Nacho Break

It had been a while since I joined one of Chris's group breaks. The desire is always there, but sometimes the checklists don't warrant the purchase. A few weeks back I noticed a plea from Chris to fill the last few spots of an upcoming break, one of which happened to be the Pirates.  The main events this time were Diamond Kings and Archives.  DK is full of Pirates so I took the plunge.

We were also randomly assigned a bonus team in which I received the Twins.  This was a nice get for me as I frequently trade with Brian from HSCA. I'll be forwarding all those to him so he can show them off at some point.

 My best card of the break was this Cutch framed parallel from Diamond Kings that is numbered /99. It may not seem like much, but Cutch parallels can be sneaky expensive.

 Chris threw in a bonus relic which happened to be a really cool Mad Dog bat relic.

 Some of the notable pre war players in the DK set.  I love that Panini produces a lot of cards for players during this era.

 The Bell rookie was my best present day Bucco.

 Most of the big names are represented in the Bunt portion of the break.  Glasnow is the big rookie for the Buccos in the 2017 sets so it was nice to get a couple variations.

 My two favorite cards from the Archives break.

 Of course Chris threw in a bunch of extras.  The priority box he sent me was stuffed full of Pirate (and Twins) goodness.

 Cutch is playing like a superstar again.  All is right in the world.

 This Bell is actually a fold out booklet.

 I love the UD checklist card. The Kendall is a nice reminder of how fun Sportscenter use to be. I think the only thing I watch on ESPN anymore is actual games. The programming minus the great 30 for 30 documentaries are just hot take specials.

 Jay Bell needs some modern cards.  Come on Archives, put him in the Fan Favorites set....just as a Bucco, not a Dback.

Have to end with this card!

Thanks for all the cards Chris. Really appreciate you holding the breaks. I know hosting those are a lot of work.

Thanks for reading.

Nachos Grande Group Break Results

I'm a sucker for group breaks that feature a lot of different products. This time around Chris decided that variety was the best way to go so I knew I was in. It doesn't hurt that the products chosen feature a good bit of Pirates either....

As for the results I didn't do very well. The silver lining was that I got a nice mix of the base and Chris always throws in some extras.

The main core of the break was Topps Chrome, High Tek, Stadium Club and Heritage High Numbers. I'm a sucker for any break that has High Tek, but unfortunately the Pirates went hitless on that one.

 Chris misspoke when he said the Correa auto from High Tek was the best card. Obviously he was unaware of the value of this 89 Donruss Bob Walk.

 Always nice to get a new Cutch frome Chrome.

The Heritage High Numbers was probably the most satisfying of the breaks for me. It allowed me to add more obscure Pirate cards of Sean Rodriguez and Corey Hart. I'm guessing Hart's tattoo artist is a busy man.

 I was pretty well set with Buccos from Stadium Club the last couple of years, but it is nice to add a few extras to pass along to a few of my Bucco trading buddy's.

 Cooperstown Collection is always a nice choice for group breaks as it yields a crap ton of cards. Fortunately for me many Buccos were pulled. The Arky Vaughn is my favorite.

As with all of Chris's breaks he will bust some extra packs and throw in some variety for everyone. This helped ease the wound of a poor break.

 The Kendal Pacific card is by far my favorite. I've been on a mission lately trying to add some cards from the more obscure early 2000's sets. Pacific was ignored for the most part, but now carries considerable value on the secondary market.

These were some of the best looking cards I received. The Cedeno card is kind of cool with the all black backdrop. He was a frustrating player as a Pirate, but he got immortalized in a pretty cool card. The Al Martin card from Stadium Club is a cool shot too. So focused! 

As usual this was just the tip of the iceberg on the cards sent. I wanted to make sure to showoff my favorites, but their were a ton more.  I have a few Reds cards set aside for you Chris. As soon as I get a little free time I'll be sending them your way. 

Thanks for reading. 

Group Break: Nachos Grande

Recently Chris held another great group break. This time around he decided to go with a mix of newer products with a box of Museum Collection being the grand finale. Overall I did pretty well, especially in Gypsy Queen. Checkout the great stuff.

As usual with Chris's breaks he throws in some extras. I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of Steve Pearce and I'm happy to see him find a home in Baltimore.

Nice to get a Cervelli Pirate card even if it is photoshopped. The highlight of all the Opening Day cards is the Parrot.

A couple of true rookies and Josh Bell. It is really looking like Bell will be with the Pirates possibly next year. He should be the first baseman of the future.

The mix of Bowman was really nice. Between this break and a couple of trades I've pretty much put this set to bed.

I love the flashback rookies. A lot of people don't remember that Alou was a Pirate. I'm actually getting ready to showoff the auto version of this card in the next week or so. Once I found out that card existed I was all in to find the auto

Another throw is was the Cooperstown Collection.  Even people that don't like Panini seem to like this set.

I'm always a little bit of a Panini apologist, but this set has seemed to bridge to gap between the haters of Panini and those who like their products. I was a big fan of the early 2000's version of this product so needless to say I'm a fan. This is going to be the next break in my collaboration with the Card Papoy.

