Week in review: I didn't know Topps was still doing this

I splurged this week.  Part of my trip down south was a trip to the Hard Rock Casino.  After a successful visit to the blackjack tables, I decided to treat myself and purchase a hobby box of 2014 series 1.  I'll share a couple of cards that I didn't expect to pull out of the box.

A couple of years back when I bought a hobby box of  Heritage, I pulled a buy back card of Chuck Hiller from '62 Topps.  I remember being happy about the card, except for the giant foil logo that Topps pasted on it.

About halfway through this years' hobby box, I pulled this card.

I have this card already for the '73 set I'm putting together (sporadically), but I have to check to see if this is an upgrade.  I'm thinking it probably is.  To be honest, I don't even mind the Topps 75th logo in the upper right corner.  For me, it really doesn't take much away from the card.

In the next pack, I was shocked to pull this card. 

Even with the 75th anniversary logo in the upper right corner, this is the nicest '57 that I own.   I've only purchased a handful over the past couple of years, but sometime down the road this is a set that I'd like to try and put together.  There is only a very small crease in the top center of the front, but other than that this card is in great shape.

Total spent on cards this week:  $65 + tax

Yea, it's probably more than I should have spent, but it was "found money", and I didn't have to wait for the box to be shipped.  Plus spending money at a  B&M card dealer is probably a good idea every once in a while. 

I may have pulled a pink, a black, and a few red parallels, but for me these were the best pulls of the box.

Now it's time to put the set together.

Thanks for reading, Robert

2002-03 Quest for the Cup: Box 1

I will say that not only did I enjoy finding these two boxes at a Target store on the cheap, but they were really fun to open .

It also didn't hurt that the collation appears to be really good (or I was really lucky).   Here's the spoils from the first hobby box:

The Chasing the Cup inserts are seeded at 1:5 packs.  With a 24 pack box, it appears that 5 of these is just about right.  The cards look great, I like that the colors match the team color as well.  Even better for me is to see guys in old uniforms, such as Thornton in a Bruins uni, and Heatley in a Thrashers jersey. 

The Calder Contenders insert set is seeded 1:13 packs, so again getting 2 of these was just about right on the money.  I know that 3rd jerseys are/were a big thing in the NHL, but sometimes the design isn't worth the money spent on it.  The Oilers 3rd jersey of the gear with an oil drop in the center may be one of the worst alternates ever.

Now, not only was this my favorite insert set of the 3, but I beat the odds in this box as well.  The Raising the Cup insert was seeded 1:9 packs, and to pull 4 of these in a box of 24 is a good haul.  Not only did I pull 4 of them, but I managed to grab 3 HOFers, and a Peter Forsberg as well. 

I pulled the standard 5 rookie cards, numbered out of 950.  It's kind of funny to see Dennis Seidenberg in a Flyers uniform, I'm sure that the way he's played the past couple of years in the playoffs for the Bruins has made the Flyers braintrust wish they still had him.

 
The entire 150 card set also has a gold parallel, #'d out of 325.  As you can see, I didn't fare too badly with the cards I pulled, especially with the Rick Nash Gold RC.  I had forgotten about Marc Denis, whose career finished about 5 years ago.  Turns out that the 2002-03 season is one that Denis was very busy with.  Marc led NHL goaltenders in GP, minutes, shots, saves and goals allowed.

I like the jersey cards because they are understated.  Nothing flashy, and the swatches happen to be colored, not the standard white pieces we generally see.  10 years later, the Brent Johnson leaves a little something to be desired, but the Modano and the Blake cards are both good additions.   These are seeded 1:9 packs, so I did better than I should have, getting 3 of these in the box.

7, 31, 69, and 98 are the only 4 cards I need to complete the 100 card base set.  No doubles at all.  With my poor luck in putting together sets in modern products, opening a product like this was really fun. 

2 boxes worth of fun.   I'll post the next box in a day or two.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Lump Day

It's not too often that I'm fortunate enough to spend an entire day doing nothing.  That is what I did today though, because I felt I deserved it.  Every day since my vacation started last Saturday, I had driven for at least one hour during the day. 

I finished reading a book, and just spent the entire day doing what you should do when you're on time off. 

