Monday, January 31, 2011

random pack monday plus!

So here we are with this weeks winner of the pack pick vote, 1994 Topps Finest series 1. I wasn't really surprised that you guys picked this one as the winner, it's an awesome set. I remember when it first came out, hearing about how packs were going for something absurd like $10 a pack. CRAZY!!!!

Here is what we got, not too shabby really:

Tino Martinez, Juan Gonzalez, Wally Joyner, Darryl Strawberry? This pack would have been a goldmine in 1994. I also didn't know Tom Henke was a Ranger. At least I got a Jay out of it that I don't believe I have yet. And Bryan Harvey. I haven't seen a refractor from this set probably since it came out. I never bought these as a kid, ten bucks was way out of my price range for a pack of cards. Even though it was put out in 1994, can it still be considered 'junk wax'? I mean, where does that era end? Maybe basic stuff is 'junk', while sets like this are still considered to be worth it. No idea, I guess its all subjective.

Now. On to what I was talking about yesterday. As Can't Have Too Many Cards has already mentioned, today has a quite few birthdays:

Jackie Robinson, 1919.

Ernie Banks, 1931.

Nolan Ryan, 1947.

Brad Thompson, 1982.

Yuniesky Betancourt, 1982

...and this guy, also in 1982:

Oh wait. That's me in 1991. Yeah, I played some flag football for the town league that year. They took photos of the team and individually, and the individual ones came with the option to have made into cards. My "rookie" card. I've had this lying around since 1991 and gave it to my wife (then girlfriend) about 3 years ago. She wouldn't sell it for the world (well, maybe...), and considers it the most valuable card ever printed. Take that Honus! Well, its really a photo with a sticker back that has some info on it, like the team (Browns), height, weight, hometown, etc. Just like a real card! Kinda...

Sunday, January 30, 2011

pack pick results

In an unsurprising 8 out of 10 vote landslide, 1994 Topps Finest is the clear winner for tomorrow's featured pack. I don't blame you, '94 Finest is a great looking set. Here is a breakdown of the results:

1994 Topps Finest: 8 votes
2003 Topps series 2: 1 vote
2005 Topps series 2: 1 vote
2002 Topps series 2: 0 votes (no love for '02)


In actuality, 2003 was a series 1 pack. I didn't notice I canned the wrong pack until it was posted up and I checked out the picture. Since I messed that up, I decided that the 2003 pack would be today's runner up. Here it is:

Kind of a boring wrapper design if you ask me. I'm usually all for minimalism but this is jus plain boring. Lets hope the contents do better.

Ok, here we go, I can deal with this. Way back when I did set reviews (remember those? I think I'll be bringing that back soon), and collecting Topps base sets, I ranted on how much I liked 2003 Topps. I can't put my finger on why I dig it so much but I do. So we got a pair of Carlos' on the Royals in Beltran and Febles, a checklist, two first year guys who I've never heard of (yes that includes the Jay), a Thome, and a father and son duo in Bob Boone and Aaron Boone. Now thats a pack! Well maybe not but it is pretty uncommon to get a father/son combo in a pack unless you're buying up '88 Topps and getting Cal Ripken and his father's manager card.

Tomorrow will be the regularly scheduled Random Pack Monday but there will also be a second part to the post that involves the most valuable rookie card ever produced, according to my wife. WHAT CAN IT BE??? Stay tuned...

Thursday, January 27, 2011

pick yer poison round 2


Here we go with another round of pack pickin' fun! This week we have to choose from:

1994 Topps Finest Series 1
2002 Topps Series 2
2003 Topps Series 2
2005 Topps Series 2

Yes, I went with the series 2 theme. The pack with the most votes will be opened up for Monday's random pack and the second place will be opened up Sunday morning. Polls close Sunday morning. Vote now for the one you want to see here on Monday!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

vernon on the left coast


So. It seems that Vernon has been traded. The only active player I currently collect. The guy I thought to myself, just two weeks ago, would be the perpetual Blue Jay. Who would probably retire as a Jay. Nope. No longer. He got traded to these guys:

Oh sure, its a logo they no longer use from the 70's but it gets the point across. Now, upon hearing this news, I immediately thought of my collection. What would I do with it now? I can't possibly collect him any longer because he doesn't play for Toronto. Then I thought about things logically. Would folk who collect Ken Griffey Jr. no collect him because he got traded from the Mariners to the Reds? Maybe a few but I'm willing to bet the majority would stick by him and collect him as a player they enjoy watching and following. I decided to continue collecting him no matter where he ends up.

