Two More Additions to Cardfest!

Here's a couple more additions to Cardfest!

2017 Topps Gallery Baseball

 

I really didn't plan on it but here's Topps Gallery again basically 20 years later. I have a 1998 Topps Gallery I'll be opening and now also a 2017 one! These are Wal Mart exclusives and from what I've seen in breaks the cards are really nice. The autos will probably be rough, but it'll still be a fun box to open!

2017 Leaf Rookies And Stars Longevity 

 

Here's a Target Football Exclusive. Unfortunately, I ordered two of these during Target's 25% off sale, but only received one shipped, so I had to get a refund on the 2nd box because they said they were out of stock. Pretty bummed about that, but at least I'll get to open one box of this stuff.

 

Huge Topps Now Mailday! Aaron Judge Rookie HR Record Breaker Auto!

So I've mentioned that I had a huge Topps Now fix going late in the baseball season and I'm waiting for a TON of big guns to come in...well the biggest gun (in my opinion) arrived today! So what was hiding in this?

 

This baby...

 

 

Yep...The Rookie HR Record Breaker autograph! This was one of the most anticipated cards to come out, as people were waiting for the day he broke Mark McGwire's Rookie Home Run Record so Topps could make an auto card commemorating the occasion. The thing with Topps Now cards is that cards like this Judge are SUPER hard to come by. You have to be in the right place at the right time to snag one, as Topps really doesn't have a set time they release these cards. I spent half the day refreshing their website, hoping I'd get a shot of owning one of these. To make it even more difficult, the highest number produced was numbered to only 49. Lucky for me, I was able to get one of those and today was the day it came in! Such an awesome looking card!! I love the photos in the back too with the foil finish! It's definitely a cool memento to own on what was such an awesome baseball season!

 

5th Entry Into Cardfest!

So remember me saying Cardfest was going to be an all day event? Yeah...well after all the stuff I bought from Black Friday Specials, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to open everything all in one sitting! I still plan on waiting until everything comes in before I start ripping, but yeah..I bought a TON today so stay tuned!! This next product is something that actually kicked everything off. Here's the 5th entry into Cardfest

2017 Panini Prizm Football Target Exclusive

 

Even though I'm just showcasing it now, this was actually the purchase that started it all. I bought a couple boxes of this when Target was having their 25% sale. Figured getting $50 retail prizm for a little over $37 wasn't too bad of a deal. Of course after seeing breaks of this, I do worry that I'll get stuck with Points instead of a Pink Prizm auto (biggest Pet Peeve of mine) so I'm actually tempering expectations for these. Hopefuly I get what's advertised though!

Here's the 4th Entry into Cardfest!

 2017 Playoff Football Retail Box

 

Football finally makes its presence as this is a retail offering I found at Wal Mart. $40 box with 2 hits, I was curious enough to give this a shot. Stuck with just one box of this though.

Box Breaks: 1 Hobby Box of 2017 Topps Then Now & Forever

 

So, initially I was going to save this for my cardfest, but I went ahead and ripped it last night since I'll have PLENTY of boxes to open for that. I go into this break knowing full well how boring and bland they can be. I've commented on that before. The chance at Triple H on card autos and triple auto cards of Undertaker/Brock/Goldberg though for under $50 makes it worth the hassle to speak but you are guaranteed one auto hit a box. So how did I do? Here's my break!

Bronze (1:2)
Mr. Perfect
Abbey Laith
Alundra Blayze
Brie Bella
Charlotte Flair
Tyler Breeze
Lana
Roman Reigns
Golddust
Kurt Angle
Daniel Bryan
Jimmy Uso

Silver
Lana (#7/25)

Shirt Relic Blue Parallel
JoJo (#7/50)

Triple Auto
Bray Wyatt/Randy Orton/Luke Harper (#5/10)

Overall Thoughts: And THIS is why I take shots at WWE product! The triple auto is a hell of a hit and actually sells pretty well (last one sold for $135) but this is for the PC as I don't have a Randy Orton autograph (nor Bray Wyatt for that matter) in my collection. The other hit was pretty much a waste (JoJo is the ring announcer for Smackdown) and like clockwork it was a VERY boring break. I didn't even bother listing the Finishing Moves insert set (which is a cool little set) because you get two a pack. The only other inserts besides parallels are John Cena Tribute cards which are 1:6 packs. There's just really nothing exciting to chase outside of the autographs and makes for a very dull break. I do like that fact that just like Series 1, I was able to complete a set of this with one box. Not one repeat in the box, which with collation issues I've had with Panini products (and some Topps products too) is a breath of fresh air. I just wish there was some kind of cool looking rare insert set to chase outside of parallels, but alas, it is what it is. The Triple Auto was a super awesome hit (it's basically a borderline Top 5 hit for me this year) but this was always going to be a one and done box for me. No way I could open another box of this. I've had my fix. Here's pics of the cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Pulls of 2017 

#1 2017 Topps Chrome Aaron Judge Autograph RC

#2 2016-17 Panini Revolution Galactics DeJounte Murray RC 

#3 2017-18 Hoops Rookie Autographs Red Parallel Kyle Kuzma (#17/25)

#4- 2016 Donruss Optic Superfractor Cam Newton (#1/1) 

#5- 2017 Bowman Platinum Platinum Cuts Gleyber Torres Autograph (#14/25) 

Entry #3 into Cardfest!

