April 6th isn't that far away...
Congratulations to the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Just wait 'till next year!
April 6th isn't that far away...
Congratulations to the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Does anyone want a '80-'81 Topps mini card?
If you do, follow these instructions:1) go to my profile and get my e-mail address.
2) send me an e-mail with the subject I WANT A MINI stating which card(s) you want.
3) be one of the first 11 people to do so.
4) await further instructions from the '80-'81 Rip Master.
Depending on how many people want one (if any) I may have to do a contest to decide who gets Larry.
Here's the list to choose from:
31 Larry Bird rebounding leaders - Celtics
39 Cedric Maxwell - Celtics
43 Reggie Theus assist leaders - Bulls
78 John Roche - Nuggets
86 Phil Hubbard - Pistons
98 Sonny Parker - Warriors
146 Junior Bridgeman - Bucks
195 Tom Owens scoring leaders - Blazers
198 Ron Brewer - Blazers
230 John Johnson - Sonics
252 John Williamson - Bullets
UPDATE: Only four have been claimed so far, there's still 7 left for enterprising mini card lovers.
I Love Lamp
Vintage Card Travesty - Basketball Edition
The Celtics, Bulls and Lakers all won last night, but tonight is the real start of the NBA season as far as I'm concerned. Hawks at Magic on SportsSouth! I'll be glued to the screen, at least until the World Series does/doesn't resume. I wanted to commemorate the new NBA season with some vintage basketball cards and boy, did I find some. I want to warn the more sensitive members of the audience, what you're about to see is not pretty... View at your own risk!
True connoisseurs of vintage basketball cards just recoiled in horror as if they just witnessed the scene of a massacre. Casual card fans are thinking that these things look familiar, but I just can't place them. The other 99.9999999% of humanity has no clue what the heck that big mess is. Those are 1980-81 Topps Basketball cards. They normally look like this:
However, it is possible for an enterprising (and very bored) 14 year old to take them apart at the perforations and create mini basketball cards. What? Someone tore up a complete set of these cards? That set is worth hundreds of dollars! The Bird/Magic rookie card is insanely expensive by itself! Who would do such a thing?? Yeah, well, um... that was me. Lemme explain.
Back when I was a kid I used to get most of my cards from Atlanta Sports Cards in the Green's Corners shopping center. I was a very frugal young lad and I'd always try to get the most cards for my money. That usually meant picking up bricks of cards from the 60's and 70's and scrounging the bargain bins. Sometimes though I'd get a cheap box on sale. One cheap box they had was a vendor's box of '80-'81 Topps Basketball. 500 cards for 7 bucks. That's a lot of cards! Back in the mid '80s though, no one cared a lick about basketball cards. Amazing really, since the '80s were arguably the golden age of NBA basketball, but in 1986 or so when I bought this box no one cared about basketball cards at all. And these cards were widely considered to be the ugliest damn things this side of 1990 Topps and that wouldn't even exist for another four years. So my young cheap self picked up some crap that no one else wanted and had a good ol' time with his big pile of cards.
Now, the thing with this set is that the 264 mini cards are distributed among the tri-cards in a complete set of 88 cards. There was actually a second possible set as Topps slightly altered the mini card order for the second set. So all in all, there are 176 different cards in the '80-'81 Topps Basketball set. Now remember, a vendor's box has 500 cards. What I'm saying is, I had a CRAPLOAD of doubles.
Now follow my logic here. I'm 14. I have a big ol' pile of basketball cards that, at the time, were essentially worthless. These cards have perforations on them just begging to be torn. I already have at least two complete sets. I was well versed in tearing mini cards out of Dover reprint books already. Boy, was that fun to do! Plus, the card shop still had a few more vendor's boxes of this stuff for cheap so I could get another one anytime if I decided I just had to have a third set of this junk. The big basketball card renaissance caused by the landmark '86-'87 Fleer set wouldn't even happen for a few years. Seriously, what the heck would you do?*
So, that big mess o' cards up there is actually a complete set of ripped mini cards. 1-264. I didn't just take a complete set and rip it as I have 11 mini doubles left over. I remember being meticulous enough to try very hard only to rip cards I had 4 or more of, but not quite focused enough to just complete a set of 88 panels and rip that. Don't worry, I never ripped a Bird/Dr. J/Magic card. Even back when the cards were junk, I recognized that THAT card was pure gold. I got three of them out of the box, One was lost when my laptop bag was stolen in the late '90s (with the laptop itself sitting on a desk right next to the bag, oddly enough) One is safely in a toploader and the third? I think it's in a an old binder full of basketball cards somewhere, but I'm not really sure. At any rate, I've got both full card sets, one mini card set and a whole bunch of doubles. Since I bought a vendor's box I don't have the mini poster set though. I need to get one of those someday.
