TTM #12

Hey guys, Drew back here. Today I wanted to share a TTM I just got back after only waiting a little more than a week! Here it is:

None other than 2009 World Series Champion Phil Coke! Phil was a great reliever for us last year but unfortunately he was part of the 3 team deal that landed the Yankees Curtis Granderson last winter. In 2009 he was 4-3 with a 4.50 ERA and helped pitch late in the games in the postseason. This year he's 6-1 with a 2.27 ERA, dominating in the Tigers bullpen. Thanks Phil! See Ya!

Lance Berkman to the Yankees!

Hey guys, Drew back here, with some big Yankees news. Lance Berkman is expected to be traded to the Yankees before the trade deadline expires today. But for who? We don't know yet. All I know is that Lance can be a pivotal part of the Yankees run through the playoffs this year. His switch hitting and veteran know-how is going to help build a better bench for the Yankees. He will start some games batting 2nd DHing, which will be good, an RBI powerhouse behind Jeter and before Teixeira. Now it's a pick your poison thing for the top of the lineup.

But who will leave the Bronx in this deal? Will it be young catching prospect Jesus Montero? Honestly, I doubt it, but do we really need him? I know we want him, but Cervelli certainly looks good so far this year, and when Posada eventually does leave, they will consider starting Cervelli and picking up a Jose Molina type player as a backup, or will the young Montero step up to the Majors by that point? We don't really know what will happen, but I definitely wouldn't be happy to see him go for Lance Berkman, a player that will probably only be a Yankee for the remainder of the season. He's 34 and has suffered some injuries in the past few years, and isn't as productive as the superhero he was a few years ago.

Who else could leave? I bet one of these three guys will leave: Chad Huffman, Colin Curtis, and Kevin Russo. Three young guys that have been up and down the minors and majors that can certainly play. Curtis may be the first to go as he's shown that he could be a starting outfielder for some teams. I say that he's first because the Yankees just picked up Austin Kearns for the famous PTBNL, and Marcus Thames is healthy and could serve as a backup outfielder even though he's pretty slow in the field now.

Or will it be a Chan Ho Park, Jonathan Albaledejo, Chad Gaudin, or even a Joba Chamberlain that will leave? I doubt Jonathan will leave, since he's pitched very well in Triple AAA and the majors recently, or Gaudin, who serves an important role in the bullpen. Park and Joba have provided no help in the bullpen, and have been very inconsistent especially of late. I don't think Cashman will deal the bullpen guys, especially since they are playing a critical role for the Yankees season this year, and they haven't done an excellent job.

I hope that someone of a high caliber won't leave just for Lance Berkman, because that would be stupid. It should be interesting to see who the Yankees will deal for the Puma. Who do you think will leave? Let me know in the comments!

*UPDATE* Lance Berkman was officially traded to the Yankees for cash and Pitcher Mark Melancon and Infielder Jimmy Paredes. Not bad!

See Ya!

2010 Allen & Ginter Box Break Review Part 2

Hey guys, Drew back here, with the grading time of 2010 Allen & Ginter. Here we go!

Design: 2010 Allen & Ginter's new design looks better than ever, with a new green tint in the background with the usual tan color used as a border. The cards remind me of a fresh piece of spearmint gum, not only due to the green tint but also because they have a nice feel to them. I was skeptical at first when the product first came out, because I didn't know how they would look. That happens every year it seems for me, but it looks better than in my opinion, it ever did before. All the insert designs look nice too, but the one part of the set that wins most improved for me, is without a doubt, the relics/autos. The border is so bright and colorful, so no doubt, this is the best Hawaiian border to date in this product. Design Grade: A+

Price: Too much. My only complaint with Allen & Ginter year after year is the price. Sure, there is a chance you can get back what you paid for the box, but, more often than not, you normally don't. The cards sure are high quality and excellent looking, but spending $80-100 on a box with 3 hits, typically all relics and maybe 1 auto, is ridiculous. My love for this product is the only reason I keep going back and buying boxes. Price Grade: C

