Recent Stuff...

Hey guys, I just got some redemption mail. It says it is from Tristar Inc, but I've seen that with other people and I'm assuming it's Topps. Back at Valentines Day, I pulled a redemption. I got the card today, and it's really nice. It is probably the nicest refractor style I've seen.

Also, I forgot to post this but Mike recently got his redemption in as well, and here is what it looks like...


If you remember from the Heroes Football Box, Mike pulled this redemption, and just got it in, so it only took about a month and a 1/2.

Also, I've had this saved as a draft for probably a week by now, because I didn't understand the issues with the printer, but I also got some more mail. Check it out...

Yes, for my Hall Of Fame PC, a legendary Red Sox player Carl Yastremski Game Worn Jersey Card numbered out of 99. See Ya!

Funny...

Look at CC in the background... (by the way the picture is of Brian Bruney)

Some Recent Stuff

Hey guys, haven't put anything up in a while, and some things have gone on recently. Here is the section that I would like to call "What's New":

- I already posted about my anger of Panini buying Donruss, but here are some things I just have acquired or thought about:
- Group Breaks would be great, but I don't know if my parents would let me or how I could come up with enough people.
- Cooperstown Is Coming Up! Can't wait to visit the Hall of Fame, stores, and card shops! I'm thinking about a tin of Sweet Spot Classic but I'm not sure from there.
- The 3rd Quarter Spectacular! Possibly the spectacular will be combined with Cooperstown, but if not, I'm looking to get a box of Topps 09, and possibly do a split with Sweeny, which could either be 2 boxes of 07 Fleer Ultra SE or it could be a box of that plus an extra pack to make it six packs of Fleer Ultra SE.
- I made a HUGE trade with Mike, (36 for 36!) just got rid of some doubles.
- Lastly, I picked up this for $3.00 shipped on eBay of my newest PC boy:

Yep, that's right. A Brian Bruney 2009 UD Inkredible Autograph Card. I met Bruney a couple years ago, and I'm glad I'm going to start to collect him. I may send out a TTM to Bruney, and I'll keeping a close look on his eBay auctions, most of which don't get a bid. If you are wondering who he is, he is the set-up pitcher to Mariano Rivera on the Yankees, and you could see his stats here.

So, 6 last things want to say to finish off the longest article I've written so far on Blogger:

- I want to try Fantasy Baseball on ESPN.com
- I just ordered a card off eBay and it should be coming soon (hint: it's from 2005 UD Heroes baseball)
- Still waiting for Brad Smith to send me back the TTM I sent out.
- Still waiting for my Red Hot Rookie Redemption #13
- I'm not going to have a PC of Robinson Cano or A-Rod, but will collect some of their cards.
- I picked Louisville to win it all, but I want Syracuse

It's Official

Panini officially bought Donruss. For a baseball/football collector, I'm playing it completely safe in baseball with the loss of Donruss/Leaf/Score/Playoff. But in football, it's a different story. These are the products I will lose in baseball:

- Donruss Threads
- Donruss Elite Extra Edition
- Donruss Americana Sports Legends
- Playoff Contenders
- Playoff Prime Cuts IV

That list doesn't really matter to me. Out of all 5 of those companies, I have bought one pack of Threads and 1 pack of Elite Extra Edition. I hated Prime Cuts enough already, and Playoff Contenders is new and I don't collect prospects, so already 3/5 of these products I don't care about, plus Prime Cuts so its 4/5. I never got anything from Sports Legends so I can't tell if I like it or not, but from the likes of it, I don't think so. Here is a list in comparison with the football brands that I will lose:

- Donruss Classics
- Donruss Elite
- Donruss Gridiron Gear
- Donruss Threads
- Leaf Certified Materials
- Leaf Limited
- Leaf Rookies & Stars
- Playoff Absolute Memorabilia
- Playoff National Treasures
- Playoff Prestige
- Score Football
- Score Select

OK, this is ridiculous. If you are a football fan, please tell me now that Pangini now owns every piece of success in the football card industry. Here is that list one more time but I will tell you how many times I bought it:

