Since Kyle Blanks is today's hot topic due to being called up from El Paso, now seems like the perfect time to spotlight a couple of his cards. As I mentioned the other day, I'm not a big collector of relic cards, but sometimes I see such a good deal that I can't pass it up. I'm the same way with autographs, so you can sleep easy knowing that I got both of these dirt-cheap.
The jersey card pictured above is a 2011 Allen & Ginter issue. A&G does their relic cards the same way that they do their autographed cards, which is on a mini card within a frame with a slight gap, encased in transparent plastic. I've grown to hate the word 'classy' after listening to doofuses quote Ron Burgundy for a decade, but it's such a fitting description of this and all of A&G's cards.
The card on the right is a 2007 Bowman Prospects autographed insert. While I'm not that big of an autograph collector -- I only have a few dozen signed cards -- I do have preferences when it comes to them. I prefer certified signatures to in-person or through-the-mail signings. And when it comes to certified autographs I'm a much bigger fan of the ones that are signed directly on the card as opposed to the ones with a signed sticker slapped on them. This card gets the thumbs up on both regards.
Blanks has always been one of those guys I couldn't help but root hard for, so these and my other cards of him will always get a prime spot in one of my binders. Now that he's back in the bigs I'm looking forward to some new cards being released which can take up another page or two. And hey, you never know, maybe I'll score another relic card of him for pennies on the dollar.