Hits: I already started to talk about the look of the hits this year, but I will continue here. Again, I'm lovin the Red Border that Topps used for the border for the autos and relics this year. My 3 hits in the box were pretty good, Kemp jersey, Dunn bat, and Scherzer auto, but nothing spectacular. But, I don't care. Why? Because they look amazing! Thats why. Hits Grade: A

Overall: Well.. 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter was a definite hit in this house. I definitely enjoyed opening the box, so did my dad, my mom liked some of the cards of the oddballs, and so did my sister. I was very impressed with the product this year though, but would I buy another box? Last year I bought 2, but only bought the second at the card show because I won a $50 gift certificate to any vendor and I bought it for $25. So, unless I get lucky again, I'm going to try and trade for the rest of the set that I'm missing. In my opinion, this is the product of the year, followed by Topps flagship. Great job Topps! Overall Grade: A

Not bad.... leave your thoughts in the comments! See Ya!

2010 Allen & Ginter Box Break Review Part 1

Hey guys, Drew back here, with the second of four box break reviews, my box of 2010 Allen & Ginter! Here's the product information:

PRODUCT CONTENT
24 Packs Per Box
8 Cards Per Pack
192 Cards Per Box
1 N43 or Cabinet Card Boxtopper per box
1 Mini Card Per Pack
1 This Day In History Insert Per Pack
3 Baseball Sketches Per Box
3 Hits Per Box (Relic, Auto, Plate, Rip, Cut)

Alright, now that we got that out of the way, let's see what I pulled!

MY BOX BREAK:

Cabinet Card: Great Engineering Achievements- Mount Rushmore

Wow, sweet looking card. Now, what do I do with it?

Base Set: 123/300

This was my first experience with 2010 Allen & Ginter, and I must say, I really like the new design. The greenish tint behind the photos make it different and fresh looking. There's a ton of interesting inclusions into the base set, including Leonardo da Vinci, Jordin Sparks, Tom Knapp, the Warwa fire eater guy, and Regis. Of course, Area 51 and Betelgeuse have cards, as Allen & Ginter keeps up it's odd and distinct popularity.

SP's: 12/50

I pulled 12 shortprints, which I'm pretty sure is double what others have been getting. I got Adrian Beltre, Trevor Cahill, Austin Jackson, Brad Lidge, Bobby Abreu, Joe Nathan, Brandon Phillips, Roy Oswalt, Stephen Drew, Alcides Escobar, Gaby Sanchez, and Casey McGehee (last 4 not pictured). It's a lot less work now thanks to this, got pretty lucky on that part.

Base Set + SP's: 135/350 (38%)

This Day In History Inserts: 24/50 (48%)

A very unique idea by Topps to use this idea for an insert set. If you don't know, each card represents an event that occurred on a player's birthday with a picture of the player. The random newspaper guy got boring, but the concept is awesome. I'm definitely gonna try to build this set if I can.

Regular Back Minis: 7/350

I've always liked the minis in Allen & Ginter, but my selection of regular backed minis was not special. We did get 2 SP minis in Daric Barton and Hiroki Kuroda, and a paper airplance world champion. This was a great box based on SP's.

A&G Back Minis: 6/350
Black Border Minis: 2/350 (Nelson Cruz, Mariano Rivera)

Wow, 6 A&G Backs? I don't get the point of these, they should just have the regular and black border. Another SP popped up in Roy Oswalt, and we got a King Tut! The black borders look as good as ever, especially the Mariano Rivera, which is taking a seat in the Yankee Collection box.

