I think I have only ever participated in one group break online with all those breakers you can purchase from via ebay or directly on their sites. Main reason is the price. Yeah, sure, whatever - I don't get all the extra cards, and hopefully I get what I want, but I still think many breakers are overpriced. My opinion - I could be wrong.
Survey SAYS....!
But when bloggers do group breaks, I try to get in on the ones I find fit my budget and fill needs in the Sox box. Been is a couple over the past months, and it's about time I thank the breakers and share some spoils. First up, Colby from Cardboard Collections did what he called an affordable group break. The price was right, and it almost didn't happen, so I grabbed a 2nd slot to get it filled. Along with my Sox, I picked the Pirates, and my random teams ended up being the Indians and Tigers. A lot of AL Central for me.
There were three boxes in the break: 2002 Topps Gallery and 2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection. Colby also threw in some bonuses, one being a blaster of Diamond Kings. I think I pulled the whole Sox team set from Gallery, along with that sweet Kendall in a throwback.
The Clubhouse Collection was a hit per pack product. I grabbed the Pirates since there was a Clemente relic, but nothing from my other teams. Fortunately, if you are going to be shut out of 75% of your teams, when you score twice on your main, it's a joyous thing. I look forward to your next affordable break, Colby.
The other recent was run by new daddy Chris at Nacho Grande. Chris called it retro, breaking six total boxes: 02 Fleer Triple Crown, 12 Coopertown, 97 Sports Illustrated, 09 Bowman Chrome, and both a 98 and 12 box of Gold Label. I had my White Sox and the Brewers (blah). Chris threw in some random packs as well, so let's look at the good stuff.
Two for the player collections. I need another Paulie from my throwback binders. I really would like to see the Sox bring back those 1917 uniforms. One would have thought they could have made an appearance for a few games last year. Sigh.....
These really constitute my only "hits" from the break. A black foil Moncada, a city variation of Abbott, and a needed Big Hurt, if only a class 1. Not sure when the next time Chris will do another break, being he had to go and be a dad (FOOL!). Seriously - I wish nothing but the absolute best for your whole family. Fatherhood just gets better and better.
For some reason, I am still using Zistle. Which is dumb of me because at any moment, Beckett will just pull the plug and all my hard work will be done. But with the 5k+ cards I have entered, scanned and cataloged, it's hard to just stop. I export data to be ready, but I can't just run my collection with a spread sheet. It's so much easier to see an image of a card to know if I own it or not. And yes - there are other sites I can move to, but I need to tighten my belt and just shift all my cards there.
The process will not be simple.
Who's got a hammer handy?
But from my currently entered collection, I can see I recently broke the 400 card amount on my Paul Konerko collection. Zistle lists it at 399, but I know there are a few autos that are not in the database, and as such, not tracked. In the past couple months, the Paulies have been coming in fast and furious.
First up is this super sweet duo of autographs from Matt over at Bob Walk The Plank. A while back, I went crazy, bought a pack of Topps Museum and pulled a 1/1 laundry tag of Gerrit Cole. Over the years, Matt has sent me some really amazing cards, so I was more than happy to return the favor with that pull. Now Matt thinks he owes me. I have two Abreu autos in my collection - both sent to my by Matt - along with TONS of other hits, and some how a single 1/1 makes the guy think he is in debt to me. I question his sanity.
<photo courtesy: hacked webcam on Matt's PC>
But seriously, the generosity of so many bloggers just blows me away. Thanks a ton, Matt.
Two really cool things happen from group breaks. One, you get great cards and two, you are reminded to check the want lists of the breakers and end up pulling a stack of cards for the blogger. That is true for a recent group break run by Colby at Cardboard Collections. He ran an affordable group break on a couple older products, and being as those mid 2000s are shy in my Sox box, I jumped at my team. After the random, I ended up with the Sox and Mets. Then the boxes broke in my favor.
Recent Topps releases are way too heavy with a certain other Chicago team, so it's nice that we are better represented in the older products. This nice pull came out of a box of 2005 Fleer Showcase. I like that Konerko added his number. He really should always sign it as it will never been worn again on the south side. I did really well with the boxes.
Fleer Focus was the other box ripped. These Paulies are dupes, but the Crede was a new add, as is the DP card of Alomar. In fact, the Mets did well in the break too.
Because of the luck of the team randomizer, and the box, I ended up with both hits from the Showcase, snagging a black swatch of Piazza. When I got the Mets, I decided to keep them for the fact that I know a certain Canadian hoser I can ship the cards to. And those should go out when I ship the stack to Colby.
