Digging Into Archives

Before I start, I want to thank everyone for their support on the Cal Ripken raffle/good deed post from over the weekend. You're all really great for helping in any way you can! If you haven't gotten your ticket and you'd like to take the shot at the Cal auto, you have until this Friday night/Saturday morning at midnight. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can get caught up right here.

Believe it or not, until I walked in today, it had been an entire week since I had set foot in my local Target. I really wasn't looking for anything card related but as I always do, I had to check out that aisle. Much to my delight, I found this:

Honestly, it hadn't even occurred to me to look for it. I knew that it was being released this week(tomorrow to be exact), but I've got a Hobby box with my name on it that I'll be picking up Jimmy(my enabler) who formerly owned/operated Big D's Sports Cards brick and mortar store in Raleigh. Now he just runs Big D's(on a much smaller scale) online. Despite having a box to open later this week, I couldn't leave this blaster on the shelf. Here is a quick rundown of the contents.

Before I start with my impressions, I am not a stickler for original design details. I would much rather crack these packs and focus on the cards that look good regardless of the fact that they are not exactly the same as their historic counterparts. That being said, I love the Satchel Paige in the '53 design and the Bryant and Betts in the '79 design are pretty nice too. 

I noticed as I flipped through the contents of these packs that most of the cards I really liked hailed from the portion of the set that is paying tribute to the 1991 set. That is one of the first sets that I have fond memories of building with my older brother. No matter what has gone on between us since then, I can always think back on putting that set together and smile. I was lucky to pull the blue parallel of Roger Maris which is #/199. It's not often I pull a nice parallel like that AND it's a Yankee.

Here are the inserts I unwrapped. The Topps Super set up top is going to be the next insert set I put on my set building list. They are nicely done.i guess I'm a sucker for those vintage oddball tribute sets from the past few Archives releases. I dig the Father-Son and the Draft Picks because I remember flipping through the originals in my collection when I was younger. I'm not thrilled with the players I pulled though. Last but not least, the big draw for me...

This year, there is a small insert set that immortalizes characters from one of my favorite baseball movies on cardboard. I am going to actively hunt down as many of the Bull Durham cards as I can. Base inserts, colored parallels, autos, etc...I want them all.i am quite disappointed that neither Crash Davis nor Annie have base insert cards. Their likenesses will only be seen on cards sporting their signatures. Maybe I'll get lucky enough to pull the Crash auto from my box later this week. Hey, a guy can dream, right? Thanks for reading.

2016 Topps Jumbo Box Busting - part 1

Yesterday, while I was on break from my long shift at the office, I was able to pick up my pre-ordered Topps Jumbo box. I got a really good deal from the guy that used for run one of the best local card shops in my area. Jimmy from Big D's Sports Cards had to close up shop last year, but he still orders product and sells to his loyal customers.

Since I got home from work late and had to take care of my one month old throughout the night, I haven't had the chance to rip the entire box yet. So, I decided to break the box in half. In this post, I'll share packs 1-5 and I'll share packs 6-10 soon(likely tomorrow or Monday since I have a post ready for Super Bowl Sunday already). Let's get to it!

First up, a few of the standout base cards. I know everyone will be showing the 'bat flip' card, but I couldn't resist, it's awesome! I really dig the Twins team card celebration. Of course, I had to pick a few Yankees too.

A few of the key rookies that I've pulled thus far. Five packs in and no Schwarber to be seen. I will let you all know that if you have any Shaffer or Turner RCs or parallels that are looking for good homes, look no further. I'd happily trade for them!

I've pulled one buyback thus far and it couldn't be a worse player. I mean this is the guy that they named the 'Mendoza Line' after. Just a horrible hitter... On to better things, I've pulled two Wrigley inserts, but they have both been Babe Ruth. I love he Bambino, but I'd much rather have another card towards finishing the set. The more I see of the Perspectives insert, the more I fall in love with it!

