April Pickups

Might as well do my April Pickups post, since tomorrow is the last day of the month and I won't be picking up any more singles thanks to a couple of HUGE wax pickups that I'll be getting in this week (I'll wait until I get them to reveal). So just like March, really only 2 singles pickups but one is a pretty big card and also got in two or my redemptions that were fulfilled. So here's what I got

2017-18 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Variation Rookie Autograph Josh Jackson (#14/75)

 

This was a redemption from the one of the really last great breaks I had. I'm always scared when it comes to redemptions (and with Panini I'm still waiting for a crapload to be redeemed) but I am definitely happy with the turnaround for this one. Jackson was kind of under the radar this year despite being the #3 overall pick, but because of the outstanding seasons of Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell and other guys like Dennis Smith Jr., Lonzo Ball, and Markelle Fultz, it feels like no one really talked about Josh Jackson. He finished the season on a decent note, and this will be a decent card to hang on to in case he continues to improve into his 2nd season.

2017 Topps Definitive Framed Autographs Randy Johnson (#22/30)

 

Now this one took a while to come in after I got this in a group break late last year. It finally came in and the card is absolutely amazing! Love the gold frame around the card and sharp on card auto of The Big Unit. Well worth the wait!

 2017-18 Panini Optic Black Velocity Parallel Russell Westbrook (#29/39)

 

Black Velocity Parallels are some of the coolest parallels Optic has so I had to get one of my main man! It was a super disappointing season for OKC, as their "Big 3" weren't big enough to beat a hungrier and more complete team of a team in the Utah Jazz. Russ had an up and down series, but played his heart out in the last two games. Who knows what's in line for next season with Melo and PG but for now I'll still be enjoying picking up cool Westbrook cards like this one.

2011 Bowman Prospects Autographs Bryce Harper (BGS 9)

 

I've been wanting a Bryce Harper auto for a good while now and what better auto to add. It was pricey, but i had built up over $100 in Ebay bucks thanks to all their promotions so it wasn't tooo bad on the wallet. Very cool card and excited to add this to my collection.

Stay tuned later this week for my big wax pickup announcement!!

2 Boxes of 2018 FOTL Diamond Kings

 

So I typically don't mess with Panini Baseball product since it's unlicensed, but because of Ohtani-Mania, it's really the only decently priced baseball product out there. Also, since this is First Off the Line, the special hit is a purple foiled autographed card numbered to 20 or less. So for the price and a chance at an Ohtani numbered to 20, I decided to take a shot at a couple boxes. Now my luck has been pretty dreadful the last month (in relative to what I have spent, I've pulled a couple of decent cards, but not enough to justify what I paid) and looking at the release schedule, I really don't see anything that catches my eye besides National Treasures Basketball (and only the FOTL version, which will sell out in 2 seconds. No way in HELL I get a box) so this might be the last box break for a little while. Let's hope it's good! Here's what I got

Box 1

Base Shohei Ohtani Pitching RC

SP's
Brian Anderson
Dustin Fowler

Sepia Variation
Andrew Benintendi

Name Variation
Mickey Mantle "The Mick"

Red Frame
Kris Bryant
Trey Mancini

Brown Frame
Roberto Clemente (#15/49)

Portraits
Chipper Jones
Jackie Robinson


Gallery Of Stars
J.D. Martinez
Paul Goldschmidt

Trophy Club
Justin Verlander
Dallas Keuchel

500 Club
Harmon Killebrew
Mark McGwire

Past and Present
Bobby Doerr/Dustin Pedroia
Lou Boudreau/Francisco Lindor

Aurora
Shohei Ohtani

Bat Kings Blue Holo
Logan Morrison (#10/25)

Signatures Purple Holo
Odubel Herrera (#20/20)

Box 2

Base Shohei Otani Batting RC

SP's
Josh Bell
Nolan Ryan


Photo Variation
Joe DiMaggio

Name Variation
Shohei Ohtani Japanese Babe Ruth

Red Frame Sepia Batting
Shohei Ohtani

Red Frame
Andrew Benintendi
Chuck Klein

Artist's Proof
Mookie Betts (#62/99)

Past and Present
Babe Ruth/Aaron Judge
Mickey Mantle/Mike Trout

The 500
David Ortiz

Portraits
Ty Cobb
Ken Griffey Jr.

