Trip to the Card Shop

Hey guys, Drew back here. About a week ago, I took a journey with my dad over to the card shop in need of 2011 Topps. Unfortunately, the snow delayed the delivery of their boxes, but since we don't go there often, we still decided to pick up some packs. Did we hit big? Take a look:

We picked up 2 packs of 2010 Bowman Platinum baseball, 2 packs of 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces baseball, 2 packs of Panini Epix Football, and 1 2010 Bowman Sterling Dual Relic Box Topper pack. While we thought the relic pack was baseball, it was actually football, which was a little disappointed considering I wanted a baseball one.

2010 Bowman Platinum Baseball: (combined)

- Ryan Kalish RC
- Josh Bell RC
- Chris Coghlan (not pictured)
- Torii Hunter
- Matt Holliday
- Wade Davis RC
- Jerry Sands Prospects
- Jackie Bradley Jr. USA
- Nolan Fontana USA (not pictured)
- Ryan Wright USA (not pictured)
- Checklist

The most exciting part of those 2 packs was finishing them and moving on. Please remind me not to buy packs of that junk anymore. But before I diss it any further, I do like the design, which is mostly foil, but was done pretty well by Bowman. All are for trade.

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Baseball: (combined)

- Grady Sizemore
- Nolan Ryan SP (need for set)
- Robin Yount
- Justin Verlander
- Dave Winfield SP (need for set)
- Jason Varitek
- Jimmy Rollins
- Max Scherzer RC
- Alfonso Soriano (not pictured)
- Andruw Jones (not pictured)
- Jonathan Papelbon (not pictured)

- Babe Ruth Yankee Stadium Legacy (keeper)
- Nolan Ryan SP Framed Brown Border 13/100 (keeper)

Wow, possibly the best hitter and best pitcher of all time together in one picture. These 2 cards made the Masterpieces packs a success, as well as 2 needed SP's of Winfield and Ryan. I'm probably going to hang on to the Ryan for a little while but it can be traded.

2010 Panini Epix Football: (seperate)

Pack One

- Brandon Jacobs
- Chad Ochocinco
- Rashard Mendenhall
- Aaron Rodgers
- Myron Rolle RC
- DeAngelo Williams
- Darren McFadden
- Miles Austin

Pack Two

- Tom Brady
- Devin Hester
- DeSean Jackson
- Sergio Kindle RC
- Knowshon Moreno

- Shonn Greene (keeper)
- Cadillac Williams
- Matt Cassel

That was so pathetic that it was nearly depressing! Just another boring "X" design with boring pictures and nothing exciting whatsoever.

2010 Bowman Sterling Football Dual Relic:

- Demaryius Thomas/Eric Decker Dual Jersey /69

Not too bad for football, Thomas is a great young receiver, and it's numbered very low. I like the relic on the Decker one, and the card is nice because it provides colorful relics rather than the typical plain white or gray. I wish the other Broncos star rookie was on this but I'm sort of please with this. It is for trade if anyone wants it, send me an email.

Well that was de-motivating. Tip to all of you that have money: buy boxes, not packs. When you spend around $50 on packs and come up this dry, maybe about $15-20 of overall value, it doesn't typically make you feel good. Anyways, let me know if you're interested in anything marked for trade, and See Ya!

Trip to the Card Shop- Nice Vintage Pickups!

Hey guys, Drew back here. A week or so ago, my dad and I went out to a card shop that we normally don't go to, because its often very unorganized and takes forever for them to find prices, etc. I've pulled that Dexter McCluster letterman auto from a month or 2 ago, as well as that Chipper Jones Baseball Heroes patch autograph numbered to only 15! So, we had a lot of time on our hands, so we decided to get a few packs and also check out the little boxes of mixed cards. First, I'll start with the packs. Dad bought a jumbo pack of 2010 Topps Update, and a pack of 2010 Panini Threads Football. Here are the results:

2010 Panini Threads Football:

- Kellen Winslow Jr.
- Felix Jones
- Rashard Mendenhall
- Adrian Peterson
- Steve Breaston
- Peyton Manning
- Devin Hester
- Thaddeus Gibson RC

