Trading With the Chop Keep- Errr, The Cardboard Curmedgeon

A short while ago my quest to complete the Marketside Pizza set led into my second trade with Steve, the former Chop Keeper and current Cardboard Curmudgeon. In addition to providing some much appreciated pizza set needs, he included a few other food related oddballs and a few other set needs.

The Jeter disc was found attached to the lids of Skippy peanut butter several years back. As stated on the front, there were four, unlicensed discs in the set. I was able to track them all down back then, but more cards of the Captain are always welcome! The Randolph may look like the regular base Topps issue, but it is in fact of the Burger King variety.

This pair of series two needs get me a little bit closer to finally polishing off that set. Maybe I'll get it together and complete this and the Update set before this year's Update releases. Maybe not...

Here is the centerpiece of the trade. Three set needs in one package. At this point in my quest, this kind of success rate is unheard of. I stand at 43/50 but have been stuck at that number for some time. My last half dozen or so packs have produced nothing but dupes. I guess the bright side is that I have plenty to send out in trade packages. The end of this promo is rapidly approaching. I'm going to pick up a few more bread stick packages before they disappear. Hopefully I'll be able to cross off a few more cards before I have to begin searching eBay or Listia. This chase sure has been a lot of fun, I can't wait for the next one...oh wait, it might already be here. This new chase, however, is a story for another day.

Thanks for the great trade package Steve, your return package should arrive early this coming week. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading.

The Key is in the Breadsticks - Marketside Update #2

I'm totally falling behind on posting trades. Between #supertrader packages and my other great regular trading partners, I've got about 7 packages that I need to write up. I will definitely get to them and finish crafting return packages as well. At this point, my rate limiting step is getting to the scanning of all that great cardboard. In the meantime, I've been scrambling to make the time and find ideas for other posts to keep the activity on the blog going. So, against my original plans, I present another update on my quest to complete the Topps Marketside pizza set. After my last update, I had slowed considerably. I mean, I love pizza as much as the next guy, but there's only so much I can eat. Enter a post by Night Owl. During his late night trek to Walmart to track down some of these oddball goodies, he found the packs tucked inside Marketside breadsticks. Upon learning this, my search shifted to breadstick hunting. The product contained is not as big which means I can eat them quicker and the cost per package is significantly less. It doesn't hurt that the Garlic Parmesan variety reminds me an awful lot of the Crazy Bread from Little Caesar's. Not gourmet by any stretch, but for some reason I sure did like those when I was younger. Anyway, I have grabbed three packs of breadsticks since my last update. Here are the goods.

I was pretty psyched to rip this pack. Crossing both Trout and Correa off the list from the same pack made me a happy collector. All I can say about pulling Tyson Ross is at least I needed him for the set as well. Here are the results of pack number 2.

That's another big pack there!  A World Series MVP and a hot rookie. It's a shame that Schwarber will be n the shelf for the rest of 2016. Here's hoping he recovers quickly and is back at 100% for next spring. Oh yeah, I needed the Freeman as well. Two packs down and one to go.

Another huge pack! There's a heavy hitting rookie, the reigning NL MVP, and the reigning HR Derby champ! All three were needed for the set build. Additionally, I have received three cards from trade packages. Those will be shown in their respective trade write ups, but they are being counted in my set needs update. Three packs yielded four of the biggest names in the set. Wow, it looks like the breadsticks are the key to building the set.

Where does that leave me? I'm glad you asked! Set completion stands at 28/50 or 56% complete. In fact, I've actually added this set to my set needs page. If there is anyone out there that isn't planning on chasing these down, I'll be happy to take what you've got. Thanks for reading.

Eureka! I Found Some Pizza!!!

Late last evening I was reading a post on Night Owl's blog. If you missed out, it talked about food issue cards. Almost everyone I've come across here in the cardsphere loves food issue oddballs. What excited me most about NO's post was the mention of a present day set being distributed in this way. It's true! Topps has partnered with Walmart and will be issuing three card packs of fully licensed cards along with the Walmart brand, Marketside Pizzas. Details about the set are sparse at the moment. No ideas how many cards are in the checklist, no idea what players are on the checklist, no idea how long these will be in the deli case shelves. According to Cardboard Connection, their best information is that the set is at least 24 cards deep because they have Bryce Harper at card #24. Of course, I had to venture out to see if I could track some of these down today. Walmart number 1...no luck. So I modified the plan of fun for my daughters and I to bring me into the vicinity of a second store that I could search. As I walked over to the deli area, I had little to no hope that I'd be walking away with any new Topps oddball cards today. When I got there, it looked as if my suspicion would be correct, but as I lifted a few pizzas to check the ones below, I struck gold!

Well, green, actually! I found three of these XL Supreme pizzas with the special Topps promo on them. I picked out two of the three(the box on the third was pretty torn up, so I didn't trust the contents). When I got home, I fired up the oven and cracked open these boxes.

BOOM!!! Before I continue with the excitement of ripping these plainly packaged gems, let me share some reservations about this program. I really want this promo to be a huge success! If it is, I hope that it bodes well for the possibility of other oddball card-food item tie-ins. In fact, I kinda hope that maybe Target has(or will have) its own exclusive set. Topps has been making store-exclusive inserts for years, why can't I dream that they'd do something similar with this? I can already say with certainty that I will be trying to build this entire Marketside set, regardless of how big it ends up being or how difficult it is to track down. However, after my first purchases I am worried about the manner of distribution. Why? Well, the pizza boxes are NOT sealed and the card pack is just placed in the box underneath the chilled, packaged pizza. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. I mean, we've got pack searchers in the card aisles already, it would be exceptionally easy for an unscrupulous collector to open several boxes and slide the packs into a single pizza that they intend to buy. This leaving multiple, specially marked packages without the silver-packed payoff! If the intent of the promo is to potentially bring in casual or brand new collectors deeper into the hobby or even convert non-collectors, you have to guarantee the card pack is going to be in the package. Maybe I'm just being cynical. Anyway, back to the important stuff, the contents of the silver packages.

Here is the first pack I opened. I really like the design of the set. It's mostly clean with a touch of 'Tetris' in the background. I actually like it better than the flagship design(and I'm one of the rare few that doesn't mind flagship this year). Let's take a look at the card back:

It's very simple, consisting of a short write-up about the player. Seager was the highest number card I pulled, so I venture the guess that the checklist will be at least 48 or 50 cards deep. Let's move on to pack #2.

I'm not sure I agree with the inclusion of Olivera in the set, but the other five are no-brainers for any size checklist. Each pack also includes coupons and a Topps Bunt code for a free jumbo pack within the app.

Here's what the coupons can save you. I'm not really giving away the Bunt code because both were the same and the fine print allows for 5 code redemptions per account. There you have it, a concept that I assumed was dead has made its return. What do you guys think? Is it worth the chase? Who else do you think is on the checklist? How many cards do you think are in the set? Sorry, I'll reign in the excitement. Looks like I'll be eating a LOT of pizza! Thanks for reading.