What's In The Mail Box?

 

With the MLB season soon upon us, I sat down and looked through my rookie folders and asked myself, who am I missing? Then one stuck out....I didn't have the one of the leagues young stars..Mike Trout. 

I then began to eBay research for some true rookie cards. I really wanted the Topps Update rookie, but wasn't willing to shell out the big bucks being asked for it. So instead I looked in Beckett and found he had a Bowman Draft rookie. Most were going reasonably priced. This one, for a little over $9. Great investment I would say. 

As always, comments are welcomed!

Winners Of Our 2 Year Blogversary Contest

Well, first off, I want to thank Jammin JDcards for their generosity in helping me celebrate such a big accomplishment, which by the way the blogs official birthday is tomorrow.

The entries were not quite as high as with past contests only accumulating less than 20, but the competition was fierce. Most of you chose the Heat to win the game. Some of you chose Carmelo as the high scorer which the high scorer was LeBron. A good portion of you chose around the total points of 200 and because this time I didn't specify to stay under the total score there was a lot to rummage through.

In the end, I found the three winners. Tricia picked LeBron, Heat and was only 1 point off so she is our winner. Our second and third place winners chose LeBron, Heat and were off by 4 points. They were randomed for 2nd and 3rd place spots.

Congrats goes out to:

1st place - 1 free spot in Museum/Triple Threads Football break: Tricia goshorn

2nd place 1 free spot in 2013/14 Gold Standard Basketball break: Joe Behlman

3rd place 1 free spot in 2013 Limited Football Break: fitchjr1

Winners, if you have many options to contact us or Jammin JDcards. If you have Twitter, please contact @JamminJDcards, contact us @sportcardcollec, or through our email if you don't have Twitter at sportcardcollectors@hotmail.com. Please claim your prizes today as the breaks are today!

Congrats again to the winners and thanks to all who entered. Make sure you tell Jammin JDcards thanks for the contest and give them a follow on Facebook or Twitter. You can also follow Sport Card Collectors on Twitter, Facebook and through email on this blog. You can also become a member of this blog. That way it might be easier for you to keep an eye out for future contests here on Sport Card Collectors!

BIG NOTE AND APOLOGY... Due to an adding error (checked the score at midnight and thought it said 108-92)  the total points for the game should have been 190 and not 200. Hence the following two people should have won Mrblu1976 should have been in first place and Miami Vice in 2nd along with Joe Behlman at third. But due to my error and the fact some winners have already contacted, I  have to keep the top part the way it is. However, I don't like to make mistakes and will always correct them the best way I can. So to make up for this, I would like to have Miami Vice and Mrblu1976 send me their addresses and I will mail them a random basketball autographed card. I hope this makes up for my mistake. I know we all make them, but I truly don't like to and will admit when I am wrong.

Retro Break 'Em: 1989 Topps Football Pack

Once in awhile it's fun to dig into the past and open up an older pack of cards. Times were simpler than. No fancy-dancy-autograph-low serial numbered-patch piece from a memorable game limited cards to be found in these. Just simply cards. Cards that weren't always about the value. Cards that made you think why you got into the hobby. Not so much from ripping and flipping. But just for collecting and having fun. And enjoying the cards themselves with the photography and even for some of us who are sports buffs, the stats on the back. This NEW SEGMENT called Retro Break 'Em will show you just that.

This time we dive back to 1989 Topps Football thanks to the great people at B and M Sports Cards who provided me with the pack to break open.

Each pack of 1989 Topps Football comes with 29 cards, 1 glossy card and 1 delicious, just kidding, stick of bubble gum. The photography in the 80's can sometimes be funny with the poses they find themselves on cardboard with. A lot of photography back then wasn't so much about the action, it was the players. The cards also have Topps trademark white border around the pictures.

Now onto how I did in this break:

 

79 cents!! Say What?!! That at most would get you one base card now-a-days

 

Base cards were a little NY Giants heavy...no argument from me there.