- Donruss Classics (1 Blaster and some packs)
- Donruss Elite (nothing)
- Donruss Gridiron Gear (1 hobby box, 1 retail box, and more separates)
- Donruss Threads (3 retail packs or so)
- Leaf Certified Materials (1 hobby pack)
- Leaf Limited (nothing)
- Leaf Rookies & Stars (2 retail packs)
- Playoff Absolute Memorabilia (6 retail packs)
- Playoff National Treasures (billionares dream)
- Playoff Prestige (2 packs)
- Score Football (2 jumbo packs)
- Score Select (nothing)

So, 4 out of 13 products listed I haven't bought (NT, Score Select, Leaf Limited, and Donruss Elite). About 60 packs I have gotten (about 28 or so I bought) between these products, and Gridiron Gear was no doubt my favorite, especially because of this card:


This card may look like this next year:


Well Football Collectors, enjoy your Panini!

2 Pack Recap

Hey guys, Drew back here with a 2 recent pack break recap. My dad randomly told me Wednesday to look in some random places where he hid 2 hobby packs, which if you're looking dad, thanks again. The two packs were of Spectrum 09 and Topps Heritage High Numbered Edition. Here is the small recap.

Heritage 08 High #ed
1: Geovany Soto
2: Justin Duchscherer
3: Edinson Volquez
4: Ryan Dempster
5: Jose Molina
6: Angel Berroa
7: Ben Sheets All Star from UHH
8: Chris Aguila from UHH

Spectrum
1: Joakim Soria
2: Brandon Phillips
3: Wayne Gretzky 20th Anniversary
4: Rich Harden
5: Hanley Ramirez

So, I just wanted to throw that out for you guys. By the way, go check out if you haven't already, Dan from Saints From The Cheap Seats' blog. He became my first follower, and gave a good amount of advice. Hopefully, this could be the start of something. I have a small mailday coming in soon, and of course, very soon is my trip to Cooperstown with my dad. Thanks, & See Ya!

drewscards Box Breaks Grading

Hey everyone, Drew back here. A while back I decided to give my opinions on all the boxes I opened, as far as a buy/pass on kind of product. Here are all the grades I've given on products in the past:

Baseball
2010:
- Topps Allen & Ginter: A
- Topps Flagship: B+
- Topps 206: B+
- TriStar OBAK: B+

2009:
- Topps Allen & Ginter: A
- Topps Chrome: B+
- Upper Deck Piece of History: C

2008:
- Topps Allen & Ginter: A+
- Upper Deck Baseball Heroes: A
- UD Masterpieces: A
- Donruss Threads: A
- UD SP Legendary Cuts: B-
- Upper Deck Piece of History: B+
- Upper Deck X: B-

2007:
- Upper Deck Masterpieces: A+
- Upper Deck Sweet Spot: A-
- Bowman's Best: A-
- Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic: C

Football
2009:
- Upper Deck Philadelphia: A
- Donruss Threads: B+

2008:
- Donruss Gridiron Gear: A+
- Upper Deck Football Heroes: C-

2007:
- Bowman Jumbo HTA: D

Upper Deck 2009 Blaster Recap

Hey guys, Drew back here with a blaster box of 09 Upper Deck. Very nice product, and I was happy with all the inserts. The hit was pretty nice, and I really like this year's UD Jersey Card designs. So, here is the product breakdown:

Guaranteed
8 Cards Per Pack
10 Packs Per Blaster Box
1 Jersey Card
1 Gold Parallel Numbered to 99

What I Got
80 Base Cards
3 Yankees To Add To My PC (Alfredo Aceves RC, Melky Cabrera, and Jorge Posada)
Bill Hall Gold Parallel #ed/99
3 Yankee Stadium Legacy Cards (A-Rod, Joba, and Mariano Rivera)
4 Triple Leaders Inserts (Cubs, A's, Diamondbacks, & Marlins)
Starquests:
Grady Sizemore Gold/Rare
Jose Reyes Blue/Uncommon
David Ortiz Black/Ultra Rare!
Rivals Insert David Ortiz/Derek Jeter
ALDS Game 3 (Documentary) K-Rod
20th Anniversary Card- Colorado gets nod in AP or something
O-Pee-Chee Insert: Travis Hafner & Josh Hamilton
Historic Firsts: First Female Ever To Be Promoted To US 4 Star General
Jersey Card: Victor Martinez Single GU

Rookies:
Fernando Perez (Rays)
Wil Venable (Padres)
Alfredo Aceves (Yankees)
Aaron Cunningham (A's)

