2010 Upper Deck Box Break Pack 1

Here we go - I have not seen many other bloggers go on record with this, but I will again - HAIL UPPER DECK! While in the scans something is lost when looking at the cards in bunches (Hey, you expect me to pay to put up more photos? who am I Night owl?) Card for card this Upper Deck set blows Topps out of the water. I don't care if there are or aren't logos - honestly, if I had not known there was an issue with logos, I never would have once thought of it in this set - so who cares really? I have said it before since I started this blog - I love a crisp full bleed photo, I love the sun shining on the players. On a day like today (tons of snow sitting outside, just waiting for spring training games to start) If I need a touch of summer I will always reach for one of my recent Upper Deck sets first.

Stephen Drew

Nick Green

Joe Thatcher

Augie Ojeda

Esmil Rogers - RC

Francisco Cordero (I cannot justify why I love camo jerseys in MLB)

Franklin Morales

Josh Outman (what a fantastic name for a pitcher - like Ted Power)

Aramis Ramirez

Nelson Cruz

Asdrubal Cabrera

Ian Stewart

Dan Wheeler

Joe Nathan

Torii Hunter

Citi Field

Boston Checklist

I will go on record as not being a fan of these ballpark cards. Checklist cards aren't kicking my ass either, but at least they don't look just like the base cards this year.

Torri Hunter

Mark Teixiera

Hated biography as a set idea - as a subset, I think its fine, just fine. Sure, its a large set @ 200 cards - but I bet its a pretty neat walk through of last season if you complete it.

Finally we have the Chien Ming Wang All World card. I love that UD went with die cuts for their inserts this year - Something different that really hasn't been done too much in recent history besides Timelines.

There we go, first pack done. Not the best pack, but it is a pretty good box, I was very happy with the hits that I received and you will be seeing them all shortly!

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 6

Good Saturday! Today's prick brings you the first chrome card of the boxes.

Chris Gochlan

Derrek Lee

Chris Davis

Lance Berkman

A lot of power here - we have the reigning NL ROY in Coghlan - This was a guy who all last year you just kept waiting for him to come back to earth and just never did. Good for him though - hard to not to root for a kid who wasn't even on the 40 man and won the job in spring training. Derrek Lee came back to superstar level production last year with 35 HR and 111 RBI - really great numbers for a guy a lot of people had started writing off.

Chris Davis is the new Rob Deer - when he hits it - it goes VERY far - this dude has power that very few can rival - unfortunately he's slow in the field with hard hands and couldn't hit .300 in a video game. Finally, the Big Puma or Fat Elvis Lance Berkman - This is a guy I have always liked - just seems to go about the game in the right way with the right attitude - I have to think if he plays 4 or 5 more seasons with 25/100 production he will be a Hall of Famer.

Here we have the Cincy Sluggers Juan Francisco, Jay Bruce, and Joey Votto. I don't know too much about Francisco, but did watch him play some on the Caribbean World Series on MLB Network. Seems like a nice young bat. I think Joey Votto is going to take over this league in the next three years - I can see him perennially going .300/30/100/90 - thats a hell of a player.

Finally on the card is Jay Bruce - I hope all of the pundits are right in calling for a big year from him - I heavilly invested in Jay in my Dynasty League and he could very easily cost 3 points in a roto league if he doesnt hit at least .260.

Snore - Babe anyone?

Finally we have the first Chrome card from the box in the form of Mariano Rivera #'d 1673/1961. As a Mets fan I hate this guy - as a baseball fan - he is totally incredible - no doubt about it! Looking at his stats this is amazine - in 1090 career innings Mariano has only walked 256 people. When knowing that he is always pitching in high pressure situations this dude is always one cool cat. Good for him.

A pack of 2010 Upper Deck to switch things up tomorrow.

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 5

Moving right along -

Having now really spent time with this set I have to say I am really happy with it - Although you may not have seen all of the different inserts, other than the Ruth series - I think Topps nailed it with this set - beats the shit out of the abomination that is the Topps base set this year - I will be waiting for cheap series 1 and 2 purchase on Ebay - same with the updates - Topps will be getting me to get this set in whole this year though - so thank you for that.

