MAILDAY!

You'd be pretty excited too, if you bought a lot of 1998-2000 Stadium Club Triumvirate/3X3's for only $22.

1997 and 1998 Pinnacle Inside Five "Pack" Break.

I ripped open five "packs" of this crap so that you don't have to.

Slightly Dinged Pack Break: 1998 Donruss Preferred

BARVES-JO!!!

Bipped by "S. Claws."

Of all people to get Bipped by, I get Bipped by a cut-rate Santa impersonator. Do this mean Bip Wars is back on?

JUNKWAXAPALOOZA 2011! 1993 Leaf Series One Jumbos

The National: Day Three Video Recap

The National: Day One Video Recap

Tournament of Gimmicks: Second Round Halftime Show.

Let's go to the studio with Greg Gumbel, Seth Davis, and Jeffrey Wolfe.



Remember to vote in ALL FOUR REGIONS! (Or Puff Daddy will kill you)

Burdick Region

Olbermann Region

Beckett Region

Berger Region

On-Location Pack Break: 2010 Upper Deck Retail Looseys

George Brett FTW!

And no, this has nothing to do with baseball cards.

On-Location Box Break: 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter (Parts One and Two)

Part One:



Part Two:

The Jersey Shore Junkwaxapalooza! 1997 Totally Certified.

Platinum Red (numbered to 3999): 33 of 150 (22.00%)
three doubles

Platinum Blue (numbered to 1999): 19 of 150 (12.67%)

The Jersey Shore Junkwaxapalooza! 2002 E-X

The Pulls

Base Set: 65 of 139 (46.76%)
20 doubles

short set: 61 of 100 (61.00%)
nEXt: 4 of 39 (10.26%) E. Almonte /2999, M. Byrd /1999, D. Sardinha, R. Chiavacci

Parallels: NONE

Inserts

3 Behind the Numbers (35 cards, 1:8): J. Bagwell, L. Walker, K. Griffey, Jr.
2 Hit & Run (30 cards, 1:12): M. Piazza, A-Fraud

Autogamers

1 Behind the Numbers Jersey (1:24): J. Bagwell
1 Hit and Run Bat (1:24): NOE-MAH!
1 Hit and Run Base (1:120: That J.D. Guy

The Jersey Shore Junkwaxapalooza! (Preview)

The video speaks for itself.

2009 OPC Blaster Break

Yeah, it's been a week since I posted anything. Sue me.

Video Box Break and Review: 2009 Upper Deck OPC

One Hobby box of 2009 Upper Deck OPC
36 packs per box, six cards per pack (Paid $59)

Part One:


Part Two:


The Pulls

Base Set: 159 of 600 (26.50%)

Parallels
35 Black (one-per-pack)
1 Blank-Backed Black: P. Polanco
1 Mini Black (1:36): S. Olsen

Inserts
2 2008 Highlights & Milestones (15 cards): A. Beltre, C. Gomez
1 Walk-Off Winners (ten cards): J. Damon
1 2008 OPC All-Rookie Team (ten cards): J. Bruce
1 Midsummer Memories (15 cards): C. Crawford
2 Face of the Franchise (30 cards): M. Young, E. Longoria
2 The Award Show (20 cards): A. Beltre, T. Hunter
1 New York, New York (30 cards, 1:36): J. Posada
1 1979-80 OPC Hockey (33 cards, 1:36): J. Toews (Hockey Player)
6 20th Anniversary: L. Berkman, R. Ankiel, T. Woods (three different), Jeter

Autogamers
1 20th Anniversary Memorabilia (1:432/packs): I. Rodriguez

The Review

When I first saw the sell-sheets for '09 UDOPC back in February, with it's faux '76 Topps design and one-per-pack '71 Topps parallel, my first thought was to the litigation that was all but inevitable. With the lawsuit now all but settled, I still have to wonder what Upper Deck was thinking with this product.

I get the fact that Upper Deck wanted to throw a bone to the set collectors; and with a large 600 base set, they have. But I don't understand why they had to call it "O-Pee-Chee." For baseball card collectors O-Pee-Chee will always be nothing more than Canadian Topps. (The fact that all the cards are in English-only goes against the spirit of the originals, but that's for another post.) Issuing a card set called "O-Pee-Chee," and shamelessly ripping off vintage Topps/OPC designs, was all but inviting a Topps lawsuit.

