Hall of Fame Autograph Addition!

Hey guys, Drew back here! I've been on a crazy eBay binge lately, especially with all the money I received for my birthday, which was totally unexpected. I'm definitely going to White Plains in late August, so I have to save quite a bit of money for that, but I also had plenty of room to buy stuff before hand. Here is one of my first pickups with the birthday money!

Out of 2008 Donruss Threads, to go with my Don Mattingly autograph from the same subset, here is a Tony Gwynn auto relic, numbered 21/50! Granted, my Mattingly was just an auto, but was numbered to 25 I believe. However, this card is pretty sweet! I bought this card after my friend Mike was in Arizona at the All Star Fan Fest and wanted to get his autograph there, even though in the end he never got one. I've been hoping for a guest post from him so he can tell the story of his incredible day there, because he will make you guys super jealous, for sure.

While I never watched Gwynn play, as he was just a little before my time, his list of accolades and accomplishments is very impressive. Over 3,000 hits and a lifetime batting average of .338 alone is something that not many future Major Leaguers will be able to top. He never won a World Series, but his 15 All Star elections, 5 Gold Glove awards, and 7 Silver Slugger awards surely made up for it. He also led the National League in hitting 8 TIMES. As everyone expected, he was elected into Cooperstown in 2007, along with Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr, making for one heck of an induction class!

So for under $20 shipped, there was no doubt in my mind that this needed to be added to my collection!

See Ya!

Mmmmmmmm... A Breakfest Buffet!

Hey guys, Drew back here, with some more mail. Well, Tuesday night I wrote an essay, Wednesday I wrote the final copy of that essay, and tonight I wrote another essay. yay. At least the torture is over, oh wait, a few more projects for the weekend doesn't help. If I get time since I'm ahead after the record mail week, after this. I do have cards from Justin of Is This a Wasteland, but I'll get to those when I get the supposed second package from him to combine them. Today, hopefully the last mailday post for a few days, I know if you're not involved in these packages that you must be bored of my posts, but I like giving shoutouts to bloggers who try to help me out, and that's what I'm gonna keep doing. Anyway, Mike from BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet emailed me wondering if I wanted some set needs for an auto, and I said sure! I typically don't like trading hits for base but I do need those cards so I accepted it. Here are the cards, check them out:

16 Cards from 2010 Topps, and boy, I just joined the ranks of the people who thought that Berkman/Hampton card is kinda weird. They look a little too close. The Mags is pretty sharp and the Phillips seems to have a strange picture. It looks really dark wherever he is on that card, might be Wrigley Field but I don't know. The picture just kinda stands out.

When I opened my box of 2008 Donruss Threads at Christmas, I was upset that I got 98 of the 100 base cards, and I needed the last few, for a while, until now. Bob Feller and Lucas Duda. One guy I've heard of, one guy I've never heard. The Feller is tempting to send out TTM, but since I need it for the set I'll stick with my custom card.

Thanks so much for the help Mike, and everyone be sure to check out his blog! See Ya!

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball Box Break Review Part 2- The Grades

Hey guys, Drew back here, after a LONG day of 8 hours of community service. Boy am I tired! Anyway, I'm watching the Jets game now, hopefully they can win this one. Darrelle Revis just picked off a pass, so that's awesome. So, part 2 of the review is my grading on this box, and, these Threads boxes in general, to tell you if it is a good buy or not. Here goes:

Design: When this set originally came out in 2008, I wasn't a big fan of the design. Donruss could not do much else with the set after losing their license, and got sued for using MLB logos on some of the cards in the set. Everyone began to like the set though due to the great use of MLB legends and prospects. The base card design is decent, some of the cards are not great looking, but most are passable. The thing that makes this product's design special are the Diamond Kings inserts. They are amazing looking, with a Masterpieces canvas feel to them and great photos, Donruss can make a set out of these cards and I'd buy it. I miss Masterpieces! The rest of the inserts are decent, I like some of the Baseball Americana inserts but some people don't like seeing legends on cards as 60-70 year olds. The hits are pretty cool, but sticker autographs do affect the niceness of the set. My new Mattingly autograph is so nice but it is on a sticker so it isn't as awesome as it would be. Overall some of the cards are completely awesome looking but some are just ok. Design Grade: B

Price: When the set originally came out the price was a little high but it is very cheap and affordable now, you can find it on Blowout Cards for $49.95, a great deal for 4-5 hits and plenty of numbered inserts. You will get most or all of the base set, unfortunately I got 7 base doubles and still needed only 2 cards to finish the set. This is one of the better deals in the hobby right now though. Price Grade: A+