 

Cool action packed subets

 

Glossy 1,000 Yard Club insert. Glad to see Topps brought these back in newer products

Well, this break didn't come jumping out at you, but did provide some fun. And seeing the older photography can be fun as well. Could lead to some Caption This in the future. Did get some NY Giants to add to the PC so that is always a plus.

A thanks goes out again to B and M Sports Cards for providing this break. You can find them on Twitter and on Facebook.

As always, thoughts and comments are encouraged.

What's In The Mail Box?

 

What arrived today in the mail box is so far one of my favorite Randle adds recently. The color, theme, design and layout of the card balances really well. The gold autograph against the black is incredible. Then you add on a prime swatch, which is a patch from some part of the jersey, and you got one sweet addition. I waited up late to land this card. I have always wanted one and now I own it!

As always, your thoughts on this mail day are encouraged!

Review: 2013 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection

One of Upper Deck's popular football brands made a return for 2013 in Ultimate Collection. The product is as elegant as its box. But with a lot of things, its whats inside that matters.

So let's check out what I found:

BOX BREAK DOWN: 

• 1 Pack Per Box, 4 Cards Per Pack
• One Autograph Card Per Box
• One Memorabilia Card Per Box
• One Rookie Card numbered to 199 or less Per Box

PRICE: You can find most boxes under $85 

WITHIN THE BOX:

Base Card:
Eddie George # 43/175
Tyler Bray 18/49

Inserts:
N/A 

Memorabilia (non-autographed):
Tavon Austin Ultimate Jersey 50/50

Autographs/Autograph Memorabilia
Johnny Lattner Ultimate Material Signature Patch Parallel - # 6/10

DESIGN:
The design of the overall product is well done to. From the faded gray and player forefront of the base cards to the memorabilia cards with a good size jersey swatch to the absolutely sweet looking Material Signature cards. Just check below to make that judgement for yourself as I am sure you will agree.I can only imagine how much more impressive it would be in NFL form!

COOL NOTES:
There are some great finds in this years edition, including new Ultimate Collection Rookie Signature Book Cards that are on-card die-cut book cards numbered to 265 or less. Also everyone's favorite and on-card signed 1997 Legends autographs which you can find 1:7 packs (boxes). In every other pack (box) you will find a patch card and all memorabilia cards have at least two swatches or one big swatch. As for signature card offerings, you can also find single, dual, triple, and quad versions.

THOUGHTS:
This is my first time ever opening this product so I had no idea of what to expect or what was hidden within. What I did know was that it was high end/high risk type of product with it only having 4 cards and a price tag around $85 per box. I gotta admit I was pretty impressed especially in terms of how well designed it was.

This however is definitely for thrill seekers. Honestly, being a non-thrill seeker I probably wouldn't take another chance on this product. With only 4 cards and 2 hits it may lead to a rough break to get back what you paid for in return. This break was saved by the Lattner but if he wasn't found in it, could have been an ouch. Don't get me wrong, if I was a thrill-seeker, this would be a product I would take a chance on. But I am a person who prefers 12 or more packs per box, 3 or more hits and more cards.

Overall, the product is beautiful and if you are a thrill-seeker and you like to take risks, I say buy here for sure with all that this product has to offer. If you are not one to take a risk, Ultimate Collection isn't for you.
 

 

 

What's In The Mail Box?

 

Two more autographed cards have been added to the Rueben Randle PC via eBay. They arrived just the other day as a lot I picked up at a deal. Momentum is one of my favorite brands so  finding Randle was a must. I wasn't so sure about the Press Pass Sports Town auto til I got it in person. You can't see it in this pic, but it's got a beautiful rainbow shine. Just a really nice card.

As always, thoughts are welcomed!

Hobby Break 'Em

I recently Broke another box of 2013 Score football. I find this type of product a fun break. 500 cards in a box. 50 cards per pack. 10 packs per box. Not to mention you can find most jumbo boxes $60 or less.

I find Digging through one of these jumbo packs is like eating an Oreo cookie. You eat the cookies and enjoy them, but what you really want is what's in the middle, the cream filling. Or in card terms, the shiny stuff, the numbered stuff, the jersey, the autograph, the sweetness.