I enjoyed myself.  Part of enjoying myself was cracking a hobby box of this:

As you can see, I'm still having trouble with the phone, but the box you see is a 2002-03 Pacific Quest for the Cup Hobby box.  I picked this up at Target (yes, you read that right) when I visited my mom the other day.  Now, why I can't seem to pick up any boxes like this at the big box stores in the US is beyond me, but I was quite happy to plunk down $35 Cdn. in order to bring this home.  (EDIT:  I would end up buying 2 of these)

I'm not going to make an attempt to take any more pictures with my iPhone, and since I'm heading back home tomorrow, I'll be sure to post some pics from an actual scanner. 

I did do quite well on the box break, beating the odds on both the rookie cards I pulled (Ryan Miller and Rick Nash), along with 3 jersey cards. 

You'll get a breakdown on the break tomorrow, these cards do really look nice and I am really looking forward to showing them off.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Something I don't do very often works out quite well

I've written many times over of the various blasters, rack packs, etc. that I've bought while writing this blog.  Some good, some not so good.  I actually came out better than I thought yesterday money wise after taking my truck in for some repairs, so I decided to do something I don't normally do when it comes to purchasing cards.

I hit the local hobby shop, and picked up a hobby box of Topps Series 2.

Yea, I know the big spenders out there are saying "so what??", but since this is only the 2nd hobby box of cards I've bought since starting the blog 11 months ago, for me it's kind of a big deal.

To be honest, it was damn fun!!

I got home in time for the Pirates game yesterday afternoon, and spent the afternoon between watching the game, and ripping open 36 packs of cards.  I kind of drew it out for myself, opening 9 packs at a time and then setting the rest aside while I continued to watch the game.

There was one thing I enjoyed the most about the box.   No duplicates.  Each base set card I received was unique, and I wound up with 294 out of the 330 card set.  There was also the countless inserts in the box, which I've scanned for your viewing pleasure.

6 Gold Futures:

9 Golden Moments (Don Mattingly not pictured).  I like the use of some of the older logos on these cards (Brewers and Phillies to name 2).

 5 Gold Standard:

6 A Cut Above:

6 Career Day:

8 '87 minis:

5 Mound dominance:

A couple of Jose Bautista inserts to go into the Jays collection:

Finally, a couple of the cards that gave the box a little more oomph.  In the second pack I opened, I snagged this beauty (in my eyes at least):

The black parallel Mauer is #'d 18/61, and since I already have an 18 for the insanity set, this is up for trade.

Finally, here's "the hit", an Evan Longoria Golden Moments jersey card:

At least the swatch wasn't white

I still need 17 cards to complete the set, which hopefully I'll be able to pickup before too long:

331,334,388,397,410,447,460,476,554,567,597,603,610,614,640,655,656.

If you have 'em, just let me know, I have plenty of series 2 doubles for trade as well.

Also, everything scanned except for the Jose Bautista cards are also up for trade. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

2009 OPC box break...packs 31 through 36

Here we go friends, the box break finale!!

Pack 31:

158. Steve Pearce
183. Kosuke Fukudome
437. David Murphy
564. Josh Outman RC
1338. Upper Deck 20th anniversary retrospectives Ernie Banks
429. Brandon Backe Black Parallel

Pack 32:

HM1:  Highlights and Milestones Brad Lidge records final out of WS
237. Reggie Willits
241. Jarrod Washburn
408. J.J. Putz
530. Rangers Checklist
149. Clint Barmes Black Parallel

Pack 33:

1. Melvin Mora
69. Mike Aviles
156. Matt Albers
338. Mark Derosa
595 Kenshin Kawakami RC
498. Oliver Perez Black Parallel

Pack 34:

10. Jimmy Rollins
24. Carlos Guillen
26. Brandon Phillips
483. Rich Aurilia
525. Tigers Checklist
531. AL batting average leaders Black Parallel (Mauer/Pedroia/Bradley...nice card!)

Pack 35:

188. Vernon Wells
343. Alex Rios
419. Casey Kotchman
449. Fred Lewis
524. Royals Checklist
198. Jorge Campillo Black Parallel

Pack 36:

2. Jim Thome
43. Edgar Gonzalez
342. Brian Moehler
348. Chad Qualls
568. Jason Motte RC
299. Nelson Cruz Black Parallel (another nice parallel)

So, how do we stand after the hobby box?  Well, we're at 164/600 towards the set, or a 27.3 % completion rate.  Hit for 4 doubles in the box (one was due to cards received from a group break in September), and one card has been promised to another blogger.  The one a pack black parallels were for the most part good pulls, especially the Ichiro and Nelson Cruz cards.  The Pujols 79 retro card was cool to hit, along with the 20th anniversary retrospectives as well.  Oh, and by the way, if you take the 164 and divide by 36, you get 4.55 base cards per pack towards the set...not a bad guesstimate for me at the beginning of these posts when I stated that there were roughly 4.5 on average.  I will be posting the 2 blasters that I busted this week as well, these will be packs 37 through 66.

