From the looks of it, I don't think Uncle Cholly likes Chutley's potty mouth.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Ladies and Gentlemen, Chutley...
From the looks of it, I don't think Uncle Cholly likes Chutley's potty mouth.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Something I'll cherish forever.
At the end of the eighth inning, I drove over to my 86-year-old grandpop's house -- a tad bit tired to be sure, but this is something I was waiting 25 years for.
After grandmom died, grandpop lives by himself and, considering his age, this might be his last chance to see a winner.
I arrived just in time to see Longoria pop-out to Chutley.
I asked my grandpop if I can turn down the sound on the TV and turn on radio.
I needed to hear the voice of Harry Kalas call these last two outs.
Then Zobrist lined out to Werth.
And then Lidge struck out Hinske.
After grandmom died, grandpop lives by himself and, considering his age, this might be his last chance to see a winner.
I arrived just in time to see Longoria pop-out to Chutley.
I asked my grandpop if I can turn down the sound on the TV and turn on radio.
I needed to hear the voice of Harry Kalas call these last two outs.
Then Zobrist lined out to Werth.
And then Lidge struck out Hinske.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights Hobby
One Hobby box of 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights (paid $49)
36 packs per box, 10 cards per pack.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
The Pulls
Base Set: 308 of 330 (93.33%)
Parallels
1 Chrome Refractor Rookie (55 cards, one-per-box): M. Macri
18 Gold Foils (1:2)
7 Gold (1:5, numbered to 2008 copies): S. Casey, R. Brignac (RC), C. Izturis, G, Sherrill, J. de la Rosa, B. Zobrist, D. Uggla All-Star
Inserts
2 Mickey Mantle Story (10 cards, 1:18)
5 2009 World Baseball Classic (25 cards, 1:9) A. Gonzalez, Pujols, K-Rod, Chin-Lung Hu, KosFu
6 Year in Review (58 cards, 1:6) M. Teixeira, Glavine, C. Buchholz, B. Phillips, J. Thome, D. Wells
2 1986 Mets Ring of (Dis)Honor (10 cards, 1:18) R. Darling, D. Gooden
2 Ring of Honor (11 cards, 1:18) L. Aparicio, D. Snider
6 First Couples (41 cards, 1:6) Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Reagan, Bush (41), Clinton
1 Take Me Out to the Ballgame (one card, 1:72)
Autogamers
1 All-Star Stitches (64 cards, 1:44*) D. Navarro
*Overall odds of finding any autograph or gamer: 1:36/packs.
And Now A Special Comment.
There. I did it.
For the first time in nearly five months, I've purchased a Topps product.
Please do not construe my actions as some sort of endorsement of Topps' recent actions -- especially regarding their flagship baseball brand. It's just that some gimmicks are (to sound a bit Orwellian) a little more equal than others.
Beauty queen politicians and manufactured fake-error cards? Those I can live with -- provided they do not screw with the integrity of the rest of product, especially the base set. If you are able to ignore the gimmicks, you can pull actual rookie cards of Evan Longoria, Jay Bruce, KosFu, et al, out of a pack of 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights. (In fact, I pulled all three from this particular waxbox.)
What I have zero-tolerance for is bullshit.
Poley Walnuts, Kazuo Uzuki, and Johan Santana's "no-hitter" were all bullshit and everyone knew it. But what puzzles this collector/fake journalist are these three little letters. Why?
Why is Topps doing this?
Seriously, Topps: What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks are you thinking? (Or are you even thinking at all?)
But the lack of respect Topps has shown hobbyists with these gimmicks in this foul Year of our Lord Two-Thousand and Eight, is not what bothers me.
Really, it doesn't. There have been other trading card companies that failed to take The Hobby seriously, and in the end they got what they deserved (i.e. Pinnacle).
What bothers me is the lack of respect Topps has shown to itself and to the legacy of the Topps flagship.
57 years of history may not mean much to the current "Powers That Be" at Topps; but they mean something to this collector/fake journalist.