Gallery Of Stars
Paul Goldschmidt
Jose Ramirez

Aurora
Carlos Correa

Trophy Club
Mickey Mantle
George Springer


DK Dual Materials
Richard Urena (#09/49)


Rookie Signatures Purple Holo
Max Fried (#3/10)

Overall Thoughts: Despite the lackluster hits, this was a pretty fun break! I pulled 5 different Ohtani cards, and an assortment of inserts of Mantle,  Judge, Griffey, Trout, Bryant, Correa etc. It would've been nice to hit a nice auto, but still for the price point a very enjoyable break. Pics of the  cards.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2018 

#1 2017-18 Panini Select Ben Simmons Green Prizm (#3/5)

#2 2017-18 Panini Select Rookie Autographs Neon Green Prizm Kyle Kuzma (#38/65)

#3 2017-18 Panini Contenders The Finals Ticket Rookie Autographs Markelle Fultz (#40/49) 

#4 2017-18 Donruss Optic Donovan Mitchell Rated Rookie Signatures Redemption

#5 2018 Topps Heritage Mike Trout Nickname Variaton (KIIIIID)

2 Boxes of 2018 Topps Tribute Baseball

 

Well..it's been a rough slump I've been in as far as breaking goes. I feel like ever since my Contenders/Select FOTL break where I killed it, it's been nothing but disappointment after disappointment and this weekend was no different as I got absolutely DESTROYED on my Optic stuff, retail and hobby. Now, Topps Tribute isn't exactly a safe break and there's a pretty solid chance the slump continues. I got these boxes when EBay had there 15% sale (damn you EBay!!!) so I got them for about $230 apiece. Last time I opened Tribute in 2016, I got the Alex Gordon Autograph Superfractor and Kris Bryant Milestone Ball numbered to 10 in the same box, so I have had past success. Hoping to replicate that today. Here's what I got

Box 1

Purple Rookie Parallel
Rafael Devers (#43/50)

Purple Parallel
Jimmie Foxx (#47/50)

Stamp Of Approval Jersey Green Parallel
Andrew Benintendi (#6/99)

Dual Relic
Luis Severino (#51/150)

Triple Relics
Giancarlo Stanton (#11/150)


Triple Relics Purple
Kris Bryant (#15/50)

Tribute Autographs
Dellin Betances (#116/199)

Tribute Autographs Green Parallel
Dustin Fowler (#18/99)

Tribute Tandems Book Card
Miguel Sano/Dave Winfield Redemption


Box 2

Green Parallel
Whitey Ford (#45/99)

Stamp Of Approval Jersey
Mariano Rivera (#62/150)


Dual Relics Purple Parallel
Alex Bregman (#33/50)

Triple Relics Green Parallel
Edgar Renteria (#08/99)

Tribute Autographs
Dustin Fowler (#33/199)

Tribute Autographs Blue Parallel
Danny Duffy (#71/150)

Iconic Perspectives Orange Parallel
Rod Carew (#22/25)

Overall Thoughts: As usual..a mean tease with the redemption (Ohtani is a redemption) and thought it's not too bad of a pull, it's still not enough to make the break worthwhile. The Carew card is nice and a difficult pull, but again, he's got a ton of autos out there, so I doubt it's worth month. The Devers was a nice rookie card to hit, though i big time overestimated the value of it (I tend to do that A LOT). I got an extra relic in Box 1 and honestly the names I pulled for relics were pretty strong..but they're relics...so they are worth much. the autos were terrible outside of the redemption and Carew. For it's high price, no way I probably covered even half the box costs. The cold streak continues....

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2018 

#1 2017-18 Panini Select Ben Simmons Green Prizm (#3/5)

#2 2017-18 Panini Select Rookie Autographs Neon Green Prizm Kyle Kuzma (#38/65)

#3 2017-18 Panini Contenders The Finals Ticket Rookie Autographs Markelle Fultz (#40/49) 

#4 2017-18 Donruss Optic Donovan Mitchell Rated Rookie Signatures Redemption

#5 2018 Topps Heritage Mike Trout Nickname Variaton (KIIIIID)

Case Break: 2017-18 Donruss Optic Basketball Hobby

 

Well it's been a brutal ride for Optic, and now it's time for my hobby case. Now I preordered this case back in February when it was $99 a box. Thanks to a Blowout Cards Gift Certificate I ended up getting a case for this for around $86 a box, which is good considering these are now $125 a box. I'm hoping for much better luck than retail. Here's what I got

Box 1


Notable Rookies
Lauri Markkanen
Frank Ntilikina
De'Aaron Fox
Dennis Smith Jr.