Which at my rate, will be after the change of a few seasons.
So ff you follow me on Twitter (FOOLS!), I posted that I was in New York catching a Mets game on Friday night. My wife and I made a quick run east to help out a friend and she said I should get tickets so I can start marking ball parks of the list of places I want to visit.
While in New York, with it's super fun traffic, I found a card shop right next to a bookstore. Perfect to not bore the hell out of my wife. Alex's MVP Cards. Tiny shop, though with NY costs, he probably pays 10 grand a month rent or something insane like that. I didn't have much time, so I just dug through a few boxes he had and bought some packs of A&G. Here's some cards that changed time zones.
All the cards I picked were either 50 cents or a buck. I am pretty sure I have none of these Paulies. Well, pretty sure on two of them. Let's check my Zistle list and see how accurate that guess is...
...and I only needed the one in the middle. Hey - team set builders, am I right?
Three for the binders. There is no way Biggio didn't get wrecked on that slide.
I still need a few more Opening Day cards of Southpaw Mascot. And I thought the Eaton was a refractor Chrome, but it's a foil card. Didn't matter - I need both for the PC. Now I have to find a Chrome refractor.
The shop had a Judge rip card from this year's Allen and Ginter for $500. I passed on that and just went with packs. The highlights?
YUP!!!! Two of the packs had buybacks. And sure, I am building a frankenset, but these do not belong in A&G. Only put A&G buybacks in A&G packs! Eaton is a nice high number mini for the PC. And some of you may be thinking "Sure, the insert set is nice and all, but that Surrender card is a highlight?" Here's why: I have pulled 4 cards prior to this one from the Revolutionary Battles insert set, and all four of them are the same damn card! #1 - Battle of Lexington. So if you need one, I'm hoarding them.
All total, I have currently 10 official in process player collections. They are:
Ben Petrick
Adam Eaton
Joe Crede
Aaron Rowand
Tadahito Iguchi
Nellie Fox
Luis Aparicio
Bob Keegan
Paul Konerko
Sherm Lollar
There are a few others I have (Pierce, Ted Wilks, Ed Keegan, etc....) but for the most part, those are complete. If I find an oddball, buy back or a more recent release (think TCMA), I'll add them. But I don't actively seek out their cards. I also have some in the pre-stage of a player collection (Earl Torgeson, Wilbur Wood, Dick Donovan, etc....), but they are all on deck. Again - don't actively seek them out, but will pick them up if the price is right for a future full on attack.
1955 Bowman sighted, sir. VG for $1.75 shipped.
Here's three recent pickups. One came via ebay, a 2nd from a recent card show and the final was a replacement redemption via Panini.
First up, the 1954 Redman release of Sherm Lollar. The tab was cut off this one, and I do like them with the tab, but the quality of this card made it worth the price. Creases? Sure, But the corners look nice, color is bright and there is no paper loss. For under $3, I couldn't pass it up, as most times I find this card for over $6.
I mentioned a recent card show. I all but sorted the cards, and there really wasn't much worth showing. Dime box pickups and some cards for the 60-65 Sox team sets. This Lollar All Star was the high purchase of the day, setting me back a fiver. Take away that printer line you see running from the "s" or Selection through the "e" of American, and this card is pack fresh. This is another card I have watched on ebay, but nothing this nice in quality ever hits that price range. And that's before shipping in included ($3.50 for a PWE - yeah, right). So I bit the bullet and snagged it. In the end, I am just 3 cards short of completing the Lollar Project, with one being a bit of a white whale. At least in cost, though at times I miss copies in my price range.
It's blurry because it is still in the case. Just received this beauty today. About a year ago, I pulled a Michael Spinks autograph redemption from a discounted Golden Age blaster. I redeemed it, though it was just a few months expired, hoping it would be filled. Well, it was time to give up. After a couple calls to Panini (dropped holds), customer service did a swap and sent me this nice 2005 Donruss Prime Patches signature. Interesting that Panini has old, license cards available. I guess when you purchase the brand name? Would I have like the Spinks? Sure. Am I upset this is the replacement? Oh HELL NO!!! Certified autograph of Paulie with licensing???? Look at the beauty of that card with all the fine Sox script logos appearing.
Needless to say, this is a post that is a good year behind. Or damn near close to it. I don't even remember when I received the box, but it was totally out of the blue, and boy was is crammed. The amazing thing was the return address was not from a certain crazy man in Alabama.