Brandon Inge

Scott Kazmir

Mike Scioscia

Felix Hernandez

This is the first card that I have seen of Kazmir as an Angel. It's too bad the Mets traded him because of perceived makeup issues and a little bit of pot smoking. You trade Kazmir and keep Tony Tarrasco? God - for those of you who are not Mets fans 1) you are lucky - at least Pirate fans expect their team to suck 2) Screw you - Mets rules! I Think that the Mariners made a great deal in locking up King Felix long term - this kid is young and scary good.

John Lackey

Luke Hochevar

Yuniesky Betancourt

Matt LaPorta

Boston acquired their third ace in Lackey and here he is in what I think is the first card of him as a member of the Sox. Many pundits (see the fabulous fangraphs.com) would have you believe that Yuniesky Betancourt is the worse everyday player in baseball. I am not going to try to convince you otherwise. Matt LaPorta I think will have a nice season, and I think the fact that both Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez were traded takes a lot of pressure off the kid for having to be great immediately since he was the main haul in the Captain Cheeseburger deal.

You've seen many scans by now - what do you think of the set?

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 4

Good Friday - Hope you are all faring well - Here in NY we've a shit ton of snow so I'm staying in again! By the end of this day I will be playing "Carry On My Wayward Son" on my guitar with much proficiency (I hope). But, before I get there, I do believe I promised you more Heritage!

You'll probably get another pack today, and 1 each Saturday and Sunday depending how long I want to sit here and scan - Anyway - onto the the dudes!

Daniel McCuthen RC

Checklist

These Checklists are pretty nice I guess - and it must be nice to be a young player on a shitty team - sure you will lose a lot, but you really do get to go out there and learn the game, get your reps, and hopefully be ready to really succeed once you hit your prime years and free agency.

Willy Tavarez

Brandon Webb

Mike Jacobs

Howie Kendrick

I hate Willy Tavarez - I think most fantasy owners wish that he would just always bunt. If he bunted every time up, he would still probably only hit .212, but there is nothing more frustrating than a player like him popping out to the third baseman. Brandon Webb could be in for a big year after surgery and if so Arizona will have a sweet 1/2 after Dan Haren was named the opening day starter.

Mike Jacobs is back with the Mets now - funny story about him is while he was with Florida on Hebrew heritage night they gave away Mike Jacobs shirts - nothing really funny there - but Mike isn't Jewish - I remember him giving a very confused interview before the game not knowing why they chose him.
Carlos Delgado - Los gets his own scan due to his SPness - I kinda just said penis - good for me I guess.
Here is the back of the card, you will notice the SPs are lighter backed than the normal cards - just like Carlos's palms.
I hate these fucking Babe Ruth cards - anyone like these? I'll trade for other inserts or SPs (really I am just talking big here - if you hold out I'll trade for a french fry or Marvin Freeman RC)
See ya in a few hours.

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 2

Away we go!

First up

Rafael Furcal

Gio Gonzalez

Curtis Granderson

Now Granderson was the first big trade of the offseason and I think Topps did a nice job of getting all of the big news in their new uniforms, but you can really tell that this one is shopped - of all of the times they did this that I noticed my first run through the packs, this was by far one of the worst.

Drew Stubbs

Paul Maholm

Casey Blake

Here we have a trio of players that you would like to have on your team, but don't really care either way about. Stubbs looks like he could turn into a 15-25 type guy and is the new Willy Tavarez in Cincy. Casey Blake has a very workmanlike beard. This I do appreciate.

Finally a couple of manager cards making their first appearance on the blog.

Jim Leyland

Dave Trembley

I cannot have any man named Jim cross my path without wanting to put the word "Hacksaw" in front of it.

Jim Leyland

"Hacksaw" Jim Leyland

See - it's totally cooler - not that JL needs help being cool - this man smokes like a chimney and I cannot wait to see him navigate his teams new no smoking on stadium property rule.

There we go - more coming!