2010 Topps Update Jumbo:

- A Bunch of Base

- Jeff Suppan Gold /2010
- Ryan Doumit Turkey Red
- Johnny Mize Vintage Legends
- Joe Mauer Topps Attax
- Dale Murphy Cards Your Mom Threw Out
- Carlos Pena Peak Performance
- The Truman Show Tales of the Game
- Barry Larkin Cards Your Mom Threw Out Original Back
- Million Card Giveaway

Not very impressive in my opinion, let me know if you're interested in any of these outside of some of the 2010 Topps inserts (ie: Turkey Red, Vintage Legends, CYMTO, Tales of the Game, Peak Performance). Which leaves the Larkin, Mauer, and Suppan inserts for trade and most of the base.

However, we weren't done. I bought 4 singles that added up to around $20.

First, a 1991 Upper Deck Heroes Baseball Hank Aaron hologram card! I don't have a whole lot of Hank Aaron cards and it was only a dollar and it looked really cool, so, I got it.

A 1957 Topps Hank Bauer! This card isn't in great condition by any means, but it's nice enough for me. Bauer was one of many parts that led to the Yankees World Series run in the late 40's and early 50's, and for only a few bucks, I couldn't turn it down. I'm not a huge fan of the 1957 design, I think it's kinda boring, but it's not a bad card by any means.

Next is a 1964 Topps Elston Howard! Elston was no Yogi Berra, but he could catch really well, and his number was retired by the Yankees in 1984, 4 years after his death. Elston made 12 All Star teams, won 6 World Series, and was the 1963 AL MVP. This card is really sweet looking, and it's in excellent condition! For only a few bucks, no doubt this was a great deal.

And finally, a 1961 Topps Duke Snider! Duke is becoming a player that I wouldn't mind collecting more of, especially after I got him through the mail and got that autographed card from dad. I saw this in the bin, and it looked really nice even the borders were damaged. So, for about $5, I got it!

Also in the bin, we saw a few 48 Bowmans, which certainly did not belong in there, so we put them in the pile, but dumbo at the card section decided why not check book value before I buy them. A half hour later, and they were re-priced to $30 a piece. I was also looking at a $5 Keith Hernandez auto, but that was repriced to $15, and I wasn't paying that for a Met.

Whatever, I think I did well, what do you think? See Ya!

Card Shop Pack Breaks!

Hey guys, Drew back here. On Friday night my dad had to go get some hunting supplies at the mall so on the way back we made a quick trip to the shop. I bought some toploaders and magnetics, because it seems like I always run out of them so fast! Also got 3 packs, 1 2009 UD Draft football, 1 2010 Topps football, and 1 2010 Topps Update Jumbo Baseball pack! Here are the results:

2009 UD Draft Football:

- Fenuki Tupou RC
- Knowshon Moreno RC
- Jonathan Luigs RC
- Alex Mack RC
- Jared Cook RC
- Ian Campbell RC
- Jairus Byrd RC

- Peyton Manning All Americans Insert
- Peyton Manning Draft History
- Eli Manning Draft History
- Troy Polamalu Draft History

Interesting product, never opened any of it before. The cards look great for TTM'ing, and they have a nice glossy cover. The only notable rookie in the pack was Moreno, and getting 2 Peyton inserts is ridiculous but he's a good player to get multiple inserts of. All of these are for trade.

2010 Topps Football:

- David Garrard
- Tony Romo
- Robert Meachem
- Kyle Wilson Gold Parallel /2010
- DeAngelo Williams Draft Anniversary Insert
- Adrian Peterson Topps Attax
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Houston Texans
- Brandon LaFell RC
- Patrick Robinson RC

Not a really exciting pack unless your a Jets fan! And guess what, I'm a Jets fan! Yay! As you saw yesterday, I got Kyle Wilson back TTM a few days ago, and now I pull his numbered Topps rookie! Sweet!