So what I'm gonna do with this thing is post one mini team set per week until the end of the season. This set was well before the expansion rush of the '90s so there are 22 teams active during the '79-'80 season, The expansion Dallas Mavericks, an All-Star/ checklist subset, and a Slam Dunk subset. That's 25 sets, and coincidentally enough there are 25 weeks in the NBA season. It's a neat, uncommon set, and I'm pretty sure that no one else out there has posted a complete ripped set of the stuff.
If there's someone out there who is actually interested in this stuff, I can trade off some doubles. As for the 11 mini cards I have no use for, check back during the Hawks game tonight (sometime after 7pm eastern) to find out how you can get one...
* Do not do this nowadays. In 1986, sure. This ain't 1986.
True connoisseurs of vintage basketball cards just recoiled in horror as if they just witnessed the scene of a massacre. Casual card fans are thinking that these things look familiar, but I just can't place them. The other 99.9999999% of humanity has no clue what the heck that big mess is. Those are 1980-81 Topps Basketball cards. They normally look like this:
However, it is possible for an enterprising (and very bored) 14 year old to take them apart at the perforations and create mini basketball cards. What? Someone tore up a complete set of these cards? That set is worth hundreds of dollars! The Bird/Magic rookie card is insanely expensive by itself! Who would do such a thing?? Yeah, well, um... that was me. Lemme explain.Back when I was a kid I used to get most of my cards from Atlanta Sports Cards in the Green's Corners shopping center. I was a very frugal young lad and I'd always try to get the most cards for my money. That usually meant picking up bricks of cards from the 60's and 70's and scrounging the bargain bins. Sometimes though I'd get a cheap box on sale. One cheap box they had was a vendor's box of '80-'81 Topps Basketball. 500 cards for 7 bucks. That's a lot of cards! Back in the mid '80s though, no one cared a lick about basketball cards. Amazing really, since the '80s were arguably the golden age of NBA basketball, but in 1986 or so when I bought this box no one cared about basketball cards at all. And these cards were widely considered to be the ugliest damn things this side of 1990 Topps and that wouldn't even exist for another four years. So my young cheap self picked up some crap that no one else wanted and had a good ol' time with his big pile of cards.
Now, the thing with this set is that the 264 mini cards are distributed among the tri-cards in a complete set of 88 cards. There was actually a second possible set as Topps slightly altered the mini card order for the second set. So all in all, there are 176 different cards in the '80-'81 Topps Basketball set. Now remember, a vendor's box has 500 cards. What I'm saying is, I had a CRAPLOAD of doubles.
Now follow my logic here. I'm 14. I have a big ol' pile of basketball cards that, at the time, were essentially worthless. These cards have perforations on them just begging to be torn. I already have at least two complete sets. I was well versed in tearing mini cards out of Dover reprint books already. Boy, was that fun to do! Plus, the card shop still had a few more vendor's boxes of this stuff for cheap so I could get another one anytime if I decided I just had to have a third set of this junk. The big basketball card renaissance caused by the landmark '86-'87 Fleer set wouldn't even happen for a few years. Seriously, what the heck would you do?*
So, that big mess o' cards up there is actually a complete set of ripped mini cards. 1-264. I didn't just take a complete set and rip it as I have 11 mini doubles left over. I remember being meticulous enough to try very hard only to rip cards I had 4 or more of, but not quite focused enough to just complete a set of 88 panels and rip that. Don't worry, I never ripped a Bird/Dr. J/Magic card. Even back when the cards were junk, I recognized that THAT card was pure gold. I got three of them out of the box, One was lost when my laptop bag was stolen in the late '90s (with the laptop itself sitting on a desk right next to the bag, oddly enough) One is safely in a toploader and the third? I think it's in a an old binder full of basketball cards somewhere, but I'm not really sure. At any rate, I've got both full card sets, one mini card set and a whole bunch of doubles. Since I bought a vendor's box I don't have the mini poster set though. I need to get one of those someday.
So what I'm gonna do with this thing is post one mini team set per week until the end of the season. This set was well before the expansion rush of the '90s so there are 22 teams active during the '79-'80 season, The expansion Dallas Mavericks, an All-Star/ checklist subset, and a Slam Dunk subset. That's 25 sets, and coincidentally enough there are 25 weeks in the NBA season. It's a neat, uncommon set, and I'm pretty sure that no one else out there has posted a complete ripped set of the stuff.If there's someone out there who is actually interested in this stuff, I can trade off some doubles. As for the 11 mini cards I have no use for, check back during the Hawks game tonight (sometime after 7pm eastern) to find out how you can get one...* Do not do this nowadays. In 1986, sure. This ain't 1986.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
A Tribute to Game 5 of the 2008 World Series
You guys don't know how lucky you are... My first thought for the video was this:
2008 Topps Updates & Highlights - Hobby vs., Retail part 2
As promised, here's the 5 packs of retail Topps U&H. You decide for yourself if these five random packs are better than the other five random packs. Some would argue that retail is the path to failure and despair, but let's open them anyway. I'll find some Target packs so I can be fair and balanced if anyone so desires.THE RETAIL PACKS:
5 packs purchased from a display at Wal-Mart on 10/27/08.
