andy LaRoche did not amount to much as a Dodger and only just recently got called back up to the majors by the Blue Jays. That said he is a former Dodger who wore the blue. I haven't  and don't specifically look for Andy cards but this one came up on one of my searches and caught my eye. Always love autographs and won't turn them down but what drew me was the USA flag. I am a proud American and this card shows of our nation's colors encased in thick black cardboard. Dodger plus USA equals a win in my book.

The seller had this card at $8 in auction style on eBay. For an Andy card that is overpriced but I still wanted it because of the other factors. Didn't expect nor was there any action on the auction. I waited til the last minute and put my bid in and unsurprisingly won the card. I just purposely bought an $8 LaRoche card and I'm OK with that. Looks great in the collection and happy that I acquired the card.

USA, USA, USA. 64 of only 99