2010 Topps Update Jumbo Baseball:
- A Bunch of Base, Ivan Rodriguez and Jose Bautista were highlights
- All Star cards of Heath Bell, Jose Valverde, Jon Lester, Matt Holliday, Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre, Vladimir Guerrero, Justin Verlander, Torii Hunter, Jose Bautista, Alex Rodriguez, Brian McCann, Jason Heyward, Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Johnson, Phil Hughes/David Price, Vladimir Guerrero/Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols/Ryan Braun
- Home Run Derby cards of Matt Holliday, Chris Young, and Nick Swisher

- Bengie Molina Gold /2010
- Steve Carlton/Jon Lester Legendary Lineage
- Roy Campanella Million Card Giveaway (Redeemed: 2002 Eddie Taubensee)
- Colby Rasmus Peak Performance
- Ian Stewart Turkey Red
- Theres No Tying in Baseball Tales of the Game
- Don Mattingly Cards Your Mom Threw Out
- Adam Wainwright Topps Attax

- Colby Rasmus Peak Performance Autograph!

The autograph was certainly surprised and I'm happy I landed it! If I didn't, that would have definitely been a waste of 10 bucks. Rasmus is a solid player, not sure if he'll amount to a whole lot but he hit over 20 home runs this year so you can certainly do worse! Also got a Swisher, which doesn't do much considering its for the set and not my PC. It's a great looking card of Swish though!

It was a good little trip to the shop for sure! If anybody is curious in trading for any of these cards, please let me know. Most of the Topps Update base and inserts will not be for trade, but the football stuff is and the Rasmus Auto.

See Ya!

2010 Topps 206 Box Break- HUGE PULL!

Hey guys, Drew back here. I know, I know. Back on August 31st, I threw up a rant post on this set, because I didn't like the looks of it. The creepy mug shots scared me and the back variations were dumb. But, yesterday, my grandma took me to the card shop just for the heck of it, and she bought me a box. I got to pick what I wanted as long as it was relatively cheap, and I saw this, and decided on it over the new Topps Chrome. I had a great experience with the first 2 packs, the first card being a Strasburg and a cycle mini was found too. I kinda just got it just because I need to get back in the hobby, and maybe this could do it. Let's see how this box went...

PRODUCT CONTENT
20 Packs Per Box
9 Cards Per Pack
180 Cards Per Box
1 Mini and 1 Bronze Parallel Card Per Pack!
1 Autograph Per Box
1 Relic Per Box
Look for Printing Plates, Mini Booklets, Silk Cards, and original buybacks!

Base Set: 156/300 (52%)

Stars


Yankees


Rookies (Heyward!)


Legends

I am starting to really like some of these. There are many boring cards in the set, but the Yankees cards look good, and the legends/star players are awesome looking too. I love the Yogi Berra, Lou Gehrig, and Reggie Jackson cards! Also pulled a Heyward rookie, which was cool too!

Base SP's: 3/50 (6%)

These are the hat variations, pretty lame idea, but it is helpful to recognize it easier. The Musial is beautiful while I could care less about the Braun and Bays, kinda boring looking.

Bronze Variations: 20/300 (6%)

These look better this year, but again, they are so pointless! The Burnett is going to the Yankees collection (..unfortunately), and I'm keeping the Longoria too because it's just a really nice card. The other bronzes were: Jake Peavy, Aaron Hill, Chris Iannetta, Denard Span, Aramis Ramirez, Allen Craig (RC), Raul Ibanez, Marco Scutaro, Scott Rolen, and Jason Bartlett, which are all for trade.

Historical Events Minis: 5/20 (25%)

These are so boring, and I absolutely can't stand why Topps has to use dumb gimmicks for EVERY set! Tribute, Ginter, 206, what else? Really? I did kinda get a kick out of the guy jumping out of the burning balloon into the Hudson River, since the river is close to me. I might keep that but the rest are certainly for trade or headin to the campfire.

Minis:
Piedmont- 5 (Howie Kendrick, Barry Zito, Josh Hamilton, Clayton Kershaw, James Shields)
Caramels- 5 (Ryan Doumit, Roy Oswalt, Lou Gehrig, Akinori Iwamura, John Maine)
Polar Bear- 2 (Manny Ramirez, Michael Bourn)
Old Mill- 1 (Joba Chamberlain)

Fronts


Backs

I really like the look of the minis, when they aren't offcenter/miscut. Many of these have at least a little of that. Some of my favorites are of course the Gehrig, which is absolutely gorgeous, the Joba Chamberlain, and the Josh Hamilton. The rest are for trade!