Thanks for reading, Robert...

2009 OPC box break...packs 25 through 30

Here we go with the next 6 packs...

Pack 25:

78. Julio Lugo
181. Cory Wade
226. Luke Hochevar
232. Casey Blake
600. Joe Martinez RC
519. Padres Team Checklist Black Parallel

Pack 26:

FF2. Face of the Franchise Roy Oswalt
98. Jeremy Bowers
317. Akinori Iwamura
432. Austin Kearns
517. Mets Team Checklist
330. Jake Peavy Black Parallel

Pack 27:

148. Kevin Gregg
324. Chris Coste
364. Troy Tulowitzki
368. Mark Ellis
544. Moments Card
227. Jason Bay Black Parallel

Pack 28:

101. Radhames Liz
213. Luis Vizcaino
273. Luke Scott
462. Oscar Salazar
503. White Sox Checklist
266. Chris Davis Black Parallel

Pack 29:

FF30. Face of the Franchise Derek Jeter
110. Adrian Gonzalez
259. Joe Blanton
420. John Lackey
560. Moments card
68. Phil Hughes Black Parallel

Pack 30:

129. Carlos Gomez
133. Christian Guzman
363. Scott Rolen
577. George Kottaras RC
1313. Upper Deck 20th anniversary retrospective Johnny Bench
379. Mark Reynolds Black Parallel

Managed to hit one of Night Owl's want list...and Chris at Nacho's Grande, let me know if you're interested in the Bench card...

Thanks for reading, Robert      (40 days)

2009 OPC box break...packs 19 through 24

Onto the next 6 my friends...

Pack 19:

251. A.J. Burnett
375. Daisuke Matsuzaka
403. Yovani Gallardo
450. Cliff Lee
571. Scott Elbert RC
84. Scott Olsen Black Parallel

Pack 20:

AW1. the Award Show Yadier Molina
21. Cla Meredith
136. Matt Lindstrom
498. Oliver Perez
583. Elvis Andrus
8. Brian Schneider Black Parallel

Pack 21.

AW20. the Award Show Dustin Pedroia
11. Jeff Baker
272. Pat Burrell
504. Astros team checklist
28. Torii Hunter Black Parallel
RM-29 Albert Pujols 79 OPC parallel

OK, for me, this card deserves some commentary.  I like it, and I don't like it as well, and let me explain why.  The card design is great, don't get me wrong here, the 79-80 OPC hockey set is one of my favorites of all time.  BUT, I believe that they missed the boat here, because the design was for hockey, and not baseball.  Plus, including hockey players in this insert set just is well....stupid as far as I'm concerned.  How about maybe mimicking another older baseball set instead?












Pack 22:

28. Torii Hunter
220. Ryan Howard
473. Dioner Navarro
552. Moments card
1328. Brooks Robinson 20th anniversary retrospective
228. Alex Hinshaw Black Parallel

Pack 23:

128. Rafael Perez
300. Tim Lincecum
502. Red Sox team checklist
508. Brewers team checklist Black Parallel
NY-14 Andy Pettite New York, New York insert (cool card, but it jipped me of a card in the pack)

Pack 24:

222. Craig Counsell
326. Andy Laroche
352. Chris Ray
387. Freddy Sanchez
510. Cubs Team Checklist
357. Russ Springer Black Parallel

Packs 25-30 next...so far still a pretty decent box...

Thanks for reading, Robert

2009 OPC box break...packs 13 through 18

My luck gets better here in these 6 packs...