Logically it also makes sense for the team itself. By not having to pay his hefty contract, they are free to buy up some younger talent and build a young, competitive team. A team that can hopefully contend with the likes of the ultra tough AL East. The Yankees and Sox are always on top. Baltimore had a really horrible start to the 2010 season but really picked up steam towards the end and I feel they will be a major competitor this coming season. Tampa Bay seems to be in shambles but they did pick up two aging sluggers in Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez but we'll see if that does anything for them. All in all, while I am not fully a fan of this trade, I do know and understand why Toronto did what they did. Its just good business. I wish Mr. Wells the best in LA (or California or Anaheim or what ever they want to be called this year) and I'll poke my head around to see how he fares over there.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

argyle trade (plus posey update)


A trade post?? Its been too long since I've posted one and I'll strive to do more in this year. So I checked out Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle and his want list. I noticed I had many 1989 Topps he needed for his set. I put them all together, added some Dodgers stuff and sent the box on its way. In return, he sent me some Jays for my ever growing Blue Jays collection. Seriously, I must be up to almost 4000 so far. Below are four of my favorites from the contents:

Yes, that is a 1990 Jimmy Key. Jimmy was my favorite player growing up so any card of his is always welcomed. The Wells mini is fantastic too (more on him tomorrow). The Hentgen is kind of a cool swirly shiny, while the Halladay is just flat awesome (I assume this is the card you hoped I didn't have, which I don't). Thanks a bunch for adding to the box, it seems to never stop growing!

In other news, "Posey Watch" is in full effect.

I listed him up on eBay last night. Its going rather well and I anticipate it to end around $200. We'll see.

Monday, January 24, 2011

random pack monday

So here we are with another edition of Random Pack Monday. Today, as per your voting, will feature 1984 Topps. The key cards from this set are the Don Mattingly and Darryl Strawberry rookies.

Same old green they used in 1990 also. Same design for the packs they used from around 1982 to 1990 (1991 was kinda like those). Lets see what we got:

Overall a blah pack really. Ron Guidry and Dennis Eckersley are the highlights here, maybe the leaders card. I really like the '84 set. Its got a nice design and holds up well even today without looking dated (unlike 1990 Topps). Classy all the way. Even though the pack was uneventful, it was still a good rip. Old packs are fantastic to rip even though a card is usually ruined by gum (like poor Mike Scott was in this pack).

In a related but totally unrelated sort of news, I recently purchased the other 12 cards I needed for the exclusive Chrome wrapper redemption set. Remember my original pack included the Mantle, Davis and Posey cards. Apparently each pack is the same configuration, meaning you will get the same three each time you see Ike on top. Well, I also bought an unopened one from a seller for around 6 bucks. It came today and contained the same three cards I got from Topps, with an exception, check it out:

What of all the dumb luck. The Posey auto numbered 07/90. In-freaking-credible. Here I was totally regretting buying the pack because I had bought them all already and it comes today with that. Now, as awesome as this is, this card has sold on eBay for $250 and $293. Those were the only two that had ended within the last 30 or so days. I believe this one may join them.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

pack pick results

So the results are in. The voting for Monday's pack has closed and the results are:

1984 Topps- 4 votes
1997 Topps- 2 votes
2000 Topps- 3 votes
1987 Sportflics- 3 votes

1984 Topps is the winner and will be shown on Monday. We have a tie for second between the Sportflics and 2000 Topps. How do I remedy this? Well, how about I do them both up right now? Lets start with:

1987 Sportflics. Score before it was Score. I may have opened up one of these when I was younger but I really have no idea. So we'll call it something new that I've never opened. Lets see what we got:

These don't scan particularly well. We got a (from left to right) Pedro Guerrero, Bruce Hurst and Cecil Cooper. Also in the pack was a redemption/send-away thingie for team logo pins and two team mini-flix of the Dodgers and Orioles. This set is quite interesting, Sportflics always have been. They tried to bring them back I think in the late 80's/early 90's but I'm not sure they were successful.