Hits: There are a lot of things to say about the hits. First off, if you despise sticker autos (ahem... Beardy) do not buy the product. But if you don't mind, buy it. You will most likely get maybe 3 or 4 autos and a game used, but every box is different. The game used I got of Dennis Eckersley is awesome looking and certainly is Hall of Fame PC for me. The Mattingly auto certainly helped things as I can see it selling for close to $100 although he's not a hall of famer. You can get game used or event used memorabilia from stars like Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Cal Ripken Jr, Marilyn Monroe, George Bush, and many more. There is a ton of potential in this set and you will be happy with at least one of your hits. Hits Grade: A-

Overall: This set has a great value to it, and certainly is perfect for someone interested in prospects or Hall of Famers, and even a mix of celebrities. The hits are nice, the design is fairly decent, and the price is outstanding. Although this was a Christmas gift, I certainly made the money back on this box, it was certainly one of my best. It was such a coincidence pulling a Mattingly auto right after deciding I was going to meet him right after. I still will, because I really want to meet him, and get another Yanks 8 x 10 picture autographed. Let me know if you are interested in anything, you can look at the break recap right under this post to check it out if you haven't already. Overall Grade: A

See Ya!

2008 Donruss Threads Baseball Box Break Review Part 1

Hey guys, part 1 of 3 boxes coming soon to drewscards! Christmas Magic!

PRODUCT CONTENT:
- 24 Packs Per Box
- 5 Cards Per Pack
- 120 Cards Per Box
- 4 Autograph or Memorabilia Cards Per Box (on average...)

The base set totals at 100 cards, and you should be able to complete the set with one box, but did I, you'll just have to keep reading...

The set is based on former greats of the game and many future greats in prospects, and the big names to look out for that make rare appearances in other sets are Pete Rose & Shoeless Joe Jackson. There are some sweet insert sets, and like Donruss will usually do, there are some numbered, and some not, which can get confusing. But still, they are sweet! Oh shut up Drew, just get to what you pulled right? I know you're all thinking that now, so I'll make you happy.

Box Break Results

Base Set: 98/100 (Really? More on this later)

Un-Numbered Inserts:
- College Greats Tom Seaver
- Diamond Kings Cal Ripken Jr.
- Century Stars Robin Yount
- Century Legends Stan Musial

Numbered Inserts:
- Hank Aaron Diamond Kings /250
- Fergie Jenkins Diamond Kings /100 (Brown Border)
- Mat Gamel Prospect Green Parallel /250
- Brandon Waring Prospect White Parallel /100
- Don Drysdale Baseball Americana /500
- Albert Brooks (Actor- "The Scout") /500

Hits:
- Wilson Ramos Prospect Auto (Twins) /999
- Jon Still Prospect Auto (Red Sox) /725
- Emilio Bonifacio Auto (Nationals) /1874
- Dennis Eckersley Century Collection Materials /100 Jersey Relic

And my biggest mojo hit of the holiday season....

- Don Mattingly Baseball Americana Autograph /25!!!!!!!

A sweet hit for me, especially going to meet him next Saturday! Although it's a sticker auto, I'm still really pleased with this card and the box in general! The second part of our review is coming soon. That is when I grade the box and just talk about it a bit. Stay tuned for that, but for now, check out the video slideshow below of the cards! See Ya!

Box break Coming Soon to drewscards!

Hey guys, Drew back here with an update. So, the 1st thing I want to say is that I noticed that someone unsubscribed to the blog! I'm pretty sure it was this guy yinchaun something something something, whatever the numbers were after the user name. I don't want to be all about subscribers but apparently I have 1 less reader. Has this ever happened to you?

Next I want to say that my friend Mike & I didn't give up for the 4th Quarter Spectacular! Even though school starts in a week, we are doing a football somewhat Opening Week Kickoff box break for you guys, and it is going to be one of these bad boys!

Yeppers, that is a box of 2009 Donruss Threads football! We studied up and passed on Panini Prestige and Panini Rookies & Stars or whatever for one of these. We are splitting the box, about $45 each, for 2 hits, some rookies and parallels. Another reason we chose this box was because it is ages 9 and up, so that fits our bill. So, Matt Stafford, give me luck! Mike is going to pick it up tomorrow at our local hobby shop, while I sit on my butt at home. I am also leaving to go up to Lake Minerva in the Adirondacks, a big family thing we do every year. I'm leaving Saturday, so we don't have too much time, maybe tomorrow we could break it, because he's going away Friday. If not, we'll have to wait a week or so. Thanks, and see ya later!