Happy New Year!

Well, it sure has been a while since we last posted something around here.

I can only speak for myself as for the reason we kind of fell off the map for a little while here. For me the lack of interesting products or any sort of variety of products, combined with the fact that I have no money to spend on any of it has helped to keep me from buying my usual random blasters that are "for the sake of the blog". I had been hoarding my money for Christmas gifts and things that were a higher priority. My computer had also been acting like a giant pain in the ass for weeks at a time. I had to get out the paddles and jump start it from the blue screen of death twice.

I did end up getting a new laptop so the internet access and blogging wouldn't be a problem anymore, however my printer/scanner decided it will not be compatible with new laptop. I expected nothing less than something to not cooperate, so no surprise there. I do have a review or two coming up that I need to put out there so you will be seeing my lovely commentary again very soon.

Despite the lack of blogging, I have still spoken to many of you either online or through text messages which has been great. I enjoy speaking to the friends I have made through the blog so that has helped keep me in the loop with things.

But for those of you who I have been out of touch with or have never met, the consensus on why many of you guys are not interested in cards or have blogged less and less has been a very consistent answer. "No money and/or no interest in the products coming out." While it is nice not to feel alone, I'm not sure all of us going through this at the same time is good. Good for our wallets, yes.... Good for Topps, not so much. Not sure there are many people right now who can drop $150 on a box of cards that contain only autographs of players who are around 1-3 years away from being in the majors. But, we will save that for my next post.

OK, I think I have jammed enough random information into this post for now.

I hope that everyone had a great holiday season with their family and friends, and I am looking forward to getting my cardboard on in 2012 (providing a find a way out of the funk). Cheers.

Hobby Box Break and Review: 2011 Topps Tier One

When 2011 Topps Tier One was first introduced into the product line I thought it sounded exciting. It appeared to mirror some of the designs of products that are no longer being produced by other companies but were popular amongst collectors. Then when the product finally hit the streets it seemed to anger and disappoint many collectors. I must admit that made me all the more curious to see the cards in person and see what a hobby box had to offer.

While a product like this is hard to give a good review based on one box (there is only one pack), I will give it my best attempt (i.e. hiding my disappointment). The product offers one pack per box with 7 cards per pack, including 2 autographs and one game used card guaranteed. This is a hobby only product with a retail price around $100 per box at the release date and now they are currently about $75, which seems more reasonable based on this box.

The base cards are numbered /799, while the inserts range from being numbered /199 - /25, and the autographs and game used cards vary in the same fashion. The cards that I pulled are below. Am I excited about the base cards? Not at all.

The base cards are boring to me, with the exception that Topps actually went ahead and embossed the lettering on the cards which makes it a little nicer for the price point of the product but... the cards are printed on what basically feels like the decoy cards from the packs that we all used to pad better cards with in the mail.

The design appears to have been created to be simple and attractive. One out of two ain't bad.






The parallels look nicer than the base cards. Notice how the halo highlights how off-center the card really is...


I like the game used card, but I wish they would have laid off the gold a little bit around the Mets logo. Just a trim of it around the home plate outline would have been nice, but this is overkill on gaudy gold.


Rookie autograph- Brandon Guyer

Serial numbered? Check. Slightly raised lettering? Check. On card auto? Check. Design? No check. This doesn't feel like it fits in the scheme of things with the cards that I have looked up on eBay. This design just fails me in every way.


Pablo Sandoval on card autograph, picture appears to have been taken from a game in Heaven.


While this box was to serve the purpose of a review for the collectors and readers out there, it still grinds my gears that this product ended up turning out this way. The card stock is terrible, the design is so-so, but the bright side is that it seems to be moving in the right direction as far as working on making higher end sets that are more like the products we all loved from that company whose name rhymes with tupper neck.

I am going to skip the typical report card type of review here because I don't think it's fair to base it on one box when there is only one pack. If you want my honest opinion, if you haven't seen these cards in person and are a player collector who enjoys breaking wax- buy singles and wait for 2012 products. I don't see this product being up there with Triple Threads, Sterling, or the likes of those cards.

If you want a lower high end product to break for Christmas, this may be fun only because you get 3 hits for $75 and may be able to score one cheaper on a best offer on eBay.