Pack 13:

15. Nate McLouth
72. Jhonny Peralta
479. Orlando Cabrera
562. James McDonald RC
1333. Cal Ripken Jr. 20th anniversary retrospectives
96. Carl Crawford Black Parallel

Pack 14:

77. Jorge Cantu
112. Robinson Cano
159. John Maine
389. John Danks
593 Koji Uehara RC
213. Luis Vizcaino Black Parallel

Pack 15:

154. Edwar Ramirez
358. Micah Owings
399. Francisco Cordero
404. Ryan Sweeney
532. NL Average Leaders
275. Ichiro Black Parallel

Pack 16:

MM1.  Midsummer Memories Griffey Jr.
162. Cha Seung Baek
223. Chris Iannetta
268. Matt Kemp
567. Scott Lewis
123. Brian Wilson Black Parallel

Pack 17:

97. Felix Pie
140. Tim Hudson
146. Chad Durbin
561. Travis Snider RC  !!
562. James McDonald Black Parallel RC
506. Blue Jays Team Checklist Mini Black Parallel (I truly beat the odds here, these are seeded one in every 6 boxes, not only do I get a mini, but one of the Skydome to boot!!)

Pack 18:

27. Saul Rivera
382. Blake Dewitt
394. Aaron Rowand
435. Jonathan Papelbon
596. Dexter Fowler
40. Matt Cain Black Parallel

A good group of parallels

Very happy with these 6 packs, got some stuff for the Jays collection, and some trade bait with the black parallels.  Still none off of the Night Owl's want list yet though...(still looking)...

Packs 19-24 next...thanks for reading, Robert...

2009 OPC box break...packs 7 through 12

Round 2...here we go...

Pack 7:

189. Zach Duke (Pirates)
269. Jose Arredondo (Angels)
338. Mark Derosa (Indians)
426. Justin Verlander (Tigers)
537. ERA Leaders
566. Kevin Jepsen Black Parallel RC

Pack 8:

FF1.  Face of the Franchise Vlad Guerrero
41. Xavier Nady (Yankees)
284. Andy Sonnanstine (Rays)
467. Shane Victorino (Phillies)
575. Trevor Cahill (A's)
455. Justin Morneau Black Parallel

Pack 9:

330. Jake Peavy (Padres)
347. Jason Kendall (Brewers)
421. Peter Moylan (Braves)
439. Johnny Damon (Yankees)
545. Moments card
417. Jered Weaver Black Parallel

Pack 10:

166. Felipe Lopez (Dbacks)
207. Jeremy Bonderman (Tigers)
451. Miguel Tejada (Astros)
559.  Moments card
1323. Mike Schmidt 20th anniversary retrospective
496.  Vincente Padilla Black Parallel

Pack 11:

87. Andy Pettite (Yankees) First dupe out of the box...
197. Juan Rivera (Angels)
289. Mike Gonzalez (Braves)
303. Jose Guillen (Royals)
518. Nationals Team Checklist
105. Francisco Liriano Black Parallel

Pack 12:

57. Bobby Crosby (Athletics)
301. Brian Bannister (Royals)
331. Curtis Granderson (Tigers)
483. Rich Aurilia (Giants)
523. Rockies Team Checklist
51.  Ross Ohlendorf Black Parallel

No hits yet, or no Jays for that matter...we'll keep on busting though...packs 13-18 next

thanks for reading, Robert...

2009 OPC Box Break...Packs 1 through 6

It's Wednesday...counting down to the weekend here....

Figured I'd post the first 6 packs that I cracked from the hobby box I received on Tuesday of 2009 OPC Baseball.  Each pack contains 6 cards, including one black bordered parallel.   A scan of the parallels/inserts is below.

Pack 1:

102. Doug Davis (Dbacks)
139. Ben Zobrist (Rays)
253. Josh Bard (Nationals)
305. Brad Ziegler (A's)
551. Moments card
25. Chien-Ming Wang  Black parallel

Pack 2:

65. Alexei Ramirez (White Sox)
277. Bill Hall (Brewers)
471. Juan Pierre (Dodgers)
553. Moments card
1318.  20th anniversary retrospectives (Yogi Berra)
31. Martin Prado Black parallel

Pack 3:

84. Scott Olsen (Nationals)
285. Josh Johnson (Marlins)
290. Carlos Delgado (Mets)
365. Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox)
531. Average leaders
113. Matt Capps Black parallel

Pack 4:

64. Chone Figgins (Angels)
255. Jeff Samardzija (Cubs)
353. Bob Howry (Giants)
457. Emmanuel Burriss (Giants)
538. ERA Leaders
505. Oakland A's checklist Black parallel.

Pack 5:

FF3.  Face of the Franchise (Eric Chavez)
87. Andy Pettite (Yankees)
89. Chris Snyder (Dbacks)
115. Max Scherzer (Dbacks)
579. David Freese (Cardinals RC)
479. Orlando Cabrera Black parallel

Pack 6:

WK10.  Walk off winners, Dioner Navarro
141. Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers)
217. Chris Young (Padres)
321. Manny Parra (Brewers)
584. Shawn Kelly (Mariners RC)
391. Ryan Dempster Black parallel.

