Show Box 2- 2015 Topps Triple Threads mini box 2

#061/354

#025/125

#54/99

Just...who IS this guy? I don't understand how players like this make it into a high end set like TTT.

#1/3

KAAAAAABOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!

So yeah, this box was pretty darn good with both triples being /3 patch cards.

I love Triple Threads so so much. It is my dream to bust a full 18 box double master case. Some day...

Show Box 2- 2015 Topps Triple Threads mini box 1

I've made it abundantly clear many times before that I LOVE Triple Threads. So I picked up another box. Here is the first mini box.

#172/250

#17/99

#15/18

#2/3

YYYYYEAHHH!!!! 

Show Box 1- 2016 Panini Donruss

Like the last two years Donruss is a fun affordable break. It's definitely not a product for reselling but if you want something fun to open with a much better shot at pulling big autos than Topps, then Donruss is for you.

Besides that I'm sure you've seen enough commentary on Donruss already so I'll let the cards do the talking.

#143/199

#002/199

#048/300

#32/48

#123/292

#14/49

Blue Printing Proof

#66/99

#016/199

#537/999

#800/999

So two junk relics. Ok no big deal.

But then the auto..

#03/15

KABOOM!!!

This was in the last pack of the box so it made for a VERY nice ending to the break.

Show Cards

Last Saturday there was a show in Hickory, NC. I went in without looking for anything in particular. I always like to look through boxes of autos and relics to see if I can snag some gems. It seems like the last few shows I haven't been able to find much that interests me. I did find four cards this time though.

For the HoF relic PC

#083/165

A preemptive addition. I hope Thome can be a first ballot electee in 2018 alongside Chipper Jones.

#094/499

I think this is going to be Mookie's real breakout year. I'm going to make a bold prediction that he finishes in the top 5 in AL MVP voting.

Now this last one is..interesting.

This card has some odd aspects. First of all this is the thinnest relic card I've ever seen. It is not thicker than a regular card and doesn't have a protruding spot on the back like Upper Deck relics sometimes have. The window for the relic is oddly cut as well.

Here's the back to show you what I mean,

I know that 2002 was earlier on in the history of relic cards and maybe Topps was still getting their formula worked out. But it still makes no sense to me that they would cut off some of the writing on the back when they cut the window.

Now, does anyone else notice the biggest problem with this card?

Do you?

JOHN SMOLTZ DID NOT WIN THE 1992 NL CY YOUNG!!!!!! 

Greg Maddux won the '92 Cy in the first of his four in a row. In fact Smoltz didn't even get a vote.. Smoltz did win the Cy Young in 1996. I understand that errors happen, and still do on Topps cards, but it surprises me that something like this made it through QC.

eBay cards part 2

The other four cards from my most recent eBay spree.

Another new addition for my HoF relic PC.

#04/25

And another.

#34/99

And another x2....plus Boog Powell who is juuuuust a little bit out of place on this card.

The last card is one of my rare vintage purchases. I came across it listed by a seller who I bought a 30 card Chipper Jones lot from. The seller actually had the card incorrectly listed as just being a 1939 Johnny Sain card and listed it at a $4 BIN. I did some research and discovered that it is actually a 1949 MP & Company R302-2 . This was a followup set to their R302-1 set released in 1943. This set used generic drawings to represent the players. As such, and unsurprisingly, it was not a very popular set at the time and is apparently not very popular currently among vintage collectors. Still, for $4 I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a vintage card of the sidekick to the more famous Warren Spahn. 

eBay cards Part 1

I just can't help myself. It's always one of those days when I work 6 to 3 and get home in the afternoon bored and sleepy. I lay down on my bed and inevitably end up on my phone browsing eBay and eventually buy a few cards. Well it happened again! Here are the first four from my most recent spree.

#35/99

I wish the Braves would have given Minor just one more shot to make it through a season without getting injured. Not like it would have hurt them this year to try. He showed so much promise in 2012 and 2013. I wish him the best of luck with the Royals. 

#129/250

While Joe entered the HoF for his accomplishments as a manager rather than as a player, I'm still gonna count this one as good enough for my HoF relic PC.

#03/10

FF seems to be flying under the radar a little bit these days with his injury issues and being the best player on an awful team. I was able to snag this card at auction for a lot less than a FF patch/auto /10 would have gone for a couple years ago.

#05/10

So there's actually a reason I bought this card. At the Charlotte show a couple weeks ago I bought a magnetic booklet holder for the Tim Salmon/Troy Glaus booklet I got from 2013 America's Pastime. But silly old me didn't use my brain and I bought a horizontal holder instead of the vertical holder I needed. I went ahead and ordered the correct holder but I still had the horizontal holder with no card for it. So I went looking for a correctly shaped booklet to fill my empty holder. Somehow I managed to land this Josh Donaldson jumbo relic booklet from 2015 National Treasures at auction for just $13.50!! There were 11 bids. A jumbo relic booklet /10 of the reigning AL MVP from the highest end baseball card set there is...for just $13.50. This is the stuff of nightmares for rip and flippers. And the stuff of dreams for collectors like me. It looks very nice in it's display case.

Redemptions

Over the last couple weeks I've had three redemptions fulfilled. Two from Panini and one from Topps.

I had an outstanding redemption for a 2012 Bowman Platinum Guillermo Pimentel prospect auto. This card has loooooong since been made but they never sent it to me. Besides that, Pimentel is a low level OF prospect for the Mariners who will almost certainly never make it to the majors. I requested a replacement Braves auto and a few weeks later received this card.

Nothing special, and I didn't expect anything special since the Pimentel is a dollar auto. At least I got a players I'm familiar with. Simmons is a flame thrower who was one of the unfortunate victims of Roger McDowell's injury inducing tutelage. He's attempting a comeback this year and hopefully things will pan out.

#132/299

This is the redemption from the box of Classics I opened just a couple weeks ago. Super quick fulfillment from Panini. I entered the redemption code on Wednesday evening and got a shipping notice on Friday morning.

#73/99

This one is from the box of 2013 America's Pastime I opened back in January. Almonte ended up not panning out and to my knowledge has not been signed by a team since the Braves released him about  year ago. Still a cool card with a nice on-card auto. Panini sent this one in a magnetic case too. I guess they give it more value since it's a National Treasures card even though it would likely only sell for a few dollars at most on eBay.

Show Box 4- 2013 Topps Five Star

So Five Star (pre-2015) has always been one of those high end products that I considered out of my price range. It was something nice to see online and maybe watch some breaks of, but it was something I definitely could not afford. Well at the show one of the regular dealers had a case of 2013. He said he'd had it since 2013 and somehow forgot about it among his inventory. He recently found it and just wanted to get rid of it. He had one remaining box marked at $175. This stuff was like $350-400 a box when it came out. I could not pass up that deal and the opportunity for something big at such a steep discount.

#21/75

Thankfully not yet expired. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up having to substitute this since Topps seems to like using both Five Star and Machado as replacements for other redemptions.

#088/386

Dude really bears down with the sharpie. I haven't seen any Matt Williams autos that would likely grade a BGS 10.

#078/333

#55/65

Well at least I got one HoFer, albeit a low end one.

#06/20

So it turned out to be a less than stellar box. At $175 it wasn't too hard to swallow. Had I opened this box in 2013 at $350 it would have huuuuuuuurt. Win some, lose some. Harper is PC. The rest are available for trade.

Got another show tomorrow!!