Friday, May 6, 2022

It's Not Always About The Hits VI

I've noticed that Target has been the only retail store that has cards back on the shelves. Walmart still has them at the service desk and Walgreens has them at the registers facing the cashier so you can't even tell what they have.

The best deal still is the 1500 box of "commons" for 10 bucks which I occasionally find at my LCS. Just like buying packs, some are duds and some are good. This post is very "scan?" heavy as there was quite a bit of variety in this one.

 Shall we begin?

1990 Score Baseball - 39 cards.


2015 Topps Series 1 Baseball - 177 cards.


2016 Donruss Optic Football - 2 cards.


2019 Panini Rookies & Stars Football - 26 cards.


2019 Panini Prestige Football - 14 cards. 


2005 - 06 Upper Deck Basketball - 5 cards.


2019 Topps Series 1 Baseball - 117 cards.


2005 Upper Deck Baseball - 1 card.


2007 Upper Deck Baseball - 9 cards. 


2006 Upper Deck Baseball  - 11 cards.


2017 Donruss Baseball  - 1 card.


2020 Gypsy Queen Baseball  - 1 card.


2017 Topps Gallery Baseball - 1 card.


2016 Topps Chrome Baseball - 1 card.


1994 Topps Finest Baseball - 2 cards.


1994 Collector's Choice Baseball - 2 cards. 


2008 Upper Deck Documentary Baseball - 2 cards.

1998 Fleer Tradition Baseball - 116 cards.

1996 Topps Stadium Club Baseball - 12 cards.

A bunch of Lee Smiths.

A couple of Tom Boltons.


And a lot..


...a real lot...








...of Frank Thomas.

With a couple of Derek Jeters at the end.

Those 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier cards were once going for $18 each. Now you use them as shipping material.

And the player collections keep on coming...

...John Marzano 



Scott Hatteberg


Rich Gedman and a lone Marc Sullivan.



More Red Sox catchers...John Flaherty and Rick Cerone.





A bunch more Red Sox with a trio of Marlin uniform wearing Adrian Gonzalez.

Let's not forget about the silver parallel.


2017 - 18 Donruss Optic Basketball - 39 cards.


2018 - 19 Donruss Basketball - 4 cards.


1994 - 95 Fleer Basketball - 11 cards.


2021 Topps Update Chrome - 22 cards.


2016 - 17 Donruss Optic Basketball - 1 card.


2018 - 19 Donruss Optic Basketball - 4 cards.


2019 - 20 Mosiac Basketball - 68 cards.


2019 - 20 Panini Prizm Basketball - 27 cards.


2018 - 19 Panini Threads Basketball - 25 cards. 


2018 - 19 Panini Prizm Basketball - 12 cards.


2020 Bowman Chrome Baseball - 7 cards.


2020 Panini Prizm Football - 14 cards.


2020 - 21 Panini Revolution Basketball - 14 cards.


2013 Topps Pristine - 1 card.


2013 Score Football - 1 card.


2018 Panini Illusions Football - 1 card. 


2018 Panini Certified Football - 2 cards.


2019 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Football - 1 card.


2015 Topps Chrome Football - 8 cards.


2019 Panini Absolute Football - 1 card.


2020 Panini Phoenix Football - 12 cards


2020 Panini Illusions Football - 5 cards.



2007 Topps Football - 15 cards.


2011 - 12 Panini Contenders Hockey- 3 cards.


2010 - 11 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey - 54 cards.


2013 - 14 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey - 48 cards.


2011 - 12 Upper Deck Black Diamond Hockey - 74 cards.


2011 - 12 Upper Deck Ice Hockey - 3 cards.


2018 - 19 UD Ice Hockey - 19 cards.


2016 Panini Collegiate Draft Picks Football - 10 cards.


2003 - 04 Upper Deck Basketball - 81 cards.


2020 - 21 Panini Contenders Draft Picks  - 16 cards.


2019 - 20 Panini Contenders Draft Picks  - 25 cards.


2020 Panini Mosaic Football - 14 cards.


Closing out this box were some assorted baseball...






...and a lot more football.

Quite a lot of variety here and to answer a question that was asked about a previous "It's Not Always About The Hits" post,

I am a set builder and set collector, so yes I do build sets out of these. I find it far cheaper this way. Granted they aren't really all commons, there are a lot of star cards and inserts too. The duplicate cards I don't need I use as trade bait or occasionally sell. 


Thanks for reading!



What I'm Listening To While I Post This 

Into The Groove - Madonna






Friday, April 29, 2022

2021 Topps Archives

Unfortunately I was not able to open any 2020 Topps Archives, as I could not find any online or in any stores. Fortunately 2021 was different and I was able to get a few blasters over time (paying $19.99 a blaster).


Here is the first of them. Let's see how I did!