First Pack:
UH31 Marco Scutaro
UH30 Brendan Harris
UH271 Brad Thompson
UH55 Cesar Izturis
UH303 Taylor Teagarden RC
UH327 Hernan Iribarren RC
UH315 Sean Rodriguez RC
UH213 German Duran RC
UH76Francsico Rodriguez AL All-Star
UH58 Scott Kazmir AL All-Star
UH23 Christian Guzman NL All-Star
UH234 Carl Pavano Gold parallel #0582/2008
ToppsTown
I got more rookies in this back than in all the hobby packs. Got the first gold border card too, of Yankee flop Carl Pavano.Second Pack:
UH253 Josh Johnson
UH130 Mike Cameron
UH163 Miguel Cairo
UH166 Ryan Braun Home Run Derby
UH148 David Wright NL All-Star
UH255 Brian Horwitz RC
UH75 Matt Treanor
UH34 Nate McLouth NL All-Star
UH64 Joe Nathan AL All-Star
UH95 Ichiro AL All-Star
FC-5 James & Elizabeth Kotright Monroe
WMDP22 Johan Santana Dick Perez
ToppsTown
7 straight packs with a ToppsTown card. Guuuuh. Two inserts in the pack, a snazzy looking Dick Perez card and a First lady card. I am so goddamned sick of presidents I could puke. How about some Vice presidents? Or Chief Justices? Speakers of the House? President pro tempore of the Senate? Postmaster General? Mayors of Pittsburgh? For Pete's sake, Topps, there are other freaking people in the government beside the stupid president.Third Pack:
UH128 LaTroy Hawkins
UH74 Corey Patterson
UH152 Steve Trachsel
UH330 Johan Santana
UH125 John Smoltz 3000th Strikeout Highlight
UH262 Brian Wilson NL All-Star
UH232 Geovany Soto NL All-Star
UH167 Justin Morneau Home Run Derby
UH156 Juan Rincon
UH162 Eric Stults
UH102 Matt Murton
WBC20 Johan Santana WBC
David Wright Topps of the Class
Wouldn't ya know it, 8 packs in and I've got doubles of my only WBC card. Oh well, I got Smoltzie at least.Fourth Pack:
UH205 Octavio Dotel
UH121 Jacque Jones
UH90 Dan Haren
UH325 Clay Hensley
UH!95 Chris Carter RC
UH51 Fernando Tatis
UH279 Alex Hinshaw RC
UH1 Kosuke Fukudome RC
UH17 Russ Martin NL All-Star
UH41 Joe Mauer AL All-Star
UH53 Justin Duchscherer AL All-Star
UH47 Dustin Pedroia AL All-Star
David Wright Topps of the Class
I am a KoFu magnet. I don't know what I did to deserve this.Fifth Pack:
UH170 Greg Smith RC
UH182 Sidney Ponson
UH21 Darrell Rasner
UH117 Jed Lowrie RC
UH159 Mike Aviles RC
UH280 Max Scherzer RC
UH287 Chase Headley
UH328 Billy Wagner NL All-Star
UH5 Chipper Jones NL All-Star
YR172 Melky Cabrera Year in Review
MRH-GC Gary Carter Ring of Honor
UH14 Bartolo Colon Gold Parallel #0121/2008
ToppsTown
Three inserts, four rookies and a Chipper in this pack. Feast or famine, I suppose. I've been interested to see a Ring of Honor card, they look pretty much like the football insert. I guess they chose the '86 Mets to balance out some of the Yankee lovefest that's been going on this year. Maybe by 2038 a non-New York team will be honored in a trading card set. Of course then it'lll be one season of Boston Red Sox love then back to the Yanks. Ah screw it, I got my Chipper.53 base cards
12 RCs
2 Gold border parallels
1 Dick Perez
1 Year in Review
1 WBC
1 Ring of Honor
1 First Lady
3 ToppsTown
2 David Wright ads
What's interesting about this stuff is that there are no odds for relic cards on the back of the pack. So, if you like jerseys Hobby is the way to go. Series 2 blasters has a jersey per box though, so maybe that's where Topps is hiding 'em.
