Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Erisbel Arruebarrena Base Black Refractor Parallel (69/100)

eBay sellers must love buyers like me who are completest nuts.

Erisbel is in no way a player I would pursue on any given normal day but since he wears the blue and there is a black refractor numbered parallel I just had to add it to my collection. Even with that though I was not going to spend very much on it hence why I have not acquired it till today.

I have seen various copies for sale but not one was going for less than $5. That is way too much for my liking and I just stayed on the sidelines and waited for the price to drop, It took almost 8 months but finally one came in at a price I was comfortable with and I won this copy on a traditional auction for "just" $2.

That price happened to still be about 50 cents more than my set ceiling but considering I am close to completing the black parallel set I decided to pull the trigger. Just a few more to go.

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Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.

-Penguin

Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Erisbel Arruebarrena Base Blue Refractor Parallel (122/199)

Thankfully the prices for the parallel cards that I am searching for from the 2014 Topps Chrome brand are finally coming down. It also seems to me that the "Cuban" factor is starting to wear off a little as the prices for Cuban players are more in line with non Cuban players now.

I have been acquiring Erisbel's cards in what I call a backwards fashion. I picked up the higher priced autographs first and now I have circled back and looking to get the blue and black non autograph parallels to complete my Erisbel collection for the year. Still haven't been able to find a decently priced black version but this blue one was sure had for a deal. Book has it valued at $4 which is reasonable enough I guess so I was looking to spend no more than $2 for it. Well, how about just 45 cents? Yup, that was the starting asking price and I was the only one to bid on it and won it for literally a handful of change.

Woo Hoo !

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Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Erisbel Arruebarruena Base Autograph Black Refractor Parallel (81/100)

A mini project within a bigger project is officially done.

I am still looking for the non autograph blue and black parallels of Erisbel but for some reason I have been able to pick up the autograph versions of blue and black at highly reasonable prices.

The assigned book value of this card is $40 and there is no way in my mind I can rationalize that cost. Again, I believe the Cuban factor comes into play here and that is why it is so high.

Even with only 100 copies I was determined to get myself a bargain on this card and that is exactly what I accomplished as I picked it up for less than $9 on a traditional auction. Don't even know if Erisbel will ever make an impact in the majors but since he wore the blue I had to have his autograph on some cards.

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Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Erisbel Arruebarruena Base Autograph Refractor Parallel (131/499)

Erisbel makes his second autograph appearance on the blog and this time it is regular refractor version.

Already have the blue one in hand but still needed the black and base refractors to complete the 3 card project. For some reason this card has an assigned book value of $25. Little steep there for a player that has done almost nothing at the big league level. I still attribute these high prices on him for being Cuban. The same thing is happening for Alex Guerrero autographs and I do not think any of them are in line with what they have produced on the field. That said, I still wanted this card.

Onto the bay and with numerous options I just had to pick the right auction to bid on. Locked in on a few and I ended up winning if for a mere $3.94. Now, that seems more like it price wise. $25? Phssh. Onto the final piece of the autograph puzzle, Mr. black border.

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Card of the Day - 2014 Topps Chrome : Erisbel Arruebarruena Base Autograph Blue Refractor Parallel ( 149 / 199 )

Yeah...I so butcher this young man's name every time I try to pronounce it.

His 1st autographs came out in the Finest brand but I am not a fan of all the "radical" colors in that set. I did put in my token low bid just to see if I could score one at a real low price but that never happened. I was happy to know that he would also be featured in the more acceptable Topps Chrome brand that was coming out a month later. I just had to wait.

I was/am only looking for the refrator, black refractor and this blue refractor parallels to add to my collection. No need for the base one for me.

Right out the gate the blue version was topping $20+ which was too much for my taste so like usual I just had to sit and bide my time till the price came down to my liking. Few weeks passed and finally they were creeping downward towards my sweet spot and I was able to pick it up for what I found to be a highly reasonable price. My first Erisbel autograph of the planned 3 for my collection.

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