More Perspectives! I particularly like the Tex and Ichiro!

Sadly, I've pulled the two promised 'relics' and I'm less than thrilled with them. Parallels have been plentiful(golds and rainbows) and I was lucky to pull a black parallel of Wade Davis.  It'll likely be headed to a fellow Super Trader despite being a former Bull. Oh, no SP or SSP pulls as yet either.

Overall, halfway through the box and things could be better, but they could be way worse! At least I still have the auto to look forward to and hopefully a Schwarber or two. I will say that I wish collation was better. I've pulled dupes on the Ruth insert and I've pulled two First Pitch cards so far, both of the Boston Marathon survivor woman. Stay tuned for the rest of the break! Thanks for reading.

A Single Pack of 2015 Donruss Soccer

Before I get to the contents of the pack I ripped, I wanted to take a moment to make the suggestion that you guys check out the latest Nachos Grande group break. It'll be the final one of 2015 and it should be a lot of fun. Chris always runs a great break. So, if you haven't claimed a team yet, click here to check out the remaining teams!

Yesterday I found myself having to run out to the mall to pick up something for one of my daughters. It just so happens that this is the same mall that my semi-local card shop resides in. After completing my errand, I took a quick browse around Cardiacs. Much had changed since my last visit there, but their singles were still quite overpriced. I picked up a few supplies and really wanted to walk out with at least one pack of something since I don't make it out there very often. I settled on a single pack of the recently released Donruss Soccer product. 

I hadn't done much research on it so I had no expectations at all. Once I got home I ripped into it.

Here are your base cards. The design is not terrible, but not anything outstanding either.

More base cards. Nothing that really blew me away here. The photography once again isn't terrible, but at least for the six base cards I pulled, nothing that stands out. I think my favorite photo of these would have to be the Godín header shot.

I pulled an insert too.

The design of this Fantastic Finishers insert is pretty underwhelming and plain to me. My last card was this:

I was pretty happy to pull the one autograph per box on just a single pack. I don't frequent that shop, but at least this tells me that in this case their boxes aren't picked through by employees or regulars. This card is much nicer in hand than in this scan, even with the sticker auto.

Though I wasn't blown away by the design or photography of the cards I pulled, I have an inexplicable urge to track down some more of this product. I may even decide to build the base set if I can get my hands on a cheap box.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to go check out the group break over at Nachos Grande. There's still some great team slots available!

Ripping Some Retail Gypsy Queen

I'm not the biggest fan of Gypsy Queen. Like many of you, I can't pass on the opportunity to crack open some new product. Yesterday, I found myself walking around my local Target to pick up a few household items. The lure of the card aisle was once again to great to ignore. I quickly picked a value pack of the new Gypsy Queen and went on my way. I've seen the product pop upon a few blogs already and actually liked the design a bit better than past years. Here were my three packs and the three 'special' white bordered cards.

I didn't do too bad on the white bordered pack. I got the Ironman, a rookie, and a Ray. In one of the regular packs, I pulled the bronze bordered Shelby Miller on the top row. It is serial numbered out of 499. A fairly boring McCann and an awesome throwback George Springer round out the first scan.

Big Mac, Robbie Alomar, and another great Astros throwback highlight these 6. I've got to say that it seems wrong seeing David Robertson in a ChiSox uni.

Not too much exciting here, but I did land a new Jordan Zimmermann and I kinda like the Marcell Ozuna shot.

Minis came one per pack, as per usual. This Eovaldi sporting the Yankees jersey looks so much better than the one that I pulled out of the retail team set.

Overall, ripping these packs was fun, but didn't really yield many keepers for me. At least my pack busting urges were temporarily satisfied. I plan to hold on to the Baez white border, McCann, Springer, Zimmermann, and the Eovaldi mini. All the rest are up for grabs if anyone wants them. Comment or send me an email if you'd like to claim any of them. Thanks for reading and Happy Friday.