HOFer Replacement Saga - part 1 The Journey Begins

I am a procrastinator at my core. When you team that up with juggling three kids 6 and under, you get a blog that falls silent for almost an entire month. The guilt that I am feeling for once again being so far behind in scanning, writing up, and posting trade packages coupled with an additional dose of guilt at being behind in sending out trade packages to fellow Supertraders or any of my other great trade partners led to my temporary(and unplanned) leave from our community. I stayed as active in reading and commenting as I always do, but every time I had a few moments to sit and write, I just couldn't seem to wrap my head around a single topic and I ultimately focused my energies elsewhere in the hobby. Fortunately, some of that energy has been spent packaging stacks to send to trade partners. Slowly but surely through the last few months of the year, trade packages will roll out to everyone that I currently owe and to others 'just because'. To everyone that has sent packages and have yet to receive a return, thank you for your patience. I feel extremely fortunate to be a part of our incredibly generous community and hope that I have not damaged any of he relationships I've formed to this point. Cardboard will be on the way, I promise. I can only hope that it will be viewed as worth the wait.

Okay, now that I have said all of that, let's get to a topic I've been meaning to write about since the beginning of the year. See how the procrastination theme rears its ugly head once again? Late last year, I purchased a blaster of 2015 Topps Update. In the 'bonus' pack I was lucky enough to shatter the odds and pull an auto/relic combo #/5 instead of the standard manu-relic, First Home Run medallion.

As you may or may not recall from my original write up about this, my excitement immediately turned to frustration as I examined the card a little closer.

There was a large crease on the front surface...

...and there was significant damage to two of the edges. At the time, I was on the fence about what I would do. In the mean time, I have spoken to Topps Customer Support on two separate occasions regarding the return/replacement process. I completely understand that I will have no chance of getting this card back. There are only 5 and I'm sure that none of those were marked as replacements. My big concern has been that this card is so rare that there hasn't been any comparable card sales to allow them to determine an 'equal value' for the replacement card they send. Neither of the conversations put my mind at ease so I continued to procrastinate sending the card in. Well, here we are in mid-September. Heritage High Numbers just released and this year's version of Update will be following in about a month. With the deadline for submitting for replacements quickly approaching, I decided to just jump through all of the hoops and just send it in.

The box with proof of purchase...

...the pack wrapper, receipt and the card...but wait that's not all they require. I also had to complete a missing hit/damaged card request form and write a letter that described the situation.

There it is all packaged up and ready for the PO. I have no idea what to expect from this venture. How long will it take? How happy/disappointed will I be in the replacement card they send? What type of communication should I expect from Topps? I have no clue. I intend to post at least one more update on this situation, but that is subject to change depend ending on how the process goes. 

Have any of you gone through this process before? Was it relatively painless or was it a nightmare? What was the final resolution - were you happy with the replacement you received? I would love to hear any stories you have to share. Thanks for reading.

Didn't Expect to Find This

Over the last week, Stadium Club has temporarily(I hope) disappeared from retail shelves in my general vicinity so I have had to explore other options to satiate my card breaking appetite. Earlier this week, I grabbed another hockey repack(I'll post on that another day),but while at my local Target I found something quite exciting.

I had considered, on multiple occasions, grabbing one of these shortly after they released but I never ended up taking one home. I couldn't justify the purchase price for a sport that I don't regularly collect when my reasoning for the gamble was to see if I could pull the Connor McDavid Young Guns RC. However, I've become increasingly involved in the world of Upper Deck ePack(possibly more on that at a later date) and when I saw this discounted series one blaster I had to roll the dice. Here are a few of my favorite base cards from the break.

I'm not a Blackhawks fan, but the emotion and the Stanley Cup Finals patch on that Duncan Keith make for an awesome piece of cardboard! I like the post-check action on the Subban and I included Parise simply because he is a former Devil.

A few interesting horizontal cards. I especially like that the puck is in mid-air on the Steen. Skinner ended up being my only 'favorite teams(Canes or Devils) pull'.

I wasn't overjoyed with either of these insert pulls. They're up for grabs if anyone is interested. It definitely looks like this blaster was meant for a Chicago fan...

I really like these Canvas inserts, though I was underwhelmed by the Weber. The best part of it for me is the fact that the stream from his water bottle was caught on film. I was happy to find a Canvas Young Guns in there. That's all for the insert portion of the program. Last stop is the Young Guns territory. Did I hit the lottery and snag the McDavid?

In short, no I didn't. The Panarin was a pretty darn good pull though. It cartainly made the break a success! This was one of the most entertaining blasters I've busted in a while. Now that I know they can be found in the clearance section, I'll be keeping my eyes open for one or two more. Thanks for reading.

Stadium Club Acquired!

