Throwback Thursday - 02.07.2013

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants blousing. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

Mike Benjamin - 1992 Upper Deck - New York Giants

Sunday SIL: I've been framed!

Love them or hate them. Deal with the possibility a fair amount of them may be fake. Accept that while they are called "game used", they are really more event used, or even used who the heck know when, relics are a part of the hobby. While I remember the first autograph I ever pulled from a pack of cards (Jose Vidro), I can't recall the first relic I ever pulled. It just wasn't that memorable an experience. I have pulled a ton since. Some are really nice, and others....well....um.... they do have a piece of material or wood on them, right??

The only classic relic cards I own are a couple bat relics, one of Al Kaline and the other of Nellie Fox, and a jersey of Griffey Sr. (which I display on my wall with a jersey of his son). But I really love the relics put out in Allen and Ginter. Not just because of the mini, but because of the frame.

Topps seemed to take the time to understand the older A&G cards, and not only did they do the card design well, but they made the framessurrounding the relics and autographs a homage to the Ginter of old. Just go to eBay and search Ginter N4 or Ginter N5 and you'll see what I mean. The frames, prior to 2012, really captured the beauty of the tobacco cards. As with other of my favorite relics, I hang 3 A&G cards on my wall.

 

As you can see, we have an Ichiro jersey from 2008, a Konero bat from 2007 and a Morel autograph from 2011. Three beautiful framed relics.... in a frame.

If I squint like this, it appears to be six cards.

I am fortunate to have a relic from each year of A&G.....but one. I own no 2006 Ginter frames. Maybe someone has a White Sox framed mini they would love to part with??? (Hint Hint). And maybe I just updated my trade bait page? And maybe.....just maybe, I would be more than willing to do a two for one swap, or even a 3 for 1 swap, to get my hands on a 2006 White Sox relic?

Maybe?

Just the hits, ma'am.

We are probably all on overload with Topps 2013 release. I finally got a chance to get a few packs, and from here on out, it's probably a pack or two here and there. Yeah - I am probably full of crap saying that, but it sure sounds nice. Anyway, after the bank account damage done today, let's look at the final totals of what I consider are my hits. This comes from a blaster, a rack pack, 2 jumbos and 5 retail packs.

MIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSS! I know I will suffer the wrath of the Night Owl, but I like these more than the full sized vintage '75. I can say something mean like that because I am fairly confident a package he is sending me has already left his possession. If not, ummm...er...

You want to collect One Direction cards, Owl.

Four die cuts. And yes - it is exactly like you see it. Two different dang players. My dumb luck. So if any of you have a die cut of a White S....what. There are none? Dammit. Ummm.... if you are interested, let's talk.

From my blaster. Everyone contain your excitement. Make a single, orderly line. Yeah - this is also available for trade. 

There are 4 Twinkies in the whole set. I pulled one. I am calling this a frigging hit. (Note to Topps - enough with the Yankees.)

 

Nick said it best - that is a killer photo of Feller. There is such an incredibly large library of images in the world from older players. Topps should work on finding those odd pictures and get them on cards.

"Game day bucket g..." Hell if I am saying that about this. However, that black border was a great pull from a jumbo pack. Now I just need the red, blue, pink and cammo to get the rainbow of Kotchman. Oh yeah - I forgot. I don't give a crap about him.

Ok - there's my final take on 2013 Topps for a few months.

Days late and many dollars short

Well. everyone has enjoyed their spoils of Topps flagship release. And it's been great fun reading about the packs, rack packs, blasters, boxes and cases the blogs have been opening. I've been fine seeing everyone posting the look of the set, as well as all the nice inserts. No jealousy at all.

I've been Jeff's best friend the past few days.

I finally had a chance to get to a store. I had a Target gift card with just over $6 on it, so with that and a couple quarters, I was able to grab 3 packs to open and enjoy. I don't see myself going hard at this - pack here and there. Maybe a blaster. But ripping is in my blood, so I had at it with my limited funds. I did ok. Wanna see?

This is the only ChiSox out of the three packs, but I like it. And I yanked a die cut to start off the year. Granted, not a diecut that thrills me, but I am sure one of you reading it would like it. 

I am going to need two of those RA Dickey's. One goes in the throwback binder and the other would make the stirrup binder. Haren has some nice high cuffs too, but it's a shame the card border doesn't let us all appreciate them. Oh well. 

Lot of Dodger love in pack two as well. Whoa....slow down, Plaschke. That Koufax ain't leaving this house, so close down your email. Blanton goes into the high cuff binder with RA and Dan. 

Pack three was uneventful. There is the requisite green sparkle. Umm, Night Owl - what I said about the Koufax goes for the Kershaw, too. Maybe when I pull the crappy Dodgers, I'll share with you guys. Got the usual weird coalition in the third pack, pulling the base Clayton with the greenie. 