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 1 (Hit)

So here we go - Normally I don't posts up back to back, but I will do a few here today since I don't see a lot of breaks out there just yet - let you all see how the cards are falling - Quick note - the packs from 2 boxes got mixed up, so if the other hit shows up soon, I didn't beat the odds on anything. Got the right amount of SPs and everything else, just threw all the packs in one place to make them easier to carry.

Garret Jones

Josh Johnson

Jason Varitek

J.J. Hardy

Of this group the only player I feel is really noteworthy is Josh Johnson - To think we are going to have to go against this guy 3-6 times a season is a tough proposition as he is already in the conversation for best starter in the NL East after Santana and Halliday.

Here are 2 rookie gold cups and an actual rookie. I think we all know that Tommy Hanson might already be in the same class as Josh Johnson - a dude who you do not want to see on the mound if you don't have an A on your hat. I got to watch him a few times on the extra innings package last year and it really was a treat to see him pitch.

We also have our 2nd photoshop job of the pack - Hardy was in his Twins uni and now we have Chris Getz in his Royal Blues - I think that Chris came over w/ Josh Fields in the Mark Teahan deal - is that right? Finally we have Boston rookie Dustin Richardson and the new rookie card logo - cool I guess.

Finally, we have our first hit of the 2 boxes - now I think we can all agree that the relic hits in the Heritage series are usually something along the lines of hot garbage covered in baby shit. Something no one really ever wants. Anyway, I was able to get an auto of Rocky Bridges. I don't know anything about this dude, just that he looked about the age of 63 in his playing days and this card is numbered 52/61.

There you go! More on the way today/tomorrow rest of your goddamn lives.

2010 Topps Heritage 2 Box Break - Pack 3

On we go with another pack of 2010 Topps Heritage and what will be the last of the day - I will have some more tomorrow.

Ricky Nolasco

Chris Young

Denard Span

Ricky Nolasco was the third pick my Dynasty Leagues expansion draft this winter - if he can perform like he did at the end of last season, Florida has a very nice 1/2 punch with him and Josh Johnson. Young and Span are 2 more players who should be entering their prime and while they may not be all stars, you can do a lot worse than running them out there every day/5 days.

Michael Saunders

Justin Morneau

Mike Fontenot

Justin upton

Now we are talking pulling 2 of the best young sluggers in baseball in the form of former MVP Justin Morneau and Justin Upton - 2 Justin's, how about that? Upton is my biggest regret from my dynasty draft last year - I didn't call him until very late then let myself get outbid because I still needed a closer (Joel or Jack Hannahan from Washington - fuck my life). Rumor has it this Saunders kid has quite a bat - I wonder what kind of PT he will get in Seattle since they seem to be going for the gold this year instead of running with the kids - time will tell.

Here are some Giants.

I was hoping that you would just see Randy Johnson peeking through some people in the back row not using a riser - that would have me happy.

See ya tomorrow!

2010 Heritage 2 Box Break - Toppers and Buyback

Good afternoon - ahem - morning - Sorry for another absence - the flu just killed me last week and then when I felt better, had many other things that needed to be done. I should be able to focus more time here in the near future - I am appox 6000 cards away from being 100% organized and filed - so that big project is almost done!

Anyway - grabbed 2 boxes of the 2010 Heritage and just to get this started Here are the box toppers and buy back card I got.

I've seen a few places where these stamp sheets were called boring - while they are not super exciting, I feel they make for an interesting piece to try to get some TTM autos going. Even if you do not want a Sizemore or Choo auto - really any Indian would work - Something I might have to look into. I didn't scan the back, but it is pretty neat - Has a list of where they played in 1961 and then a career list of all hitting and pitching records for the team. I like.

Next topper has a Met on it, Mr. John Maine (who was recently dubbed the fastest ((or one of)) talkers in major league baseball). Next up is Mat Latos who I am trying to trade for daily in my dynasty league but I cannot get Chuck to let him go - one of these days - I really don't understand how Yovani Gallardo is not enough for Brad Lidge and Mat Latos - fucker. Finally there is Jackie Robinson who was the first African American to get a seat at Denny's.

