Monday, January 31, 2011

Are You Kidding Me?

I wish I could give you guys a wantlist, honestly I do. Trading is hampered because I don’t have an exact list of what I would like, I know that’s a pain in the ass for some people. In regards to the 2007 Topps Chrome break, I was hoping to get a large chunk of the checklist down and request the specific cards I needed. But unfortunately, Topps screwed that one up and give me roughly 70 duplicates of cards I pulled from my previous box. That is complete and utter horsecrap. I’m sorry, but correlation shouldn’t be nonexistent, especially in this type of product. Oh wait, is this an attempt for me to buy more boxes in hopes of getting more cards for the set? Gee, I wonder…

Anyway, if you have any extra 2007 Topps Chrome cards, I’ll take them in near-mint to mint condition. Try to avoid cards you’ve seen in my previous box breaks. I’ll also take refractors and inserts. We have one more baseball box to break from the Black Friday deals, so stay tuned!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

2007 Topps Chrome Box Break (Black Friday Box #4)


We’re back on track with our 4th box from the Black Friday specials, this time of another For Card’s Sake favorite, 2007 Topps Chrome. While the set has awesome photography and decent inserts, the autograph checklist is putrid and the design isn’t exactly desirable. However, I fell in love with the set for the spectacular red-bordered parallels that come as a top loader in every box. These cards are, simply put, stunning, especially in person. I busted a box of this many moons ago and enjoyed it, so I figured why not? I snagged up the box with a pretty good discount and I figure if the break goes well, I should be pretty close to a complete set. So, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.


To start things off, let’s rip the first boxtopper, the beautiful, talented Red Refractors!
Red Refractor #46: Hideki Matsui (Numbered to 99)
Sooooo hot. But, wait, what’s this?

Red Refractor #96: Chipper Jones (Numbered to 99)
Two in one pack! Byah! And of quality players to boot. In regards to this, I’m left wondering if I just had awesome luck and received two red parallels in the same pack, or I was jipped out of a card in my other pack from my last box break. The world may never know.

Here is the other boxtopper, two Alex Rodriguez Road to 500 cards.
ARHR 226: Alex Rodriguez


ARHR 243: Alex Rodriguez
Pretty good start so far; let’s see what the packs offer us.


Pack 1:
#158: Ichiro Suzuki
Am I the only one who sees this as a bad quality photo? Ichiro looks pretty out-of-focus here for some odd reason. I really don’t blame the chrome because this is the same exact quality that’s found on his base card.

#218: Alex Rodriguez
I’ve always been fond of this shot of A-Rod. Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen this same exact card 20,000 times.

Refractor #145: Adrian Beltre
What are the chances Beltre puts up Mariner-like numbers for the Rangers this year?

#317: Jared Burton (RC)


Pack 2:
#146: Endy Chavez
#170: Melky Cabrera
Mickey Mantle Story MMS12: Mickey Mantle
Oh, these things again. Yay. As much as I love Mantle, these inserts are extremely annoying. But hey, where else are you gonna see the Mick play the violin?

#216: Brian Roberts


Pack 3:
#38: Lastings Milledge
Oh damn son, that’s a huge bee! Get da @$*% away from me motha#&^@*%!

#176: Takashi Saitor
Generation Now GN360: Nick Swisher Like I mentioned in my previous break, I do enjoy these Generation Now inserts. Hint, hint.

#42: Johan Santana


Pack 4:
#307: Mike Rabelo (RC)
#72: Bill Hall
Mantle Home Run History MHRR170: Mickey Mantle
#68: Jack Wilson Remember the excellent photography I mentioned? Yeah, this would be a pretty damn good example of it.


Pack 5:
#290: Jamie Burke (RC)
#249: Lance Berkman
White Refractor #144: Cliff Lee (Numbered to 660)
Color-cravers would have a hard time coping with the minimal color parallels in the hobby set. The blue refractors are seeded one in every six retail packs while the red refractors were boxloaders only. White refractors are numbered higher and four are pulled from a box on average. Oh yeah, and Cliff Lee’s a tool.