Card Of the Week 10/28/08
Many reasons for this week's card of the week. First of all, some joker complained that I was messing up a perfectly good baseball card blog with *gasp* college football players this weekend, so I want to antagonize Mr. Anonymous some more with a basketball card. Secondly, the NBA season kicks off tonight. I won't be watching any of those games though, I'll be watching the rest of Game 5 of the World Series assuming the rain lets up. Tomorrow though, I'll be watching an NBA game. Specifically one with this guy playing:
Al Horford. The Hawks' first round draft pick last year. Came in second to Kevin overrated scoring twenty a game for a team that moved to Oklahoma Durant in the Rookie of the Year voting. Played out of position at center and still kicked ass. Helped get the stinkin' lousy inept Hawks to the playoffs where they came damn close to beating the eventual World Champion Celtics. The first player I've been legitimately excited about on this team since Mookie Blalock.
Horford and the Hawks open the season in Orlando on Wednesday and for the first time since Steve Smith was on the team they actually don't suck all that bad. I can say "The Hawks have a good chance of going .500 this year" out in public and I won't immediately be committed to a mental institution for my own safety. Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford. They ain't superstars, but they ain't scrubs either. Plus no more Billy Knight! Mike Woodson shaved his head and looks cool now! None of the owners have sued each other in the past 24 hours! Phillips Arena hasn't caught on fire! Hooray!
So yeah, I'm excited. I know you guys don't give a crap about basketball and even the ones that do forgot that Atlanta even had a team. Well, go check out the archives or click on one of the other blogs on the sidebar to get your baseball fix, I'm crowing about the no longer dreadful Hawks and my new favorite player Al this morning. I got 5 more packs of Topps to rip later this afternoon (these ones actually have inserts in them!) so you can deal with one hoops post. Besides, there's another reason I'm posting the Hawks cards today, and that's because it's my uncle's birthday. Happy birthday dayf's uncle! He took me to a bunch of Hawks games when I was a kid and watching 'Nique and Tree and Doc got me permanently hooked on this team. Don't blame him for that though. Blame him for getting me hooked on the Falcons, that's what has really messed my mind up. So here's my 2007-2008 Topps Finest rookie card of Al Horford numbered 494/539 to start the Hawks' season off right. Go Hawks! Get those 40 wins! You can do it!
Al Horford. The Hawks' first round draft pick last year. Came in second to Kevin overrated scoring twenty a game for a team that moved to Oklahoma Durant in the Rookie of the Year voting. Played out of position at center and still kicked ass. Helped get the stinkin' lousy inept Hawks to the playoffs where they came damn close to beating the eventual World Champion Celtics. The first player I've been legitimately excited about on this team since Mookie Blalock.Horford and the Hawks open the season in Orlando on Wednesday and for the first time since Steve Smith was on the team they actually don't suck all that bad. I can say "The Hawks have a good chance of going .500 this year" out in public and I won't immediately be committed to a mental institution for my own safety. Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford. They ain't superstars, but they ain't scrubs either. Plus no more Billy Knight! Mike Woodson shaved his head and looks cool now! None of the owners have sued each other in the past 24 hours! Phillips Arena hasn't caught on fire! Hooray!
So yeah, I'm excited. I know you guys don't give a crap about basketball and even the ones that do forgot that Atlanta even had a team. Well, go check out the archives or click on one of the other blogs on the sidebar to get your baseball fix, I'm crowing about the no longer dreadful Hawks and my new favorite player Al this morning. I got 5 more packs of Topps to rip later this afternoon (these ones actually have inserts in them!) so you can deal with one hoops post. Besides, there's another reason I'm posting the Hawks cards today, and that's because it's my uncle's birthday. Happy birthday dayf's uncle! He took me to a bunch of Hawks games when I was a kid and watching 'Nique and Tree and Doc got me permanently hooked on this team. Don't blame him for that though. Blame him for getting me hooked on the Falcons, that's what has really messed my mind up. So here's my 2007-2008 Topps Finest rookie card of Al Horford numbered 494/539 to start the Hawks' season off right. Go Hawks! Get those 40 wins! You can do it!
Monday, October 27, 2008
2008 Topps Updates & Highlights - Hobby vs., Retail part 1
Let me first say that I am not buying a hobby box of this stuff. I might not even buy a blaster depending on how ornery I get. 2008 Topps Baseball has just been disappointing to me this year. Thankfully the 2009 design should be leaking any day now so maybe I can get a little glimpse of hope for the future. You all out there aren't interested in my existential angst though. You want to see the cards and I'm gonna let you see them!
So here's the deal: in lieu of my usual multi-post rip of a hobby box starting off with the packaging materials, I've bought five Hobby packs from a fresh box and five retail packs from one of those cardboard hanging things at Wal-Mart. The packs were all neatly placed in two rows inside the box, so either it was just opened or an anal retentive pack searcher had just passed through. It's not a spectacular sample size, but it's a comparison between Hobby and retail at least. Later in the week I'll be reviewing the set. Now is the time for packs. First up, the five Hobby packs.