Without further ado...

2012-13 Panini Prizm Retail Packs (20)

 

Another retail product to add the festivities. One of Blowout Cards early November Wave Specials was packs of this for $5 bucks a pop. The 12-13 offering has a pretty loaded rookie class because it features rookies from the 11-12 and 12-13 season due to the early season lockout of 11-12. So rookie cards of Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Damian Lillard among others can be found here. The real chase though is hitting a retail exclusive green parallel of those rookies. There was a 20 pack limit, so got 20 and I figured it was definitely worth a shot at the price point.

 

Entry #2 into Cardfest!

Here's entry #2 into Cardfest

2017 Topps Chrome Update Mega Box

 

So the 2nd entry into my Cardfest is of the retail variety. This is a Target Exclusive and honestly because of Target's recent sale that nets you 25% any card purchase these have been really popular among baseball collectors. I wasn't going to crazy with these as there are a TON of dud boxes, so I stuck with two boxes. If they suck, it was basically only $15 a pop so not bad at all.

Coming Soon "CARDFEST"

Call me hokey, lame, geeky, all those labels really do apply to me but last week I decided that I'm going to have myself a good ol' Cardfest soon. What's a Cardfest? Well, when I was a kid, every once in a while I would buy different brands of a packs a week with my allowance, save them for a few weeks and open them all in one day. I coined the day "Cardfest" and I would actually put the different packs in a sort of tournament so to speak against each other to compete where the "winner" would be the pack I opened last. The order was determined by vote by my parents (who knew absolutely NOTHING about sports cards, but played along because they were and still are awesome) and myself. So for example if it was Topps Basketball vs Skybox Basketball in Round 1, who ever won the vote would "advance" to the next round and the loser went to the loser bracket etc. I dunno, it was something as a kid that I thought was fun. As I got older, packs turned into boxes, and I eliminated the tournament aspect of it (because even I as a 20 year old had geekery limits lol) and a "Cardfest" to me was just accumulated a ton of boxes to open in one sitting. As I got less into buying boxes and more into just sticking with singles on Ebay, Cardfests basically disappeared, but when I got back into the hobby last year, with a focus of busting more wax than singles, I figured I'd have a Cardfest or two every once in a awhile. If you remember last year, even though I didn't call it one, the first Cardfest I had was late in the summer where I spent all day busting boxes and pulled some pretty awesome stuff (Porzingis Auto, Alex Gordon Topps Tribute Superfractor Auto, Kris Bryant Game Used Ball to 10). Since then, I've had a couple more (Thanksgiving time last year comes to mind, with a case of Strata, 2 boxes of 16-17 Prizm,  5 Boxes of Basketball Elite, 4 Boxes of 14-15 Totally Certified, and 4 Boxes of 15-16 Prestige, though that ended up bleeding into an all week sort of thing) but I decided it was the perfect time to have another one again with Black Friday coming up and my birthday as well. I have pinpointed the day yet, because I'm still waiting to see what kind of sales happen on Black Friday, but there will be a Cardfest coming soon in the next couple of weeks, which makes me excited! I've already got quite a nice start. So I decided in anticipation to start showcasing what I plan to open when the time comes. So without further ado, the first entry into "Cardfest" is......

1998 Topps Gallery Baseball

 

So here's the 1st entry for the Cardfest Extravaganza. Kicking it off Old School with a 20 year old product. I love to open old school boxes, so if I have the chance to add something like this, I definitely will. Why Topps Gallery? Well, it coincides with the re release of Topps Gallery this year (it's a Wal Mart exclusive that just  came out) and this box was a whole $15, which is less than a price of a blaster. No brainer add for me. Throughout the week, I'll be unveiling what else I'm planning on opening! Should be fun!

Recent Ebay Pickups

I use the term "recent" loosely because some of these pickups were a month ago, I just wanted to wait until I had enough cards to make a pickup post and then I just..kept waiting haha so I have quite a few things to show off. Here's all my pickups from the last couple of months.

2017 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs Refractors Cody Bellinger BGS 9.5 (#407/499)

Technically my 2nd Bellinger autograph purchase but my 1st in hand (the other is a Topps Now auto). Bellinger didn't have the greatest of World Series, but still, he had a hell of a season and already has a 7 game World Series under his belt. He's only going to get better and I really love Topps Chrome autographs. Definitely an awesome add.

2017 Topps Triple Threads Unity Jersey Patch Andrew Benintendi (#4/9)

So many rookies in this class had excellent seasons and it's unfortunate for Benny that Judge and Bellinger's historic seasons made Benny's a mere blip on the radar. Still, a great young player on a high profile team, he's going to be a key piece to the Red Sox success in the future. This was a great pickup as it has a pretty nice patch and is numbered to only 9 copies.

