tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69747407244879380022024-03-18T21:54:59.384-06:00The Raz Card BlogRAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.comBlogger1429125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-5067051511305731922024-03-18T16:30:00.001-06:002024-03-18T16:30:00.132-06:00A Couple Blaster Boxes of 2024 Topps Series 1 Baseball<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I've opened a couple of 2024 Topps Series 1 Baseball blaster boxes over the last few weeks. I figured I'd hit the highlights from them in one post rather than trying to squeeze two posts out of a couple blasters.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvX8QH7P_qwF0emBASNyf1cvBa3NYtdz3o95sZXY7oVk-8uD1Wwnhx5cA93wGO2Y52uLpQY4B9UL73WEXYQAg4bGkzpra83wtMKF1CQSxe3d87Kgq6wlsiAvCBrFS16KFw31Lx0b3oHj0FfnH94jcShpRRF59SrDo-hXICdipBd4l15yB7Y20MCcg3B9I/s1109/PXL_20240317_201553441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1109" data-original-width="809" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvX8QH7P_qwF0emBASNyf1cvBa3NYtdz3o95sZXY7oVk-8uD1Wwnhx5cA93wGO2Y52uLpQY4B9UL73WEXYQAg4bGkzpra83wtMKF1CQSxe3d87Kgq6wlsiAvCBrFS16KFw31Lx0b3oHj0FfnH94jcShpRRF59SrDo-hXICdipBd4l15yB7Y20MCcg3B9I/w291-h400/PXL_20240317_201553441.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">My official first card of 2024 Topps was...Spencer Torkelson. I really like the design of this set. The colorful foil really pops in the right light, and I think most of the elements are well-placed and easy to read. I'm sure the graphic designers of the world could pick it apart, but to a layman like me it's a fun set design, and that's all I really want from a baseball card set.</div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9smRnL95_BezC721B84kDbWsFxFtIe5fqN0FhQHscDZgsCs_yWm8-nyy7eoaSJg7eLWshcVpDYXHQdGfO49MOxvULCizi5dYB4n-wC64-qOsevUadZcAXj6UgZeo8JxFaSuZFZnTEkwS22Euj9Ct0TqvdcLjdn41KC2G4LWCz-JLc-NNmIBHuLCkriE/s1507/PXL_20240317_201603722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1103" data-original-width="1507" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY9smRnL95_BezC721B84kDbWsFxFtIe5fqN0FhQHscDZgsCs_yWm8-nyy7eoaSJg7eLWshcVpDYXHQdGfO49MOxvULCizi5dYB4n-wC64-qOsevUadZcAXj6UgZeo8JxFaSuZFZnTEkwS22Euj9Ct0TqvdcLjdn41KC2G4LWCz-JLc-NNmIBHuLCkriE/w400-h293/PXL_20240317_201603722.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The backs are fine, with plenty of information and stats. I can't find anything to complain about with the card backs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUv4pkUwsyY10iDiW4j9R6Ou1bP_5JHzSMeTXVZ5zGBQg40-R0L12A6CxYkHJXhm_O1Jm7AeWGMhAjH_53LEkpsOE7dVckaPW1sotNX2Kf31xl8SR4zrnmoabS7YzXpTzjWFKLLuRnlhCdbaivaOQ6JG8po0LEPPXfjFq6JD-BTiO1iMOakmp-xstlyM/s796/PXL_20240317_202111822_exported_779_1710709090766.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="796" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUv4pkUwsyY10iDiW4j9R6Ou1bP_5JHzSMeTXVZ5zGBQg40-R0L12A6CxYkHJXhm_O1Jm7AeWGMhAjH_53LEkpsOE7dVckaPW1sotNX2Kf31xl8SR4zrnmoabS7YzXpTzjWFKLLuRnlhCdbaivaOQ6JG8po0LEPPXfjFq6JD-BTiO1iMOakmp-xstlyM/w640-h460/PXL_20240317_202111822_exported_779_1710709090766.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;">This photo is kind of washed-out, but it's a selection of some of my favorite horizontal cards from the selection I had on-hand. I had to include the Miguel Cabrera farewell card, along with a couple of young stars in Corbin Carroll and Bobby Witt Jr.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsthBSIzm4fY1KduP3y4SoXES7QAytS26vm-GyW_0ugA5PbK72mwcyhzsB0-bEoAtrlq36pdilbM95RDQw1P1PKRLVUzoq2K7BEejhFujyNmZ4VWEVi3WSCjbHVImfaqWVPLoxfBxZyXiMBPyhwx6qahLHM82C6IE28iN4S7E-PpImo61OwUmzFdiPY6g/s2086/PXL_20240317_202038763.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2086" data-original-width="1513" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsthBSIzm4fY1KduP3y4SoXES7QAytS26vm-GyW_0ugA5PbK72mwcyhzsB0-bEoAtrlq36pdilbM95RDQw1P1PKRLVUzoq2K7BEejhFujyNmZ4VWEVi3WSCjbHVImfaqWVPLoxfBxZyXiMBPyhwx6qahLHM82C6IE28iN4S7E-PpImo61OwUmzFdiPY6g/w464-h640/PXL_20240317_202038763.MP.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">And here are some of the vertical cards I pulled from my blasters. I had to get a couple of Astros in this post, Chas McCormick with a nice action photo and Hunter Brown to show the Future Stars design. I figured the Jasson Dominguez and Julio Rodriguez cards probably warranted posting as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincPkSDpprhW29NyTRQN2T7DswAdO-sT8wJc6bpm-3HsNz2ouE60XCf-Vj4U-6XE5DSD3aL8JlpU-fKeNn77IT5bvLr-YAG8cm6qO2q9SwEqUZzBvS0DaIQ08vm-uylutHRAIXlH6K8pFq3NY4qUr9RTWW8vJDWs8xAgP2xsEV5DPXhHd_GpODkPP3SAY/s1487/PXL_20240317_202221814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1487" data-original-width="1129" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincPkSDpprhW29NyTRQN2T7DswAdO-sT8wJc6bpm-3HsNz2ouE60XCf-Vj4U-6XE5DSD3aL8JlpU-fKeNn77IT5bvLr-YAG8cm6qO2q9SwEqUZzBvS0DaIQ08vm-uylutHRAIXlH6K8pFq3NY4qUr9RTWW8vJDWs8xAgP2xsEV5DPXhHd_GpODkPP3SAY/w486-h640/PXL_20240317_202221814.jpg" width="486" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I got a handful of these shiny blue holiday parallels. Nothing that lit my collection on fire, but here they are. This is a parallel I could see myself trying to build a set of if card prices were at 2014 levels rather than 2024 price points.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKBi47ctLlylRx0BZsoGPZs-M390UNYBoQK6Z9XGo_n2KUwcnuF9wgZNOygUV0MqxhWymZmAwyhlkMKmFJOhA1BFJ5B-HywfN3HBDxS1F4uEpGHIRa52z_m9Lm-P9CXbjkurWWUjLV3IYHeq8MRlobcqaU3mCtM7n1bZMQdVGJeR0IhPRE7w0QFIZpiE/s1541/PXL_20240317_202302854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="1541" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXKBi47ctLlylRx0BZsoGPZs-M390UNYBoQK6Z9XGo_n2KUwcnuF9wgZNOygUV0MqxhWymZmAwyhlkMKmFJOhA1BFJ5B-HywfN3HBDxS1F4uEpGHIRa52z_m9Lm-P9CXbjkurWWUjLV3IYHeq8MRlobcqaU3mCtM7n1bZMQdVGJeR0IhPRE7w0QFIZpiE/w400-h230/PXL_20240317_202302854.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I got one Rainbow Foil card and one Easter Egg parallel across the two blasters. I guess the season-themed parallels are pretty fun as opposed to the standard different border colors of most years.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6jbIWj0LpW_8fyPa01FQMGTllTprJcqPN1ff_zXzpChbFqEOnC_077xkRk_WTyfz3kSJVmljySYwrIqpBrQRQdUHFAjMjk1z9s-ukkRM2z1UegMVn7hWwxvyBQHUNA8J1xpnzmpMhVrm3x1NeMSV_rbITDDGDZB3r9fJ9cckwXZ2S23rghHvs8_4Pqs/s1089/PXL_20240317_202322956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="1089" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6jbIWj0LpW_8fyPa01FQMGTllTprJcqPN1ff_zXzpChbFqEOnC_077xkRk_WTyfz3kSJVmljySYwrIqpBrQRQdUHFAjMjk1z9s-ukkRM2z1UegMVn7hWwxvyBQHUNA8J1xpnzmpMhVrm3x1NeMSV_rbITDDGDZB3r9fJ9cckwXZ2S23rghHvs8_4Pqs/w400-h284/PXL_20240317_202322956.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The first blaster yielded this /999 Blue Sparkle Angels team card. This is another set that would be considered for a set build at 2014 prices and print runs. It would have been achievable then. Now, not so much.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pp9TwZitq9pxWYzH-UbLOB9jM5ZAqPGkwOdtXO4kgNIwN_JMGhLMb7RshGBd3vJfOOpChxGDwx9ioO5vjDm_dVUYXl340t_HXfmNfINYJo5Nda5fg3XF6_NPD6nLhWeHxFimTzr_XDAqPyIsDjMw92R1-TZy76Mi-5VImt_UWRKwLmJXyYgezR2ujqM/s1030/PXL_20240317_202355591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="761" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3pp9TwZitq9pxWYzH-UbLOB9jM5ZAqPGkwOdtXO4kgNIwN_JMGhLMb7RshGBd3vJfOOpChxGDwx9ioO5vjDm_dVUYXl340t_HXfmNfINYJo5Nda5fg3XF6_NPD6nLhWeHxFimTzr_XDAqPyIsDjMw92R1-TZy76Mi-5VImt_UWRKwLmJXyYgezR2ujqM/w295-h400/PXL_20240317_202355591.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This flowery Jhoan Duran parallel is /50 and came out of the second blaster I opened. I doubt that most blasters drop a numbered card, but I got lucky and pulled one from each of the blasters I opened.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUYirSoFxbgXFZ-dzabT06-WI1ukRCW5RprzWb3jc7f35p_278QIyHyzpN1TsCHE2nNPn4rKMXpiKY8pN73mYTIXkEzPWGxV4Lkzl2gRDGwf5uDEYsg0FsvxOzJThWwGfDXBuawh6FspiwfNG7hxNpx1t3l2jQVaeSFzG5qbRR1iQfwaOjnPAgn3tSrTM/s1503/PXL_20240317_202508507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1503" data-original-width="1126" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUYirSoFxbgXFZ-dzabT06-WI1ukRCW5RprzWb3jc7f35p_278QIyHyzpN1TsCHE2nNPn4rKMXpiKY8pN73mYTIXkEzPWGxV4Lkzl2gRDGwf5uDEYsg0FsvxOzJThWwGfDXBuawh6FspiwfNG7hxNpx1t3l2jQVaeSFzG5qbRR1iQfwaOjnPAgn3tSrTM/w480-h640/PXL_20240317_202508507.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Stars of MLB is the most common insert in the boxes. I pulled quite a few of them, and these are the four best by my reckoning. I'm always happy to add another Yordan Alvarez card to my collection.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasPkmtNihst-OPAez4pY-pVVXVQbgGzUHyE9avfCiFMOVPn8pw8fq31ApqjVa6LPDdCRHONVjevX3gViYOmCCK9yhg0QDo7dYsF0bgPI8Oha8dHtFi-dfhHExm_iy5rJuK42jnt0YmDEAz36dysVbJjGFOfZqPw4Dl5F6GuH1T-P5JEZrHzL5r3P9DiE/s1295/PXL_20240317_202538193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1295" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasPkmtNihst-OPAez4pY-pVVXVQbgGzUHyE9avfCiFMOVPn8pw8fq31ApqjVa6LPDdCRHONVjevX3gViYOmCCK9yhg0QDo7dYsF0bgPI8Oha8dHtFi-dfhHExm_iy5rJuK42jnt0YmDEAz36dysVbJjGFOfZqPw4Dl5F6GuH1T-P5JEZrHzL5r3P9DiE/w400-h285/PXL_20240317_202538193.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Each blaster box also dropped one Stars of MLB Chrome card. These are the two I got. Corbin Carroll is a pretty good pull, I suppose, although his card doesn't qualify for the coveted RC shield this year.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95OeGdoD9u7-pZzm39lmqGblDOUk2LR9wZobDqGhDswcdCxoIkIuAHThE41mAx9h_S6Ja9mHXpKxHBHknKq1MZMV68o2-GMFBU2_eB_2eEuyO8OpcLFjdSqk1uXicHLYHDnNqwAYKGeoBgP3TFPy7_lFGybjOfuUnACr9csxTh95-lus9Z4Z99j45-sQ/s1403/PXL_20240317_202602457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="987" data-original-width="1403" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95OeGdoD9u7-pZzm39lmqGblDOUk2LR9wZobDqGhDswcdCxoIkIuAHThE41mAx9h_S6Ja9mHXpKxHBHknKq1MZMV68o2-GMFBU2_eB_2eEuyO8OpcLFjdSqk1uXicHLYHDnNqwAYKGeoBgP3TFPy7_lFGybjOfuUnACr9csxTh95-lus9Z4Z99j45-sQ/w400-h281/PXL_20240317_202602457.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">These 1989 Topps throwbacks are pretty cool, and I got a couple of good players from them, with Nolan Ryan in an Astros uniform and Bo Jackson running hard. 1989 Topps is one of the first sets I remember from my youth, so the design hits the nostalgia button for me.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YwL3VPv7kzn69tmiCIRkFDeTfEngcm0beoN5Bl-54jCI32Pge994GoPx3fK_szF79kCGv05n-wEP0ALvnZso8s7Fliu4JCVb0mjKDxTX4sejkBcACETZ_xyppDnByxyfyvR53KB6Ix3J1BG8zg6Cax8a5wlpBiy24CjwZTsZz-Z-ONTKNQaX7lRwocY/s1670/PXL_20240317_202654458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1670" data-original-width="1271" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YwL3VPv7kzn69tmiCIRkFDeTfEngcm0beoN5Bl-54jCI32Pge994GoPx3fK_szF79kCGv05n-wEP0ALvnZso8s7Fliu4JCVb0mjKDxTX4sejkBcACETZ_xyppDnByxyfyvR53KB6Ix3J1BG8zg6Cax8a5wlpBiy24CjwZTsZz-Z-ONTKNQaX7lRwocY/w488-h640/PXL_20240317_202654458.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I got a mix of other inserts from the set in my boxes. I reckon the Shohei Ohtani and Ichiro cards are my favorites here. The Mike Schmidt photo is pretty cool, too, with the old-school uniform on display.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVgmEODhfXc6jNHTP49qNm5xwrj0NHzHfU1Tu1L4YfHTsZcCao_zr9D1C1kVUzeRfIJ4f8W4cNDxDFgAPqWVcm91C-uaVkAz5lmFXEKCxZA_lwDSw4AHwTrUBDl6yZRZS56SNKilMt0Dt-GzJODjOcE5btQBdLkUSKb9234iJHk1uA-GQ16HqJCWIpa8/s1233/PXL_20240317_202721794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1233" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVgmEODhfXc6jNHTP49qNm5xwrj0NHzHfU1Tu1L4YfHTsZcCao_zr9D1C1kVUzeRfIJ4f8W4cNDxDFgAPqWVcm91C-uaVkAz5lmFXEKCxZA_lwDSw4AHwTrUBDl6yZRZS56SNKilMt0Dt-GzJODjOcE5btQBdLkUSKb9234iJHk1uA-GQ16HqJCWIpa8/w400-h276/PXL_20240317_202721794.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Finally, I got a couple of Home Run Challenge cards. I typically don't scratch the codes and play the game of trying to pick a home run date for the players, but maybe I'd consider it if I pulled doubles of a card.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That does it for a quick rundown of 2024 Topps Series One Baseball. It marks the official start of the 2024 baseball year for many collectors, and I think Topps did a good job of designing the cards for this year. I probably won't open a ton of this stuff, as I prefer to just buy a factory set and grab an Update set on eBay each year, but I could see myself sampling a bit of basic Topps this year when I find it on the shelves at retail.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-32053417282999013952024-03-17T12:30:00.001-06:002024-03-17T12:37:19.036-06:00A Second Box of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing<p style="text-align: justify;">I mentioned in my last post that I'd opened a couple boxes of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing. It's probably my favorite racing product to open because of the variety of designs and the checklist's focus on stars and rookies. I always know I'm going to pull something for my collection.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSse8rjnQKBGsCS7vtzy2EMYhyphenhyphenhN1BXGrq2YgLyJ5rl3WBsi-WQeS2Gl0oJb5ypX2qOgwxO3A8cYbk97a_obhxleReAJ-T6qm2p78ZwdtWDA_RqbeuOMNB028ofPGrxN-KYUdT-ODdiT2-mdRY2XIsdO5PuGYaoFK0BcNKYSO4gPieK-0nz8rTwcox0c/s1860/PXL_20240305_050150974.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1860" data-original-width="1372" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSse8rjnQKBGsCS7vtzy2EMYhyphenhyphenhN1BXGrq2YgLyJ5rl3WBsi-WQeS2Gl0oJb5ypX2qOgwxO3A8cYbk97a_obhxleReAJ-T6qm2p78ZwdtWDA_RqbeuOMNB028ofPGrxN-KYUdT-ODdiT2-mdRY2XIsdO5PuGYaoFK0BcNKYSO4gPieK-0nz8rTwcox0c/w472-h640/PXL_20240305_050150974.jpg" width="472" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Here are four of the base designs that I liked from the box. Danica Patrick has long been the most numerous racer in my collection, and Brittney Zamora has been my non-retired collection focus for the last couple of years. Luckily they both make appearances in most products, so I always have new cards to chase.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2319" data-original-width="1689" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaDgJuuv2DaGiGI66nZqZeUpxCIkVYziPx52BQlr7AnDHLL7ZkqU5x-4K_QLq4XB22WRDJbwT-XZaRRHX7xcUymTqKIgY6nd_yZjiIy9lv-P30H_Xkc8xGMR8WkTvhOGQx-3TJOycHKi7cOOMiaVVk4uyqLcT9B9wOBuZk_mdUzwTKXB_hiEjgYlys2bg/w466-h640/PXL_20240305_050221452.jpg" width="466" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">These are four more of the base designs. I haven't counted the base designs yet, but there are quite a few Panini brands represented in the checklist. Thunder and Luminance are a couple of my favorites. Luminance has a very Stadium Club feel to it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEfBhEfUhUPXW-QPXb80HCCnRf48p3I93XtLhCinbuXANLnSGTXMJrQCn5XouA6VbUeH2uoEx38y8qKkJVemtbpVeSF3yTt3Gvgb_NobiKG1vSZWYzYhvfcVTqzAcXm0Wui12ZnY4Fpe6Ar16jSn9CgAqChYpiKXt0-mbmQ0tgvQIwiV8qUICKJ59jhY/s2058/PXL_20240305_050309718.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2058" data-original-width="1510" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEfBhEfUhUPXW-QPXb80HCCnRf48p3I93XtLhCinbuXANLnSGTXMJrQCn5XouA6VbUeH2uoEx38y8qKkJVemtbpVeSF3yTt3Gvgb_NobiKG1vSZWYzYhvfcVTqzAcXm0Wui12ZnY4Fpe6Ar16jSn9CgAqChYpiKXt0-mbmQ0tgvQIwiV8qUICKJ59jhY/w470-h640/PXL_20240305_050309718.MP.jpg" width="470" /></a><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">In addition to a lot of base designs and plenty of hits per box, this product also drops a lot of parallels on you. The basic parallel in Hobby boxes is the Blue /199. It's a good-looking color. Pulling a couple of Hailie Deegan Blues in this box was pretty good. She's one of the better sellers in the current crop of young racers.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnY8BiSWEn2Bg2o06ag_ZYxCkpvB7O0hseJJEzG-bB_4DAmN2qm8nUEHN9BGffT0fsxKaJHK9XppIFP2bD8DYsEiQKS_N3QuSw_1FVkZfChGFv5VwwqU5jRSKr2OmfxUQZXMUec3OCB1EvVmjiU994jgln-XpL_Xy6UlpsMY3sSpqq-CVM-RxywxnFMdg/s2285/PXL_20240305_050339397.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2285" data-original-width="1667" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnY8BiSWEn2Bg2o06ag_ZYxCkpvB7O0hseJJEzG-bB_4DAmN2qm8nUEHN9BGffT0fsxKaJHK9XppIFP2bD8DYsEiQKS_N3QuSw_1FVkZfChGFv5VwwqU5jRSKr2OmfxUQZXMUec3OCB1EvVmjiU994jgln-XpL_Xy6UlpsMY3sSpqq-CVM-RxywxnFMdg/w466-h640/PXL_20240305_050339397.MP.jpg" width="466" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">My Immaculate pulls were both pretty low-numbered, with an /25 and an /51. I assume that all of the Immaculate cards are serially-numbered, based on my small sample size. The big names came in the Red parallels for me, with a Jimmie Johnson /99 and a clear Kevin Harvick /100.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqv-FxnBoIYtsqKmDy9AoewtlinnY7cnlz0ruGKBOgK3GepMq9kLdnB14-AlO2gnSsb5OpF2OFi9LHtkCDBjMt_gPdVdinviA5lwAAjfRpX2H41cJ0RAWdDpU0RE0IKbn2CmkImZjdXJtV3iBxX86RvQGmyqEAbGXVWPJU0IDjzhaqOL0D2cRLxZfpFw/s1794/PXL_20240305_050403133.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="1794" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqv-FxnBoIYtsqKmDy9AoewtlinnY7cnlz0ruGKBOgK3GepMq9kLdnB14-AlO2gnSsb5OpF2OFi9LHtkCDBjMt_gPdVdinviA5lwAAjfRpX2H41cJ0RAWdDpU0RE0IKbn2CmkImZjdXJtV3iBxX86RvQGmyqEAbGXVWPJU0IDjzhaqOL0D2cRLxZfpFw/w400-h281/PXL_20240305_050403133.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Each box promises four hits, but I pulled five in each of my two boxes. Not sure if that's typical of the print run, or if I just got lucky. I pulled three autos and two relics per box, although Panini stopped guaranteeing a certain number of autographs this year. I pulled a basic tire relic of Tanner Gray and a triple relic of Austin Cindric.</div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdCiXPhBDoMnjcojahMOSl6xtnN5zzI3tZkj9aZ_SzuWDzSidVB51-wvouNh4UVZlnSxvrn55QyGA0N11UsfEjsbaamLMO8lHeUMEo44FdOxTdChy7KmK5SDt5BOn0snzVMOw3wB9Hy7AQg9zL_tPA7JbEXlH3P8vmHXVA5f0rGrfLFmyMlwF_9np0kU/s1811/PXL_20240305_050441575.