bustin a box on a rainy sunday

2009 Upper Deck Icons is the box today. I've actually busted maybe three of these now, including this one. Its a great set with some good pulls. Here are what the base cards look like:

Nice looking set. 100 card short set and they have 30 rookies that are serial numbered and tougher to pull (numbered 101-130). Then those 30 rookies have an autographed parallel (numbered 131-160). Each box will net you three hits (usually two jerseys and an auto) and two of the numbered manu-letters, called 'lettermen'. These can range from young players to immortal letter men for retired players to celebrity lettermen. Here are my five 'guaranteed' hits:

Nothing too fancy really, both the Wang and Kershaw are numbered to 30 each. The Jepsen auto (which is my second auto of him by the way) is numbered 007/600. Well, that box would have been kind of a letdown if it weren't for my two extra hits:

A Tulo auto and a Paul Molitor immortal lettermen auto numbered 2/4. For some reason Paul's letters spell out 'ignitor'. Maybe a Twins fan could clear that up for me? Anyway I presume there are 4 of each letter made and auto'd, making the full print run 28 cards total. That's how the lettermen are numbered. They only made four 't' cards but the full run according to Beckett is 28 cards (7 numbers in 'ignitor' times 4 of each card). Weird, yes. The Tulo is numbered 120/199. This box is probably the second best box I've ever busted (the first being the 2009 T206 when I pulled the Ruth bat relic), and maybe I'll even do another. I just can't get enough of this set.

random box purchase

I took a trip to the local shop today. He was having a wrestling event there with box breaks of the latest Topps WWE set, pizza, local wrestlers and some old WWE pay per views on the TV. It was pretty cool, but didn't end up with much during the break (the wrestlers were chosen at random to be fair), and I wanted to buy something. He had had this lone box of 2009 Topps T206 sitting on the shelf since before the first time I stepped in the shop (around May). Since I really don't like this years set and really liked last years, I decided to pick this up. Good thing I did because here is what came of it:

Yes, a Babe Ruth bat relic. My best hit ever. The silk Hanley was also a plus because I was only guaranteed the two other hits. The Koji auto is nice too, but weird because I have only two autos from this set and they are both Orioles. Hanley came in the second pack I opened, Koji was in the middle, and Ruth was the second to last pack in the box. Good box and I am definitely glad it had been passed over until now. I do believe I am going to try and finish this set off with the short prints, even though I hate short prints. Oh well.

give it away

The Million Card Giveaway seems to be a popular device within the hobby here. I'm still not sure how I feel about it as a whole. I will admit there is a nice little moment of giddiness after you punch in your code, and right before the feeling of disappointment sets in when you see the card you 'unlocked' is something you either already have, or just plain don't want and can't trade away. Sometimes though you do pull out a decent card and its not all bad. Heres what I got from my six codes from the box I opened on Friday:


I like the 2007 set, I have a bunch of this year in my collection already.

Here is a year I missed completely...I'm not a fan of this design.

1986...what can I say? To me this set defines what an 1980s baseball card looks like.

I don't have much to say about 82...its got that weird stripe thingy.

Hey a 60s card. I like the 1969 set with its bright orangey backs.

If I pull anything out of this MCG thats in the 70s or earlier, I'm usually pretty content.

Well that about does it, these six bring my total up to 50. Trading is usually impossible, and people offer me nothing but junk wax for my 60s stuff. Humbug. While I griped in my box break post the other day about the inserts in the 2010 series 2 set, I must admit I am more than pleased with the overall collation of the box. I didn't get one duplicate of a base card in the box at all. I hear you at least get a full set out of a jumbo (usually) and to have no doubles in a hobby box are both great things. This box (coupled with the first one I did weeks ago) put me about 12 cards away from finishing my first set. Two more (retail) boxes should be coming this week, if I get anything good, I'll post it on up. I got two for a good price on eBay, and I just want more base and inserts, I'm not a stickler for hits (although they are nice). One last note, I still have trouble with commenting for whatever reason, I've seemingly tried everything, so if someone leaves a comment asking a question I will get back to you but it will be just in email form.

something must break

I busted that Series 2 box this afternoon. Decent box (it was a hobby box), although I may have to call shenanigans on Topps. Every single Vintage Legend card I got was the same lot I got from my previous hobby box two weeks ago. They better not be shuffling some into hobby and some into retail because that seems quite deceitful of them to do so. Anyway, below is what I got that isn't the same things as everyone else. the Brooks Robinson is an original back, and three of the golds are super low numbers (20s to 60s range). I got the Mom cards, Legendary Lineages (two of which were nicely miscut, not horrible, but noticeable), 2020s, and all the other insert sets. Six Million card giveaways, 2 sketch it cards, etc. I'll post which Million cards I get in another (later) post. Junk wax? Vintage? Blue Jays? Strasburg??? Stay tuned...



PS- Does anyone know why I can't seem to comment on either someone elses or my own blogs? It just strikes me as odd that I can't comment on my own posts. Not sure what the issue is.