Monsters of the Mesozoic: 2/25 (Protarchaeopteryx, Protoceratops)
Lords of Olympus: 2/25 (Apollo, Aphrodite)
World's Wordsmiths: 1/15 (Marcus Aurelius)
Sailors of the Seven Seas: 1/10 (Sir Walter Raleigh)
National Animals: 3/50 (Honduras, Italy, Colombia)

Lots of nice historical inserts in this set this year, with some dinosaurs I've never heard of and don't know how to say, some Greek Gods, a writer, a sailer, and some National Animals. This is part of the fun of Allen & Ginter, you don't know whats gonna show up in your box.

Baseball Sketches: 3/15 (Ethier, Teixeira, Wise)

A well designed insert set, the Teixeira and Wise are nice, but Night Owl has a candidate for Worst Card of the Year with the Ethier. That face looks nothing like his!

Relic Cards: 2 (Matt Kemp, Adam Dunn)

Speaking of Night Owl, here's a hit he may want. I kinda wanna keep the card unless there's something nice to get in return. That goes for everyone that may want it. It's actually not a bad card, a jersey of a pretty good player.

The Yankees are closing in on Lance Berkman, which leaves this poor guy in the dust. He's a great player hoping to get out of Strasburg land, and go to a contender, something he's never experienced in his life. I like Adam Dunn, so for now, I don't know if I'll trade this, again, unless you make a good offer.

Autographs: 1 (Max Scherzer)

Not bad, I guess. At least it's a baseball auto, and it beats Rich Hill from last year that I pulled. Scherzer isn't bad though. It's for trade but only for another 2010 Allen & Ginter auto (I like the Nolasco and Chris Young autos).

I guess it was a pretty good box, hit some nice cards and had a lot of fun opening it! Part 2 of the review is coming soon! See Ya!

New Custom Design

Hey guys, Drew back here. I heard something earlier today that Andy Pettitte has signed some things through the mail recently. So, I made a new custom design, and take a look and please comment and tell me how you think it looks!

See Ya!

2008 UD Masterpieces Box Break Part 2

Hey guys, Drew back here. The grades are in, everyone passed to let you know, even though we're in the summer now. Let's see how 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces ranked among the elite!

Design: Do I even need to elaborate on how amazing this set looks? Everything looks fantastic! One of the nicest sets I've actually ever seen! And the parallels, wow, I feel like I'm at one of those fancy schmancy art stores, are out of this world! Design Grade: A+

Price: The Masterpieces prices are outstanding! This box cost about $30, and I really enjoyed the break as usual, the cards have such a unique feel to them and the artwork looks phenomenal. For $10 more than a typical blaster, you can get 2 hits, a bunch of parallels, and more than half of the base set. What a great deal. Price Grade: A+

Hits: This is where the product goes downhill. For the price, it doesn't make it terrible, but COME ON MAN! An Eric Chavez jersey! What has this world come to? Does Upper Deck think we actually enjoy owning tiny pieces of a couch-worn shirt worn by Eric Chavez? No, actually, we enjoy burning that garbage. Just for having Eric Chavez in the checklist makes this a downer for me. The auto checklist however, is pretty good. There's some bad stuff, like: Aaron Harang, Bill Hall, Chris Duffy, Daric Barton, Edinson Volquez, Chin-Lung Hu, J.R. Towles, Noah Lowry, and a few others. But, there's a good shot of getting Cal Ripken Jr, Ken Griffey Jr, and a few other stars. So, I like the chances for $30. Hits Grade: B-

Overall: All and all, this is one of Upper Deck's true Masterpieces. One of the most fun breaks I've had, and without a doubt worth the price, no matter what you may end up getting. So, I'm just trying to say, go out and buy yourself a box of 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces for a cheap fun time! Overall Grade: A

Not a bad product according to the classmates (me)! This is without a doubt in my top five, maybe top 3 favorite current products, along with Allen & Ginter, UD Baseball Heroes, Piece of History, and Goudey. Please comment with your opinions! See Ya!