5 packs purchased from a freshly opened box at Champion Sports Cards on 10/22/08.
First Pack:
UH217 Willy Aybar
UH7 Josh Anderson
UH19 Johnny Estrada
UH238 Dan Uggla All Star
UH155 BRUUUUUUUUUCE Highlights
UH43 Chip Ambres
UH162 Eric Stults
UH108 Shin-Soo Choo
UH48 Grant Balfour
UH314 Wilson Betemit gold foil
ToppsTown Gold code card
Read all about it on A Pack A Day.
Second Pack:
UH193 Jeremy Affeldt
UH307 Greg Norton
UH169 Eulogio De La Cruz
UH185 Joey Votto Gone, Gone, Gone Highlight
UH214 Carlos Zambrano NL All-Star
UH22 Brian Moehler
UH35 Hanley Ramirez NL All-Star
UH311 Oscar Salazar
UH119 Ken Griffey Jr 600 HRs Highlights gold foil
ToppsTown code card
A couple of All-Stars, a couple of Highlights and a Greg Norton Braves card. My insert was a crummy gold foil card for the second straight pack though.
Third Pack:
UH98 Denny Bautista
UH326 Kevin Mench
UH120 Angel Berroa
UH279 Alex Hinshaw RC
UH153 Armando Galarraga RC
UH12 Trot Nixon
UH318 Kyle Farnsworth
UH276 Corey Hart NL All-Star
WBC20 Johan Santana Venezuela
UH308 Shelley Duncan gold foil
ToppsTown code card
Things I learned from this pack: Angel Berroa is a Dodger. Trot Nixon is a Met. I really, really like the WBC cards. I really, really hate gold foil cards. I am really, really sick of ToppsTown.
Fourth Pack:
UH133 Tadahito Iguchi
UH151 Darin Erstad
UH175 Luis Vizaino
UH1 Kosuke Fukudome RC
UH298 Dan Haren NL All-Star
UH322 Edinson Volquez NL All-Star
UH196 Dan Uggla Home Run Derby
UH269 Robert AndinoUH191 Ian Kinsler
UH83 George Sherrill AL All-Star
UH222 Dave Borkowski lousy gold foil
Die ToppsTown die
Out of 4 packs, I've gotten 4 ToppsTown cards, 4 stupid gold inserts and ONE insert. I couldn't pick 4 worse packs out of a box if I tried, Fukudome card or no.
Fifth Pack:
UH248 Doug Mientkiewicz
UH116 Odalis Perez
UH275 Rich Harden
UH158 Chad Durbin
UH227 Carlos Quentin AL All-Star
UH11 Matt Holliday NL All-Star
AS-CQ Carlos Quentin All-Star Stitches
UH8 Jeff Mathis gold foil
ToppsTown again?!?
I apparently saved all my luck for this one pack. The jersey cards are pretty nice looking although I'd bet this one gets traded eventually. The Rich Harden card shows him in a Cubs uni, I can't tell if it's 'shopped or not. Someone with math skills out there tell me what the odds are for pulling five straight packs with a gold foil parallel and a Topps Town card in them. It has to be astronomical.
Totals from five hobby packs:
41 Base cards (3 RCs)
5 gold foil parallels
1 WBC insert
1 All Star Stitches
5 ToppsTown
Tomorrow I'll post the results from the retail packs.
So here's the deal: in lieu of my usual multi-post rip of a hobby box starting off with the packaging materials, I've bought five Hobby packs from a fresh box and five retail packs from one of those cardboard hanging things at Wal-Mart. The packs were all neatly placed in two rows inside the box, so either it was just opened or an anal retentive pack searcher had just passed through. It's not a spectacular sample size, but it's a comparison between Hobby and retail at least. Later in the week I'll be reviewing the set. Now is the time for packs. First up, the five Hobby packs.
THE HOBBY PACKS:
5 packs purchased from a freshly opened box at Champion Sports Cards on 10/22/08.
