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Saturday, April 29, 2017

Old School Box Break: 2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome

 
Another cheap $30 Baseball Box Break. I loved Stadium Club Chrome in Basketball so figured Baseball would be just as fun.

What To Look For: Probably just First Day Issue cards of superstars, don't think the insert cards book for very much honestly. 

 
Basic Set Info
2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome
250 Base Card Set
24 Packs Per Box
5 Cards Per Pack

Inserts
Refractor (1:12)
1st Day Issue (1:33)
1st Day Issue Refractor (1:131)
True Colors (1:32)
True Colors Refractor (1:160)
Visionaires (1:18)
Visionaires Refractor (1:90)
Capture The Action (1:18)
Capture The Action Refractor (1:90)
Eyes Of The Game (1:16)
Eyes Of The Game Refractor (1:80)
Clear Shot (1:24)
Clear Shot Refractor (1:120)

Here's what I got!

Refractor (1:12)
Edgar Renteria
Carl Everett

Eyes Of The Game (1:16)
Randy Johnson

Capture The Action (1:18)
Cal Ripken Jr.

Visionaries (1:18)
Willi Mo Pena

Visionaries Refractor (1:90)
Eric Munson

Clear Shots (1:24)
Ken Griffey Jr


First Day Issue (1:33)
Henry Rodriguez (#12/100)

Overall Thoughts: Another fun low risk break. The inserts are absolutely cool looking. Unfortunately the coolest looking insert, Visionaries, has the weakest checklist since it's all young players/prospects. The Munson Visionaries refracter is such a cool looking card..it's a shame it's not really worth much. Got cool looking inserts of Griffey (my favorite player) Randy Johnson, and Ripken so all in all pretty happy with the box! Here are pics of the hits!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Top 5 Pulls of 2017

#1- 2016 Donruss Optic Gold Vinyl Cam Newton 1/1
#2- 16-17 Donruss Optic Jaylen Brown Rookie Signatures
#3- 16-17 Donruss Optic Larry Bird The Champ Is Here Gold Holo (#4/10)
#4- 2016 Donruss Optic Derrick Henry Rated Rookie Autograph (#43/150)
#5- 2016 Donruss Optic Kenneth Dixon Rated Rookie Holo Autograph   Redemption (# to 99)




Friday, April 28, 2017

Old School Box Breaks: 2000 Fleer Gamers Baseball

 
No rhyme or reason for this box. Bought it on Ebay for $30 shipped and figured it would be a fun rip. 

What To Look For: Well..Game Used Bat cards are inserted a 1:36 packs, so they aren't a guarantee. Autograph Game Used Bat cards are possible too. There's really not much that is "got to have" just a couple of insert sets and parallels.

 
Basic Set Info
2000 Fleer Gamers
90 Base Cards
20 Next Gamers (1:3)
10 Fame Game (1:8)
24 Packs Per Box
5 Cards Per Pack

Inserts
Gamers Extra (1:24)
Gamers Extra Next Gamers (1:36)
Gamers Extra Fame Game (1:36)
Determined (1:12)
Cal To Greatness: Cards 1-5 (1:9) Cards 6:10 (1:25) Cards 11:15 (1:144)
Change The Game (1:24)
Gamers Lumber (1:36)
Signed Gamers Lumber (1:287) 

Onto the break!

Next Gamers (1:3)
Eric Munson
David Eckstein
Aaron McNeal
Derrick Turnbow
Pat Burrell
Wily Pena
Josh Beckett
Alex Escobar

Fame Game (1:8)
Ken Griffey Jr
Sammy Sosa
Derek Jeter


Gamers Extra (1:24)
Mike Piazza

Determined (1:12)
Mark McGwire
Cal Ripken Jr

Cal To Greatness
#3 (1:9)
#5 (1:9)
#15 (1:144)


Gamers Lumber (1:36)
Carlos Delgado

Change the Game (1:24)
Vladimir Guerrero

Overall Thoughts: This was a fun break and I think I actually did pretty well! I pulled a Game Used Bat of Carlos Delgado (in a product where game used bats aren't guaranteed) and a 1:144 insert of Cal Ripken! The inserts are nice (love the way the Determined insert looks, also love the gold foil finish of the Extra parallel). All in all SP's of Griffey and Jeter, a Piazza one per box parallel, Ripken and McGwire inserts, a bat, and a super tough Cal. Not too shabby!! Here's pics of the hits!


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Top 5 Pulls of 2017

#1- 2016 Donruss Optic Gold Vinyl Cam Newton 1/1
#2- 16-17 Donruss Optic Jaylen Brown Rookie Signatures

#3- 16-17 Donruss Optic Larry Bird The Champ Is Here Gold Holo (#4/10)
#4- 2016 Donruss Optic Derrick Henry Rated Rookie Autograph (#43/150)
#5- 2016 Donruss Optic Kenneth Dixon Rated Rookie Holo Autograph   Redemption (# to 99)

 

Friday, April 21, 2017

Recent Maildays!