Not too shabby so far...packs 7-12 next post...

Thanks for reading, Robert   (44 days)

I was so proud of myself last night because....

I cleaned my desk off...all the trades, and piles of cards to be mailed, and packs to be "processed" and put away...done, desk clean, even my wife couldn't believe it (I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to that).  Well, that went by the wayside today.  4 more envelopes arrived in the mail, and I'm sure that the mailman has a hernia after today's haul! 

Two group breaks arrived today, as well as 2 more trades...Blue Jays aplenty, some more cards off of my want list, and some interesting oddities/packs as well.  Where to begin....well, why don't I tie in one of the group breaks with the poll I ran last week asking what should I buy...

Let's start off with the group break from the Double D blog (sorry, but I've read enough of the blog and emails back and forth with Sam, and dimwit just doesn't apply here).  I jumped on the opportunity a few weeks back to get in on the group break from 2006 Artifacts, especially since my Blue Jays were tied in with the Angels and Royals.  Here we go...first, some neat cards from Upper Deck X and Timelines.

RIP Rick Adenhart

Three cards pictured here...Torii Hunter's is by far the coolest of the bunch, actually die cut in the shape of an 'X'.  The Rick Adenhart card snapped me back into reality for a moment; it made me remember that there were some very young pro athletes that passed on over the past few years.

















Next up are some cards that I really enjoyed seeing, again because I'd never seen them before.  2009 OPC baseball... I believe that these have convinced me to open a hobby box of 2009 OPC.  The card stock reminds me a lot of the early 2000's UD Vintage releases, and of course the OPC name for me is something I've enjoyed for a long time as well, going  back to my collecting days of the 70's.  Another plus is I found a hobby box online for $37+ s/h, so that will not break the bank for me. 

The next set to collect, 2009 OPC

Finally, some of the meat of the package, the jerseys/auto.

Another Jays auto, Gustavo Chacin, #'d 51/800.  Interesting to note that the card states that it was "sent to Upper Deck directly from Gustavo Chacin".  Why then use a sticker instead of hard signing the card itself?  Just askin...Both of the Ervin Santana jersey cards are gray swatches and serial numbered (the larger patch being 40/45!)









The envelope also included a pack of Bowman Platinum, which I'm gonna save for my "Packs Across America" post later this week. 

The Angels cards are up for trade, so if anyone is interested, just drop me a line.  Thanks again Sam for a great group break, it was enjoyed very much on this end.  

Thanks for reading, Robert...

Poll, letting the readers select what I buy

I hope this post finds you all safe and having enjoyed a great long holiday weekend.  On the right you will see a poll, letting you decide which hobby box I will purchase next.  If you vote other, please post in the comments what you would like to see broken and posted (as usual, most of the inserts/hits will be up for trade as well). 

Thanks for reading...Robert

50th post, Labor day weekend and a time to catch up, and move forward..

Hello all, hope that you're having a great holiday weekend so far.  The wife and I are away visiting family in upstate NY, so my cards and the ability to update want lists, etc are sitting there waiting for me back home.  I've been able to complete trades over the past two days with Greg over at Plaschke, thy sweater is argyle, and with reader Steve D. as well via email. 

Catching up means taking more time to look at a lot of blogs, especially their pasts and how they developed their blogging styles.  Seeing as I'm still the newbie(or one of them), I'm sure that I can create more of a style that suits me (of course styles are developed by taking stuff that you like writing about theme wise, and blending them with themes from other bloggers...imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, if you do it right).

These couple of days also will give me a chance to think about my own top list of cards that I would really like to own.  Thinking about it will probably lead me to two lists...one for baseball (top 25), and one for hockey (top 20).  I'm sure that you have figured out why it's 25 for baseball, and 20 for hockey, but I'm gonna go one step further, and make those lists represent an actual roster.  Now hockey is pretty much set the way that teams dress their skaters for each game (12 F, 6D and 2G), but baseball is a little different, based on the time of season, upcoming schedule (busier times of the season sometimes necessitate an extra pitcher on the roster), but I'm going to go with a more standard roster lineup (12 P, 2C 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 4 OF, 1 Middle Infielder, 1 Corner infielder, and a DH).  The cards from both sports will be a smattering of RC's, Jersey/Patch cards, autos, etc.   This will also give me an opportunity to learn more about players in both sports, especially guys that I loved to hate but really changed the game (Rickey Henderson for one), and other players that were part of my favorite teams growing up (Darryl Sittler, my all time favorite Maple Leaf).  Look for these posts coming over the next few weeks. 

