2010 Upper Deck Series 1 Hobby Packs

Since my favorite card shop was still waiting on their delivery of this product I resorted to my back-up store to check out. Normally this store is incredibly overpriced, however, on this product they are probably the best price around at $4.75 per hobby pack. I have zero patience when I want to check something out and will exhaust all avenues before waiting which is why I ended up getting packs at this place.

I asked the guy behind the counter to pick the packs for me since I always pick air, and the last time I bought packs there I pulled a BTL auto from 09 SP Authentic. He picked out 3 packs for me, I paid and left. Sort of. I can't buy 3 of anything and it felt dirty almost so I had to go back and get one more. I opened the one I picked first just to see how great my instincts are, and well wouldn't you know... AIR! Overall, I think I did ok on what I pulled.

Here is what I like about the product so far:

-Card design is great, reminds me of the old ESPN sets they used to put out

-Pictures are good, despite most of them being of the back end of a swing or some odd angle they are still nicely done for a company who supposedly couldn't make cards

-Biography subset is exactly what last the Documentary set should have been if they had put an hour of thought into that set in the first place. This set chronicles one game for each game of the season, with the correct player on the card (what a concept).

-Big fan of die cut cards as inserts, they are always fun to pull.

Dislikes, well I don't really have one yet. If I were a set builder I might be kind of annoyed that there are 600 cards in Series 1, but that is the norm for Upper Deck so I would also be used to it, I suppose. I also think the game used jersey card design is the same as a year or two ago with minor tweaking.

The only card that wasn't grouped into the same pack as these base cards was Jeter, the rest of the scan were in one super glorious pack.
I scanned the Rookie cards I got so you guys could check them out. The logo they designed isn't terrible but not sure they needed to point out that it's a rookie card twice on the card.
Biography subset, 2 per pack. Nothing too exciting to me.
Portraits cards, which some of you seem to hate. I rather like them, but then again I like vintage looking cards of todays players.

Pure heat die cuts
Crawford, the next Yankees outfielder... LOL, kidding.

This last card I actually bought from the store. They opened up one pack to show what the cards look like and what not and I asked to look through them and saw this. I picked it up for a buck, which is way better than paying $3 shipping on eBay.

All World Russ Martin.

There you have it. 4 packs of hobby fun.

I was also at the hobby shop tonight after getting an e-mail from them. I'll tell that story after I put in some study time with my Anatomy & Physiology books.

Bubble Mailer Day

Happy early birthday to me, from me. I picked up some random cards on eBay last week to fill in my player collections and found a nice group of cards from the same seller which was nice to combine shipping, and then won 2 cheap auctions from 2 separate sellers.

The first envelope had the following cards from 2009 T206:

Regular base cards
Mini Piedmont cards

The second envelope had my bargain card. By bargain, it was less than $3.00 and with the way the Cycle version of Pujols has been selling... I may never see one of those.




The final envelope contained a card that wasn't even a thought in my brain until Flash told me he had won one. Then I was like hmm... I would like one of those cards myself, and ended up on eBay rummaging. I won it for less than $10, and according to Topps it will be shipped to me no later than 03-19-2010. So we shall see when I get it considering Topps tweeted this week that Hughes has finished signing all T206 redemptions.


Not a bad birthday mail day. I love baseball cards.

Long awaited mailday

As many of you know I spent a good 20 days waiting for an eBay purchase to arrive, and after several unanswered e-mails and a PayPal claim I called the seller. He advised me of the issue that prevented my cards from getting to me, which sounded like crap since Sooz ordered from the same guy and got her cards within a few days. But at any rate, I have purchased from this seller many, many times and this is the only problem I have ever had and I don't believe Sooz has ever had one. He has one of the largest card stores on eBay and most base cards are a buck but higher end cards are overpriced in my eyes.

This is what I had ordered, but Sooz bought me a Russ Martin 09 Finest because she's the best. So this one will make it's way to Night Owl if he needs it.







I love baseball cards.

