Mail Day!!

I haven't bought any cards in awhile and with some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, I surfed over to Dave and Adam's Card World. I purchased one of their combos which was a box of 2007 SP Authentic, a box of 2007 SP Rookie Edition and a tin of 2007 Sweet Spot Classic. I also bought a box of 2008 Heritage High Numbers in order to start that set as I'm trying to do the whole 2008 Heritage set and am well on my way. I also got 2 packs of 2007 UD Elements as a free gift from D&A. Elements might be the most useless product I have ever opened a pack of. And that includes Topps Lazer. We'll start off with the 2007 SP Rookie Edition. There's good "rookies" in this set with Josh Hamilton, Tim Lincecum, Dice K and a few others. The rookie cards are done in various designs of Upper Deck SP of the past, much like Timeline, which I enjoy them using old designs. The box also had 2 rookie signatures per box. This is what I pulled:Kory Casto? Hmm...ok. Last year in 2008, Kory played in 66 games for the Nationals hitting .215 with 2 home runs and 16 RBI. He's not exactly lighting up the place. He's listed as OF on the card, yet the MLB site lists him as a 3B. So this means he's a pinch hitting utility player. Ok, so not a great card, but at least he's someone who's in MLB still. Next we have....Joe Smith, a pitcher from the Mets. Joe is now with the Cleveland Indians, but played last year with the Mets. He appeared in 82 games last year with a 6-3 records, 3.55 ERA and a .220 BAA. Joe appears to be a very good relief pitcher and should have a good career ahead of him. The only problem with this card is the ding at the top middle of it. It's hard to see on the scan, but it's there and it's really noticeable in person. Oh well. Let's move on to 2007 SP Authentic. The big thing with Authentic was the 2 By The Letter autographed patches that came in the box. Some people like them and some people hate them and I have never seen one really up close, so I thought this would be a good chance to get a few. Colation in this box is great as I'm only missing 4 cards out of the base set of 100 and I'll put these up on my need list ASAP. Now on to my hits

A rookie signature of Brad Salmon 20/75. Brad, a pitcher, for some reason is holding a bat on the card. Salmon now plays for the White Sox and didn't play in MLB in 2008. In 2007, he played in 26 games for the Reds with an 0-1 record and a 4.13 ERA. I got one more of these and it's much better than this one.Alex Gordon 23/25. Alex had a decent year last year with KC hitting .260 in 493 ABs with 16 HRs and 59 RBIs. Alex turns 25 next month so this should be the year that he starts his upswing of talent as he's been a highly regarded prospect for a long time. Now having some of these By The Letter cards, I really like them. I think they are well done. The Alex Gordon with the gold signature looks very classy and I like the shadow work on the "O" in Salmon's card. I know there are a few who are not fond of these, but I have no problem whatsoever with them. Now the manufactured letters with stickers on them or no auto, I'm not a fan of those, but these are just fine.

I'm not going to post anything about the Hertiage High Series as I got that just for the base cards. My hit of the box was an Aramis Ramirez plain grey game-worn jersey swatch. Nothing to get excited over. I didn't get a buy back and my refractors and chrome arn't anything to write home about. However, I'm saving the best for last. This tin of Sweet Spot is the first one pack product that I've bought. The tin was a Babe Ruth tin, so I was hoping for something big. I got 2 base cards #/575 of Jose Canseco and Judy Johnson. My hits were as follows.
An unnumbered swatch of Donnie Baseball. For some reason, I find Mattingly as one Yankee that I don't hate. I don't know why. Next:
A Sweet Spot Classic Sig of Dave Winfield 43/75. Hey a Hall of Famer! I could have done a lot worse. I also would have liked to have a sig that wasn't faded all to hell. I knew when I saw Mario's post that these things do fade, but man, seeing it in person is a different thing. It's really worse that the scan shows. I think it was a black ink sig and there's all kids of bleeding of the pen. And I know exactly why. The "balls" that the players are signing are basically plastic. This is the first time I've been able to feel one of the cheaper materials and the only cow this ball came from is one that's made by Mattel. UD needs to use better quality materials in order to make these sigs last. This is just ridiculous. I bet you're all wondering why I showed the Sweet Spot before the other swatch card. This is why:
Harold Baines patch 24/55. It's a really great 2 color patch. If I was Captain Ebay, it'd be a 3 color patch because there's literally 2 threads of white in the bottom left corner, but it's a 2 color. I really like this patch. Great stiching and great Sox colors. Overall, I think I did pretty well with these boxes and I really had fun busting them. If I knew that all the Sweet Spots I got wouldn't be faded, I might buy some more Sweet Spot Classic, but the fading might keep me away. But all in all, money well spent.