Been a while since I've bought singles off Ebay, but I picked up some nice cards over the week and they've all come in by now! Here's my most recent additions

16-17 Select Tie Dye Prizms Russell Westbrook (#20/25)

If it's Russ and a Prizm parallel, I'm getting it, lol. It's been a rough series for OKC against the Rockets, but regardless of what happens no one can take away the unbelievable season Russ had this year.

13-14 Panini Preferred Manu Ginobili NBA Finals Game Used Jersey  Booklet (#28/99)

Jersey cards might not be what they used to be, but I'm still a sucker for Jerseys that are actually tied to specific games..I'm even more a sucker for cards with swatches of Finals used jersey. The great thing about this card? It was only a little over $6 with shipping. I'll pay those prices all day for Finals jerseys, especially of a future Hall of Famer like Manu

2016 Immaculate Jumbo Patch Walter Payton (#1/5)

I really felt like giving my football collection a boast and picked up 3 nice cards. This is the first of those 3's. The pic doesn't really do this card justice..it's a BEAUTY. Numbered to only 5 copies and also a nice huge jersey swatch with a nice swatch of patch..very awesome card of "Sweetness"

2016 Flawless Dual Patches Gold Ezekiel Elliott/Emmitt Smith (#10/10)

Yeah..I wasn't gonna pass this one. Two dominant running backs from my favorite team. Two nice patches and numbered to only 10 copies..I'll never buy a box of Flawless as it's too rich for my blood but I'll gladly reap the benefits of those who break and sell!

2016 Flawless Patches Gold Tom Brady/Rob Gronkowski (#2/10)

Something about these Flawless patches that just suck me in. I wish the Gronk was a better patch, but hey with that Brady patch, I won't complain too much. Just great looking cards in my opinion!

So yeah..I think my football collection just got a little bit better!

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Old School Box Break: 96-97 Topps Series 2 Hobby Jumbo Basketball

 
Found this box on Ebay and it's the first product I've opened where I can pull rookies of Kobe, Iverson, etc in a lonnnng time so thought it would be a fun break.

What To Look For:   They don't book for much but obviously rookie cards of Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, and Steve Nash lead the way. It's a small 110 set for series 2 so with 40 cards per pack and 12 packs per box, I'm kind of expecting multiple copies of these guys. The NBA@50 foil parallels are one per pack and getting a rookie parallel or MJ would be nice. Insert wise you have Finest and refractor reprints of the top 50 players (no Jordan though) and Mystery Finest/Refractors. Be nice to pull a sweet mystery finest refractor for sure.

 
Basic Set Info
96-97 Topps Series 2 Jumbo Hobby
110 Base Cards
12 Packs Per Box
40 Cards Per  Pack 

Inserts
NBA@50 Parallel (1:1)
ProFiles (1:3)
Finest Reprint (1:10)
Finest Refractor Reprint (1:40)
Mystery Finest Bordered (1:10)
Mystery Finest Borderless (1:20)
Mystery Finest Bordered Refractor (1:96)
Mystery Finest Borderless Refractor (1:60)
Hobby Masters (1:10)

Let's get to rippin!

MJ Base-5


Notable Rookies

Allen Iverson (5)
Jermaine O'Neal (4)
Kobe Bryant (4)
Steve Nash (3)
Ray Allen (4)
Antoine Walker (3)
Shareef Abdur Rahim (4)
Stephon Marbury (4)



NBA@50 Parallel (1:1)

Avery Johnson
Tyrone Hill
Brian Shaw
Detlef Schrempf
Mario Elie
Tim Hardaway
John Wallace RC
Dell Curry
Steve Smith
Shaquille O'Neal
Allen Iverson RC
Stephon Marbury RC

ProFiles (1:3)
Juwan Howard
Kevin Garnett
Alonzo Mourning
Jerry Stackhouse
Anfernee Hardaway

Hobby Masters (1:10)
Reggie Miller

Finest Reprint (1:10)
Patrick Ewing
Moses Malone


Mystery Finest Bordered (1:10)

Clyde Drexler

Mystery Finest Borderless (1:20)
Reggie Miller

Mystery Finest Borderless Refractor (1:60)
David Robinson

Overall Thoughts: This was a super fun rip! Multiple copies of all the important rookies and MJ's, 3 Mystery Finest inserts (always fun to peel and reveal!) with one of them being a Borderless Refractor of The Admiral! Pulled a Penny insert, parallels of Iverson and Marbury and I really love the Finest Rookie Reprint cards! Very cool box to open!! Here are pics!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Top 5 Pulls of 2017