Before you think I am totally throwing this product under a bus, there are plenty of nice cards you could pull on eBay. You need to check out these out, they are amazing I promise.

Hank Aaron jumbo Prodigious patch

Triple autograph with Aaron, Heyward, and McCann

Willie McCovey jumbo Prodigious patch

Sandy Koufax gold auto /25

I suck at blogging.

In light of the ridiculous amount of time that has lapsed between recent posts, I thought I would share a story about a redemption card that took a LONG time to surface.

November 13, 2010 posted a 2010-2011 Panini Limited box break. I redeemed the card later that evening and waited... and waited... and waited...

Then somewhere around November 8, 2011 the card finally arrived. Considering the NBA players are sitting around diddling themselves, Lamar should have had plenty of time between Keeping Up With The Kardashian episodes to sign 49 friggin cards. Just sayin'.

For me personally, this is one of those times of the year where I am bored with cards and don't have much to say about them. It appears Sooz is feeling somewhat the same, at least as far as blogging goes. I'm kind of looking forward to Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects, but at the same time I honestly don't care to go look for it. I am not big into prospect cards unless it's someone I've already been scoping out like Banuelos.

We didn't get a box of 2011 Topps Tier One to review but based on what I have heard through the grape vine, we didn't miss out on much. I do have one more card I got for my PC to show off later on, but I have to dig it out from under the pile here to scan. It's borderline exciting.

Also, stay tuned for contest results.

I'm an eskimo.

I think once you have no power in the cold weather for more than 5 days you are officially a member of some sort of eskimo club. Since the random snowstorm on Oct. 29th we have been without power in my neighborhood. They are supposed to have it back on tonight by 11pm, though yesterday they said it would be back on by noon yesterday....

They estimated that 90% of people would be back on today, and the rest by SUNDAY. There wasn't a single hotel available within about 30 miles of here that took pets so here I am. I can't leave my dog alone for a week and just come back to walk him and feed him, I think it's cruel.

The benefit of having no internet and no power? No eBay. I haven't bought a single thing in almost a week, my wallet is thrilled. I unplugged my tv so I could use my computer off the generator and pay some bills.

I learned not to take electricity for granted after not having power for 5 days during Irene, and this storm taught me to make reservations every time they predict a Nor' Easter this winter.

2 Reasons I'm Over Parallels

I posted a blog a couple of days ago about not bothering with inserts and parallels until I'm at a show or I already found a way to get all the better/harder to find later cards. I thought I would share a couple of my mail days to show you why I stopped bothering.

Mail Day #1

2011 Topps Finest Robinson Cano Finest Moments Auto /274


Mail Day #2

2011 Topps Finest Robinson Cano Finest Moments Auto /20


While writing this I realized something ironic. While I may be done chasing base card parallels it seems as though they still have me sucked in. I'm still buying parallels, they are just autographed now. Yay. The difference to me is that when I get an autograph it thrills me to no end but when I win a refractor version of something the only thing I'm thinking when it arrives is, "oh good I can fill one more pocket on the page of these exact same cards in my binder." Then I'm over it. I am more likely to flip through all my plastic snap cases of autographs then I am to flip pages in my binder unless I am putting the cards away.

Eventually I will try and find the Finest parallels and inserts, or maybe one of you guys have some to trade. In the meantime if anyone has the purple refractor auto of Cano /5 to trade, let me know. One was already sold on eBay and there is one currently for sale in this auction. I want this card pretty badly to complete the Finest set of them, but unless one of you guys feel like buying me a birthday present it may be out of my price range for the time being considering the other one on eBay ended around $108.

I'm going on an eBay break until after Christmas because any money I have from now til then will be saved for shopping. I have one more mail day to show you guys, and one more I've been waiting about 10 days for it to arrive. I don't want you guys to think I lied.

P.S. Please keep me in mind for any 2011 Finest, 2011 Bowman Chrome, and 2011 Topps Chrome cards of my guys you come across. I am definitely interested in trading and have plenty of cards to flip.

Mail Day from Topps....

Yesterday the doorbell rings and I see the mail truck outside. Naturally I am suspicious of this considering the mailbox is outside. I open the door and the mailman tells me that I need to sign for a certified and registered letter. I ask where it is from before signing because who knows what the hell I could be signing for, and he tells me, "Tri-Star Fulfillment". Oh, that's oddly intriguing.