Since we all weigh it, I'll do the same. So far, the images are nice. The green sparkles do make the pictures pop out. Some of the colors of the diamond/baselines just do not work on the colored inserts. Sure - that Furcal is nice, but a red parallel with a orange Met or a green Athletic will look like crap. Same will go with some teams with the Walmart blue. That chase blurb matching the player with some superstar on the back of the card is stupid beyond stupid. Obviously the chase idea was the theme of the year. Still incredibly dumb. This is how you do a chase.

Throwback Thursday - 01.31.2013

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants blousing. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

Jim Thome - Enterplay Fan Pak - Chicago White Sox

2013 TOPPS, BABY!

Actually...er....no. I didn't get to the store, and I don't have any budget for cards until later in the week. So I don't have any packs I can share with you today.

And right here is says "Jeff is a lying jerkwad".

I did, however, receive my die cuts from the 2012 Golden Giveaway. Will that do at this moment?

Then, if you hold the ALT key and hit the left arrow, you can return to the previous webpage.

I scored a total of five cards from the giveaway. Of the cards I had delivered, I pulled one, and the other 4 were obtained through trades. But enough - let's scan and post.

This card was a no brainer. He is the only White Sox available. Had to have him. I was able to flip a Brewers Robin Yount into this card. One HOF'er for another. 

Thome is too nice a guy, and a future HOF'er. I unlocked a Rays David Price and was able to get this card in it's place. The curious part is that on the Topps website, it lists Thome as a Phillie, but the card mockup has him as a member of the Tribe.

Either/or - I have a Thome, and it's beautiful. 

The one and only Duke. This was the first card I traded for, giving the end user Steve Carlton. Two cards left, and boy are they nice in my mind.

 

Hate on the Yankees ann you want, but I think you would be hard pressed to find someone that hates Gehrig. This is the best card of the five in my mind. A while back I asked you guys about what to do with a Willie Mays card I unlocked. I was going in two directions, and decided in the direction of a Gehrig. It took less than 24 hours for someone to accept my trade request. And I am so glad they did. The other direction I was going was to trade for a Jackie Robinson....

 

...which is the only card of the five I unlocked. So some great additions to my binders. 

Repack Wars: hockey style

We're going to switch up Repack Wars, leaving the green grass and heading to the cold ice with this box. I have posted a couple packs of this over at APTBNL and I said I would do a repack war on the box, so without further delay, let's see how my $13 (Target 10 pack repack box) was spent. Standard repack wars rules apply.

We begin with 08-09 OPC. Now, as opposed to the baseball OPC I get in repack boxes, I don't mind the OPC brand so much. This pack had a lot of no one in it, so the nod goes to the retro insert.

 

09-10 Upper Deck. SHOOOOOOOOOOTER! A couple nice cards in this pack, but Sharpie wins by default. The font on this set, though, is weird. Too small? Bad choice? Just something doesn't work.

OPC from 09-10. Even with the ads on the uniform, this is a pretty insert card.

2008-09 Upper Deck. Now, I did have a Blackhawk in this pack with Seabrook, but I am going to go with the ex-Blackhawk Roenick for the winning card. He will always be in the Indian Head in my mind.

The lower end of Upper Deck's 08-09 offering with Victory. I skipped past the Malkin, the Tanguay and the Kesler to settle on a nicely framed shot of Carey Price.

Take away a card I will be posting soon, this is the winner of the box. This came from a pack of 1991 Sportscards Ultimate. See more of the cards at this APTBNL post. I have found Scott Niedermayer's mailing address for TTM requests and this card will be mailed soon. I hope I get it back.

Just like their baseball cousins, this 07-08 Fleer Ultra features some stunning images. The insert of Doug Weight doesn't get the win, though, because the gold background looks like crap.

Yeah, I know. It's a Dead Wing. Here is an insert from 2010-11 Upper Deck. The rest of the pack was blah, and it was either this insert, or a Daniel Sedin card. I can respect the career of Lidstrom, if not the jersey. And the only thing I'll ever feature on this blog of a Sedin is this:

Before you get all bent about the cheap shot, everyone forgets Sedin started it:

So no - the Sedins don't get one word of praise here at 2x3 Heroes. Moving on.

A rack pack from 08-09 Upper Deck. LOTS of nice cards in this pack. had to go with this amazing card of Backstrom fighting off a shot. You have the puck, his mask, nice close up - stellar.

DING DING DING! We have a hit in the last pack,  2006-07 Upper Deck MVP. And not just any old hit....

Dual autographs! Andy McDonald never played with the Ducks, getting a few years with the Islanders and is now in Europe. Kunitz is now a Penguin. Both are sticker autos, but a good hit in my book.

I am calling this box a win. Just like this is a win...