Earlier this week I was reading an article that contained the full 2016 Stadium Club checklist. At the time, I had no idea that the release date was this Friday. I was immediately excited at the prospect of busting some in the near future. As it turns out, today became 'near future' day when I found a few boasters sitting on the shelf at my local Target! I couldn't wait to rip the packs, so why should I make you wait to see what was inside? Here they are in the order they were ripped(with minimal, if any commentary in between).

My first pack of this year was pretty decent. The Rizzo is of the gold foil variety, but I think the Arrieta is the best in the pack.

The Boggs is a black foil version and man, what a sweet Clemente!

A Blake Snell RC and a Legends Die-Cut, not too shabby!

A Cepeda with the Mays cameo is pretty awesome, plus the Morales is another gold foil.

Gehrig and a Beam Team?!?!

The final pack was a bit anti-climactic, but overall it was a really great blaster! Here's a closer look at the Beam Team MadBum.

I like that they're reminiscent of the earlier inserts, but have an updated look and feel. While there wasn't anything Earth shattering in here, I really beat the odds with this blaster. The black foil was listed at 1:16 packs while both the Legends Die-Cut and the Beam Team were listed at 1:256 packs. As for the set design, I like it despite being very similar to a set from earlier in my collecting career...

This is a 1997 Fleer Tiffany parallel. Look familiar? Of course there are differences such as the player's name font being angular rather than blocky and the team name/position being pseudo-script. Otherwise, they're very similar. In fact, I probably like SC in part because it looks like the Fleer set from my younger days. Looks like I've got another set to start hunting. At only 35/300 from the single blaster, I've got a long way to go. Thanks for reading.

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.

So, I Got This Blaster of 2016 Donruss...

I've gotta be honest, had the tag line about one auto or relic per box not been on there, I probably would have skipped this. I couldn't resist taking the gamble on which relic or auto would show up. Here we go.

This is what the base cards look like. I pulled some pretty decent players, but I absolutely had to show this one off. I especially like the back:

That's a great card back write-up!

The Rated Rookies look pretty awesome. I don't even miss the logos on that Schwarber!

The box was jam packed with inserts. I was a fan of 'The Rookies' sets when I was younger, so I'm not only glad that they are included, but I also like that they created a spin-off 'The Prospects' set.

Last year, I liked the 1981 inspired cards, and it just so happens that I like these that were inspired by the 1982 set almost as much. I particularly love that the Kiermaier photo was taken at Yankee Stadium!

The Power Alley inserts of old make a return as does the Studio set. I've seen a few cards from the studio set so far and it's once again my favorite insert set. As much as I wanted to skip showing off the Swanson, it's not a terrible card...

So, what was my relic or auto, you ask? No, I didn't pull the San Diego Chicken relic that I covet so much. The relic was not something I was interested in for my PC, so one of you will be finding out which card it was when it shows up in your mail box. I would have been happy with that value out of the blaster, but there was one more interesting piece of cardboard that I unwrapped.

I was pretty stoked when this bad boy fell out of the second to last pack of the blaster. It's the Studio Press Proof parallel, numbered /99. 

Overall, here was plenty of value to be had out of the blaster, and it was an entertaining break. If you can find these blasters, I'd highly recommend busting one(or two). If you happen to find that Chicken relic, I'd be happy to give it a good home if you're interested. Thanks for reading.

Checking Out Some Opening Day Before Opening Day - The Rest

MLB returns with live, regular season action on April 4th, but Topps Opening Day went live earlier this week. In past years, I have only picked up a handful of packs here or there. Yesterday was the first time in my collecting career that I decided to buy a blaster of the stuff. It's not a bad deal really, 11 packs with 7 cards in each for $9.99.

Let's dig in.

These two perfectly illustrate how the brand can both improve and ruin cards from series one. The Bryant gains from the loss of the foil on the Future Stars designation across the top of the card. However, the iconic 'bat flip' card loses effect since Topps decided to crop the pic closer. I think that the zoomed out view on the series one card carries more emotion and weight. This version seems more sterile somehow. Maybe it's just me... Moving on to a few of the series two 'preview' cards.

We have Betances rocking the porn 'stache and looking a bit like Cuba Gooding. I'm extremely disappointed in the Sanchez RC. It's pretty tough to tell in the scan, but it is an extremely low quality, pixelated photo. You're kidding me, right Topps? Couldn't afford a better pic? Raul Mondesi Jr gets his first RC after making his MLB debut in the Fall Classic and Addison Russell gets a pretty awesome Future Stars card of his own.

Next up, some horizontal 'preview' cards. Decent action shots of Wong, Shields, and Cain. The Cain is the best of this bunch because I'm pretty sure that that play at the plate was an important moment in the World Series.