#1- 2016 Donruss Optic Gold Vinyl Cam Newton 1/1
#2- 16-17 Donruss Optic Jaylen Brown Rookie Signatures

#3- 16-17 Donruss Optic Larry Bird The Champ Is Here Gold Holo (#4/10)
#4- 2016 Donruss Optic Derrick Henry Rated Rookie Autograph (#43/150)
#5- 2016 Donruss Optic Kenneth Dixon Rated Rookie Holo Autograph   Redemption (# to 99)


Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Box Breaks: 2 16-17 Donruss Optic Basketball Hobby Boxes

 
So I haven't broken 16-17 product since my god awful Prizm break in November, mainly because of the crap rookie class and no product really seemed worth breaking, until I saw Optic come out. I really liked Optic in Football and so I decided to take a shot and open 2 boxes for basketball. After watching numerous breaks, I had my doubts my break would be that good, but I'm a glutton for punishment so here we go!

Box 1

Rookies
Dejounte Murray
Jake Layman
Domantas Sabonis
Sheldon McClellan
Jamal Murray
A.J. Hammons
DeAndre Bembry
Skal Labissiere
Thon Maker
Isaiah Whitehead
Marshall Plumlee
Buddy Hield
Pascal Siakam
Demetrius Jackson

All Stars
Paul George
Dwyane Wade
Grant Hill

All Stars Holo
Magic Johnson

The Champ Is Here
Kyrie Irving
Dwyane Wade

The Champ Is Here Gold Holo
Larry Bird (#4/10)

Silver Holo
Thon Maker RC
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Marshall Plumlee RC
Isaiah Whitehead RC
Markieff Morris

Holo Orange
Joe Johnson (#180/199)
Kay Felder RC (#116/199)

Holo Red
Aaron Harrison (#84/99)

The Elite Series
Dwyane Wade
Damian Lillard

The Elite Series Red Holo
Blake Griffin (#73/99)

Dimes
Isaiah Thomas


Dimes Silver Holo

James Harden

Rookie Autos
Jake Layman

Box 2

Rookies

Tyler Ulis
Deyonta Davis
Georges Niang
Taurean Prince
Cheick Diallo
Ron Baker
Marquese Chriss
Denzel Valentine
Jakob Poeltl
Damian Jones
Michael Gbinije
Paul Zipser
Tomas Satoransky
Wade Baldwin IV
Malcolm Brogdon

All Stars
Kawhi Leonard
LaMarcus Aldridge
Anthony Davis

All Stars Silver Holo
Paul George

The Champ Is Here
LeBron James
Larry Bird

The Elite Series
Russell Westbrook
Anthony Davis

The Elite Series Silver Holo
Russell Westbrook

Dimes
Russell Westbrook

Crashers
Rudy Gobert

Crashers Red Holo
Rudy Gobert (#34/99)

Silver Holo
Karl Anthony-Towns
Marcus Morris
Demetrius Jackson RC
Bradley Beal
Jimmy Butler

Orange Holo
Damian Jones RC (#143/199)
Gordon Hayward (#186/199)


Red Holo

Jake Layman RC (#67/99)

Rookie Autographs
Jaylen Brown

Overall Thoughts: I must say...I was pleasantly surprised..and I'm not just saying that because I pulled two pretty good hits..I say that because I think these cards look damn good, especially the inserts. I love the chrome finish on all the inserts and even better, the color parallels of the inserts just really pop. My first auto in box 1 was lame (I pulled Layman in Prizm too) but pulling the Gold Parallel of the Bird Champ Is Here was awesome and it's a super nice card that looks great in person. I love getting big name inserts and I know they aren't worth much but I don't care..they are cool looking. I pulled 3 different inserts of Russ, and inserts of LeBron, Wade, Anthony Davis etc. I couldn't ask for a better rookie autograph really as Jaylen Brown is probably either the best or tied for the best rookie auto hit of the entire product with Brandon Ingram and Jamal Murray. All in all just a fun break for the price, though there's no way I would break this at over $100 a pop. If you can wait a little bit for it to get back down to $75-$85 range I'd definitely recommend trying it or dabble in some retail as well. Here are pics of the cards.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Top 5 Pulls of 2017

#1- 2016 Donruss Optic Gold Vinyl Cam Newton 1/1
#2- 16-17 Donruss Optic Jaylen Brown Rookie Signatures

#3- 16-17 Donruss Optic Larry Bird The Champ Is Here Gold Holo (#4/10)
#4- 2016 Donruss Optic Derrick Henry Rated Rookie Autograph (#43/150)
#5- 2016 Donruss Optic Kenneth Dixon Rated Rookie Holo Autograph   Redemption (# to 99)