Pack Stash Week: 2018 Panini Rookies & Stars

I hope that everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend, it's been quite the soggy one down here in S. Florida as it hasn't stopped raining since Sunday morning.

After writing the first two lines, I realized it had stopped raining long enough for me to get some long needed yard work done.

Priorities.

Now, I decided to go after a jumbo pack today, the 40 card Panini Rookies and Stars set from 2018 is featured here.  There is one green parallel inside, along with a dozen rookie cards with potential star rookie cards of Saquon Barkley and Sam Darnold.

I was somewhat lazy again today, and scanned the cards 4 at a time, but at least I scanned them in the other that they came out of the pack.

Wonder what makes companies think that the Color Rush uniform pictures are a good choice for their photos.  I'd also like to see the Browns start to improve overall this year.  They are one of those teams that I root for as the underdogs; it's been that way since they came back into the league.

Looks like Mariota is going to need a change of scenery as his time in Tennessee appears to be up.  Same with Winston in Tampa.

Every time I see a card of Christian McCaffrey, I think of the joke he told during the "All or Nothing" series on Amazon when the Panthers were featured.   Fifty dollars is fifty dollars (those who watched it will know what I'm talking about).  If you're not watching All or Nothing, take a look.  My wife enjoys watching it as well, and we're almost done with this years installment that featured the Eagles.

There is a lot of money in the contracts of these 4 players.  Will love to see how the black hole translates to Vegas in 2020.  If I ever decided to collect a QB as a PC, it would be Brees.  Love him.

Had no idea Josh Normal is a Bill now.  They are pushing hard to compete in the AFC East now that the perception is the Patriots won't be the same team without Tom Brady.

Starting to get into the insert portion of the pack, the Dorance Armstrong Jr. is a green parallel, and Marvin Jones Jr. was coming off of his best pro season in 2017, just over 1100 yards and 18 yards per catch, which led the NFL.

I always loved the Crusade inserts with the Fleur-de-Lys on them.  Another Drew Brees card in the pack, on the appropriately named Star-Studded insert.  Andrew Luck is another player I have always liked, and I certainly don't blame him for getting out of football while he still has his health.

The last 12 cards are all RC's, and each group of 4 has one name player, starting with the Sam Darnold in this group of 4.  Da'ron Payne is the starting NT for the Skins and has 7 sacks and 9 tackles for loss in his 2 seasons so far.

Christian Kirk will likely be the #3 receiver for the Cardinals this year now that DeAndre Hopkins has moved to the desert.  Taven Bryan started half the games for the Jags in 2019 as a DT.  I'm learning a lot just by looking up these guys while writing this....

Sony Michel is a name everyone knows, averaging just under 1000 yards for his first 2 seasons combined.  Marquis Haynes was a 4th rounder in the 2017 draft for the Panthers, and is currently showing on the depth chart for the Panthers as the backup DE. Jaire Alexander is the starting LCB for the Packers, and has 3 picks in his first 2 seasons.

No big dollar cards, autos or relics, but some fun, and some trade bait.  We'll open some hockey tomorrow just to keep the variety.

Enjoy the hobby and stay safe!

Robert

Pack Stash Week: 2018 Bowman

Well, I figured this week was as good as any to post a few packs from the pack stash on the blog.  I figured I'd take it easy on myself and have some fun at the same time while in the middle of a 5-day mini vacation surrounding the long weekend.

I hunted through the box and decided on this pack....

2018 Bowman baseball.  10 cards, chance of some good rookies including Shohei Ohtani, so let's have a look.

I decided to be a little bit lazy on this break, scanning cards two at a time instead of 1.  Started with what could be a great pitcher vs. batter matchup, Noah Syndergaard and George Springer.  Hit up the baseball reference site and found that they've never faced each other in the regular season.  Thought at least there might be one PA as there is interleague play, but didn't see anything.  Maybe someday...