Topps Baseball is a slice of Americana (and not the Donruss kind) that dates back to 1952. It's an American institution that appeals to everyone from the hardcore collector, to the casual hobbyist, to the new father whose only cardboard-related purchase of the entire year is a Topps factory set he bought at the Wal-Mart so he can pass it down to his newborn son someday.
Topps Baseball is a product that needs no gimmicks. It's history IS it's gimmick. It's "Heritage," if you will.
But sadly, The Powers That Be at Topps feel that that no longer matters. Hence, the fake cards of fake players, and politicians Photoshopped into the Yankee Stadium grandstands.
But believe it or not, I could live with all of this. After all, I have a very high tolerance for BS. But what really sent this collector over-the-edge, was Topps' handling of the Kosuke Fukudome "Rookie" in Topps Series Two. If Topps wanted to pull KosFu's RC from Topps 2 at the last minute and save it for TU&H, fine. Nor did I have an issue with Topps replacing it with a short-printed non-rookie KosFu. What really pissed me off was the fact that Topps did these things WITHOUT bothering to tell anyone until well after the product had been released.
And so with that, I stopped.
It was this despicable act of bait-and-switch that led me to cease collecting any new Topps baseball products. That is until now.
Regardless of where you stand, I hope this is something all collector's can agree on: Card companies have the obligation to inform collectors of what exactly is in their products before they are released. Topps told us all via their website that there would be a rookie card of Kosuke Fukudome in the second series of 2008 Topps Baseball; but then the product went live, and there was no KosFu RC to be found. Topps lied to us all and didn't come clean until weeks later with a press release.
So Topps, if you are reading this (and judging from the list IP addresses tracked by my web host, I know you are), please, I beg of you; SHOW SOME FREAKING RESPECT FOR THE HOBBY, FOR COLLECTORS, AND FOR YOURSELVES! You're gimmicking away 57 years of history and tradition, and for what?
Please! Stop it with the gimmicks. Put some additional effort into your product -- especially your flagship. (Last year, I posted some suggestions on "How to Fix Topps Baseball." Go back and read it.) And tell us what's in your product, before you release it.
(Upper Deck, you might want to take this last point into advisement as well.)
I'm willing to let by-gones be by-gones (for now). But make no mistake Topps, you are still "On Notice."
And with that, I leave you with this. If the main drawing card (no pun intended) of a particular product (any product) is a gimmick, then what does that say about the rest of the product?
If The Powers That Be at Topps continue to feel that their annual flagship needs a gimmick, then what does that say about Topps Baseball?
The Review
TU&H is what it is, the third series of 2008 Topps baseball. The last few years, TU&H was released in late-November, but this year it's out in October; meaning that the postseason highlight cards that have been a staple of TU&H are the only thing missing from the base set, and is 100% varmint-free.
Inserts include a continuation of the 2007 Year in Review, a 25-card World Baseball Classic set, and a 41-card set of every President and his Missus. About the only thing good I have to say about that last one is, thankfully, we'll not have to put up with cards of politicians much longer.
The cornerstone of the insert program is "Ring of Honor;" a concept that debuted in Topps Football. Unfortunately, Topps chose to honor the '86 Mets, one of the most dishonorable World Series teams ever.
Oh yeah, you get an autograph or a game jersey card, and a Chrome Rookie Refractor in each waxbox.
The Bottom Line
Hopefully, this is the start of Topps Baseball's long redemption. I got over 90% of a base set with no doubles, and I received an additional WBC insert (both the Pujols and KosFu WBC's were in the same pack).
The designated one-per-box game-used card was an "authentic event-worn piece of a 2008 MLB All-Star festivities" (read: batting practice) jersey card of Tampa Bay catcher Dioner Navarro. For the record, I ripped this box on the day of Game Three of the Phillies/Rays World Series. I hope this isn't bad karma.
By one-per-box Chrome Refractor Rookies was of Matt Macri, a 26 year-old third-baseman from the Twins. (Yay.)
Box Rating: 3 1/2 Gumsticks (out of five)
Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks
... and another thing.
My favorite card I pulled, and perhaps my favorite card I've pulled this year, is #UH6. Yamid Haad is a career minor-leaguer who played one game for the '99 Pirates and seventeen games for San Francisco in '05. The 30 year-old catcher started the 2008 season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and on June 12th, he got the call.