Silver Holo
Mario Chalmers
Vince Carter
Jonathon Simmons
Taurean Prince

Orange Holo
Taurean Prince (#23/199)


Lime Green Holo
Donovan Mitchell RC (#9/175)

Blue Holo
Reggie Jackson (#47/49)


All Stars
Russell Westbrook
Tim Duncan
John Wall


All Stars Silver Holo
Giannis Antetokounmpo


The Rookies
Lonzo Ball

The Champ Is Here
Kobe Bryant
Robert Horry

Retro Series
Gary Payton
Glen Rice

Swishful Thinking
Kyle Lowry

All Clear for Takeoff
Larry Nance Jr.

All Clear For Takeoff Silver Holo
Malcolm Brogdon

All Clear For Takeoff Gold Holo
James Harden (#1/10)

Rated Rookie Signatures
Jonathan Isaac

Notable Rookies

Lauri Markkanen
Markelle Fultz
Lonzo Ball

Silver Holo
Doug McDermott
John Wall
Malcolm Brogdon
Derrick Rose

Orange Holo
Ivan Rabb RC (#75/199)

Lime Green Holo
Terrance Ferguson RC (#1/175)

Red Holo
Danilo Gallinari (#3/99)

Blue Holo
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (#47/49)

The Rookies
De'Aaron Fox

All Stars
Kemba Walker
Draymond Green
Bill Russell
Dan Issel

All Stars Silver Holo
LeBron James

Retro Series Silver Holo
George Gervin

Swishful Thinking
Kevin Durant

Swishful Thinking Red Holo
James Harden (#75/99)

All Clear For Takeoff
Jamal Murray

The Champ Is Here
Dennis Rodman
Ray Allen

Shorted the Auto (Pisses me OFF)

Box 3

Notable Rookies
Markelle Fultz
Lauri Markkanen

Silver Holo
Caleb Swanigan RC
Bam Adebayo RC
Kevin Durant
Kemba Walker

Orange Holo
Justin Patton RC (#106/199)

Lime Green Holo
Zach LaVine (#112/175)

Red Holo
Semi Ojeleye RC (#98/99)

Blue Holo
Terrance Ferguson RC (#8/49)

Retro Series
Scottie Pippen
Shaquille O'Neal
Tracy McGrady


All Stars
DeMar DeRozan
Shawn Kemp

All Stars Silver Holo
Marc Gasol


All Stars Lime Green Holo
DeMar DeRozan (#75/175)

Swishful Thinking
Giannia Antetokounmpo

All Clear For Takeoff
Aaron Gordon
Russell Westbrook

All Clear For Takeoff Silver Holo
Jamal Murray

The Champ Is Here
David West

Rookie Dominator Autograph
Jonathan Isaac (#6/49)

Notable Rookie Cards
Donovan Mitchell


Silver Holo
Malik Monk RC
Jeremy Lamb
Nikola Jokic
Marquese Chriss


Orange Holo
Rajon Rondo (#37/199)

Green Holo
Doug McDermott (#50/175)

Red Holo
Mike Conley (#66/99)

Pink Velocity
Serge Ibaka (#51/79)

Retro Series
Clyde Drexler
Bob McAdoo

Retro Series Silver Holo
Glen Rice

Retro Series Lime Green Holo
Scottie Pippen (#12/175)


All Clear For Takeoff
DeMar DeRozan

Swishful Thinking
Russell Westbrook

All Stars
Kawhi Leonard
Kevin Durant
Jimmy Butler

All Stars Silver Holo
John Wall

The Champ Is Here
Dwyane Wade

The Rookies
Josh Jackson


Rated Rookie Signatures
Donovan Mitchell Redemption

Notable Rookies
Frank Ntilikina
De'Aaron Fox
Dennis Smith Jr.