Now I'm thinking there is going to be some sweet ridiculous card inside if they need double signature and delivery confirmation on this envelope.... I even told the mailman, "there better be a Derek Jeter or Albert Pujols autograph in here." He chuckled, kind of in a ha-ha who? kind of laugh but whatever.

I shut the door, tear open the envelope, and......



I see this:



Sigh. eBay or trade bait is all I saw. I actually got good stuff in the mail recently for my PC which I'll show off when I have a chance to scan that stuff. Pretty sweet stuff unlike this junk.

Spot the Error

While putting some of my Bowman prospect cards in order I stumbled across something interesting. There is an error on this card. You figure it out.


Anyone else find other errors in the 2011 Bowman Chrome?

Dear idiot eBay sellers...

Why do you list OBVIOUS fake "patch" cards online that no one believes are real? Actually, one person did believe that they were real because they were dumb enough to spend $66.00 hard earned dollars on the most insanely fake card.

See the $66 stupidity by clicking here. Let's call that Dumb Ass #1.

The next card I discovered last night while doing my usual search. It is /740 yet contains the only patch card with that serial number in the entire set. Wow! What a great pull, right? Not so much. Here is the ULTRA RARE patch card. Dumb Ass #2. BUT WAIT!! The SAME seller has another patch card for sale.... Look at this nonsense. Only $99.99! Oh. My. God. Must buy. NOT.

I linked all of these auctions to Topps on Twitter and they have yet to respond. Several other people also asked about the cards last night in tweets and from what I have seen there has been no response to anyone.

I know for a fact that companies like Louis Vuitton and Coach have people monitoring eBay for fakes and knock-offs because I know people who have gotten letters from eBay and the companies saying that they are not allowed to sell knock-offs online even if the auction explicitly states that they are NOT real. Where is the protection for sports memorabilia collectors or card collectors, Topps? How do they get alerted to this and do nothing and have no response?

I honestly think eBay needs to give their employees a class on this stuff because they supposedly have people who patrol auctions looking for things of this nature but it seems like they have no idea what they are doing when it comes to this particular topic.

None of the card companies have ever had an archive of pictures of the cards they produce that have patches or are 1/1 types of cards and they really should. How about maybe just an e-mail devoted to report fakes or investigate fakes? Then at least we could think that someone is looking out for us and more importantly protecting the integrity of the company. If you just started collecting and didn't know any better, bought one of those cards then found out... It probably would turn you off to collecting or to buying from that company even if they say they had nothing to do with it. At least for me it would be a turn off.

Thoughts?

Discussion: Have parallels/inserts changed your habits?

I sort of got into a discussion about this issue on Twitter and it's something I have been thinking about more lately just based on what I look for on eBay and at shows. I have made it known that I love blue refractors, so I can't say that I think all parallels and inserts are a waste.

My collection in the last year or so has shifted focus and I may have mentioned that once before. I basically look for autograph versions of my players and then fill in the base and base variations later on. I never thought I would be "that" collector who only cared about autographs but I talked myself into thinking my logic is actually logical.

If I were to do my weekly (read: daily and sometimes hourly) searches on eBay for Robbie Cano cards there are always tons of parallels, serial numbered refractors, and game used non-sense cards. Try and find 2009 Triple Threads Cano autographs, I dare you. I have seen the White Whales and maybe a triple relic autograph from 2009 but that's about it. So keeping that in mind, why wouldn't I go after his low numbered autographs and just regular autographs when they will be either non-existent in a few weeks or months or I will end up priced out as a result of scarcity?

Recently I have picked up only autographs of Cano and haven't bothered with anything else. Part of me doesn't even care about the rest of the cards but then the other part of me sees my page of 2011 Topps Chrome missing a regular refractor, atomic refractor, gold refractor, red refractor.... and it makes me mad for three reasons. Reason #1 - Mad at myself just because I'm mad about not having them. Reason #2 - That I have OCD and feel the need to fill those gaps in one day even if it's not now. Reason #3 - I (sadly) like having a page of the same refractor (there, I said it).

