Contest Winners!!!

I had a very low turn out for the contest with only 2 entries.  So they both win!  See people, all you had to do was write me a short blurb and you'd get free cards.  Tisk, tisk.  Our first winner is Jeremiah from Topps Traders.  Here's what he wrote:

"My wife really doesn't understand why I collect baseball cards, but she is very supportive, financially and time-wise.  I like to buy a random box of 5 or 10 thousand random cards occasionally and she is great at organizing so without asking she always jumps in and starts sorting by brand then year.  I haven't got her to collate yet, but I think she will come around."

our other, and final, winner is Jeff from On Base Autos:

"Woke up this morning to make my wife breakfast for Valentines Day.  you see, we both teach but I am off today through Monday for winter break.  We don't normally give each other much more than a card.  So I was being really nice by cooking.  I am cooking away and both boys are up and I am trying to get the ready while cooking and they arn't cooperating.  I am not having a good morning.  Just when I am about to snap, my wive comes in and gives me my gift.  Thinking I was just getting a card I wasn't real excited until I looked.  She got me 10 packs of Topps 08 and 2 packs of UD 08.  She also got the boys 3 packs each of the Topps.  Needless to say, my morning got a whole lot better."

Guys thanks for your entries.  I'll be getting with you soon to get your addresses and everything to send you out your prizes.

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!

Happy Valentines Day!

It's Valentine's Day or as some prefer to celebrate Singles Awareness Day. But I've decided to run a little contest. E-mail me by 9 PM EST tonight (2/14/08) with a story involving collecting and your significant other or ex-significant other. It can be funny, sad, sweet or just down right strange or anything whatesoever. The 5 best will be posted later tonight and they will all get a surprise from me in the mail. One caveat, the surprise will be mailed in a regular white standard sized envelope if appropriate. So send away!

UPDATE:  I'm extending the deadline to midnight because that's when V-Day is over isn't it?