One week later Cleveland signed veteran backup catcher Sal Fasano and sent Yamid back to Buffalo without getting as much as an at-bat.
Even though Yamid Haad didn't play a single inning for the 2008 Indians, it didn't stop Topps from commemorating his seven days with the Tribe with his own Topps baseball card.
Laugh all you want, but Yamid cashed a Major League paycheck this year, and you didn't.
36 packs per box, 10 cards per pack.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
The Pulls
Base Set: 308 of 330 (93.33%)
Parallels
1 Chrome Refractor Rookie (55 cards, one-per-box): M. Macri
18 Gold Foils (1:2)
7 Gold (1:5, numbered to 2008 copies): S. Casey, R. Brignac (RC), C. Izturis, G, Sherrill, J. de la Rosa, B. Zobrist, D. Uggla All-Star
Inserts
2 Mickey Mantle Story (10 cards, 1:18)
5 2009 World Baseball Classic (25 cards, 1:9) A. Gonzalez, Pujols, K-Rod, Chin-Lung Hu, KosFu
6 Year in Review (58 cards, 1:6) M. Teixeira, Glavine, C. Buchholz, B. Phillips, J. Thome, D. Wells
2 1986 Mets Ring of (Dis)Honor (10 cards, 1:18) R. Darling, D. Gooden
2 Ring of Honor (11 cards, 1:18) L. Aparicio, D. Snider
6 First Couples (41 cards, 1:6) Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Reagan, Bush (41), Clinton
1 Take Me Out to the Ballgame (one card, 1:72)
Autogamers
1 All-Star Stitches (64 cards, 1:44*) D. Navarro
*Overall odds of finding any autograph or gamer: 1:36/packs.
And Now A Special Comment.
There. I did it.
For the first time in nearly five months, I've purchased a Topps product.
Please do not construe my actions as some sort of endorsement of Topps' recent actions -- especially regarding their flagship baseball brand. It's just that some gimmicks are (to sound a bit Orwellian) a little more equal than others.
Beauty queen politicians and manufactured fake-error cards? Those I can live with -- provided they do not screw with the integrity of the rest of product, especially the base set. If you are able to ignore the gimmicks, you can pull actual rookie cards of Evan Longoria, Jay Bruce, KosFu, et al, out of a pack of 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights. (In fact, I pulled all three from this particular waxbox.)
What I have zero-tolerance for is bullshit.
Poley Walnuts, Kazuo Uzuki, and Johan Santana's "no-hitter" were all bullshit and everyone knew it. But what puzzles this collector/fake journalist are these three little letters. Why?
Why is Topps doing this?
Seriously, Topps: What the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks are you thinking? (Or are you even thinking at all?)
But the lack of respect Topps has shown hobbyists with these gimmicks in this foul Year of our Lord Two-Thousand and Eight, is not what bothers me.
Really, it doesn't. There have been other trading card companies that failed to take The Hobby seriously, and in the end they got what they deserved (i.e. Pinnacle).
What bothers me is the lack of respect Topps has shown to itself and to the legacy of the Topps flagship.
57 years of history may not mean much to the current "Powers That Be" at Topps; but they mean something to this collector/fake journalist.
Topps Baseball is a slice of Americana (and not the Donruss kind) that dates back to 1952. It's an American institution that appeals to everyone from the hardcore collector, to the casual hobbyist, to the new father whose only cardboard-related purchase of the entire year is a Topps factory set he bought at the Wal-Mart so he can pass it down to his newborn son someday.
Topps Baseball is a product that needs no gimmicks. It's history IS it's gimmick. It's "Heritage," if you will.
But sadly, The Powers That Be at Topps feel that that no longer matters. Hence, the fake cards of fake players, and politicians Photoshopped into the Yankee Stadium grandstands.
