Topps Blaster

I came close to ordering a hobby box of 2017 Topps, but decided to save a little money by choosing a blaster. This retail box already puts 2017 ahead of 2016 in terms of Topps packs opened. For many people the 2016 design turned them off, but for me it was all based on checklist. I was a little more motivated this year as Josh Bell, Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow are all featured prominently.

Off we go...

Manu relics just don't do a whole lot for me. I can only think of a few that I actually thought looked nice. I guess these 70th anniversary Jackie Robinson's look ok, but Aaron Nola is probably not the one you want to pull. 

 My gold /2017 is former Pirate J.A Happ.

 Now this is fun! This looks like something I would have pulled in a late 90's Pacific or Skybox pack.

 Aaron Nola hot box! I was happy with the Ichiro pull. Looking forward to chasing some of the 87 Pirates.

 I like the First Pitch cards.  Hoping that they will actually make one of these for the Pirates at some point.  The Pirates don't have many "famous" fans so that likely hurts the chances.  Maybe they can bring in Michael Keaton who attends games a decent amount.

 Shiny Norris.

 Yeah, I'm not so sure about these. A card being used to celebrate another card......isn't that the purpose of a buyback.  Just use the original card and stamp it.

Nice to see Polanco getting a cool card. The rest of the Pirate set was a little boring. Happy to get the Bell rookie.

I'm not super picky with my cards. I can find more I like about 2017 flagship than dislike. The "Then & Now" cards was really the only ones I could do without. That will likely be my only blaster this year so I'll look to trade for the rest of the Buccos.  At some point I hope to get the 87 Josh Bell auto on eBay.

Thanks for reading!

San Diego Box Bustin'

While I was in San Diego I made a stop at a downtown card shop. The shop was stocked full of cool items, but looked like it could have been featured on an episode of Hoarders. My friend even told me afterward that he would have probably spent some money in the shop if he could have actually navigated to the items. I wish I would have taken a picture, it was a trainwreck.

As for me I was looking to buy a few packs, but noticed a significant stack of new baseball products including 2016 Diamond Kings. The owners initial price was high, but after a little negotiating he gave me a good price and I went with a whole box.

The box had some good names in it, but lacked a big punch.  I actually just opened another box for our transatlantic break that I thought was really good.  More on that tomorrow.

 This is one of those in between autos.  Not a huge name, but still an established player.

 Framed relic of Winfield!

 You can't go wrong with Clemente. Always exciting to add cards of the Pirate legend.

It was cool to see Panini have Elias Diaz in many of its 2016 sets. Diaz is currently injured, but will likely take over the starting catching job next year. His bat is still a big question mark, but is a highly decorated defender.

It is no secret that I love the Diamond Kings set. I might actually open another box for myself in the near future.  Tomorrow I'll give a sneak peak in what the transatlantic box yielded.

Thanks for reading.

Donruss Blaster X 2

A few weeks back I took a day off to get some things done around the house. While procrastinating to do those things I went to Target and purchased baseball cards.  It is as close to Ferris Bueller as I can get these days. I even took myself out to lunch.  It's a crazy life I tell you!

I decided on Donruss because I like to imagine people rolling their eyes when they read my blog. Also, my Target was picked through.  I was kind of hoping to find discounted blasters that I see people post all the time, but it only seems to be Nascar and NBA my way.  Oh well....here are the cards of note.

 Out of two blasters I got two Diamond Kings.

 I think these are a Target exclusive.

 I like Jake Arrieta. For some reason the Orioles have trouble recognizing pitching talent. I'm sure Orioles fans wish they could have that one back.

David Oritz is going to be a Hall of Famer. I don't really have a problem with that, but if he does go they need to get Edgar Martinez in. Free Edgar!

 Poor twins....I'll eventually send this to Brian.

 I have a feeling Schwarber will never catch again.

 Another parallel...this time a stat line version.

The blaster each promise a relic or auto.  I thought I did pretty well.

Can't go wrong pulling a Moncada.  This will probably head to Mr. Hoyle at some point. 

I pulled an auto! Dilson Herrera is a former Pirate prospect. He was traded to the Mets for Marlon Byrd during the 2013 playoff push.  In the short term it was a great move by the Buccos as Byrd played a huge getting the Pirates into the wild card game and even hit a homerun during the game itself.

Herrera blossomed in the Mets system and is extremely close to being mlb ready.  Funny thing is he got blocked again by a Pirate when the Mets got Neil Walker in a trade.

Overall it was a pretty good break. Worthy enough to troll everyone again with another if the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks for reading!

Supertrader Box Break

As I said on my post Monday I ordered a box of 2015 Topps Supreme.  Supreme is one of those one pack, boom or bust type of products. While I would consider the box a bust, both cards are going to claimed teams.

Congrats to CaptKirk here. He is our designated Orioles collector.  Gausman has the high end prospect pedigree, but has yet to reach his potential. The Orioles are going to have to lean on him a lot this year.

Always happy to pull a card for my good buddy Kevin of Card Papoy fame. I actually think I may have traded him this card, but I guess you can never have too many Roberto Osuna autos.  In all seriousness he is a really good young pitcher, but doesn't get the press of Marcus Stroman or Aaron Sanchez. 

All in all not a very good box, but we at least hit claimed teams.  The 2015 Supreme set is actually very nice as both autos are on card.  

