Prices Soaring on Everything

Recently I had posted about our 2011 Gypsy Queen case being delayed until April 27th, and so I began to mill around eBay and Blowout Cards looking at the current case prices on baseball pre-sells and current releases.

Now, I don't know how many of you make a habit of checking prices on occasion but I find myself doing that here and there. I got a message from Flash saying that Tribute was well over $400 per box, I had to go look with my own eyes and sure enough there are boxes for well over that on eBay.

When I went to go see how much Gyspy Queen is currently is currently, I was absolutely amazed. It is currently over $1,200 per case. I sure am happy that we decided on putting a deposit down early on this case, that is for sure.



Here are a couple of more to check out if you want to see how the price is skyrocketing.

- 2011 Bowman

- 2011 Pro Debut (note the card in the picture appears to be a chopped up Aflac auto... what a waste)

- 2011 Heritage

- 2011 Allen & Ginter

The current prices of boxes and cases is a clear indication of what a monopoly over the sport will do to products. I don't feel like the prices are the same way with other sports, but my expertise is very limited to baseball with a little dabbling in other things on occasion. I honestly can't remember boxes being this expensive as pre-sells, except for Bowman. There was a ridiculous mark-up last year because of Strasburg, and this year it is because of Harper. I can visualize it in my head now, thousands upon thousands of base cards, inserts, and parallels from the 2011 Bowman in the garbage because no one cares about those cards. Same thing will happen with Pro Debut.

But $1200 a case for Ginter? I mean really, half the cards are of objects, poor drawings, boring design. What is the draw here? That I could pull an autograph of a boxer? Big freaking deal, that was the reason I only bought a single box of Co-Signers when that was out. Why would I buy a "baseball" product to end up pulling freaking match worn boxing trunks? Dumb. Ginter = dumb and overpriced.

Maybe it's because baseball cards are more popular that the prices are so high. All I know is that the one company producing cards thing is making it incredibly unaffordable unless you find an auction on eBay where people fell asleep, or aren't sniping.

Or maybe I'm just cheap.

Cellophane wrapper (not) error

While at the card shop the other day I heard an interesting tidbit of information about the
2011 Topps Heritage hobby boxes. Now, I have been debating whether or not I should post this information or maybe it has been out there somewhere and I missed it while reading Chemistry things.

The reason I decided to post it regardless was in case people were ordering hobby boxes of
Heritage on eBay or elsewhere. Apparently there is a very easy way to tell which boxes are hot without even opening them. A customer had called up the shop and told them this information, and they couldn't believe it and honestly neither can I. The cellophane wrappers were put on upside down to seal the box, meaning instead of reading the box normally and seeing the little blue "Topps" logo going with the box it would read "Topps" upside down on the cellophane.

Not for nothing, this is pretty pathetic/annoying to have done if it is true in every case. Not only does this cause people to search cases and kill everyone on pricing but it eliminates the fun of hoping to get one of those boxes. Now I know when I go to a card show that if I see that box to buy it, otherwise why would I bother as someone who doesn't build sets?

I better not hear one person say Topps didn't do this on purpose (if true) because if you think that it was an accident on every case produced, I want whatever you are smoking. I checked eBay for hot boxes and nothing came up. I also googled it to see what I could find, and nothing. I'm very tempted to conduct this experiment at the next card show.

Anyone that ripped a case of Heritage happen to take notice of this? Better yet, can anyone confirm they have opened a box because of this or noticed the cellophane prior to buying or opening? I'm so curious.

2011 Topps Heritage Hobby Break & Review

The good folks over at Topps sent us a box of 2011 Topps Heritage to break and review. I was very excited to open the hobby box because I wasn't able to purchase one this year. Overall the box was kinda boring to me and I hate to say that about something I usually love each year, but from what I saw in this box and what I have seen on other blogs the boxes are either hit or miss (literally and figuratively speaking). I am fine with it because there were a ton of Yankees in the box as well as a Pujols base and the Managers Dream card with Pujols/Braun.