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1811" data-original-width="1522" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdCiXPhBDoMnjcojahMOSl6xtnN5zzI3tZkj9aZ_SzuWDzSidVB51-wvouNh4UVZlnSxvrn55QyGA0N11UsfEjsbaamLMO8lHeUMEo44FdOxTdChy7KmK5SDt5BOn0snzVMOw3wB9Hy7AQg9zL_tPA7JbEXlH3P8vmHXVA5f0rGrfLFmyMlwF_9np0kU/w538-h640/PXL_20240305_050441575.MP.jpg" width="538" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The Chase Briscoe autograph here is actually an /10 Gold parallel, so it's the lowest-numbered card in my Chronicles break. I would argue that the Kevin Harvick Immaculate auto-relic is actually the hit of the break, though. It's a nice-looking card of a guy I kind of collect.</div><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">That does it for this break of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing. It's a fun product with a lot of variety. Again, it's probably my favorite racing product to open because the checklist is full of good drivers and there is so much different stuff you can pull.</div>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-33077625879977653062024-03-11T18:30:00.001-06:002024-03-11T18:59:11.726-06:00A Hobby Box of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing<p style="text-align: justify;">I really like Panini Chronicles Racing, probably because of the sheer variety of cards you can find in every box. I usually don't get lucky and pull huge hits of big-name drivers, but there's usually a smattering of stuff that fits into my various collecting interests. It's hard (for me) to have a bad break of Chronicles Racing, as there's typically something interesting in there. That all being said, I opened up a couple boxes of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing recently. Here are some of the cards from the first box.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJldGQkU5wURrqsa0IGwrh2REx3KHc3-zlNCG-61-OzVxXXHPqq4hPGCjuU5O7oW1KDOjczO5th3OIpryOMGLfgXM7CJkLtXl0efl5ruMYOJzgzm0YmApdGEkuPFevRzISZc8lgSwBdBI5Bmppvk7R0k1iLgnToHmovSrs7rswvVM9p-CyXE2f7OMNRg/s1940/PXL_20240305_045414340.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1940" data-original-width="1455" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJldGQkU5wURrqsa0IGwrh2REx3KHc3-zlNCG-61-OzVxXXHPqq4hPGCjuU5O7oW1KDOjczO5th3OIpryOMGLfgXM7CJkLtXl0efl5ruMYOJzgzm0YmApdGEkuPFevRzISZc8lgSwBdBI5Bmppvk7R0k1iLgnToHmovSrs7rswvVM9p-CyXE2f7OMNRg/w480-h640/PXL_20240305_045414340.MP.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Technically I guess there is a Chronicles base set design and everything else is considered an insert, but I tend to think of the whole product outside of parallels and hits as one big conglomerate set. I took pictures of some of the sets designs I like, and some cards of drivers I collect. Some standouts for me this year were the Luminance and Thunder designs.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vvy74x_iis3c4n5ajHiXA-iq4JlziKqrsQzaZx8QnHlmdqopP-b6JpfwImSbQi3Wy0G262k2ii48Vl8peW88C6eO0Hthgg2dk2Om4yTwfQR6NX2k2isxf6Ss-7e9-HvlwAKpXSMV6wPWQ5Tl7HuLbVAGQMpwn5NWbhK73JFczxp9kvhqDc-gawl5R0A/s2171/PXL_20240305_045322798.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2171" data-original-width="1620" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vvy74x_iis3c4n5ajHiXA-iq4JlziKqrsQzaZx8QnHlmdqopP-b6JpfwImSbQi3Wy0G262k2ii48Vl8peW88C6eO0Hthgg2dk2Om4yTwfQR6NX2k2isxf6Ss-7e9-HvlwAKpXSMV6wPWQ5Tl7HuLbVAGQMpwn5NWbhK73JFczxp9kvhqDc-gawl5R0A/w478-h640/PXL_20240305_045322798.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Here are a few more designs featuring drivers I collect. I especially like the Overdrive cards. They remind me of 90's Topps Chrome.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRd6JVewKQmfJk3HkhppcooScGx21IoO5A-1DUcd9kkQ1Y41qqaWmQ8BmV1G9D2SH_oES04VfqzyyOlB7QMxCJ5j3nkyVqbvmVBl0gbul-yPWBpNXqkqxNah882xTZCi8DxLMhE6faKdt8ge-Qy5JX5eFEE1hkynAU4RvnxiMGFFMDXz_2Y4wGoJK1lk/s1870/PXL_20240305_045522359.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1870" data-original-width="1367" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRd6JVewKQmfJk3HkhppcooScGx21IoO5A-1DUcd9kkQ1Y41qqaWmQ8BmV1G9D2SH_oES04VfqzyyOlB7QMxCJ5j3nkyVqbvmVBl0gbul-yPWBpNXqkqxNah882xTZCi8DxLMhE6faKdt8ge-Qy5JX5eFEE1hkynAU4RvnxiMGFFMDXz_2Y4wGoJK1lk/w468-h640/PXL_20240305_045522359.jpg" width="468" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">There were plenty of parallels in both boxes I opened. Most were of the /199 Blue variety. Nothing here really fits my collection, but I do like the look of the Blue parallels. The John Hunter Nemechek Pedal to the Metal card is especially eye-catching.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkcJNVmUY1IHp1VyX86RYmHCozUeLXMAUu-NRMczY1MFX_gUAJeXJUw0lkQ9Q8DwZsJAGIBuO9pexgJKCo-OtqJLQb3vO1zRgzBDIa2WjF-9NEblLkURbAGyRQnILW-33toYEMsPD2NyXe6qPMgjJJAcgOOszVXeGKiWEdqg4x8AY9V9FcBrRYuvoGo4/s2408/PXL_20240305_045559729.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1748" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkcJNVmUY1IHp1VyX86RYmHCozUeLXMAUu-NRMczY1MFX_gUAJeXJUw0lkQ9Q8DwZsJAGIBuO9pexgJKCo-OtqJLQb3vO1zRgzBDIa2WjF-9NEblLkURbAGyRQnILW-33toYEMsPD2NyXe6qPMgjJJAcgOOszVXeGKiWEdqg4x8AY9V9FcBrRYuvoGo4/w464-h640/PXL_20240305_045559729.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Every box has 2 Immaculate cards in it, which I guess replaces Spectra as the thick cardstock special set in the product. All the ones I pulled had serial numbering, but I don't know if that's true of all of them or if I am just lucky. I also got a Martin Truex Jr. card /99 and a clear acetate Richard Petty /100.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidg-_cI0E7IV3cCHOBQDWK7srherBlC34Gk6-qMhFtHSVvQIVb8mZEbGiEa78R_A99s9RvWURKoAceJokDgWtnQQrWC666yKRKCjFtcQ4YyOJwCQqdU7eppHtX1PJhz9V1q4IoM8bVNbxlCPJb-E9x3yPUfnDQ0GhVMIu2V8I54-55V-xbTbn8h8L1g-s/s1114/PXL_20240305_045620694.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="816" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidg-_cI0E7IV3cCHOBQDWK7srherBlC34Gk6-qMhFtHSVvQIVb8mZEbGiEa78R_A99s9RvWURKoAceJokDgWtnQQrWC666yKRKCjFtcQ4YyOJwCQqdU7eppHtX1PJhz9V1q4IoM8bVNbxlCPJb-E9x3yPUfnDQ0GhVMIu2V8I54-55V-xbTbn8h8L1g-s/w293-h400/PXL_20240305_045620694.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The lowest-numbered card in the box was this Lawless Alan /25. I've never heard of Lawless Alan, but he's got a great trading card name.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFaSdwsl3GKoM2cBxKoaQL2PkWi1rImlrZqtHTv0lFoNI8QD7A469SvRMTQzhuNW9AP6AHV1zrnMoLkUv60-dps31wvSw9go6jj8pYij_r37WtS7viGJ9SrnRASuuLlM96HGwRXVBdGXAEn7cxaGcbAynmKUyrS_l4HY0MaS5VsFGSQw_rjkaxMBbHz4Y/s1711/PXL_20240305_045639998.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1711" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFaSdwsl3GKoM2cBxKoaQL2PkWi1rImlrZqtHTv0lFoNI8QD7A469SvRMTQzhuNW9AP6AHV1zrnMoLkUv60-dps31wvSw9go6jj8pYij_r37WtS7viGJ9SrnRASuuLlM96HGwRXVBdGXAEn7cxaGcbAynmKUyrS_l4HY0MaS5VsFGSQw_rjkaxMBbHz4Y/w640-h448/PXL_20240305_045639998.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The box promises 4 hits, but I got 5 in each of my boxes. It used to be 3 autographs and 1 relic per box, but they did away with the guarantees this year. I still got 3 autographs per box, but I also got 2 relics per box. It's nice to get bonus hits, but I don't know if that happens across the print run. I guess the Chase Elliott Recon relic here is my favorite hit card from the box.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8d56_HpfmPeCX1eF-Z9MuNFyp7aEbupWtjqP3BmREpB7Ig26bIq9yAIrxNEo_wM1Mi_FqOwAh8Qs9P3aptoCJdiKfLeKikQjX0dh0RyKz9Y980dfCMKyQERv4YYFm-EhU9ewd7PX-Xz6Lj6jG5rSY5gVz7exxfxIGW_azjjDzgR1rvhsG11GlC1cRoOg/s1471/PXL_20240305_045745220.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1471" data-original-width="1244" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8d56_HpfmPeCX1eF-Z9MuNFyp7aEbupWtjqP3BmREpB7Ig26bIq9yAIrxNEo_wM1Mi_FqOwAh8Qs9P3aptoCJdiKfLeKikQjX0dh0RyKz9Y980dfCMKyQERv4YYFm-EhU9ewd7PX-Xz6Lj6jG5rSY5gVz7exxfxIGW_azjjDzgR1rvhsG11GlC1cRoOg/w542-h640/PXL_20240305_045745220.jpg" width="542" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">As I mentioned, there were three autographs in the box. The Spencer Boyd is /49, but I think the Chris Buescher Contenders auto is my favorite of the group.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That does it for my first Hobby box of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing. Overall this is a fun break that pays off in variety and has a rather narrow checklist of stars and rookies, so you're likely to pull something you like if you're a fan of racing.</div><br /><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-64861234864172619422024-03-10T16:30:00.003-06:002024-03-10T17:06:54.381-06:00Reading Leads to a New Player Collection<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I recently read Jim Bouton's baseball book, Ball Four, and of course reading about his baseball career got me thinking about baseball cards. The book itself was pretty interesting. I wonder how members of the baseball establishment felt about his revelations, and I also wonder how his wife felt about some of the things he wrote about. It's probably a good thing that he wrote it as his career was winding down, as I imagine him writing about the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on in the clubhouse and hotels was frowned on a little bit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBvSDpHoFnJlXOVCYQQz9OTM-zas-tGF-hbp6MaptbrOuqE8dH1ChEUD9labb85Sm00YEvxo35qKM6mvQ7UrSpuNAD_ZCXGOf8lHKrG1MGAfDmQ4L7-TRnpG3Lu8OVyNHofw3SpYxWcIekNp6HAfLKuq4p6qvJdfEig4d-ENMr89puog8OFzo1kWZqKM/s1818/PXL_20240308_051041905.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1818" data-original-width="1103" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBvSDpHoFnJlXOVCYQQz9OTM-zas-tGF-hbp6MaptbrOuqE8dH1ChEUD9labb85Sm00YEvxo35qKM6mvQ7UrSpuNAD_ZCXGOf8lHKrG1MGAfDmQ4L7-TRnpG3Lu8OVyNHofw3SpYxWcIekNp6HAfLKuq4p6qvJdfEig4d-ENMr89puog8OFzo1kWZqKM/w242-h400/PXL_20240308_051041905.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Naturally I wondered whether Bouton had any baseball cards, and if so, how many are there? It turns out his basic player set in PSA numbers only 7 cards, with only his rookie card pulling relatively large money. I decided to see about grabbing all 7 over time in PSA-graded form. As can be seen by this PSA 4 example of his first solo card, I am not chasing the best set possible, just examples of the cards in PSA holders.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonmA73bxoVOVt4KqubV8JLKva1zGLHrZ-Qt2wmpq2iwGla30EKKVpkPbVhFqBAitpwfL-1fCovANOnZESBKV-SbGxuamDKJMlRtjv1hbEdlunqBRAEK93pPsuKclFc_MOjtXx60ghEGnfwYzFTWJ71hRuH67ZF4ajUKhVMnoqjti_H42NHdcAc_Wuq04/s1808/PXL_20240308_051059564.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1093" data-original-width="1808" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonmA73bxoVOVt4KqubV8JLKva1zGLHrZ-Qt2wmpq2iwGla30EKKVpkPbVhFqBAitpwfL-1fCovANOnZESBKV-SbGxuamDKJMlRtjv1hbEdlunqBRAEK93pPsuKclFc_MOjtXx60ghEGnfwYzFTWJ71hRuH67ZF4ajUKhVMnoqjti_H42NHdcAc_Wuq04/w400-h241/PXL_20240308_051059564.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here is the back of the 1963 Topps card, for completeness' sake. I generally don't collect cards of Yankees, but I'll make an exception in this case.</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj85AKF8oyva35VpCYWErYm4Ut3cdmuzfzi6nuIogiOggsqdSBkYpelfacVHofadl1SdFvTya_QQaBChJriO0EhL8h_SK7y-4pltToMg1Y3QqHCkVglWjPblkc94LX6s2h6dQUMObbAaEXgSzNcNY4Ci5rgU2oQS9FLySCK2lmt9X_Pfn_YmsKJZR6ItkM/s1933/PXL_20240310_023842713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1933" data-original-width="1149" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj85AKF8oyva35VpCYWErYm4Ut3cdmuzfzi6nuIogiOggsqdSBkYpelfacVHofadl1SdFvTya_QQaBChJriO0EhL8h_SK7y-4pltToMg1Y3QqHCkVglWjPblkc94LX6s2h6dQUMObbAaEXgSzNcNY4Ci5rgU2oQS9FLySCK2lmt9X_Pfn_YmsKJZR6ItkM/w238-h400/PXL_20240310_023842713.jpg" width="238" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeCqqgVt-PtwUzeVQk-J44989Qfj5H98KYCbxAEVDCjllATritQ68MBG9ejI6pfuVQnVWRfFV2Xp-XrOtoonLltM8JQXRiY_zufkP75vT27lRJrQjOl9GUNmEJgKHX2fDZz6ixbHuKpU-YULaq9wXFbhcaq_MRc7Y7mCg4jXqTxI0sa2_MjHEwaj8hcM/s2085/PXL_20240310_023858303.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2085" data-original-width="1283" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeCqqgVt-PtwUzeVQk-J44989Qfj5H98KYCbxAEVDCjllATritQ68MBG9ejI6pfuVQnVWRfFV2Xp-XrOtoonLltM8JQXRiY_zufkP75vT27lRJrQjOl9GUNmEJgKHX2fDZz6ixbHuKpU-YULaq9wXFbhcaq_MRc7Y7mCg4jXqTxI0sa2_MjHEwaj8hcM/w246-h400/PXL_20240310_023858303.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I also got his 1968 card, the last one in the run, in PSA 8 form. When buying graded cards I do a little bit of value analysis to compare what's available versus the asking price for each grade. Sometimes there are bargains to be had, especially if one is willing to venture outside of the premium 9 and 10 grades. I am just happy to get the cards, so I am willing to shop around for the best value I can find among the lower grades. Sometimes it's an 8 and sometimes it's a 4, but I am having fun chasing the set.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-9634838263076915802024-03-05T16:30:00.001-07:002024-03-05T16:30:00.128-07:00Michael Brantley Tier One Autograph<p style="text-align: justify;">I mentioned a couple of months ago that I'd foregone buying the Astros spot in a Topps Tier One group break and instead devoted the money that would have been spent to purchasing singles from the set. Specifically I grabbed autograph and relic cards of slugger Yordan Alvarez. I still had some money left over, and I decided to see if I could add anything else from the set to my collection while staying under budget.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GydfR86sT0VcMAyaN30lIOi1h3UnvoskoE8S10K3Md1rk2_o8d3_kW7s9UnGIAiwZsZoZXesmCm8OnJV1zXYJ2DuMiEPe5aOBukdDCL7oaimRzYtWLZhWcoVyeAWrdaVhlTKG9q7QttoXy_kJSsImRKKNTFlQRRhs5VX1hAdCHtmtGIHwQq4eWlTYmY/s1309/PXL_20240303_213117088.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GydfR86sT0VcMAyaN30lIOi1h3UnvoskoE8S10K3Md1rk2_o8d3_kW7s9UnGIAiwZsZoZXesmCm8OnJV1zXYJ2DuMiEPe5aOBukdDCL7oaimRzYtWLZhWcoVyeAWrdaVhlTKG9q7QttoXy_kJSsImRKKNTFlQRRhs5VX1hAdCHtmtGIHwQq4eWlTYmY/s1309/PXL_20240303_213117088.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWngQzLVIzqrdekIZ_KeKNhrrKH4kmvolFwVoCxLBY8eWSNNDmMilVjq4wekeK2IM1eu1ToGtUVO_KFpDaiDlw3ycGGlv0gG0LJpuL4OpiPXw0VsI7oR5lI4br4VeMAlXTvSnASWqR3NZtZCZofi645vSM6rOuxxiIPkt5O8j1y3mse0Mexr4SGiAHRXk/s1069/PXL_20240303_213106815.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="790" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWngQzLVIzqrdekIZ_KeKNhrrKH4kmvolFwVoCxLBY8eWSNNDmMilVjq4wekeK2IM1eu1ToGtUVO_KFpDaiDlw3ycGGlv0gG0LJpuL4OpiPXw0VsI7oR5lI4br4VeMAlXTvSnASWqR3NZtZCZofi645vSM6rOuxxiIPkt5O8j1y3mse0Mexr4SGiAHRXk/w295-h400/PXL_20240303_213106815.jpg" width="295" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="1309" data-original-width="951" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_GydfR86sT0VcMAyaN30lIOi1h3UnvoskoE8S10K3Md1rk2_o8d3_kW7s9UnGIAiwZsZoZXesmCm8OnJV1zXYJ2DuMiEPe5aOBukdDCL7oaimRzYtWLZhWcoVyeAWrdaVhlTKG9q7QttoXy_kJSsImRKKNTFlQRRhs5VX1hAdCHtmtGIHwQq4eWlTYmY/w290-h400/PXL_20240303_213117088.jpg" width="290" /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">What I came up with was a Michael Brantley Prime Performers autograph. The first one I ordered never arrived, so eventually I opened a case on eBay and got my money back. Then I found another one for about the same price and ordered that one, and it arrived as scheduled. I don't believe I had a Brantley autograph in my collection yet, so this fills a nice hole in my collection, as Brantley was a key member of the team for a few years, although injuries robbed him of a lot of time on the field.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-57385900356951155902024-03-04T15:30:00.001-07:002024-03-04T15:30:00.167-07:00The Other Half of a Blaster Case of 2021 Panini Chronicles Racing<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I'm back with the second half of a blaster case of 2021 Panini Chronicles Racing. I talked about the base cards in the last post, so I'll forego that discussion and get right to the hits and parallels.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDcKZBJsxZaDJxoB24pvL0iRZ50TMaLMrpgKppCQyW6NDO1jx4J4Ah5psdFGJLhgh7lm1VFscqsdHYbVVlE8wO_Vu3N0PUZgnBDLKZO4i8PYw5c1tI5mMnkC8xoiuxfnCUNMRE17_3MOFny4CWQVEhqbpIgRVc8fyWDAW8nnqX3uB5rf7Q9xE-mG7K7k/s1652/PXL_20240212_230239326.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="1652" height="588" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDcKZBJsxZaDJxoB24pvL0iRZ50TMaLMrpgKppCQyW6NDO1jx4J4Ah5psdFGJLhgh7lm1VFscqsdHYbVVlE8wO_Vu3N0PUZgnBDLKZO4i8PYw5c1tI5mMnkC8xoiuxfnCUNMRE17_3MOFny4CWQVEhqbpIgRVc8fyWDAW8nnqX3uB5rf7Q9xE-mG7K7k/w640-h588/PXL_20240212_230239326.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This half of the case game me a ton of numbered Spectra inserts. The top row are numbered /99 and the bottom row are numbered /49. Brittney Zamora and Danica Patrick are two racers I collect specifically, so it was nice to pull so many of their cards in this bunch. The Brittney Zamora parallels are both nickname variations.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUrszyo8qQEimgGCodmzSSvA9VJ9ELGxeuPI7HOi5cHOG45nRQgtgwjXSSJYSMplPc66LypCD578snwxH74hdsOCMqXmcg1rmarfVs3riWD3qXzBLmoWpOBirvLlJI9Tro8v_0-mAG3-4jDOigkYzVb9PZQcjRBTuccZE3j_1wmF9enGvvtX3Y_eEjv8/s1967/PXL_20240212_230155818.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1384" data-original-width="1967" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUrszyo8qQEimgGCodmzSSvA9VJ9ELGxeuPI7HOi5cHOG45nRQgtgwjXSSJYSMplPc66LypCD578snwxH74hdsOCMqXmcg1rmarfVs3riWD3qXzBLmoWpOBirvLlJI9Tro8v_0-mAG3-4jDOigkYzVb9PZQcjRBTuccZE3j_1wmF9enGvvtX3Y_eEjv8/w640-h450/PXL_20240212_230155818.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The William Byron Pinnacle parallel here is numbered /99 and the Austin Dillon Obsidian card is the lowest-numbered card in the whole break, at /25. The Obsidian parallels can be hard to spot, but the pink foil gives this one away.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfN2YNRQl77ic3v-kqbtaF2h68J3QCJ5HCo-_wDSwVlV7dC9hXAwKhD677jfSXsXr4kbhCZkTt2nz3kh4wAOK5Y_s9kdlX6IR40wWiYMTyw5mhOqJ2QJmfqqAhcpOpPxYB_9rGoTZRsd4MlwnH5XRywmSZABsEUmfdrrBEcvL3yJOvog4ScRGNr09Z2E/s1527/PXL_20240212_230137387.