The Gypsy Queen break was the best for me. It yielded a nice mix of base including a new Burnett featuring him in the Pirates uniform.

Cole cards are always welcomed.

My one mini was Pedro Alvarez.

My best card of the break was this framed Gerrit Cole. Always nice to get a hit, but extra bonus for being a favorite player.

Our Museum Collection box was pretty weak overall, but it did yield a numbered Pirate. High end sets often are hit or miss, and we seemed to miss pretty big on this one. I don't usually buy high end sets so it was nice buy in for a chance to hit big at a fraction of the cost.

Overall this break was pretty nice for Pirates and the hits overall had a nice balance. Figures the high end box would be one of the worst, although our GQ and Diamond Kings boxes more than made up for it. Thanks again Chris for hosting the breaks, I know these take a lot of time and work. I'll be sure to hit you up with some more Reds soon.

Thanks for reading.

Group Break: 2015 Topps Heritage

Chris has been a group break machine these past few months.  This time around he decided to bust a full case of 2015 Heritage. With a decent Pirates checklist I figured I would try my luck. I also figured this would be a good way to get my Heritage fix as I don't plan on chasing the set like I did last year.

Along with the Heritage, a box of Clubhouse Collection was busted, but I don't believe any Pirates were on the checklist. This break was all about Heritage.

I haven't broken it down, but by the looks of it I probably have 3 team sets minus the high number sp.

Nice to see Volquez and the Vanimal get a Pirates card.

 Awesome team card with the camo hats.

 Now for inserts and rarer cards.

 Always nice to add new Cutch cards. Nothing too special about the insert set.

 I was lucky enough to get one of the purple refractors of Josh Harrison. This picture cracks me up.

The lone high number SP for the Buccos this year was Polanco. Chris pulled this one very early in the break so it was nice to know I secured this card.

I got pretty lucky with this card. As a Bucco fan if you are going to get one numbered card out of a release you want Cutch. This is numbered /566.

 A weird gum stain variation of Tony Watson.

This was a very Cutch oriented box. You have to be on your toes opening Heritage because this is an action variation of Cutch. A nice pull!

Thanks for running a great break Chris. As usual Chris also threw in a team bag full of Pirate bonus cards. If anyone is building the Heritage set and needs any Pirates let me know and I can send some your way.

Thanks for reading.

Nachos Grande Group Break: 2015 Topps Series 1 (Angels, Braves and Pirates)

Before I started blogging I wasn't a big participator in group breaks. Most of this stems from the Pirates never having a lot to choose from in sets during their losing years. Now with a loaded farm system and a bona fide superstar in McCutchen I usually try to join whenever Chris gets one going.

This time around I picked my Buccos and decided to take a flyer on the Angels and Braves since no one claimed them. Figured this might be a good chance to get lucky with a high end Trout or Chipper Jones. While I struck out for the most part with my extra teams, I did really well with the Pirates.

As a whole I thought the base set looks pretty nice. As usual their are too many inserts and manu-relics. The auto selection is nice, but our case was a little weak on name value. Our case made up for the lack of named autos by hitting some big name relics, parallels and a sweet David Wright stamp/coin card.

Our gracious host. Can't thank Chris enough for holding these breaks. They take a lot of time. 

Angels:

 Of the inserts this is my favorite. I was really happy with my Pirate version below.

 Gold parallel numbered to /2015. Pretty nice card featuring two of the bigger names in the game.

Braves:

 Here are the two rainbow parallels. These look better in person.

 Random assortment of inserts. Series 1 went heavy with Maddux and Aaron.


The Main Event

Really happy to get the Clemente version of this card. A really sharp looking card of the best insert set in Series 1.

I have a nice little collection of these custom Ginter cards. This is my second favorite behind the Parrot. 

Pirates new first baseman Pedro Alvarez. Glad they moved him out of third. He was going to kill some poor guy in the seats with all of his throwing errors.

My favorite base Pirate card was the team card so I was extra pumped to get the gold version. I would love to get the silver framed parallel one day if the price is right. Outfield celebrations are fun.

While I could hear the collective sigh when this card was pulled out early in the break, I was happy. As an avid Pirates auto collector it is always exciting to see a player get his first auto in the Pirate uniform. 

John Holdzkom is a really interesting story in that he was a bust of a prospect. A pirates scout found him playing independent ball last summer and noticed the velocity and high k/rate. The Pirates signed him and he shot through the minor leagues. By the time August rolled around he was mowing down guys at the big league level. He looks to play a key part in the bullpen this year.

Buyback of a 1974 Jackie Hernandez in really nice shape.

I'm not a fan of the manu-relics, but at least they are making them look nicer. Extra bonus that this was McCutchen. These cards are super thick. Since McCutchen hasn't signed any autos in a few years this is about as good as I'm going to get "hit" wise of the Bucco superstar.

Thanks as always for running a great break Chris. Looking forward to seeing what you choose next.

If anybody needs any base of the Braves and Angels I'm your man!

Thanks for reading.