#204: Matt Garza


Pack 6:
#64: Gary Sheffield
#302: Drew Anderson (RC)
White Refractor #273: Andruw Jones (Numbered to 660)
Another thing about these white refractors is that they come in bunches. The Yanks recently signed Jones to be a fourth outfielder and I’m pretty happy about the pickup. Yes, he’s obviously not the same, but he still brings some pop against lefties and he’s an awesome defensive replacement.

#265: Albert Pujols I’m not even a damn Cardinals fan but I still have to show every Albert Pujols card I pull.


Pack 7:
#45: Scott Rolen
White Refractor #194: Jhonny Peralta
I’ll give Jhonny Peralta this, he has some pretty slick cards.

#361: Tim Gradoville (RC) (Auto)
Uh, right. Who is this again?

#228: Jeremy Hermida
Checklist


Pack 8:
#39: Austin Kearns
#270: Ichiro Suzuki
Refractor #361: Tim Gradoville (RC) (Auto) (Numbered to 500)
No, I am not kidding you. In two consecutive packs, I pulled the same exact autograph, albeit this one’s a refractor, but who gives a crap? It’s still a bum prospect. And Topps couldn’t even get the sticker on straight? Good Lord. But in hindsight, I wouldn’t be complaining if it was a Troy Tulowitzki auto.

#85: Carl Crawford
Checklist


Pack 9:
#194: Jhonny Peralta
#277: Chase Wright (RC)
Mickey Mantle Story MMS29: Mickey Mantle
#240: Randy Johnson


Pack 10:
#319: Elijah Dukes
#200: Xavier Nady
Mickey Mantle Story Refractor MMS7: Mickey Mantle (Numbered to 500)
Who thought this was a good idea again? At least they numbered all the refractors.

#126: Jonny Gomes


Pack 11:
#289: J.D. Durbin (RC)
#312: Ryan Braun (RC)
Mantle Home Run History MHR300: Mickey Mantle
#102: Reed Johnson


Pack 12:
#134: Sean Casey
White Refractor #254: Justin Verlander (Numbered to 660)
It seems like Verlander has been in the league for longer than five years. This will be the end of the white refractor slew, and I don’t think we see another one for the rest of the box.

Generation Now GN281: Russell Martin
#186: Ken Griffey Jr.
If there was ever a “Most Epic Cards” contest, Griffey would win hands down.


Pack 13:
#51: Joe Blanton
#272: Vernon Wells
Refractor #323: Zack Seovia (RC)
#150: Kevin Millwood
Checklist


Pack 14:
#141: Mark Prior
#219: Kenny Rogers
Refractor #304: Jose Garcia (RC)
#222: Bartolo Colon
The Yanks also picked up this has-been, but mostly for minor league work and eating all the left over hot dogs.


Pack 15:
#147: Ramon Hernandez
#171: Dan Haren
Generation Now GN359: Nick Markakis
The color scheme really works on this card, especially the back. You can definitely see the pop.


#156: Chris Capuano
Checklist


Pack 16:
#267: Brad Ausmus
#206: Jose Contreras
Refractor #220: Jason Kubel
#305: Shane Youman (RC)


Pack 17:
#237: David DeJesus
That swing is as textbook as it gets. I’m a big fan of DeJesus, not only is he a Jersey boy, but he’s a solid player that can give you production on offense and defense. Injuries took away some valuable playing time, which in turn made the Royals trade DeJesus to the A’s a few months ago. For Card’s Sake is rooting for you, and if that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is.

#296: Don Kelly (RC)
Sorry, Don Kelly, but For Card’s Sake is not rooting for you.

Refractor #292: Rick Vanden Hurk (RC)
#132: Carl Pavano


Pack 18:
#248: Brad Wilkerson
#97: Robinson Tejada
Mickey Mantle Story MMS11: Mickey Mantle
The money it took to create this card could have fed a starving child.

#98: Scott Hatteberg
Dayum! Play at the Plate, if you don’t have this card, I’ll hook you up.


Pack 19:
#246: Brian Bannister
Generation Now White Refractor GN219: Ryan Zimmerman (Numbered to 200)
This is the first white refractor of a Generation Now insert I’ve ever pulled, and they definitely look nicer than their regular counterpart.

