eBay Mailday: Allen & Ginter Autographs!

Hey everyone, Drew back here. I think it's really time I should get moving on posting some of these, considering they've sat around my desk for probably 2 or 3 months. I picked up 2 Allen & Ginter autographs from various years on eBay fairly recently, and I'd love to put them in my card box already so, check them out!

First off, from the new 2012 Ginter product, is this Jose Valverde autograph. I'm not necessarily a big fan of his, but it was cheap, so I got it anyway. For about $3 shipped, I picked up an autograph of last year's saves leader, even though this year has been quite rocky. Nonetheless, he'll have plenty of opportunities to do well in the next few years with Detroit, so for 300 pennies, I'll take it.

The other one I picked up was this 2011 A&G Nelson Cruz autograph! I drafted Cruz as my third outfielder in fantasy baseball this year, behind Hunter Pence and Alex Gordon, so I picked this up to give me more of a reason to root for him. Unfortunately, I've since cut him, as he's been very inconsistent, even though he's actually been fairly healthy this year. (By the way, it sounded like my outfield sucked, well, it didn't because I drafted Melky Cabrera as well, but certainly things have changed since...) But who could forget Cruz's power display in last year's postseason, crushing 8 home runs between 2 rounds, including 6 in the ALCS! This guy certainly has a flare for the dramatic, and although he isn't connecting on all cylinders right now, watch out come October.

Time to put these away! See Ya!

2012 East Coast National Recap! (Pt.1)

Hey guys, Drew back here! All summer, there are certain events I pinpoint as being the highlights of my summer. Sunday was one of those very days, as Dad and I geared up to make the trip over to White Plains, NY, for the East Coast National! As most of you know, we're common customers to JP's Sports autograph signings and card shows, and with a pretty solid lineup, we couldn't miss out on it. I met 6 players, which will be shown later this week, and bought a couple of nice cards, but for today, you guys will see the results of the few packs I opened at the show (hint: I didn't do too badly!). Here we go!

2012 Topps Archives (1 Pack):

- Nyjer Morgan

- David Ortiz

- Josh Hamilton

- Jon Lester Gold Parallel

- Andy Van Slyke

- Starlin Castro

- Jose Valverde

- Clay Buchholz 

If I didn't get the Hamilton card I wouldn't have been very happy at all with this pack. Every card besides it is for trade.

2011 Bowman Chrome (1 Pack): 

- Chase Utley

- Dillon Gee RC

- Michael Blanke

- Dickie Joe Thon

I'm not quite sure why I bought a $7 pack that only held 4 cards in it. I was feeling good, so I thought maybe a sweet auto would be coming, but well, the results of this pack gave me a pretty solid reality check. 

2011 Allen & Ginter (1 Pack):

- Brandon Belt RC

- Daniel Descalso RC

- Peter Bourjos

- Tim Lincecum

- Miguel Tejada

- CJ Wilson

- Jonathan Sanchez Black Bordered Mini

- Roy Halladay Hometown Heroes

I wasn't paying attention when looking for these packs, and instead of grabbing a pack of the new Ginter, I got some of the old, boring, last year Ginter. I believe I have the set, so these are for trade too. 

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen (2 Packs):

- Casey Kotchman

- Ryan Dempster

- Heath Bell

- Jhoulys Chacin

- Jimmy Rollins

- Ryan Braun

- Troy Tulowitzki

- Roy Halladay

- Willie Mays

- Bob Gibson

- Ty Cobb

- Geovany Soto

- Scott Rolen

- Trevor Cahill

- Jemile Weeks

- Angel Pagan

- Carlos Ruiz Gypsy Back Mini

- Willie Mays Moonshots Insert

- Matt Garza Mini

I love the look of this year's Gypsy Queen, and by far these were my favorites of the packs. The mix of older and newer players makes for a really strong checklist, and it's fun pulling cards of people I actually know (unlike Dickie Joe Thon)! But, I did say earlier that I did pretty well overall, and well, one card in the Gypsy Queen pack just about made up for the cost of the packs....