Next up is the 2000 Topps:

Definitely a pack I've never opened, as we see 'then home run king' Mr. McGwire on the front here being that he was all the rage in 2000. Lets see the contents:

Decent pack. A Jay, Bret Saberhagen (who I've always known to be a Royal but looking at the back he's played for a couple other teams), Tim Raines and a Vlad. I've never heard of either of the draft picks on that card and hey, we got an insert! A Power Players Albert Belle (odds 1:8 packs). A checklist too. 2000 Topps is an interesting issue. Its all vertical, front and back, which is unusual for Topps but I think I really like. Reminds me of early Fleer stuff. Well, mid-80's to early 90's Fleer stuff.

That about does it. Was this a good idea? I like the idea of Random Pack Mondays and even more I like the voting on which you'd like to see. I like to make things interactive. Plus its better seeing and reading about something you chose to be written about. More fun that way. So I think I'll keep this idea going. I'll post the packs to pick from on Thursday, end the voting on Sunday morning, rip open the second place pack and save the winner for Monday. Sound good? Until tomorrow, when 1984 looms above us. Did I get the Mattingly rookie? We'll just have to wait and see...

Saturday, January 22, 2011

new additions


No, not to my ever-growing baseball card accumulation. I'm talking about the blog world. If you'll notice, to the right and down a little, I have a super long section of blogs I read regularly. If you update it, I'll check it out. Within the last few days though, I've seemed to add a bunch of blogs to the list, which is now up to 84. Here are a few I've just added:

Justin's World
Dawgbones, a Phillies Phan!
The Green Card
Enough Already
Cards from the Quarry
Donruss 1982
Clear Cut Cards
Off the Wall

Check them out if you haven't already. Some are brand new and a couple I've just found out about now. There may have even been a few I've added within the last 2 weeks that I didn't have listed above but I think I covered the newest ones I've added. If I haven't added you to my sidebar, let me know and I'll check it out and add the link to the list. There seems to be so many blogs out there. It's really great to see that there is such a strong desire to write about something as simple as baseball cards (or other sports cards for that matter). Simple but after seeing the many different collections and approaches to collecting, this hobby is a lot more complex than some people would be led to believe. Sure it is a lot of opening packs, sorting out cards and finishing sets but when it comes down to specific collecting goals and an individual collector's collections (too many uses of 'collect'!), things get largely diverse. That's probably what I like most about this whole blogging experience, is seeing what others do with their cards and how or what they collect. Trading is good too, it makes us feel like were at the schoolyard again, trading with friends and getting stuff were collecting and looking for. Here's to a great 2011 in the blogging community to each and every one of you!

Friday, January 21, 2011

toss me the ball, grandma!


Is it just me, or does Steve here look like someone's grandmother? He looks like an old lady! I apologize to all of Mr. Trout's fans for this observation but I felt it needed to be said. Maybe its just my warped sense of reality, I don't know. I pulled this out of a lackluster pack of 1986 Topps yesterday.

Speaking of packs, be sure to vote on which pack you'd like to see opened up for Monday. Use yesterday's post comments to cast your vote if you have not done so already. Its easier to keep track of if its all done on one post. I'll end voting by the time I wake up on Sunday morning. Maybe what I'll do is bust open the runner-up and save the winner for Monday. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Vote now!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

pick yer poison

My lot of packs came in today. Some really random stuff (including a pack of the following: 1992 Collector's Edge football, 1991 Fleer basketball, 1991 Upper Deck basketball and 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces baseball, go figure) but all in all it was mostly Topps baseball. I opened up a few of the packs and got nothing of note. I did mention that I would let you, the readers, pick next Monday's random pack. Here are your choices:

2000 Topps series 1, 1997 Topps series 1, 1984 Topps and 1987 Sportflics (collector's edition apparently). The 1984 should hold something good but I've never opened up 2000 or 1997. Sportflics (I don't know why I picked it) should be.....entertaining....

Anyway, leave a comment on which one you'd like to see opened up for next Monday and whichever gets the most votes gets revealed. If a pack gets no votes, it will be out of the running and will be doomed to a box that I will probably just open up later. Vote now!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

in the mail...


I feel like another giveaway. I have one 200 count card box and I'll fill it with random Topps cards. Anything from basic stuff to inserts to sets they may not make anymore. A little bit of everything. I'll try not to make it too much 2010 series 1, 2 or Update, although there will be some. First one to comment and send me an email gets the box. In the email, include your address, even though chances are I may have it. I would prefer the person who claims it to be someone I haven't sent stuff to already. I'll send the box out next time I go to the post office, which will be soon, and shortly it'll be..........in the mail!! (lame...I know...)