Mickey Mantle Story MS9: Mickey Mantle
#224: Alex Rios


Pack 20:
#9: Jason Varitek
#213: J.J. Hardy
Refractor #66: Prince Fielder
#89: Carlos Beltran


Pack 21:
#284: Devern Hansack (RC)
#260: Derek Jeter
Generation Now GN205: Ryan Howard
#308: Josh Fields (RC)


Pack 22:
#8: J.D. Drew
Refractor #166: Jason Bay
#330: Daisuke Matsuzaka (RC)
Ohio. That’s hi in Japanese right? In the last box, we pulled a Kenji Johjima Japanese variation of his rookie card, but traded it away because Kenji Johjima sucks. This one might stay a little bit.

#320: Juan Lara (RC)


Pack 23:
#189: Ted Lilly
#111: Curt Schilling
Refractor #217: Brett Myers
#63: Albert Pujols
Resist… the… urge… to… scan…
Sigh.

Checklist.


Pack 24:
#105: Anibal Sanchez
#73: Jeremy Bonderman
Mantle Home Run History MHR210: Mickey Mantle
#108: Jimmy Rollins


Well another box of Chrome in the books, and I say it was pretty successful. I’ll organize everything and compile a list of everything I need. I want to start collecting the red refractors and perhaps the blue, and maybe the white, and maybe the regular refractors, and maybe the inserts, and maybe just everything that’s associated with 2007 Topps Chrome. Eh, we’ll see.

Also, I need your input. Now that I’ve figured out how to scan multiple cards at once, I’ve been more willing to put more pictures up for box breaks. However, this can create pretty lengthy posts. Are you guys okay with this? Do you want me to cut out some cards? Let me know.

Friday, January 28, 2011

A Pretty Cool Deja Vu


There’s really not much to explain this. This isn’t a Topps blunder, or a case of them being lazy, rather it’s just an odd coincidence how the same pose is being used five years apart on two different players for the same team. And look at their numbers. It’s pretty awesome, to say the least.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Mailday + Wantlist + Thundersnow?

When it snows, it thunders. Isn’t that how the saying goes? New Jersey experienced a “thundersnow” last night, which was something I’ve never seen before, nor thought was possible. But apparently it is. Due to this “thundersnow”, school was shut down today, which gives me ample time to show off my latest mailday and to give an update about my 2000 Bowman Chrome wantlist. Let’s start with the goodies that showed up to my mailbox earlier in the week.


I scored a nice lot off of the Blowout forums featuring tradebait and some PC stuff.

2008 Topps Chrome Trading Card History TCHC5: Alex Rodriguez
Can’t go wrong with Chromey A-Rod.

2006 Topps Turkey Red Red #316: Alex Rodriguez
I read that the Turkey Red red parallels aren’t short-printed, or any other of the Turkey Red parallels for that matter, despite the fact that the Turkey Red base set has short prints. If that was confusing after you read that, don’t put me in the red, I’m just telling you based off what I read about Turkey Red red parallels.

2008 Topps Heritage T205 Mini HTCP5: Alex Rodriguez
A-Rod trifecta? Chrome, parallel, mini. Bam.

2009 Topps Unique #193: Alfredo Aceves (Numbered to 2699)
I am not a big fan of Unique, largely due to the fact of the black borders and how easily they chip. I do like Aceves though, however, the Yanks released him at the end of 2010. Hopefully he bounces back on another squad.

2007 Bowman Chrome Prospects BC17: Brandon Morrow
I really don’t know how to explain it, I just like this guy.

2008 Upper Deck Heroes Emerald #79: Alex Gordon (Numbered to 499)
The next George Brett ladies and gentlemen.

Mixing it up with a couple of prospects from 2008 Donruss Threads.
Austin Romine is a familiar name to Yankee fans as one of the top catching prospects in the organization. Nick Weglarz is an Indians prospect and I had the chance to meet and talk with him during a Trenton Thunder game a few years ago. He was a pretty friendly guy, so I try to pick up his cards whenever I can. By the way, these cards look really cool next to each other.

2006 Bowman Draft Future’s Game Prospects Relics FG1: Nick Adenhart
I still feel compelled to get Nick Adenhart cards anytime I see them. I talked about my initially disgust for this compulsive action in my 2008 UD Timeline break a long time ago, but now I’ve learned to accept the fact that I do it to remember how great Adenhart could have been if his life wasn’t cut short by a scumbag.