But believe it or not, I could live with all of this. After all, I have a very high tolerance for BS. But what really sent this collector over-the-edge, was Topps' handling of the Kosuke Fukudome "Rookie" in Topps Series Two. If Topps wanted to pull KosFu's RC from Topps 2 at the last minute and save it for TU&H, fine. Nor did I have an issue with Topps replacing it with a short-printed non-rookie KosFu. What really pissed me off was the fact that Topps did these things WITHOUT bothering to tell anyone until well after the product had been released.
And so with that, I stopped.
It was this despicable act of bait-and-switch that led me to cease collecting any new Topps baseball products. That is until now.
Regardless of where you stand, I hope this is something all collector's can agree on: Card companies have the obligation to inform collectors of what exactly is in their products before they are released. Topps told us all via their website that there would be a rookie card of Kosuke Fukudome in the second series of 2008 Topps Baseball; but then the product went live, and there was no KosFu RC to be found. Topps lied to us all and didn't come clean until weeks later with a press release.
So Topps, if you are reading this (and judging from the list IP addresses tracked by my web host, I know you are), please, I beg of you; SHOW SOME FREAKING RESPECT FOR THE HOBBY, FOR COLLECTORS, AND FOR YOURSELVES! You're gimmicking away 57 years of history and tradition, and for what?
Please! Stop it with the gimmicks. Put some additional effort into your product -- especially your flagship. (Last year, I posted some suggestions on "How to Fix Topps Baseball." Go back and read it.) And tell us what's in your product, before you release it.
(Upper Deck, you might want to take this last point into advisement as well.)
I'm willing to let by-gones be by-gones (for now). But make no mistake Topps, you are still "On Notice."
And with that, I leave you with this. If the main drawing card (no pun intended) of a particular product (any product) is a gimmick, then what does that say about the rest of the product?
If The Powers That Be at Topps continue to feel that their annual flagship needs a gimmick, then what does that say about Topps Baseball?
The Review
TU&H is what it is, the third series of 2008 Topps baseball. The last few years, TU&H was released in late-November, but this year it's out in October; meaning that the postseason highlight cards that have been a staple of TU&H are the only thing missing from the base set, and is 100% varmint-free.
Inserts include a continuation of the 2007 Year in Review, a 25-card World Baseball Classic set, and a 41-card set of every President and his Missus. About the only thing good I have to say about that last one is, thankfully, we'll not have to put up with cards of politicians much longer.
The cornerstone of the insert program is "Ring of Honor;" a concept that debuted in Topps Football. Unfortunately, Topps chose to honor the '86 Mets, one of the most dishonorable World Series teams ever.
Oh yeah, you get an autograph or a game jersey card, and a Chrome Rookie Refractor in each waxbox.
The Bottom Line
Hopefully, this is the start of Topps Baseball's long redemption. I got over 90% of a base set with no doubles, and I received an additional WBC insert (both the Pujols and KosFu WBC's were in the same pack).
The designated one-per-box game-used card was an "authentic event-worn piece of a 2008 MLB All-Star festivities" (read: batting practice) jersey card of Tampa Bay catcher Dioner Navarro. For the record, I ripped this box on the day of Game Three of the Phillies/Rays World Series. I hope this isn't bad karma.
By one-per-box Chrome Refractor Rookies was of Matt Macri, a 26 year-old third-baseman from the Twins. (Yay.)
Box Rating: 3 1/2 Gumsticks (out of five)
Product Rating: 3 Gumsticks
... and another thing.
My favorite card I pulled, and perhaps my favorite card I've pulled this year, is #UH6. Yamid Haad is a career minor-leaguer who played one game for the '99 Pirates and seventeen games for San Francisco in '05. The 30 year-old catcher started the 2008 season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and on June 12th, he got the call.
One week later Cleveland signed veteran backup catcher Sal Fasano and sent Yamid back to Buffalo without getting as much as an at-bat.
Even though Yamid Haad didn't play a single inning for the 2008 Indians, it didn't stop Topps from commemorating his seven days with the Tribe with his own Topps baseball card.
Laugh all you want, but Yamid cashed a Major League paycheck this year, and you didn't.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Video Box Break and Review: 1999 Upper Deck PowerDeck
This waxbox sent to me by Russ from The House of Cardboard for winning the baseball card bloggers fantasy league. So far, he's the sole person to send me my winnings.