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1126" data-original-width="1527" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfN2YNRQl77ic3v-kqbtaF2h68J3QCJ5HCo-_wDSwVlV7dC9hXAwKhD677jfSXsXr4kbhCZkTt2nz3kh4wAOK5Y_s9kdlX6IR40wWiYMTyw5mhOqJ2QJmfqqAhcpOpPxYB_9rGoTZRsd4MlwnH5XRywmSZABsEUmfdrrBEcvL3yJOvog4ScRGNr09Z2E/w400-h295/PXL_20240212_230137387.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Chase Elliott features on this Blue Pedal to the Metal insert parallel, the last numbered parallel in this half of the break.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAXKnG8rJyuDVVG9cI6tmnCM-M0n-ef3ZE-q7kvylCNcH18JiflF2wJ9FgGylFir-EH0eFYDSW05x8VwdALAdSAlUwJvJxGqgVbWeVy23KJv0D79jG_o2ka4MZu0C6Uk11HPdPAtTXJtv4y6lTyG9xu8CW474E1eqHCLf0-mESyYYiisXjOZZzu5YA35U/s2223/PXL_20240212_230102050.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2223" data-original-width="1587" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAXKnG8rJyuDVVG9cI6tmnCM-M0n-ef3ZE-q7kvylCNcH18JiflF2wJ9FgGylFir-EH0eFYDSW05x8VwdALAdSAlUwJvJxGqgVbWeVy23KJv0D79jG_o2ka4MZu0C6Uk11HPdPAtTXJtv4y6lTyG9xu8CW474E1eqHCLf0-mESyYYiisXjOZZzu5YA35U/w456-h640/PXL_20240212_230102050.MP.jpg" width="456" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Similar to the last post, most of the relics and autos don't really fit into my specific collecting interests. I guess my favorite card here is the John Hunter Nemechek relic. Chronicles Swatches are the basic relic you're going to find in most Chronicles blasters.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN7vwO1WKG4KtiQx1KrjdpYM2LNGY25PZ0u-IOhsX44PGynnP_I6brgWOuWAyDX3NgfnAn4sqZ1ngikJXjK36M1MNEP1h33BUdgb1j2_Zxl_8oXnf3yWQ4yk-9wsA_90aSWcdKSFSIk4fwMxAVBJ3aB2_EEjz4F-zf4Dxp_YLXqk-ABUBX8aRwPKfxBg/s1802/PXL_20240212_230035181.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1802" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifN7vwO1WKG4KtiQx1KrjdpYM2LNGY25PZ0u-IOhsX44PGynnP_I6brgWOuWAyDX3NgfnAn4sqZ1ngikJXjK36M1MNEP1h33BUdgb1j2_Zxl_8oXnf3yWQ4yk-9wsA_90aSWcdKSFSIk4fwMxAVBJ3aB2_EEjz4F-zf4Dxp_YLXqk-ABUBX8aRwPKfxBg/w640-h446/PXL_20240212_230035181.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've still got three pictures to go here and I've pretty much run out of things to say. All of the stuff that fits into my collection happened in the first photo. I guess maybe the several-year layoff has given me a bit of blogging rust.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtt5W6x-nsigLbX2wGAfocr3QA-3tq-9SxspCR3y9aB1yRsrJxvyF4p6ygZltnddE8ka3M2aJAsKgV4IhsTHadmvzyqMuj2eDyNDFfp6zZJ7wCLslDF3sGZH9fE4KAj1c7NuopXvbHD_fUrJFQA8s8RMK49TIPM7tMzQOb48_GbvtebLPYZTE8n_dmwbE/s2366/PXL_20240212_230009748.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2366" data-original-width="1688" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtt5W6x-nsigLbX2wGAfocr3QA-3tq-9SxspCR3y9aB1yRsrJxvyF4p6ygZltnddE8ka3M2aJAsKgV4IhsTHadmvzyqMuj2eDyNDFfp6zZJ7wCLslDF3sGZH9fE4KAj1c7NuopXvbHD_fUrJFQA8s8RMK49TIPM7tMzQOb48_GbvtebLPYZTE8n_dmwbE/w456-h640/PXL_20240212_230009748.MP.jpg" width="456" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I guess the Kevin Harvick card here is my favorite of the bunch of dual relics. It's kind of a boring card, though, as the black firesuit and tire swatches blend into the background of the card.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVf7PnFl0KaHEc36yxwmFD9Ph_ZSSGJmOZcKov5UXlrQ-Da0jhhD5QCNiWws4GtiVAQA8IAtU-A9jcA4imb8s8Edo4GuYyRcPCFEiEnp1TEPd-1ilx4N8hY0bO1mVVW4dKJv-2mjyzivyh0_5_2RIg2ukvz3la4iSDUUC9QaYkkPZJlp7bLyUtoHICTM/s1910/PXL_20240212_225945879.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1332" data-original-width="1910" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVf7PnFl0KaHEc36yxwmFD9Ph_ZSSGJmOZcKov5UXlrQ-Da0jhhD5QCNiWws4GtiVAQA8IAtU-A9jcA4imb8s8Edo4GuYyRcPCFEiEnp1TEPd-1ilx4N8hY0bO1mVVW4dKJv-2mjyzivyh0_5_2RIg2ukvz3la4iSDUUC9QaYkkPZJlp7bLyUtoHICTM/w640-h446/PXL_20240212_225945879.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Just like in the last half of the case, this half produced 8 relics and 2 autographs. The autographs in this batch are Matt DiBenedetto and Sheldon Creed.</div><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall this was a fun break, but probably not worth the price of admission. I'd argue that busting packs, especially retail packs, is a sucker's game on most days. You really are better off buying singles and sets on the secondary market, although that is much less fun than rolling the dice on ripping packs.</div>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-40377886162698227162024-03-03T22:30:00.001-07:002024-03-03T23:19:23.162-07:00Half a Blaster Case of 2021 Panini Chronicles Racing<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I mentioned a while ago that I ordered a couple of blaster box cases as part of a big card order from Blowout Cards. The first I already showed off, a case of 2018 Donruss Racing. The other case was 2021 Panini Chronicles Racing. A blaster case is 20 boxes, so this post will cover the first 10 blasters.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHgKngyHPZ5FURNn5Kr-iSNpgDtr7Xk3fTGi3U8JOJbTYpM6UfB-ics8nXT4SmV57yfaE6oms8qLcI6HWTVNdOES8szp1XizdK0AL2_iWASVT29sV_gUgtHTSkeDaXFJXsIqG4MqvIGEaBL5Y7ZcBIyHQd0dDh_5p_Yq_JfKCVh48iyxBMoNFh76SmfE/s2906/PXL_20240206_001317677.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1864" data-original-width="2906" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHgKngyHPZ5FURNn5Kr-iSNpgDtr7Xk3fTGi3U8JOJbTYpM6UfB-ics8nXT4SmV57yfaE6oms8qLcI6HWTVNdOES8szp1XizdK0AL2_iWASVT29sV_gUgtHTSkeDaXFJXsIqG4MqvIGEaBL5Y7ZcBIyHQd0dDh_5p_Yq_JfKCVh48iyxBMoNFh76SmfE/w640-h410/PXL_20240206_001317677.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">By my count, there are 17 different base designs in the Chronicles set. It makes for a lot of sorting. Technically I think the Chronicles are the base set and the rest are inserts, but either way there are 17 different designs. I got nearly complete sets of most of the 20-cards checklists, and partial sets of the bigger checklists. Scattered throughout are Green retail-exclusive parallels. This is a stars and rookies product, so the big chase is whoever your favorite driver is, as long as they are a star or rookie.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivlzOcHp4kJJPxCZw8zqqwwI-aSVzAhHha876NU9QNOvZYALzDDf3ITn7_Lg2a8QUd8k9rX-z8FGM7mVrFXHlaqLCE-xG5GEhryuktWAbjbze7akAA-x1hfaH9p_YgTEidqHRZokMawVOcpprQa5Y_ffmDPFSN-FqXxWX3yq9HUoz4uwqktA5EVg4EqA/s2461/PXL_20240212_222553014.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2461" data-original-width="1768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivlzOcHp4kJJPxCZw8zqqwwI-aSVzAhHha876NU9QNOvZYALzDDf3ITn7_Lg2a8QUd8k9rX-z8FGM7mVrFXHlaqLCE-xG5GEhryuktWAbjbze7akAA-x1hfaH9p_YgTEidqHRZokMawVOcpprQa5Y_ffmDPFSN-FqXxWX3yq9HUoz4uwqktA5EVg4EqA/w460-h640/PXL_20240212_222553014.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Blue parallels are /199 and cover most of the base designs. I pulled Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, and Kyle Weatherman. Not much else to say about these, as none of them really fit into my collection.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqny3m9HF9Y7Upy_3k3l8lySCfucvJN0Vmhm4Hn6tpSwrUhw1dZcdFnlLM00gQsY7UUr7AJdndxhqBR2uyz6of9nxpUp8RxTedX0fHNVqwaGlU3jaOoaKl-htvIwbDr_A30T9IhuGfBOJFHwLeH_sB3RshYfF3Eq1KlBhGe3318JmiglNnXvkJ0N8zLSI/s1340/PXL_20240212_222514397.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1340" data-original-width="963" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqny3m9HF9Y7Upy_3k3l8lySCfucvJN0Vmhm4Hn6tpSwrUhw1dZcdFnlLM00gQsY7UUr7AJdndxhqBR2uyz6of9nxpUp8RxTedX0fHNVqwaGlU3jaOoaKl-htvIwbDr_A30T9IhuGfBOJFHwLeH_sB3RshYfF3Eq1KlBhGe3318JmiglNnXvkJ0N8zLSI/w288-h400/PXL_20240212_222514397.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This Tyler Reddick Spectra parallel is numbered /99. Spectra is one of the bigger checklists in the product, so I didn't come close to completing it. There are parallels and nickname variations as well, which make it even harder to complete.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBq2CLg2LTq5QKboHNkWomgz9K8RaSsmgzRTJzOFXi5BKGI10Ufv-1WQ6zXI8EkCDFf-mpbwlE2tsm-7i6kwsaFeQS3bSIKrV73Tcd3Hpp9kHF8u8wzG92GoF0dOPV_FsnJwBzbjY5IagPQD-PBSVCDsUOYetkaR-OlCpTswAkNzLN8I0gfcTpmYaYF0/s1335/PXL_20240212_222526248.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1335" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBq2CLg2LTq5QKboHNkWomgz9K8RaSsmgzRTJzOFXi5BKGI10Ufv-1WQ6zXI8EkCDFf-mpbwlE2tsm-7i6kwsaFeQS3bSIKrV73Tcd3Hpp9kHF8u8wzG92GoF0dOPV_FsnJwBzbjY5IagPQD-PBSVCDsUOYetkaR-OlCpTswAkNzLN8I0gfcTpmYaYF0/w400-h285/PXL_20240212_222526248.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I was happy to pull a numbered Dale Earnhardt Jr. card, as he is one of the drivers I collect. Even better is that he is featured in his National Guard branding. I spent 20 years with the National Guard and retired last year, so I like this particular branding scheme.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNe1zpchGKy3mzjB8go4dXSb5p3fTqBsx1c4AU8Hp4Rx0cZMOFRWCLToCRhtaZqknSIJICuFcCf-A1pz-srE0PGJFcYjG4y4NfMg7dmiX5gCjeasOnY0UqFO-PEFfMfsP6EnOS-MA6EnJcYsSKWHZH6dTLFvlXHTX0mu3ceiUKKSi1aUD3c3vmsVXxCQ/s2178/PXL_20240212_222739821.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1573" data-original-width="2178" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNe1zpchGKy3mzjB8go4dXSb5p3fTqBsx1c4AU8Hp4Rx0cZMOFRWCLToCRhtaZqknSIJICuFcCf-A1pz-srE0PGJFcYjG4y4NfMg7dmiX5gCjeasOnY0UqFO-PEFfMfsP6EnOS-MA6EnJcYsSKWHZH6dTLFvlXHTX0mu3ceiUKKSi1aUD3c3vmsVXxCQ/w640-h462/PXL_20240212_222739821.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Jet Black Materials and Newly Minted relic sets feature multiple swatches per card. The Austin Dillon card has firesuit and tire, while the Paul Menard adds sheet metal to the mix.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRrfls986RNzlgD6TDNtd5x84GpgbPB79M6ssIB7rTyR35nq_f3yyPvsi4D2m3IoK7LbTaNIN3oCRXkztYOyVG8lizKeNzCoCkOZBiOasC3ExUS5hYsx-YSzcCTq06ez8fPglMxzsFlwhBVOBcURvBKcdqlYmvRPNEy4yVKKsbHM18GO0AINj1K9zetQ/s2379/PXL_20240212_222722013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2379" data-original-width="1705" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRrfls986RNzlgD6TDNtd5x84GpgbPB79M6ssIB7rTyR35nq_f3yyPvsi4D2m3IoK7LbTaNIN3oCRXkztYOyVG8lizKeNzCoCkOZBiOasC3ExUS5hYsx-YSzcCTq06ez8fPglMxzsFlwhBVOBcURvBKcdqlYmvRPNEy4yVKKsbHM18GO0AINj1K9zetQ/w458-h640/PXL_20240212_222722013.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Status Swatches are one of the basic relics you'll pull from this product. I wouldn't say I collect Ryan Newman, but I've gathered a handful of his cards over the years. With this being a 2021 product, many of the photos of current drivers feature masks prominently.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RT_3C0QTu_qikL8SAP9YXrt_E3Tohz-VBIgqWl5dBsy5IZb-neabRsChN0U9P-qF4qO27MbR8aEyKvFPVDOZUOw4pp4jadPwjGiibjJi4TERcbwUz4sYLyudoa5Xt6Fp8BxD1U0kfuBdF4uET779f9pstkdvseAwFKxUqSpXMJkqjluesXFUaQhPd6A/s2303/PXL_20240212_222650259.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2303" data-original-width="1694" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RT_3C0QTu_qikL8SAP9YXrt_E3Tohz-VBIgqWl5dBsy5IZb-neabRsChN0U9P-qF4qO27MbR8aEyKvFPVDOZUOw4pp4jadPwjGiibjJi4TERcbwUz4sYLyudoa5Xt6Fp8BxD1U0kfuBdF4uET779f9pstkdvseAwFKxUqSpXMJkqjluesXFUaQhPd6A/w470-h640/PXL_20240212_222650259.MP.jpg" width="470" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Chronicles Swatches are the basic hit you find in blasters. I pulled Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, and Aric Almirola. Two tires and one firesuit relic. Again, not much among the hits that fits into my collection specifically, although I cast a pretty wide net when it comes to collecting.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJWgiaPBrnh5AB9a-vaDvzg6KKx_p5iF7SWUzJsPmEzI-R-b0m5Caa7DO68dwHLsAvq5qlJwPyStTcEgd8wV4X6DLie0sOaUUcXS6V46qMamAiUDhM_AQjax5YXPLAhCNyFFXaHjXocGzCTgwB7zypQBB6Nklc60SpZ5WhSZKgKRsyAhpocs3H7p0Nik/s1894/PXL_20240212_222622059.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1323" data-original-width="1894" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJWgiaPBrnh5AB9a-vaDvzg6KKx_p5iF7SWUzJsPmEzI-R-b0m5Caa7DO68dwHLsAvq5qlJwPyStTcEgd8wV4X6DLie0sOaUUcXS6V46qMamAiUDhM_AQjax5YXPLAhCNyFFXaHjXocGzCTgwB7zypQBB6Nklc60SpZ5WhSZKgKRsyAhpocs3H7p0Nik/w640-h448/PXL_20240212_222622059.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Each lot of 10 blasters gave up two autographs, with this half of the case yielding Michael Waltrip and Anthony Alfredo. Again, not anything that fits into my collection specifically, but nice to add a couple of names to my collection that I don't think I had autographs for yet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That does it for the first 10 boxes of the case. As far as my collection goes, the best cards were probably the Dale Earnhardt Jr. parallel /99 and some of the Green retail parallels of various drivers I collect.</div><p></p></div>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-82776957870937248022024-03-02T21:30:00.000-07:002024-03-02T21:33:38.472-07:00Some of My Favorite 2023 Topps Stadium Club Photos<p style="text-align: justify;">I bought a set of Stadium Club cards on eBay a little while ago, and flipped through the cards a bit to look at the pictures. Stadium Club would be a fun set to build through packs, but I can't justify the cost of building sets that way when I can get a base set for so little compared to busting a handful of boxes. The hits you pull rarely make up the difference, especially as most breaks I've seen of Stadium Club this year feature a whole lot of no-name autographs. I thought I'd post a few pictures here of cards I liked when I looked through the set.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnz4JnEE0FFKFrggNAUumIfhWPh_a3gAaB6VK_ouHWbwqp_xmETCv3m_-uSwwtSHJq04bRjqB0wIFIVvx0TOcsWejYaRnn_PFfYrkDA7KgAt5F97aS5IMq8Vos5dW7lBsuP09PWWl_nnmyHpsm4N60Md29WvrlInQohm2t_yg4XJdsrmLMN8TRyb_NN_o/s2043/PXL_20240212_234634352.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2043" data-original-width="1443" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnz4JnEE0FFKFrggNAUumIfhWPh_a3gAaB6VK_ouHWbwqp_xmETCv3m_-uSwwtSHJq04bRjqB0wIFIVvx0TOcsWejYaRnn_PFfYrkDA7KgAt5F97aS5IMq8Vos5dW7lBsuP09PWWl_nnmyHpsm4N60Md29WvrlInQohm2t_yg4XJdsrmLMN8TRyb_NN_o/w452-h640/PXL_20240212_234634352.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That Yogi Berra photo is pretty cool, with the lounge chair, the big TV, and the neat cart in the background. The Joc Pederson photo hit me with nostalgia, as I collected the Chevron cars pretty hard when they first came out. After I had kids I opened all the packages and let my kids play with them, so they were all pretty well destroyed after a few years. I don't regret doing it, though.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9s8WjRRDSeI01bnfRtTABTegTiTUL6LHJhek606XDpaxkkn8D1Pa7yt6tVyK7h_EqdJ0-jKc9SiApplOQxiy4snYgypTTvvJQOa6RILnx6BZQbmB2Bp48DfNNdkHx3D23Q4Jvq6BOyOj6XnDFi6L371VtGTM5P94svZcZfENo7JmPyTQkRvybuLjMvbs/s2114/PXL_20240212_234616809.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1503" data-original-width="2114" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9s8WjRRDSeI01bnfRtTABTegTiTUL6LHJhek606XDpaxkkn8D1Pa7yt6tVyK7h_EqdJ0-jKc9SiApplOQxiy4snYgypTTvvJQOa6RILnx6BZQbmB2Bp48DfNNdkHx3D23Q4Jvq6BOyOj6XnDFi6L371VtGTM5P94svZcZfENo7JmPyTQkRvybuLjMvbs/w640-h456/PXL_20240212_234616809.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next up are a couple of intimidating fireballers, in Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. I love that particular Astros uniform, and Johnson looks as intimidating as ever in this photo.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBuabRcMNIzMybQ96fETQZ-5mbVUMz5W6p2EatwFUmVfU3oKcp8xMyBAVyqOOv3PGcxL6fPEFULWaV3dSKpYlAEDNuPCgsTUSH-RIqjZ-WYPQVAuEa36YFN9ZDso92REE9USxlVfZpfehq8YRuPTAWZ44-jMbSjbWJ-B082q1loqp7AVDvPZ9HuxtCms/s2042/PXL_20240212_234554859.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2042" data-original-width="1470" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIBuabRcMNIzMybQ96fETQZ-5mbVUMz5W6p2EatwFUmVfU3oKcp8xMyBAVyqOOv3PGcxL6fPEFULWaV3dSKpYlAEDNuPCgsTUSH-RIqjZ-WYPQVAuEa36YFN9ZDso92REE9USxlVfZpfehq8YRuPTAWZ44-jMbSjbWJ-B082q1loqp7AVDvPZ9HuxtCms/w460-h640/PXL_20240212_234554859.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Not much to say here, just a nice shot of a play at the plate and a good wide photo showing the catcher and umpire at work.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70bNyJtlehVyzwEHY6xq-V1XOkrBnPKAgPqHD8CEM9lNq0gq-VOWqLq2iR-jBZEZ5q72fQ8szQMfojdQbLTM8J8DzYspkcl-2iSttr0rLAyDiSvJmc8RM8XFVI8O4qcZ-NjPVHo6uibFry9ql4GwyphlmiVq7-WGBtT5QILkJUznXREScpxkDVxWN5e8/s2180/PXL_20240212_234530259.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1552" data-original-width="2180" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70bNyJtlehVyzwEHY6xq-V1XOkrBnPKAgPqHD8CEM9lNq0gq-VOWqLq2iR-jBZEZ5q72fQ8szQMfojdQbLTM8J8DzYspkcl-2iSttr0rLAyDiSvJmc8RM8XFVI8O4qcZ-NjPVHo6uibFry9ql4GwyphlmiVq7-WGBtT5QILkJUznXREScpxkDVxWN5e8/w640-h456/PXL_20240212_234530259.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is about the most 90's pair of cards you could come up with. That Frank Thomas photo could have been a poster sold at the Scholastic book fair.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDdvvuJd5bNkW8th6aEuvRd_cduSAEZfCqlK5FnwBOEZgjhyQUcK42cI4KpnW6p6TAAVMuPhMDCgvdobZYMGsg-ULmZcGdVOJYDY223DXKhkDggnCPvmjwyMItgc0LyBFbNFvhqtS7liXdUYjVcUvL7rXl7c5UZgHuMT87qiYohuZ3miA7uqeYtVzcf8/s2188/PXL_20240212_234508396.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2188" data-original-width="1594" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDdvvuJd5bNkW8th6aEuvRd_cduSAEZfCqlK5FnwBOEZgjhyQUcK42cI4KpnW6p6TAAVMuPhMDCgvdobZYMGsg-ULmZcGdVOJYDY223DXKhkDggnCPvmjwyMItgc0LyBFbNFvhqtS7liXdUYjVcUvL7rXl7c5UZgHuMT87qiYohuZ3miA7uqeYtVzcf8/w466-h640/PXL_20240212_234508396.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I had to get a picture of the home team in here with that Jeremy Peña card, and the Starling Marte photo features a beautiful sky as the afternoon turns to evening, a perfect time to be at the ballpark.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivuhBBjQEKq8FBqZD1b91vbaq0Oa2n4pNay3l9Wf3B8cUDk9UzJmBUUcjvDkcV-FsKaFlkJqvoo9p4X6xPfmT3Bh-ZQDhFrXqvugfhqcnoN0M0Sw-qzK4xZ9zH6TwqVTYroVCdML297P5v3sD4br0RQyWPFQ7G3j3FzXijqvGRvVUdC9OLypWAAb7dToE/s1947/PXL_20240212_234443841.