A lot of empty seats behind both Jonathan Schoop and Freddie Freeman.  I imagine these were taken during spring training.  I do like the look of the cards, the diamond encasing the logo and the oval with the position inside is just the right size for me.

Nomar Mazara is a player I don't know a lot about, so I looked him up, and he averages just under a hit per game during his 4 year career.  He was traded to the White Sox in the offseason for a A-level prospect.  Hunter Renfroe also spent his first 4 years with the same team, in this case the Padres, and was traded in the offseason.  Renfroe is now a Ray, seeing Tommy Pham as the big name going to Southern California.

Unlike the 1st player vs. pitcher scan above, these 2 have a more likely chance of having faced each other.  Advantage: Merrifield.  6 for 11 with a 2B and a solo HR.  Felix is now a Brave, and if healthy I believe will have a bounceback season in the Peach state.  I knew Merrifield was a good ball player, but didn't know he led the AL in hits (206), AB's (681) and triples (10) last year.  I also didn't realize he was so versatile, playing 2B, all 3 OF positions and 1B for the Royals.

Marcus Stroman is the 9th and final....what, wait a minute!!??  Only 9 cards in the pack!  Wasn't tampered with at all, bought it a couple years ago right off the shelf in Target.   Oops, not a good look there Topps, as you can plainly see on the first scan that the pack should have had 10 cards.

No matter, was more about the fun of ripping the pack rather than worrying about what or who was going to be inside.  All the cards were going to be trade bait anyhow.  Not like it's 2020 Bowman which people are selling for tons of money already.

Who said the hobby is struggling anyhow?

Enjoy the hobby and stay safe!!

Robert

Curiosity gets the better of me: Raiding the Stash 2013 Prestige Football

Really don't have much coming in these days what with trading all but dried up the past month on TCDB (at least for me), therefore I decided to go another route for a post.

So, I decided to go through my pack stash and come up with something to open, and write about.  I came across this as I went through the tub; it was something that I found in one of those football repacks that had several older packs in it at Target.

A pack of 2013 Panini Prestige football, which piqued my curiosity when I pulled it out of the stash and it seemed kind of thick for pack that only contained 8 cards.

The best part about this is, I qualify to open the pack as I am aged 9+!!

I have no idea what to expect in this pack, as I'm writing this first part before I've even opened it up.  Off to TCDB we go, and see that it's a 301 card set, and there's a couple of big names I see in the RC list like Le'Veon Bell and Zach Ertz.  Interesting that Panini numbered their RC's in alphabetical order by first name; for example Le'Veon Bell is #255, Logan Ryan is #256 and so on.

Let's open it up and see how we do....

# 74--Randall Cobb.  Not a bad name to start off, he's one of Dak Prescott's weapons down in Big D now.

#17--Dennis Pitta.  I do remember Dennis, pretty good pass catching TE.

#59--Demaryius Thomas.  Liking this pack so far, all receivers, my favorite position.

#245--Joseph Randle.  Didn't remember him, so I looked him up on FB Reference, he lasted just 3 seasons in the NFL (2013-15), 822 total yards and 9 TD's.  Maybe there's a Cowboys fan out there who might want the card for his collection.

#214--Christine Michael, Extra Points Red parallel.  Love how this scanned!  Hadn't heard of this fellow also, so back to FB Reference.  Played in 5 seasons between 2013-18 for the Seahawks, Packers, Colts and Cowboys.  1089 total yards and 7 TDs during that time.

Oh, and before that card, there was the thick as a brick card blank in there, which explained the pack thickness.   BOO

#171--Michael Crabtree.  Back to the receivers portion of this pack, and a pretty good one.  Maybe hit the end of the road last year after appearing in only 2 games for the Cardinals before getting cut.

#114--Danny Amendola.  The WR's just keep on coming, and Danny had another 60+ catch season last year with the Lions.  I always thought of him having more yards receiving, but 678 last year was his 2nd highest in a season during his career.   Surprised me...

