08 December 2017

Cyber Week Breaks: Arrival and Day 1

My big order from Blowout Cards arrived today, with a whole bunch of fun stuff for me to break over the next few weeks. I am really tempted to just start ripping it all open now, but this was a pretty big order and I want to make it last longer to stretch out the anticipation and entertainment value of my dollar.


Here is a picture of the order. I've got 13 boxes of 2015 Topps UFC High Impact, 4 boxes of 2017 Topps UFC Chrome, 1 box of 2016 Topps Star Wars Masterwork, 1 box of Topps Star Wars: Jedi Legacy, 1 box of 2015 Topps UFC Chronicles, 1 Jumbo Box of 2012 Topps Series 2, 1 box of 2017 Topps High Tek Baseball, 1 box of 2016 Panini National Treasures Racing, and 1 box of 2016 Panini Certified Racing. I also have 2 boxes of 2017 Topps UFC Knockout on the way from Topps and a box of Cryptozoic DC Bombshells on the way from eBay that I'll add to this pile when they get here.


I divided all of the stuff into lots for each day's breaks, but since today is the first day I made the break a little bigger than the others. I've got a Jumbo pack of 2012 Topps Series 2, two packs of 2016 Panini Certified Racing, a box of 2016 Topps UFC High Impact, a pack of 2016 Topps Star Wars Masterwork, and 8 packs of 2017 Topps UFC Chrome. I'll probably just be scanning the highlights rather than going through and scanning everything.


The baseball pack didn't offer much in the way of highlights, so this Ken Griffey Jr. 1987 mini insert is the representative from the pack. 2012 Topps Baseball has some of the uglier inserts out there, and I mostly bought the box 1) because I felt weird making a big order without much baseball representation and 2) to chase a Bryce Harper rookie card.


The serial-numbered insert from the Panini Certified packs was this die-cut Famed Rides card of Richard Petty's car. I've never been much of a Richard Petty fan, but he's pretty famous and had a lot of success in racing. This one is numbered # 065 / 199.


The other pack of Certified had this Kurt Busch autograph in it. This is the base version of his Certified Signatures card, and my copy is numbered # 038 / 139. I've actually been toying with the idea of collecting the Busch brothers now that most of my favorite drivers have retired, but I haven't quite talked myself into it yet. This would make a good start to a Kurt Busch collection. It's a sticker auto, but he has a pretty nice-looking signature.


The Topps UFC High Impact box promises one autograph, and this Joe Lauzon card was it. It is odd to me that the back of the card says it's a 2015 card, but the boxes call it a 2016 product. I guess maybe there was a delay in the release or something. Joe Lauzon autographs have a bit of a reputation for being set fillers, and I think I've probably got at least one of these already.


Each box of High Impact also promises a Femme Fighters insert. I am trying to complete the set, and I only need four more cards. Ronda Rousey isn't one of the ones I needed, but it is one of the better cards to get doubles of. My other copy is currently on the way from the COMC order I had shipped during the free shipping promotion.


I scanned everything from the Masterwork pack. The Count Doku and R2-D2 cards are base cards. The TIE Fighter Pilot is a Silver parallel, and the Yoda card is a Rainbow Foil parallel from the Force Display insert set. The TIE Fighter Pilot is numbered # 36 / 99, and the Yoda is numbered # 123 / 299.


The promised hit in the pack was this base autograph of Matthew Wood as General Grievous. I don't know what else to say about it. It's a Star Wars autograph that I didn't have yet, but it's not exactly what you dream of pulling from a pack of Masterwork. I've still got three more packs to go, though, although at least one of them is going to hold a manufactured medallion relic.


The UFC Chrome packs didn't have any of the two hits from the box in them, but I did find three serial-numbered cards. This Blue Wave Refractor of Stephen Thompson is the first. I think these fall one per box, and they are numbered # / 75. This one is # 20 / 75.


The other two big pulls were Refractors from insert sets. This Joanna Jędrzejczyk comes from the Fire insert, and is numbered # 89 / 99. I thought this was a pretty decent pull.


The next Refractor was this Museum Collection parallel of Dominick Cruz. I'm not a huge Cruz fan, but he's still one of the bigger names in the sport. Even without pulling a hit, I still feel like UFC Chrome is a fun product to break. The autograph checklist isn't all that strong, but I still feel like you get a decent amount of fun stuff for your dollar. I didn't scan any of the other inserts or base Refractors I pulled, and this was just 1/3 of a box. I thought about ordering a half case or full case of the stuff, but I wanted to leave room in the order for a little more variety in my break.

So that's Day 1 of the breaks. I have my spreadsheet broken out into about 25 days of stuff to open, so there will be plenty more. Tomorrow is one of the bigger days, as I'll be tearing into that box of National Treasures Racing.

14 comments:

  1. When you break the Topps High Tek. I'd love to trade for any Bosox you don't want.

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    1. We'll see what I pull! I'm really looking forward to that break. I think I have it scheduled for Day 9.

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  2. Looking forward to see what else you pull! Some great entertainment value for sure!

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  3. I actually need that Griffey lol

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    1. I can send it your way if you want. I probably owe you something anyway.

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  4. That's a ton of wax to rip! You're doing it right by spreading it out... plus, great entertainment for your readers!
    Kurt Busch does have a nice signature... much better than Joe Lauzon's... but I guess if I had to pen a capital cursive l and a lowercase z in my last name then my signature might look like that, too.
    Lastly... Boo! I don't like Count Dooku! For some reason I'm okay with Grievous though.

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    1. I know that spreading out the break is the right move, but it's tough to stay away from the card pile.

      I think having to write those letters in cursive would hurt my signature, too.

      I'm also not a fan of Dooku. I guess Christopher Lee did too good a job of playing a villain.

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  5. Any SW auto makes me smile. Then again, my name kind of gives that impression, I think.

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    1. I suppose a Jedi would be a fan of Star Wars.

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  6. Well, at least you didn't go overboard on the Black Friday purchases :)

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    1. It wasn't my intention, but it does appear that I went a little crazy on my holiday buying.

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  7. When I saw that 87 Griffey I had to a do a double take to see what baseball box you opened. Topps was heavy on 1987 this year but I didn't realize they did the same thing just a few years ago.

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    1. It seems like Topps hits up certain old designs more frequently than others. 1987 seems to be heavy in the rotation.

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