One box of 1999 Upper Deck PowerDeck
24 packs per box, two paper cards (a.k.a. "Auxiliaries") plus one baseball card sized CD-ROM per pack.
The Video
The Pulls
Base Set
CD-ROMS: 18 of 25 (72.00%)
Auxiliaries: 24 of 25 (96.00%)
13 Doubles
3 Triples
2 Quads
Inserts
CD-ROMS
1 Season to Remember (One CD-Rom, packaged as a chiptopper) M. McGwire
4 Powerful Moments (Six CD-Roms, 1:7) S.Sosa, C. Ripken, Jr., K. Griffey, Jr., A-ROD
1 Time Capsule (Six CD-Roms, 1:23) K. Griffey, Jr.
Auxiliaries
3 Powerful Moments (Six Cards, 1:7) D. Jeter, A-Rod (2)
1 Time Capsule (Six cards, 1:23) NOE-MAH!!!
Parallels: NONE
Autogamers: NONE
The Review
1999 Upper Deck PowerDeck was one of the more, shall we say, unique baseball card sets ever made. PowerDeck is a product that revolves not around baseball cards, but baseball CD-ROMs. Each three "card" pack contained two regular baseball cards (or "Auxiliaries" as UD calls them here) and a CD-ROM die-cut to the size of a standard-sized trading card.
The concept of merging the traditional, humble baseball card, with the technology of the day, was nothing new. In 1962 and again in '64, Columbia Records in association with the makers of Milk Duds candy, issued a set called Auravsion which featured the images of baseball players pressed onto 33 1/3 RPM records. When placed on a turntable, each Auravision "card" played a brief interview with the subject. Earlier in the 90s, both Topps and Donruss experimented with CD-ROM-based trading card products of their own (Cybr Cards and VxP, respectively). And in a way, Topps' new social networking website Topps Town continues this convergence of technology and cardboard.
'99 PowerDeck was not Upper Deck's first experiment with a cyber-savvy trading card. A year earlier it randomly inserted into specially marked packs of 1998 Series One an audio CD die-cut to the size of a trading card. Collectors who received this "card" could then mount it onto a special tray that was packed as a chiptopper into each waxbox, insert the tray into any CD player, and hear a five-minute interview of UD spokesjock Ken Griffey, Jr.
By 1999 the technology had advanced enough to include video as well as audio onto these CD-ROMs and UD felt the time was right for a stand-alone PowerDeck product.
The base set consisted of only 25 CD-ROMs (one for each player), and each CD-ROM corresponds with a paper-based Auxiliary (i.e. Card and CD-ROM #1 in both sets is Ken Griffey, Jr.; #2 is Mark McGwire; and so on). The same is true for each of the three different insert sets.
Each CD-ROM has game clips, sounds, photos, and sortable career stats of the featured players -- which in 1999 (provided you had a Pentium-based rig with 133MHz, 12MB of RAM, a 4X CD-ROM drive and a Sound Blaster compatible sound card) was cutting edge. Popping a few of these into my laptop, it seems almost Precambrian.
The PowerDeck concept never really caught on, although the suggested retail price of $5/pack may have had a little something to do with it's failure. And although a second series of PowerDecks was released in 2000, UD has yet to issue another.
The Bottom Line
Collation was par-for-the-course with most late 90s UD products -- that is, dreadful. I received two copies of the same Alex Rodriguez Powerful Moments Auxiliary insert, and four copies each of Mo Vaughn and Chipper Jones' Auxiliary base cards.
If you're looking for something different to bust, and don't want to spend a lot of money, then try a box of 1999 Upper Deck PowerDeck. You can bust worse.
Box Rating: 2 Gumsticks (out of five)
Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks (out of five)
One box of 1999 Upper Deck PowerDeck
24 packs per box, two paper cards (a.k.a. "Auxiliaries") plus one baseball card sized CD-ROM per pack.
