Dime Box Doozies

I haven't posted one of these in a long time. So this one will have two cards instead of the normal one.

Steve Finley getting up close and personal with Fernando Valenzuela. This card is just plain weird.

Also, nice catch Steve.

This Top Prospects checklist from 92 Upper Deck featuring Rondell White and Marc Newfield caught my eye. One of those quirky cards you find in floating around in 90's base sets.

Show singles

Recently I've been putting a little more effort into building my Cal Ripken Jr. PC. Here are a few cards I've picked up from the singles boxes.

One of the better Topps flagship inserts in recent years.

A couple more 2013 Blue Slate parallels including one for the Brandon Beachy PC.

How Brian Gray Makes Money; Or How I Waste My Money

At the show Saturday before last, at which I got some amazing stuff, I also made one very risky and ill advised purchase. And it didn't pay off.

My favorite dealer, who I bought the box of Panini Classics from, had exactly one box of 2014 Leaf Best of Baseball Unopened Edition. I inquired as to whether he had seen anything good pulled from those and he said it was hit or miss. Like any card product I guess. He'd seen good stuff like Topps Tribute pulled as well as crappy stuff like Topps Pro Debut. He himself had pulled a box of Panini National Treasures from the football version of this Leaf repack product. He offered me a good deal on it as I am a repeat customer and was already buying the box of Classics. I knew...I KNEW that it was something I should pass on. "I should save my money to buy a whole bunch of singles", I told myself. Besides, I do not normally buy Leaf products because I can't stand Brian Gray. He's a jerk. But the gambler in me said DOOOOOO IIIIIIIIIIT!!!!! You could totally pull something like Five Star or Immaculate!!!!! So I gave in. 

I didn't get a box of Five Star or Immaculate.

I got a box of...

*drum roll*

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen!!!! Mehhhhh I mean Yayyyyy!!!!

I suppose I could have done worse. I could have pulled a $30 box like Pro Debut. At least '13 GQ is a $60-70 box.

Here are the mediocre as heck highlights.

Nice looking signature.

Oh and each box also comes with an authenticated Pete Rose auto because it's Leaf and of course it does.

You know, one of the 5.2 million autos Pete signed for Leaf last year. At least I didn't have an auto of his previously. However I don't collect slabbed cards as I feel grading is the biggest scam in the hobby, so I don't really have a good way of storing this. Therefore it is available for trade.

I don't blame the dealer for selling me the box. He didn't try to push me into buying it. He just answered my questions and I made the decision on my own. But I do blame myself for allowing the hobby gambler in me to take hold of my show purchasing decisions. And I do blame Brian Gray for being a pompous douche as well as flooding the market with the auto of the hit king, ruining it's value.

Oh well. Lesson learned.

Show relics

At the show on Saturday I only bought two singles. A couple of relics that add to some of my PC's.

I'm surprised that this isn't a serial numbered card. But it does add to my Chipper Jones relic PC and adds both Schmidt and Murray to my HoFer relic PC.

20/50

And one for the Brandon Beachy PC.

2014 Panini Classics- THE best card I have EVER pulled

Did that title catch your eye? Well before I show you the reason for that little bit of click bait I'll do a little talking and show a few other cards first. 

This past Saturday I went to a show in Charlotte. Going into the show I really didn't have anything in mind as far as a shopping list. This allowed me to be a little more free with the money I took and that turned out good and bad-ish (I'll save that for another post). Anyways, my favorite dealer tried to talk me into a box of 2014 Panini Classics at a show a few months ago but at the time I had my eye on a box of Triple Threads. This time around he still had three boxes. With my funds uncommitted and the possibility of some sweet hits I bit. It was a fun box to bust. 

Each box consists of two mini boxes which each contain 12 packs with eight cards per pack. So you are getting more cards total out of the box than you normally do out of a mini-boxed mid-high end product. Each pack generally contains seven base cards and one insert with the promise of one parallel, one auto and one relic in each mini-box. So with the number of base cards per box as well as hits this product can be good for both set builders and high end hit chasers.