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1371" data-original-width="1947" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivuhBBjQEKq8FBqZD1b91vbaq0Oa2n4pNay3l9Wf3B8cUDk9UzJmBUUcjvDkcV-FsKaFlkJqvoo9p4X6xPfmT3Bh-ZQDhFrXqvugfhqcnoN0M0Sw-qzK4xZ9zH6TwqVTYroVCdML297P5v3sD4br0RQyWPFQ7G3j3FzXijqvGRvVUdC9OLypWAAb7dToE/w640-h450/PXL_20240212_234443841.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Closing things out is a silly photo of Joey Votto and a pic of Xander Bogaerts signing autographs. These may not be the 12 greatest photos in 2023 Topps Stadium Club, but they are 12 that stood out to me as I flipped through the set.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Haven't been feeling the blogging vibe lately, so it's been a few days since I posted anything. I'm trying to stick with it, but sometimes I don't feel like I have anything to say. I'd like for the blog to be more than just a showcase of what I've picked up lately, but sometimes it feels like those are the easiest posts to write.</div>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-87921326685130199572024-02-21T19:00:00.003-07:002024-02-25T22:40:01.599-07:00C-3PO Golden Rod Error Sketch by John Soukup<p style="text-align: justify;">Today's card is an art "card" paying homage to an infamous Star Wars card, the C-3PO Golden Rod error. Back when the original Star Wars sets were being produced, the C-3PO photo chosen had a bit of costume out of place, leading it to look like C-3PO was rather excited. This was scandalous, and Topps put out a corrected version of the card that removed the offending appendage. The uncorrected version is rather popular and probably one of the more expensive cards from the Star Wars sets now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBj8p2Gefcq2v8ytj1tTdpen94ioBl-K412lkDQ0gK5-KW-M5UD-N5_vo0608RaSKiHeBRC73Dlz9A5RLHp9o0yeFBn-EVZLtctKbTF4ByAQ4d9HsK138tZ0F_gjt5qJUxUsHcdLxEX2lZRh9ewe1fLDfzEjHHIumAadC7LmkGXMBW-xMEmDZp0nNSxmk/s1472/PXL_20240211_221905655.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="1001" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBj8p2Gefcq2v8ytj1tTdpen94ioBl-K412lkDQ0gK5-KW-M5UD-N5_vo0608RaSKiHeBRC73Dlz9A5RLHp9o0yeFBn-EVZLtctKbTF4ByAQ4d9HsK138tZ0F_gjt5qJUxUsHcdLxEX2lZRh9ewe1fLDfzEjHHIumAadC7LmkGXMBW-xMEmDZp0nNSxmk/w273-h400/PXL_20240211_221905655.jpg" width="273" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPeWT_DjF72ZIvbY93lFR-B1ODs_ZyQzEbvM7mXbBivVrqkSaZFpTGxz0oHc7FKWlEqbZjOe3EPImWrNVFNoEVMfSe9Goq9qCO9juxswbPSe654zfkfK4peJCEG_auZ40PyV6qbWnppVPl6k4ImlXcmOEwnf-Zvaht961jylTIzKbieZf9Yej8yOZNrw/s496/Screenshot%202024-02-14%20195710.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="355" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPeWT_DjF72ZIvbY93lFR-B1ODs_ZyQzEbvM7mXbBivVrqkSaZFpTGxz0oHc7FKWlEqbZjOe3EPImWrNVFNoEVMfSe9Goq9qCO9juxswbPSe654zfkfK4peJCEG_auZ40PyV6qbWnppVPl6k4ImlXcmOEwnf-Zvaht961jylTIzKbieZf9Yej8yOZNrw/w286-h400/Screenshot%202024-02-14%20195710.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Recently, artist John Soukup, whose work I've featured on this blog before, has been posting Star Wars sketches done on wood to his eBay page. One of those sketches called back to the C-3PO Golden Rod error card, and I had to have it for my collection. I've got at least one copy of the error card in my collection, and in fact it makes up part of the background collage for my blog.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQzC8b04cBSImRii-60AQc2wY6VtGYBV0xyQnQgoTd9tU_3rn_t1MM8YPojVQuu9Uv5da4ZR34beqScJP7snI8a-kKGgTpPdWV9uziKeDRuFD3his6eb3J8sfaEQct_gWQjUIjaKUyVhjIoQeAHQEyKXC3TxkXKk9wPvnvA-Nzh6A9mZtdpS4hilBwB4/s1475/PXL_20240211_221916408.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1475" data-original-width="1015" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQzC8b04cBSImRii-60AQc2wY6VtGYBV0xyQnQgoTd9tU_3rn_t1MM8YPojVQuu9Uv5da4ZR34beqScJP7snI8a-kKGgTpPdWV9uziKeDRuFD3his6eb3J8sfaEQct_gWQjUIjaKUyVhjIoQeAHQEyKXC3TxkXKk9wPvnvA-Nzh6A9mZtdpS4hilBwB4/s320/PXL_20240211_221916408.jpg" width="220" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Here is the back of the artwork, for the sake of completeness. Not sure what SSW stands for, but it is appropriately labeled as a 1/1.</div></div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-74555422704379518672024-02-14T19:30:00.001-07:002024-02-14T19:34:14.254-07:002023 Panini Select WWE Nikkita Lyons Autograph<p style="text-align: justify;">Today's card is an autograph I've been waiting to get for a while. I'm a fan of wrestling in general, and of women's wrestling specifically, so I try to have as comprehensive a collection as possible. One wrestler who's only had a couple of autographs so far is Nikkita Lyons. I've been watching WWE card releases to see when she might get a couple of autographs on the market.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgZhYTnAQEbf1KCFz4H30pCv-JdyaoxAB9SP0FZf8HKq5QRahDkK4dZ7FkNIaOb_ucb2hHd1k4oamdu14YFq325Y1Oh3wV0VdLKlyz47BhIE3PVqEqAbfpRHUIGB7X8frmfuSbvZ_RMWme11OhCZadKTmRxjdNktEdl8Qvuds8HD4ncm9Kq979oYjB2o/s1205/PXL_20240130_021729805.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="883" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTgZhYTnAQEbf1KCFz4H30pCv-JdyaoxAB9SP0FZf8HKq5QRahDkK4dZ7FkNIaOb_ucb2hHd1k4oamdu14YFq325Y1Oh3wV0VdLKlyz47BhIE3PVqEqAbfpRHUIGB7X8frmfuSbvZ_RMWme11OhCZadKTmRxjdNktEdl8Qvuds8HD4ncm9Kq979oYjB2o/w293-h400/PXL_20240130_021729805.MP.jpg" width="293" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgEpfahWkZ9oPhxR4_nSKbdip2Mf1aDPme1mjRTE8614vjsquUbuFMQDDfi7nD2jBHJ2URLLyY_Ydzhlmy5zJcvUeyem0j4fy3fXFhMykuZCkPIpU69DA-OErC8cc6g6PMy87mE02SrqkiPQoDeRXv-wUIr6lS6qXseC0w0W7ICsfPX0-PUFVlPPJpik/s1193/PXL_20240130_021739596.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="872" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgEpfahWkZ9oPhxR4_nSKbdip2Mf1aDPme1mjRTE8614vjsquUbuFMQDDfi7nD2jBHJ2URLLyY_Ydzhlmy5zJcvUeyem0j4fy3fXFhMykuZCkPIpU69DA-OErC8cc6g6PMy87mE02SrqkiPQoDeRXv-wUIr6lS6qXseC0w0W7ICsfPX0-PUFVlPPJpik/w293-h400/PXL_20240130_021739596.jpg" width="293" /></a></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Well, she's finally got a couple of autograph cards on the market and I eventually sniped this one from 2023 Panini Select WWE for a lower price than they generally go for at the moment. It's even Valentine's Day-themed, as she included a little heart as part of her signature.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-62667019520091830192024-02-13T16:30:00.050-07:002024-02-13T16:30:00.128-07:002023 Panini Prizm UFC Undercard Box<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I'm returning to the recent order I made from Blowout Cards, with a box of 2023 Panini Prizm UFC Undercard. This is a watered-down Hobby product, bypassing most of the exciting stuff but also adding a few Undercard-exclusive parallels. The draw for me here is that you're guaranteed an autograph and a large portion of the base set at a pretty significant discount from the regular Hobby boxes. Although I am kind of a scattershot singles collector, I do value being able to complete base sets, and I'm trying to collect on a limited budget. I just can't afford most Hobby wax these days. The value isn't there for me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Y4uS4zNvA0o_4V9MhklQucusl9sH0PstdRzjAIZPmsUKmF26GaN2vU0M6CgtF17NEkQZPJM8oP9ivgfSJvX7bx3t9QrbFe05_UrCuAIGsWai4NkFgzPAIbZRoT_2m9rsi_AI9TDrkFFTFrPHusPbwPR1deyeS8YxnuN2YE6Ezm8a9k6ayf5D7v6V_9c/s1212/PXL_20240212_215655982.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="886" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Y4uS4zNvA0o_4V9MhklQucusl9sH0PstdRzjAIZPmsUKmF26GaN2vU0M6CgtF17NEkQZPJM8oP9ivgfSJvX7bx3t9QrbFe05_UrCuAIGsWai4NkFgzPAIbZRoT_2m9rsi_AI9TDrkFFTFrPHusPbwPR1deyeS8YxnuN2YE6Ezm8a9k6ayf5D7v6V_9c/w293-h400/PXL_20240212_215655982.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The last card in the set is a famous UFC fan, Hasbulla Magomedov. He's a social media personality with dwarfism who hangs out with the Dagestani contingent of UFC fighters.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmMWXxKY1Uexq6tOL4vLtprTesBkvxXltqTinVUNA9Ji5Gt-ViVa8SFsAkLHEFnKxG2lXgkAzhjmC6D3X5GrxeLWyXUlYkBn5CywmYPsQXF1B-bowWglPbfprx_4C9ARB7Cv1mN1U580xadLedvj9_QQqY0P6INDhF3DwnXtbfCMXsFkXVHfrJQst3Ks/s1711/PXL_20240212_215737046.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1711" data-original-width="1217" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmMWXxKY1Uexq6tOL4vLtprTesBkvxXltqTinVUNA9Ji5Gt-ViVa8SFsAkLHEFnKxG2lXgkAzhjmC6D3X5GrxeLWyXUlYkBn5CywmYPsQXF1B-bowWglPbfprx_4C9ARB7Cv1mN1U580xadLedvj9_QQqY0P6INDhF3DwnXtbfCMXsFkXVHfrJQst3Ks/w456-h640/PXL_20240212_215737046.jpg" width="456" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Most of the non-base cards in the box are these Undercard Prizms, which have a disco-style background that is exclusive to Undercard boxes. Similar to the 2022 set I showed a couple of days ago, there are 100 horizontal and 100 vertical cards in the set. The Valentina "Bullet" Shevchenko card shown here is a special nickname variation that is again exclusive to Undercard boxes. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObcAwq9dBDjk08OFuQ1ja6lqF80idxvrEtNura_-uB-gnWWFva1emeNhRmG5KLhR70SgEG1QhLW9uROWppY_mTalt-oMSYJlr7xfGC8CCgx7xdrwotg4VMXYcATGnZa7nPObdkbWUEcHhyphenhyphenykO-LFiz64OCA4Sh02NagR-stNjn3-4AZERaTHQgLZYKp8/s1732/PXL_20240212_215841725.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1219" data-original-width="1732" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObcAwq9dBDjk08OFuQ1ja6lqF80idxvrEtNura_-uB-gnWWFva1emeNhRmG5KLhR70SgEG1QhLW9uROWppY_mTalt-oMSYJlr7xfGC8CCgx7xdrwotg4VMXYcATGnZa7nPObdkbWUEcHhyphenhyphenykO-LFiz64OCA4Sh02NagR-stNjn3-4AZERaTHQgLZYKp8/w640-h450/PXL_20240212_215841725.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here are a couple of the vertically-oriented Undercard Prizms. The set is pretty comprehensive, with 200 cards featuring current and retired fighters.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5liGapNZWrK1jCwpkaRGN2BeX0zrCDHFbRi_wL0AqkywVbJwy8r31ELgyxAhQzsxv01IfLAPlgOIt5ze0bE0CIwgNtGRZ153KNYi98YR64tbw5YP_OX-hXwU5dF_t44687pCCnxjHpBii10f6y21Uq2K7MfHnU6tZDf2jaG1bxaftKl-PlJUb_p8g5V8/s1226/PXL_20240212_215912050.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="1226" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5liGapNZWrK1jCwpkaRGN2BeX0zrCDHFbRi_wL0AqkywVbJwy8r31ELgyxAhQzsxv01IfLAPlgOIt5ze0bE0CIwgNtGRZ153KNYi98YR64tbw5YP_OX-hXwU5dF_t44687pCCnxjHpBii10f6y21Uq2K7MfHnU6tZDf2jaG1bxaftKl-PlJUb_p8g5V8/w400-h289/PXL_20240212_215912050.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This Silver Prizm of Saidyokub Kakhramonov was the only regular Prizm in the box. They are more common in other packaging configurations, but here they apparently take a back seat to the Undercard Prizms.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmPNsoMu4a5XLnN8pAyXJzvv6fA27s_ma7jRoO3sUKbUW3xYZx2QUkn1NiGS7lSHGcvIMWZUKh6_H74TgIgSduGRRG8BEjvYp9UrBuhSDTW2jUECzBRhu2-Q1pWy8AeHkTe2VSrE3uTkBwoM3pRQxk-OqruAfHt8W5Hsrg6e8rhjajGmo8ttrMRkzmFk/s1760/PXL_20240212_215931505.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1251" data-original-width="1760" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmPNsoMu4a5XLnN8pAyXJzvv6fA27s_ma7jRoO3sUKbUW3xYZx2QUkn1NiGS7lSHGcvIMWZUKh6_H74TgIgSduGRRG8BEjvYp9UrBuhSDTW2jUECzBRhu2-Q1pWy8AeHkTe2VSrE3uTkBwoM3pRQxk-OqruAfHt8W5Hsrg6e8rhjajGmo8ttrMRkzmFk/w640-h454/PXL_20240212_215931505.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was moderately surprised to find 2 numbered parallels in my box. The Alatengheili Red Undercard Prizm is #/99 and the Francis Ngannou Blue Undercard Prizm card is #/25. Ngannou is the more recognizable name for me here. He famously left the UFC during his time as Heavyweight champion when the two sides couldn't agree on the terms of a new contract. He is currently signed with the PFL and participated in an exhibition boxing match with Tyson Fury.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHspYtnHcyCJMQ4IBdmVDOlpL_7fs-NNw1NWD7yimxUIqxbjMmoVi__mhz-xpVOPBx8j4V6RUKB4wQNKjKrNpXYPo_V03xhe8Nb5MYlpFV4pHeo3rVt0jbrf8ncMbfW3dJ5W7Cd-hqv61zAIV_Xf0sk1A7xLeIKTe3fM8wk7TvoyPEl6Ic81W0Ix47tVY/s1220/PXL_20240212_215948356.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1220" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHspYtnHcyCJMQ4IBdmVDOlpL_7fs-NNw1NWD7yimxUIqxbjMmoVi__mhz-xpVOPBx8j4V6RUKB4wQNKjKrNpXYPo_V03xhe8Nb5MYlpFV4pHeo3rVt0jbrf8ncMbfW3dJ5W7Cd-hqv61zAIV_Xf0sk1A7xLeIKTe3fM8wk7TvoyPEl6Ic81W0Ix47tVY/w400-h295/PXL_20240212_215948356.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">All of the insert cards in the box featured Undercard Prizm backgrounds, so someone trying to complete the inserts would have to choose between regular packs and Undercard packs. I guess you could try to build mixed sets, but what kind of collector mixes sets?</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9DjNGv9n_A84LRKQivG-ALekGzjk5BBLg_Wx5sexHmnxWo7xmE0p5pK13FO1zdl17z5SC9JbpTCxCl3gFxCViFKpjH7AIYbHIWeqFO64XpoNtbXZZbQhweigHW2T8x5UrYuZs8KzxZWp-8AddzXDFxyYfgy-QTsOwXsdna4_je9NGx4Ot3I3IllDzco/s1733/PXL_20240212_220004708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1733" data-original-width="1256" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9DjNGv9n_A84LRKQivG-ALekGzjk5BBLg_Wx5sexHmnxWo7xmE0p5pK13FO1zdl17z5SC9JbpTCxCl3gFxCViFKpjH7AIYbHIWeqFO64XpoNtbXZZbQhweigHW2T8x5UrYuZs8KzxZWp-8AddzXDFxyYfgy-QTsOwXsdna4_je9NGx4Ot3I3IllDzco/w464-h640/PXL_20240212_220004708.jpg" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The Dominance insert set appears to feature champions, with Stipe Miocic and Henry Cejudo being the pulls from my box. Cejudo is mildly irritating, but he embraces being a villain and is undoubtedly good at fighting. I've mentioned before that I collect Miocic cards, so I was happy to pull an insert of him here.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0N_JFWjgJEDOEjFG3_S_ouEe1mVSzMstSEYp4x43iewh-6QJ0VP6fqWE2fJBpR6xh4UwkNp9Cw-PMeZNzgOMOOZF3AxiVaNJcmpMR1kEs24uuReJDfXUrWXBTLweuerp00De6aADfxdSCGsPbmIa50dwR6N36oLv2YHFI0cXtjtsgPvCbfLcu_ZSmV4Y/s1777/PXL_20240212_220024490.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1248" data-original-width="1777" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0N_JFWjgJEDOEjFG3_S_ouEe1mVSzMstSEYp4x43iewh-6QJ0VP6fqWE2fJBpR6xh4UwkNp9Cw-PMeZNzgOMOOZF3AxiVaNJcmpMR1kEs24uuReJDfXUrWXBTLweuerp00De6aADfxdSCGsPbmIa50dwR6N36oLv2YHFI0cXtjtsgPvCbfLcu_ZSmV4Y/w640-h450/PXL_20240212_220024490.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The Fearless insert is a nice-looking colorful insert that I'd consider collecting if I had the bandwidth to pursue such a thing. Holly Holm is another fighter I collect, so it's nice to get another PC pull from the inserts. Brock Lesnar is a fearsome person, but over in the WWE world he's been tied to some pretty disgusting allegations along with Vince McMahon, who has been ousted from the company (again). Of course everyone is innocent until proven guilty legally, but in the court of public opinion there is certainly enough smoke for me to suspect some of the fire is real.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrQasamjMuTwqPGY0RmYzayhwZ9wfwzSb94D7gY9KU5AezDIwN-MBhqcFxeztWPdAy-ZjNbb7O_CMTTDIMV2ZX89j68PjZzYDPcowYWeqZxJwVQnFBLbqKBnHPNAeY5wQJx09a3F2wzI6TpvYF_leRxASpW0mi5v7eg3CvcCOK26y1V8V3QLySi3biIU/s1233/PXL_20240212_220036209.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1233" data-original-width="908" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrQasamjMuTwqPGY0RmYzayhwZ9wfwzSb94D7gY9KU5AezDIwN-MBhqcFxeztWPdAy-ZjNbb7O_CMTTDIMV2ZX89j68PjZzYDPcowYWeqZxJwVQnFBLbqKBnHPNAeY5wQJx09a3F2wzI6TpvYF_leRxASpW0mi5v7eg3CvcCOK26y1V8V3QLySi3biIU/w295-h400/PXL_20240212_220036209.jpg" width="295" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Hall Monitors showcases Hall of Fame-level fighters, and I pulled one of the best in Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dagestani friend of the previously-featured Hasbulla.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrQasamjMuTwqPGY0RmYzayhwZ9wfwzSb94D7gY9KU5AezDIwN-MBhqcFxeztWPdAy-ZjNbb7O_CMTTDIMV2ZX89j68PjZzYDPcowYWeqZxJwVQnFBLbqKBnHPNAeY5wQJx09a3F2wzI6TpvYF_leRxASpW0mi5v7eg3CvcCOK26y1V8V3QLySi3biIU/s1233/PXL_20240212_220036209.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzvtv2TdXTEm_M0NvtfgqnDRHnpABVVvXbdZqZQcOkyxU-DkS85uYOX37fa2KDnxDJ5foiIonJ0_r32Nj01npJoyk91oU8KEjukQkx6ynflMvuvpZ9W4cT0nqJcDyzvT_G6DmaBuyu1Vvref7eVvAfYp-HwDGBgmjbX53ygu8K8nqDEbYztR0u26P1GU/s1248/PXL_20240212_220047892.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1248" data-original-width="897" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzvtv2TdXTEm_M0NvtfgqnDRHnpABVVvXbdZqZQcOkyxU-DkS85uYOX37fa2KDnxDJ5foiIonJ0_r32Nj01npJoyk91oU8KEjukQkx6ynflMvuvpZ9W4cT0nqJcDyzvT_G6DmaBuyu1Vvref7eVvAfYp-HwDGBgmjbX53ygu8K8nqDEbYztR0u26P1GU/w288-h400/PXL_20240212_220047892.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Finally, the autograph in the box was Damon Jackson, who I am unfamiliar with. He had a stint in the UFC prior to the period when I was watching events heavily, and again after I stopped watching the UFC on a regular basis. He's fought a lot of fights, but they happen to coincide with times I wasn't paying attention.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This was a decent box break for the price. I could see myself buying a couple more boxes to chase the base set in this format. Although a lot of the big hits are off the table in this configuration, there is enough interesting and exclusive stuff to hold a little bit of value.</div></div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-36966054619684253532024-02-12T17:30:00.003-07:002024-02-12T18:14:55.553-07:00Panini Chronicles UFC Obsidian Holly Holm Autograph<p style="text-align: justify;">Apparently I'm on a bit of a Holly Holm kick lately, as I've been gathering a handful of her cards recently. My hobby journey is kind of like that, wandering from interest to interest without much consideration for continuity or reason. I go where the wind takes me, and just try to enjoy the moment. Sometimes it all feels kind of pointless, but I must get something out of it because I keep doing it. Collecting is embedded in my brain as something I have to do. Sometimes it overwhelms me and makes the hobby feel like another job. Sometimes it is fun and exciting. I couldn't imagine my life if I weren't collecting something. The good thing about cards is they take up a relatively small amount of space on an individual basis. The entirety of my collection, even after all of these years, fits into a 4-foot square of 5000-count boxes in the shed. Other collections, like LEGO sets for example, have a much larger footprint per dollar spent. That's likely one reason why I will always default to card collecting as my main hobby.