The Video
The Pulls
Base Set
CD-ROMS: 18 of 25 (72.00%)
Auxiliaries: 24 of 25 (96.00%)
13 Doubles
3 Triples
2 Quads
Inserts
CD-ROMS
1 Season to Remember (One CD-Rom, packaged as a chiptopper) M. McGwire
4 Powerful Moments (Six CD-Roms, 1:7) S.Sosa, C. Ripken, Jr., K. Griffey, Jr., A-ROD
1 Time Capsule (Six CD-Roms, 1:23) K. Griffey, Jr.
Auxiliaries
3 Powerful Moments (Six Cards, 1:7) D. Jeter, A-Rod (2)
1 Time Capsule (Six cards, 1:23) NOE-MAH!!!
Parallels: NONE
Autogamers: NONE
The Review
1999 Upper Deck PowerDeck was one of the more, shall we say, unique baseball card sets ever made. PowerDeck is a product that revolves not around baseball cards, but baseball CD-ROMs. Each three "card" pack contained two regular baseball cards (or "Auxiliaries" as UD calls them here) and a CD-ROM die-cut to the size of a standard-sized trading card.
The concept of merging the traditional, humble baseball card, with the technology of the day, was nothing new. In 1962 and again in '64, Columbia Records in association with the makers of Milk Duds candy, issued a set called Auravsion which featured the images of baseball players pressed onto 33 1/3 RPM records. When placed on a turntable, each Auravision "card" played a brief interview with the subject. Earlier in the 90s, both Topps and Donruss experimented with CD-ROM-based trading card products of their own (Cybr Cards and VxP, respectively). And in a way, Topps' new social networking website Topps Town continues this convergence of technology and cardboard.
'99 PowerDeck was not Upper Deck's first experiment with a cyber-savvy trading card. A year earlier it randomly inserted into specially marked packs of 1998 Series One an audio CD die-cut to the size of a trading card. Collectors who received this "card" could then mount it onto a special tray that was packed as a chiptopper into each waxbox, insert the tray into any CD player, and hear a five-minute interview of UD spokesjock Ken Griffey, Jr.
By 1999 the technology had advanced enough to include video as well as audio onto these CD-ROMs and UD felt the time was right for a stand-alone PowerDeck product.
The base set consisted of only 25 CD-ROMs (one for each player), and each CD-ROM corresponds with a paper-based Auxiliary (i.e. Card and CD-ROM #1 in both sets is Ken Griffey, Jr.; #2 is Mark McGwire; and so on). The same is true for each of the three different insert sets.
Each CD-ROM has game clips, sounds, photos, and sortable career stats of the featured players -- which in 1999 (provided you had a Pentium-based rig with 133MHz, 12MB of RAM, a 4X CD-ROM drive and a Sound Blaster compatible sound card) was cutting edge. Popping a few of these into my laptop, it seems almost Precambrian.
The PowerDeck concept never really caught on, although the suggested retail price of $5/pack may have had a little something to do with it's failure. And although a second series of PowerDecks was released in 2000, UD has yet to issue another.
The Bottom Line
Collation was par-for-the-course with most late 90s UD products -- that is, dreadful. I received two copies of the same Alex Rodriguez Powerful Moments Auxiliary insert, and four copies each of Mo Vaughn and Chipper Jones' Auxiliary base cards.
If you're looking for something different to bust, and don't want to spend a lot of money, then try a box of 1999 Upper Deck PowerDeck. You can bust worse.
Box Rating: 2 Gumsticks (out of five)
Product Rating: 2 1/2 Gumsticks (out of five)
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Ummm, nevermind. (UPDATE #2)
UPDATE #2: A second upside-down Jay Bruce RC has shown up on eBay; however, no other gimmicks the likes of which we saw in Topps 1 & 2, A&G, BowChro, or Heritage have yet to appear. All of which leads to the question: Should I consider these gimmick cards? Stealth variations? Or actual error cards?
Or do you even care either way?
UPDATE: The Cardboard Junkie thinks that these two error cards may not be legit. After further review, and until more of these begin to make their way onto eBay, I yield to The Junkie's judgment.
Well, that didn't take long.
(H/T Holy Hitter of SCU)
Or do you even care either way?
UPDATE: The Cardboard Junkie thinks that these two error cards may not be legit. After further review, and until more of these begin to make their way onto eBay, I yield to The Junkie's judgment.