I also picked up these from another seller, Cano for a buck and Pujols Heads Up for $2.50 (cheapest at the time on eBay, not sure why he took the offer). If anyone has the Pujols Heads Up on its way to me as we speak, if you would like it back I will send it back with a future trade.




I am going to try and log all of these cards, plus the ones from the store and some trades in today. We'll see how much I actually get done. I'm going to the Yankees/Phillies game today but I am sure I will be tweeting on Twitter for your entertainment.

Today was Target Day

I figured since I did ok at K-Mart yesterday I would try my luck over at Target today. I am not going to tell you that I didn't even open yesterdays stuff yet. I was going to the mall to have lunch with a friend and I was like, "oh, why don't we park up by Target?" She knew why and she complied with my request. We had lunch then stopped back on the way out.

They only had 2009 Heritage and First Edition blasters. There were packs of 09 F.E., and that was it other than the Attax cards. I saw a few random Timeline packs, and I opted to get one of those since I haven't had bad luck with opening them.

I ended up with a Russell Martin card I don't think I have, and pulled a jersey card as well. As soon as I opened the pack and saw that it was Andy Pettitte, I looked at my friend and said, "Suzy just got a sweet card." It's nice to get a card with a stripe on it, or dirt which is what I like seeing. I feel like when a jersey comes with dirt, you know the player or some player actually wore it. Unless the companies rip things off shelves and throw them on the floor. The other 2 cards in the pack were Manny and Corey Hart.

I'm going to open some stuff later, after I log in a pile that is on my desk collecting dust.

TTM Time

It's almost time for pitchers and catcher to report to Spring training, which means almost time for me to get my custom made TTM cards ready to go out. I am wondering if I should send hand written letters, or type them. I obviously would prefer to type them, but I feel like hand writing them looks more personal. What has everyone else done in the past?

In case anyone didn't see the cards that I got in a trade with topher, here they are:




I am not sure if I will send the Pujols card though. I don't really see myself actually getting that back without sending a note written in crayon with some made up story as to why I need that signed. I may just keep it in my binder, though I would really love to get it signed. Should I take my chances in Spring Training or just keep it?

I think I am going to break a box later that I have had here since Christmas. It's been asking me to open it for a while now.

Recent Trades With Fellow Bloggers and Readers

First and foremost I would like to say what a great group of people I have met through this blog, and through other blogs. Everyone so far has been super-nice and very helpful with getting me cards, and in some cases even making them. I never thought I would end up making a bunch of friends on here that would want to trade at all, much less regularly. I am going to do my best to showcase the trades that have come in this week, and do my best to remember what went out.

I am going to start with Aardvark Trading, Co. (a.k.a. Cards in the Attic) who was kind enough to pull together some interesting Russell Martin cards, a 2007 mini Allen & Ginter Phil Hughes card, and 5 Yankee Stadium Legacy cards in exchange for (I think) 10 or 15 Allen & Giniter mini cards. Splendid trade!





The next trade I want to show is one that took some time, and more effort on their part than mine. This has to be by far one of the coolest things I have ever opened in a bubble mailer, and definitely is an instant favorite in my collection. This trade came from one of our readers "topher". I sent him some Twins cards from Timeline, Documentary, and some random surprises in exchange for 2 Gameday Graphers, which are cards he makes himself for TTM, or in person autographs. He sent me as promised a Russell Martin, and Phil Hughes. But... he also included a GREAT surprise... the Albert Pujols one I had wanted, AND it is numbered 1/1. The letter in the bubble mailer stated that he will not make another Pujols card for anyone for the rest of the year, and that 1/1 is all mine. Yahoo!!! Now the debate is, do I keep the card or make some meager attempt of sending it with a letter to Albert and pray daily that he signs it for me. We'll have that discussion another day. Here are the cards:








I will get another blog posted with the other 3 trades shortly. I want to give everyone a chance to read each, and leave comments. Well, and also because I think one blog will take over the entire page. Thanks to both of these great guys for working all this out.

