Michael Brantley Tier One Autograph

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I'd foregone buying the Astros spot in a Topps Tier One group break and instead devoted the money that would have been spent to purchasing singles from the set. Specifically I grabbed autograph and relic cards of slugger Yordan Alvarez. I still had some money left over, and I decided to see if I could add anything else from the set to my collection while staying under budget.

What I came up with was a Michael Brantley Prime Performers autograph. The first one I ordered never arrived, so eventually I opened a case on eBay and got my money back. Then I found another one for about the same price and ordered that one, and it arrived as scheduled. I don't believe I had a Brantley autograph in my collection yet, so this fills a nice hole in my collection, as Brantley was a key member of the team for a few years, although injuries robbed him of a lot of time on the field.

A Top Tier Reverse Group Break Spot

A few days ago I found myself idly browsing a group breaker's site and strongly considered buying the Astros spot in a Topps Tier One break. Luckily, someone bought the spot while I was contemplating whether or not to buy it. I watched the break in question and no Astros hits were pulled, so I'm glad I lost out on the spot. 

I still had the card itch, though, so I decided to see what I could get on eBay for less than the cost of the break spot. I decided to limit my search to cards from 2023 Topps Tier One, and wanted to focus mostly on Yordan Alvarez cards. I was able to locate the lowest-priced Yordan on eBay, and added it to my watch list. A little while later an offer came in from the seller for an even lower price, and I made the purchase.

I also found a Yordan bat relic card at a decent price and bought it via the Buy It Now feature. Theoretically I still have about $20 left vs. the break spot price, but I am going to leave it where it's at for now. Group breaks are fun, but they are a form of gambling and the house usually wins. I find that most of the time when I join a group break I wind up subsidizing someone else's hits and not having anything to show for it, and that makes me feel a little icky. If I'd bought that Astros spot I wouldn't have had anything in my mailbox, but instead I have a couple of nice Yordan cards.