Now I know some of you might be going, well it must be nice to spend all that money on autographs. No, not even close. If you priced all the refractors that I am missing from Topps Chrome and Bowman Chrome if I were to just buy parallels it would probably afford me at least 2 Cano autographs maybe even 3 depending on what I went after. If I have $30 to spend on cards and there is an autograph I need in that ballpark vs. a bunch of parallels I am going for that autograph every time, no question.

Quick example, if you want to see how much a couple of parallels of Cano would add up to you can click and add them up.

2011 Finest gold refractor /50
2011 Finest red refractor /25
2011 Topps Chrome red refractor /25

Would it be nice to have those cards? It sure would. But it's always nicer to have a card like this instead.

I feel like I can save all the inserts and parallels I pull out of packs that I don't want to trade with other collectors for the ones I need rather than chasing those cards on eBay. I think this makes more sense anyway because it's not often that when we all rip wax that we pull the guys we collect in parallels. And if there are no trades on the cards I can always wait until I can get to a card show and rummage through bins for cards and buy a group of them for less than buying individual cards and paying for shipping online.

I would love to hear if your collecting habits have changed in terms of waiting on parallels and inserts and going after the autograph or game used cards first. Or do you go for the inserts/parallels first and take the quantity route for the bucks?

Hobby Box Break and Review: 2011 Bowman Chrome

2011 Bowman Chrome arrived with the usual hype however much less so than last year. When last year's Chrome got close to the release date the prices were soaring because of Stephen Strasburg, this year we have Bryce Harper to chase but it seems like people are paying the kid a little less attention. Maybe that's because everyone chased Strasburg and he ended up on the DL and no one can really say for sure how he will pitch over the course of a full season at the major league level.

This year there is no shortage of hobby boxes and no shortage of the product at the retail level, at least from what I can see in Target. Shelves have had rack packs, packs, and blasters since the street release date. Granted I think Target only got 4 blasters, and the same one has been sitting on the shelf in the same spot for days... I won't say who owns one or two of those 4 blasters either.

So is 2011 Bowman Chrome all that and a big of chips? Not so much. Despite the fact that I am reviewing a box of the product, I have already opened my own hobby box and some retail items and I am a little concerned about a few things in the product. There are also some cool aspects that I think they did a great job of trying to incorporate some new ideas. Ideas = good, execution of ideas = needs a little work.

Ready to see what was in the box? Here you go:

Base cards (I forgot to count how many base and prospect cards were in the box, but I do know there were no doubles in the box. I would count them except they are in a pile with all the others...)



Base refractors



Prospects - Once I get my hands on the all chrome version of Bowman each year I always wonder what the point of the base version earlier in the year was.

I also feel that it's worth noting that I opened 2 hobby boxes including this one and got the EXACT same group of prospects with the exception of one card that wasn't a double. I think that is absolutely ridiculous. They were from two different places obviously, and had all the same collation? LAME.


Prospect refractor /500

Prospect blue refractor /150 - Chris Carpenter

Bowman's Best


Bowman Chrome Throwbacks - Now you would think that I would be stoked to have pulled the Pujols throwback except I'm not. If you enlarge the scan and see how grossly off center both cards are, it will make you see why I honestly don't care for the card. I thought maybe it was just this box, but when I show you the scans from the box at the card shop you will see they are all terribly off center.



Die Cut - This is something I know many collectors have been asking Topps to do for a while. They included die cut prospect cards in this years set, and in various colors of course. The xfractor version of this one is one of the cooler "low" end versions with the background looking like bubbles instead of the normal xfractor type background. It's nice that this version has a little kick to it. The only problem with the thought of the die cut was the execution... Many of these have creases or pressed edges around the top and have strings from the cut hanging or corners peeled on the back right out of the packs. Perhaps that is the price we must pay for something different.



Bryce Harper


Die Cut refractor



Die Cut xfractor



Bowman Chrome Prospect Auto Aaron Hicks - Jenkies! The auto's are all on card again this year which is awesome. The other awesome part about it is that there are no more goofy stickers on the back of the cards for the retail pack searchers to look for, so unless they have x-ray vision it's more of a fair game for all.


