Barry Larkin Collection 500: 2004 Skybox Autographics - #BL/KM - Prospects Endorsed Dual Relic (#/500)

Barry Larkin & Kaz Matsui
Year:  2004
Brand:  Skybox Autographics
Insert set:  Prospects Endorsed Dual Relic
Card number:  PEJ-BL/KM (#448/500)

I bought this card off of eBay last summer but I decided to hold on to it in terms of showing it off on the blog until my 500th Barry Larkin post!  This is my first dual relic involving Barry Larkin and I happen to like it quite a bit.

The 2004 Skybox Autographics set was a set that I had never heard of.  According to baseballcardpedia, Larkin actually has quite a few cards in the set (many of which I would like to track down some day) but, strangely, he does not have a regular base card in the set.

Instead, Larkin has a Prospects Endorsed insert (paired with Edwin Encarnacion rather than Matsui for some reason) as well as a Prospects Endorsed Dual Patch parallel (#/50) where he is paired with Matsui like he is on today's featured card.  Finally, Larkin shows up in the Signatures insert set with four different autograph versions (blue, silver #/100, gold #/25, and purple #/1).  I don't think I'll ever track down the purple auto (one-of-ones aren't my thing to chase, mostly for monetary reasons) but I should have a decent shot at acquiring the other remaining Barry Larkin cards from the set.

Returning back to the card at hand, this happens to be an instance where the monochromatic colors work for me.  In fact, given that Fleer paired a Cincinnati Reds player (colors black and red) with a New York Mets player (colors blue and orange), I think a full color baseball card would have been a bit too busy!  I also like the fact that the card is numbered...I think all relics ought to be numbered so that the collector knows exactly how common/rare that particular card is.

On a personal note, this card marks a major milestone in my Barry Larkin Collection (500 unique cards now)!  I actually still have way more than that to scan and write about...probably at least 200+ more cards.  That said, I know that that the second 500 cards in my collection will be much tougher to track down as compared to the first 500 (both because Larkin has been retired for awhile and because I have most of the easy-to-find, i.e. junk wax, cards)!  As always, if you have any Barry Larkins available, I'd love to work out a trade!