So lets break it down. Each box contains 24 packs with 9 cards per pack. Chrome cards are 1:11 packs, chrome refractors 1:37, relics 1:29, and the lowest tiered autos are at 1:303 (!). It goes without saying that I wasn't very optimistic about pulling an autograph.

The box topper was a Baseball Bucks five dollar bill. When I saw these on eBay they looked like they would be the size of the box topper cards, like 3 cards together kinda thing. They are actually smaller than monopoly money and depending on who is on yours, it may be worth as much as monopoly money- i.e. Billy Butler.


I scanned a couple of base cards for fun. I bet you are wondering why I included Matt LaPorta. Well, because he's hot. Seriously. Oh and I kinda sorta keep his cards... Yes, send me your hot, err, Matt LaPorta's.

Derek Jeter
Albert Pujols
Matt LaPorta

This is card #211. I am not sure what is going on in this card, the picture is one way and the title is the other. Error card? No idea. But the back of the card when looking at it this way is upside down as well... Epic fail.

There were 2 Baseball Flashbacks in the box, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. (1:12)

2 News Flashbacks, Dodger Stadium Opens Its Doors and U.S. Navy Seals Are Activated. (1:12)

Another annoying mistake. I know that the tops of these cards shouldn't be blank, so what happened here?

2 New Age Performers

1 Then & Now - Frank Robinson & Josh Hamilton

Babe Ruth Special cards

Paul Konerko Chrome

Roy Oswalt Chrome

N.L. Strikeout Leaders Chrome refractor

Gaby Sanchez game used bat card

There were also 8 SP's in the box which is exciting if you are a set builder. Overall, I think this set has been a little less consistent than in years past. In 2010 I opened 2 hobby boxes and got a TON of chrome in each box as well as an auto in one. I honestly think it may be a collation issue since I don't think everyone has had the same issue, but I have read enough to know that it is an issue. I also found the lack of shiny cards made this kind of boring.

Here is my 2011 Topps Heritage report card:

Design: A

How could I not give it an A when it replicates the 1962 set right down to the baseball bucks (gong) box topper? Each year that is the one thing you are guaranteed is the design will be stellar with this product.

Value: B/B-

A hobby box with 3 chrome cards kills the value to me. Maybe if this box had an autograph I wouldn't be as disturbed by this, but I don't see where the value in the box is this year. Eight short prints is great for set builders, but for collectors who only collect a player or a team it doesn't really do anything for unless your player is an SP. Nine cards per pack is great for the price though.

Quality: A-

Consistent year in and year out in the quality department with only the minor misprints that I noted. However, let it be noted that this year the chrome card stock in this set has improved ten fold. The chrome cards have absolutely no curl to them, and are a better quality than in years past. Kudos to Topps for finally correcting that issue.

Overall: A-/B+

You honestly can't go wrong with this set each year because it is for the most part very consistent. If you aren't a set builder I would probably advise against a hobby box for the reasons stated above. Player collectors- help the guys who bought cases or boxes and buy their singles and keep the world spinning. Trade for your players with those of us stuck with a boatload of singles.

You should definitely check out eBay and other blogs/message boards to see some of the cooler cards to come out of the Heritage like the coin cards, dual Then & Now patch cards and autographs. I promise there are cool things in the Heritage this year, they just weren't in this box.

2011 Heritage Stamp card

Last night I was watching a Robinson Cano/Ian Desmond stamp card from the 2011 Topps Heritage. It was about 2 hours before the auction ended that I started watching the card so I figured I could bid on it closer to the end since I was sitting at my desk studying and watching the Yankees.

Well... I just remembered I was supposed to bid on the card now. It ended at ($%@$%@) $5.99. Why might it have ended so cheaply? Because I didn't win, that's why. I seem to always end up missing the bargain cards on eBay because I forget about it once something else starts going on, i.e. Yankees are up 4-0 in the 8th until Soriano comes in and blows the game and I miss my Cano card. Perhaps if I wasn't busy screaming f- words at my tv, I might have had a shot at the card. Thanks alot, Soriano. Come on, someone needs to be the scapegoat.

