I just noticed this today

I have no idea how I missed this before, the guy is only one of my favorite players of all time...

2010 Obak Jim Bouton Autograph

Nice, eh? Now check this out:

1990 Pacific Legends Jim Bouton

Is this photo in the public domain or something? I've seen a lot of photos recycled on many different products, but I'm not sure if I've seen one in two completely different sets 20 years apart before. The background finagilization is kind of neat though. I'm not really complaining I guess, I just wish someone had the presence of mind to take more photographs of one of the greatest 20th century American writers of non-fiction. Besides, Obak did market their '10 product as using recycled materials...

Obak Minis - Hobby Hot box vs. Retail random packs

No real point to this exercise,  other than showing off that I've bought a crapload of Obak this year. I wiped out the box at the local Target and they put out another one. I haven't bought that one out... yet. Here's my 40 minis. Your mileage may vary.

Oh heck... now I feel compelled to buy a normal hobby box for comparison...

Obak Hobby Hot Box

Base
3 Starlin Castro
5 Desmond Jennings
15 Smead Jolley
16 Johnny Bench
18 Jason Heyward
23 Jefferson Burdick
25 Eddie Cicotte
28 Rube Foster
29 Bernice Gera
36 Tinker to Evers to Chance
38 Eddie Plank
39 Todd Mcfarlane

Variations
3 Starlin Castro (slogan)
18 Jason Heyward (photo)
37 Sherry Magee (Magie)

Numbered
1 Dustin Ackley /25
9 Roger Clemens /25
12 Cal Ripken Jr. /50
23 Jefferson Burdick /50
37 Sherry Magee (Magie var) /25

Obak Retail Twenty Random Packs

Base
3 Starlin Castro
6 Carlos Santana
13 Crash Davis
18 Jason Heyward
20 Jim Abbott
21 Moe Berg
22 Wally Pipp
23 Jefferson Burdick
29 Bernice Gera
30 Connie Mack
33 Jim Bouton & Robert C Nelson
37 Sherry Magee
43 Claude Berry
44 Buck Weaver
45 Hulk Hogan

Variations
9 Roger Clemens (slogan)
18 Jason Heyward (photo) (2)
18 Jason Heyward (slogan)
18 Jason Heyward (photo & slogan)

Totals out if the two boxes:

Base set: 26/45
Variation set: 6/10
Dupes: 8

Either Retail Obak is Loaded...

Or I'm the luckiest bastard on the planet.

I've bought 20 packs of retail Obak. From three different Targets. For some reason I appear to be the only person in Georgia who likes Obak so there's always a mostly full box awaiting me. In those 20 packs I have pulled this:

Yes, five Heywards. Including all four possible variations.

Like I said, either I'm lucky or they're loaded. Loaded with Heyward minis at least. I have yet to pull a short print, variation, parallel or autograph from a retail pack. Of course I DON'T FREAKING CARE I GOTS HEYWARDZ!!!1

Hot Box Hits - Part 2: Veteran Autos

This is what everyone wants to look at, so let's knock 'em out early. The box has 5 rookie autos and 5 veteran autos. I actually know who most of the vets are so let's do them first.

Jim Bouton

The author of my favorite baseball book ever. Jim is in this set as a co-creator of Big League Chew. Along with all his other persuits, Bouton was a pretty dang good pitcher for the Yankees before his arm gave out. He also finished off his career in 1978 pitching five games for the Atlanta Braves after being out of the bigs since 1970. I once whiffed on a chance to get a signed copy of the Ball Four edition with Jim in a Braves uniform on the cover and have regretted it ever since. Pulling this card helps ease the pain.

Denny McLain

The last 30-game winner in Major League baseball. Probably ever. Weirdly enough, Denny finished his career with the Braves as well. Unlike Jim, Denny got a card to commemorate the event (1973 Topps #630). The Braves traded Orlando Cepeda to Oakland for McLain. Orlando had one final good year left in him as a DH for Boston in 1973, but Denny was pretty much out of gas by the time he reached Atlanta. i'm not going to get into all his off field shenanigans, I'll just enjoy this auto of one of the more infamous MLB stars instead.