Now onto how I did in this box. Was quite impressed with this break.

 

Base card heavy!

 

At least 5 rookie cards per pack. Great way to collect the 2013 rookie class.

 

Scorecard and Showcase inserts. Showcase #d to 99

 

Gold parallel, Showcase Hot Rookie of Mathieu, Gold parallel and Lattimore Purple/99

 

About 1 Hot Rookie per pack

 

Red parallel numbered to 49 of Eric Reid

 

Derrick Johnson Red parallel #d to 30

 

Nice pull here!

And BOOM! The best pull of the box. Andy Dalton End Zone Parallel #d to 5. 

Overall, very impressed and well worth the money in this particular break.  Many numbered inserts, tons of rookies, 4 hits, and great action shot base cards.  This was a great buy.

As always, comments are welcomed.

Panini Card Of The Week: 2012-2013 Panini Prizm Tyler Zeller Autograph

 

Brand: Prizm

Card Number:44

Card Type: Rookie Autographed Card

Topps Card Of The Week: 2005 Topps Chrome Alfonso Soriano Chrome The Game Jersey Card

 

Brand: Topps Chrome

Card Number:CGR-AS

Card Type: Memorabilia

CAPTION THIS!

"Are you guys done questioning me yet, my smiley face is starting to hurt"

Product: 1992-1993 Fleer

Card #:56

Let's hear your CAPTION THIS for this card! (keep it clean, no language too!) 

Happy Birthday Upper Deck

Today marks an momentous day in the hobby as Upper Deck celebrates 25 years in business. I don't know about you but I have plenty of collecting memories in the past 25 years. Some of which I will share to celebrate this big day and I hope you will do the same.

The first memory that comes to mind is chasing my first Ken Griffey Jr rookie card. I was a huge Griffey Jr fan and collector and no Griffey Jr collection is set til you have one of those. It was a fun search for my father and I as we ran into quite a few at shows, card shops and yard sales. Most were a little too expensive for us which made the search so hard. Finally, we stumbled upon one at a yard sale. My dad fortunately knew the person running it so they gave us a great deal on one knowing how badly we wanted it for $20. My face never lit up as much as it did that day holding onto that piece of cardboard history. I still have it to this day and call it "my precious."

Another memory was at a card show, back when they were held locally, and a box of Spx football 1996. My best friend's uncle Tim, who was a die-hard collector, had been around the show all day picking up packs here and there from the box at the main table of the show. I kept drooling over the beautiful designed cards. The micro etching and hologram blended together like PB&J. I finally talked my dad into buying a couple of packs before Tim bought them all. The price was a little steep at $6.99 a pack for one card but we dug in. I opened the rainbow shine wrappers and pulled an Emmitt Smith base in one pack and a Barry Sanders base in another. I was still pretty excited to hit the best two running backs in the league. Tim saw that I had picked from the box and made his return. I wished I had waited for him to pick again as he opened his pack a group of collectors swarmed around him like he was road kill and they were vultures. I finally pushed my way into the middle and saw what they were hovering over... A stinking Joe Montana Tribute autographed card. My jaw dropped. I was excited for him and disappointed for myself. Still was an amazing sight to see however and I have yet to ever witness anything like that again.

One more memory was in 2012 when I pulled the biggest card I had ever gotten from Upper Deck... An Sp Authentic autograph of Trent Richardson numbered 5/5. 

There are still PLENTY MORE memories I have had collecting Upper Deck. These are only a few. I could probably fill a weeks worth of posts on them but will cut it down to these three for now.

I would however enjoy to hear some of yours! Just comment below with them.

Happy Birthday again Upper Deck and I look forward to seeing how you celebrate  this big moment.

Latest results from the Jammin JDcards Break

In the latest round of Jammin JDcard breaks, they broke once again 2012-2013 Elite Series basketball and 2013 Topps Museum Football and had great success. Just see for yourself below.