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfuPTuoYbq-o0uyf7zSrVn1YNeRBdNCtpc77ziQ8FrbZA_tuyMrzU6N3Z1S4lbhhhQoc0vXxbYp_XdKbME5sBHpub4YoaHTmqA4hSQK0aWNwHyDs2k59FVfDqQpQV7tMmJ-k9snijRm_PlN-B0-vRRQpQl3QMR3kZhpItSc_nmhFPdZiafquT5u6wV5Gk/s981/PXL_20240205_231028710.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="711" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfuPTuoYbq-o0uyf7zSrVn1YNeRBdNCtpc77ziQ8FrbZA_tuyMrzU6N3Z1S4lbhhhQoc0vXxbYp_XdKbME5sBHpub4YoaHTmqA4hSQK0aWNwHyDs2k59FVfDqQpQV7tMmJ-k9snijRm_PlN-B0-vRRQpQl3QMR3kZhpItSc_nmhFPdZiafquT5u6wV5Gk/w290-h400/PXL_20240205_231028710.jpg" width="290" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCggsOnVWoK7tFUjcU0jogbK0OPUew9hnT2etoq5XZSrfnQ_W7kJINi0nr-4Ru8fRJVJqD1whSUwUvqBVGNy0LZMYfRudk2qq09wklJfVac9oMA1dur498kZs7dfLTmJLjH5kEi2iXCMixDIKFd-0he3SNdTmsu7e-_R17j26aOwED4U8MXuueOtZlps/s1153/PXL_20240205_231036562.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="844" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCggsOnVWoK7tFUjcU0jogbK0OPUew9hnT2etoq5XZSrfnQ_W7kJINi0nr-4Ru8fRJVJqD1whSUwUvqBVGNy0LZMYfRudk2qq09wklJfVac9oMA1dur498kZs7dfLTmJLjH5kEi2iXCMixDIKFd-0he3SNdTmsu7e-_R17j26aOwED4U8MXuueOtZlps/w293-h400/PXL_20240205_231036562.jpg" width="293" /></a></div></div><br />This is a Holly Holm Obsidian autograph from 2023 Panini Chronicles UFC. It's a striking card, with lightning bolts all around and a clear autograph right in the middle of it all. It's some kind of parallel, numbered /49 copies, but I don't pay much attention to that because I don't have the attention span for it. I've given up on collecting everything for everyone I collect, instead focusing on cards I like and deals I can't pass up. This is another eBay purchase that I added to my watch list and got a discounted offer from the seller.<p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-50391430505276178952024-02-11T13:30:00.002-07:002024-02-11T14:07:28.847-07:002022 Panini Prizm UFC Retail Box<p style="text-align: justify;">Some of my pickups from my latest Blowout Cards order were UFC cards. I was heavily into UFC cards during the Topps years, but then Panini got the license and prices were too high to be reasonable. Topps recently took the license back and followed suit with a $250 asking price on a box of Chrome UFC. That's just too high for me. I got some cheaper boxes by going with retail and watered-down Hobby releases, including this 2022 Prizm UFC Retail box. Most of the Hobby Prizms are out of play here, and you're lucky if you pull a hit, but I'm hoping to get a good chunk of the base set and maybe some interesting retail-only parallels.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE9I1n6-P7ZDAs31JnOnt2lf6qvGUKPIlxAP_hZUkR-sduiEcXLzc-XuXA2ccdSpRKHvQ-XTirNj-iscHhoYt079YXw7rxkrw4rRM6jT_HalpA0i6zDmL6RC1740ckVWN0tWEomurND_MvsP8yDHA89137QInew74A2Jz-K5758yX38v1u8o91oxwO1w/s2589/PXL_20240205_231526753.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="2589" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE9I1n6-P7ZDAs31JnOnt2lf6qvGUKPIlxAP_hZUkR-sduiEcXLzc-XuXA2ccdSpRKHvQ-XTirNj-iscHhoYt079YXw7rxkrw4rRM6jT_HalpA0i6zDmL6RC1740ckVWN0tWEomurND_MvsP8yDHA89137QInew74A2Jz-K5758yX38v1u8o91oxwO1w/w640-h306/PXL_20240205_231526753.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;">I believe the Green Prizms are retail-exclusive parallels. The Derrick Lewis card is a Prizm Flashbacks insert, and Jorge Masvidal and Marvin Vettori are other guys I've heard of before. Not too bad of a start to the parallels.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE9I1n6-P7ZDAs31JnOnt2lf6qvGUKPIlxAP_hZUkR-sduiEcXLzc-XuXA2ccdSpRKHvQ-XTirNj-iscHhoYt079YXw7rxkrw4rRM6jT_HalpA0i6zDmL6RC1740ckVWN0tWEomurND_MvsP8yDHA89137QInew74A2Jz-K5758yX38v1u8o91oxwO1w/s2589/PXL_20240205_231526753.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE9I1n6-P7ZDAs31JnOnt2lf6qvGUKPIlxAP_hZUkR-sduiEcXLzc-XuXA2ccdSpRKHvQ-XTirNj-iscHhoYt079YXw7rxkrw4rRM6jT_HalpA0i6zDmL6RC1740ckVWN0tWEomurND_MvsP8yDHA89137QInew74A2Jz-K5758yX38v1u8o91oxwO1w/s2589/PXL_20240205_231526753.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE9I1n6-P7ZDAs31JnOnt2lf6qvGUKPIlxAP_hZUkR-sduiEcXLzc-XuXA2ccdSpRKHvQ-XTirNj-iscHhoYt079YXw7rxkrw4rRM6jT_HalpA0i6zDmL6RC1740ckVWN0tWEomurND_MvsP8yDHA89137QInew74A2Jz-K5758yX38v1u8o91oxwO1w/s2589/PXL_20240205_231526753.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6JzvgjFMJNqG4iaLA_M_m3KGFjAXXczs9XwukemW0B0LmVEMOy0CBnmaXjUelHbaPtHzCKBp30Noq7iRKShSiDbHkR07Bdm4iEo_OOzjTNXvcVB00bgqH3tMT3mk0yq4RHgWzCraU2yPh-fo_f8nAfjNEOmxP9NWRZ0Tjgzb3ZcXqtVmt5wmOj5L28SM/s1215/PXL_20240205_231541273.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="1215" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6JzvgjFMJNqG4iaLA_M_m3KGFjAXXczs9XwukemW0B0LmVEMOy0CBnmaXjUelHbaPtHzCKBp30Noq7iRKShSiDbHkR07Bdm4iEo_OOzjTNXvcVB00bgqH3tMT3mk0yq4RHgWzCraU2yPh-fo_f8nAfjNEOmxP9NWRZ0Tjgzb3ZcXqtVmt5wmOj5L28SM/w400-h293/PXL_20240205_231541273.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Yair Rodriguez is another name I'm aware of, so 4/4 on the Green Prizms as far as name recognition goes. The base set is 200 cards, with 100 horizontal and 100 vertical cards. I didn't bother to photograph any actual base cards, as the parallels look the same outside of the colored border.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh8hKIzddQSU_acYNWpNS8f8i1Leyd5jI0KoEaPrzUD7u1XvxmhUb9ZJRJ9LqEUMr75zaawK5ZxmCB9c37i_uH5KSP7_AfOeFcB_OcyIDng3uiNr3iTSOpTX8ZVrtyQwiMeu9Xap-KdCMFR_u2ytfmVcCKIWH5h69n5eHoLmmwqpUMst3XcFIZODfD-f8/s1748/PXL_20240205_231740446.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1227" data-original-width="1748" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh8hKIzddQSU_acYNWpNS8f8i1Leyd5jI0KoEaPrzUD7u1XvxmhUb9ZJRJ9LqEUMr75zaawK5ZxmCB9c37i_uH5KSP7_AfOeFcB_OcyIDng3uiNr3iTSOpTX8ZVrtyQwiMeu9Xap-KdCMFR_u2ytfmVcCKIWH5h69n5eHoLmmwqpUMst3XcFIZODfD-f8/w400-h281/PXL_20240205_231740446.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I didn't photograph all of the inserts I pulled, but I tried to get one of each kind for this post. The Rafael Dos Anjos card is a Bonus Machines insert, highlighting fighters who have won Fight of the Night bonuses for their performances in the Octagon. Rose Namajunas is a non-parallel Prizm Flashbacks card. Most of the Prizm Flashbacks cards seem to feature fighters wearing belts, so I thought maybe it was a champion-centric insert. I had to go to Cardboard Connections' checklist to find out it was a flashback-themed insert.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgltXN3-iRCdr3HqeVYZej818GOpSYiyzAIliu7IENWunHmEMioJjSmC4z9fXLedkZSday5FYrmDx97B7Vnu9ssppRG4wR4Nc2Z-4jlMxpo48TUWPtymLkLVpMji3qByrfVy8Wf-nHus4TvKymjjOJqz9RFyzq4WEtIm-ZLVHyBxA1pl_WQBuwt1WiH4Bg/s1731/PXL_20240205_231811675.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="1731" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgltXN3-iRCdr3HqeVYZej818GOpSYiyzAIliu7IENWunHmEMioJjSmC4z9fXLedkZSday5FYrmDx97B7Vnu9ssppRG4wR4Nc2Z-4jlMxpo48TUWPtymLkLVpMji3qByrfVy8Wf-nHus4TvKymjjOJqz9RFyzq4WEtIm-ZLVHyBxA1pl_WQBuwt1WiH4Bg/w400-h286/PXL_20240205_231811675.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Fearless and Fireworks feature fighters who are fearless and explosive. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Valentina Shevchenko are both pretty good pulls here.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-rFNSxoYBizVRftwcDz9GYjH_nEokU2Zza0lJzEVIW9ULjUbtkfHak4gm-o3RekzWRSVZEGvnQGgS6ihyphenhypheni87XHfKq7UxRDICZOXi56HjMMHQVQKapJAlWNx_t4ye0Dd8yC6xmvON8iiGiBhf7oG3L9QoN8pZ72O5xjZYCYP7VSP_PS-0TrWPjDcuK2g/s1204/PXL_20240205_231553916.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="872" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis-rFNSxoYBizVRftwcDz9GYjH_nEokU2Zza0lJzEVIW9ULjUbtkfHak4gm-o3RekzWRSVZEGvnQGgS6ihyphenhypheni87XHfKq7UxRDICZOXi56HjMMHQVQKapJAlWNx_t4ye0Dd8yC6xmvON8iiGiBhf7oG3L9QoN8pZ72O5xjZYCYP7VSP_PS-0TrWPjDcuK2g/w290-h400/PXL_20240205_231553916.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">According to the packaging, these Pink Pulsar /42 Prizms are the big chase in retail. I've never heard of Movsar Evloev before, but I haven't been following UFC very closely the last few years. It seems I'm never around for the Fight Nights on ESPN+, and I can't justify the expense of the PPV events. I almost logged in last night for the fights ,but the ESPN page wouldn't load and I took that as a sign that it wasn't meant to happen for me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWoEVB1yO3BhyS3Xc6XRYvbq6ej_f1V3D25YoVak72bLVNe9I19CtsIsW0IeDOcCVnkNiD5yhZlwS6DtgcKXxAa8EDZhfDA4cH-RRE1PMCynDCsEjxHbB91jr41G88Oad4t1iJmn8ZyPY5tyt5LXAtZWYlYM0xpN_00oiwVtBAyHH2CnHE8NOIrhgeSoE/s1197/PXL_20240205_231604640.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="869" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWoEVB1yO3BhyS3Xc6XRYvbq6ej_f1V3D25YoVak72bLVNe9I19CtsIsW0IeDOcCVnkNiD5yhZlwS6DtgcKXxAa8EDZhfDA4cH-RRE1PMCynDCsEjxHbB91jr41G88Oad4t1iJmn8ZyPY5tyt5LXAtZWYlYM0xpN_00oiwVtBAyHH2CnHE8NOIrhgeSoE/w290-h400/PXL_20240205_231604640.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I did get lucky and pulled an autograph from this box. This is a Green Prizm autograph of Stipe Miocic. I have a small collection of his cards, so I was pretty happy to get this one.</div><br /><br /><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-83653798844494118172024-02-09T22:30:00.017-07:002024-02-10T00:18:25.794-07:001955 Topps Doubleheaders Wally Moon<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Another one-card post today, although this one is a little less modern and shiny than the Ticha Penicheiro Prizm I showed off yesterday. I continue to make progress on my Wally Moon master set, gathering the cards that are a little more off-the-wall than his basic releases.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_HIyMUZPMMf8DZcrk0KPuTV6TgNNbABDTF5s_jBur9rCH-JTbBMaC0dvBhwQlF5-hisAikt17iJrWbxq9FNeYmvIOYyq3a9yFH7E-JoCHz9Q0CPzE58YEAxofDJeh6-kYhyNJAvd4KDfuYAky-agSHRJ_gzRx2Ku2CU6_dziji2P-6_rtdsbBOzEZ1s/s1529/PXL_20240205_224915702.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1529" data-original-width="961" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_HIyMUZPMMf8DZcrk0KPuTV6TgNNbABDTF5s_jBur9rCH-JTbBMaC0dvBhwQlF5-hisAikt17iJrWbxq9FNeYmvIOYyq3a9yFH7E-JoCHz9Q0CPzE58YEAxofDJeh6-kYhyNJAvd4KDfuYAky-agSHRJ_gzRx2Ku2CU6_dziji2P-6_rtdsbBOzEZ1s/w251-h400/PXL_20240205_224915702.jpg" width="251" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4P_jkXZX3Qn3wwaORoNVXG-XMe120h1SE8b4rFXoHklam2Am454dsGW2RNFrnriSTtcsGLdPxupVskuGPHOL8cnG1SDIV42n1wRO4qkgFiTHtFjYukv6zFq5tP_tC91f_YWpq7qaExN9IDfk8ShafJZrMzW6U7j0hVaS1mYGOXDDXwzO66l5qN-UHjVM/s1930/PXL_20240205_224923438.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1930" data-original-width="1196" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4P_jkXZX3Qn3wwaORoNVXG-XMe120h1SE8b4rFXoHklam2Am454dsGW2RNFrnriSTtcsGLdPxupVskuGPHOL8cnG1SDIV42n1wRO4qkgFiTHtFjYukv6zFq5tP_tC91f_YWpq7qaExN9IDfk8ShafJZrMzW6U7j0hVaS1mYGOXDDXwzO66l5qN-UHjVM/w248-h400/PXL_20240205_224923438.MP.jpg" width="248" /></a></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">This card came from eBay, which is where 99% of my singles are sourced. It's a 1955 Topps Doubleheaders card of Wally Moon and Joe Cunningham. The card is designed so that the player on back can be folded down and the legs will match up with the front of the card. This one graded out as a 5, likely due to some centering issues and a couple of marks on the back. It still presents pretty well, and most importantly, fills a spot in my graded master set of Wally Moon cards. I'm a little glad that Wally Moon got front billing on this card rather than being relegated to the little half-photo on the back of the card. </div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-80996195967210698472024-02-08T18:30:00.003-07:002024-02-08T18:55:59.714-07:00Color Match Ticha Penicheiro<p style="text-align: justify;">Just a one-card post today because that's probably all I've got in me at the moment. Some weeks seem longer than others, and this has been quite a week. Nothing really crazy has happened, but it's just one of those weeks that seems to drag on and on for a lot of little reasons.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih735cetfbtrbqLRQs-nLzaJn7l_rOEy48_rlDhk807IRoeCJMblqw28zp2htWJcyED7OKC13ArfFcvKxD_4RSEQ-QJzppsi0MD6rs6FMSedF-bPkR74zHNufjf-ps9RdaHEZ4QGi8SDwAeVeD54V4uJJ4AyCnos0KyS_YM-ikm-fy-cwwcVWbq6QTefI/s956/PXL_20240203_201855250.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="716" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih735cetfbtrbqLRQs-nLzaJn7l_rOEy48_rlDhk807IRoeCJMblqw28zp2htWJcyED7OKC13ArfFcvKxD_4RSEQ-QJzppsi0MD6rs6FMSedF-bPkR74zHNufjf-ps9RdaHEZ4QGi8SDwAeVeD54V4uJJ4AyCnos0KyS_YM-ikm-fy-cwwcVWbq6QTefI/w300-h400/PXL_20240203_201855250.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I've mentioned at times that Ticha Penicheiro is my longest-standing WNBA player collection, something I started way back with the first WNBA cards in the 90's. I recently did a sweep of eBay and found this Purple Prizm from 2022 Panini WNBA Prizm listed for a couple of bucks, and the purple goes so well with the Sacramento uniform colors that I decided to buy it. The card is # /99, but I probably would have bought it anyway if it weren't numbered because of the color match.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-21487521372695603092024-02-06T16:30:00.058-07:002024-02-06T16:30:00.294-07:00The Other Half of a Blaster Case of 2018 Donruss Racing<p style="text-align: justify;">I'm back today with the second half of this blaster case of 2018 Donruss Racing. This is all going to be pretty similar to yesterday's break, but with a few different names thrown in. Hopefully I can come up with a few things to say in between pictures.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwp4ntgMBw7ZXuk2LKDdPBJiFF65TWHFWuRXsbtckhkCasmKRFgiQQxARYy7hoLweIvO3jrEfkBs7pI1hoo3mzEW_6UE5sxvgIul2a_QmzGjlQwkwNF1tw2s0cdCokeFIx5zF0gAHSCsGdUYK23DTtuyWKUHkBZTCnABlmoDSCbeU0Bf8BMYo-sad9jlM/s2599/PXL_20240205_053325057.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="2599" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwp4ntgMBw7ZXuk2LKDdPBJiFF65TWHFWuRXsbtckhkCasmKRFgiQQxARYy7hoLweIvO3jrEfkBs7pI1hoo3mzEW_6UE5sxvgIul2a_QmzGjlQwkwNF1tw2s0cdCokeFIx5zF0gAHSCsGdUYK23DTtuyWKUHkBZTCnABlmoDSCbeU0Bf8BMYo-sad9jlM/w640-h308/PXL_20240205_053325057.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This batch of 10 blasters didn't have an /49 like the first one did, but it did have 3 cards /99, including a couple of inserts in Chase Elliott and Dale Jarrett, and a base parallel of Bobby Labonte.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-GErBiU3mNOoqmWPXhZ4W3-xZFJhnF4fwGrPb6UjZ4gr7YedBirVLFWqm0RBpzyq0gnjk7D5ot6_zknyT2u5-uLKAJdCKDH3FmNhLZnshjG_2hckdFNmeeAM1aJ_Tpn6NJeq_D8I8-b2z8SaG2k5vkm1BdDozy_NlFfjZnqF2yTKrMutoSTubAvAzfc/s2610/PXL_20240205_053401734.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="2610" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-GErBiU3mNOoqmWPXhZ4W3-xZFJhnF4fwGrPb6UjZ4gr7YedBirVLFWqm0RBpzyq0gnjk7D5ot6_zknyT2u5-uLKAJdCKDH3FmNhLZnshjG_2hckdFNmeeAM1aJ_Tpn6NJeq_D8I8-b2z8SaG2k5vkm1BdDozy_NlFfjZnqF2yTKrMutoSTubAvAzfc/w640-h304/PXL_20240205_053401734.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The /199 contingent included Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, and Austin Dillon. I have a small collection of Mark Martin cards, so happy to pull something of his from this group.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGn2DRpaXg4g2jMtLZe9yOtzaiLRHitZ7buV33uM0d24YMIW1zoksbvWBjB45rwaAT1BjTLjMz2rYOmxyB758Bl4ORbKcxOtWyqTTEQMWmCucUJ3cD8Ve4886l4-fzvfVWsQBTlnTxwLEvIrbO-Ts35H9503OTtoIHWZMCvGlBWxseCaur5AhrpY5B-s8/s1743/PXL_20240205_053432091.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1228" data-original-width="1743" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGn2DRpaXg4g2jMtLZe9yOtzaiLRHitZ7buV33uM0d24YMIW1zoksbvWBjB45rwaAT1BjTLjMz2rYOmxyB758Bl4ORbKcxOtWyqTTEQMWmCucUJ3cD8Ve4886l4-fzvfVWsQBTlnTxwLEvIrbO-Ts35H9503OTtoIHWZMCvGlBWxseCaur5AhrpY5B-s8/w400-h281/PXL_20240205_053432091.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The Red foil cards are numbered /299. Richard Petty is the most recognizable name here, as one of the most famous race car drivers of any era.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZC4_LhYeUHOSoEYTSzEuaQbQ5zoWm0p2cWPSLIKsbU_VjEKDAGtsmjpAYiLyJU0MErMkWuNSVh9ltoENdEl_PkzTi-tl_9bCRNuiFtnNaegW3TbBhq6gO50XdsM0KHQybmFDWGer0T0HqQfVXNtHn26wTbrUBUBHjsdAn1Hg2gyWxt2BY7b_X9YvPOY/s2405/PXL_20240205_053531026.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2405" data-original-width="1804" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZC4_LhYeUHOSoEYTSzEuaQbQ5zoWm0p2cWPSLIKsbU_VjEKDAGtsmjpAYiLyJU0MErMkWuNSVh9ltoENdEl_PkzTi-tl_9bCRNuiFtnNaegW3TbBhq6gO50XdsM0KHQybmFDWGer0T0HqQfVXNtHn26wTbrUBUBHjsdAn1Hg2gyWxt2BY7b_X9YvPOY/w480-h640/PXL_20240205_053531026.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Mark Martin makes another appearance in the Gold /499 parallels. Other highlights include Kevin Harvick and a Kyle Larson Race Kings card.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisL7Jee6NGpldRcMtL05_acUKs4K4QEUHvbIa7kYvYnHf5LWHVl7_fOQwm3VKcptp7ioC-1r50UcbFpAtXQGyhekfyRkpkRCec8cilwBHCIMvYpvq5LGN_qflnjf2y8dWJyhCR9zr4MCYYSzTCrEOmn_y6BMKhX0RRRFSnnunOVYcagAQZETVNGZnhE3Y/s1222/PXL_20240205_053603997.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="1222" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisL7Jee6NGpldRcMtL05_acUKs4K4QEUHvbIa7kYvYnHf5LWHVl7_fOQwm3VKcptp7ioC-1r50UcbFpAtXQGyhekfyRkpkRCec8cilwBHCIMvYpvq5LGN_qflnjf2y8dWJyhCR9zr4MCYYSzTCrEOmn_y6BMKhX0RRRFSnnunOVYcagAQZETVNGZnhE3Y/w400-h286/PXL_20240205_053603997.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8P8IseE8Liejg1M3DEH5Cahs939_8nDWfFyUofj0xwceWcmA-RFdNBJlJk2aiyyu41iYlZ3WpLe4Al4_pC7vDcKSCGZv8KhimiypbIKez1WUidIKyAbX_Eyr6kI3D5CDY_uXnGrss2xop1EwygAiZ_hxqkSQTUR0LnnabuGisK03HaEoV1yBsQpg_w8g/s1742/PXL_20240205_053627813.