Here is a picture of the Victor Martinez Single Swatch:

I also picked up 3 mixed packs:

1- Upper Deck Timeline: John Smoltz, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy, Masahide Kobayashi RC, Roy White YSL, Vintage UD Design Ken Griffey Jr (White Sox)

2- Topps Heritage High Numbered (2008): Mark Ellis, Ben Zobrist, Marcus Thames, Rockies Team, Royals Team, Chris Dickerson RC, Topps U&H Rob Mackowiak & Chipper Jones All Star

3- Topps Murad: Bill Bradley, Rashad McCants, Ray Allen Mini, George Gervin, David Robinson, & JaVale McGee

Thanks for viewing and See Ya!

Kim Kardashian Makes the cover of this Year's Spectrum

This scares me. Hopefully not in 25 years they won't be making their millionth Americana. Spectrum is a horrible product, but putting someone like Kardashian on there rather than her boyfriend, Reggie Bush, who even on a baseball product would look better than her, starts to waste money. Check out this autograph checklist for the celebrities:

Lou Albano
B-Real
Burt Reynolds
Cheech Marin
Chris “Kid” Reid
Ed O’Neill
Henry Hill
Ian Somerhalder
Jodie Sweetin
Khloe Kardashian
Kim Kardashian
Kris Jenner
Kourtney Kardashian
Linda Hamilton
Maggie Grace
Missy Hyatt
Martin Klebba
Audrina Partridge
Matt Prokop
Shanna Moakler
Tammy Sytch
Tommy Chong
Torrie Wilson

Who would buy a box of this? There are no autos I would want in this entire checklist. Again, Baseball players please. Like, for example, Mike and I's box of Heroes football. We got more Tony Iommi cards then Jets. We got more Steve Gay cards than Giants. That is ridiculous. Upper Deck, why don't you please just take all of that garbage out of my baseball product and make a whole product that has all that junk in it so you guys that hate this article can go out and buy one. Think about this:

At first this was a baseball card:

Now this is what we are buying:

Ok, so think about that next time you want one of these, unless you hate this article. See Ya!

Notice how it says "Spectrum of Stars" in quotations! Spending 80 bucks for Cheech Marin. I'd rather buy a case of Yugi-oh!

Which do you like the most?

Yeah, I Know that we all hate sticker autographs. But which one do you think is the best or is the worst?

Topps: (if you haven't seen them before, on the top it says Topps Certified and on the bottom it says Autograph Issue. It's kinda hard to see it)

Upper Deck: (the sticker with nothing on it, but in the light it says Authentic Autographs with a logo with an a all over it, you can't see the logos in the picture)

Donruss: (You can't see anything here again, but in the light it says Authentic Autographs (i think) all over it in the background.)

In my opinion, I sort of don't mind the Topps on that specific Beam Team (from Stadium Club) Autograph. But they look real bad in other places like Topps Sterling, which I think should go to on-card autos. They aren't that bad on Triple Threads, but I could also name some products where the sticker design sucks in. With the Upper Deck, I hate those stickers. The card is a Fleer one, but hopefully you know that Upper Deck owns Fleer and Fleer is closing down. It is an auto of Kevin Kouzmanoff from Fleer Ultra SE 2007, and is numbered out of 199. Everything about the card is nice except the stupid looking sticker in the middle of it. At least make it look nice or something, but just a plain old sticker that should have no use in the fun of opening packs. In Upper Deck Baseball Heroes 2008, I can't describe it, just look at the picture below:

Do you notice the extension off the corners of the sticker? That is just ugly, and in this case when I can live with that sticker somewhat, that extension just ruins it. Finally Donruss, my favorite football company, has sub-par autograph stickers. The example I have is a Leaf Certified 2008 autograph, which as you hopefully know Donruss owns Leaf, and it of Jermichael Finley. The stickers I can live with, but I don't like them all that much.

So give me your opinion on what you think. This is my order: 1) Topps, 2) Donruss, and 3) Upper Deck. My love for Upper Deck is starting to fade away somehow. Have you seen the 5 products written about by Wax Heaven? Spectrum, SPX, X, Icons, and Piece of History (which I like a little), he says look terrible. I agree with the first 4. They look like something you could pull in a Yugioh pack. As the companys get more advanced with technology, like Toppstown, Upper Deck U, Upper Deck Kids.com, and Topps Attax, what ever happen to those great products. I think I'll stick to 07 and 08 products thank you very much. Thanks for viewing, and see ya!