I have a few more things in mind for the group, but that will be down the road. My mission now is to send out a bunch of trade packages to all of you.  Time to get to work.

Thanks for reading. 

#supertraders

Box Break: 2 Stadium Club Blasters

One of the other perks about going to a WV Black Bears game is that the stadium resides very close to a Target and Walmart. The Walmart is pretty lackluster when it comes to cards, but the Target keeps current with the releases. It was time for some Stadium Club!

Here were the most interesting cards.

Something about those 70's A's uniforms that I love. Great shot of Mr. October. 

 This is a bad scan, but a great card. This is actually the parallel /25 of the Larry Doby card featuring Jackie Robinson. A pretty nice pull in a blaster box.

 Obama and Mr. Cub.

 Here is Moose laying out for a catch.

 Fernando Mania in full effect. This is probably in my top 5 for the set.

 Adam Jones getting the walk off pie treatment during a post game interview.

 Nothing really special about the Josh Harrison, but it was my lone Pirate base card.

I'm a huge Greinke fan. The guy takes all aspects of the game super serious and demands perfection from himself.  While I'm sure he doesn't need the motivation having Kershaw on the team helps drive you even more.  Just a cool card of a pitcher batting. Grienke is probably telling the bench he doesn't want to bunt.

I was really happy to see this card. The Triumvirates are great cards by themselves, but pulling a Pirate made it extra cool.

I guess as far as insert sets go this is an ok card. Easy to get overshadowed by the base cards and the Triumvirates.

Have to end with Cutch. I miss the dreads. 

The funny thing about these two blasters is that the /25 Larry Doby and the inserts were all pulled from the same box. You never really walk away too unhappy with TSC anyway, because the base cards are the main attraction. 

Box Break: 2015 Donruss

I finally got around to my non-French box breaks. This time around my buddy Micah decided on some 2015 Donruss, the mother of all love/hate sets. My buddy Keith (The Home Run Apple) was too busy to participate so we did some pack searching on his box and sealed it back up :)

 You need this Brian? Nice to pull a pretty cool Kirby card.

The reason I separated this Diamond King is because it represents a momentous occasion. I don't often put sets together, but when I do it always seems that whatever sp's I'm missing include Mike Trout. Thankfully I won't have to chase this one down.

 How awesome is that Cueto! Just a matter of time before he is traded.

Soler Power! Out of the two boxes opened I was the only one to pull a die cut Rated Rookie. These are really thick and cool looking in person.

Some random numbered cards. If you open a box of Donruss you will pull a ton of serial numbered cards. The Elite Series Kershaw was my favorite.

 Stat Line parallels.

Dalton Pompey signed about 9 million autographs this past offseason.  He is in every set. Thankfully I have a French friend who will like this card. 

Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine. Nice to pull something different, but I will probably be stuck with this card for the rest of my life. Someone has to like the Marlins....right?

I also pulled a Jose Reyes bat card that for some reason my scanner hated. That will probably be shipped off to Kevin too.

Between Micah and I we both had pretty entertaining boxes. He had the best $ value pull by getting a low numbered Rusney Castillo auto, but my box was a little more well rounded with the Diamond Kings and numbered cards. Donruss makes for a an entertaining group break as their is always lots to compare with parallels and unique hits.

Thanks for reading.

Box Breaks: 2014 Bowman Chrome and 2014 Panini Prizm

I actually busted these a few months back with my buddies Keith and Micah. Micah got the prized pull out of Chrome which was a low numbered Tanaka. He should probably sell before his arm explodes. Our Prizm boxes were all around bad which was a big disappointment. One of the main appeals of Prizm is that you usually pull one good veteran or high end rookie auto. I think a Brandon Phillips auto was the best card.....yuck.

Speaking of Keith, he is wanting to get rid of some cards on his blog, The Home Run Apple. All you have to do is follow and leave a comment. I told him to throw down a Mike Trout auto, but he doesn't listen to me. Here is the link. If you don't want to enter contest you should still leave a comment making fun of the Mets.

Here is the box break loot.

This was probably the coolest pull I had. These Dual-ing Die Cuts are very 90's and really stick out. This one is numbered out of 50. Jonathan Gray should be making his debut very soon for the Rockies. He has done very well in the minor leagues and it looks like the Rockies may have a legitimate pitching prospect. Let's hope he is not a fly ball pitcher.

Mark Appel was actually drafted by the Pirates but decided to go back to school. He has been pretty shaky in the minors so far. Karma!

 Just a normal version of the die cut.

Kiner-Falefa was a 4th round pick in 2013. Seems to be a glove first middle infielder as his offensive stats so far in his professional career are very light in the power department.

 2 round pick of the Cubs in 2012.

Cain refractor numbered to 99.  Looks like he is having trouble with his arm again. Hopefully it doesn't need repaired again.

Drew Pomeranz /500

Taylor Cole  /500

Chris Tillman  /60

Carlos Beltran /25. Beltran is a hall of fame talent, but I think once it is all said and done he gave up too many games to injury.

You probably noticed that I didn't show much Prizm. If I recall I traded most of my box to Keith for a Steve Slaton auto I didn't have.

All cards shown are for trade. I like low numbered Mike Trout autos and gem mint hall of fame vintage and Bob Walk!

Thanks for reading.