 Pack 1


Nico Hoerner (1983 Design)
Ronald Acuna Jr (1973 Design)
Duke Snider (1983 Design)
Codi Heuer (1983 Design)
David Ortiz (1957 Design)
Johnny Bench 1989 Topps Big Foil
Charlie Blackmon (2091 Design)
Edward Olivares (2011 Design)
Mickey Moniak (2011 Design)

Pack 2


Liam Hendriks (1983 Design)
Mike Piazza (1983 Design)
Mariano Rivera (1957 Design)
Gerrit Cole (1962 Design)
Reggie Jackson (1957 Design)
Kyle Seager (1957 Design)
Ryan Weathers (2001 Design)
Cody Bellinger (2011 Design)

Pack 3


Cavan Biggio (1962 Design)
Frank Thomas (1957 Design)
Daz Cameron (1962 Design)
Kyle Isbel (1962 Design)
Juan Soto 1963 Topps Peel-Offs
Pedro Martinez 1989 Topps Big Foil
Juan Soto (2011 Design)
Alan Trammell (2011 Design)
Jesus Luzardo (2091 Design)

Pack 4


Christian Walker (1962 Design)
Anthony Rizzo (1957 Design)
Carlos Correa (1962 Design)
Jim Thome (1957 Design)
Mitch Haniger (1962 Design)
Jose Barrero (2001 Design)
Luis Garcia (2001 Design)
Michael Brantley (2011 Design)

Pack 5


Joe Carter (1957 Design)
George Brett (1957 Design)
Tarik Skubal (1957 Design)
Matt Olsen (1962 Design)
Brandon Lowe (1962 Design)
The Big Red Machine Movie Poster Card
Derek Jeter (2091 Design)
Barry Larkin (2011 Design)

Pack 6


Marcus Stroman (1973 Design)
Starling Marte (1991 Design)
Trevor Story (1973 Design)
Cy Young (1973 Design)
Ha-Seong Kim (1983 Design)
Pavin Smith Green Parallel 63/125 (2011 Design)
Daulton Varsho (2001 Design)
Wilson Contreras (2091 Design)

Pack 7


Alex Bregman (1962 Design)
Andre Dawson (1957 Design)
Aaron Nola (1973 Design)
Mike Trout (1991 Design)
Trevor Story 1989 Topps Big Foil
Nate Pearson 1991 Bazooka Shining Stars
Ryan Jeffers (2011 Design)
Mike Moustakas (2011 Design)
Alec Bohm (2001 Design)

I always enjoy this set...my favorite Design is the 91's although the 57's come in a close second. I don't care too much for the 2091 Design though. My favorite insert is the 91 Bazooka. 

Thanks for reading!

What I'm Listening To While I Post This 

Lovesong  - The Cure

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

2021 Topps Chrome Update

My work schedule requires me to be on the road all day traveling from job to job. One of the worst things about the pandemic wasn't the lack of baseball cards, but the lack of available bathrooms. My local Target is one of my frequent rest room stops and on one occasion I happened to show up as the baseball card section was being stocked.

I wasn't going to be a stalker so I left and came back later in the evening and picked up a box of 2021 Topps Chrome Update. It was a bit pricey at $49.99 and most of the reviews of it I read were not good. So let's take the risk, shall we?

Pack 1


Amed Rosario
Andrew Benintendi
Estevan Florial Purple Refractor
Nate Lowe

Pack 2


Jameson Taillon
Keibert Ruiz Purple Refractor 
Shane Bieber ASG
Wilson Ramos

Pack 3


Steven Matz
Ka'ai Tom
Evan White Purple Refractor 
Hunter Renfroe

Pack 4



Jorge Mateo
Willy Adames
Nick Gordon Purple Refractor 
Alex Manoah

Pack 5


Hirokazu Sawamura
Akil Baddoo 
Hunter Renfroe Purple Refractor 
Andres Gimenez

Pack 6


Ke'Bryan Hayes Rookie Debut 
Luis Patino Purple Refractor
Max Scherzer Platinum Players Die-Cut
Alec Bohm Rookie Debut 

Pack 7


Clarke Schmidt Rookie Debut
Andrew Vaughn Purple Refractor 
Joey Bart Black Gold
Deivi Garcia Rookie Debut

Pack 8


Shane McClanahan Rookie Debut 
Andrew Vaughn Rookie Debut 
Nate Lowe Purple Refractor 
Sam Huff Rookie Debut 

Pack 9


Geraldo Perdomo
Wilson Ramos Purple Refractor 
Fernando Tatis Jr. All-Star Game
Nick Madrigal Rookie Debut 

Pack 10


Kevin Pillar
Charlie Morton
Alex Manoah Purple Refractor 
Mitch Moreland

Looks like the reviews were pretty accurate. I did whiff quite spectacularly on pulling the bigger cards but I have a second box waiting in the wings. Hopefully that box presents better results.

Thanks for reading!


What I'm Listening To While I Post This 

Jump - Van Halen