What I also don't understand is why UD decided to kill off a brand name they paid a lot of money for (Fleer), and revive a brand more associated with their competitor? Maybe it was to stick it to Topps?

The Bottom Line

2009 UDOPC is what it is. It's 2009 Fleer Tradition, but under a different name. I received a little more than a quarter of the base set, a bunch of black-bordered parallels, and a one-per-box mini parallel of former Marlin and current Nats pitcher Scott Olsen. I also pulled a black-bordered card of Placido Polanco with a blank-bank, that I didn't notice until after I was done sorting my box. Apparently, these blank-backed black-backs (try saying that five times as fast as you can) are a stealth parallel.

Not including those annoying 20th Anniversary cards, there are eight different insert sets and I received at least one card from each. Unfortunately, one of the inserts I received was of a hockey player. The card in question is from a 33-card "tribute" to the 1979-80 OPC Hockey set. (The first ten cards are of current NHL players, while the remaining 23 are of baseballers.) Last time I checked it says "Baseball Picture Cards" on the wrapper, and not "Baseball and Hockey Picture Cards." If I wanted hockey cards, I'd buy a pack of fucking hockey cards.

You're not guaranteed either an autograph or a gamer in a box, but then again you're probably not buying this for the "hits." You're supposed to get a triple-swatch game-used card every third box, an autograph every sixth, and a 20th Anniversary Game-Used card in every twelve-box case. This box yielded the "case hit," a Pudge Rodriguez 20th Anniversary jersey card.

I paid $59 for this box of cards, and although I got 36 wax packs, I still don't feel as though I got enough for my money. The problem with UDOPC is the price point. Yes, it's only $1.59/pack -- which puts it along the lines of Topps' flagship -- but you only get a measly six cards in a pack. When you consider that a 20-card Hobby pack of Upper Deck's flagship has an MSRP of $5, the cost-per-card of OPC is roughly the same as regular Upper Deck.

Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks
Box Rating: 3 Gumsticks

... and another thing

Contrary to what it originally said on the sell-sheet, the last 100 cards are NOT short printed. They are seeded at the rate of one-per-pack, but UD actually printed MORE of these cards than the first 500 cards. I received 36% of the "SPs," but only about a quarter of the first 500.

Video Box Break and Review: 2009 Bowman HTA

One HTA box of 2009 Bowman Baseball (paid $85)
32 cards per pack, 12 packs per box

The Details:

Chiptoppers
One Autographed Rookie Card (10 cards, one per HTA box)

Base Set: 230 cards
220 short-set
10 Autographed Rookie Cards (see above)

Inserts
Bowman Prospects: 90 cards
World Baseball Classic: 20 cards

Parallels
Golds: 330 cards (one-per-pack)
Blues: 330 cards (numbered to 500)
Oranges: 330 cards (1:3 packs, numbered to 250)
Reds: 330 cards (1:1020)
Chrome: 110 cards (six-per-pack)
Chrome Refractors: 110 cards (1:5, numbered to 599)
Chrome X-Fractors: 110 cards (1:10, numbered to 299)
Chrome Blue Refractors: 110 cards (1:19, numbered to 150)
Chrome Gold Refractors: 110 cards (1:57, numbered to 50)
Chrome Orange Refractors: 110 cards (1:114, numbered to 25)
Chrome Red Refractors: 110 cards (1:484, numbered to 5)
Chrome SuperFractor: 110 cards (1:2415, one-of-one)
Press Plates: 330 cards (1:93)

Autogamers
Autographed Rookies: (ten cards, 1:40)
Autographed Blue Rookies: (ten cards, 1:98, numbered to 500)
Autographed Orange Rookies: (ten cards, 1:194, numbered to 250)
Autographed Red Rookies: (ten cards, 1:50,000, one-of-one)
Autographed Rookie Press Plates (ten cards, 1:13,000)
Autographed Chrome Prospects: (17 cards*, 1:23)
Autographed Chrome Refractor Prospects: (17 cards, 1:47)
Autographed Chrome X-Fractor Prospects: (17 cards, 1:94)
Autographed Chrome Blue Refractor Prospects: (17 cards, 1:152)
Autographed Chrome Gold Refractor Prospects: (17 cards, 1:457)
Autographed Chrome Orange Refractor Prospects: (17 cards, 1:911)
Autographed Chrome Red Refractor Prospects: (17 cards, 1:4500)
Autographed Chrome SuperFractor Prospects: (17 cards, 1:22,500)
Autographed Chrome Prospects Press Plates: (17 cards, 1:2400)
Bowman Prospect Autographs: (ten cards, 1:24)