2012-2013 Elite Series Basketball

 Iman Shumpert - 101/249

Pau Gasol - 22/99

Jamaal Tinsley - 76/94

Damian Lillard - Elite Glass

 2013 Museum Football

Check out the sweet patches on the bottom card:

Nick Foles - 47/50

Julio Jones - 36/50

Zach Ertz - 19/99

Mike Glennon / Matt Barkley / Ryan Tannehill / Russell Wilson - 47/75

Aaron Dobson - 45/50

Marshawn Lynch - 41/55

Randall Cunningham - 31/69 - Totally Awesome!

Mike Glennon / Matt Barkley / Ryan Tannehill / Russell Wilson - 21/25
If you like what you see here and haven't yet given Jammin JDcards breaks a try, please do. Good prices, great shipping time, top notch customer service and big hits waiting to happen. You can find out what breaks are next right HERE. Good luck if you give them a try and let me know what you hit!

Collecting Basics 1: The Beginning, Choosing A Sport

Welcome to the new series, Collecting Basics. I am hoping to use this series to help NEW collectors or refresh the minds of collectors who may be jumping back in. Because as we all know, this hobby changes on a daily basis. The one thing that doesn't change, is the fun you can have in it.

Starting off this new series I thought I would help point collectors in the right direction with what sport or sports you may want to collect. Like the title states, Collecting Basics is literally starting from the beginning and moving all the way through.

Here are some quick tips from my personal experience on what sport or sports you may want to collect.

1. First and foremost, make it a sport(s) you connect to. Do you watch it? Do you know the players? Without this important piece, it will be really hard to decide what sport to choose. Watching a sport and knowing it will help you decide what players and teams you may want to dive into.
2. Do you play the sport(s)? Sometimes playing the sport(s) can drive your passion for collecting one sport or the other.
3. Knowing licensing for sports might persuade you as well especially if you are looking for just straight up cards from the NFL, MLB, NBA or you like the variety. Topps is exclusive to MLB baseball til 2020. Panini America and Upper Deck have MLBPA licenses. Meaning they can use MLB players in the cards they put out, but can't use logo's or team names on the cards. NBA has Panini as their exclusive license. Upper Deck does basketball but only NCAA or college to some. NFL is Panini America and Topps. Upper Deck does NCAA for this as well. There is also Sage and Press Pass who do football cards but can't use any logo's or team names. The NHL license is run by Panini America and Upper Deck. There are other companies that make hockey cards but can't use the logo's or team names.
4. If you are going to be a rookie card collector, it's nice to know that the easiest way to know if you have a rookie card are in the sports of NBA, NFL and NHL. The tougher sport to collect rookies in, in my experience, is baseball. Especially if you are a new collector to baseball, the word rookie and prospect may be plastered on some of the cards, however,  they may not be rookies. I will save the baseball card rookie definition for another rainy day.
5. Another tip may be collecting a sport(s) your friends or family does. That way you guys can trade back and forth with them.

I hope some of these tips will help you decide which sport or sports you want to collect. Remember that this how I decided to collect what I collect. It doesn't mean you have to use these tips in order to collect. They are just here for a reference if you need them.

As always, comments and thoughts are welcomed!

Happy Collecting!

***CONTEST*** Celebrate 2 Years At Sport Card Collectors

Our two year blogversary isn't until March 1st, but our friends at Jammin JDcards wanted to help us celebrate it a little early. If you are not following Jammin JDcards yet, please do. You can find them on Twitter and on Facebook.

To celebrate our two year blogversary, they are giving away spots in their upcoming breaks and if you have been paying any attention to this blog, you know how well those have been going. There will be THREE winners as well!

Here's what's up for grabs for the prizes:

• 1st place - 1 free spot in Museum/Triple Threads Football break. 
• 2nd place 1 free spot in 2013/14 Gold Standard Basketball break. 
• 3rd place 1 free spot in 2013 Limited Football Break

And even f you don't win, remember you can always buy into a break and try to land that mojo HERE.

Now onto how to enter.....there will be a few steps on how to enter this contest. Here are the rules and how to enter.