Silver Holo
Malik MonkRC
Jonathon Simmons
Bobby Portis
Dennis Schroder


Orange Holo
DeAndre Jordan (#53/199)

Lime Green Holo
Devin Booker (#161/175)

Pink Velocity Holo
Rajon Rondo (#39/79)

Black Velocity Holo
Kyle Lowry (#2/39)

Retro Series
Rick Barry
Jason Kidd
Oscar Robertson

All Stars
Klay Thompson
DeMarcus Cousins
Kyle Lowry

Swishful Thinking
Kemba Walker


Swishful Thinking Silver Holo
Kevin Durant

Swishful Thinking Red Holo
Kristaps Porzingis (#75/99)


All Clear For Takeoff
Norman Powell
Jaylen Brown

The Champ Is Here
Stephen Curry


The Rookies Silver Holo
De'Aaron Fox

Signature Series
Dwight Powell

Notable Rookies
Josh Jackson
De'Aaron Fox
Frank Ntilikina


Silver Holo
Donovan Mitchell RC
Ike Anigbogu RC
Jeremy Lin
E'Twaun Moore

Orange Holo
Victor Olidipo (#89/199)


Lime Green Holo
Harrison Barnes (53/175)

Blue Holo
Kevin Durant (#29/49)

Gold Holo
DeJounte Murray (#2/10)

Retro Series
Dan Issel
Bill Russell
Rick Barry

All Stars
Draymond Green
Klay Thompson
Paul George

All Stars Silver Holo
Kemba Walker

The Champ Is Here
Ray Allen

The Champ Is Here Silver Holo
Dennis Rodman


The Champ Is Here Red Holo
Jason Kidd (#37/99)

Swishful Thinking
Kemba Walker

All Clear For Takeoff
Zach LaVine
Norman Powell

Rated Rookies Signatures
Dillon Brooks Redemption 

Notable Rookies
Donovan Mitchell


Silver Holo
Justin Jackson RC

Orange Holo
LaMarcus Aldridge (#43/199)

Lime Green Holo
Kyrie Irving (# to 175)


Red Holo
Kyle Kuzma RC (#58/99)

Black Velocity Holo
DeMarre Carroll (#10/39)

Retro Series Lime Green Holo
Walt Frazier (#110/175)

Signature Series Gold
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (#4/10)

 Notable Rookies
Dennis Smith Jr.
Donovan Mitchell

Silver Holo
Larry Nance Jr.
Al Farouq Aminu
Steven Adams
Eric Gordon


Orange Holo
OG Anunoby (#8/199)

Lime Green Holo
Joel Embiid (#125/175)

Red Holo
Eric Gordon (#3/99)

Pink Velocity Holo
Delon Wright (#64/79)

Black Velocity Holo
Paul George (#23/39)

Retro Series
Oscar Robertson
Jason Kidd

Retro Series Silver Holo
Bill Russell

Retro Series Lime Green Holo
Dave DeBusschere (#95/175)

All Stars
Kyle Lowry
DeMarcus Cousins
Tim Duncan

All Stars
Draymond Green Silver Holo


The Champ Is Here
Stephen Curry

The Rookies
Lonzo Ball


All Clear For Takeoff
Jaylen Brown


Swishful Thinking
Devin Booker

Signature Series
Brian Grant

Notable Rookies
Dennis Smith Jr.
De'Aaron Fox
Frank Ntilikina

Holo Silver
Zach Collins RC
Sindarius Thornwell RC
Blake Griffin
Denzel Valentine

Orange Holo
Chris Paul (#76/199)

Lime Green Holo
Chandler Parsons (#57/175)

Red Holo
Frank Mason III RC (#73/99)

Swishful Thinking
Kyle Lowry


Swishful Thinking Silver Holo
Kemba Walker

Swishful Thinking Lime Green Holo
Devin Booker (#83/175)

All Stars
John Wall
Russell Westbrook
Tim Duncan

Retro Series
Norm Nixon
Gary Payton
Glen Rice


All Clear For Takeoff
Larry Nance Jr.