In addition, another feature that I plan to start doing is "Packs across America".  My wife and I love to travel, and we have family spread out across the US and Canada.  Naturally, the card fiend that I am, I will take the opportunity to buy packs at a LCS or a big box store.  Look for those posts, and see if I have any better luck with packs when I travel than what I have locally.  I also may enlist some of my trade partners to help me out with this as well...look for that in a future post/email coming your way.

Another feature that I plan to do monthly is "hobby box of the month".  An earlier post of mine lamented the fact that I went 8 years between the purchase of hobby boxes.  Well, that is no more.  I plan to buy a hobby box once a month towards the end of the month to break and post for my readers.  It may be a current product, such as the '11 Heritage BB box I busted not too long ago, or something older that I may be trying to put a set together of (as long as I can find a hobby box). 

My Thursday posts that I've done over the past two weeks, the "random thoughts" will also continue.  Sometimes it's nice to not have to come up with a specific idea for a post, just random ideas or junk that pops into my head.

If you have anything you would like to see me write about/post..send me an email or post a comment, and I'll be sure to discuss it with you to maybe develop it further and feature it.  I also have an idea that will feature another blogger based on current topics that are hot in the blogosphere.  Lots of ideas, lots of time to get them rolling. 

Thank you for reading....Robert

Heritage hobby box break...packs 19-24

Final 6 packs everyone, including the promised hit that the box brings.   Here we go!

Pack 19:

98. Minnesota Twins team card
155. Brian Wilson (not the Beach Boy)
227. Cliff Lee
233. World Series Game 2
266. Jose Ceda
361. Randy Wolf
384. Oakland Athletics team card

Drum roll please............................the hit arrives!!

Dirty David

I do not believe that I have ever seen a game used card that actually had dirt on the jersey.  The scan actually doesn't do the dirt portion justice, there are some nice dark brown spots in the lower left hand corner.  For me, this was really cool.  I'm torn about whether I should keep the card or trade it, because I'm sure that there are David Wright collectors out there who might enjoy this card.
















Pack 20:

50. Albert Pujols
62. Brandon Inge
78. Matt LaPorta
191. Ryan Dempster
217. Don Mattingly
219. Jeremy Hellickson RC
256. Ruben Tejada
329. Yovanni Gallardo
337. Adam Laroche

Pack 21:

82. Kevin Kouzmanoff
92. Armando Galarraga (still was a crime what happened to him last year)
125. Vladimir Guerrero
161. Bobby Jenks
202. Corey Hart (does not wear his sunglasses at night)
341. Lorenzo Cain
385. Mark Buehrle
409. Pittsburgh Pirates team card
417. Lucas May RC

Pack 22:

7. Carlos Beltran
56. NL ERA Leaders
89. Jake Peavy
135. Babe as a boy (I really do like this idea of Babe Ruth subsets, I hope they continue this with other great players, such as Gehrig, Aaron, etc. )
290. Ty Wigginton
307. Jair Jurrjens
381. Orlando Cabrera
424. Leo Nunez
428. Josh Willingham SP

Pack 23:

80. Jay Bruce
111. Brad Lidge
119. Scott Cousins
146. Placido Polanco
158. Atlanta Braves team card
207. C.J. Wilson
356. Jose Bautista
380. Tim Hudson
451. Ben Revere SP

Pack 24: (last one!)

12. Brad Mills
53. AL HR leaders
105. Max Scherzer
222. Franklin Gutierrez
223. Ryan Theriot
251. Texas Rangers team card
328. Raul Ibanez
342. Zack Greinke

and the final card, a News flash backs insert: NF-5 Navy Seals are activated

All in all not a bad box, 8 high number SP cards, along with 2 Jackie Robinson SPs, a cool David Wright dirty relic card, a few inserts and some chrome cards to boot.  All the inserts and chromes are up for trade, and I'm willing to listen to any offers about the Wright card.  I also have quite a few doubles if anyone needs to finish their sets, take a quick look at the baseball for trade tab and see what you can find.

Thanks for reading, Robert...