I saw blue when I opened the pack, and I suddenly thought it could be Griffey or Koufax or Darvish or just something beyond incredible. It wasn't at THAT high of a level, but I'll take a Gypsy Queen Eric Hosmer on card auto any day! Hosmer is having a sophomore slump type season, but I think he's got enough potential to be a star for the next decade or so! I redeemed this when I got home, and unfortunately, the Estimated Shipping date was around the beginning of December. A long wait, but I believe it will be well worth it. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the recap! See Ya!

White Plains Card Show 1/22/12 Recap, Part One!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Phew, midterms are finally over! I wish I could have brought you the awesome news about the card show earlier, but no, I was stuck in rooms testing for hours and studying all week. Anyways, on Sunday, Dad, Mike, and I went down to White Plains yet again to meet a few players and buy some cards at the "Winter Extravaganza" card show! It was a pretty nasty day outside and there was a big Giants game that night, so it wasn't very packed, which led to quick lines to meet players and more time to browse cards!

To start, I'll show off the packs that Dad and I opened after we got back from the show. We didn't hit anything overly special, until the very last pack, but continue reading to see what it was. Dad got 2 packs of 2011 Goodwin Champions, 2 packs of 2011 Topps Lineage, 2 packs of 2011 Topps Pro Debut Series 2, and 3 packs of 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter. Let's see what we got!

PART 1: Pack Breaks

2011 Goodwin Champions: (2 Packs)

- Steve Young

- Lou Brock

- John McGraw

- Laffit Pincay Jr. (Jockey)

- Carlton Fisk

- Edgar Allan Poe

- John Muir

- Hope Solo (Soccer)

- John L. Sullivan (Boxing)

- Julia Mancuso (Skiing)

Honestly, I'm going to be straight up and say I am not impressed with this product by any means. I didn't mind the 2009 edition with mainly baseball players, but Upper Deck's version of Allen & Ginter doesn't do much for me at all. It does provide a lot of variety if you're a fan of that, but for me, I don't know how much more I'll be getting out of this set.

2011 Topps Pro Debut: (2 Packs)

- Chris Murrill (Renegades PC!)

- Jacob Turner

- Louis Coleman

- Tyler Vail

- Gustavo Pierre Blue Parallel /369

- Michael Kirkman

- Jesus Montero

- Brodie Greene

- Devin Mesoraco
- Justin O'Conner
- Niko Goodrum
- Brian Diemer
- Mike Montgomery Tools of the Trade
- T.J. House
- Todd Frazier
- Tanner Bushue

First of all, I get that these cards aren't legitimate rookie cards. In my opinion, a player's true rookie card should be their first Bowman card, but nonetheless, who says they can't have a solid minor league set? I'm all for this set, although I'm not much of a prospector personally. I like the photography and insert/parallel designs, and I think it's a very good set for the market of collectors that enjoy this kind of thing. On a side note, pulling a Jesus Montero card makes me cry on the inside, but hopefully in a few years pulling Michael Pineda cards will make me scream with joy!

2011 Topps Lineage: (2 Packs)

- Carlos Beltran

- Michael Young

- Joe Morgan

- Roberto Alomar

- Jayson Werth Diamond Parallel

- Ty Cobb

- Chipper Jones

- Paul O'Neill

- Larry Walker

- Grady Sizemore

- Justin Upton

- Ryan Howard

- Ike Davis Diamond Parallel

- Wandy Rodriguez

- Daniel Hudson

- Andruw Jones All Star Rookie

I don't really care about this set personally. If it never existed, I wouldn't be crying, but I'm content with it for the most part. The design is nice and clean and would be great for some autos, and I still can't deny to say I love the diamond parallels. The player selection is solid although its the same old, same old from Topps, but it's still cool to pull a card of Ty Cobb and Michael Young in the same pack. 

