The Most Recent Package from William!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Yes, I'm still alive. Laziness is definitely the worst disease for a writer, especially a writer stuck in school all day. Yippee! Anyways, continuing on my attempt at catching up, here are some cards William recently sent me for my Yankees collection, to go along with 2 new ball cubes he sent me for some of my non protected autographed baseballs!

First were some base cards of some of the newer releases, in Chrome, Lineage, Pro Debut, and Update. Fortunately, he's kept me up to date this year, with a few Yankees cards thrown in here and there from most of Topps' releases. I haven't bought close to anything pack/box wise this year, so I really can't say much about Topps this year. I do like the feel of the 2011 Chrome product though, CC being the first one I've gotten from the set thus far.

Next were a few mixed Yankees, including 2 of the 2011 Topps 60 players, Mark Teixeira and Jorge Posada. The Mattingly and Jeter cards are part of the 60 Years of Topps set, and the Jeter is an original back. I could definitely use some of these cards to fill holes in my Yankees need lists!

He also had more inserts for me, including a gold parallel of the Curtis Granderson 2011 card! In fact, he has now sent me that card and Granderson's diamond parallel card, so he's certainly helping my little chase for Granderson cards! Who knows what his chances at MVP are, but he'll certainly finish in the top 5 in votes when its all said and done. Also, some of my favorite cards of the package were the three Kimball Champions minis of Gehrig, Berra, and Mattingly. I love the look of these cards, and if I was to be crazy enough to collect any of the insert sets from this year, that would be the one I'd do.

The final piece of the package was this sweet 2011 Topps Robinson Cano relic card, to join my growing personal collection of the reigning Home Run Derby Champion! Speaking of the derby, stay tuned really soon to see another recent pickup that has to do with Cano's big night! Anyways, this card really just looks great. I like how the jerseys are matching and the photo chosen is perfect for the card. It says he led the league in hits from 2005 to 2010 for a second baseman. Really? How much more do you need to narrow down stats just to see how they can fit Robby in the checklist! Go Topps!

So, thanks so much dude as always, you're the best! I'll have some stuff for you coming soon in a mailbox near you! (Hopefully it's your mailbox and not your neighbors) Anyways, See Ya!

Some Unexpected Amazing Pickups from Dad!

Hey guys, Drew back here! So, about last week, Dad found a few deals at an antique shop. He came home with 5 cards, and I'll let them do most of the talking, because well, they are some pretty darn good ones to have!

First was this 1988 Topps Willie Randolph autographed card! Of course, this is an IP autograph pickup, and I don't know how legitimate this one is, but it looks good and the autograph looks sweet on the card! I don't have too much of Randolph other than my signed baseball of his, so it's cool to add this one to the collection!

Second was this 2003 Topps "Blue Chips" Brandon Phillips rookie card autograph! Phillips was one of my most wanted autographs of MLB's current second basemen, only behind Rickie Weeks in terms of who I don't have yet. Phillips has definitely been one of the best second basemen in the league for a few years now, and last year he posted a .300 batting average with 18 home runs and 82 RBI. I would take that in a second baseman anyday, but fortunately enough my Yankees have even better with Robinson Cano!

Well, it started off good, which I means it could only go down! From 2007 Bowman Heritage, here's a Carl Crawford black parallel autograph numbered to only 52! Crawford sure did have a disappointing year in Boston, but boy was he good for my fantasy team two years ago when I went on to win the championship! I'll always have a bit of a soft spot for my 2010 2nd round fantasy pick, but I sure wish he never signed with Boston! Regardless of that this card is pretty sweet looking, and while I probably will end up hanging onto it, I'll certainly take offers for it in exchange for any Yankees autos you're willing to lose!

So now we're down to the final two. Let me tell you it sure was difficult to choose which one to write about first, but I guess I had to save the autograph I didn't have yet for last! Both cards book for close to $100 if not more, and are certainly huge additions to my overflowing population of cards in my basement! 

We start with the Ripken boys! Out of the 2005 Donruss Signature Series product, this dual autograph of Cal Ripken Jr. and Billy Ripken is a beautiful card, and it definitely made my day! Cal is one of my favorite players in the Hall of Fame, just because he's just so classy and memorable, and will always be perhaps the biggest class act to ever play the game. The fact that he stayed and signed an autograph for every fan after the Orioles' games was remarkable and unheard of in the sports world filled with money and greed. I do have Ripken's autograph in his children's book I picked up off of Barnes & Noble, but this one is just a really sweet card in general. I didn't have a Bill Ripken autograph, but I'll always know him for his awesome 1989 Fleer card, and not for his mediocre career as a player and analyst on MLB Network. 