First Pack:
UH217 Willy Aybar
UH7 Josh Anderson
UH19 Johnny Estrada
UH238 Dan Uggla All Star
UH155 BRUUUUUUUUUCE Highlights
UH43 Chip Ambres
UH162 Eric Stults
UH108 Shin-Soo Choo
UH48 Grant Balfour
UH314 Wilson Betemit gold foil
ToppsTown Gold code card
Read all about it on A Pack A Day.Second Pack:
UH193 Jeremy Affeldt
UH307 Greg Norton
UH169 Eulogio De La Cruz
UH185 Joey Votto Gone, Gone, Gone Highlight
UH214 Carlos Zambrano NL All-Star
UH22 Brian Moehler
UH35 Hanley Ramirez NL All-Star
UH311 Oscar Salazar
UH119 Ken Griffey Jr 600 HRs Highlights gold foil
ToppsTown code card
A couple of All-Stars, a couple of Highlights and a Greg Norton Braves card. My insert was a crummy gold foil card for the second straight pack though.Third Pack:
UH98 Denny Bautista
UH326 Kevin Mench
UH120 Angel Berroa
UH279 Alex Hinshaw RC
UH153 Armando Galarraga RC
UH12 Trot Nixon
UH318 Kyle Farnsworth
UH276 Corey Hart NL All-Star
WBC20 Johan Santana Venezuela
UH308 Shelley Duncan gold foil
ToppsTown code card
Things I learned from this pack: Angel Berroa is a Dodger. Trot Nixon is a Met. I really, really like the WBC cards. I really, really hate gold foil cards. I am really, really sick of ToppsTown.Fourth Pack:
UH133 Tadahito Iguchi
UH151 Darin Erstad
UH175 Luis Vizaino
UH1 Kosuke Fukudome RC
UH298 Dan Haren NL All-Star
UH322 Edinson Volquez NL All-Star
UH196 Dan Uggla Home Run Derby
UH269 Robert AndinoUH191 Ian Kinsler
UH83 George Sherrill AL All-Star
UH222 Dave Borkowski lousy gold foil
Die ToppsTown die
Out of 4 packs, I've gotten 4 ToppsTown cards, 4 stupid gold inserts and ONE insert. I couldn't pick 4 worse packs out of a box if I tried, Fukudome card or no.Fifth Pack:
UH248 Doug Mientkiewicz
UH116 Odalis Perez
UH275 Rich Harden
UH158 Chad Durbin
UH227 Carlos Quentin AL All-Star
UH11 Matt Holliday NL All-Star
AS-CQ Carlos Quentin All-Star Stitches
UH8 Jeff Mathis gold foil
ToppsTown again?!?
I apparently saved all my luck for this one pack. The jersey cards are pretty nice looking although I'd bet this one gets traded eventually. The Rich Harden card shows him in a Cubs uni, I can't tell if it's 'shopped or not. Someone with math skills out there tell me what the odds are for pulling five straight packs with a gold foil parallel and a Topps Town card in them. It has to be astronomical.Totals from five hobby packs:
41 Base cards (3 RCs)
5 gold foil parallels
1 WBC insert
1 All Star Stitches
5 ToppsTown
Tomorrow I'll post the results from the retail packs.
More Quickie Pimpin'
Either there's been a flood of new blogs recently, or I've just been so out of it the past couple of months that I haven't noticed them. Here's a few I discovered this weekend, go check 'em out!
Nachos Grande - Mmmmmm.... Nachoooooos. I haven't looked through the archives yet, but there are nekkid people and Masterpieces on the front page. Gotta love nekked people masterpieces!
Project '62 - This one might be one of my new favorites. The man has an appreciation for Wally Moon and actually paid money for All Sport Plus! And I really, Really wish I had thought of this take on Luke Hochevar's UD Masterpieces card.
Free Andy LaRoche - I think I've known about this one for a while and just kept forgetting to link him. Dodger fan who appreciates the classics.
Paul's Random Stuff - Very random and autograph-heavy. My kinds of stuff even if he appreas to be a Mets fan. Can you guess which card in the title image is my favorite?
Dropped Third Strike - Fairly new on the scene, but already has some really sweet stuff on there already including a Donruss Threads rip.
Check 'em out and please send me a link if you have a blog! It's frustrating when I find a cool blog I've never seen before who has already linked to Cardbard Junkie.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
More World Series Card Battles
Quick & Easy tonight.
CHOOSE WISELY
Phillies:
2002 Upper Deck Future Gems Joe Blanton Draft Pick Jersey Card
Rays:
2008 Co-Signers Jason Bartlett & Ben Zobrist Dual Auto.
2002 Upper Deck Future Gems Joe Blanton Draft Pick Jersey CardRays:
2008 Co-Signers Jason Bartlett & Ben Zobrist Dual Auto. CHOOSE WISELY
Optimism
Is a Braves fan choosing to spend his money on a Jake Peavy jersey card on his monthly trip to the flea market.
The Boycott Is Over
Chris Harris ends the boycott and buys a box of 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights.
I for one am glad.
I will not be buying my own Hobby box, but I'm glad.
In other news, I really like the WBC insert set.
If you didn't click on that Stale Gum post the first time, I suggest you do. It's very, very good.
I for one am glad.
I will not be buying my own Hobby box, but I'm glad.
In other news, I really like the WBC insert set.
