Ok, I know that just the sight of a Dennis Martinez card makes Night Owl break out in hives but some things can't be helped. Besides I think down deep Mr. Owl likes El Presidente, maybe not as much as I do, (I really really like him) but time heals all wounds.
Anyway I've seen these 1996 Leaf Signature cards pop up on other blogs from time to time. But only recently did I decide to investigate them. I found that many can be had for reasonable prices. I'm not really a signed card collector but if I can pick up one of my favorite players cheap I'll go ahead and grab it.
I saw some with silver foil 'medallions' on them and others with bronze and I believe there were also gold foil ones. I have no idea what the significance is. I suspect the bronze were more plentiful/cheaper. Any help from 90s collectors? Frankly they'd be better looking cards without that glob of foil smack in the middle of the photo but it was the 90s and cards had to be fancied up to get attention I suppose.
Finally here is a nice interview with Dennis that I found on Fangraphs. Worth a read.
OK, I've been blogging too long. There's no way I should have referred to Dennis Martinez that many times.
ReplyDeleteYup, I was a bit surprised by that myself.
DeleteI was happy to grab the silver foil version of this card from the dollar bins at a recent card show. And yeah, I believe it's a rarity thing.. bronze most common, gold the rarest. I really like this simple design and often steal it for TTM customs I make, sans the foil glob in the middle.
ReplyDeleteGetting one for a buck was a steal.
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