While this autograph is pretty well centered, I watched Jim (@BigBreakCards on Twitter) live tweet each box of his 20 cases of Bowman Chrome and saw PLENTY of 80/20, 90/10, and even one that was 100/0 on centering. Some of the cuts in this product are God awful and it should be noted to be fair.

2011 Bowman Chrome Report Card:

Design: B

I still agree with my original assessment of the 2011 Bowman in that this design is just a refreshed version of every other year. It doesn't do anything for me either way, it's not terrible- just kind of stale.

Value: B+/B

Depending on where you purchase the product it can range anywhere from $55 (eBay auctions) - $70 (hobby shop). On the low end I think you get decent value for the money but at $70 per box I don't see it. Sure the checklist has some great autographs, however with the amount of them that are extremely off center it certainly makes the product less desirable at least to me.

Quality: C-

Collation is terrible. Centering on many autographs and inserts is terrible. Edges of die cut cards are fairly poor. The upside? Well, the cards aren't as curvy as years past, the die cut xfractors are cool (if they are in decent condition), and the boxes aren't bombarded with insert sets.

Overall: B/B-

While the product doesn't jump out as much as it did last year, it probably has more to do with Strasburg vs. Harper than 2010 Bowman vs. 2011 Bowman. I think the lack of quality control on the cutting of the cards really killed it in a sense, but the redeeming factors are almost equal to the negative. The introduction of die cut cards to the product, plus the chrome throwbacks and on card autographs make it fun. Obviously I love blue refractors so sometimes the color variations will sell me on something.

The price of this product may also be a reflection of the hype associated with this years upcoming Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects which I know many people are holding out for that release. I am eager to see if that product will end up all that people are hyping it up to be.

Sunday Question

Since we don't have a case break already in the works we need to make that happen. I want to know what you guys think would be a good case break for the next one. I am anticipating doing one or two more this year but that's about it.

Here are some suggestions:

2011 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects
2011 Bowman Chrome
2011 Topps Chrome
2011 Bowman Platinum

Anything you guys really want to do shout it out, or if you think we should wait for 2012 products you can vote that way as well. Drop a comment and let me know so I can get quotes.

2012 Topps Series 1 Jumbo will be in the works as well once I get pricing I will post that. (possibly 2 case break if the price is right)

Hobby Box Break and Review: 2011 Topps Finest

After opening a case of 2011 Topps Finest Baseball, I feel like I can give this a better review based on a whole lot of packs and boxes vs. just one hobby box. The product featured one thing we are all always asking about and looking for- on card autographs. Not all of the autographs were on card, the dual relic autographs were clear stickers and the case hit Finest Moments (veteran autographs) were also stickers. The solo rookie card autographs were signed on card and look amazing in person. Let's take a look at the product:

Here are the base cards, and of course Albert and Derek. They weren't actually in the box, but since we love them you get to look at this picture again.

The set design this year mimics last years bonus Chrome cards that you got in the value boxes. Not sure this would have been the insert design I picked to use on this product, but no one asked me. I like the fact that the set looks nothing like anything else they put out this year, but at the same time it appears that limited thought went into the design altogether.


Mini Box 1 - Here are the hits.

Hunter Pence refractor /549
King Felix Xfractor /299
Hector Noesi RC Orange refractor /99
Eric Sogard Xfractor autograph /299
The one thing I will say about the design that looks good- different colors. While I loathe the fact that every damn set I get stuck having to chase down 9 colors of every player I collect it's usually the blue refractors that I like the best. Often times the color refractors or parallels look nicer than the base cards, which is the case here. Doesn't mean I like spending money buying the same card 9 times and granted no one is forcing me to do so either.

Mini Box 2

Dillon Gee Refractor /549
Andrew McCutchen Refractor /549
Derek Jeter Green Refractor /199 ('Sup Soooooz)
Finest Freshman (gold) Zach Britton (these are not serial numbered but do come in different colors like the Finest Moments and Finest Foundations cards)
Ivan DeJesus, Jr. dual relic autograph /499
I feel like Topps is starting to get the hang of high end card designs, and what collectors are looking for as far as autographs on card and more out of the relic area than just a white swatch (which isn't true in this product, but Marquee did show patches on the relics for the price point).

Now it's time to get down to business...

