Couple cool cards today

Yesterday's add (this 2013 Topps Chrome Montee Ball RC Auto) is pretty cool although I vastly overpaid for it. Impulse buys can sometimes be bad for your wallet and this is a prime example. On the other hand I did want to support my local shop so I don't really mind. That and it's a good card if you're a die-hard Broncos fan. I enjoy the fact that it's an on card autograph, the design is great and these were numbered to 600 copies, even for the base versions. Regardless of that I'd rather focus on cards that matter, cards that will have long term value. I get tired of (and I'm sure if you collect new cards you come across this all the time) spending money on cards that fluctuate so much that they are worth pennies on the dollar weeks after getting them. 

The next addition was a card I pulled last year from a 2 box break of 2013 Finest, this is a Camo Refractor parallel of Vernon Davis that's numbered to just 10 copies. I couldn't find any quick pictures on Ebay to upload (a testament to how rare the card is) so I snapped a quick photo of it.

I don't mind collecting the other cards in the set but after looking long and hard at other blogs and sports cards posts I really want to add the 1998 Topps Chrome Refractor Peyton Manning card to my collection. There are many worthless cards in that set (any rookie not named Peyton Manning or Randy Moss) but it will be a great challenge to do. The refractors were seeded at 1:12 packs and so you can imagine how difficult it would have been to pull a gem mint Manning. Prices tend to go anywhere from 150 (for raw ungraded versions) to around 450 for a BGS 9.5. I figure I'll save up for the Manning first and get the other cards later. Usually I do it the other way around when building sets. (cheapest to most difficult) The Manning will gain small value every year in my estimation, if somehow they win the SuperBowl this card could get more attention and gain more value. The next few weeks are pretty important in how this card will be priced in the short term. Over the long term nothing he does on the field will affect the overall importance of this card. I'd like to see if I have the patience to save up for the card instead of using my collecting budget on cool (but worthless in the long term) short printed cards from recent products.

I won't rest until this card is mine....