You know what? I'll do one for Upper Deck too.


Two boxes for two commenters. Claim 'em now! (in the comment and email state which box you want)

Monday, January 17, 2011

random pack monday


First, I would like to acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr. day today. Being a fan of history, I feel he led one of the most important social causes in America. Its really too bad that people like him and John Lennon, who only tell people to get together and stop the hate, live in peace and spread the love, get killed because of their views. Too tragic, but their legacies live on, with the spirit and emotion that they gave to us and left behind when they were taken too early from us as a people. The legacy of Dr. King lives on as strong and empowered as it always was.

Now, on to less serious matters. Random pack Monday! Today we feature this pack:

2010 Bowman Platinum retail. I have seen the huge division over this set and it seems that either you love it or you hate it. I happen to like it quite a bit. As I stated in an earlier post, I feel its a good mix of veterans and rookies without so many no names, as Bowman tends to have so many of. Here is what I got:

As you can see, retail packs feature four cards, as opposed to hobby's five. This pack was pretty good. I got the Wells I needed and it had an Ike Davis (I like Ike, remember). I don't know Sonny or Felix but they'll be for the set if I decide to end up finishing it off. I'm always a sucker for shiny and this set is nothing but.

Next week's Monday pack will be chosen by you. I have some Topps packs coming in the mail and later on this week when they come, I'll pick a few out and you guys pick which one you want me to open. We'll continue this until I run out of packs, I guess. One last thing of note is that my wife has gotten her blog up and running kibblez-n-britz, about her various adventures in cooking. So if you are into some good cooking (and I think she is going to start adding her knitting up there too at some point), check it out. It's good eats!

Friday, January 14, 2011

warped!

Ok, so what's the deal with Topps? They have us send our wrappers to them, make us redeem codes online for cards, and they come back with these:

Yeah, the chrome legends and rookie variations are awesome. The Red Hot Rookies are great too. I went a little nuts and finished off both small sets for my "2010 Topps variations" binder. Also in that binder is my work-in-progress legends variation sets from series 1, 2 and Update (if you have any please let me know, I'll trade well for them). So these get here today, and coupled with the ones I received in the mail, I noticed something. NO WARPING! These cards are pretty flat, as they should be. Ok, they aren't perfectly flat, and there is a little curve to them but no more than Chrome has seen before 2010. Every year of Chrome I've seen so far has a little curl to it. This years Chrome and Bowman Chrome are inexcusably warped beyond storage. They still are too! Go out and buy a pack of Chrome and open it up, don't worry, I'll wait.
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See? Still warped! I can't believe Topps hasn't gotten this issue under control. I can't even stack these cards on my flat desk here without them falling over. It's absurd. How come all these redemption cards are normal but the packs aren't? I just don't get it. Don't get me started on the Chicle and Heritage chrome front/old cardboard stock backs. Those are terribly terribly warped. So warped they almost make a half-circle when you look at them laying on a table. Come on Topps!! Get with the program!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

the halfway point

I have been purchasing (or trying to, rather) 1954 common lots for my set. A lot of 30 arrived yesterday and a lot of 23 arrived today. After going through them, marking them off on my master list and marking which ones I eventually want to replace (more on that shortly), I am at 127 cards total towards the set. Officially putting me at the halfway point to completion. I now also have a small stack of duplicates, around 40 total. Most of them I have only one duplicate but some I have more, including this one:

How do I end up with four of the same card? It's not like these are 1988 Donruss, these are 1954 Topps. Maybe they aren't as scarce as I perceive them to be. Commons are commons. I have gotten cards in all sorts of conditions. The top left copy of good ol' Jerry here is the one for the set, so of course I keep the best condition copy in the binder. While that copy of Lane's card is far from perfect, it is quite suitable for the set. I don't mind soft corners or maybe even a crease or two but for commons I would like them to not be horrific. Here is something that needed to be (and did get) replaced:

Scrapes and paper loss I would like to replace. Cards that are creased all over and have the edges frayed and corners super ratty will get replaced eventually.