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1228" data-original-width="1742" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8P8IseE8Liejg1M3DEH5Cahs939_8nDWfFyUofj0xwceWcmA-RFdNBJlJk2aiyyu41iYlZ3WpLe4Al4_pC7vDcKSCGZv8KhimiypbIKez1WUidIKyAbX_Eyr6kI3D5CDY_uXnGrss2xop1EwygAiZ_hxqkSQTUR0LnnabuGisK03HaEoV1yBsQpg_w8g/w400-h283/PXL_20240205_053627813.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The inserts get the Cracked Ice /999 versions, which in my opinion are some of the best-looking cards in this product. The Joey Logano Pole Position car card is pretty neat. I think Pole Position is the best insert in the set, and I'd contemplate trying to complete the base set of that insert. Bubba Wallace and Danica Patrick are both drivers who I collect, so I was glad to pull some numbered cards for those driver collections.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-EOXoIv1RD6yA-cIoxJel_Myp0OLdAMYQ3jMQ5nuHizWs1_c4WGBvATUVK6_gF7ZnFOEnQbHlhXZxO89Vkp35WnU9b1Ht8paTdePRI9EncvMYWmGw3d_ZUWzzoePT-osQN7pgV1k0h-IY2E1I__FCmRoKC3ew4uie3XDu850TbUvHMrNN8kiEpP5vGc/s2452/PXL_20240205_053707274.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2452" data-original-width="1793" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-EOXoIv1RD6yA-cIoxJel_Myp0OLdAMYQ3jMQ5nuHizWs1_c4WGBvATUVK6_gF7ZnFOEnQbHlhXZxO89Vkp35WnU9b1Ht8paTdePRI9EncvMYWmGw3d_ZUWzzoePT-osQN7pgV1k0h-IY2E1I__FCmRoKC3ew4uie3XDu850TbUvHMrNN8kiEpP5vGc/w468-h640/PXL_20240205_053707274.jpg" width="468" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Another Bubba Wallace appearance is the highlight for me here, this time with a bit of firesuit in a relic card. These are the 1985 Retro relics.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKp55ELbNf5e_cGbZWNS0-RJbXTa0rPP0nHyIR6yNLT-Tt_5dP7UCskGwolssD3V_V4NG_npjX8wx03IE_9aRGfli2NBSMXjUu9NG8ELSvDLDv5FOe7vZ9N0nvCFvJF1hiqoMna9N0EyljYKDUWqNMUlV1aaw6sWOIeujLMPvw1pBM9og3xYqoao_eo18/s2442/PXL_20240205_053754171.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2442" data-original-width="1792" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKp55ELbNf5e_cGbZWNS0-RJbXTa0rPP0nHyIR6yNLT-Tt_5dP7UCskGwolssD3V_V4NG_npjX8wx03IE_9aRGfli2NBSMXjUu9NG8ELSvDLDv5FOe7vZ9N0nvCFvJF1hiqoMna9N0EyljYKDUWqNMUlV1aaw6sWOIeujLMPvw1pBM9og3xYqoao_eo18/w470-h640/PXL_20240205_053754171.jpg" width="470" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Rounding out the relic cards are a quartet of Rubber Relics tire swatch cards. Probably the highlights for me here are the Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman cards on the bottom row.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YAi7gmt-KdwDJgFyF7Eb0ztbOn0TrWNrYWGYIzCoJTjnSo2gybKC-ZfKvXEkJbWJEW7VJ5ngfG0tOE2yP_zpwNy57cfxrZTbP4ydzEHVFT1qFfUT1YvR1VYDS8AFm5_gzw3lxCqHNBas_9sRIs8xp9GN1kJFvh5QRKdyq9NxetJ8Re9F5woS8nmgwPA/s1750/PXL_20240205_053825249.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1226" data-original-width="1750" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YAi7gmt-KdwDJgFyF7Eb0ztbOn0TrWNrYWGYIzCoJTjnSo2gybKC-ZfKvXEkJbWJEW7VJ5ngfG0tOE2yP_zpwNy57cfxrZTbP4ydzEHVFT1qFfUT1YvR1VYDS8AFm5_gzw3lxCqHNBas_9sRIs8xp9GN1kJFvh5QRKdyq9NxetJ8Re9F5woS8nmgwPA/w400-h280/PXL_20240205_053825249.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The ink from this batch of boxes comes in the form of an old-timer, Morgan Shepherd. Also in this batch of blasters was a dreaded Panini Rewards point card. 150 points will get you a whole lot of nothing in the Panini Rewards store, and you'll have to pay shipping if you want to get that nothing sent to you. I hate to waste a hit on a points card, but what can you do?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That does it for this blaster case. Like I mentioned yesterday, for $100 this blaster case was a pretty fun rip. I got 19 various hits, a bunch of numbered cards, and several base sets out of it. I'd probably do a similar deal again, but not on the same year of Donruss. You can only handle so many base cards before it gets ridiculous.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-11256223150871460292024-02-05T16:30:00.001-07:002024-02-05T16:30:00.247-07:00Half a Blaster Case of 2018 Donruss Racing<p style="text-align: justify;">I recently made a decent-sized purchase from Blowout Cards. Part of the buy was a couple cases of Panini racing card blaster boxes. The first case was 2018 Donruss Racing. Not a super exciting product, but at $5 per blaster I thought it would be pretty fun. I'll show the hits from half the case at a time, just to keep from having the post be too long for me to deal with.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTf0PxA2JzjvidJ0IhqV_Ge-6X09X8D7e-xu2s_sKLlPV_DUmQIxrgVNCBMMHtG6XfGTpViEs0kfe6s3_cPrsgDO0s0opQuwVTPlfXlKRuIGwzhmjgZm4rS-LKasghHncfNoyv47uKY4itQ6mz5WQ9o68LoWWD1vlT9ZuuQOeyy6QhyphenhyphenpFXrBELXk-UmK8/s3244/PXL_20240204_211541231.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1399" data-original-width="3244" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTf0PxA2JzjvidJ0IhqV_Ge-6X09X8D7e-xu2s_sKLlPV_DUmQIxrgVNCBMMHtG6XfGTpViEs0kfe6s3_cPrsgDO0s0opQuwVTPlfXlKRuIGwzhmjgZm4rS-LKasghHncfNoyv47uKY4itQ6mz5WQ9o68LoWWD1vlT9ZuuQOeyy6QhyphenhyphenpFXrBELXk-UmK8/w640-h276/PXL_20240204_211541231.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Those are the base cards from the entire case. I got 3 full base sets out of it, and 6 or 7 copies of many base cards. I actually sat down and sorted all of it this weekend, which was quite a project.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqX7rsdx5LlffC2Vr7Aar22vqw51rIfKTqd1gQ781DpCYip9toGJGJvvx61S5OYNSK3KkRszoBjzZ_09bAm62YrGNWUA66-5Te8ggl7_xNDl9I1fVm2RRGcauTAE-kKQoW5VEyJ6sGjQ3QTtaK6eY8qy1Gyq7kzNV7C2z0XLKujOIO_kxJYeNDmJOEk-k/s1201/PXL_20240205_051022185.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="1201" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqX7rsdx5LlffC2Vr7Aar22vqw51rIfKTqd1gQ781DpCYip9toGJGJvvx61S5OYNSK3KkRszoBjzZ_09bAm62YrGNWUA66-5Te8ggl7_xNDl9I1fVm2RRGcauTAE-kKQoW5VEyJ6sGjQ3QTtaK6eY8qy1Gyq7kzNV7C2z0XLKujOIO_kxJYeNDmJOEk-k/w400-h290/PXL_20240205_051022185.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">You're going to get plenty of parallels in Donruss, mostly identified by a slight color variation in the foil. This Austin Dillon holofoil Press Proof was the lowest-numbered card of the break, at /49. It's a lot shinier in the picture than in real life, but I'll take it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2AsgVBmdcpqrqBI20FB9MnPkXE0L3Mp7Zi2or0blFv2Yboat1Aithf1qYwXIPJBJhTu8ZvK0xzRhnFDwy_sVTh9cipqLM_G5tXaVXKShAwqWV-yAWvqOpACUD99km6gBdnHd6o4-_HIXZ40uQUEOvjJ83VzG6J5ble6ZvBii6H5sgWKUC4ITRnS9qBdI/s1228/PXL_20240205_051043291.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="879" data-original-width="1228" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2AsgVBmdcpqrqBI20FB9MnPkXE0L3Mp7Zi2or0blFv2Yboat1Aithf1qYwXIPJBJhTu8ZvK0xzRhnFDwy_sVTh9cipqLM_G5tXaVXKShAwqWV-yAWvqOpACUD99km6gBdnHd6o4-_HIXZ40uQUEOvjJ83VzG6J5ble6ZvBii6H5sgWKUC4ITRnS9qBdI/w400-h286/PXL_20240205_051043291.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This Jamie McMurray car card was the only /199 card in this half of the case. I averaged just over one numbered card per blaster, which is decent at the price point I paid. I bought this on sale at $100/case, and it's currently listed on Blowout at $400/case. I wouldn't recommend buying it at $400/case.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTwD0ffeHA6Hk3b5pjWE1fK45Nb94m1rxqxyN0pQMt1BJ4YOKlAC8wSUbqcsSP-aHuyTv-LdlrPADJsnXu69Q1oLHvr8dfJYgdxmLjKUxs4JHAORTDrDn64awjO9a8xuBvoGGkLaDWiGp3GsFISM_MpfTPs2Ui29tKGdzyOprMuaYHJdL497XVTlFMzc/s1754/PXL_20240205_051106149.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1233" data-original-width="1754" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzTwD0ffeHA6Hk3b5pjWE1fK45Nb94m1rxqxyN0pQMt1BJ4YOKlAC8wSUbqcsSP-aHuyTv-LdlrPADJsnXu69Q1oLHvr8dfJYgdxmLjKUxs4JHAORTDrDn64awjO9a8xuBvoGGkLaDWiGp3GsFISM_MpfTPs2Ui29tKGdzyOprMuaYHJdL497XVTlFMzc/w400-h281/PXL_20240205_051106149.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano make up the /299 parallels from these 10 blaster boxes. The Hamlin card shows the Race Kings design from the base set, which I think is pretty good. The Joey Logano card is a variation. The photo/nickname variations in the set aren't short-printed, appearing just about as often as their base counterparts. I sorted them as part of the base set rather than putting them in the back of the box with the parallels and inserts.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLPRzK0SsgXvF7u6ZYTN3qWTt6t-ulSBRIdlEBGvN2W4G5znJusRZKkNeiwEv1FxXPBMx0pRRIcVY5XsR-6lxLFIvNbE1o1omYxuiMq6H1G_EGkrM1n3mFjlReYj33bhEvO6QD5utLn3896H6XpBEAqgkMZ78cD_uS3glX5cYi9g_5GosUlIu4ylhyphenhyphenlM/s2407/PXL_20240205_051238046.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2407" data-original-width="1798" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJLPRzK0SsgXvF7u6ZYTN3qWTt6t-ulSBRIdlEBGvN2W4G5znJusRZKkNeiwEv1FxXPBMx0pRRIcVY5XsR-6lxLFIvNbE1o1omYxuiMq6H1G_EGkrM1n3mFjlReYj33bhEvO6QD5utLn3896H6XpBEAqgkMZ78cD_uS3glX5cYi9g_5GosUlIu4ylhyphenhyphenlM/w478-h640/PXL_20240205_051238046.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RX_GbuOWZEN-EhYTvywMZ64E8zUbbgi601qR0VW3EiMR1Lk-iVAP9b5XXJ-0wyXjo1rD2VWjPlo0TFCcdZPQKJ7cvhLMaP9Mg_AfXDX8zYm5g7TFz7f09aKJDFKm6u_WS-9XBfRD7skb5qJ9wX7EPT1IZvsodFTfpo-TG-SzhLLvTwfg-et6EHc4X8k/s1244/PXL_20240205_051308067.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1244" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6RX_GbuOWZEN-EhYTvywMZ64E8zUbbgi601qR0VW3EiMR1Lk-iVAP9b5XXJ-0wyXjo1rD2VWjPlo0TFCcdZPQKJ7cvhLMaP9Mg_AfXDX8zYm5g7TFz7f09aKJDFKm6u_WS-9XBfRD7skb5qJ9wX7EPT1IZvsodFTfpo-TG-SzhLLvTwfg-et6EHc4X8k/w400-h288/PXL_20240205_051308067.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I pulled five /499 Gold parallels, with the Chase Elliott car card probably being the best of the bunch. Corey LaJoie and Carl Edwards are part of the Retro 1985 portion of the checklist, which all told is 175 cards deep.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAVSTeHoCgHidCLQgiY5OuwbNN_YuBTkoKTpetPq7QZOOHHyAplxK32ZYPuSlG8l1jIrillcbm6trdgE86Yv73xifi3MsDHOPHm8hAAiBmEO7cRqBvVmHFwsLVQ1whJCHgZAVICbfla8epPZTh-b_iWYu6KjQT4DblDqgPMVy3Pq1JWDJFYCPvJZs3-c/s2614/PXL_20240205_051419241.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1248" data-original-width="2614" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAVSTeHoCgHidCLQgiY5OuwbNN_YuBTkoKTpetPq7QZOOHHyAplxK32ZYPuSlG8l1jIrillcbm6trdgE86Yv73xifi3MsDHOPHm8hAAiBmEO7cRqBvVmHFwsLVQ1whJCHgZAVICbfla8epPZTh-b_iWYu6KjQT4DblDqgPMVy3Pq1JWDJFYCPvJZs3-c/w640-h306/PXL_20240205_051419241.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most of your insert parallels are going to be the Cracked Ice /999 variety. I don't really care about the numbering that much, but I think the Cracked Ice foil treatment is pretty sharp-looking. It's not really evident in this photo, but the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Studio card is particularly striking with its dark blue border and the foil.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gq30UxvWpQEmq9aUBoytDPhplZQsaM6q7m_Svsf22JIS5JlWAs_HNhe6FWKD1u72gltMNJZHu_9ryoa8p-gvDzphoFRLrDwIKFW6W9EgQhyphenhyphenxWX2gNNeOx7Aux3N0xb5NG1rUM9bjcT7Vp_kib3dYG77O_E4cVnoxF923oGZRwgI9w41WvNCAVvvSKzo/s2638/PXL_20240205_051453932.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1271" data-original-width="2638" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gq30UxvWpQEmq9aUBoytDPhplZQsaM6q7m_Svsf22JIS5JlWAs_HNhe6FWKD1u72gltMNJZHu_9ryoa8p-gvDzphoFRLrDwIKFW6W9EgQhyphenhyphenxWX2gNNeOx7Aux3N0xb5NG1rUM9bjcT7Vp_kib3dYG77O_E4cVnoxF923oGZRwgI9w41WvNCAVvvSKzo/w640-h308/PXL_20240205_051453932.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Big hits out of this product are rare in retail. This is one to break for fun rather than for money. I suppose that should be true of all products, but some lottery tickets have bigger prizes than others. This is the low end of the trading card lottery pool, where the $1 scratchers are. The Brendan Gaughan card is a parallel of the 1985 relic design, numbered /99. I believe it's the only numbered relic or auto from the whole break.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVoX3o7KvrszQalGzRNAs5IVgP_qnVLg-imhkv8eNZNEV7qKhICJ4XeQRhCbQkrreLR8Lx_54VMbjY6H8LyZAevCqBE6wyxOCkqyXRpgsqBYLj9A7E9831-j7LbwSJ6t3w6gZCdd4iIywwNRsbLjCy9uxxVzfs80bF7HuLJFKRoM6Q8k_03ra1qm_CUr4/s1218/PXL_20240205_051515748.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="888" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVoX3o7KvrszQalGzRNAs5IVgP_qnVLg-imhkv8eNZNEV7qKhICJ4XeQRhCbQkrreLR8Lx_54VMbjY6H8LyZAevCqBE6wyxOCkqyXRpgsqBYLj9A7E9831-j7LbwSJ6t3w6gZCdd4iIywwNRsbLjCy9uxxVzfs80bF7HuLJFKRoM6Q8k_03ra1qm_CUr4/w291-h400/PXL_20240205_051515748.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This AJ Allmendinger Racing Relics sheet metal card was the lone representative from Racing Relics to come from the entire case.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuE4PoFq36IMI610Wy6kNyzY-KDxkWbOffIvxiTTO4VhObLPOowlowqZYxfqEqB46iUnnWegLtRbRw67yDUcSvVZZ2lJvnUTe3CjYAoBczU5AVJjA98B74IDge1b8p1urC45A9vJHgXLnFiABHsXJ1qbzzyDlOUXIpYCZtvgxQDghteF8HzxprGyCB4E/s2664/PXL_20240205_051542215.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="2664" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWuE4PoFq36IMI610Wy6kNyzY-KDxkWbOffIvxiTTO4VhObLPOowlowqZYxfqEqB46iUnnWegLtRbRw67yDUcSvVZZ2lJvnUTe3CjYAoBczU5AVJjA98B74IDge1b8p1urC45A9vJHgXLnFiABHsXJ1qbzzyDlOUXIpYCZtvgxQDghteF8HzxprGyCB4E/w640-h306/PXL_20240205_051542215.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77AFd7UieuzawWpGiUoeCDjCSiP5EJVCKd3pE1wzC1UTb7vgyzCkkR2eU9w0n3tJCvrrW2XU0pBy8VNn8v3heAnGLrq-FtAiDaSt1UitwdyiHbrHal21yIVNDHH0Z2IWus7MeeNPqo1AXxSCths_Robax4ueYWEJYYZ4aZCnamo01_QLOAIdvw9d7VHs/s1776/PXL_20240205_051557331.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1236" data-original-width="1776" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77AFd7UieuzawWpGiUoeCDjCSiP5EJVCKd3pE1wzC1UTb7vgyzCkkR2eU9w0n3tJCvrrW2XU0pBy8VNn8v3heAnGLrq-FtAiDaSt1UitwdyiHbrHal21yIVNDHH0Z2IWus7MeeNPqo1AXxSCths_Robax4ueYWEJYYZ4aZCnamo01_QLOAIdvw9d7VHs/w400-h279/PXL_20240205_051557331.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The majority of hits from Donruss Racing come in the form of tire swatches in the Rubber Relics set. I got some good names in this batch, like Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja9MQDIy8F9px4yEXjpL5RB3E04kyLo1t-ZaeCdtqqyO98WKQyBEtQy21PjUE_RgLIY48a_Lw2OO7YAb2NtToNUTSuIcgUoqCPTfcvk7CdD1_rDXTWb9PIEInMl7a0fOUbb7gxUJqdccZEvgA61sSW27w7Mgf-NiexGZ3zFHRPLIOcv1DcLkawzbIp8n8/s1207/PXL_20240205_051623035.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1207" data-original-width="881" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja9MQDIy8F9px4yEXjpL5RB3E04kyLo1t-ZaeCdtqqyO98WKQyBEtQy21PjUE_RgLIY48a_Lw2OO7YAb2NtToNUTSuIcgUoqCPTfcvk7CdD1_rDXTWb9PIEInMl7a0fOUbb7gxUJqdccZEvgA61sSW27w7Mgf-NiexGZ3zFHRPLIOcv1DcLkawzbIp8n8/w293-h400/PXL_20240205_051623035.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The lone signature from this half-case was Spencer Davis.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">That does it for half a case (10 blaster boxes) of 2018 Donruss Racing. I got a handful of relics and inserts that fit into my various collections, and a whole ton of base cards that I can use as fortifications when the world ends. At $100/case you could do worse than this. At $400/case you should probably look at something else.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-30242386357900914932024-02-04T13:30:00.001-07:002024-02-04T13:30:00.169-07:001964 Topps Venezuela<p style="text-align: justify;">I've documented a bit of my progress on my Wally Moon collection recently. I have most of the low-hanging fruit already in my collection, so I now have to gather the rarer stuff. Some of it is not readily available in PSA-graded form, so I've gathered some cards that will eventually be sent off to PSA once I'm confident I've got just about everything in-hand. That future PSA submission will include Wally Moon cards, as well as the remaining cards I've gathered for the <a href="https://razcardblog.blogspot.com/search/label/N20%20Allen%20%26%20Ginter%20Prize%20%26%20Game%20Chickens" target="_blank">1891 N20 Allen & Ginter 50 Prize & Game Chickens set</a> I've been working on for the last decade. None of these cards will grade very well, but that's not really the point for these set builds.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhknLzLRzaNdZf58KR6_SuPcNput1tvcFCBerlwLxn7dBZuHd9ADeN6vN0xli05MacL0bLc8saFCXzsExrJGRHH5fxS9dD2tEXxAFKYLtTnKywVgrqdfhrAomv9rYPj0sAJwErkJUvIcjZxIiSOW4-8LrGg10ot3n5T5n1b7XIk0cZdelOcqNideKV0vPM/s1234/PXL_20240203_221720636~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="890" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhknLzLRzaNdZf58KR6_SuPcNput1tvcFCBerlwLxn7dBZuHd9ADeN6vN0xli05MacL0bLc8saFCXzsExrJGRHH5fxS9dD2tEXxAFKYLtTnKywVgrqdfhrAomv9rYPj0sAJwErkJUvIcjZxIiSOW4-8LrGg10ot3n5T5n1b7XIk0cZdelOcqNideKV0vPM/w289-h400/PXL_20240203_221720636~2.jpg" width="289" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I recently found myself looking for Wally Moon's 1964 Topps Venezuela card, which is similar to his 1964 Topps base card, outside of the printing on the back. Venezuelan releases were printed on poor cardstock, and most of the ones that have survived are in poor condition. This copy is no exception, with rounded corners and fading. It still shows Wally's unibrow in all its majesty, though.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1226" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOL-wgqOvl4KZB2Ok-avXjwxTelBVivpoihaeQCR-_NqnyICFYmJlZstryeeWFrhiMb6Pkpgm7A8mRRFP74_pr_N0fgmJwNKPF7hgwA3B0rFnE9DdrLtoDQZ_04r-GusYktHl45bQr47rub_vNs13MXHsYjzpr9LTDFUmcjr5be7WtevxEO8R6ZK-dpQ/w400-h289/PXL_20240203_221732408.jpg" width="400" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The card backs on the 1964 Venezuelan cards are printed in black, as opposed to the U.S.