If you didn't click on that Stale Gum post the first time, I suggest you do. It's very, very good.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Trick or Treat From Tribe Cards
Got David's trick or treat package in the mail yesterday. I absolutely have to save it for Halloween night. However, due to my new policy of posting a mail day within 24 hours of receiving it, I must post this card today:
Is this card representative of the rest of the box? Or is Uncle Dayf bamboozlin' ya? You'll have to wait for Halloween. WooooOOOOooooOOOOoooo!
Is this card representative of the rest of the box? Or is Uncle Dayf bamboozlin' ya? You'll have to wait for Halloween. WooooOOOOooooOOOOoooo!
Georgia vs. LSU
This game worries me. It doesn't scare me to death like the South Carolina game or next week's nightmare, but I'm not feeling good about it. Georgia has beat LSU their last two appearances though, and they certainly have the talent to pull it off. It's also not a night game which is nice. Baton Rouge gets a little crazy at night. Like UGA ending up in the gumbo crazy. Here's another 1955 Topps All-American card that will hopefully ward off the Tigers.
Ken Kavanaugh was retired from the NFL for five years by the time this card was released. Ken starred as a receiver back when teams just didn't pass all that often. Even so he was the Southeastern Conference MVP in 1939. Oh yeah, he also played Defensive End. That was hardcore football in those days. Ken was drafted by the Bears after his college days and played 8 seasons in Chicago. He missed the 42-44 seasons as he served as a bomber pilot in World War 2. He was a productive receiver for the Bears and amazingly still held four team records at the time of his death in 2007.
As you can see, the wonderful '55 back has the requisite exclamation point in the writeup and one of the weirdest cartoons ever. Anthropomorphic pigs in football gear (but no pants) prancing about in suggestive poses. I think the cartoon right there ensures a Bulldog victory, don't you?
Ken Kavanaugh was retired from the NFL for five years by the time this card was released. Ken starred as a receiver back when teams just didn't pass all that often. Even so he was the Southeastern Conference MVP in 1939. Oh yeah, he also played Defensive End. That was hardcore football in those days. Ken was drafted by the Bears after his college days and played 8 seasons in Chicago. He missed the 42-44 seasons as he served as a bomber pilot in World War 2. He was a productive receiver for the Bears and amazingly still held four team records at the time of his death in 2007.
As you can see, the wonderful '55 back has the requisite exclamation point in the writeup and one of the weirdest cartoons ever. Anthropomorphic pigs in football gear (but no pants) prancing about in suggestive poses. I think the cartoon right there ensures a Bulldog victory, don't you?
2008 UD Masterpieces Fact Checking - Pack 2
I haven't done on of these in a while but I'm being hit with insomnia and I really want to make Night Owl's day night brighter, so I'm doing the fact check on my second pack of Masterpieces now instead of later.
Insomnia > procrastination.
Now that's action! Great looking card of the Rays' vet. Now is the back as good as the front?
CLAIM: The outfielder from Texas
Verdict: TRUE. Born August 5, 1981 in Houston.
CLAIM: [has led] the American League in both stolen bases and triples during three of the past four seasons.
Verdict: TRUE. Led the American League in triples from 2004-2006 and led the league in stolen bases in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
CLAIM: When Crawford does something, it's almost always achieved with a tremendous amount of speed
Verdict: FALSE. Carl Crawford is a very considerate lover. So I've heard.
This is one of the paintings with eerie ghostly faces in the crowd. I sure wish I knew who painted these things.
CLAIM: You can read all that up there, I don't want to type it all out
Verdict: ALL TRUE. .338 average, 4th best in the AL, first since Thurman, all correct. The Thurmon Munson line is almost verbatim in Wikipedia.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CLAIM: It's difficult to pinpoint one facet of the game that Jones excels in because HE CAN DO IT ALL
Verdict: YA DAMN RIGHT!. Upper Deck knows exactly what they're talking about! I feel good about the next card.
oops. Well, they got Chipper right at least and that's what's important. I'll try to fact check the next pack before Halloween. UD's doing a little better though!
Insomnia > procrastination.
#86 Carl Crawford
Now that's action! Great looking card of the Rays' vet. Now is the back as good as the front?
CLAIM: The outfielder from TexasVerdict: TRUE. Born August 5, 1981 in Houston.
CLAIM: [has led] the American League in both stolen bases and triples during three of the past four seasons.
Verdict: TRUE. Led the American League in triples from 2004-2006 and led the league in stolen bases in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
CLAIM: When Crawford does something, it's almost always achieved with a tremendous amount of speed
Verdict: FALSE. Carl Crawford is a very considerate lover. So I've heard.
#65 Jorge Posada
This is one of the paintings with eerie ghostly faces in the crowd. I sure wish I knew who painted these things.
CLAIM: You can read all that up there, I don't want to type it all outVerdict: ALL TRUE. .338 average, 4th best in the AL, first since Thurman, all correct. The Thurmon Munson line is almost verbatim in Wikipedia.