Star cards are different, cards like this can stay:

I am not about to replace Hank here. I spent enough just getting this card and this one is good enough by me. I have one more lot coming (21 cards), and I'm watching another. Hopefully these two will bring me many more non-duplicates towards my set. Sure I can check and see which numbers I need and base my buying decision on that but where is the fun? Buying up common lots at a good price (I try to get them about fifty cents to a buck a card), is like buying a bunch of packs and checking them to see what I get. Once I get closer to the set I'll start checking for what I need. Until then I need to many to worry about it. Plus I can always sell off or trade the doubles away. Its win-win.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

sunday funday

On Sunday, the wife and I managed to make it over to the local card shop. I needed some small card boxes for shipping and that is where I pick 'em up. While there, I picked out some packs of Bowman Platinum and WWE Platinum. A bunch of each really, around 6 of each or so. She ripped the WWE and I ripped the Bowman. I really can't get enough of the Bowman Platinum and I've no idea why. I really don't like Bowman much but I think this set walks that fine line of balance between rookies and veterans and no name prospects (and USA baseball too). Its a smaller set at 150 total cards and there's no confusing BDPP, BP, BDP, ABCDEFG numbering like regular Bowman does (man, I HATE that), so that means things are kept to a minimum. 100 rookies/vets, 25 no namers and 25 USA baseball kids. While I could really care less about USA baseball and most of the prospects (save for Kyle Drabek), the base set is a good bunch of players and great rookies from this season. Anyway, I managed to get two hits from the 6 packs I picked up:

Not too shabby really, one auto of a guy I may never see again and a relic auto of a player I know. Hey, at least they are shiny, and the prospect is on-card. Why one would be on-card and the other not, I have no idea. Silly Topps. I may end up finishing off the set if I am impulsive enough...which probably means yes.

Monday, January 10, 2011

random pack monday

Here we are for another installment of 'Random Pack Monday'. What do we have to open up today?

1985 Donruss. Another pack I have never opened up until now. Well, actually I opened this pack the same day I did the 1981 Donruss pack while snowed in. Ripping old Donruss is actually pretty fun because you always know its going to be a bunch of kinda worthless cards. Some Donruss is worth something and I guess I can't really say anything due to this pack having pretty much the best card in the set inside. Take a look:

Yep, you can say it. You're jealous of my Sammy Stewart. It's ok though, he saved a smile for ya. Obviously the Kirby Puckett rookie card is the best I could have gotten out of this set. The Clemens "books" higher but I've always liked Kirby better. I like the look of this set too, its simple and clean design makes for good looking cards. No wavy lines or odd colors on the borders or all red with black speckles (yeah 1990 Donruss, that's you...). Out of the three (Donruss, Fleer and Topps), I would have to say this is my favorite 1985 issue, with Topps being a close second. The 1985 Fleer set is boooooooring. Most early 80s Fleer is though with the exceptions being 1983 and 1984, those are pretty nice. No, it wasn't until 1991 that Fleer would win my affection, with its sunshine yellow borders and dull, large black font up top....damn what an ugly set that was. I know I'm not alone on that one....

Sunday, January 9, 2011

etopps

I forget exactly how I heard about eTopps, but when I did I decided to check it out. It's a set of exclusive cards released only online, with a weird sort of trading/buying element to it. I have no interest in selling on there, but they did offer up some Jays earlier in the year. Here they are (I apologize for the blurry scans, the cases make scanning difficult):

Jose Bautista 225/749.

Adeiny Hechavarria 450/749.

Seems that every card they release is limited to a certain number. In both these cards cases, they are limited to 749, or the most random number ever. I do have a third card in my 'portfolio', but it isn't ready for shipping because it takes roughly 7 years (ok, not really but it did take almost 4 or so months) to make these cards and have them available for shipping.

How it works is that you sign up for the newsletter on the website, they send you a weekly email with which cards will be available. If you see something you like, you buy into the 'pool' of cards and if you were lucky enough, they add it to your portfolio, which is basically your online collection. I say lucky enough because they limit each card to a certain amount and they take the first say, 749 people that signed up for that card but maybe 1000 people bought into it. I don't know, it's weird. All I know is that once I got the email with the Jays cards, I jumped on them. I figured they would be pretty cool. Once you have the card in your portfolio, you can buy it and have it sent to you (for pretty cheap actually) but only once the card is ready. Like I mentioned above, it takes a long time for them to become available for shipping. I think I bought these two in August, and they didn't get shipped to me until about two weeks ago. I know they do some football too and sometimes they will have autographed stuff as well. It's an interesting program and we'll see what 2011 brings. Anyone else do the eTopps thing? Or am I alone on this one...

Thursday, January 6, 2011

it came from....the mailbox!

