Home of the Toddfather Groupbreak - Dbacktastic

Sometimes you don't get around to scanning your cards.  Perhaps you scanned cards the day before and another package arrives in the mail in the mail the next day.  Or you take your new cards, flip through them and gently place them on the bookcase facing the window in an oh-so-neat stack, so you can look through them again.  Usually, you just forget you didn't scan something and when you go to write up your group break results, you realize you have no images to share.  Sure, I could get up off the couch, walk all the way over to the scanner, turn it on, turn the scanner's computer on, wait for the computer to load, scan the pictures, rename and save the scanned pictures and upload them to Photobucket, but I got tired typing that, so I would clearly be exhausted from actually performing such actions.

So, way back in November, The Toddfather had a group break.  There was 2012 Topps Chrome, 2012 Topps Update (long before I bought that fabled, overpriced box) and 2012 Topps Pro Debut.  With the breaking filling up rapidly, a search of the checklists indicated that I just might like a Trevor Bauer or Slidin' Billy Hamilton card for my collection.  I did realize that the Billy Hamilton stealing all the bases in the minor leagues was not the zombie of the Phillies' greatest base thief from the 1890s, but still remained interested in his cards.

Topps Chrome brought some base cards to my collection and a reminder that I do not like the very shiny Topps Chrome cards, as the "chrome" obscures the color.  As to Pro Debut, there was no Slidin' Billy Hamilton, but I did get a Trevor Bauer.  I was awfully close to scanning the Trevor Bauer, even going so far as to put it in the scanning pile, but I couldn't bring myself to make more than two scans of cards, so an editorial decision was made to take it out of the pile.



The black bordered Topps John McDonald is numbered to 61.  Surprisingly, I also pulled a black border Henry Blanco when I opened my box of Topps Update, giving me two of the Diamonbacks limited to 61. If I was a Diamondbacks fan, I would be stoked and trying to put together the whole set in black borders, but I'm not, so I'll stick to the surprise of Henry Blanco being a major league catcher at 40, as he was not much of a catcher at 30.



I also ended up with a gold bordered Trevor Cahill, showing I have the touch for getting numbered Diamondback cards from Topps flagship group breaks.  I would show you some Reds, but there was nothing noteworthy enough to scan.  Despite getting teams which are well outside my wheelhouse, it was still quite the enjoyable group break and I would like to extend my thanks to the Toddfather for running such a fine break.

Trade with ARPSmith and a Bowman Chrome Update

At today's show, I was able to valiantly resist purchasing an entire box of Bowman Chrome at the show today.  Seventy two cards in a box is not sufficient for my opening needs, even at reduced show prices.  I did break down and purchase one pack.  My one thought on the base cards in the pack were "Wasn't this the same design as last year and the year before?"  I'm sure there is a difference, but I would be hard pressed to know what it is.  I also ended up pulling the following Nolan Arenado insert, which is super-shiny, but otherwise a card destined to sit in my boxes until it ends up somewhere else.



A few weeks ago, I worked a primarily "vintage" for new, glossy cards deal with Adam over at ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession.  As I was leaving for a short vacation last week, a hefty box arrived filled with cards from Adam.  The cards put a significant dent in my want lists towards completing sets, while the 1973 Topps cards heading west are unlikely to be missed.



There was a strong showing for all three 2012 Topps sets, though Series 1 and 2 dominated, as I purchased a box of neither this year.  The Willis and Ramirez cards showcase the players with teams you will never remember ten years from now.  In fact, I had already forgotten Dontrelle spent time with the Cincinnati Reds and this doesn't even cover the Diamondback, Phillie or Oriole portions of his career.



There was also a fairly large amount of 2012 Topps Archives in the box as well, somewhere in the neighborhood of half a set.  As you can might have guessed, my favorite design is the 1984 Topps, which I grew up with.  Yogi barely edged out the Babe for scanning.  I also have come very close to finishing the 2011 Topps Lineage set as well.  The Wagner is a nice addition to any set, since I am such a sucker for pre-war players on post-war cards.