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter: (3 Packs) 

- Billy Butler

- Drew Stubbs

- Matt Guy (Cornhole Champ)

- John McEnroe

- David Ortiz

- Andre Ethier

- Jose Reyes

- Robinson Cano

- Jeremy Jeffress RC

- Rick Porcello

- John Lackey

- Carlos Ruiz

- Neil Walker

- Maxim Shmyrev (Ping Pong Champ)

- Colby Lewis

- Prince Fielder Hometown Heroes

- Mike Napoli Hometown Heroes

- Starlin Castro Highlight Sketch

- Gregor Mendel Minds That Made The Future

- Ben Revere RC Mini

- Troy Tulowitzki Mini

- Gharial Animals in Peril Mini

It's always nice to crack open a few packs of Allen & Ginter! Ginter, as well as Masterpieces, was one of my favorite products of the past decade, and no matter how boring some of the inserts can be (Mendel, really?), it's still fun because you never know what you're going to get. We had no clue, but we actually ended up pulling a relic in this pack! Of who? Keep scrolling..

Just the biggest name in sports this week, Prince Fielder! Fielder, the newest Detroit Tiger, is always a good pull. Personally, I like the guy, maybe even more than I like Pujols. I just like how his swing is so strong and powerful and he has a really cool personality. At first glance, I was happy to pull a Prince relic, because he's one of my favorite players outside of the Yankees. Then at second glance, I became even more happy because, the swatch is not a bat but instead, a very dirty jersey piece! It's not often you come across a really dirty relic, especially from Allen & Ginter, so I was really happy with the pull!

Well that will just about wrap up the pack break portion of the recap, so be sure to stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon to a computer right in front of you! 

See Ya!

Cano Collection Heating Up!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Well, today started off extremely rough, with some very sad news regarding my family. However, while I have a little time to kill, lets take a look at some of my newest additions to my Robinson Cano collection!

Out of the new Topps Update series, I picked up this All Star game workout relic of his. Cano put on a clinic in the Home Run Derby this past season, and as soon as I saw that this card existed, I needed to grab a piece  of his jersey. I'm not quite sure when he wore this jersey but if its part of the jersey hes wearing in the picture on the card, well, that would be pretty sweet! I bought this one off of the bay a week or so ago, and I love the design of it for sure. For only a couple bucks, why not?

The second of my two recent pickups came courtesy of the good guys over at the Sports Card Haven! They get one box of majority of the newest products, and Ryan (pinetarsports on YouTube) breaks them live on video. I watch most of the breaks, and sometimes they pull some nice stuff. The catch is that they give away the best card in every box they open on the website, and all you have to do is leave a comment with a short review of the product they opened. Well, after they used some randomization tool, I ended up walking home a winner of the 2011 Allen & Ginter contest! And my prize you ask?

Just a bat card of my favorite player to collect. No big deal! Kidding aside, I love winning contests, they're great for the community and I like to support most of the people that run their own contests here and there. The best feeling is when you win something cool, and this certainly qualifies, as it adds yet another relic to my growing Cano PC! So, thank you so much to the guys at Sports Card Haven, I really appreciate it!

FYI, my contest should be coming within the next week, I've just been very busy and stressed out so I haven't gotten a chance to start it up yet!

See Ya!

August 20th White Plains Card Show Box Break! A&G?

Hey everyone, Drew back here. So, we're not quite done reviewing the card show. When we all got into the car on the way back, dad pulled out this box from his bag, saying we have a box to break soon! It was a box of the new 2011 Allen & Ginter! He got a very good deal on the box, and while I hadn't been overly impressed with the product so far, I definitely was excited to open the box. Before I get into the results, here is a little bit of product information, although most of you already know what to expect:

Part 6:

2011 Allen & Ginter Box Break

PRODUCT CONTENT

24 Packs Per Box

8 Cards Per Pack

192 Cards Per Box

1 Box Topper Per Box (Cabinet/N43)

1 Mini Per Pack

3 Relic/Autograph/Printing Plate/Booklet/Rip Card Combo Per Box

Look for a lot of Variations and Inserts

Alright, let's get into my box!

MY BOX BREAK:

Cabinet Card: Baseball Highlights- A-Rod's 600th HR

I definitely prefer these box toppers rather than the smaller versions, the N43 cards. As a Yankee fan, I couldn't have gotten much luckier than I was pulling one highlighting a Yankee's accomplishment. Never been a big A-Rod fan but it's definitely better than any of the others, for me at least. 