Ed Kurpiel

I had no clue who this guy was when I was opening the box. Turns out Ed once his a home run 738 feet in Reno when playing for the Modesto Reds in 1971. Ed was a first round pick of the Cardinals who never made the majors. Or did he? this article on Ed's blast states that he got a cup of coffee with the Cards in 1974 just in time to see Lou Brock break Maury Wills' steals record. This is a pretty unique autograph either way. Ed only had two cards released during his playing career, one in a 1976 Salt Lake minor league set, the other in a 1978 Tidewater set. If he has been picked in the past ten years he would have had dozens of different cards printed, with half of them being certified autos. My, how times have changed...

Jim Abbott

The Pete Gray of our generation, Jim pitched ten seasons in the majors despite being born without a right hand. Jim was a star at Michigan and a leader of the 1988 USA Olympic Baseball team before getting picked by the Angels in the first round of the '88 draft. Jim won 18 games in 1991 and threw a no-hitter in 1993. He also managed to get two hits as a pitcher for Milwaukee in his final season. Jim is now - what else? - a motivational speaker.

Ben Grieve

Ben Grieve's cards were hotter than Hades in 1998. Ben was pretty hot himself that year, as he won the AL Rookie of the Year award with the Oakland A's. Ben followed up that performance with a pair of 27 and 28 homer seasons with the A's before getting traded to the rays for 2001. Ben's production dropped like a rock with the Devil Rays, a victim of injuries and too high expectations. A couple of years with Milwaukee and Chicago and he was done. While his career doesn't seem to meet expectations, there is one thing he is very notable for doing. According to Jose Canseco, Grieve absolutely refused to use steroids. That brings him up a few notches in my estimation for sure.

Hot Box Hits: Part 1 - Boxtoppers

Time to show off the shinies from the Obak box. First up is the cabinet cards. These are supposed to be one per box, but I got two somehow. I'm not sure if I'm just exceedingly lucky of if that is a hallmark of a hot box.

These cards are based on the T4 Cabinet premiums from Obak. It took 50 coupons form Obak cigarettes to get one of these The original Obak T212s aren't all that common to begin with, so these are extremely scarce. The newfangled cabinets differ from the originals in that there was no logo or text on the fronts and the back was blank. These are some of the better looking retro style cards put out recently.

T4-28 Calvin Griffith - Minnesota

I'm assuming the kid on the card is Calvin Griffith, Owner of the Washington Senators when they moved to Minnesota to become the Twins. He was the nephew of long time player, owner and manager Clark Griffith, and Calvin did work as a bat boy for his uncle.

Even though the card is for the Minnesota Franchise, the back of the card shows the Senators' first park in Washington. I guess a picture of the old Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis did fit the theme of the set. The old timey pictures on these cabinets are fantastic.

T4-29 Charles Comiskey - Chicago

Good 'ol Chuck Comiskey, the real ringleader behind the Black Sox Scandal. Pay your players properly and they won't have to throw games to afford your laundry fees! A stadium is named after him and he's in the original Allen & Ginter N28 set so I'll give him a pass for now. I can't stay mad at a man with such a mighty fine hat, can I?

The two cabinets are a slightly different color on the front. I don't know if this is normal design of the set or if there is some sort of parallel going on. Neither are serial numbered or marked differently at all so I'll assume they are just part of the base set.

Man, check out the cigar ads on the wall at South Side park! I wonder if I got out a magnifying glass I could figure out who some of those players were.  I was originally thinking about flipping these cards for the Atlanta T4, but they look so damn good I might just try to chase the set.

Here's the checklist - these are one per box.

One nice thing about the checklist is that unlike some companies, TriStar actually notes which cards have variations. One star for a slogan variation on the back and two stars for an image variation. If I counted right, there are 13 slogan variations and 3 image variations. Here's the checklist of variations so you don't have to squint.