-released cards that were printed in orange. It's a relatively easy way to determine which is which for this year. Several years ago I purchased a 1962 Topps NL Batting Leaders card that purports to be the Venezuelan edition that I hope will grade as such in spite of being virtually identical to the U.S. printing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBup9gfuBN_dAVNe2KSwSn5RGDRJgHcuRHLADYOcz5oD8rkh-Dw85Jq6lsqXLxOuDLgvTDqPy40BFNF3wkqTAQ4sKyv0u-CJNExqlVHDch55r9y94zg9rext4rn0qRFdPvmmS4-HECCnLglIt-QDTkDJCV3uvj9zszKc5VI9P4XjNCEkBkr5zXA0oaBuM/s1713/PXL_20240203_221649155~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1713" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBup9gfuBN_dAVNe2KSwSn5RGDRJgHcuRHLADYOcz5oD8rkh-Dw85Jq6lsqXLxOuDLgvTDqPy40BFNF3wkqTAQ4sKyv0u-CJNExqlVHDch55r9y94zg9rext4rn0qRFdPvmmS4-HECCnLglIt-QDTkDJCV3uvj9zszKc5VI9P4XjNCEkBkr5zXA0oaBuM/w640-h456/PXL_20240203_221649155~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Based on the available offerings during my search, it worked out cheaper to buy a lot of Venezuelan cards rather than just the Wally Moon single. It's strange how it works out that way sometimes. So I got Ryne Duren and Harvey Kuenn Venezuelans as well.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqB65PnwLQiF8urySbLq0YH704PF-kdXu1YiNrqPX85pkSjRu9Jf-TZw4zZeXQL-90t3xIzzHWx0oqYSu8tNn4iyYRheHsaUCVWvUPeFGZLrxZBSxVOFcFYsBQ0IUbHzjFCXP11i1LLyA8QKHMC6SqK7K6FhZdd22WX-AxI-w6o48KUlilysqrrxy8kvs/s1706/PXL_20240203_221708861.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1706" data-original-width="1240" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqB65PnwLQiF8urySbLq0YH704PF-kdXu1YiNrqPX85pkSjRu9Jf-TZw4zZeXQL-90t3xIzzHWx0oqYSu8tNn4iyYRheHsaUCVWvUPeFGZLrxZBSxVOFcFYsBQ0IUbHzjFCXP11i1LLyA8QKHMC6SqK7K6FhZdd22WX-AxI-w6o48KUlilysqrrxy8kvs/w466-h640/PXL_20240203_221708861.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Again, these are in pretty rough shape, but that is expected with these cards that are nearly as old as my parents, who were born in 1962. Ryne Duren I wasn't super familiar with, but he made the All-Star Game a few times and won a ring with the Yankees in 1958. Harvey Kuenn was a familiar name, who was a perennial All-Star with the Tigers and managed the Brewers for a couple of years after his playing days.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-11028992795391713362024-02-03T22:30:00.001-07:002024-02-04T00:29:30.607-07:00Holly Holm Kaboom!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I mentioned in my previous post that I was trying to find a UFC Kaboom! insert card for my collection. I wasn't necessarily tied to a particular fighter, but I was leaning toward Holly Holm because I'm a fan and because her Kaboom!s are on the lower end of the pricing scale when searching eBay. I missed out on one that a seller sent an offer to me on, and then another one I was watching sold. I watched a few more of Holm and some other fighters, but they were priced higher than I was willing to pay for one. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijupVozQOwMRVikKpgeBEtk2rCRPNcCUjyH_sufjuKCuz0taUZYt135W-6yDLN6zg07CEsOS3P5vBxLxXgzA2SXgh_edw-bICTrsPOnqd-qv0B6KjOFyMvPw82QbfZsCEwiG3s_dW6dG_KRCmWRaKmwMe0xXK69g6vQQ0140RVLDdHl3GHH4wBwWGCAeU/s1210/PXL_20240203_221530752.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="884" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijupVozQOwMRVikKpgeBEtk2rCRPNcCUjyH_sufjuKCuz0taUZYt135W-6yDLN6zg07CEsOS3P5vBxLxXgzA2SXgh_edw-bICTrsPOnqd-qv0B6KjOFyMvPw82QbfZsCEwiG3s_dW6dG_KRCmWRaKmwMe0xXK69g6vQQ0140RVLDdHl3GHH4wBwWGCAeU/w293-h400/PXL_20240203_221530752.jpg" width="293" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuhIlLD9SNolfRpZiVDfVmwtgAr3WNW56SwFE_rexlNWv5iAT2cQOXsriS5cxq9E5pwbZY71qyMJFjeGcetWXqZepkPH5qxO10C5X1axZuPnJ3qxBLsqFurMC9fItJathTlS-7fP8MdcS1YQzrbGHDQ_qB-sY892l1cZVrAPO8nVRmNSlIEyADdjHK0M0/s1205/PXL_20240203_221541236.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="885" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuhIlLD9SNolfRpZiVDfVmwtgAr3WNW56SwFE_rexlNWv5iAT2cQOXsriS5cxq9E5pwbZY71qyMJFjeGcetWXqZepkPH5qxO10C5X1axZuPnJ3qxBLsqFurMC9fItJathTlS-7fP8MdcS1YQzrbGHDQ_qB-sY892l1cZVrAPO8nVRmNSlIEyADdjHK0M0/w294-h400/PXL_20240203_221541236.jpg" width="294" /></a></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">This one came up for auction and I placed a bid for a price I was comfortable with, and at the end of the auction I came out as the winner. I always worry a little when I get a good price on a card at auction, because there's a chance the seller will cancel instead of sending the card. My fears were unfounded in this case, as I received a shipping notification fairly promptly and the card arrived as advertised.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-91131473634618140022024-01-30T21:30:00.001-07:002024-01-30T21:40:08.361-07:00Holly Holm Auto Relic<p style="text-align: justify;">A while back I was searching for a UFC Panini Kaboom! card to add to my collection. I wasn't feeling too particular about which fighter was featured on the card, but I certainly have favorites and fighters I don't care as much for. The prices on Kaboom!s are pretty high, so I wound up passing (for the moment), but while looking at Holly Holm Kaboom! cards I realized that some of her autographs are pretty reasonably priced. This led to a couple of bids, and eventually to an auction win on this 2022 Immaculate Collection autographed memorabilia card. I liked this card because of the decent 2-color relic swatch and the on-card autograph.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhensWrqlXFgsPqv8SY-IX4PMkLgs2k_fzI08zAwqcCuPSgg-eutRhds5lgSzLD_Dp0nBy7rKXlnoWHvwPyt4vEsWpNlaALxVAm2UfDBzXp2yKiNhxbsizafN6QyQWl-BePbNDBNBT_jXEZOjS3F1vkJBIIdx25YujWnIoeOGBWE_ndY4IrjxCq-VvsZg8/s1723/PXL_20240127_004017969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1723" data-original-width="1264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhensWrqlXFgsPqv8SY-IX4PMkLgs2k_fzI08zAwqcCuPSgg-eutRhds5lgSzLD_Dp0nBy7rKXlnoWHvwPyt4vEsWpNlaALxVAm2UfDBzXp2yKiNhxbsizafN6QyQWl-BePbNDBNBT_jXEZOjS3F1vkJBIIdx25YujWnIoeOGBWE_ndY4IrjxCq-VvsZg8/w294-h400/PXL_20240127_004017969.jpg" width="294" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xGiti69SurxR6FH88l6LVY1lCKZmtxFElH6v60BGXSgXwUjzwj-HXxXF31PjNAeWuI74rtOZbPK0cpl-uwgPtMJ501zIipJcbFpKyauvSnrplihS8pOYhi1ZHY-mORchSrJkWup7w9lTtRB5rri3H5Uw2CNUGd6b3FvwCj1ZF_E-5wG3SzBASszDq5g/s1513/PXL_20240127_004031469.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1513" data-original-width="1095" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xGiti69SurxR6FH88l6LVY1lCKZmtxFElH6v60BGXSgXwUjzwj-HXxXF31PjNAeWuI74rtOZbPK0cpl-uwgPtMJ501zIipJcbFpKyauvSnrplihS8pOYhi1ZHY-mORchSrJkWup7w9lTtRB5rri3H5Uw2CNUGd6b3FvwCj1ZF_E-5wG3SzBASszDq5g/w290-h400/PXL_20240127_004031469.jpg" width="290" /></a></div></div><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Today my boss let us know he'd taken another job and will be leaving in the next couple of months. Another coworker also announced that she is moving to be closer to family and will be quitting if she can't get approved for remote work. That's a lot of change for me, and not particularly good change. I have a good boss right now, and I like that other coworker a lot more than many coworkers I've had. We have a pretty nice vibe in the office, and even hang out and go hunting together outside of work. All good things come to an end, though, and I suppose work situations are one of those things that are prone to shifting. The people who are left will probably be fine and band together to get through the transition, but we'll add people to replace the outgoing folks and that could go any which way. It's hard to imagine that things will get better than they already were.</div>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-91611283238393333102024-01-29T15:30:00.001-07:002024-01-29T15:44:58.768-07:00A Blaster Box of 2023 Topps Stadium Club<p style="text-align: justify;">I found myself at Fred Meyer yesterday, and decided to look for the trading card section. It was an unfamiliar store, so it took me some time to locate the cards. Once I found them, I noticed that Stadium Club was on offer. Since that's the hot new thing on social media right now, I grabbed a blaster from the row to try it out for myself.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1227" data-original-width="1748" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmsYFH-SCmnynK6cavsJhUGlG9XcRY0PlOHhIUD5u4nvYCquJeN55mZG50z_qCEliHMmB5xOv_gID1KECSq3HSjNQKurt7XT5-zlkHCK2wTHtmPM_qkkneV_Wm0ecLQ_OdMUACog3QH6nv2_hYWEYbvSoFuxINwyWdv0JkjK9jmYccd8hKFrpy2zT5Rcc/w640-h450/PXL_20240129_011630025.MP.jpg" width="640" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Ronald Acuña Jr. had a pretty good season last year, and gets to be on the cover of the Stadium Club box.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmsYFH-SCmnynK6cavsJhUGlG9XcRY0PlOHhIUD5u4nvYCquJeN55mZG50z_qCEliHMmB5xOv_gID1KECSq3HSjNQKurt7XT5-zlkHCK2wTHtmPM_qkkneV_Wm0ecLQ_OdMUACog3QH6nv2_hYWEYbvSoFuxINwyWdv0JkjK9jmYccd8hKFrpy2zT5Rcc/s1748/PXL_20240129_011630025.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVsQaWeHEG0MWTbPEpbbZE4znwX8nbVJ-8dk8tCP0APEoGdglmmvUQdvR9vmhVb98_lEb1r1UVU3SgQapIlJPZ_8QumjTvQEc08HTsqUu_0xcEnZeGRtbmhJ0WXLwYj_6Y9MkV0f0OQ7dn80O0Sr9vJJbqBfuYrZ6_93xfl0NrLLLkKmEdcLhK9EpnGjw/s1671/PXL_20240129_011659848.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1671" data-original-width="1495" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVsQaWeHEG0MWTbPEpbbZE4znwX8nbVJ-8dk8tCP0APEoGdglmmvUQdvR9vmhVb98_lEb1r1UVU3SgQapIlJPZ_8QumjTvQEc08HTsqUu_0xcEnZeGRtbmhJ0WXLwYj_6Y9MkV0f0OQ7dn80O0Sr9vJJbqBfuYrZ6_93xfl0NrLLLkKmEdcLhK9EpnGjw/w358-h400/PXL_20240129_011659848.jpg" width="358" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Things start out pretty well for an Astros fan, with the box topper Master Photo featuring Yordan Alvarez, one of the best hitters in the game today. I'm no internet sleuth, but it looks like Yordan has just hit something big in this photo.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PeGvdv62CHtizc9D9mQXNGQ7LdXOV3qPu76YlKHl5NaTxOHUxGQwnyQy2yEV08zs8fitotbVE1ROa-k-GAhlfJOxthCXnov64ynedkRyOuZLK-Al7JFZcTioFuzBOG2wOKTmEtEL4SAm37m0do9r0faEC8lOIdP2WRqOWwxwcrCGhvmz1ww1wo7sTVQ/s2275/PXL_20240129_012136866.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2275" data-original-width="1643" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PeGvdv62CHtizc9D9mQXNGQ7LdXOV3qPu76YlKHl5NaTxOHUxGQwnyQy2yEV08zs8fitotbVE1ROa-k-GAhlfJOxthCXnov64ynedkRyOuZLK-Al7JFZcTioFuzBOG2wOKTmEtEL4SAm37m0do9r0faEC8lOIdP2WRqOWwxwcrCGhvmz1ww1wo7sTVQ/w462-h640/PXL_20240129_012136866.jpg" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Here are some of my favorite base cards from the box. Altuve is probably the best of the bunch for me, but Barry Larkin's card features dogs!!! I picked Dennis Eckersley for his mustache and Mike Trout because he's Mike Trout. I saw him play live last year in Colorado, when the Angels hung 25 runs on the Rockies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOjJUhw_GjjFNVDoi3DjKxrniwmCiRQdCpa3bJH4m_Luqlk0z_u_U9y7VAP-JIaL7C9NMbZIh5eQTMmQOSmn282YBtT41S3ZmBJdBZpoSAY9vumduUjXOLpgM-xUo0pBZ0xR_RsWpnm3zVeFttn5pE0hw_VyKDyAGIww1MrKyMXJumkVfJlwYqC-p59k/s1216/20230624_211749~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="1216" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOjJUhw_GjjFNVDoi3DjKxrniwmCiRQdCpa3bJH4m_Luqlk0z_u_U9y7VAP-JIaL7C9NMbZIh5eQTMmQOSmn282YBtT41S3ZmBJdBZpoSAY9vumduUjXOLpgM-xUo0pBZ0xR_RsWpnm3zVeFttn5pE0hw_VyKDyAGIww1MrKyMXJumkVfJlwYqC-p59k/w640-h484/20230624_211749~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">There's me in Denver, watching a baseball game. I'd driven to Denver for a concert, but decided to see if the Rockies were playing at the last minute and wound up getting to see Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani play live. Pretty cool stuff.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAD2_6jZHZAFlDTUTKp8OzuIgntyyniETw81_vbu75BAmEXkUVP2ISkWpZ7DjoCdpxqHyD8Lpvr_vLrIoKwmSLzKlcQGKUiU6DMD6q-TjeFSJMBu4ZlLmCLGEiYpHUAn4GljZeq2jzdrF2MI6toSl2ZHjsaWn-G5WYXj8dtX5acZDTgXqF-J76DFVtYc0/s1722/PXL_20240129_012200685.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1722" data-original-width="1220" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAD2_6jZHZAFlDTUTKp8OzuIgntyyniETw81_vbu75BAmEXkUVP2ISkWpZ7DjoCdpxqHyD8Lpvr_vLrIoKwmSLzKlcQGKUiU6DMD6q-TjeFSJMBu4ZlLmCLGEiYpHUAn4GljZeq2jzdrF2MI6toSl2ZHjsaWn-G5WYXj8dtX5acZDTgXqF-J76DFVtYc0/w284-h400/PXL_20240129_012200685.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Here are a couple of horizontal shots, with the great Ichiro's batting stance and a celebration shot of Michael Harris II.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FL0-nxqTjNpRms1lf3e94Oh6d7HAS5Nj5LgGtnKMpkyYXGj80kTZFZ_Rina9-t2M1e5WRVekiHSvquRA_aQOLGEgpifooXfyEa8u06lKgAIWODXAbzADvKoV3WqcLXJzk3QG3Tv0F4WSCEy5CdybNXxCuTsGTYbxyBWZNZuxqtYF3I2YsiJmbZkjtBc/s2356/PXL_20240129_012234857.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2356" data-original-width="1712" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FL0-nxqTjNpRms1lf3e94Oh6d7HAS5Nj5LgGtnKMpkyYXGj80kTZFZ_Rina9-t2M1e5WRVekiHSvquRA_aQOLGEgpifooXfyEa8u06lKgAIWODXAbzADvKoV3WqcLXJzk3QG3Tv0F4WSCEy5CdybNXxCuTsGTYbxyBWZNZuxqtYF3I2YsiJmbZkjtBc/w466-h640/PXL_20240129_012234857.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I pulled a Black Foil parallel of Robbie Ray, and three Red Foil parallels. I especially like the Dave Winfield and Joe Morgan cards in this batch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwu1o1ui6fDHic21QGVTPyKAyQZPGxgyOlxtqLEdfd4w2VYGZ50iXJf248gg77-6cBaRxVxpazNpWQzp7tqHPCGauKR6dFRB8gueakZLJI1qOIbKcNI_HYVN6HJ7vQTVaDPatFqO-9j3MEKJuk4Unc0Y1Gi__mdXqw3vFvNJqtp4BsRGaCdni-UK_Z25g/s1346/PXL_20240129_012300125.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="1346" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwu1o1ui6fDHic21QGVTPyKAyQZPGxgyOlxtqLEdfd4w2VYGZ50iXJf248gg77-6cBaRxVxpazNpWQzp7tqHPCGauKR6dFRB8gueakZLJI1qOIbKcNI_HYVN6HJ7vQTVaDPatFqO-9j3MEKJuk4Unc0Y1Gi__mdXqw3vFvNJqtp4BsRGaCdni-UK_Z25g/w400-h283/PXL_20240129_012300125.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I believe the Sepia parallels are retail-exclusive. This Andre Dawson photo seems to be a favorite photo among collectors on Twitter/X, so I was happy to pull an example of it from this box.</div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPT0Q3OONUPFdZrk9jXCoaMl6WzaKhKUp9R4-xG3tdNiXKoHEu25PaS8QnqjzmCIQSkEAvRxkPUKCr1TrD8c4H08cYtoe7lL2pNVO5A0y_kKG20C2fNHMRePnV_vhTvW7Btku2N8PJ0D7dLfltpNRrchjFdFyeJzZ5cTGxfFNP5GKu3WyJFMZX2MMpa4/s2030/PXL_20240129_012323059.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1443" data-original-width="2030" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPT0Q3OONUPFdZrk9jXCoaMl6WzaKhKUp9R4-xG3tdNiXKoHEu25PaS8QnqjzmCIQSkEAvRxkPUKCr1TrD8c4H08cYtoe7lL2pNVO5A0y_kKG20C2fNHMRePnV_vhTvW7Btku2N8PJ0D7dLfltpNRrchjFdFyeJzZ5cTGxfFNP5GKu3WyJFMZX2MMpa4/w640-h454/PXL_20240129_012323059.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the inserts in the box I pulled a couple of sluggers in Aaron Judge and Yordan Alvarez. I'm always happy to get another Yordan for the collection, and even though Judge plays for the Yankees I don't mind pulling his cards. 2023 was kind of a down year for Judge, but I bet most players wish a down year for them included an All-Star appearance and 4.5 WAR.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0NK2xRBage7Ukv4ga5dVFtoezYx5sR7mLIhNQHqH12xNd0AuYSLFxDn70TBrVf8X-mY6p505rvGAzoVpOUDewhLyHClZCkf7N_LH9Su9hz-M2vUckhLn3CsShijOVNi-DR39gugz86AcoEci6k0Aobp7C3ie8eErc-GKCaxYA8OxCyNC3Bf-pkVTXNj8/s1447/PXL_20240129_012350402.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1447" data-original-width="950" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0NK2xRBage7Ukv4ga5dVFtoezYx5sR7mLIhNQHqH12xNd0AuYSLFxDn70TBrVf8X-mY6p505rvGAzoVpOUDewhLyHClZCkf7N_LH9Su9hz-M2vUckhLn3CsShijOVNi-DR39gugz86AcoEci6k0Aobp7C3ie8eErc-GKCaxYA8OxCyNC3Bf-pkVTXNj8/w263-h400/PXL_20240129_012350402.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The final insert of the box was this die-cut Cal Ripken Jr. Triumvirates card. My cousin collected Cal when we were kids, so I always enjoy pulling a nice Ripken card for my collection. It takes me back to the good parts of my teen years, which were few and far between.</div>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-84902269123192863832024-01-27T21:30:00.001-07:002024-01-27T23:25:58.808-07:00An Addition to the Wally Moon Master Set<p style="text-align: justify;">One project that's received a little energy from me lately is my Wally Moon PSA Master Set, which is basically all of his card appearances from his career, encased in PSA graded holders. I already have his Basic Set, which is just a run of Topps base cards from his career. The Master Set adds other card appearances, team issues, stamps, things like pins and buttons, and food issues.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qhYBZ99NhZngTWPUWUUaIiAnw1E0JGhtWmt-nuMYaIA2IFyfx-z_HuQ3U-E2nYPBigtb_h2kGzA360qdmocgcQA4bxTdoZPo26nM7ck779M939-adSfLSJ6tmT8tBrtkkVi9ZTHqD4zcBqPanPjoPBL1uhGrWM1VWGobF1RTPo0sATAf5h7IJ2ABeBk/s1728/PXL_20240127_204825888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="1091" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qhYBZ99NhZngTWPUWUUaIiAnw1E0JGhtWmt-nuMYaIA2IFyfx-z_HuQ3U-E2nYPBigtb_h2kGzA360qdmocgcQA4bxTdoZPo26nM7ck779M939-adSfLSJ6tmT8tBrtkkVi9ZTHqD4zcBqPanPjoPBL1uhGrWM1VWGobF1RTPo0sATAf5h7IJ2ABeBk/w253-h400/PXL_20240127_204825888.jpg" width="253" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvhrqP6HKcZi6OpFKLNzXAO9P1jtDm6whZBGmfOUooovIwjSFAIa9735Ld0JHtrMvoZilptDiDpVVvINOb7Rvf793ee8-quY9jiChxD6YqvMDHZgoAj8ASZTA1E-nOP0jvBrVrpjhX_Kqsr6UjeQtBpTKa8xNd3xEdZ-wA9uC0lIkSWnWcdaQ4xEJvw8/s1479/PXL_20240127_204836295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1479" data-original-width="910" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbvhrqP6HKcZi6OpFKLNzXAO9P1jtDm6whZBGmfOUooovIwjSFAIa9735Ld0JHtrMvoZilptDiDpVVvINOb7Rvf793ee8-quY9jiChxD6YqvMDHZgoAj8ASZTA1E-nOP0jvBrVrpjhX_Kqsr6UjeQtBpTKa8xNd3xEdZ-wA9uC0lIkSWnWcdaQ4xEJvw8/w246-h400/PXL_20240127_204836295.jpg" width="246" /></a></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I am not worrying too much about condition for this collection, as higher grades on vintage cards command more money than I'm willing to shell out for this project. A PSA 5, like this 1962 Topps NL Batting Leaders card, is just fine by me. Especially for a card that features Roberto Clemente. Some of the tougher cards to get in this run are tough because Wally Moon shares them with another player, like Roberto Clemente or Brooks Robinson. I'd imagine those players have more competition than my Wally Moon project does. I currently hold the #1 Wally Moon Master Set in the PSA registry, mostly because no one else is chasing it. According to my checklist, I still need 12/36 items to complete the run, along with 2 items I have that need to be sent in for grading.