I was happy to get a buy back card - don't really know what I am going to do with it yet though - I bring you Eddie Bressoud who (and I did not research this anymore than turning the card over) had a very average career. Stuck around for a few seasons playing at what appears to be replacement level. Good for him.
Here is the proof of mediocre stats.

There was still something really cool back here that I have not seen on a card before and bet was pretty common back in the days of war - Eddie sat out 1953-1954 for military service. Good on you Eddie - both of my bros are veterans - (I couldn't hack it) so its pretty sweet to see.

More packs to come over the next few weeks - also grabbed a box of Night Owls favorite cards 2010 Upper Deck. Leggo My Ego man!

Off With Their Heads!

Tonight I took a few hours off of work to head over to Endicott to check out a great pop punk band Off With Their Heads. Every tune has a great hook, sounds like the singer is chewing on gravel - pretty sweet tunes. Here is my favorite song by them - enjoy!

Hail Troll! Hail Troll!

I think by now each of us bloggers have had an experience with another blogger that really blew your mind as far as generosity is concerned. Whether it be rookie cards, autos, memorabilia, the giving level of this community (without asking much in return often) is by far above and beyond that of any other community I have ever been a part of.

When I returned recently, I made a mention in a post about Robin Ventura being my all time favorite player. Well our favorite bridge-dweller the Collective Troll told me that I had won a contest that nobody else even entered! Holy Shit! While his description of the prize was a bit vague - I thought I knew what was coming - "I may have a sweet spot auto of a former Mets third baseman I was going to use for a contest prize that you may have just won". Now - this could have been HoJo or Edgardo Alfonzo - 2 of my other favorite all time Mets - but I was really hoping for Robin.

I go to my mail on Saturday and I find this.

Robin Ventura sweet spot auto on official American League Baseball - looks like the ball was even practice used (small smudges of dirt) which I love that totally gives the ball more appeal to me! That means that maybe - just maybe - Robin actually did more than sign this ball, he may have actually played with it. Pretty fuckin' awesome if you ask me.

So Troll - I have you on the list for some major repayment as soon as I can come across some sweet Rays stuff to get you back. Or you can take any of the following

1) third born child

2) Topless photos of me eating pulled pork sandwiches

3) a ZJ (if you have to ask you can't handle it)

Let me know and thank you!

Strike Anywhere/Blacklisted

So just putting this out there as a quick something before I have to clean a house, do laundry, and who knows what else will come up. Next Thursday the 11th I will be heading down Wilkes Barre PA to catch my first non Binghamton punk/hardcore show in a long time. I believe that Blacklisted is headlining (2nd video) my buddy is really into them, I think its okay.

I am going for Strike Anywhere - These guys I've been fans of since 2001 when I almost booked a show for them, but had to cancel when it would have been up against Hellfest (legendary hardcore metal show in Syracuse). As a promoter cancelling this show is my biggest regret seeing as I've grown to really love this band. Intelligent, often political punk rock with a definite catchy pop edge to it. check it out and if you dig it, check out the tour dates.

Audio Bipping?

Saty tuned - someone's gonna get it.

Hell Yeah Upper Deck

So after getting (finally) a good look at the 2010 Upper Deck over @ the Cardboard Junkie I am willing to put round one of the base set battles to Upper Deck. I will not steal Dayf's scans, I'm sure everyone looks there first anyway - so I will just say this -

1) UD has once again done what it always does well. Full bleed photo, clean, non-obtrusive design, focus is on the player and the photography once again is better than Topps - even while somewhat not showing any logos....sometimes?

- Note - I thought that being unlicensed would make the set lame - totally wrong - I wish I wasn't poor as shit until my next paycheck of I would be grabbing a box or two - maybe come tax time?

2) Inserts - I feel like a dickhole because I don't remember where I just saw these and have to go to work in a few minutes, so I am not going back to look - sorry sir! Anyway - I think for the most part we all agree that the inserts in the Topps base set this year are a snore - yeah some of the tales of the game are cool - but the design is like the English Patient - boring as shit. However, a die cut Joe Mauer engulfed by flames? Fuck yeah!