Slogan Variations:
4 Starlin Castro
6 Austin Jackson
17 Roger Clemens
19 Hank Greenberg
20 Dale Murphy
21 Cal Ripken Jr.
40 Johnny Bench
41 Jose Canseco
44 Jason Heyward
52 Jim Abbott
89 Luthor "Dummy" Taylor
108 Tinker to Evers To Chance
109 Sherry Magee

Image Variations:
19 Hank Greenberg
44 Jason Heyward
52 Jim Abbott

Minis have variations too, 8 slogan variations and 1 image variation.

Mini Slogan Variations:

3 Starlin Castro

4 Austin Jackson

9 Roger Clemens

10 Hank Greenberg

11 Dale Murphy

12 Cal Ripken Jr.

18 Jason Heyward

37 Sherry Magee

Mini Image Variation:

18 Jason Heyward

The T4 also has an image variation on the Washington cabinet.  If anyone is trying to build a master set including the variations, you'll be looking at 136 cards (27 short prints and variations) for the base set and 54 cards (9 variations) for the mini set. That's actually a very obtainable goal. If you want a complete master set with all the parallels, variations and autographs, well, that's insane. Someone will try it though.

Next up: Veteran autographs.

2010 TriStar Obak Box Rip Video

I'll let the video speak for itself...



Because it's a video... of me speaking... 'cause that's what videos are for...

They're Here - Contest results and 2nd chance contest

The package arrived, but nobody guessed correctly. There were a lot of guesses that were on the right track, but no one got it exactly right. I won't keep you in suspense anymore, here's the swag:

2010 Tristar Obak

Topps Heritage High Number Series Presented by Topps 2009 Baseball Updates & Highlights

Since no one guessed, I'll give you guys a second chance now that you know what you're dealing with. Answer the following questions. Whoever has the highest point total from answering correctly wins. Prize: A couple of relics and autos and a pile of cards from your favorite team or set. Your favorite set cannot be Ultimate or 1952 Topps or anything crazy. Got it? Good. Here's the questions.

Heritage Questions:

5 pts: Name one player on the Heritage three card strip box topper.

5 pts: Did I get a buyback card? Yes or no.
     If yes: guess the player for a bonus 50 pts, or the team for a bonus 10 pts.

5 pts: Is the hit a relic or autograph?


25 points: Name the player on the hit.

15 pts: Did I get the Tommy Hanson short print which was the whole reason I bought the box? Yes or no.
    
5 pts: Name the player on one Chrome card pulled.

5 pts: Name the player on one insert pulled.

10 pts: Total number of Braves pulled out of the box. This includes both cards with Braves logos and current Braves with other teams (including minor leaguers).

Obak Questions:

5 pts: Did I get a hot box?

25 pts: Name the team on the box topper.

10 pts each: Name 4 autographs in the box.
      100 bonus pts: choose a cut auto or a mini or one of the other case hits as one of the autos and choose the right player.

10 pts: Name a player on a mini card in the box.

5 pts: Name a player on a short print in the box.

5 pts: Name a player on a parallel in the box.

25 pts: Total number of Braves in the box.
       25 bonus points:  Total number of Heywards in the box.

Special Super Jeopardy question:  

Will I get a J-Hey autograph in the box?

If you answer YES:
If you are correct you get 50 points. Incorrect, you lose 25 points.

If you answer NO:
If you are correct you get 25 points. Incorrect, you lose 50 points.

If you don't answer at all, you're not much of a gambler, but a wise person.

If you need help, here's the checklists:

TriStar Obak

Heritage High



Some players get bonus points for their previous guesses. Here's the current standings:

Play at the Plate: First to guess Obak - 10 pts.
Don - First to guess Heritage High - 8 pts.
Hackenbush - For Obak shipping shenanigans - 6 pts.
Beardy - For being the first one to man up and gamble that there is a Heyward auto in my box. - 5 pts.
S - for picking Heritage High second - 4 pts.
BuckeyeState Cards - For picking Heritage third - 2 pts.

Good luck.... I am ripping the Heritage box tonight and will be videoing the Obak box this weekend. Deadline for entries is 10:00pm Eastern on Sunday night.