The base card design is pretty basic without a lot of color or flair. Without the extraneous border or foil they aren't able to hide the lack of logos on the cards of newer players, which will drive some people away. On the other hand it works very well for tobacco card era players like Nap Lajoie. As a side note, I picked this card of Lajoie as the base card example because of the uniform he is wearing. I'm not sure if it's actually a baseball uniform or a pea coat. Very interesting.

The parallels are only different from the base cards in that the foil on the bottom portion of the card is given a refractory sheen and the words "Timeless Tributes" are added to the top.

For a set that's supposed to be mid-high end (a little over $100 a box), this has to be the lowest of the low end hits on the checklist. But I don't hold it against Panini. Topps does just as bad and worse.

The only thing missing here is a red C on the batting helmet. Still even without it this is an awesome dual relic numbered 80/99.

21/25

I love it when I can pull cards that add to my PC rather than having to hunt them down on eBay or trade for them. This Catfish Hunter relic makes and excellent edition to my HoF relic PC. My scanner didn't do a good job with the color of the jersey swatch as it is a little greener than it appears.

And lastly....

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You still with me?

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This....oh my goodness...this card....

I uttered a few expletives in exclamation when I pulled this card. This is definitely the best thing I have EVER pulled from a pack, Just...unbelievable. 

The bat chip and Mariners jersey patch are obvious. The "5" relic though I'm not entirely certain of. It is rubbery but also leathery. So I'm not certain if it is from a fielding glove, batting glove, or even possibly from a shoe. The card doesn't specify. 

For me this was one of those moments in this hobby that just took my breath away. A moment that I may never experience again. I do know that a card like this may have some of you salivating right now, (I'm lookin at you Junior Junkie!) But as I do have a minor Griffey PC, this one is definitely staying in my collection for the time being. In the future I may consider selling it. Perhaps when Griffey enters the Hall of Fame, when it's value should peak. But we will see. 

In conclusion,, Panini Classics is a fun product to bust. I know it's not for everyone without logos. And the price tag will turn some others away. But even without considering the Griffey, I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading!

Zippy Zapped me!!

Like many of you, I was recently Zippy Zapped as well!! Kenny sent me a bunch of awesome cards. Here are the highlights.

My first card from 1955 Bowman and now the oldest card in my collection.

1961 Topps

Black refractor 091/100

Old Braves rightfielder

New Braves rightfielder

When I first saw this card of the Braves' top prospect I was surprised because black bordered cards in Bowman products are generally pretty low numbered. And in fact the black bordered cards in 2014 Bowman DP&P, the set this card is from, are Hobby Only 1/1's. However this card is not numbered. Naturally I was rather confused. But with a little sleuthing I discovered that this card is from the Asia/Pacific Edition of 2014 BDP&P, in which all base cards are black bordered. So it's not a 1/1, but it is still a really cool card and likely rather rare anyways in the US.

Thank you Kenny for the awesome and unexpected package!! 

Trade Post

Recently I completed a trade with Daniel of It's Like Having My Own Cardshop. You can see his post about our trade HERE.

Here is the awesome package of cards he sent me in return.

02/99

About the above cards: I told Daniel that I liked inserts of Jones, Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz from the 90s-early 00's. And boy did he ever deliver! And on top of that I actually did not have a single one of these cards so Daniel did an awesome job at adding to my collection with these.

097/499

07/50

I love a good patch card!

I had occasionally seen this type of card before on eBay but had never thought to pick one up. The back says that the jersey was acquired from Upper Deck but they are not the manufacturer of this piece of memorabilia. If this was created post-2010 then it would make sense that UD was selling off a lot of their GU inventory since they lost the MLB license/were stupid and lost their ability to make unlicensed cards. This is a pretty cool thing to have.

Thanks for the awesome trade Daniel!!