The final card, is a very classy card as well, out of the 2006 Upper Deck Reflections product. It's a dual autograph of perhaps the best father-son combo in baseball history, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.! I have always wanted to pick up an autograph of Junior Griffey, as he's by far one of the greatest players of our generation. It was great getting to see him play, even though I wasn't really around much during the good times of his career. He retired with 630 home runs, all of which had not been surrounded by the questions of steroid use that majority of the players of his time used to get an edge. Sure, we may never know if or not Griffey did use the roids', but I highly doubt he did. Dad also recently got me an autograph of Griffey Sr. pictured in a Yankees uniform, so it's kind of cool to have one as a Red too. Upper Deck designed this card really well and it just is great looking in person, numbered only 26 of 99!

Thanks so much Dad, seriously I appreciate this so much. High school can really be a drag sometimes but its you and so many of my other great friends that know how to put a smile on my face!

See Ya!

Mail from Ryan!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Well, it's catch up time now for me here, as I certainly have my share of stuff to post for now. As a blogger, you need to enjoy these moments while they last, because it sure does suck when you can't think about what to write about! Today, I'm gonna share with you guys what my good friend Ryan sent me a few weeks ago. Ryan and I have been talking on and off for a little while now, and he's definitely an awesome guy. I feel bad because I haven't found the time to hit him back yet for this package but I most certainly will in the coming days! For now, here's a look at my end of the deal:

First off were some mixed Yankees cards Ryan generously threw in, my favorite of course being the 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle card. Not too bad for a toss in! Okay, it's just a Topps insert guys, you all know I'd be worshiping the ground Ryan walks over if he actually sent me a real 56' Mantle! However I did need the insert so it's all good. I have to say, that Phil Hughes Gypsy Queen "Future Stars" card looks pretty sweet too.

To be totally honest, I didn't and still have absolutely no idea what these cut outs are. On one side of each of the 3 cut outs, there's a Yankee player (Griffey Sr., Murcer, Mayberry), and on the opposite side there are photos of Dave Kingman, Willie Wilson, and Mike Schmidt. They look cool with the facsimile autographs for sure, and the photographs used are pretty nice! If anyone could identify what these are I'd greatly appreciate it.

Well... I like the design at least! Kidding aside, here's a 2000 Pacific Prism AJ Burnett rookie card! AJ hasn't fared all that well in New York, and yes I do admit to be part of the growing clan that wants him out of the Bronx, but throughout his career he has had some of the best stuff in the game, although he's had some difficulty finding out how to use it. Hopefully next season he will!

Finally, the only part of the trade I knew I was getting all along were these 2 cards for my 1961 Topps set of Ray Semproch and Chet Nichols! With these 2 cards, I am now officially 400 cards away from completing the set! Oh joy! Both cards, particularly the Semproch, have some damage but I really don't care right now because they fill a spot in the set that can be improved on at any time in the future!

Well thank you Ryan for the set help and other goodies! I promise to have your stuff out very soon!

See Ya!

TTM #78- Yankee Legend!

Hey guys, Drew back here! So, this is a very delayed post, but the day after we got back from the show, well, I got a pretty nice through the mail success, the first one in a long time!

My jaw dropped when I opened the SASE on the kitchen table containing the autograph of one of my personal favorite Yankees players of all time, Don Mattingly! Don appeared to have caught up on his Spring Training letter stash following the season, as I've seen many collectors end up with an autograph from "The Hitman" lately. Who knows if the autographs are actually his or not, but while they do have slight differences from his certified autographs, maybe he changed it up a little bit?

All in all I have to say the custom looks great, and I'm so glad I took a shot in the dark with one of my Spring Training attempts! I haven't sent any TTM's since June but I certainly plan on doing some new requests in the near future!

So Thanks Mr. Mattingly for adding a new autograph to my personal collection of yours!

See Ya!