Base Set: 127/350 (36%)

Most of you have seen one too many Allen & Ginter cards highlighted throughout the blogs, considering it's maybe Topps' most popular release every year, after the flagship product of course. I'm glad that Topps put a little more into this year's design, as it definitely has a bit different feel to it. They look pretty nice in my opinion, my favorite card being the Derek Jeter card. 

Crack the Code Cards: 3 (Jeter/Reyes/Hoffman)

Topps used the weird borders for the Crack the Code contest this year, with each card having a different border design. Does anybody know if the code has been cracked yet? Just curious.

Hometown Heroes: 18/100 (18%)

Here's Topps' annual insert that dedicates a country, state, continent, etc, where someone grew up. I have to say that this insert set has been way over done and it's gotten old. I barely even look at them anymore, and just throw them into a pile. 

Minds That Made: 3/40 (7.5%)

Floating Fortresses: 3/20 (15%)

Ascent of Man: 4/26 (15%)

In 2011, Topps really went out of there way to make this product way more than just a baseball set. With all these random subsets, considering smart people, boats, and the history of man, it really kills the purpose of Allen & Ginter. The first couple years I did a lot of Ginter breaking, I didn't mind this stuff, but after year after year of random inserts finding their way out in trades, I'm getting sick of them. 

Baseball Highlight Sketches: 4/25 (16%)

I really liked these the first year they brought them out, 2 years ago, but since then they've really gotten sort of boring. The paintings, to be honest, haven't been all that great, and the design is a bit redundant. I pulled the Mark Teixeira card and then 3 trade bait cards out of this box.

Minis: 

Base- 6

A&G Back- 5

Black Border- 3

Here are most of the minis. The top row is made up of the Allen & Ginter back variation minis, and the bottom row is made up of the regular minis.  While the minis are the most realistic cards compared to the original set of Allen & Ginter, I almost feel like they are just more variations and versions to chase after. I guess some people like the chase, but with the ridiculous amount of variations and parallels of every card made over the past few years, it seems close to impossible to get every card you need to finish a player/set/team collection.

However, I was lucky enough to pull the base and black border minis of Nick Swisher for my Swisher collection! I like the looks of the black border minis this year over any of the new changes, because I was sick of the regular black border that had no style or anything to it. Pulling these cards of Swisher was one of my favorite parts of the box, because I guess it means a little less eBay shopping for me!

Mini Inserts:
Animals in Peril- 2 (DHole, Ethiopian Wolf)
Uninvited Guests- 2 (RMS Queen Mary, Waverly Hills Sanatorium)
World's Most Mysterious Figures- 2 (Kasper Hauser, Captain Charles Johnson)
Portraits of Penultimacy- 2 (Watson, Igor)
Step Right Up- 1 (Fire Eating)

Again, way overdone on the non sports stuff this year. Does Topps really think we care a whole lot about these cards? What need do I have for a card of a DHole or Fire Eating? I can even tell you that 9 of every 10 kids probably wouldn't care all too much about a card having to do with these subjects. Yawwwn.

Bazooka Back Mini: 1 (Yovani Gallardo)

This card was definitely a surprise, and without it I may have been a little disappointed with the break. It's a hand numbered to 25 card of Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo is having a pretty good year, with a 15-8 record and a 3.37 ERA. He's definitely one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball, and had he been more well known this could've been a better pull. That being said, if anyone has a Yankee Bazooka back (especially Swisher/Cano/Granderson) and is interested in this, please let me know.

Relics: 3

I guess we'll start from the worst to the best. Here's a jersey card of former Yankee prospect Austin Jackson. Jackson was supposed to be everything the Yankees were hoping for in a future center fielder, until they decided to ship him out to Detroit in the deal that landed Curtis Granderson. So far, he's shown a lot of promise, but he's becoming known as a bit of a strikeout machine. Then again, so is Granderson. But who would I rather have based off of this so far? Granderson. 

Next is a bat card of perhaps one of the hottest hitters in baseball, none other than Dan Uggla! I never had the idea, even through his terrible start to the season, that Uggla couldn't do it anymore. A lot of hitters this year, for some reason, can't even bat .200. I'm not quite sure what the reason was, but guys like Adam Dunn and Uggla, guys who were some of the better sluggers in the game, suddenly are averaging 2 hits per every 10 at bats! Anyways, lately Uggla has pushed the average up quite a bit, and still has quite a few home runs, with 30. 