17-18 Panini Contenders Draft Season Ticket Fame Parallel Russell Westbrook (#4/5)

I've been largely disappointed with the Thunder's super poor start to the season after adding high profile players such as Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. As of today, they sit under .500 and just got their first Western Conference win of the season last night against the Clippers. I'm hoping it's just early struggles to get acclimated playing with each other. Regardless, I'm still a huge fun and huge Russ fan and I'll always be excited to pick up a low numbered parallel of him.

2017 Topps Gold Label Blue Class 1 Aaron Judge (#137/150)

Topps Gold Label was one of my favorite brands of the early 2000's. The cards were just so super slick looking, I was excited when Topps brought the product back last year. Unfortunately from I heard it just wasn't the same and people were massively disappointed, especially in the thin card stock, which was the total opposite of the thicker card stock used in the original sets. Regardless, I still think the cards look nice and though I'm never going to buy a box, I don't mind picking up a single or two like this Judge. It's still a cool looking card.

2017 Topps Tier 1 Aaron Judge Autograph (#139/140)

I've never had so much fun following baseball than this season. Three main reasons this season was so awesome, Judge, Bellinger, and the Astros. Judge's historic season was a sight to see and though his cards have come down from their monstrous heights they were at before the All Star Game, his cards still sell very well. I just love the look of this card, a simple on card autograph. It's my 3rd auto of Judge in hand (have two Topps Now coming in later) and it's definitely a nice looking Rookie Card.

2016-17 Panini Preferred Vs. One On One Dual Patch Stephen Curry/Russell Westbrook (#4/10)


So hands down my favorite pickup of the past couple of months and quickly becoming one of my favorite cards in my collection. It's numbered to 10, features my favorite player (oh and Steph Curry isn't "that bad") and the patches are AMAZING...especially the Curry patch. Just a beautiful card period.

1983 Topps Nolan Ryan PSA 8

Here's my random vintage base card purchase of the month. I love combined shipping deals, so I put a $6 bid on this and won. It's a Nolan Ryan issued card from my birthday year and it just felt appropriate to buy with the Astros World Series run. I love the 83 set design too.

2000-01 Topps Stars Magic Johnson Game Used Jersey

So I bought this with the Nolan Ryan and Russ/Curry from a seller off Ebay. I'm a sucker for older game used jersey cards because even though they aren't worth much now, they are still from an era where game used jersey cards MEANT something. Case in point this card. These were still super tough to pull from packs back in 2000, yet because of the oversaturation of jersey cards, I picked this up for a mere $4. I'll pay that all day for these kind of cards.

2017 Topps Diamond Icons Clayton Kershaw Red Ink Signatures Purple Parallel (#7/10)

I recently got killed on a Diamond Icons group break but it didn't sour me on picking up a single off Ebay. Kershaw had an up and down World Series, but he's still hands down one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history and this Red Ink auto just stood out to me and I had to have it. Absolutely stunning card.

16-17 Immaculate Collection Dual Autographs Allen Iverson/Marcus Camby (#35/49)

I've added a lot of heavy hitters since my last pickups post! Even during my first run of collecting I never owned an on card auto of A.I. I had a Topps Sticker auto of him, but nothing directly on card..until now. Paired with #2 pick of the 1996 Draft Marcus Camby, this dual auto from Immaculate looks amazing and of course I love the fact that's on card. Glad I can check Iverson's auto off my want list.

2017 Topps Now Team USA Makes Finals Game Used Base Card Purple Parallel (#17/25)

So I've really gotten into the Topps Now brand and this is my first Topps Now purchase on the secondary market. The reason I love this card so much is look at that base relic! It's obviously been used as you see the dirt all around it. The base comes from the World Baseball Classic and it was from the March 21, 2017 game where the US  beat Japan by 2-1 to advance to the World Baseball Classic Finals. I love relics that have meaning and tie to specific games. This is definitely a unique addition to the collection.

2015 Topps Chrome Rookie Autograph Refractor Carlos Correa PSA 9 (#150/499)

And last but not least I had to get one of these to commemorate the World Series win of the Astros (I also bought some Topps Now cards as well). So Correa's Chrome rookie is a weird case in that his rookies were actually inserted in 2016 Topps Chrome and not 2015 Topps Chrome due to Topps not being able to sign Correa to an autograph contract in time for the 2015 release. I did buy a Jumbo box of 2016 Topps Chrome wasn't able to pull one of these so I went ahead and went the Ebay route to get one. It's a Topps Chrome Autograph refractor of one of the brightest young stars in the game today. How could I not add it?

And now...I'm allllll caught up!!

Group Break Hits: Topps Diamond Icons

So a couple of weeks ago I joined a Group Break for Topps Diamond Icons on Fire Hand Cards. The cards from that set for what I have seen look AMAZING and I thought I'd give it a whirl and go for 2 random spots in a Random Hit Group Break. Here's what I got.




Overall Thoughts: Well as great as the last group break was for me for Definitive, this was the total opposite. Just the luck of the draw and I got the short straw. There was some nice cards pulled in the case (autos of Judge, Hank Aaron, Koufax, Nolan Ryan, 2 Altuve Auto Patch cards off the top of my head) but I got basically the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the hits. Ah well, you win some you lose some.