#4 Chipper Jones
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CLAIM: It's difficult to pinpoint one facet of the game that Jones excels in because HE CAN DO IT ALLVerdict: YA DAMN RIGHT!. Upper Deck knows exactly what they're talking about! I feel good about the next card.
#64 Robin Yount
oops. Well, they got Chipper right at least and that's what's important. I'll try to fact check the next pack before Halloween. UD's doing a little better though!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Buying Fairfield Repack Boxes So You Don't Have To
I really should know better by now, but This Fairfield box sucked me in yesterday. It's called 7th inning stretch because there are 7 Unique baseball items per box! WOOHOOO! Get it... Seventh inning... seven items... ahem. Well, for fifteen bucks they better be unique. Anyway I bought it and opened it and now I have become a warning to others. First, let's see what's promised in the box:
This is like the seven dirty words you can't say to a Joe Collector without them frothing at the mouth like an evangelical preacher listening to a George Carlin routine.Star, Insert, Rookie, Pack, Box Set, Game Used and Graded.
Heck, there could even be the A-word in some of these boxes! oh Lordy, I do believe I'm getting the vapors... Let's see what's in this most wonderful of boxes.
Item 1: One sealed boxed set of 20 cards or more!
Oh goody, a 1990 KMart box set. With 33 Super Gloss photo cards! AND GUM! Still cello wrapped and everything. Let's peruse the checklist:
Bah, no Braves. Well, it was 1990. Dave Justice was about it from that year. There's a few stars in here though. It looks like there's a lineup for the AL and the NL. I think the AL could take 'em though. This may be something I have to bust in a future post. It's kinda weird to get a KMart set out of a box from Target. Time to move on to the second item.Item 2: One major manufacturer sealed pack!
Upper Deck is a major manufacturer to be sure. And the pack is sealed all right! This is a series one pack out of a blaster. I can tell from the lack of a UPC code on the back and the fact there are only 8 cards in the pack. Let's open 'er up and see what's in there:98 K Master Mark Reynolds
293 Mike Mussina
230 Coco Crisp is a part of this nutritious breakfast
266 Brandon Inge
323 Ian Kennedy RC
397 Jarrod Saltalamacchia Season Highlights
PP-1 Rudy Giuliani & Jeffrey Maier
.SQ-17 StarQuest common Hanley Ramirez
Definitely a pack for a Yankee fan. Hey Eric, Rudy's yours if you want him, I've already got Mr. 9/11. There are three Yankee logos on the card so it should be right up your alley. I've been pulling Ian Kennedy rookies like mad lately. is he any good or what? 0-4 in ten appearances this year with an ERA over 8. Blech. He pitched well for Scranton though and he's only 23 so who knows. Ok, time for the good stuff:
The infamous plain white Fairfield envelope! What secrets are hidden inside?Item 3: One rare insert valued at $15 or higher!
A 2001 Pacific parallel of Robert Person? Really? Wow. Oh wait, it's serial numbered.
A Robert Person Pacific Premeire Date parallel card numbered 3/36. This is supposed to be valued at $15 or higher. Really? Let's check the only price guide I have that would contain listings for this set, my 2002 Standard Catalog of Baseball cards. Let's see, Let's see... 2001 Pacific... Robert Person is valued at 10 cents... Premiere date parallels are 25-50X listing for star cards. Is Robert Person a star? I think it's time to be moseying along...Item 4: One Authentic Rookie card!
Dice-K! Not a bad rookie, it looks kind of different though. Aha, it's from the 2007 Topps team set of the Boston Red Sox. The card is numbered BOS1. Still pretty good, it's a variation I don't have yet. Ok! The next card is really thick! Let's check out the JERSEY CARD!!!Item 5: One game-used or autographed card!
...Moving on.
Item 6: One superstar card of Pujols, A-Rod, Jeter & More!
Well, they called the Pujols card all right. This Pujols is from the National Packtime giveaway in 2006. Another neat variation of a star, but I have this set already. Well, this box has been pretty hit or miss so far, with a double helping of miss. Last item in the box is the bulkiest. Let's check out this big ol' slab of plastic.Item 7: One Beckett graded card!
Well now this ain't too bad! A BCCG 1987 Bo Jackson graded 10 Mint or Better. I think a BCCG 10 is roughly equivalent to a PSA 4 or so, but don't quote me on that. This is actually the best looking 1987 card I've ever seen. Sharp corners, clean back, well centered plus it's Bo! One of the best cards in the set! I'm not a big fan of grading, but this here is a purty card.
So whaddya think kiddos? Was it worth it? Are you going to run out to your local target and snap up a bunch of these boxes? If you do, let me know what you got. It can't possibly be better than this box and I'd like to gloat. Bo Jackson baybee!
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