Well, that didn't take long.
(H/T Holy Hitter of SCU)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The countdown is on.
The Chris Harris Topps Boycott is well into it's fourth month, but it may be coming to an end. According to The Cardboard Junkie, it appears that 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights is now live.
Here's the deal: If it appears that Topps didn't include any stealth gimmick cards in TU&H, then two weeks from today I will buy and bust a box of it.
If on the other hand, if there are any cards of furry creatures, contrived errors, or cards of fictional teenage prospects, then it continues.
Here's the deal: If it appears that Topps didn't include any stealth gimmick cards in TU&H, then two weeks from today I will buy and bust a box of it.
If on the other hand, if there are any cards of furry creatures, contrived errors, or cards of fictional teenage prospects, then it continues.
Upper Deck Contest Results.
The winner was "Tim" who correctly predicted that the first (and in fact, only) base card I pulled out of a pack of Ballpark Collection would be of Matt Holliday.
Tim, send me your mailing address, and I'll mail out your winnings.
Tim, send me your mailing address, and I'll mail out your winnings.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Cardola: 2008 SP Authentic
One Hobby Box supplied to me for free by Upper Deck of 2008 SP Authentic (street value: $100)
24 packs per box, five cards per pack
Part One
Part Two
The Pulls
Base Set: 95 of 191 (49.74%)
1 Double
Inserts
12 Authentic Achievements (50 cards^): D. Jeter, K. Griffey, Jr., B. Webb, E. Bedard, Dice-K, Big Papi, J. Peavy, J-Roll, Phat Albert, L. Berkman, M. Teixeira, M. Buehrle
12 Marquee Matchups (50 cards^): Beckett/Jeter, Pujols/Lidge, Rivera/Ortiz, Willis/Hafner, F. Hernandez/V. Martinez, Griffey, Jr./Oswalt, P. Martinez/Howard, Wagner/Teixeira, Reyes/Glavine, Zambrano/Fielder, Hamels/Beltran, Smoltz/H. Ramriez
Mirrors
6 Yankee Tedium Luncay (1:4): #2029 (V. Raschi), #2054, 2389, & 2439 (A. Reynolds), #2079 & 2414 (P. Rizzuto)
Autogamers
1 By The Letter Autographed Manufactured Patch (47 players on multiple cards*, production varies): C. Lee "N," numbered to 15#
* Overall odds of finding any autograph: 1:8/packs
^ Overall odds of finding an Authentic Achievements or a Marquee Matchups: one-per-pack
# The Carlos Lee "N" I pulled is serial numbered to 15 copies, but the cumulative production run for all Lee BTL's is 160 copies.
The Bottom Line
It's been seven years since I've busted a box of SP Authentic, and after busting this box I remember why I quit collecting SPA. It's a set that's not even worth the trouble to collect.
Oh sure, you can get autographed rookie cards of Evan Longoria, Jay Bruce, Clayton Kershaw, and an un-autoed, game jersey card of Kosuke Fukudome. But for every RC of these guys, there are dozens players similar in caliber to the two I pulled out of this particular waxbox: Brian Bocock and Gregorio Petit. Caveat Emptor.
All of which begs the question: Why are there 90 different autographed rookie cards (there are two different Evan Longoria's -- one with and one without a jersey swatch) in SPA anyway? Are there really 90 players worthy of an autographed rookie card serial numbered to 999 or less in a $100/waxbox product? How exactly does an AUed RC of a guy who was called up and sent down from Triple-A three times this past season (Petit) and of another guy who hit .220 in Single-A (Bocock) "add value" to a product like this? If I had actually paid the street value of $100 for this box, why would I want to spend another C-Note on another box if what I'm expecting to receive are two AUed RCs of obscure all-glove, no-bat shortstops?
With that said, the rest of the base set -- the part that you can actually collect -- looks great. You can't really tell from the video, but the way the player's jersey number is "spot glossed" into the whitespace is really neato.
Other positives: You get one of 100 different insert cards in each pack, meaning you get something of value for your money. In addition, you get one of those autographed manufactured "By The Letter" patch cards in every box -- for those of you who are into that.