Heritage hobby box break...packs 13-18

Good Monday morning to you all, I trust that your weekend was great and found you and yours safe from the hurricane that swept up the east coast.  Here we go with the continuation of the hobby box break of 2011 Heritage, packs 13-18.

Pack 13:

37. Bomber's Double Play Duo (Cano/Jeter)
101. Jacoby Ellsbury
156. Hank Conger
214. Chris Sale
319. Tim Lincecum
354. Hunter Pence
379. Travis Hafner
408. Chris Coughlan

and another Chrome card...a refractor no less.  C45 Adrian Beltre 425/562

Pack 14:

8. Brian Roberts
14. Carlos Pena
43. LA Dodgers team card
138. The Famous slugger (Jackie Robinson SP)
149. Ryan Franklin
184. Kurt Suzuki
317. Ichiro (10 straight 200 hit seasons)
386. Michael Cuddyer
473. Joe Mauer AS SP

Pack 15:

2. Francisco Cordero
32. Russell Martin
139. Babe Hits 60
198. Tony Larussa
210. Evan Meek
250. Joe Mauer
279. Bengie Molina
333. Lucas Duda
498. Rookie Parade SP

Pack 16:

57. AL win leaders
103. Brandon Phillips
211. Midway masters (Andrus/Kinsler)
244. Lars Anderson RC
295. Paul Maholm
305. Mike Aviles
327. Jose Lopez
391. Martin Prado

and another baseball flashbacks insert: BF-7 Harmon Killebrew

Pack 17:

38. Coco Crisp
139. Robinson Takes ROY Honors, Then MVP   (2nd Robinson SP)
200. Derek Jeter
215. Asdrubal Cabrera
221. Jeremy Guthrie
276. Darwin Barney RC
277. Pedro Alvarez
310. Andy Pettite
320. Jason Heyward

Pack 18:

21. Carl Pavano
102. Matt Capps
175. Adam Dunn
183. Mike Pelfrey
245. Jason Bartlett
377. Carlos Santana
378. Ubaldo Jimenez
406. Tyler Colvin
425. Kevin Youkilis

Also not a bad group of 6 packs here...a couple of Jackie Robinson variation SPs were nice pulls, along with the Beltre refractor and a couple more high number SPs.  All we have left is the last 6 packs, with the hit still to come (I promise you this as well, the hit is kind of dirty).

Thanks for reading, Robert

Heritage Hobby Box break...packs 7-12

Good day all, I hope your Sunday is going well.   Continuing on here with packs 7 through 12 of the Heritage hobby box break.

Pack 7:

11. Joe Nathan
41. Chris Valaika
188. Freddy Sanchez
218. Buster Posey
271. Jeremy Jeffress
288. Mike Stanton
344. Fernando Salas
416. Jim Leyland
491. Torii Hunter SP (not bad, 3rd SP out of the box already)

Pack 8:

10. Andrew McCutchen
70. Justin Morneau
91. Gaby Sanchez
131. Bret Sinkbeil RC
199. Aroldis Chapman RC
257. Scott Kasmir
291. Bobby Cramer RC
294. Phillies team card
and another insert card...NF-6 Dodger stadium opens its doors

not a bad pack here...3 RC's and an insert

Pack 9:

23. Carlos Lee
51. AL Batting Leaders
77. Chase Utley
114. Kyle Drabek RC
126. James Shields
303. Daric Barton
373. Carlos Gonzalez
375. James Loney
382. Casey McGehee

This was the first pack that didn't have an SP, Chrome or insert card...although it did have the Drabek RC and a couple of star cards in there.

Pack 10:

24. Tigers team card
59. AL strikeout leaders
169. Curtis Granderson
190. Todd Helton (This is either the 4th or 5th time I've pulled this card...)
246. Andrew Bailey
284. Jimmy Rollins
357. Brett Anderson
420. Miguel Montero

Pulled another insert here as well...NAP-2 Jim Thome

Pack 11:

15. Fausto Carmona
25. Starlin Castro
100. David Price
192. Florida Marlins team card
205. Scott Rolen
315. CC Sabathia tosses a curve (pictured below, I like these 4 panel cards)
393. Hanley Ramirez AS
399. Roy Halladay AS

Plus another insert...TN-2 Frank Robinson/Miguel Cabrera

Pack 12:

34. Ian Kinsler
65. Robinson Cano
72. Philly's men up the middle (Rollins/Utley)
267. B.J. Upton
281. Eduardo Nunez RC
283. Danny Valencia
301. Clay Buchholz
374. Charlie Manuel
459. John Buck SP

not a bad group of 6...plenty of RC's, 2 SP's and 3 inserts....still have yet to open the hit pack

Packs 13-18 will come tomorrow....thanks and keep on reading, Robert

It has been 8 (yes 8) years since I last....