The 17 Autographed Chrome Prospects are numbered as an extension of the Chrome Prospects insert set. (BCP111-BCP127)

The Pulls

Part One:


Part Two:


Base Set: 192 of 230 (83.48%)

short set: 191 of 220 (86.82%)
Autographed Rookies: 1 of 10 (10.00%) L. Montz

Inserts
Bowman Prospects: 77 of 90 (85.56%)
Bowman World Baseball Classic: 19 of 20 (95.00%)

Parallels
12 Golds
8 Blues: C-M Wang, R. Ankiel, D. Haren, J. Lannan, M. Lowell, C. Quentin, Y. Escobar, J. Bourgeois
4 Oranges: N. Leyja, N. Buss, T. Johnson, C. Li
67 Chromes
2 Chrome Refractors: J. Jones, P. Aumont
2 Chrome X-Fractors: O. Tejada, J. Bogany

Autogamers
1 Autographed Chrome Prospect: J. Rodriguez
1 Bowman Prospect Autograph: R. Kalish

Video Box Break and Review: 2009 Upper Deck Series Two Hobby

One Hobby box of 2009 Upper Deck Series Two
16 packs per box, 20 cards per pack (paid $69)

The Video:


The Pulls:

Base Set
247 of 506 (48.81%)
47 Mis-cuts

Parallels
2 Gold (numbered to 99) J. Guthrie, T. Cahill

Inserts
1 20th Anniversary 1989 Buyback: J. Montgomery
8 20th Anniversary: T. Woods, M. Jordan, Interleague Play, B. Favre, The President of S. Korea, T. Perez, and a couple of hockey players
4 USA Baseball National Team (22 cards): A. Oliver, J. Fellhauer, K. Davis, R. Jackson
4 O-Pee-Chee Previews (50 cards): R. Martin, J-Roll, C. Beltran, J. Beckett

Autogamers
1 2005 Dual Signature Reflections (numbered to 99#) D. McPherson/S. Rolen
1 USA National Team Jersey (20 cards*): K. Volz
1 USA National Team Autograph (17 cards*) : C. Hernandez
1 UD Game Materials (58 cards*): K. Griffey, Jr.

* Two Jersey cards, and one autograph per box
# Packaged as a chiptopper

The Review

I'm sorry, but Upper Deck's quality control has gone to complete shit. Just about every pack I ripped had three mis-cut base cards -- that's about two-and-a-half packs worth of cards. Between this, and the half-empty Blaster of Goudey I ripped last week, UD needs to fix this, STAT.

As mentioned on this blog, and others, many of the same players who appeared in the first series also make appearances here -- and these aren't special subset cards; they're base cards. If you're going to have the same 100-150 players in both series, and NOT include some of the fringe players, then what's the point of even having a second series?

Inserts include another batch of 22 USA National Team cards -- basically, it's Stephen "Give me $50 million, or else" Strasberg, and 21 other dudes you've never heard of before, and will never hear from again. Series Two was supposed to have a 50-card set loosely based on the 1977 O-Pee-Chee baseball set, which in turn was based on the 1977 Topps set. But this was changed at the last minute to a 50-card preview of the upcoming 2009 O-Pee-Chee set. It should be noted that the backs of these cards are identical to the '77 OPC/Topps backs.

You're promised three "hits" in each box, and a fourth packed as a chiptopper. The chiptopper was a buy-back of a dual autograph numbered to 99. Unfortunately, it's of Dallas McPherson and Scott Rolen. (Although considering some of the buy-backs that others have pulled, I guess I should be happy that I got an actual Major Leaguer.)

Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks (out of 5)
Box Rating: 1 Gumsticks (out of 5)

Cardola: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks Football

Again, courtesy of Topps...

Part One



Part Two


So why can't Bowman Baseball be more like this?

Video Box Break: 2009 Goudey Blaster

Yesterday was my birthday and I gave myself a present. Unfortunately, I picked a blaster of 2009 Goudey.