Not a bad haul overall. A couple of 2010 Bowman Chrome cards came with it, along with a Carlos Santana RC, but they were too bowed to scan.

Now onto the 2000 Bowman Chrome wantlist. After days of busting boxes of this product, you would think I had a good chunk of the checklist down right? Wrong. I’m still missing a boat load of the base set and a fairly good amount of inserts. So, as of right now, just send me ANY 2000 Bowman Chrome cards. I’ll take anything as long as they are in NM-Mint condition. Yeah, I know I’m anal about my conditions, but that’s the way life goes. So send me all of your 2000 Bowman Chrome cards and when I cipher the checklist down to a small amount, I’ll post the cards I need to finish it off. Let’s do this thing baby!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

2000 Bowman Chrome Draft Box Recap (Black Friday Box #3)

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope people are enjoying the 20 degree weather as much as I am (and I still refuse to put on a sweater, take that Mother Nature) and let’s hope for some great football games later in the day. Along with the two boxes of 2000 Bowman Chrome I bought, I picked up the 2000 Bowman Chrome Draft set on the cheap. This 110-card set features the biggest prospects and draft picks and were sold separately in a cute little box. And unlike today when Topps tries to milk as much money as it can out of the Draft and Prospect sets, these stack featured no autographs, parallels, refractors or any of that nonsense. This was 2000-era card collecting at its finest.


The biggest “rookie card” out of the set is Adrian Gonzalez’s, which features him in a Marlins uniform. I think I mentioned this before when the Marlins dumped Gonzalez because they were worried about his wrist problems.

The first fifteen cards or so featured young players (whom some had rookie cards in the regular base set) and what date they made their major league debut in.

When shuffling through the stack of mostly no-name prospects that never panned out, you’ll find that one gem or two that feature a player that’s still in the league.
How many of you remember Wainwright pitching major league ball before 2005? Cause he didn’t. He was moving around in the minor leagues for five years before getting the call, and he hasn’t looked back since.

Kevin Gregg still sucking up the place. He actually was signed in 1996 by the Oakland A’s, so I’m not exactly sure what he’s doing in this set. Either way, it took him about seven years before he made his major league debut with the (then) Anaheim Angles in 2003.

Take a guess at who this guy is related to.

How in the world does someone not have a signature? Ironically, Wilkerson would have a more successful career than more than half the other prospects in this set.


This was the most fun I had busting a box. Okay, opening up a cute little box and looking through the cards. But it was still very entertaining. Looking at all the prospects and how many of them were still in the league, how youthful they looked, who their original team was, and all that good stuff. It was very enjoyable and I encourage everyone to go pick up one of these types of sets from about a decade or so ago and just look through them. You’ll be amazed at all the stuff you’ll find.

I promise this is the last 2000 Bowman Chrome reference For Card’s Sake will make in a while. Well, I’ll post a checklist tomorrow. Then that will be it. I swear.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Harper's 60th Anniversary Auto Raking in the Dough

The “nasty” hit of this year’s Topps products is the 60th Anniversary autographed cards, featuring the biggest names in the game, past and present. Perhaps the most sought card (so far anyway) is the Bryce Harper variation, which is going for around $650 bucks at the time of this post. The auction ends in two hours and I wouldn’t be surprised if the final bid is close to $800.

Now, I’ll admit that this cards are absolutely awesome. But expect to pay a pretty penny for one. I might cease some spending for a bit just in case an A-Rod variation pops up. What an awesome piece that would be to the collection.

Anyone else like these things? And if you say you don’t, you’re probably lying. Also, where do you think the Harper is gonna end?

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

2000 Bowman Chrome Box Recap (Black Friday Box #2)

Here’s the second box of 2000 Bowman Chrome I picked up on Black Friday, and instead of boring you all with another box break, here are the highlights.


Some base of vets and youngins.

Ha… Dicky.

A couple of inserts.
A Retro/Future insert of veteran Tom Glavine. After looking through the rest of these cards I have, it is true that the veterans have a different Bowman “TV” design than the rookies and young players.
Not too many refractors popped out of this box, and unfortunately, no refractors of inserts either.

And the oversized card was Pat Burrell. Yipee.


Thus ends the 2000 Bowman Chrome expedition. Or does it? The Bowman Chrome Draft box and a wantlist are coming up shortly.