Bubble Mailer #1

I went to the post office (finally) to check on a trade I was expecting, and some eBay auctions I had won over the weekend. Much to my delight, there it was- a stuffed P.O. Box full of bubble mailers (and junk mail). Hooray!!! I love bubble mailer days.

Here is what was behind envelope #1:

2008 Moments & Milestones Robinson Cano Autograph



2008 Moments & Milestones Melky Cabrera Autograph



2008 Moments & Milestones Russell Martin Autograph



Let's give them a warm Cardboard Problem welcome into the box I labeled "PC GU & AU", although they won't make it into their home for a few days until I get the proper cases for them.

I ended up with all 3 of these for less than $20. The Russ Martin card ended with no bidders from the same seller as the lot of Cano/Cabrera, so I e-mailed him and asked if he would take $6 for it and he said yes. Not bad for a Russ Martin /25 auto if you ask me. What was even better is that I ordered them on January 2nd, and had them today. It's nice to know that there are still eBay sellers out there who ship as quickly as we do.

2008 Sweet Spot Hobby Box Break #2

Long story short, I somehow acquired a second box. With the exception of the card that made the whole thing worth it 10 times over, tell me if this box break looks familiar.

Pack One:

- Derek Jeter (yay)
- Jose Reyes
- Russell Martin (yay)
- Sweet Swatch Memorabilia Ron Guidry

- Aaron Rowand
- Scott Rolen
- Joba Chamberlain (yay)
- YSL Ron Guidry

(Nice pack for a Yankee fan that's for sure.)

Pack Two:

- Manny Ramirez
- Alex Rodriguez (yay)
- Troy Tulowitzki (yay)
- Sweet Swatch Triple Memorabilia Pedro Martinez/Trevor Hoffman/Randy Johnson

- B.J. Upton
- Felix Hernandez
- Justin Verlander
- YSL Dave Winfield

Pack Three:

- Trevor Hoffman
- David Wright
- Jonathan Papelbon
- Sweet Swatch Dual Memorabilia Travis Hafner & Justin Morneau (yes, no joke. at least Morneau's swatch is an away jersey in this one... snarl)
- Aaron Harang
- Vernon Wells
- Dontrelle Willis
- YSL David Wells

Pack Four:

- Jonathan Papelbon (x2)
- Roy Oswalt
- Chase Utley
- Sweet Swatch Memorabilia Miguel Cabrera (yes, really. only difference is the material texture.)

- Derek Jeter (x2)(yay for Sooz)
- Johan Santana
- Rich Harden
- YSL Tommy John

Pack Five a.k.a. The Mother Pack:

- Jose Reyes (x2)
- Russell Martin (x2)
- Chipper Jones
- Sweet Spot Signatures Bat KEN GRIFFEY JR. 190/230 (holy schnikeys!!)

- Albert Pujols
- Torii Hunter
- Dan Uggla
- YSL Don Mattingly

Pack Six this was Tin Pack:

- Jeff Francoeur
- Nick Markakis
- Brandon Webb
- Sweet Swatch Memorabilia Felix Hernandez (uh huh... at least it's gray? wtf)

- Carlos Beltran
- Ichiro
- Michael Young
- YSL Willie Randolph

Yes, please tell me how I rarely purchase or obtain something this pricey and for once end up with 2 boxes that have virtually all the same cards? Not to mention I only got one autograph card. I'm not being greedy here, but I mean really I could have done without one of the THREE I already had, and got one autograph. But then again, it probably would have been a Brian Bixler autograph.

I did purchase them from the same store, but shouldn't there have been some variety to the case they were in? I am not even going to bother writing to Upper Deck because I am pretty sure I am going to get absolutely no where with that complaint.

At any rate, how about the Griffey Jr. card?!! I am super happy about that one and plan to hold onto it for a while, or until someone comments that they have a nice Pujols Sweet Spot auto to trade me for it... Overall, if we forget that I already had 3 of the GU cards, I did get 5 players that I collect, 6 if you count the Pujols that I now have 3 of.

If anyone has a Phil Hughes from this set please send it my way and I'll get you something you need.