2008 UD Masterpieces Box Break Part 1

Hey guys, Drew back here. For my birthday, I decided to pick out 3 boxes to break. I ended up with 4, but I'll get to that eventually. The cheapest one was 2008 UD Masterpieces, so I'll share that with you now. But first, the product info...

PRODUCT CONTENT
12 Packs Per Box
6 Cards Per Pack
72 Cards Per Box
4 Yankee Stadium Legacies
6 Short Prints Per Box
1 Game Used Jersey Card Per Box
1 On Card Autograph Per Box

Let's get rippin!

MY BOX BREAK:

Base Set: 56/90 (1 double: Ryne Sandberg)

- The base from Masterpieces are truly Masterpieces, the canvas feel makes the cards one of the best sets, in my opinion, ever. EVER. I think 2007 got it beat a little on the player selection but 2008 is awesome too.

Short Prints: 6/30 (Sandberg, Griffey Jr, DiMaggio, Berra, Schmidt, Musial)

- Great cards of awesome players. I don't know if I'm gonna attempt this set though after my troubles with Goudey.

Yankee Stadium Legacies: 4/7,000,000,000,000,000,000

- Very boring set at this point, even as a Yankee fan. But I do like the Yogi and the WWII one.

Black Parallels: 4/120 (Pence, Howard, Harden, N. Ryan SP)

- These are so nice, even nicer than the base cards I must say. We pulled a Short Print Black Border of Nolan Ryan also, and it looks amazing. The Harden and Pence are definitely for trade, make me a good offer if you want the others.

Red Parallel: 1 (Jake Peavy)
Blue Parallel /125: Max Scherzer RC (003/125)

- More true greatness, the blue kinda looks really similar to the black unless you look close. The red, well, what do you think, it sticks out a ton, and looks pretty nice!

Game Used: #CC-EC Eric Chavez

- So, I have a funny story to tell ya. So I was opening this box of 2008 Masterpieces, and it was all nice and stuff, until I opened a pack up to find this piece of material, that Eric Chavez wore in an MLB game. Last time I checked this could be anything, maybe, ya know, couch worn pajamas while wearing a full body cast watching baseball on the sidelines? Ok, my rant is done. Point is, this hit is DEFINITELY FOR TRADE! Moving on.

Autograph: #SG-XN Xavier Nady

- We conclude this box break with an autograph signed by former Yankee Xavier Nady. Not an awesome hit but I'll certainly take it for the Yankees collection! He has a really cool auto, and the card is very nice.

The grades are being worked on now, and they will be posted tomorrow! See Ya!

LCS Packs- Got a Hit!

Hey guys, Drew back here, with some packs I got for my birthday. I bought the 2 packs of Chicle at the card store yesterday and then my dad got the other 4 packs earlier. We'll start with 2010 Allen & Ginter.

2010 Allen & Ginter (PACK 1)
- Wade Davis RC
- Issac Newton (scary looking card)
- Joe Mauer
- Aaron Cook (does anyone care about this guy?)
- Josh Thole RC
- Brad Lidge SP
- Matt Holliday Black Bordered Mini
- Jake Peavy This Day in History

2010 Allen & Ginter (PACK 2)
- Wandy Rodriguez
- Brandon Webb
- Kurt Suzuki
- Jimmy Rollins
- David Price
- Hideki Matsui Baseball Sketches
- Shen Kuo World's Wordsmiths Mini
- Alex Rodriguez This Day in History

2010 National Chicle (PACK 1)
- Rick Porcello
- Mike Cameron
- Joey Votto
- Buster Posey RC (nice, going into my collection)
- Kosuke Fukudome National Chicle Back
- Ubaldo Jimenez
- Bobby Abreu
- Evan Longoria

2010 National Chicle (PACK 2)
- Gordon Beckham
- J.A. Happ (what happened to this guy?)
- Alfonso Soriano
- Tommy Hanson
- Eric Young Jr. RC SP
- Brian McCann
- Joel Pineiro
- Carlton Fisk

2009 Goodwin Champions (PACK 1)
- James Shields
- Laird Hamilton
- Bo Jackson
- Jorge Posada Mini
- Alexander Ovechkin

2009 Goodwin Champions (PACK 2)
- Matt Garza
- Aaron Rowand SP Mini
- Carlos Lee Relic (very off centered, not a good pull)
- Prince Fielder

Not terrible, but not too bad. All are for trade except the Yankees, some A&G base that I may need, and the Buster Posey. See Ya!