2008 Allen and Ginter Dual Box Break

What you're going to get from this break of boxes is stats, pictures and a bit of commentary:

Box 1:
1 Cabinet Card (Battle of the Alamo)
Base: 143/350 (40.85% complete)
Doubles: 0
Short Prints: 12/50
State Flags: 22/50
Autos/Relics: 2 relics (R. Furcal Bat, B. Crosby Jersey)
World's Greatest Victories: 1/20 (Man Walks on the Moon)
Pioneers of Aviation: 1 (Piloted Glider)
World Leaders: 2 (Norway, Mongolia)
Allen and Ginter Minis: 13
Allen and Ginter Backed Minis: 6 (B. Butler, J. Papelbon, A. Pujols, G. Atkins, A. Huff, F. Hernandez)
Black Bordered Minis: 2 (A-Rod, J. Votto)


Box 2:
1 Cabinet Card (Three No-Nos)
Base: 144/350 (41.14% Complete)
Doubles: 0
Short Prints: 12/50
State Flags: 20/50
Autos/Relics: 3 Relics (A. Dunn Jersey, T. Helton Jersey, A. Kearns Bat) 1 Auto (O. Hudson)
World's Greatest Victories: 1/20 (Bill Mazeroski)
Pioneers of Aviation: 1 (Ornithopter)
World Leaders: 2 (Brazil, South Korea)
Baseball Legends: 1 (Pee Wee Reese)
Allen and Ginter Minis: 12
Allen and Ginter Backed Minis: 6 (Wild Bill Hickok, J. Smoltz, A. Romero, J. Chestnut, L. Hochever, R. Ohlendorf)
Black Bordered Minis: 2 (A-Rod, J. Votto)


Boxes Combined:
Base: 281/350 (80.29% Complete)
Doubles: 6
Triples: 0
Short Prints: 24/50

I've been waiting for this set ever since last year and I can say that Topps really didn't disappoint. The first box was scant, but the second box was packed. 4 autogamers as well as a pleathora of other inserts made me a happy camper. Having only 6 doubles between the boxes is incredible and a set collectors dream. The World Leaders insert is better than last year's Flags in my opinion and I love the Pioneers of Aviation. I was surprised to pull the same 2 black bordered cards from both boxes, however. I might try and collect all of the baseball legend minis. Trying to complete the whole mini set will be a pain this year due to so many mini inserts. Maybe retail will relieve this. I haven't decided if I'm going to buy another box or just go strictly retail and trading from here on out, but I think box prices will determine that. Overall, I think that this, once again, might be the best set of the year.

2008 Topps Chrome Blaster Break

I'm heading to Mississippi for a week on Saturday, but I bought a blaster at Target because I really enjoy this set.

Bonus Pack:

TCCP3 Matt Holliday

TCCP4 Luke Hochevar

These are done in the 400 series designs like what came inserted with the Heritage blaster packs, but they're full sized and chrome.

Pack 1:

99 Nick Markakis

MMSC52 Mickey Mantle Story

MHRC536 Mickey Mantle Home Run History

214 Clete Thomas

2 inserts in a pack...but not ones I would have hoped for

Pack 2:

115 Joe Blanton

C105 Topps Heritage Chrome Johan Santana

101 Randy Johnson Blue Refractor

49 Scott Rolen

I really REALLY like the blue refractors

Pack 3:

67 Roy Halladay

TCHC9 Joe Mauer Trading Card History 1941 Play Ball

200 Elliot Johnson XFractor

77 Carlos Ruiz

Pack 4:

39 Brad Penny

163 Greg Maddux

72 Brandon Phillips Copper Refractor

150 Homer Bailey

It's kinda hard for me to tell the copper refractors from a gold on the first glance. But then you look again and you can tell it's copper.

Pack 5:

79 Paul Konerko

TCHC8 Albert Pujols 1916 Zeenuts

96 Jered Weaver Refractor

170 Yadier Molina

Jesse Jackson wants to cut off Zeenuts!

Pack 6:

143 Carlos Lee

55 Orlando Hudson

178 Jo Jo Reyes XFractor

166 Michael Young

If I were Joe Collector, I'd call this Jo Jo MoJo.