Look what decided to show up in the mailbox today:

Anyone recognize it? I'm sure some of you do. It had this inside of it:

What the heck could this be? What did I order from a no-name-on-the-envelope company, located in Duryea, PA??


Well, these are my Chrome wrapper redemption cards that I sent in about two weeks ago. Topps is on the ball here. I got my etopps cards really quick too but I'll show those another day. I've seen some nice cards pulled out of these thin sliver packs and I hope to get something kinda nice. Lets see what's inside, from top to bottom:

Mickey. What else is there to say about Mantle that Topps hasn't already shoved at us? I mean, a card for each home run he hit, a big set of cards chronicling his life, and endless variants, parallels and relics of warm-up jackets and such. Anyway the next card is much better:

The National League Rookie of the Year, sweet. Buster had a fantastic season, got his ring and the ROY award, this kid can only go up from here, definitely one to watch this coming season.

I've got to admit, I'm not a huge Mets fan but I like Ike. He had a pretty respectable season too and I may even make it to another Mets game this season, so hopefully I'll get to see him play.

The picks here are pretty good and I can't really complain. Even the Mantle has a place in my collection here. Whats odd is that the Posey and Mantle are both numbered past 220. Maybe these are an extension of the Chrome set? If so, I may have to get the rest, so if you have some for trade, let me know and I'll definitely trade big for them.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

follow up

After re-reading the post I did on Saturday, about my plans in collecting during this coming year, I realized that I neglected to mention a few things.

First and foremost is the 1954 Topps set I'm working on. While I would love to finish the set this year, it all comes down to finding the cards at the right price. Currently I am at a little above 80 cards of the 250. I have the 16 most "expensive" cards in the binder already. There are two separate lots I won on eBay coming in with 21 and 30 cards each. Hopefully those two lots will put me at 125, halfway there. I would really like to finish it up as soon as possible because I really get antsy when a set isn't finished (its my compulsive nature) and I need it to be completed yesterday. So maybe this set will be the focus.

Secondly, I am not sure on how many sets I plan to get into this year. With 2010 behind us and being the year I came back in, I've ended up with a lot of cards. A lot of cards and different sets I'll never finish. On Saturday, I only talked about early in the year releases (Topps flagship, Heritage), but what about stuff that comes later? Being that I'm not a huge fan of Bowman (although I can't seem to get enough Platinum), I don't see me buying much of it. There is no 206 or Chicle this year. Gypsy Queen will have to be a 'wait and see' type of set. I don't do high end like Tribute or Triple Threads due to it not being worth their over-inflated price tags. I definitely won't buy into Opening Day as much. Putting that set together was almost a complete nightmare and they said it was easy to collect! Pack after pack of doubles. I'll grab some 2011s but I won't go for a full set. After those products, what's left? I'm not talking about series 2 or Update (or what ever they call it this season), but I am talking about the surprises. Topps released twenty sets this year. TWENTY! Think about that:

Series 1
Series 2
Update
Chrome
Opening Day
Allen & Ginter
Heritage
National Chicle
T206
Finest
Sterling
Tribute
Triple Threads
Pro Debut
Pro Debut Series 2
Bowman
Bowman Chrome
Bowman Platinum
Bowman Sterling
Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

Isn't that a bit much? How many of you bought packs from every release? What about boxes from even just half? Seriously how does someone keep up? Answer: you can't. Your wallets usually can't. I know mine can't. I seriously hope Topps tones it down just a little this year. Maybe whittle it down to fifteen sets this time because twenty is way too many. Of course, if you eliminate Bowman (if you aren't into Bowman), minor league stuff and high end stuff (this counts Finest, as it is way too expensive now), it leaves you with around 10 sets. Which isn't all too bad when you think about it. Still, Topps could do fewer sets and it would be a-ok by me. Maybe I'll just buy considerably less this year and focus on the vintage.