Bought an actual hobby box of cards.   I thought about that today, I'm 100% positive that the last time I bought a hobby box of baseball cards it was for the 2003 Heritage set.  For eight long years, when I did buy cards, it was a pack or 2 at a time, or maybe a blaster box here and there.  I don't know what is worse, the fact that I went that long, or the fact that I actually remember the last one!!

Indeed, I followed history and bought a hobby box of '11 Topps Heritage today, and opened the first 6 packs.  I'll show them off to you here and start off with the box toppers.

Box toppers

The top picture is an advertising panel, which basically consists of an uncut sheet of 3 cards, in this case they are the NL HR leaders, Derek Lowe (who doesn't really look too impressed), and the San Diego Padres team photo.  On the back is some Topps advertising, along with the back of Roy Halladay's card (#453).  The other box topper was an actual buy back card from the 1962 set, card # 188, Chuck Hiller of the SF Giants.  The card is stamped in the lower left corner with a 50th anniversary foil logo, and to be honest, the card has been pretty worked over to say the least.  All 4 corners have wear, and as you can see the lower right corner is totally rounded.  The edges have some wear, and there are a couple of visible creases as well. 

What I'll do over the next 4 days is break the box 6 packs at a time and give everyone the rundown...so here we go!!

Pack 1:

26. Josh Thole
106. Yadier Molina
141. Babe's twilight years (I do like this subset)
177. J.A. Happ
180. Jim Thome (he of the 600 HR club...belated congrats to Jim)
302. Ramon Hernandez
311. Derek Jeter (Jeter turns the double play, a great 4 pic card)
396. Carlos Gonzalez (NL all star)
and a Chrome card, C82 Nyjer Morgan (0826/1962)

Pack 2:

4. Ben Zobrist
85. Ike Davis
88. Joe Girardi
172. Dusty Baker (2 straight manager cards)
254. Chris Carter (no, not the Viking WR)
275. Billy Butler
353. Neil Walker
369. Dan Haren
465. Cincinnati Reds SP team card (I haven't had many SP's in the packs I've bought so far)

Pack 3:

29. Terry Collins
48. CC Sabathia
49. Jordan Brown
164. Jason Kendall (2195 hits and 5th all time # of games caught..not too shabby)
186. Rick Ankiel
220. Ryan Howard
252. James McDonald
355. Brian Matusz
And....another chrome!!  C66 Bobby Cramer (Rookie) 0265/1962

Pack 4:

45. Evan Longoria
115. Alfonso Soriano (1 of 2 contracts that got Jim Hendry canned)
142. Babe's Coaching for the Dodgers (this I did not know)
160. Garrett Jones (they should have left him at 1st Base all year, he can't play right field)
179. Mat Latos (inside joke to Chris at Nachos Grande...see, I get Latos' cards also!)
234. Rangers Retaliate (Game #3 of WS)
235. Bumgarner Baffles Bats (Game #4 of WS)
347. Nyjer Morgan (what would make this set even better IMO, would have been making the chrome cards have different photos from the base cards)
Finally, BF-2 Brooks Robinson of the Orioles slams Kansas City

Pack 5:

71. Jonathan Sanchez (again same photo as Chrome card, see yesterdays' post)
124. Brian Duensing
127. Pride of the A's (Braden/Cahill)
178. A.J. Pierzynski
324. Tommy Hunter (not the country singer)
331. Mike Leake (I can hear the Bermanism now...Mike "gotta take a........")
346. Felix Hernandez
411. Michael Young

Another insert finishes off this pack.  TN-4 Then and Now (Aparicio/Pierre)

Pack 6:

74. Hanley Ramirez
79. Jordan Zimmerman
109. Ted Lilly
150. Miguel Cabrera
212. Roy Oswalt
280. Hiroki Kuroda
334. Tampa Bay Rays team photo
364. Russell Branyan
435. Huston Street SP (Huston was born in Austin, figure that one out...)

there you have it folks...packs 1-6.  2 Chrome cards, 2 SP's, and 2 inserts...not too shabby so far.   Packs 7-12 to come tomorrow....

Thanks for reading, Robert...