2011 Topps Finest Baseball Report Card

Design: B-/C+

While this design is "fresh" from recent years of Finest, it has been noted that it strongly resembles inserts from last year which makes this set a little disappointing to me. The autographs on card redeem the product somewhat, but is it enough? Not so sure. The refractors make the set if you ask me, and really for the money the set should be nice enough and the refractors just a bonus.

Value: B

Hobby boxes are selling for roughly $100 per box, and you are getting 1 on card rookie auto and one dual relic autograph plus I believe 6 "guaranteed" serial numbered cards.

You end up with 51 base cards, 2 auto's, 6 serial numbered cards for $100. You could do worse. You could have bought a Series 2 Jumbo box for $100 and ended up with a white jersey swatch. You could also do better- if you can afford Triple Threads or Marquee I would buy one of those. If you like having a chance or 2 or 3 of pulling a big hit I would take my chances with those products over Finest.

Quality: B-/C+

While there were no cards off center, the collation of this set is TERRIBLE. In the case that we opened added to this box break we pulled ONE Oakland A's player, and ZERO Cleveland Indians. I am also pretty sure that there was only one Colorado Rockie (Tulo) in this product, either that or we didn't pull anyone else. There are 30 teams in baseball, please represent them all. If you are a Braves or Royals fan, buy lots of this product- if not.... buy singles.


Overall: C+

While the player checklist for autographs was very good, the design of the base cards and the lack of representation for all teams in MLB basically ruined the chances of this getting a better grade. While I like the atomic refractors from Series 2, I do NOT want to see a whole set that looks like this next year. I liked the inserts from the value boxes last year but never once did it cross my mind that they would make a great base set design for something.

The pro to picking up boxes of this product is that if you love prospecting the on card auto's are sweet, and you can pull different color versions of each similar to Bowman. Will they hold the same value amongst collectors as Bowman RC auto's and DP auto's? That we will see.

Do you guys like the design of this product? You think I am being too harsh or pretty dead on?

2011 Bowman Chrome Blaster

I did it again. I seem to binge buy Bowman and Bowman Chrome in recent years and I honestly have no explanation as to why since I don't prospect and I don't have a big interest in amassing a huge collection of who "might be" when I collect 3 guys basically.

I'm going to go with the excuse that I bought it for the sake of the blog since I have been using that one for years. I probably should have labeled every post I've used that as an excuse for this way we could have kept track. Maybe it's better that I didn't...

This year the blasters are the usual price, with 7 packs per box plus one "extra" pack. 24 cards = $22 with tax. Good thing I didn't buy this with the intention of breaking even.

Base cards
3 Rookies - Danny Espinosa, Cory Luebke, and Andrew Cashner
2 Refractors - Dan Uggla and Mike Minor

Bowman Chrome Prospects
Purple Refractor /799 (Every purple refractor I have pulled the last two years has been a dude I had never heard of and probably won't pan out.)
Bowman's Best Miguel Sano
Bowman Chrome Throwback Nick Franklin
Die Cut Jameson Taillon
Die Cut refractor Miguel Sano

I feel like if this were 2010 then I could have made back about $10 on the Sano's and Taillon cards.... Now those are keeper cards because it's not even worth trying to get rid of right now. Out of the 4 die cut cards I have pulled from retail 2 have been damaged/imperfect out of the pack. I was curious to see if the same will happen in hobby packs, so I spoke to Wes about it briefly and in his case he said many of them die cuts were cut horribly or had things that needed to be removed on them.

I also can't decide if it makes more sense to buy the blasters for the extra cards, or the rack packs for the green xfractors. Part of me thinks the green xfractors if you hit the right ones would make that the better buy. Odds of hitting something big in retail are slim but at least if you pull a couple of good green xfractors you can sell them and pay for your rack pack.

Reminder: Looking for Cano, Pujols, Lind, and Banuelos cards from this set- in preference order.

Contest!! Win a Triple Threads card

This is an unconventional contest for us to be a part of but it's for our friend's boyfriend so we'll help. My friend Lisa from Drugstore Divas boyfriend is close to first place in a recipe contest. They are rallying up giveaways and prizes to push him into first so I offered to lend a hand (card) to move it along.

Please vote for Pete by going to their site and using their entry system, it would mean a lot to them if you could take two minutes to register and vote. (It is very quick, believe me.)