Another week, another few eBay auctions won featuring Barry Larkin cards! The seller who has been selling off his own Larkin collection keeps listing new cards - and every now and then one (or more) of them slip by for a relatively low price and I'm able to snag them. Based on the three cards I won recently, it would appear that Donruss parallels aren't highly sought after as that's all I was able to afford!
We'll start with the highlight of the three - this red parallel of Larkin's relic card out of the 2020 Donruss set.
Numbered out of 99 with a decent design, I've got no issues with this card (even the photo works with the airbrushed logos).
The other two cards that I won were also parallels but this time from the 2021 Donruss set.
The Career Stat Line parallel idea is one of the dumbest ideas that Donruss (and now Panini) has ever done but as a player collector I still chase them. I guess in a way that makes me even dumber. The other parallel is an Independence Day parallel - not serially numbered but certainly festive looking for July 4th with all of the stars on the border.
I can't say that I feel great buying cards like these...and honestly, I may end up cutting back on my Larkin hunt to focus only on cards from his playing days (seriously, look at how many pointless parallels Panini pumps out each set and you'll probably see why I feel that way). For now though, it's three more new Larkin cards so that's something!
This is one of those examples where Panini's Donruss is vastly inferior to the original. I loved the OG Donruss Stat Line parallels because they were numbered to the stat. Hit .312 in a season? 312 copies. Numbering them all the same makes no sense. I'll also agree that Panini does WAY too many parallels and it's gotten ridiculous, though for me it's more on the Prizm side than brands like Donruss. Unfortunately Topps continues to pump out lackluster products and inserts. At least you and I have lots of wonderful Larkin cards to chase from his playing days and a few years after!
ReplyDeleteAnytime I see how relatively cheap Panini's parallels are for players I collect, it automatically makes me not want to get them. It's the old quality over quantity thing, which I normally struggle with in the hobby, but Panini makes following that rule pretty easy.
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