Vintage Cards From Pop Popps- HOF Rookie!

Hey guys, Drew back here, starting off the round of gifts with some cards from my Pop Popps. Here are the highlights:

As well as some 1975 Topps commons, we have a 1964 Zoilos Versailles, which is cool as an old school card, a 1967 Topps Twins Rookies card, a Don Sutton, Frank Robinson, Oscar Gamble, Al Oliver and some more good ones. Also a 1975 Rangers team card with Billy Martin, and a 73 Topps with Johnny Bench and Dick Allen. A pretty good group to start. But wait... theres more

The 1975 Topps Robin Yount rookie card! This is now the 10th Hall of Fame rookie card in my collection, which joins: Goose Gossage, Dave Winfield, Andre Dawson, Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, Bruce Sutter, Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan and someone else I can't remember. A pretty good group, and this is one of the more expensive cards in that group, it books for $50. It's a little off centered, but still an awesome find.

See Ya!

Check Out My Cards from COMC

Hey guys, I know most of you have used this title before haha, but still, it's very simple and it works. So, anyway, before my birthday, I spent $50 on Check Out My Cards, again, a great buying online site. I think I made out great, but I'll let you guys be the judge...

First off, I knocked off some cards on my wantlist, including some sets. The 2010 Topps Series 1 Cards Your Momma Threw Away set I finished, and it's actually cool because now I can remember the Topps sets better. I also finished Peak Performance from Series 1. I still need a lot of Series 2 though, so check my wantlist please and let me know if you have any for trade! Lastly, a Rod Carew Goudey SP, one of the cards I was missing from that set, which brought it down to 9 needed. Not bad!

I also got some rookies, including a Ron Guidry RC, which has a stupid mark on McClure. It's a nice card nonetheless. The other is the famous Dave Winfield rookie that I got for $5.99, when it books for $50. I met Winfield a long time ago and when I saw the rookie at that price I needed it. It was in good shape too considering I got it for at least $20 less than I've ever seen it go for.

Next is a WBC Classic Jersey from 2009 Bowman Sterling of Bernie Williams. This was Bernie's last gig in baseball before he called it quits, and this is a cool looking card to commemorate that. The red swatch also sucked me in, I think it's my only red swatch I own.

Here is a 2009 Ballpark Collection Josh Johnson/Justin Verlander dual jersey /400. Both of them are stars on my fantasy team so for the right price I picked it up.

Then we have an Alfonso Soriano bat card from 2002 Topps 206, which is really cool. The bat shaving has all sorts of marks on it, and it was cheap, so it'll look good in the Yankees collection.

I got this one because he was in now one of my favorite movies, "Grown Ups", a memorabilia card of Rob Schneider. It's from Donruss Americana, and he's a pretty funny short guy!

Good thing this was signed before he started smacking doors. This is a nice A.J. Burnett autograph numbered to 489, I think a rookie autograph at that. He has a nice auto, and it was nice for $5.00.

Second to last is this Mickey Rivers beautiful on card auto from 2004 Topps All Time Fan Favorites! My memory of Mickey was at the Old Timers Game last year that I was at, when he started all out hustling to second and beat out the throw for a double. One of the stars on the 77'/78' team, this is a nice card to have.