Did anyone pull one of the Cano stamp cards? Or better yet a Pujols one?

Honestly, I don't remember hearing about many people pulling one of them at all. I have a box here to post for review but you will have to wait and see what I got in it...

2011 Heritage Blaster

How many of us ran out to Target the last few days hoping to get their hands on a Heritageblaster to open? Yup, me too. I got mine 2 days ago and was saving it for a rainy day. It just rained in my head so I opened it.

I won't lie, I debated on returning it because I was kind of disappointed in the hobby packs I opened and lost most of my interest. But then the pack ripping junkie in my head said, "MarieBay, you already bought it, it will use gas to drive there and return it so you should complete the stupidity cycle and open it." So, I caved.

I bet you were expecting to read allllllllll about the cards in the box and see scans. You lose. Well, actually I lose because the box blew. I got a crapload of base cards which would be great if I cared to build a set. I got 4 SP's, one of which I pulled 2 days ago from some loose packs.


That sums up a Heritage blaster, 4 lousy cards. Ohhh wait, I did get a C.C. Sabathia base card...... Yes, that must make it worth it...

I have read plenty of blogs and talked to plenty of people about how much the blasters sucked. If anyone out there is debating what to buy of this product, buy a hobby packs or loose retail. You really can't to any worse.

Anyone pull an auto out of a blaster yet? I pulled an auto once from a Heritage blaster and it was Mat Gamel. Once in a while you can hit a good card in a blaster but it would be nice for some people to share something good from this years blasters.

2011 Heritage Baseball Bucks

I have to post this because I don't understand what these are supposed to be or why they currently exist. Has anyone pulled one of these Baseball Bucks from a 2011 Topps Heritage hobby box?

I only learned of these 5 minutes ago through a search on eBay for Heritage stuff. I opened a couple of hobby packs at the shop today.... They were so bad I can't even be bothered to scan them.

I do have a top secret blaster of 2011 Topps Heritage right next to me, but I can't decide what to do with it. Part of me doesn't even want it anymore, and the other part of me wants to open it because there aren't any more at Target.

What to do... what to do...

Hank Aaron 2011 Heritage auto hits eBay

Well, the first Hank Aaron auto has hit eBay in the form of a one day auction. Smart on the sellers part because he can get the most action before there are too many (if that's even possible) listed.

I'm going to watch it to see where it ends, should be interesting.

2011 Topps Heritage Pack Rip

I had to go to Target today to pick up some pictures I had printed and I had to force myself to go look and see if the 2011 Topps Heritage cards had arrived yet. By force, I mean practically ran to the aisle that I refer to warmly as my office. Sweet glorious loose packs, gravity feeder, and 3 blasters were there. No, I didn't buy all of it and I wasn't even tempted after the hulabaloo I have been hearing about retail sucking.

I grabbed a few loose packs (for the sake of the blog, of course). I did pretty good considering I expected nothing from the packs. By the way, if you didn't already know the Target credit card gives you 5% off every purchase.... Anyway, here are the highlights.

Teix and Joba base cards



These may have been the only two I loved out of the packs I got. I love the action shot of Jeter, and the Jeter and Cano card is just awesome.

Sabathia insert, Matt Holliday Sporting News

Ichiro and Mauer inserts

Rookie Parade, which is an SP



Ramon Hernandez Chrome, /1962

Victor Martinez game used bat card



This is for the Woodman.

EDIT: There were two total short prints, the Rookie card and an Alexei Ramirez Sporting News.

So between my starting to type this and me finishing it, I ended up at Target again with Sooz but I didn't buy anything. I did take notice that there were no more blasters left, but a box of rack packs showed up. Perhaps Sooz will share her tale of rack pack blues later.

I like Heritage just about every year, and this year doesn't seem to be any different. I don't really like or hate the design, but I do think we are in trouble once Heritage goes up to (God forbid) 1987.

Let us know if you opened any or if you posted it on your blog so we can be nosy and see how you did.

Flash at Dropped Third Strike opened a bunch of Heritage retail if you want to check out what he got.