Monday, January 3, 2011

*new feature*

In continuation with what I did last Monday, I have decided to make a regular feature out of opening a pack and showing its contents. Random Pack Monday will be the new regular attraction for the time being. It'll be fun and I hope to keep it up for a while. What did we open up today (really yesterday):

2010 Topps Magic Football. I'm not a big football guy but these cards look quite fancy and would be interested to see what a baseball set could look like in this format. dayf was entirely right about the packs. The colors definitely pop right at you and they look like something from the '60s. Here is what I got:

Now, when I opened this pack, I got the assumption that this set was filled with nothing but stars, rookies and Hall of Famers. Well, its not but this pack certainly was. I actually picked up three packs total and this was by far the best of the bunch. I definitely know Franco and Troy and Brett. I've heard a lot about Colt this season and he seems to be a break-out rookie this year. I have no idea who the other two guys are but I'm sure some of you do. I don't know how much I'll buy, maybe these will be the only three packs I end up with. I do have to give kudos to Topps on how this set looks though, classy all the way. The cards could use some stats on the back though and that would be my only complaint. Well, I hope you join me every Monday for a different pack to open up (....err well, I hope you join me every time I make a post, really) and see the mystery of what awaits us in these wrappers we love ripping so much!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

whats in store for '11?

Two-thousand eleven huh? Or is it twenty-eleven? Up to the user I suppose. Many of you are talking about what collecting goals you'll have in the next 365 days. I figured I would throw my hat into the ring as well. I suppose we can't set some goals without going over the previous year, no? Well, 2010 saw my re-emergence into baseball card collecting, as something that spawned out of a whim, buying a random pack 2010 Topps series 1 at a local Target. Just to see what they looked like. Sure I could have Googled it, but what fun is that? As I thumbed through the pack, I realized I knew very few modern players. Being that I hadn't looked at baseball cards in some 15+ years, I was quite out of the loop. The more I bought though, the more I got to know who was who. Who retired, who was the new crop of up and coming rookies and some familiar faces too (Griffey, Smoltz, etc.). Then it turned into a full blown pursuit of trying to learn what happened in the past decade and a half since I left, building a collection from the ground up and trying to figure out what to collect. Well with Upper Deck (unfortunately) gone from the marketplace, all that was left was Topps. This was all news to me. Last I knew Upper Deck made white border sets with great pictures. Score/Pinnacle was gone. Donruss no longer made MLB cards, and Fleer was bought by Upper Deck, then dissolved. Wow. Certainly a lot has happened in the seemingly short amount of time I've been gone. So that left me with good old Topps. It was alright though, as I've always had a fond recollection of Topps cards in my youth. Even if it was all junk wax but hey, its the era I grew up in. At first I hadn't learned the pitfalls of Topps, as it was all sunshine, lolly-pops and baseball players on these fancy cards. I remember buying a rack pack of series 1 at a local KMart and pulling my first relic ever:

Now HERE was a guy I knew, everyone knows Cal. I was super excited, like a kid again pulling that Barry Bonds rookie out of an '87 Topps pack.

From this point, I had wanted to find out some information on older Topps sets. I forget what I Googled but one of the first sites to come up was bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog. I checked it out and it was a wealth of Topps knowledge that I was pretty much looking for. Then I noticed the long list of blogs dedicated to baseball cards and collecting. I read them for around a month and decided to try my own thing and here we are. You've been reading the blog and you've been reading this far so you know the rest of my story.

Now, I set a few goals in 2010 that I had wanted to accomplish and I hit most all of them. I wanted a Topps set from 1982 to now, that's done. I wanted a master set for 2010 series 1, 2 and Update, those are finished. I wanted each set released in the 2010 format, including Opening Day, Chrome, WWE and football. I stopped on the football but finished the other three. I finished 2009 T206 with the short prints. I have a massive box filled with Blue Jays, thanks to many of you for filling most of that. I gave up on the gold series 1 and 2 set as it proved to be too daunting a task.

So what do I do in 2011? Here is one of the first things I hope to do:

Find 5 more 206 cards to complete this page.

Next:

Complete 2011 Topps series 1 and 2 and what ever they decide to call series 3 this year. I don't think I will be chasing a master set, the base set will probably do just fine. 2010 was a milestone year for me so its nice to have a 'full' set.

I may also try:

Put together the Heritage set from this year. I didn't get into 2010 Heritage as much as I could have but I may change that with 2011. Yes, short prints suck hard but I feel it may be fun, seeing as how I may try to curb what I buy this coming year.

In the process of that, hopefully I'll see this:

Probably not but I can hope.

So that about wraps it up. I apologize for the long-winded post but I didn't explain how this all happened until now. I just want to thank Jaybee for essentially getting me into the blog thing here. A big thanks to you, the readers and traders who I've talked with and dealt cards to back and forth. Here is to another year of collecting, with hopefully more ups than downs from our buddies at Topps!