Finally, the last card is a nice autograph from 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings, one of the nicer sets in the last decade. It's a Darryl Strawberry auto, and I was able to pick it up for 6 or 7 dollars. I watched Darryl's Centerstage show on YES, and it made me gain a lot of respect for the man. He went through a lot and after watching it I knew I needed to get something nice of him to add to the collection!

Let me know what you think of the haul! See Ya!

Today It's My Birthday!

Hey guys, Drew back here, and if you didn't know already...

I'm going on 14 today, which means it feels better than it does worse to be older! Well, I got an awesome few gifts from my parents, one was the usual dad junk wax yard sale craze that was a hit yet again, and the other was these 3 beauties...

Here we have 2010 Allen & Ginter, 2008 Upper Masterpieces, and 2007 Sweet Spot Classic! And I haven't opened them yet, but I am soon! There's a lot of good potential in this break, and probably some trade bait too, and I can't wait to rip them open! Wish me luck!

And lastly, thanks to Mike Pelfrey Collectibles for the immediate shipping of the one card he forgot to send me, this awesome 2006 UD Epic Willie McCovey jersey for the Hall of Fame PC. What a cool orange swatch, it's so nice! Thanks!

See Ya!

Stuff from Mike Pelfrey Collectibles

Hey guys, Drew back here, with some nice mail today, from Anthony of Mike Pelfrey Collectibles. But, before I get into it, first I wanna say R.I.P. Ralph Houk, who died yesterday at the age of 90. I wanted to get TTM but it was too late unfortunatelt. Houk was a great manager and he will be missed. I also wanted to say that I'm going to skip showing the videos sadly. I don't really have time to do a ton of work for just one post, so for now I can't really show them. I wish Blogger was better at uploading videos though, I mean, they were a minute long! Anyway, moving on to the mail.

Anthony was having an online yard sale of his entire collection, because he's grown bored of the hobby and wanted to move on and try something new, which in his case was War Memorabilia. So first, if you have any of that, go to his blog and let him know. His sales were great, and he negotiated with me really well and I feel like both sides made out well. I'm pretty sure he forgot one of the cards in the package, so I contacted him about it and he said he accidentally did forget about it and will ship it soon. So, here's what was in today's package!

Yes, he did write on the bottom right card. He says he has like 50 of these cards, so he figured he'd send some my way. I do enjoy collecting cards of players that aren't on the Yankees, as you will see more of in this post. I like Mike Pelfrey, although he's struggled a bit, he's a good pitcher and I'm happy to own a few of his rookies.

I got these from Anthony because they're two favorites of mine that don't play for the Yankees. Morneau was completely under shadowed by the Pujols and Ichiro phenomenon but has turned out to be a great MVP caliber player. Longoria was brought up on a local team that I occasionally go to games with, and in 8 games with that team, he hit 4 home runs. I also really like Evan's talent and it's a nice card to have.

Now for vintage, I got an Oscar Gamble 1977 Topps since I didn't have it, and the Andre Dawson rookie card. I've wanted Dawson's rookie ever since he was elected to the Hall of Fame last year, and even though it's not mint condition, I really like the card.

Here's the 1st of 2 Sheffield relics I got, a 2005 Cracker Jack "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" relic at that. It's really nice, smaller than a regular card but bigger than a 2007 Goudey card I'd say. Sheff as you may know used to be my favorite player, until he left NY on a bad note. I still like him and I'll try to add some of his better cards to my collection from time to time.

The second Sheffield is from 2006 Topps Heritage, another bat card. I must say I like the one above this more but this is nice too.

The final card here is a rookie jumbo jersey from 2006 Sweet Spot of Giants pitcher Matt Cain. Cain has been very good so far in his career, but is very unpopular due to Tim Lincecum being the star pitcher in San Francisco now. This may be the biggest relic on a jersey card I have, and I like the simple design. Plus, it's numbered out of 299.

All that plus one more nice relic for $15. Thanks for the great deal Anthony, go check out this link to see if you like anything, Anthony needs to get this stuff out of his collection! See Ya!