2011 TriStar OBAK Football Box Break! Future Contest Coming Soon?

Hey guys, Drew back here! So, just recently I got an email from my good old friends at TriStar asking if I was interested in reviewing their newest football product, Obak! I gladly accepted the offer and Dad and I broke open a fresh box of the product two weeks ago or so. As promised, here is my review:

Base Cards: 103 (7 Doubles)

Well, in case any of you didn't realize, this Obak product offers a ton of variety. You can find cards of people involved in any way with football. First off are the players. Going back as far as Sammy Baugh and going as modern as the all time NFL points leader Morten Anderson, it offers a vast timeline of football history. But not only that, but the set also features a card of Vince Lombardi in his playing days, and even cards of the people who invented certain plays and equipment, as well as famous team owners and Hall of Famers. One thing I also love about the set is the inclusion of former US Presidents, majority of them even in their football uniforms back before their presidencies. Pretty cool!

The design is simple, but I like how the photo is cut out and put on a random design in the background. It offers a neat look back at some of footballs greatest memories. By the way, I also pulled 3 cards with a gray back variation: Jack Chevigny, Johnny Poe, and Eddie Lebaron. I'm not sure what the distinction of those are, but I guess they're kind of cool. 

Box Topper: Emlen Tunnell/Charles Follis /25

The connection between these 2 players is that Tunnell was the 1st African American inducted into Canton, while Follis was the 1st African American to ever play football. I'm not sure how much of a fan I am of this design, as it is kind of boring to be honest, but it still serves as a cool part of the set. Plus, it's very limited, numbered only out of 25!

 
Minis: 23

I feel like minis have came a long way the past years. They started off as a cool concept, and at this point they serve as a "ughhhh another pointless parallel". Some people love them. I don't love them but I don't hate them either. I really think it would be cool if they did an Obak set in just mini form, like the original Obak cards. I feel like a product should be either all standard sized or all mini sized, because it just adds a lot to chase after. 

One thing I do like about the minis here is that the mini set is much smaller than the base set. At only 25 cards, I'm only 2 cards away from the entire set already! When you buy multiple boxes, it gives you plenty of duplicates, but if you're doing a one box break it's nice to knock off a lot of the cards without having to chase them around.

Green Base Parallel: 2 (Tunnell/Anderson)

TriStar did a much better job with the overwhelming amounts of parallels in this product. Last time I reviewed a box for them, it was a box of Obak baseball, there are an extreme amount of parallels in the box. This time around, I pulled about 6 in total, 2 being these green cards numbered out of 25 each! Not too bad at all. 

The last parallel was again a green parallel, this being a mini numbered to 25 of Earl Campbell! Not bad to have a card of one of the top running backs of all time with a low serial number and a nice design. 

On to the autographs! The first of the four promised autos was one of Charlie Ward, numbered 22 out of 50. Ward was a very skilled athlete, and was drafted by the Brewers in the 1993 MLB draft, followed by the Yankees in 1994. Also, he was a great tennis player, having played in the Arthur Ashe Amateur Tournament in 1994. But, his two sports he'll be remembered for most were basketball and football. While he went on to have a decent NBA career with the Knicks, Spurs, and Rockets, he shined in college football, winning the 1993 Heisman trophy. Definitely a neat autograph to own of a very good athlete!

Autographer number 2 was of another former Heisman Trophy winner, Andre Ware. Ware, along with Ward, is in the College Football Hall of Fame after his successful college career with Houston. He had a very rough NFL career, but will be widely remembered for his successful college career. He currently works for the Houston Texans radio broadcast team. 

The third ottograph just happened to be of the legendary number "00", Hall of Famer Jim Otto! Otto was one of the best centers of all time, making 9 AFL All Star selections and 3 Pro Bowls! He played his entire career with Oakland, and he was one of only 20 players to play every season the AFL league existed. The Sporting News ranked him as the 78th greatest football player of all time! 

And well, the last autograph was a bit of a surprise!

It was a 1/1 cut autograph of former Chiefs head coach and Hall of Famer Hank Stram! Stram led Kansas City (which was also the Dallas Texans at one point during the period) to 3 AFL Championship wins, as well as a Super Bowl victory in Super Bowl IV! His career coaching record put him at a 57.5% percentage, and he is considered one of the best coaches in football history!

This is my 1st cut autograph in my collection, and while I know I'm going to give away a majority of the content from the box in a contest coming very soon, this one very well may stay here with me. All in all, I'm a big fan of this product! I think it has a very neat checklist and perception, and for that I give TriStar a strong A on this product!

Thank you so much to my good friends that work with TriStar and allowed me this opportunity! Stay tuned for a chance to win many of the cards from this box!

See Ya!