No - from out of nowhere, John from Johnny's Trading Spot just dropped a large flat rate box on me stuffed with so much cardboard. And when I mean so much cardboard, I mean a lot. Guesstimate? I would say 2000 cards. And that is a low guess. Probably more. So this post is scan heavy, but I really need to give John the proper thanks. Thanks that is months overdue. Let's jump in.
We'll start with the NHL after my Hawks just hit a slump in the playoffs and got swept by Nashville. Look Preds - you aren't as good as you think, and you will find that out soon enough. Enjoy it while you can. Me - I enjoyed the Hawks cards. Well, maybe not that first one. It's a reminder of yet another superstar we had and traded away for really no return. Someone thought Jimmy Waite would be a better backup for Belfour than Hasek. We did get Eric Daze from the draft pick we secured, but should have kept Dominic. Oh well.
Yeah Ethan - you should have never worn 19. Babchuk played 5 games in a Hawks sweater and somehow they issued him Pilotte/Maggie's number. No idea who the equipment manager was in the 90's, but that guy has a lot of explaining to do.
VINTAGE!!! I remember buying a lot of 80-81 Topps to try and get the member of the 80 Olympic team, so I did a lot of scratching. Love that the OPC has the position on the front in both English and French.
John included a TON of random hockey in the box as well. While some did stay, I will work the rest into trade packages. Especially that Dead Wing shit.
Plenty of player collection cards were found within. Two new cards for the Crede binder.
And a bunch of new entries for the Paulie. I may have to look into that Forty Man full set. I like the layout.
I kept track of a lot of cards, but I am not sure how many miscuts John sent over. I won't even guess. But here are some gorgeous examples of the blade going wrong. Interesting to see the sheet layout for the 1986 Topps, with the headers touching at the top. Makes sense when you think about it.
OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAH!!!! I think there were a good dozen cards from the '89 set. Looks like John ran into an entire box where the cut sheets were misaligned. And sorry, Corey, that Wallach one stays. Well - to the point of I'll listen to an offer if you really want it.
Now I did keep track of the other binder cards. John dropped 81 cards on me with throwback uniforms and 16 were new additions. That 1997 Upper Deck Nunnally reminds me how far back the Royals have been honoring the Negro League Monarchs.
When it came to the double play binder, I was able to add 57 new cards out of the 128 John sent. If you asked me, I would have thought I had that Leaf Fermin, but nope. New. And how great is that photo? The dust, the runner's foot up in the air - nice.
And wow - that Jay Bell. Just.....wow. What a great card.
Bunting, however, was were John went nuts, dropping a whooping 467 cards on me. Fortunately, more that 25% were new, with 131 getting into the binder. With me double bagging the pages, that in over 7 pages filed. And dig the great range of new bunting cards. I'll have to check my notes, but no surprise yet another Brett Butler addition.
They even bunt on the back of cards.Spies looks like he is bunting for the first time and has absolutely NO idea what he is doing. I would be willing to be he got hit with the pitch when he missed making contact with the ball. Sorry Nick, no dupe of Plesac, but I bet you can find that on Just Commons.
Even vintage bunting. Hey Larry - why are you holding the bat so low?
Nope - not cards but pocket schedules. My favorite souvenir when I go on vacation. Granted, these are local and I think I had the 06/07 Hawks, but I am sure it got quarter pounder juice on it years ago and got tossed at the gas station.
And last, but not least, was well over 600 White Sox cards. Probably much, much more. John filled a LOT of team set needs across the spectrum of sets and brands. I was a HUGE Keith Foulke fan. I really should start a collection of his.
I remember picking these three to scan for a joke, but man - I forgot where I was going. But I hate to waste the scan, so....
Great inserts. Gotta love that about the 00's - some of the insert sets were pretty cool. I'll have to look into Black Diamond.
And for the last scan, let's finish with a micro Robin for the throwback binder, a loved 64 Pizarro and an Al Smith photo from a group of a dozen from a couple Jay Publishing releases. I see them on ebay all the time and I really should pick them up. The price is low and you can grab some great images of those one or two year players that Topps may have forgotten to include.
John, please forgive me for taking this long to post your bountiful package. Man, you added a substantial amount of cardboard to my collection and I owe you.
And just like I don't have a joke for that scan of Sax, Baines and Alvarez, I don't really have a video to tie this post together, so instead, enjoy a marionette playing Rush's Tom Sawyer.
