Seneca #230, courtesy of the Ivy Leagues

Lately I haven't been digging for cards I need as much.  Call it watching my finances more closely, or school making me too busy, or other hobbies taking the place of cards (I won a Kirby compilation for the Wii on Ebay and I may have won an XBox 360 system if the seller isn't a jerk, so I've been playing more video games in my free time), but whatever it is I'm searching less frequently.  

The hobby and its hobbyists don't stop just because I leave though, and this was shown a few weeks ago when a Blowout Forums user messaged me saying he was about to acquire a Seneca card from my wantlist.  I have my wantlist posted on Blowout and I try to bump it up one every day or two to keep it in people's minds, and it has worked for quite a few cards, this one included.  I offered a price, the guy accepted, and told me he'd send it out once it arrived at his house.

A week later it was mine.  Here's the front:

Looks like a typical 2009 Mayo Mini, which I already own.  But oh, this one is so much more:

See this is one of the Harvard Red Backs, which had proved almost impossible to find over the past few years.  A few months ago I messaged specific 2009 Mayo sellers on Ebay in search of the card, and though I found one guy who owned it he said he would never get rid of it since he is collecting the Harvard parallel set and is pretty close to completion.  I figured that was donezo for me, until this Blowout guy popped up.  I've learned over the past year not to overpay for rare cards, because another copy of something you need could always come to you in the strangest of ways.

The best part about this card?  I'm not a "1/1" guy, but this is #'d 1/25.  My Mayo Mini Cloth is #'d 1/5.  And then all the plates are 1/1.  So with the Harvard, Mini, and my Cyan Plate, I have the 1/ trifecta.  That's pretty dang impressive for not even trying!

Speaking of the plates, this Harvard back makes plates the only 2009 Mayo cards that I still need.  Specifically they are these three:


2009 Topps Mayo Mini Printing Plates #322 Black /1
2009 Topps Mayo Mini Printing Plates #322 Magenta /1
2009 Topps Mayo Mini Printing Plates #322 Yellow /1


Sadly the magenta may well be in a landfill somewhere.  It sold in a big Ebay lot several years ago which the buyer claimed was never received.  Several years later that card still hasn't emerged, so the possibilities of where that package may have ended up seem endless.

Not only are the 2009 needs small but rare...my 2007 needs are too.  Here's a look at those five cards:

2007 Topps Platinum #40 /1
2007 Topps Total Printing Plates 165 Black /1
2007 Topps Total Printing Plates 165 Cyan /1
2007 Topps Total Printing Plates 165 Magenta /1
2007 Topps Total Black /50

That means beyond Seneca's rookie year (2003), I need only eight cards, seven of which are 1/1's.  I'm guessing I might not make progress on those eight for a few years!