Finally, we have the above.  My almost certainly misguided attempt to complete the 2010 Topps T206 Mini set was greatly aided by the box, knocking 30 or so cards off my list.  Kendrick's card has one of my favorite backgrounds from the original set, which is found on Hall of Famer George Davis's card.  The Diamond Stars Foxx is from CMG reprints set.  Given my new focus on the set, we may see Mr. Foxx appear again quite soon.  Finally, there is Tris Speaker on a 2000 Topps card.  Having went 15 years without thinking about baseball cards, I was almost surprised that there was no original 2000 Topps Tris Speaker card as some kind of shortprint.

Well, I hope Adam is as happy with his haul, as I am with mine.

Box Break: 2012 Topps Update

This box was quite the harrowing adventure, as I drove across state to be disappointed, only to find redemption, salvation, no a box of acceptably priced Topps Update, which I have purchased, looked at longingly in the box for an hour, then finally made it home to open. 

I called ahead today and found a store whose Topps Update arrived.  Usually, my luck at this store was quite good.  So, very excited and beating traffic on one of the scariest roads in the state, I arrive in 30 minutes, which is akin to a land speed record.  I stealthily walk inside, not arousing the attention of the owner from his computer.  I look in the cases, as I like to do, see nothing and start to search for the red box on the shelf. 

Moving deeper in the store, I spy the boxes, both jumbo and regular.  I see the jumbo pack has a hot sticker on it.  And a price tag of $16.75 for a pack pre-tax.  I start hearing the nothingness of white noise and venture deeper in the store.  There, I see a hobby box of 2012 Topps Update...$89.95.  At this point, deep in the store, the owner turns around and asks if I was the caller who asked about the 2012 Topps Update.  With nothing but the words hanging in the air for the briefest of moments, when I lie and say no.  Deterred by the ridiculous price, I walk towards the front of the store and make a quick escape, where from my phone, I find boxes online are $59.95 without searching.  Card store owner 1, motivated customer 0.

So, I head to another local card store, which I tend to not care for, but has the advantage of being open late.  After a ten mile drive, I arrive with no hope in my heart.  I expect the box here to be $110 and the jumbo box to be $200, but instead the box was acceptably priced and purchased for my consumption.



The box opened with the above Harper and a Yu Darvish card in the same pack.  Things were looking very up for this box.  Sadly, we reached the near pinnacle of what the box had to offer right then and there.  About 15 packs in, I found my guaranteed autograph or relic...



I suspect there might be one or two names on the list of potential suspects who would be less desirable, but I was hard pressed to pick any of them from the checklist, perhaps Chris Perez, but he at least is occasionally newsworthy. 



The actual box was overflowing with inserts, as I pulled 71 from a standard hobby box.  Mostly Reds and Series 2 Gold Cards, but a great number of inserts.  There were 22 gold cards (none from Series 1) with the best being the Sabathia shown above, 9 Golden Moments, 9 Golden Moments Sparkle cards with the best being the Kemp shown above, 6 Diamond Giveaway, 9 Blockbusters, 9 1987 Minis, 4 Golden Greats (3 Reds and an Andre Dawson).  There were also the following cards, yearning to save the quality of the box, which in all honesty, was likely in the bottom tenth percentile in terms of overall card quality, as there was also nary a short print to be found. 

There was however, a Black card numbered to 61 in the box.  Of course, the card was Henry Blanco, which while a fine reminder that he was still in the league, he is still short of being ironically interesting like the Gold Sparkle Jamie Moyer and Kevin Millwood cards I pulled. 



And, as hope was leaving the box and change was only what I ended up with at the store, I pulled the below card.



The actual picture of our President is quite scary, as he looks old, not regular old, but a creepy, life-drained old, which is not how I remember the leader of the free world.  Quite honestly, it is an awful picture, but an awful picture in a winnable state.  Part of me is very interested in collecting the whole set once the election and the redemptions are over, though I suspect seeing the same picture 50 or so times with just a change in state name will leave me cold and likely halt my collection where it is at.  Unless I add a Romney for card debates.

What the box did have going for it was collation.  There was not one duplicate amongst the 359 cards pulled from the box (thank you Ruiz relic) and I only need another 42 to complete my base set.  I think the number of lower grade inserts in the box verges on excessive, since there was no need for 22 gold cards.  Actually, the collation on the gold cards was a fail, since an entire series was not represented in the box.  Otherwise, I think this is a quality product, just sadly, one of the worst boxes from this quality product to represent its value.