All Clear For Takeoff Silver Holo
Zach Lavine

The Champ Is Here
Kobe Bryant
Robert Horry


Rated Rookie Signatures
Lauri Markkanen

 Notable Rookies
Jayson Tatum
Kyle Kuzma
Lonzo Ball
Markelle Fultz
Jonathan Isaac
Josh Jackson

Silver Holo
Frank Mason III RC
Kyle Lowry
Kemba Walker
Jordan Clarkson


Orange Holo
Rajon Rondo (#150/199)

Lime Green Holo
Ivan Rabb RC (#29/175)


Red Holo
Zach Randolph (#93/99)

Blue Holo
DeJounte Murray (#1/49)

Retro Series
Jim Jackson
Chauncey Billups

Retro Series Silver Holo
Glen Rice

All Stars
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Magic Johnson
James Harden

All Stars Silver Holo
John Wall


Swishful Thinking
Kristaps Porzingis

Swishful Thinking Lime Green Holo
Klay Thompson (#48/175)

All Clear For Takeoff
Malcolm Brogdon
Andre Drummond


The Champ Is Here
Jason Kidd

Signature Series
Willie Cauley-Stein

Box 11

Notable Rookies
Donovan Mitchell
Dennis Smith Jr.
Frank Ntilikina
De'Aaron Fox

Silver Holo
Tyler Lydon RC
Marc Gasol
Willie Cauley-Stein
Denzel Valentine

Orange Holo
Markieff Morris (#73/199)

Lime Green Holo
Trevor Booker (#63/175)

Red Holo
Isaiah Thomas (#65/99)

The Rookies
Markelle Fultz

All Clear For Takeoff
Andrew Wiggins

All Clear For Takeoff Silver Holo
Larry Nance Jr.

Swishful Thinking
James Harden

Swishful Thinking Silver Holo
Kyle Lowry


Swishful Thinking Red Holo
Klay Thompson (#70/99)


All Stars
Stephen Curry
Larry Bird
LeBron James

Retro Series
Paul Westphal
George Gervin

The Champ Is Here
David West
Peja Stojakovic


Dominator Autograph
Andrei Kirilenko (#21/49)

Notable Rookies
Donovan Mitchell
Lauri Markkanen

Silver Holo
Wayne Selden RC
Myles Turner
Steven Adams
Marcus Morris


Orange Holo
Ike Anigbogu RC (#61/199)

Lime Green Holo
J.R. Smith (#76/175)

Pink Velocity Holo
Wes Iwundu (#70/79)

All Stars
Kawhi Leonard
Kevin Durant
Jimmy Butler

All Stars Silver Holo
Russell Westbrook

The Rookies
Josh Jackson

Swishful Thinking
Russell Westbrook

All Clear For Takeoff
DeMar DeRozan

Retro Series Red Holo
Wilt Chamberlain (#78/99)


The Champ Is Here
Dwyane Wade
Tim Duncan

The Champ Is Here Silver Holo
Robert Horry

Retro Series
Bob McAdoo
Reggie Miller

Rated Rookie Signatures Blue Holo
Sindarius Thornwell (#41/49)
 

Overall Thoughts: Welp..ended with a dud. It was fun break but overall even with the Mitchell auto (which is a Top 5 Card but for a grand for the case they're BETTER BE a top 5 pull) and two parallels pretty brutal in my opinion. Out of my 11 autos, only 3 were on card and good (the best being a redemption) while only the Isaac was a decent sticker auto. Even with what I paid for the case I wouldn't see how I got even close to value. Maybe if the Mitchell was a color auto. Getting shorted an auto absolutely stings and sucks because now I'll 100% for sure get probably a random crap auto replacement. I understand I could've pulled a crappy auto myself, but I'd rather pull the crappy auto than get shorted and not have a shot at a nice auto. Like others have said, this is a bloodbath if paying more than $100 per box and honestly even at $85 a box, it's fun, but still easily to lose your butt on, unless you get lucky and pull multiple good color. Pics of the better cards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2018 

#1 2017-18 Panini Select Ben Simmons Green Prizm (#3/5)

#2 2017-18 Panini Select Rookie Autographs Neon Green Prizm Kyle Kuzma (#38/65)

#3 2017-18 Panini Contenders The Finals Ticket Rookie Autographs Markelle Fultz (#40/49) 

#4 2017-18 Donruss Optic Donovan Mitchell Rated Rookie Signatures Redemption

#5 2018 Topps Heritage Mike Trout Nickname Variaton (KIIIIID)

Box Breaks: 9 Blasters of 2017-18 Optic Basketball and 1 Target Exclusive Mega Box

I'm going to be going through a LOT of Optic this weekend. I started it Monday with the Value Pack Box and now I got my Target stash in along with a hobby case. Last week Target had a sale which was $25 off any $100 toy purchase. Cards are included so I took advantage and placed a couple of orders and ended up with 9 Blasters and a Mega Box. So what exactly is a mega box?