Now, let's move on to some inserts. The Mascots make their return. I'm always happy to pull any of those. I like the concept of the Striking Distance insert and it's actually executed fairly well. I like that the milestone within reach is actually listed on the card front. I'm also digging the concept of the Alternate Reality set which showcases players wearing their team's alternate unis. I am a tad perplexed with some of the inserts though. Across the OD base set, the Topps logo is not done in foil and it looks great. On some of the insert sets, the logo is foiled and I don't think it fits well. Maybe I'm being nitpicky, but I think the logos would look better if they were done in the same manner as the base set.

The Superstar Celebrations insert is my favorite of the group this year, bar none. I think I may actually try to put it together for the first time. The Keuchel is my favorite of these from this blaster even if it does highlight his gem against the Yankees in the AL Wild Card game last season. The Reddick is a close second just because he has the double whammy of the pie in the face and the Gatorade shower going on in that pic.

I only pulled one blue foil parallel in the blaster, and once I saw it, I was in love! It's my second favorite card pulled. These are really nice in hand. Once again, they're not serial numbered, but they're probably my favorite parallel of this year's design. I think the blue will really work well once I track down some of the Yankees.

As usual, you're not going to pull any Earth shattering stuff in here, but this was a really fun blaster to rip. I may end up busting another one or two of these before all is said and done. Thanks for reading.

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory - Single Card Post Sunday #3

Almost a full week after opening my first blaster of 2015 Update, I finally found another one to bust. I happened to be at my local Walmart and I saw two blasters on the shelf. I had my two year old with me, so I had her pick which one we took home. The 'bonus' pack from this blaster provides the subject of this week's Single Card Post Sunday.

I always save those packs for last when I'm busting blasters. I could tell right away when I picked the pack up that it didn't contain the typical medallion card. It was no where near heavy enough. I slowly opened the pack and peeked at the card inside...

I went from disappointment(when I saw it was Biggio), to excitement(when I saw it was an auto/relic numbered 4/5), back to disappointment when I saw the following:

It's a bit difficult to see, but the card is significantly damaged on two edges and has multiple creases on the front surface. I'm not really sure what to do from here. I've sent a message to Topps Customer Support and I know that I could send it to them for a replacement of 'similar value'. Sadly, I feel like whichever way this goes, I'm going to come out on the short end. I'm not big on flipping cards, but this is one that I likely would have put on eBay. Biggio is a HOF player that has a fairly strong hobby following. Such a limited card would have brought a decent return that I could use on a bunch of other cards for my collection. It's not going to bring any return in its condition and if I leave it in Topps' hands, I'll probably end up with a base prospect auto if some guy that will never make it in the majors.

Anyway, it's still one of the best pulls I've ever had, especially from retail product. I'm sure that this isn't the last that I'll talk about this card on this blog, so if you're interested in the saga that is to come, stay tuned to see how this situation plays out. Has anyone had a similar situation with any company? What would you guys do if you pulled a really great, but damaged card? Thanks for reading!

Archives on Clearance

Now that the hype/madness around this year's Archives has started to die down I thought I'd explore last year's offering a bit courtesy of a great deal. I didn't buy much in 2014, just a few rack packs and that was about it. However, when I saw this sitting on the shelf at my local Target, I couldn't resist.

I was secretly hoping for something huge like the Wild Thing auto(which I would have promptly put on eBay after the shock of pulling it wore off), but that didn't happen. It was a pretty darn good box, especially considering it was on clearance.

I won't go crazy showing base cards, but I didn't pull either of these last year and I really thought they were great cards.

Unlike this year where I yet to pull one of the SPs, I pulled both of these out of the 8 packs. It would have been nicer had I pulled at least one retired star, but I won't get picky. After all, these are two pretty great players. Next, we move on to the inserts.

I really like these. They are based upon the one-per-rack pack, glossy All-Stars that Topps produced in the '80's. I've only got a handful of these, but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna try to finish the set.

I was lucky enough to pull a few deckle edge inserts. I had actually pulled that very Verlander from one of the packs I bought last year, but it had since found its way into a trade package. It's probably a good thing I got a replacement. Since my appreciation for the vintage Topps inserts has grown exponentially over the past year, I've decided that I really dig these. The vintage Deckle set may well be next on my list after I complete the 1968 Topps Game set. So, that being said, I think I'm probably going to try to complete this one too. Hmmm, is there an echo in here?

I probably would have been pretty satisfied with this blaster had the inserts stopped there, but I'm really happy that they didn't.

These are pretty cool. Though I don't collect Trout, I may very well end up holding on to this hockey insert. The Future Stars inserts make me nostalgic for the 1987 set. Now that the dust has settled, I can say that blaster wasn't too shabby. Heck, I'd have been happy with that blaster if I had bought it at full price when it was first released!

Well, I suppose I've got some work to do creating new set needs checklists. Hopefully I'll have them ready to be posted soon. Thanks for reading.