3) Lastly - with all the hullabaloo going around with the lawsuits and such - Topps is your wife - you love her and things are great - She has almost everything you look for in a woman - she's a classic, she's familiar, she has logos. Upper Deck is like your girlfriend - exciting, dangerous, a little more limber... I don't think that any of us are going to leave our "wives" (Topps) for our "girlfriends" (UD) but I know this is one guy who is going to be "working late this year" (ie...buying UD boxes and just grabbing a complete Topps set off the bay).

I'm sure by now you have all seen the scans, some probably have the cards in hand - what do you think? Will you be ignoring UD (again for a lot of you - seems that UD has not always been a really popular base set on the blogs) or will you say what the hell - I'll just put the tip in? Let me know!

Kings of the Common Box - Cory In the Sky With Diamonds

One thing I wanted to do on my break was learn to appreciate the smaller things on the hobby - I often found myself building the set, pulling the hit, but not really taking the time to look at and really learn to appreciate the card.

It's a lot like dating. At first you love the girl with the sweet rack and that's enough, but eventually, when she keeps making cat noises, you realize that you'd rather be kicked in the dick by a toddler then spend another minute with her. Once you get over that plain white swatch in a card (which turns out to be that crazy laugh every time she watches "The Nanny"), you realize that you are probably not holding anything that special.

So, one of the reasons that my collation has been taking so long is that I have been making a concerted effort to really take the time to appreciate what I have - the kings of the common box you.

Our first "King of the Common Box" is non other than Cory Snyder. Cory had himself a very nice career on the strength of having good pop from the right side and a hell of an arm from the outfield. While never being a superstar, Cory enjoyed a very nice career. Unfortunately for Cory, the best parts of his career happened before his time in Major League Baseball. Cory was

a 3 time All-American @ BYU and was named to the Olympic team.

Cory did finish in the top 10 in homers a few seasons during his peak, but never fully realized all of his potential. Another reason to be a fan of Cory is that he does sign through the mail, and you can bet for sure that eventually this card will be making its way to him.

Now what is it that makes this card so kick ass? Well first, Cory is a doppelganger for Clay Morrow (or whoever the actor is that plays him) on the incredible FX show Sons of Anarchy. Next is the super obvious photo shopping of a beautiful summer sky behind him. They took what would have been a nice sliding shot of the man, stuck up a few clouds, and made themselves a very memorable card.

All Hail Cory! Hopefully the first of many.

That's Clay for the record - compare for yourself!

Redeemed

The problem with redemptions, and really pulling hits from boxes/packs is that the likelihood you are getting anything you really care about - is quite slim. It's always a thrill to pull something you love - I've been lucky enough to pull a David Wright relic before - that was pretty sweet - but usually I end up with Melvin Mora or Aramis Ramirez - (really, I've pulled 3 Aramis relics - what the hell). Now this are nice players, and there is a part of me that wants to keep these cards and just have a super relic/auto collection of anyone I can get. The rest of me says thats a super whack idea.

I've found since I have been collecting, that I value my TTM autographs a lot more than I do my certified issues. I am not sure why this is, maybe its because the TTM graphs are more personal. With that said, in the past 4 months I have gotten these 2 redemption cards back from Topps - both are totally available to anyone - I would like get a similar Mets item in return if at all possible!

First we have Jhoulys Chacin Red Hot Rookie from last years Topps set. This guy has some good buzz, and I am partially inclined to hang onto it - then I remember he pitches for Rockies. He may as well be a one legged man in an ass kicking contest - not gonna work out. I also need to dust my scanner as a 4 months of inactivity have taken its toll it appears. I promise the card is in perfect shape and not dustier than that ladies giner in Beetlejuice.

Next up is a Jed Lowrie photographer's proof auto 78/99 from 2008 Stadium Club. this is a really nice card - Simple design, nice photo, nice looking auto - problem is - it's Jed Lowrie - hell even if it was David Ortiz or Dustin Pedroia I still wouldn't be overly enthused about it.

So please - anyone interested in these cards? I would like to find them a better home where they will be loved! Looking for anything Mets (Game used, relic, redemption) or Robin Ventura in return if you have it!