First 2009 Baseball Cards for me!

Yes that is right. I bought 4 packs of 2009 Topps. I also got 3 2008 football packs: Heroes, Icons, and Masterpieces. Here is the recap:

Pack 1 (08 UD Icons Football): Base Pack with a silver foil card of Jamal Lewis. The base were Peyton Manning, LT, Jonathan Vilma, and Wes Welker. Good players in that pack

Pack 2 (08 UD Heroes Football): All Base. They were: Justin Heyward (Guitar Heroes YIPEE), Jackie Joyner Kersee (my 3rd of this "Sport Hero" in a swimsuit YIPEE), J Leman RC, Chad Henne RC, Chad Ocho Cinco, and Joseph Addai. Horrible pack, and I will never touch this product again.

Pack 3 (08 UD Masterpieces Football): Herm Edwards (when he played for the Eagles, which I didn't even know), Dan Marino (very nice card), Dwight Clark (sick), and Gale Sayers (another sweet one) Very nice pack

PACK 4 (2009 TOPPS SERIES 1 1st of 4): Andruw Jones, Angel Berroa, AJ Pierzynski, Elijah Dukes, Josh Hamilton, Toppstown A-Rod (the gold version), RC James McDonald, RC Gaby Sanchez, Joe Torre, Brandon Moss, RC Dexter Fowler, and Ubaldo Jimenez. Nice pack

PACK 5 (2009 TOPPS SERIES 1 2nd of 4): Brandon Wood, Andrew Miller, Juan Uribe, Johan Santana, League Leaders (LL) C. Jones Pujols M. Holliday, Albert Pujols normal Toppstown, Topps Attax Insert (probably a dummy), Xavier Nady, Evan Longoria 2008 AL Rookie of the Year, Mickey Mantle, Chase Utley, Ty Wiggington, and Dallas McPherson. Nice pack, I'll discuss it all later

PACK 6 (2009 TOPPS SERIES 1 3rd of 4): Erick Aybar, Ryan Rowland Smith, Joe Mather, LL Miguel Cabrera C. Quentin and A-Rod, Matt Stairs Postseason Highlights, LL Ryan Howard D. Wright & A. Gonzalez, Legends of the Game Jimmie Foxx, Ichiro Toppstown, Shane Victorino Postseason Highlights, Greg Maddux, Dustin McGowan, & John Buck

PACK 7 (2009 TOPPS SERIES 1 4th of 4): Chris Duncan, Shane Victorino, Cliff Lee, James Shields, Mike Cameron, LL Howard Dunn Delgado, LL Mauer Pedroia Bradley, Toppstown Justin Morneau, Scott Lewis RC, Mark DeRosa, Greg Smith, Cody Ross, & Work Hard Get Cards! Aight Pack

So I have officially began the 2009 card collecting year all thanks to Rite Aid, which suddenly sells cards now. The design on the cards is very nice, and I had fun opening them. The Mickey & Nady (and the A-Rod Toppstown) look great in my Yankees PC, but how could they not. Last year, they used a picture of Joba Chamberlain taking a pee on the field, this year, great action shots, and looks like Stadium Club with the pictures. I think Toppstown will be like Starquest somewhat, although the Starquests are nicer. I love the Legends of the Game inserts, and was fortunate enough to come across a Jimmie Foxx one, which is sweet. About the other packs, my mom was at Walmart and she called me while I was home playing MVP Baseball 2005, and I asked her if she could look for 09 Topps. There was none, so I figured I was hopeless and got those 3 packs, which weren't very good. I really like the Masterpieces, and it's a shame to say that they won't be made this year. Looking at the other products Upper Deck is making, I may boycott it, but I'm sort of curious about the Piece of History. As you may know, I have busted 2 boxes of it from 2008, and was definitely great for the price. So anyway, my mom calls me again while she's driving on the way home, and asks me if I wanted her to go to Rite Aid, which may sell cards. I said yes, and fortunately enough one little retail box filled with unopened 2009 baseball cards were inside. So I got 4 packs, and that's how it will begin!