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-27787511200871870262024-01-26T21:00:00.001-07:002024-01-26T21:20:48.569-07:00A Blaster Box of 2022 Upper Deck AEW Allure<p style="text-align: justify;">I found myself at Walmart this afternoon, and decided to check out the card aisle. There wasn't much there outside of some Prizm football. I guess I could have bought that and chased a C.J. Stroud card like everyone else on social media, but I just can't get into football. They also had some 2023 Topps Series 1 Baseball that was discounted, and some 2022 Upper Deck AEW Allure wrestling cards. Since I hadn't opened Allure before I decided to go with that, even though historically Upper Deck products have been low bang/buck for me.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71pn_zrjT0h3UYtqDvCfqLQzmDqMExzFAmrdBbnJgP5lp3NA7JJy9Hm25BSvn-FwEgYBknatAoncjTGO6vCukyboqgp70LcSbgC3Bp24zbFtROTVxUp-NHitarh9qZNF9MvtuuDcbFu1Nadgxc87b6N1wJaSvyQm8DUqMcmr_xQaEdivc58fUCxQ_h0Q/s2033/PXL_20240127_010304848.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1393" data-original-width="2033" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71pn_zrjT0h3UYtqDvCfqLQzmDqMExzFAmrdBbnJgP5lp3NA7JJy9Hm25BSvn-FwEgYBknatAoncjTGO6vCukyboqgp70LcSbgC3Bp24zbFtROTVxUp-NHitarh9qZNF9MvtuuDcbFu1Nadgxc87b6N1wJaSvyQm8DUqMcmr_xQaEdivc58fUCxQ_h0Q/w640-h438/PXL_20240127_010304848.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I knew absolutely nothing about Allure going into this and very little about AEW, so I guess we'll learn as we go along. I recognize two of the three wrestlers on the packaging, MJF and Toni Storm. Apparently the guy in the middle is called Powerhouse Hobbs.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNW_vGDzdnpeqQsoONGy2Zi2chHXITl1WqHYsi-x9dmIlhd_C-CmijxCV8afG9UnbESQR_mWO-TUprTBFoAILFPHcZRDQnKmSjmZg0cBoGOgpCDZ0QMzxmeKWn8JCV3ggDeFpSCMlztFaosTLUqN0mkOv4nNwE8egrUdZ_0WOIOcPXjB2gdAQOCI69MR4/s1515/original_48d87445-c086-4740-a3e4-b9f5fe96c6d6_PXL_20240127_011302487.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1515" data-original-width="1131" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNW_vGDzdnpeqQsoONGy2Zi2chHXITl1WqHYsi-x9dmIlhd_C-CmijxCV8afG9UnbESQR_mWO-TUprTBFoAILFPHcZRDQnKmSjmZg0cBoGOgpCDZ0QMzxmeKWn8JCV3ggDeFpSCMlztFaosTLUqN0mkOv4nNwE8egrUdZ_0WOIOcPXjB2gdAQOCI69MR4/w478-h640/original_48d87445-c086-4740-a3e4-b9f5fe96c6d6_PXL_20240127_011302487.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The base cards are kinda Chromey/Prizmy. Interestingly enough, I think the only person in this group that I follow on social media is the referee, Aubrey Edwards. I recognize everyone else, though.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bZuhW7P1osBQ0Q_3pA_QnPGxz6Agj_2xs4ff5BdcV9RodXmFc31w2cvWhslKpqc1QbH9GSGbET2fNxdnUv00C2NCZTW46qvOdWeUffOLGTacMsmxDNP4mu312ATeyfVBzUKX3FEMafgwDEr1nM2DemD8DOAE6yjcxlNIXJ4R5aistx1K8_Sd0QEoEHs/s1291/PXL_20240127_010819677.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1291" data-original-width="927" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bZuhW7P1osBQ0Q_3pA_QnPGxz6Agj_2xs4ff5BdcV9RodXmFc31w2cvWhslKpqc1QbH9GSGbET2fNxdnUv00C2NCZTW46qvOdWeUffOLGTacMsmxDNP4mu312ATeyfVBzUKX3FEMafgwDEr1nM2DemD8DOAE6yjcxlNIXJ4R5aistx1K8_Sd0QEoEHs/w288-h400/PXL_20240127_010819677.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I think the horizontal cards are short-printed slightly. I got one per pack. Bryan Danielson and MJF were the biggest names of the bunch.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Jaz90_j0lI7oG7EEAO6JJRSrZnxbFDF5sdCgLzDDUMBhKHYftMzfpptxvCZUz37mou1W5flxlGorZ1HNPEJwxpGlakr6FRUpf6bKTpUETfdatB4r8zpa9_ozP1lPOyPczVnXzMsNMNuHjyJnJDywJmJnpb2d_PDaSEVIZSOfj3MW9s93IEml1Fx3WHw/s1481/PXL_20240127_011000086.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1481" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Jaz90_j0lI7oG7EEAO6JJRSrZnxbFDF5sdCgLzDDUMBhKHYftMzfpptxvCZUz37mou1W5flxlGorZ1HNPEJwxpGlakr6FRUpf6bKTpUETfdatB4r8zpa9_ozP1lPOyPczVnXzMsNMNuHjyJnJDywJmJnpb2d_PDaSEVIZSOfj3MW9s93IEml1Fx3WHw/w400-h286/PXL_20240127_011000086.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">One of the common parallels is called "Tables" and features a woodgrain background. I recognize Skye Blue's name, but I couldn't say much beyond that about her. Athena is someone whose cards I collect already, although I know her better as Ember Moon from her time with the WWE.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGa3Nq_ui0AcO59raFekRsv2uSDsZLKhSn6drVh6IbFa5YYaXMVrNdIUWO5TleRaIEGry6phLmXfWD0tv_sy4Tf_TElr7vf2r9fgRPsOn_pj7wRdxkdMR-Dr45ER4mVN15IKb-EgIck8Vv2oxl7fuoMbWjdonZrkT65DtZhrxPDRwfYBZdEPz5rfq6iQ/s1192/PXL_20240127_010652232.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="888" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGa3Nq_ui0AcO59raFekRsv2uSDsZLKhSn6drVh6IbFa5YYaXMVrNdIUWO5TleRaIEGry6phLmXfWD0tv_sy4Tf_TElr7vf2r9fgRPsOn_pj7wRdxkdMR-Dr45ER4mVN15IKb-EgIck8Vv2oxl7fuoMbWjdonZrkT65DtZhrxPDRwfYBZdEPz5rfq6iQ/w298-h400/PXL_20240127_010652232.jpg" width="298" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This Ricky Starks card is a Red Rainbow parallel, which apparently falls 1:12 packs. I don't think I've ever heard of Ricky Starks. The card is pretty shiny, though.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh642S8uyrFCn9GxDhjbQ620ptBGPoR6YF-PtQnL9zicGJ7IiJ2daAlZzFpX4spOs1HX21x6k_f2hvPgs3v7uLXsLCZZyE5MWMGpem5nemDBxA-hdFQ-96Srj3cWU7X8RzRmYHWaKf0kZnvk0pkjsVtsYGspY7ZmhwCNhqdUQO22jx1OJxSYMJXPrJn1dU/s1398/PXL_20240127_010628896.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="1398" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh642S8uyrFCn9GxDhjbQ620ptBGPoR6YF-PtQnL9zicGJ7IiJ2daAlZzFpX4spOs1HX21x6k_f2hvPgs3v7uLXsLCZZyE5MWMGpem5nemDBxA-hdFQ-96Srj3cWU7X8RzRmYHWaKf0kZnvk0pkjsVtsYGspY7ZmhwCNhqdUQO22jx1OJxSYMJXPrJn1dU/w400-h291/PXL_20240127_010628896.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This Jade Cargill Horizontal Black Rainbow parallel is probably the hit of the break, combining a big name with 1:24 pack odds on the parallel. She recently switched from AEW to WWE, and apparently is married to former MLB player Brandon Phillips.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfznEkj57GGDCTYqh6frEHHnoEQ9fh4CT2ZX9GOZTiBcjc7ShKJyzHSyhdF5z3VBWGJFAldFPdSOUlq0NOmCgKS-RQ7llB8LZPo5jVwPNVZ2Ugnk-phu5DXMAuwqSkFodyJ4P90P6CMxtOGKSqL7dZN0gVnvdk21isN2pchACriaf8gjIoi3RQO2cht3Q/s1105/PXL_20240127_010917916.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1105" data-original-width="823" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfznEkj57GGDCTYqh6frEHHnoEQ9fh4CT2ZX9GOZTiBcjc7ShKJyzHSyhdF5z3VBWGJFAldFPdSOUlq0NOmCgKS-RQ7llB8LZPo5jVwPNVZ2Ugnk-phu5DXMAuwqSkFodyJ4P90P6CMxtOGKSqL7dZN0gVnvdk21isN2pchACriaf8gjIoi3RQO2cht3Q/w298-h400/PXL_20240127_010917916.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">For inserts I got a couple of die-cut cards, including this wavy Title Ambitions card of Jamie Hayter, another name I recognize but don't know a whole lot about. I could regurgitate her Wikipedia page here, but I will not.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCmTho5ZKrkqHOrgMU6z2ZXmdO4f1RivC9fyTntXEXaVP-552VZZfVZujMBzKuGD_QIF7dCXzktdOgzPFHv1uYe-nzPPMUkV2sPd861fd5m3njb7962QDJCxLvnVOcP_I2cCN_L8YN7b-Pyhon4jT2rvs9QzoQtznh3UQn6d00NA8ozL8WXwumBKL88Y/s1304/PXL_20240127_010924845.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="1304" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCmTho5ZKrkqHOrgMU6z2ZXmdO4f1RivC9fyTntXEXaVP-552VZZfVZujMBzKuGD_QIF7dCXzktdOgzPFHv1uYe-nzPPMUkV2sPd861fd5m3njb7962QDJCxLvnVOcP_I2cCN_L8YN7b-Pyhon4jT2rvs9QzoQtznh3UQn6d00NA8ozL8WXwumBKL88Y/w400-h286/PXL_20240127_010924845.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The other die-cut insert in the blaster was this My Squad card featuring faction The Firm. They look like a serious bunch of dudes. I don't really follow AEW outside of headlines and the occasional wrestler whose name I recognize, so I can't tell you much about The Firm.</div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJYUNUGpFSSD7p4a7BZvbZqBwYwVC1U39vYH3jfIIYWHC32u4_KtQl42UZ9JtMVsTueVJFvx6mbR14LQmwVyNDpIp9_Qgx2_dgdvnSeRN1R_al51gsI6bV73GCn52_ysgPVA2TL4KpcOKJQdtcAcYzWmAwRMsrz9aYH6kO2V6kRrSmXIDd81c8H18ez8/s1042/PXL_20240127_010718067.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="777" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJYUNUGpFSSD7p4a7BZvbZqBwYwVC1U39vYH3jfIIYWHC32u4_KtQl42UZ9JtMVsTueVJFvx6mbR14LQmwVyNDpIp9_Qgx2_dgdvnSeRN1R_al51gsI6bV73GCn52_ysgPVA2TL4KpcOKJQdtcAcYzWmAwRMsrz9aYH6kO2V6kRrSmXIDd81c8H18ez8/w299-h400/PXL_20240127_010718067.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The final card I'll show is yet another appearance by Bryan Danielson, this time on a Color Flow Red-Orange insert. The Red-Orange cards are the most common Color Flow variation, falling 1:8 packs. It's a nice shiny card, and I reckon it's the 2nd-best pull of the break.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So that's 2022 Upper Deck Allure AEW. I pulled more recognizable names than I thought I would, and got a decent parallel and insert card. I don't know that I'd bust another box of this at the $30 price, but it was fun to do it once.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-36314329417815615212024-01-25T21:30:00.044-07:002024-01-25T22:09:03.573-07:00Joining the #Drumline<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I'd forgotten how hard it is sometimes to churn out a blog post every day or two. For several years of my life it was a regular thing, but I lost the habit and am struggling to keep the mojo going here upon my return. That was one draw that pulled me into Twitter/X during my blogging hiatus, as you could just snap a pic, throw out a sentence or two, and post away. I never really gained much traction on Twitter/X, though, as my content probably wasn't focused or frequent enough to grab an audience. I wouldn't say I have a huge blog audience either, even during my most productive blogging years, but there are a few folks who stuck around and read what I have to say. Recently my blog even got a shoutout on a Facebook group as a good reference for Japanese women's wrestling cards. I don't know where I'm going with all of this, except to say that it's hard to churn out content no matter the platform, and that it's hard to get a following unless you are focused and charismatic in ways that I am not.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyC77mKWrZMmmwH5ZJDcxtWmKbF2IHX6qF2vFQz3oid-XLnxybEcCEexlkKbeKUv6FW2zYn_6mtraD7U-pEKpL0ss6FrYaGjBuV7t-Evc6zG6Fr9U8Dw1PALmwYwqqKpoa1re914-nr34AyJvpXeMuHZYk6JBvJe97IONrqlCxZDfaYrajDh-gSYqtsC0/s2205/original_66faa743-30d2-42bb-a87d-872ade61eaaf_PXL_20240126_025930824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2205" data-original-width="1607" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyC77mKWrZMmmwH5ZJDcxtWmKbF2IHX6qF2vFQz3oid-XLnxybEcCEexlkKbeKUv6FW2zYn_6mtraD7U-pEKpL0ss6FrYaGjBuV7t-Evc6zG6Fr9U8Dw1PALmwYwqqKpoa1re914-nr34AyJvpXeMuHZYk6JBvJe97IONrqlCxZDfaYrajDh-gSYqtsC0/w291-h400/original_66faa743-30d2-42bb-a87d-872ade61eaaf_PXL_20240126_025930824.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Recently on Twitter/X, a user by the name of @crackthepacks started a movement called the Drumline, which is basically a club of people who own Star Wars autograph cards of Murphy Patrick Martin as a drummer. He shows up in a few products, and I grabbed this base autograph from him so that I could join the #Drumline. It's kind of fun, and @crackthepacks does giveaways and shoutouts to #Drumline members from time to time.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzZmUXZ5CbRi5ZpUdv6vU1SrBnbwTGqNR_7FTDOJ30gV0FJE-jG__vSQVRo4B5KBQCjTDhYWARDQcH7NokFvIt4USSKuMicB7PTa2n9z3vUL9YpjCCO_YKs-Lnn38kWJoTaI5GIAU71BdZfsxz-c7JxXpXIqfV80l1x1q7g2f9oMXctLOIYXi8ZysWWU/s2292/PXL_20240126_030012153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2292" data-original-width="1661" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzZmUXZ5CbRi5ZpUdv6vU1SrBnbwTGqNR_7FTDOJ30gV0FJE-jG__vSQVRo4B5KBQCjTDhYWARDQcH7NokFvIt4USSKuMicB7PTa2n9z3vUL9YpjCCO_YKs-Lnn38kWJoTaI5GIAU71BdZfsxz-c7JxXpXIqfV80l1x1q7g2f9oMXctLOIYXi8ZysWWU/w290-h400/PXL_20240126_030012153.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Demand from the #Drumline started driving the prices of Murphy Patrick Martin autographs up to the point that some people couldn't participate, so the group that heads up the #Drumline decided to grant membership to people who own autographs of Allan Graf as the Bartender. I also picked up one of those in order to attain dual membership in the #Drumline.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyone who is so inclined can join the #Drumline by obtaining a Drummer or Bartender autograph from a Star Wars product and posting about it on Twitter/X with the #Drumline tag. Eventually @crackthepacks will notice your post, welcome you to the #Drumline, invite you to the special group chat, and add you to the official spreadsheet. Very prestigious stuff.</div><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6974740724487938002.post-57007544454947523592024-01-23T22:30:00.065-07:002024-01-23T22:49:03.585-07:00Highlights from 3 Boxes of 2023 Topps Holiday Baseball<p style="text-align: justify;">I don't feel much like posting tonight, but I don't want to lose steam on this blogging thing before I even really get restarted. I've been thinking today about my hobby goals moving forward, trying to find a direction before I let the wind take me too far off course. Kind of surprising to me, the most compelling projects on my mind involve vintage cards, such as completing my Wally Moon master set and building the rest of my Allen & Ginter Prize & Game Chickens set. I haven't thought of a lot that I'd like to accomplish with current products. I think the prices on current wax have got me a little down on modern cards at the moment. There are still fun products to be had, though, like my annual dive into the Topps Holiday Baseball set, which takes a stars and rookies approach to the current year's Topps design and adds snowflakes. I acquired 3 boxes of it to open. Here are the highlights. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oU0iq3t_BWgCMvSFHYnY-KFWG1dW6E5QQvQTGqaWQnHs6tB0ZY-mm1p5kewVGu8CtmS8aNytr4u7xqgIlsNdMjnnFtdgwl7vjQs7PGfRtVjYeJA2FsKC4fmTtqMwaZhWDf_lJdok8cHAq2p8V45801ga5ITjuTz3RD-WaijxWqLuXzWZBrJUlkuST9I/s1948/PXL_20240120_233619450.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1784" data-original-width="1948" height="586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oU0iq3t_BWgCMvSFHYnY-KFWG1dW6E5QQvQTGqaWQnHs6tB0ZY-mm1p5kewVGu8CtmS8aNytr4u7xqgIlsNdMjnnFtdgwl7vjQs7PGfRtVjYeJA2FsKC4fmTtqMwaZhWDf_lJdok8cHAq2p8V45801ga5ITjuTz3RD-WaijxWqLuXzWZBrJUlkuST9I/w640-h586/PXL_20240120_233619450.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">The Metallic Snowflake parallels fall about 5 per box. These were 6 of my best pulls from the lot. Nothing really notable as far as my collecting interests go, but I guess that's what you get when you bust packs sometimes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT98smQQoPXRm01VMGRwt0hiaV3pvBVzHppEcN7NrMJ1ahlZLMmeloN5R_aSAZo_teq1e0oUOdMcXhL7gGwmuzAdMTfusjoW17s03fr6OCxn0NDSG3fkQD3lZK3nhqREULMFoiuaJV-jpvEwnv-BqYCioTBTkN9-z_RbIC_8PLw-2lsTNZcUkwPUNo5jg/s1991/PXL_20240120_233412842.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1991" data-original-width="1426" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT98smQQoPXRm01VMGRwt0hiaV3pvBVzHppEcN7NrMJ1ahlZLMmeloN5R_aSAZo_teq1e0oUOdMcXhL7gGwmuzAdMTfusjoW17s03fr6OCxn0NDSG3fkQD3lZK3nhqREULMFoiuaJV-jpvEwnv-BqYCioTBTkN9-z_RbIC_8PLw-2lsTNZcUkwPUNo5jg/w458-h640/PXL_20240120_233412842.MP.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">These were the best of the holiday photo variation cards I pulled. Again, nothing too astounding. I think my favorite of the bunch is Bobby Witt Jr in a Santa hat. I recall him absolutely killing the Astros in a late-season series that they needed to win last year. Or at least in one of the games I watched it seemed like he was hurting them every time he was involved in a play.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoa1UN5LrC9mU1PIGKlWR-9WubBBHN1AeVkn70SQLhJBtESvSqGR3etiVxcek5KDpFms-aDfvFJu1i5GlQYK663Np49ll-F3OfPJvksvAGskPnSdbGM2k0YW-VhWVC1PL8Io0B3PV0xWgavUv2xxd9YBXdwA8oeFPAR43TYQJdKldtKSiVVkOeSFDdzk/s2320/PXL_20240120_233319936.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1633" data-original-width="2320" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoa1UN5LrC9mU1PIGKlWR-9WubBBHN1AeVkn70SQLhJBtESvSqGR3etiVxcek5KDpFms-aDfvFJu1i5GlQYK663Np49ll-F3OfPJvksvAGskPnSdbGM2k0YW-VhWVC1PL8Io0B3PV0xWgavUv2xxd9YBXdwA8oeFPAR43TYQJdKldtKSiVVkOeSFDdzk/w640-h450/PXL_20240120_233319936.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It seems that 99% of the time you pull a base relic as the promised hit in these boxes. I'm not too concerned about the hits in this product, as I mostly enjoy collating the set each year. I did pull a Santa hat relic one year, which is the best hit I've gotten out of Holiday across at least 30-40 boxes over the years. If I recall correctly, it was a Kris Bryant card numbered /25. Arguably the hit of this break is the Gunnar Henderson relic card. The Orioles made some noise last year and might be on the upswing while some of the other AL East teams flounder a bit. Maybe. I'm no baseball analyst.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Plenty of duplication among the base cards mean I am far from a base set still, which is my primary goal when it comes to Topps Holiday. Luckily the boxes are relatively cheap and often plentiful, so I may be able to fill this checklist out before too long. If I were more ambitious I'd chase a Metallic Snowflake parallel set as a challenge, but that's probably a step too far for what is essentially a gimmick winter release.</div><br /><p></p>RAZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17519699812373438878noreply@blogger.com8