Box Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of five)
Product Rating: 2 Gumsticks (out of five)
... and another thing.
You know what 2009 SPA needs? (Well, other than about 75 fewer autographed rookie cards) HoloViews.
Yes, HoloViews.
I'm just saying....
24 packs per box, five cards per pack
Part One
Part Two
The Pulls
Base Set: 95 of 191 (49.74%)
1 Double
Short Set: 93 of 100 (93.00%) with one doubleParallels: NONE
1 Rookie Jersey Autograph: (36 cards*, production varies) B. Bocock, numbered to 599
1 Rookie Autographs: (55 cards*, production varies) G. Petit, numbered to 999
Inserts
12 Authentic Achievements (50 cards^): D. Jeter, K. Griffey, Jr., B. Webb, E. Bedard, Dice-K, Big Papi, J. Peavy, J-Roll, Phat Albert, L. Berkman, M. Teixeira, M. Buehrle
12 Marquee Matchups (50 cards^): Beckett/Jeter, Pujols/Lidge, Rivera/Ortiz, Willis/Hafner, F. Hernandez/V. Martinez, Griffey, Jr./Oswalt, P. Martinez/Howard, Wagner/Teixeira, Reyes/Glavine, Zambrano/Fielder, Hamels/Beltran, Smoltz/H. Ramriez
Mirrors
6 Yankee Tedium Luncay (1:4): #2029 (V. Raschi), #2054, 2389, & 2439 (A. Reynolds), #2079 & 2414 (P. Rizzuto)
Autogamers
1 By The Letter Autographed Manufactured Patch (47 players on multiple cards*, production varies): C. Lee "N," numbered to 15#
* Overall odds of finding any autograph: 1:8/packs
^ Overall odds of finding an Authentic Achievements or a Marquee Matchups: one-per-pack
# The Carlos Lee "N" I pulled is serial numbered to 15 copies, but the cumulative production run for all Lee BTL's is 160 copies.
The Bottom Line
It's been seven years since I've busted a box of SP Authentic, and after busting this box I remember why I quit collecting SPA. It's a set that's not even worth the trouble to collect.
Oh sure, you can get autographed rookie cards of Evan Longoria, Jay Bruce, Clayton Kershaw, and an un-autoed, game jersey card of Kosuke Fukudome. But for every RC of these guys, there are dozens players similar in caliber to the two I pulled out of this particular waxbox: Brian Bocock and Gregorio Petit. Caveat Emptor.
All of which begs the question: Why are there 90 different autographed rookie cards (there are two different Evan Longoria's -- one with and one without a jersey swatch) in SPA anyway? Are there really 90 players worthy of an autographed rookie card serial numbered to 999 or less in a $100/waxbox product? How exactly does an AUed RC of a guy who was called up and sent down from Triple-A three times this past season (Petit) and of another guy who hit .220 in Single-A (Bocock) "add value" to a product like this? If I had actually paid the street value of $100 for this box, why would I want to spend another C-Note on another box if what I'm expecting to receive are two AUed RCs of obscure all-glove, no-bat shortstops?
With that said, the rest of the base set -- the part that you can actually collect -- looks great. You can't really tell from the video, but the way the player's jersey number is "spot glossed" into the whitespace is really neato.
Other positives: You get one of 100 different insert cards in each pack, meaning you get something of value for your money. In addition, you get one of those autographed manufactured "By The Letter" patch cards in every box -- for those of you who are into that.
Box Rating: 3 Gumsticks (out of five)
Product Rating: 2 Gumsticks (out of five)
... and another thing.
You know what 2009 SPA needs? (Well, other than about 75 fewer autographed rookie cards) HoloViews.
Yes, HoloViews.
I'm just saying....
Wanted: Tampa Bay Fan
Wanted: One supporter of the Tampa Bay Rays. Ideal candidate must be willing to wager $50-$100 worth of wax packs on the outcome of the 2008 World. Stale Gum.com has already won $75 worth of wax on the outcome on the NLDS and NLCS and is wanting to double-up.
No experience required. Inquire within.
No experience required. Inquire within.
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