Lastly, the biggest pull of the box was this Albert Pujols bat card! You can't hit much better than King Albert, as he's by far the best all around hitter in baseball. Even battling a lot of injuries this season, Pujols still leads the National League in home runs and is well on his way for another 35 home run season, and maybe 40 as well. I sure hope Pujols is doing what he's doing in a fair way, as it would really be a devastation to baseball if he was caught using performance enhancers. I doubt it, but hey, you never know.

Overall Thoughts: All in all, 2011 Allen & Ginter is pretty much the same as always, with a ridiculous amount of oddball cards mixed in along the way. I would say better things about the product had the inserts been a little less redundant and if they used some actual baseball creativity rather than some cemeteries and near extinct animals. Make a seperate set for that stuff if you really think its THAT necessary to include in your product line.  The design this year was great, the price is better than ever, the hits are decent enough, but there's just something missing from this product, or that it's just getting old fast. Overall Grade: B

Well, that'll just about do it for the entire Card Show report! I want to thank everyone as always for sticking through it and checking the blog out, I can't even tell you how much it means to me. And also I would like to thank my dad once again for all of the great things he's done and given to me over the past few years, and I know you'll probably read this sooner or later, so well, thanks Dad. You're the best! 

See Ya!

A Couple of 2011 Allen & Ginter Hits!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Continuing with the recent mail piling in, here are 2 relics I picked up on eBay the other day. Check them out:

Out of 2011 Allen & Ginter, the two relic cards I bought were of Nick Swisher, and Francisco Cervelli. I bought the lot mainly just for the Swisher, and the Cervelli just sort of came along. I don't necessarily know why Cervelli was even included in the set, especially when he's not even the starting catcher for the Yankees, and is just mediocre to be completely honest. I'm definitely a fan of his, and will root for him, but unless he makes some adjustments I can't see him with the Yankees for too much longer. A cool thing about this, is that it completes my trifecta for him at least.

As for Swisher, well, I have to say I thought he would do a little bit better this year than how he's faired so far. His average hovered close to .200 for the first 2 1/2 months of the season or so, and since he's definitely picked it up. But while he's picked it up for sure, his stat line, at .267 with 14 home runs and 63 RBI, is certainly not his usual. I still love the guy and think that he's a great role model and leader. He even released a CD recently for children, singing songs such as "Lean On Me"; "With a Little Help from My Friends"; "Jumpin Jack Flash"; and many others. All proceeds are going to his "Swishs's Wishes" Foundation, and I definitely wanna get in on it, just to benefit his foundation and show my true support for Swish in whatever direction he takes.

Well, the cards themselves look just like the typical Allen & Ginter, and while I could say they look boring, well, they're still nice as ever. I think Allen & Ginter needs to end on top, and with the series just continuing every year, its not going to stay on top for much longer. This doesn't mean I'm not gonna buy any of it, because I will, but I'm most likely not building the full set as I have done the past 2 years. Anyways, I really like these 2 cards and I'm glad to complete a trifecta for one, and add to a large collection for another!

Before I go to bed, I just wanted to point out the advertisement I made at the top of the sidebar, for my good friend Julian Diamond! He's heading into his junior year of high school and is a big photographer, and he's trying to start to get his name out there. I figured I would try to help him out, so if anyone is interested to see what kind of skill he has, go check out this link here on facebook! Thanks everyone as always!

See Ya!

Getting to Meet a Fellow Blogger and Great Friend!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Well, last night marked a first in my young life, and that is, meeting someone that I've been friends with ever since I was only 12 years old. This would be my great friend and our fellow blogger William, from the blog foul bunt! William recently took a trip all around the northeast, mostly in Pennsylvania and New York, to see the Pittsburgh Pirates play, as well as the Hall of Fame, and a few other minor league games along the way. He brought along his cousin Andreas from Germany with him on the trip, and since they were close to us for the most part, we decided to meet up for a minor league game and some dinner!