 

It's pretty straight forward. for $49.99 you get an exclusive 50 card Rated Rookie Card set (they look like Flash Prizms) and 2 packs of Optic. I think it's pretty cool to get an exclusive rookie parallel set of this deep draft class so it was a no brainer purchase for me. Here's how the cards look like

 

Love the look of these cards! Definitely worth it to pick up one of these sets if you can find one at Target. There's a Wal Mart Mega Box as well but those are more traditional with packs and they have a special Red and Yellow Parallel you can pull from those.  Speaking of packs the Mega Box did come with two packs and they weren't too bad. A Kuzma Rookie and a Checkerboard parallel of Danilo Gallinari

 

And now Blaster time

 

Now the Value Rack Packs were pretty awful but at least with these blasters I got them discounted. Hopefully I do better than Monday's break. Here's what I got

Notable Base Rookies
Jayson Tatum
Kyle Kuzma(x2)
Markelle Fultz (x2)
Lonzo Ball (x2)
Frank Ntilikina (x2)
De'Aaron Fox (x2)
Lauri Markkanen

Silver Holo
Harry Giles RC
Josh Hart RC
Jabari Parker
J.R. Smith
Mike Conley
Alex Burks
Zach Randolph
Jamal Crawford
E'Twaun Moore


Purple Holo
John Collins RC
Rudy Gay
Victor Oladipo
Zach LaVine
John Wall (x2)
Otto Porter Jr.
Jeff Teague
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

Checkerboard Holo
Danilo Gallinari (Mega Box Pull)



Court Kings
Buddy Hield (Mega Box Pull)
Brandon Ingram
Dwyane Wade (x2)
Aaron Gordon (x2)
Damian Lillard
Gary Harris (x2)
Kristaps Porzingis
Rudy Gobert
Dirk Nowitzki
Myles Turner
Reggie Jackson

Court Kings Silver Holo
Russell Westbrook
Kyle Lowry
Andrew Wiggins


Court Kings Purple Holo
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Brandon Ingram
Gary Harris
Jeremy Lin

Rookie Kings
John Collins (X2)
Jarrett Allen
Harry Giles (x2)
Frank Ntilikina
Dennis Smith Jr.
Frank Mason III
Derrick White
Malik Monk

Rookie Kings Purple Holo
Harry Giles

Rookie Kings Gold Holo
Frank Jackson (#8/10)

Hall Kings
Wilt Chamberlain
Scottie Pippen
Jo Jo White
Oscar Robertson
Reggie Miller
Isiah Thomas
Dennis Rodman
Larry Bird
Elgin Baylor

Hall Kings Silver Holo
Bill Russell
Isiah Thomas


Hall Kings Purple Holo
Gary Payton
Alonzo Mourning


Signature Series Silver Holo
Michael Cage

Rated Rookies Signatures
Juwan Evans

Overall Thoughts: Slighty better than the Value Racks, but not by much. Got excited with the Redemption knowing Donovan Mitchell is a redemption and also the gold parallel but they were of bla players. Well..I gotta hope Hobby saves my butt. Pics of the better cards

  

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2018 

#1 2017-18 Panini Select Ben Simmons Green Prizm (#3/5)

#2 2017-18 Panini Select Rookie Autographs Neon Green Prizm Kyle Kuzma (#38/65)

#3 2017-18 Panini Contenders The Finals Ticket Rookie Autographs Markelle Fultz (#40/49) 

#4 2018 Topps Heritage Mike Trout Nickname Variaton (KIIIIID)

#5 2017-18 Panini Contenders Historic Playoff Tickets Autographs Dwyane Wade (#18/25)

 

March Maildays!