We all know a manila padded envelope in the mailbox is a good thing. Whether ebay, JustCommons, COMC, Sportlots or from a gracious soul that just wants to drop something into your house, it's tough to beat going to the curb, pulling on the mailbox door and seeing that yellow staring at you from within.
No envelope can hold me.
As you know, my daughter is WAAAAAAAAY up north, and it turns out there are not one but two card collectors at her job. So a while back I dug up any Barry Sanders cards and sent them off. If I could get to a card show, I will continue the process, but not happening lately. I'm on the hunt for more Sanders and Lions in general as an FYI.
One of her coworkers, Steve, sent a great return package, so howze about a few scans of some lovely gifted cards?
You want White Sox rookies? I got White Sox rookies. Ok, yeah - Paulie is a Dodger, but just like all the Junior fans forget about Griffey's 41 games in black, Konerko's time in Dodger blue or Red...er....red, doesn't count. Nice orange Sale Chrome refractor. The Black Jack Donruss - I just love that card. He looks like such a baby face when he first got on the mound. Lastly - Lyle Mouton. (sigh) Yet another flash in the pan in Comiskey that flamed out quickly.
MINIS!!!! A nice dozen or so that go towards numerous sets I am completing. Duke is not putting up with any of your crap, photographer.
Some vintage was within as well. Half a dozen or so 1980 Sox for the team set. Love the shop job on the Davis inset photo. That LA logo on the cap is ginormous! And the top cards from 1961 Fleer. That is a set I really, really want to build. Two is a start. ButI need to clear some of my Want list before I add another vintage set build. I can't do multiples at one time like the rest of you yokels.
Since 2015 is the last Topps set I acutally cared about, I don't have many manufactured relics. This one is actually from 2015, but I think I bought two blasters total, and White Sox were few to find then, and even less now. So this is a nice expected fill to a collection hole.
BOOM!!! 2014 Golden Age star stamp stickers. These are hard to find anywhere but online, and some of the prices are crazy (I'm looking at you stamps 11, 24 and 26). I believe these dropped one to a box, and a total crap shoot from a blaster, as my Want list will tell you how short I am on a 30 "card" set. Knocking 4 from the list is four less I need to bite the bullet on.
Yup - them's football. And no, I haven't started collecting. But Steve sent over a few relics and Bears cards. I know enough people I should be able to flip them into nice return cards. If anyone sees something they like, let me know. But I will only take Lions and Barry Sanders cards in return.
One football card, though, is not available for trade.
Like Gretzky in Edmonton, Jackie in Brooklyn/LA, Bird in Boston and many others, you would be hard pressed to find a player more loved in his home town team than Sweetness. I contend that Walter would probably win out in a battle between him and Jordan. Nice 1984 Topps that lists Payton as 3rd on the all time rushing list when printed. It took him until October of that year to make the print incorrect. I might give crap that Emmitt Smith is not the real leader, but he took almost the exact same number of games that Walter played to pass Payton on the list, so props to Emmitt.
But to bring this post full circle, Barry Sanders should really be the all time leader.
Thanks Steve. You should try blogging sometime.
And maybe my daughter gets a raise? She deserves it.
Yes, this is a day late for Valentine's Day, but when you receive a mailing such as this one, you cannot help but be so head over heels about the cards that time has no meaning. You swoon over the sharp corners, the gloss, the colors and designs. So much to take in that it overwhelms the soul.
Enough...they're cards, bro.
And when they come from a blogger that we all thought fell off the face or the Earth for a while, but they have returned to the club, it's even better. Oh Julie, from A Cracked Bat. How long we have missed your wit, prose and vibrant personality. How do I love thee, Julie....
You must love me, my sweet Julie, when I look upon that you have gifted me.
High end cards and high numbered cards. Is that an indication of the soaring your heart has for me?
Shiny and colorful cards. Do you secretly wish I would gift upon you shiny and colorful gifts of my love and devotion?
A complete team set of 2015 White Sox minis. My goodness, my maiden, how is it I was so blessed to have someone as wonderful as you in my life? After all these impassioned gifts, is it possible you have more to impart on me? Have you not given me all.....
What? A Bob Wilson autograph? I see it now. "Bob Wilson", an in such a generic name that our love with be anything but. A catcher, because you have caught my heart and I have caught yours. And lastly, the red background, such as my heart burns for you with a passion that cannot be controlled. I am a rocket into the sky with passionate longing to be with you for time eternal.
Then again, I could be reading this all wrong. Maybe I just like the cards.