Topps Personalities Minis: 1 (Chris Holmes- Topps Brand Manager) /206
Gold Chrome Mini /50: 1 (Wee Willie Keeler)

One is these is completely awesome, and the other is a complete waste of time. Great guess! Yeah, I love that gold chrome mini, and the other one, well, it has a picture of A-Rod on it at least. For now unless you have a Yankee, the Keeler is not for trade, but the other one again most certainly is.

Jersey: 1 (Kevin Slowey)

Ehhhhh, I honestly don't think he should have a relic card in this set, as he is just a decent pitcher, but hey, whatever, it's got a nice design and the pinstripe is always nice. If anyone wants it and has a Yankee relic for trade, I'll certainly take you up on it (no Nick Johnson, Javier Vazquez, Carl Pavano PLEASE??)

and our autograph............................................................

OMG!!!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I PULLED THIS THING! That was certainly only a small portion of my reaction when my dad pulled this thing out of the pack. We always record on video for the heck of it, so when we saw a redemption in the pack, I immediately thought Strasburg. I was right! My reaction would've been crazier if it wasn't a redemption and I actually held it in hand, but still, unreal!

In terms of selling/trading, I won't sell for sure. I feel like it wouldn't be right to sell a card for $200-300 dollars when I got the box for free. If I sold it, most likely I would've blown the $ on something not as good. Trading wise, 99.9% chance you won't get this card in the mail from me anytime soon. Unless you offer me a Pujols and A-Rod auto or something crazy like that, I will pretty much say no. I really hope this kid pans out, because it would be a great thing for this hobby, and if he didn't pan out, it would be a tragedy for all the people who paid a lot of money for his cards.

A few things I want to mention before I give my final grade, first, I gave a set I didn't like at all a chance and cashed in for sure. So, you never know what you're gonna get out of something you may not even like. And also, I want you guys to think of me as a true collector, and I hope you realized that as I blabbed on about how amazing it was to pull a Strasburg auto redemption. I don't like selling, as a kid, I love making money, but I know that if I sell stuff I even kind of want, I still end up getting stuff I don't want as much in the long run.

So, I'll give Topps 206 a strong B+. Again this is not based on MY box, because people have gotten junk in their boxes too. I got VERY lucky in this box, so please, do not think that you can go buy a pack of this stuff and get what I got. It's possible, but not very. I see a lot of flaws in this product, aka, miscut minis, dumb hat variations, historical junk, and some bad relic inclusions. The cards are nice, and you always have a good time opening something like this.

Here's proof that it's mine in case you couldn't believe it too.

What do you think of my pull? See Ya!

Trip to the Card Shop - Strasburg!

Hey guys, Drew back here, and yes, I'm desperate enough to put Stephen Strasburg's name in the title just to get more views. Ok, don't click out of my blog just yet, there is Strasburg in this post. So crazy Strasburg collectors, please read on. ANYWAY, I went to the card shop over the weekend to blow $40, because I wanted to and I can for some reason. I actually had a $40 gift certificate to the shop so I just goofed off and wasted some cash, like most collectors do at the shop. Got some supplies, the new Beckett with Jeter on the cover (yes, Halladay is on the flip side of the cover but in New York they do show Jeter off), and then some packs and 1 relic. Yeah, kinda pathetic for $40. But whatever, this is what I got:

First off was two packs of 2010 Topps football. This was my first experience with it, and I must say it was pretty nice. In the first pack I pulled 2 Jets, the 2 I would take over anybody right now, Mark Sanchez, and my very first card of future Pro Bowl fullback John "The Terminator" Conner! I had no clue he was even in the set, you should've seen my face when I pulled that bad boy. Then my cool inserts were the Moss/Dez Bryant Gridiron Lineage, and a original back Cards Your Mom Threw Out of Joe Montana. Awesome.

The second pack didn't yield much of anything, just a Demaryius Thomas RC and a Favre "Classic Matchups" card. The design looks better on football than baseball in my opinion. The lone "good" insert (notice how Attax doesn't count) is an AP Draft Anniversary card. Very nice insert I must say.