They came to our house late in the afternoon just to meet up, and I got to show them a bit of the highlights in my collection. While William's already seen most of them either over Skype or just on scans, I thought it was cool for them to get to hold some of my favorite cards in their hands. After that, we bought 5 tickets to go to the Batavia Muckdogs vs. Hudson Valley Renegades doubleheader that night. The game was originally scheduled to be one game, but the previous night's game was rained out so they put 2 games on the next day, causing a little bit of confusion. We went out to eat some New York style pizza, and then left for the game.

We arrived at the game just minutes before the first game ended, as was our goal for the most part. In minor league doubleheaders, they only play 7 innings a game, so by this time it was coming close to 7:00 by the end of Game 1. The Gades' took Game 1 by a score of 3-2, and following the game, William, being the prepared guy he is, gave us all a baseball to get signed, including my dad and sister as well! I ended up with about 11 signatures on my baseball, and while none of the players will probably ever make it big, you never know, and it was a lot of fun to graph with a fellow blogger!

Here's just a look of the baseball I got signed last night. While I don't know many of the players, they inscribed their numbers on each of them, so I was able to research and find most of them on the Renegades team website. Some of the names I've confirmed were: Charlie Cononie, Justin Woodall, Raymond Church, Kes Carter, Drew Leary, Andy Bass, and Leonardo Reginatto. I wasn't sure about the others. 

So, we watched up until the 6th inning, where the game was tied at 1-1. We didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to the game, but more just talked about baseball and other stuff. Since we both have had long weeks  this week, we left right after the 6th inning, and the Gades' went on to lose the game 2-1. 

I'll always remember last night for the great time that everybody had, and how cool it was to share with them the field that I've played and been to camp on, and have been to every since I was really little. William as expected turned out to be just as awesome as the guy I met over email and the blogs a couple years back, which was great. Sometimes the internet can really get you far in life, while other times, well, not so much. All I know now though is that William is a great friend and a great person, and I'm so happy I got an opportunity to get to meet him, as well as his very nice cousin Andreas. The game turned out to be "German Night" at Dutchess Stadium, which, even with the "German" (American) food, it might've made him feel closer to home. This will definitely be the first of many visits between us in the future, not so sure how soon, but I'm sure we will get to it eventually. 

While this would normally be about where I'd wrap up this post, I can't really wrap it up just yet! William found some stuff for me while he was in Cooperstown and gave them to me yesterday. Check some of this out:

First, he got me this golden baseball with gold stitches and seams, highlighting this year's Hall of Fame Induction ceremony! The baseball contains facsimile autographs from this years inductees: Pat Gillick, Roberto Alomar, and Bert Blyleven. It looks really cool in person, but the best part about it is something he didn't even realize when he bought it. The date on the ball is my birthday! A lot of times, the Hall of Fame induction turns out on my birthday, and it's cool that I have a ball with my birthday on it!

Next, he got me a postcard of one of our personal favorites, Bob Feller! Before Feller's passing last year, we both received several autographs of his and began to research him more and more. He is an American hero and legend, for not only fighting for us in World War II, but for being one of the greatest pitchers of all time. I really like the looks of these postcards, and I'd like to slowly add more of them to my collection. They definitely would look nice with an auto on them!

Also, when he visited Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, he picked up some of the dirt from the infield and gave it to me. I've always been sort of into stuff like this, as like a keepsake of places you've been to. I remember visiting Doubleday Field when I went to Cooperstown in Spring 2009, and it was a beautiful field. I definitely hope to visit Cooperstown again, as it is always worth the trip for a major baseball fan like me. 

Lastly, he brought up some Don Mattingly cards for me for my growing collection of his, that he found one day. It added a little over 30 cards to my collection, bringing me to 185 total so far. Some of these cards are definitely pretty neat, and I'm glad he could help me knock off some needed cards. 

The final thing he gave me, right on top of the stack, was a 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Curtis Granderson card. I really like this card, and it's my first sampling of Allen & Ginter so far this year. There's been a lot of mixed reviews for Allen & Ginter this year, which has kept me away from buying another box, but I'll hopefully soon be able to at least buy a few packs or a blaster to just try it out.

Anyways, thank you so much William for making the trip up to New York and for all the awesome things! You're the best man!

See Ya!