We also wound up staying in Russia for 12 extra days, with 2 days of questioning by the police and 10 days spent in jail. Our hunting outfitter didn't have all of the paperwork in order, so we were found guilty of an Administrative Violation and the judge threw the book at us, so instead of a $50-$100 fine we got 10 days in jail. It wasn't too bad outside of the boredom. All of the police and guards we interacted with were polite and professional.
The Raz Card Blog
13 May 2024
Recent Meanderings
07 April 2024
Four More Mega Boxes of 2024 Topps UFC Chrome
A couple of days ago I showed off the results from 4 Mega Boxes of 2024 Topps UFC Chrome. In a bid to make progress on the base set, I ordered 4 more of them. I didn't make as much progress as I'd like toward that goal, but I closed the gap enough to where I decided to pick up the rest of the set as singles. This time around I'm just showing off highlights.
31 March 2024
2017 Topps Then Now Forever Ember Moon Kiss Card
30 March 2024
4 Mega Boxes of 2024 Topps UFC Chrome
I hadn't planned on getting any UFC Chrome from Topps this year, as the $250+ price on hobby boxes was a little off-putting. Then they released these Mega Boxes at $60 apiece, and I couldn't help myself. With one autograph per box and a variety of exclusive inserts I figured I couldn't pass up the chance to chase the base set and some hits.
The checklist also includes plenty of horizontal shots, including one of the headliners for tonight's fight, Manon Fiorot. I pulled a few doubles in my base cards, so I've got roughly 100 out of 200 cards in the base set from these 4 boxes.
Here are some of the different inserts I got in my boxes. Apparently the inserts in the Mega boxes and blasters are entirely different from those found in Hobby configurations. Inserts shown here are Allen & Ginter, Brick by Brick, Fired Up, Embedded, and Pathblazers. I like the inserts in this product. They all look pretty good.
24 March 2024
Various Recent Racing Card Pickups
23 March 2024
Jim Bouton PSA Basic Set
The 1963 and 1964 Topps Jim Bouton cards came in relatively low condition, because that's where they were cheap. I don't feel like I missed out on anything by getting them in a PSA 4 grade. I got the 1965 card in a 6.5 grade, and it's a pretty nice-looking card. Never thought I'd be chasing a full run of a Yankee, but that's how the collecting winds blow sometimes.
20 March 2024
1962 Topps Stamp Panels Wally Moon/Brooks Robinson
A quick one-card post today, just to keep the blogging juices flowing. I've been lagging a bit lately in my effort to resurrect my card blog. It's hard to gather the mental bandwidth to post sometimes, especially when I don't feel like I've got much of value to say to anyone.