Pack 7:

11 Yovani Gallardo

194 Adam Jones

33 Jeremy Hermida XFractor

122 Chone Figgins

Overall, I enjoyed my purchase. The blue refractors are the best of the bunch. They should have just made the whole set blue.

2008 Spectrum

I went and got a blaster of Spectrum last night. No detailed breakdown, but you'll see how the box went in the style of a 1st grader: 2 words or less and pictures.

Meh.

Decent.

Better.
MUCH Better.
Best.

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

Two boxes of 2008 Heritage are better than one! Here's a double box break:

Box 1:

I opened up the box to find a 3 panel strip and a buy back. Here's my buy back:

Joe played in the Major Leagues for 13 seasons (1948-1962) with his best season being in 1951 when he had 304 at-bats, hit .260 with 8 home runs and 37 RBI. Not the best card, but I love having old cards, no matter how good the player. 

Now the 3 card strip:OH...MY...GOSH! I about crapped myself when I pulled this out. This is like the best box topper EVER. Tex, Smoltz, The Jones Boys....this has it all. Dayf, eat your heart out.

Now, the box stats:
Base Set: 154/500 (30.8%)
Doubles: 0
Black Backs: 24
Chrome Parallel: 3 (Matt Cain 1141/1959, Vernon Wells 1159/1959, Miguel Cabrera 1176/1959)
Refractor Parallel: 1 (Felix Hernandez 85/559)
News Flashbacks: 2 (Clutter Family, Fidel Castro)
Baseball Flashbacks: 1 (Orlando Cepeda)
Then and Now: 2 (Eddie Matthews and A-Rod, Johnny Podres and Eric Bedard)
Clubhouse Collection Relics: 2 (David Ortiz, Eric Chavez)
I really don't know if I could have asked more of this box. If they would have thrown me an auto and a relic instead of 2 relics, it might have made it better, but I'm not really sure. But this was a great box. OK on to Box 2

No buy back in this one, but here is my 3 card strip from the 2nd box:

Goodness, that's a strip of straight suck. And a Matt Capps pink card. Ugh. Ok, box stats:

Base Set: 157/500 (31.4%)
Black Backs: 24
Chrome Parallel: 3 (Ben Sheets 1150/1959, Jose Valverde 1160/1959, Francisco Rodriguez 1456/1959)
Refractor Parallel: 1 (James Shields 76/559)
News Flashbacks: 2 (Luna 2, Dalai Lama)
Baseball Flashbacks: 2 (Mickey Mantle, Ernie Banks)
Then & Now: 1 (Orlando Cepeda and Magglio Ordonez)
New Age Performers: 1 (Brandon Webb)
Real One Autographs: 1 (Bob Blaylock)




















The second box was nowhere as good as the first, however I did get an autograph which is an on-card signature. Bob only appeared in 17 Major League games in his career with 3 of those coming in 1959. He pitched 9 innings, gave up 8 hits, struck out 3 and had an ERA of 4.00. Once again, not a great player, but I'm very glad to have his signature.

This set is going to be a complete beast to put together especially if you're trying to do the master set (which I am). It'll take a minimum of 4 boxes to get the complete set and with the short prints and all, it'll take more than 4. Since there isn't a clear short print checklist out yet and only postulations (actually, Beckett.com has a listing, but I'm too lazy to go through everything again), I held off on listing how many of those I got, but they're 1:3 packs so I should have gotten 8 or so in each box. I'm going to put all these cards in pages and I'll update everyone on what the combined total of the completed set is once I've finished.  And just so everyone knows, this is a really hot product right now.  My dealer told me that wholesale prices on boxes have gone up $17 since Wednesday.  Get 'em quick!

St. Valentine's Day Massacre!!!!

Why this title? Because there's more wrappers in my living room floor than bodies left by Capone at the massacre. It's time for a Triple Box Break!!! 2 hobby boxes of Topps 2008 and one hobby box of the product-that-shall-not-be-named. To see the insert ratios for Topps, see Chris Harris' post at Stale Gum.