Well March was definitely a quality over quantity month as I only picked up 3 cards off Ebay...but they are pretty damn good ones! Here's what I got

2017-18 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Premium Auto Jayson Tatum 

 

I told you I was going to get a Tatum On Card Auto and what a cards it is! This is basically the Chrome version of Tatum's Contenders Rookie Ticket auto. Such a sweet looking card. It also helps that not only did I win this card, I got extra Ebay Bucks thanks to one of many Ebay promos they ru throughout the month.

2016-17 Panini Select Maroon Prizm Ben Simmons RC (PSA 10) (#40/175)

 

Simmons has definitely lived up to the hype and is a shoo in for Rookie of the Year. The Sixers have had an amazing season and Simmons is a huge reason why. Because he doesn't have any rookie autos (thanks to his UD exclusive) his regular rookies command a little more of a premium. This is not only a super nice rookie refractor, but a Gem Mint 10 as well. This is definitely my favorite Simmons card in my collection.

2017 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Auto Peach Parallel Aaron Judge (PSA 9) (#113/150)

 

MANNNNNN DO I LOVVVVVE THIS CARD! Another purchase thanks to Ebay's 15% Ebay Bucks Promo, I've been wanting one of these since they came out last year and I finally bit the bullett and won one! Such a classic design. It's hand down now my favorite Judge auto in my collection!

And that's it for March! 3 monster additions to the collection! 

 

Box Breaks: 1 Value Rack Box of 2017-18 Optic Basketball

 

 

So now it's Optic Mania time as Optic releases this week. I have blasters from Target coming in as well as a Hobby Case but will start with this Box as a preview of what's to come. Retail came out first and I had preordered this rack box when EBay had its 8% Ebay Bucks offer. I got it for $120, which is 10 bucks a rack pack, so it's actually a little cheaper since no tax. Here's what I got 

Notable Rookie Cards
Donovan Mitchell
Markelle Fultz
Lauri Markkanen

Rookie Kings
D.J. Wilson
Wayne Selden
Harry Giles
Malik Monk
Markelle Fultz
Bam Adebayo

Court Kings
Joel Embiid
Andrew Wiggins
Isaiah Thomas
Kemba Walker
Jeremy Lin
Stephen Curry
DeMarcus Cousins
James Harden

Hall Kings
Mitch Richmond
Scottie Pippen
Bill Russell
Gary Payton
Arvydas Sabonis
Wilt Chamberlain

Silver Holo
Joe Johnson
Darren Collison
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson


Purple Holo
Joel Embiid
Chandler Parsons
Justise Winslow
Bradley Beal

Pink Holo
Brook Lopez (#8/25)


Blue Velocity Holo
Jayson Tatum RC
Josh Jackson RC
Jonathan Isaac RC
Dillon Brooks RC
Zhou Qi RC
Ike Anigbogu RC
Derrick White RC
Caleb Swanigan RC
Tony Bradley RC
Dwyane Wade
Brandon Ingram
Rudy Gobert
Jordan Clarkson
Greg Monroe
Damian Lillard
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Denzel Valentine
Amir Johnson
Trevor Ariza
Vince Carter
Gordon Hayward
Brook Lopez
John Wall
Emmanuel Mudiay
Malcolm Brogdon
Kyrie Irving
CJ McCollum
Pascal Siakam
DeMarcus Cousins
LeBron James
James Harden
Tyler Ulis
Rodney Hood
Isaiah Thomas
Paul Milsap
Al-Farouq Aminu

Signatures Series Pink Holo
Jared Jeffries (#6/25)

Yeesch that was bad..I only got 3 silvers total..I got more purple than silver and none of the silvers were even remotely good. The autograph was bad but expected. Total disaster even with the Tatum Blue Velocity. I'm instantly regretting the 9 Blasters I bought off Target now. Retail seems like it's going to be a big bloodbath. Here's some pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2018 

#1 2017-18 Panini Select Ben Simmons Green Prizm (#3/5)

#2 2017-18 Panini Select Rookie Autographs Neon Green Prizm Kyle Kuzma (#38/65)

#3 2017-18 Panini Contenders The Finals Ticket Rookie Autographs Markelle Fultz (#40/49) 

#4 2018 Topps Heritage Mike Trout Nickname Variaton (KIIIIID)

#5 2017-18 Panini Contenders Historic Playoff Tickets Autographs Dwyane Wade (#18/25)