Then I got 2 packs of 2010 Topps 206. Yeah. I did. Me of all people, tried some of this garbage. But now, I kind of like it a little. Me you ask? Yes. I kinda enjoyed it. Even with some creepy mugs of people with odd hairstyles. I like the Prince Fielder bronze, that's pretty awesome, and I pulled a Cano! Can't go wrong with Robby Cano "Don't Ya Know!", especially for my Cano collection. Also got a Will Venable "Polar Bear Back" (what the heck kind of name is that anyway, authentic or not?) and a Matt Kemp SP.

Pack 2 was schweeet! Haha. Are we missing two cards after all that junk? Yeah, we are.

Not anymore!!! Here are your left is a cycle back mini of Angels pitcher Jered Weaver numbered to 99, and to your right is the infamous RC of STEPHEN STRASBURG (see, told ya that name would come up again)! Wow, I'm so keeping that thing! The Weaver is for trade though. It's such a nice card, I'm even thinking of getting some of his Bowman rookies just for cheap investments, because as you know Tommy John Surgery does not equal the end of a career. He'll only be 23 right? That's plenty of time to win 300 games!

And the final card, is of a Hall of Famer, numbered to 99, my 8th card from the 100 card set so far, Ferguson Jenkins baby blue jersey! Pretty nice, and for a good price at that!

I didn't spend anything, but it always seems that I feel like I got ripped off, even with a Strasburg, which seems impossible. Well, nonetheless, got some nice cards, and a Beckett to read, so I guess I'll be back tomorrow with more! See Ya!

Trip to the Card Shop

Hey everyone, Drew back here. Last week I stopped at my card store to pick up some supplies, which is by now the simplest excuse for wasting money at your store! So, I got a binder, some toploaders, penny sleeves, and 1 pack of 2010 Bowman, 2 packs of 2010 National Chicle, and 1 jumbo pack of Topps Series 2 2010. I also bought one card, which you see at the bottom of the post. In my packs... this is what I got...

2010 Bowman
- Ubaldo Jimenez
- Ian Kinsler
- Miguel Tejada
- Grady Sizemore 1993 Bowman
- Ryan Howard/Domonic Brown Bowman Expectations
- Yen-Wen Kuo Chrome
- C.J. Retherford Chrome
- Daniel Nava Prospect
- Gustavo Nunez Prospect
- Max Scherzer Gold

2010 National Chicle (2 Packs Combined)
- Brandon Inge
- Jonathan Sanchez
- Tobi Stoner RC
- Chris Carpenter
- Nate McLouth
- Mark Buehrle
- Zach Greinke
- Pee Wee Reese
- Stan Musial
- Alex Rios
- Mel Ott (non short print version)
- Ryne Sandberg
- Carlton Fisk
- Tim Wakefield
- Mariano Rivera National Chicle Back (PC)
- Yadier Molina Bazooka Back

2010 Topps Series 2 Jumbo
- Ton of Base

- Chris Johnson RC Gold /2010
- Justin Verlander Topps Attax (have the code if you want)
- Jason Varitek World Series History (mini throw up)
- Frank Robinson/Ryan Braun Legendary Lineage
- Cal Ripken Card Yo Mama Threw Out
- Ubaldo Jimenez 2020 Topps
- Lou Gehrig Turkey Red (PC)
- Curtis Granderson Peak Performance (PC)
- Lou Gehrig Vintage Legends (PC)
- Gary Carter Million Card Giveaway Redemption

So, overall, not too bad, but not great. The Bowman was pretty brutal, the Chicle was decent because of the Rivera National Chicle back (which are pointless oh by the way), and the Topps was pretty good. The Pujols was thrown in for free by the dude working at the shop, and it's for trade if anyone wants it. Anyone can use the Verlander code, and the gold is also for trade. Topps should seriously consider getting rid of the printed serial numbers, it's really cheap and stupid looking. Lastly, I like Topps 2020, except the Ubaldo has some seriously bad damage on it!

The Million Card Giveaway code unlocked this:

I'll take it! And I bought this at the store:

I could've met Orlando Cepeda if I wanted to back in August for $30, but I didn't really know him, and I still kind of don't. I like 2008 Legendary Cuts, and this is numbered out of 75. I also really like old school relics as do many other people, and here is a good example!

See Ya!