2008 Topps Box 1

Base Set:
298/330 (90.30%)
Doubles: 0

Parallels:
18 Gold Foil
4 Gold parallel (Y. Escobar, B. Geren, E. Bonifacio RC, O. Hudson)

Inserts:
4 Campaign 2008 (M. Huckabee, R. Giuliani, J. Edwards, H. Clinton)
6 Own The Game (D. Ortiz, C. Pena, B. Penny, L. Berkman, A-Rod, R. Howard)
2 Mickey Mantle Story (53, 54)
4 Mickey Mantle Home Run (502, 534, 535, 536)
6 Year In Review (A. Miller, R. Johnson, R. Furcal, F. Lewis, D. Young, J. Kent)
8 50th Anniversary Topps All-Star Rookie (R. Swoboda, A. Jones, A. Pujols, A. Dawson, C.C. Sabathia, D. Jeter, A. Soriano, D. Johnson)
6 Trading Card History (J. Upton, R. Clemens, M. Teixeira & J. Francoeur, T. Lincecum, H. Okajima, C. Maybin)
1 Stealth Insert (K. Uzuki)
1 All-Star Game Patch Relic Card (D. Wright #300/499)

That was a great box. The All-Star Game Patch Relics are awesome awesome cards, even though I did get a Met. Lots of inserts and parallels. Next box!

2008 The Product-that-shall-not-be-named

Base set:
300/400 (75%)
Doubles: 1
Triples: 0

Inserts:
8 O-Pee-Chee (H. Pence, D. Matsuzaka, D. Wright, E. Renteria, E. Bedard, G. Sheffield, D. Ortiz, D. Lee)
4 Yankee Stadium Legacy (2935 - M. Skowron, 2960 - Y. Berra, 3010 - Y. Berra, 2985 - T. Kubek)
2 Presidential Predictors (J. McCain/T. Williams, M. Romney/C. Fisk)
2 Game Used (A. Pettitte - 97 style, D. Jeter)
1 Signature Sensations (B. Harris)

Decent box, but I love the photography on the base cards. If there's one qualm I have with Topps, it's that their photos are always so blah and are often reused a ton. I also got a game-used piece of jersey from who might be the most honest cheater ever. Next box!

2008 Topps Box 2

Base Set:
299/330 (90.60%)
Doubles: 0

Parallels:
18 Gold Foil
4 Gold Parallel (O. Hernandez, R. Harden, C. Izturis, C. Cordero)

Inserts:
7 50th Anniversary Topps All-Star Rookie (J. Francoeur, S. Rolen, D. Willis, G. Sheffield, A. Kearns, J. Rollins, D. Gooden)
6 Year In Review (C. Young, T. Helton, A. Beltre, M. Reynolds, J. Accardo, C. Delgado)
6 Own The Game (V. Gurrero, C. Pena, J. Thome, R. Howard, M. Cabrera, C. Lee)
6 Trading Card History (D. Matsuzaka, C. Buchholz, M. Mantle, P. Fielder, J. Chamberlain, A-Rod)
4 Campaign 2008 (J. Biden, B. Richardson, M. Romney, F. Thompson)
1 Stealth Insert (K. Uzuki)
1 2007 Highlights Auto (S. Moore)

Another good box. I beat the odds and got an auto and really love the trading card history insert set. Overall, I think Topps is the better bust for sure than that other brand.

I'll be back later tonight with the contest winners. You've still got 25 minutes!

2007 SP Legendary Cuts Dual Box Break

I was somehow able to get these boxes at a price that was pretty much buy one get one free, so I did. Here’s how I fared:

Box 1
Regular Set: 46/100 (46%)
Doubles: 0
Short Prints: 1 (#153 Babe Ruth numbered 71/550)
Inserts:
Legendary Americana: 1 (Calvin Coolidge 302/550)
Masterful Materials: 2 (MM-RS Ryne Sandberg Bat, MM-RJ Reggie Jackson Away Jersey)
Legendary Materials Dual: 1 (MM-RJ2 Reggie Jackson Home Jersey 092/125)I got 3 memorabilia inserts, with one of those being a dual, in a box that says it should only have around one. And how can you not like getting a card of Ryno? So I was quite happy as well as having a SP of The Babe and a card of our one of our Presidents looking quite curmudgeonly.





Box 2
Regular Set: 45/100 (45%)
Doubles:0
Short Prints: 1 (#170 Jimmie Foxx 246/550)
Inserts:
Legendary Americana: 1 (Kit Carson 391/550)
Masterful Materials: 1 (MM-JR Jim Rice Home Jersey)
Legendary Signatures: 1 (LS-SC2 Steve Carlton 154/199)

Not as many inserts, but I did get an autograph of a Hall of Famer and a jersey swatch of someone who could maybe get in to the HOF next year.

Overall, I really like this set. Great look to the cards and really good inserts. I’d buy more of thse. Now, I need to see how close I came to having the whole set, minus short prints, of 100 cards out of the 2 boxes. But this was a good couple boxes.