#156--Heath Miller.  HEATH!!  Boy did they love him in Pittsburgh, and when I followed the Steelers I really loved watching him run over defenders after the catch.  For a big man who was very physical, he was also quite durable, never missing more than 2 games in a season during his 11 year career.  Hard to believe he's already been out of football for 5 years.

For me, a fun pack.  I love the WR/TE position, and getting a pack full of base cards for those positions works.  The design was really nothing special for me, as Prestige never is in my opinion.  But it's the hunt for the RC's in this product that's the fun.

Maybe another stash grab in the works soon....

Enjoy the hobby and stay safe!

Robert

Breaking into The Stash

With the order down here in Broward and Miami-Dade counties requiring anyone entering an establishment that provides essential services to wear a face mask, it appears that more people are having no trouble speaking their mind with their face mostly covered.  Almost like the keyboard warriors on Twitter or Instagram who have no problem "speaking their mind".  So, until the insanity down here has died down somewhat, I've resolved to avoid the big box stores.  No more Target or Wal Mart until the mask order has been rescinded.

This is going to be tough for me, because that's where I get my pack fix.  This was the first weekend in quite a while that I didn't hit either of those stores to get anything to rip, and it's been a bit tough to be honest.  This morning I decided to do something about it, and broke into my stash of packs.  I have a plastic tub filled with about 75 packs of cards of various sizes, sports and years.  Something I've been adding to lately, as a just in case.   I figured that this is about as good a time as any to grab a pack to open.

2008-09 Upper Deck hockey jumbo pack, series 1.  32 cards, with a chance for Young Guns such as Stamkos, Giroux, Wheeler and T.J. Oshie.  I've not had any luck with these so far, but hopefully with the last 3 or 4 that I have I'll get lucky.

A few names on the first page that are still going over a decade later, such as Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Cheechoo.  I'd totally forgotten that Mike Smith started way back when in Tampa Bay and was part of the trade that brought Brad Richards to Dallas (you'll see him here in a minute).  Another player on this page is Scott Gomez, who I remember almost strictly as a New Jersey Devil.  Then I look at his career stats and see stints in Ottawa, St. Louis, Florida, and San Jose, along with 3 years in Montreal.  It's time for me to start taking some memory pills it seems!

A lot of solid players on this page as well, such as Marian Gaborik, Patrik Elias and Bill Guerin.  Carey Price is the headliner, in an 2nd year card showing him shooting the puck around the boards.  I still remember the battle that he had with Jaroslav Halak when the both of them were in Montreal, which would stay and which would move on.  Halak's been a part of 5 organizations since he was traded in 2010, and Price 12 years later has 6 more years on what likely will be his final contract.  I'm sure when it ends he'll hold a majority of the Canadiens goaltending records.

Funny, when I look at this page the name Matt Niskanen jumps right at me.  I remember when he was traded by Dallas to Pittsburgh back in 2011.  That may be the worst deal Dallas ever made, as Niskanen and James Neal went to the Pens for Alex Goligoski.  Yes, Goligoski had some good years in Dallas, but Neal and Niskanen was probably a bit too much for Dallas to trade, in my opinion.

All of these cards went to my trade list on the TCDB website, as you never know what sets people are still trying to put together.   There were also a couple of inserts in the pack as well...

The Masked Men set has been popular, I've traded off quite a few of these over the past few months.  The All Star jersey you see on Vinny Lecavalier on the right is one that I have hanging in my closet, featuring that years Leafs representative, Tomas Kaberle.

I'd held off on breaking any of the packs I've had in the Stash for a long time, and I've been slowly adding to it over the past several months.  But while the mask edict is in place down here in S. Florida, I'll work on staying out of Target and Wal-Mart to keep some level of sanity in place, and just have fun breaking some old packs here and there.

Rest assured I'll post any stash pack broken here on the blog for all to see.

Enjoy the hobby and stay safe!

Robert