1. CONTEST OPEN TO U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY....SORRY!
2. Your entries are due by February 27th by 8:00 pm e.t.
3. Go to the RIGHT SIDE of the blog and vote for your favorite segments. Once you have done this, say YES in comments that you have voted.
4. Go to Jammin JDcards WEBSITE and go to one of their 4 shops, Amazon, Beckett Marketplace, eBay and Collector Revolution and pick out ONE CARD you would want to add to your PC.
5. Pick the winner of the NY Knicks/Miami Heat Game
6. Tell us the High Scorer of the game
7. As a first tiebreaker, give us the total points in the game
8. As a second tiebreaker, let us know if you have been in a Jammin JDcards break before. No, will give you two extra entries in the randomizer, Yes will give you one extra entry. We will be checking with Jammin JDcards on this too!
9. ALL ENTRIES WILL BE HIDDEN FOR THE FUN OF THE CONTEST

Your entries should look like this:

1. Yes
2. 2013-14 Pinnacle Team 2020 #23 Michael Carter-Williams 76ers Rookie 
3. Miami Heat
4. Carmelo Anthony
5. 222 points
6. Yes

The three that have followed all of the steps and picked the right team, high scorer and passes the tiebreakers wins the spots!

Good luck to everyone who enters and PLEASE THANK JAMMIN JDcards for their generosity for this contest. Without them, we wouldn't be celebrating it in such style!

Thank you as well for being such wonderful fans!

Hobby Topic

Another post in our new series Hobby Topics. This is not so much a post for us to comment about or give our opinions on, this is your chance to let your voice be heard on a variety of topics in the hobby. We are leaving the floor open to you! So comment away! But please no language and keep your answer clean as we do have a younger following as well.

Today's Topic will be about Pack Searching

How do you feel about pack searching and pack searchers? Do you participate in it?

Let's hear your thoughts!

Retro Break 'Em: 1991 Action Packed Football Pack

Once in awhile it's fun to dig into the past and open up an older pack of cards. Times were simpler than. No fancy-dancy-autograph-low serial numbered-patch piece from a memorable game limited cards to be found in these. Just simply cards. Cards that weren't always about the value. Cards that made you think why you got into the hobby. Not so much from ripping and flipping. But just for collecting and having fun. And enjoying the cards themselves with the photography and even for some of us who are sports buffs, the stats on the back. This NEW SEGMENT called Retro Break 'Em will show you just that.

For this break, I did one pack of 1991 Action Packed Football to show you what's inside of a pack.These cards are as their title states, Action Packed. The combination of photography and the "raised" or what I like to call "braille feel" to these made the cards unique on the market.

In every pack, you get 6 cards. There was also a shot at a Brett Favre rookie and a possible certificate for a solid gold card. But, this pack didn't have either. But it still did have some cool cards in it.

This pack seemed Dolphin heavy as half of the pack was Dolphins. Another thing to note, that a lot of products don't do anymore now, is include offensive lineman into their products. They are the ones who are in the trenches helping make the plays for the play-makers. And in a product like this, it really defines their positions with the photography used.

As always, comments are encouraged. Let me know your thoughts on this product and our new segment.

Upper Deck Card Of Week: 1996 Upper Deck Rock Solid Foundation Rey Ordonez

 

Brand: Upper Deck

Card Number:RS2

Card Type: Insert

Sport Card Collectors Poll # 1 (with giveaway note)

With Sport Card Collectors celebrating it's two year blogversary next week and with the new changes in effect since January, I was curious to see which new features are your favorites. This may also help me gauge which ones to keep and which ones I need to replace with a new feature.

The one thing that separates Sport Card Collectors from any other sport card blog is the interaction I give you guys on here. This is a place I want you to visit and be apart of. I want it to pop up in your search bar. So I have been trying different features to see what your interests are. Until I have this downright perfect, I will continue to tweak things here and there.

When looking at my stats, I can see some posts are not quite as popular as others. Some by a wide margin. That's why I have stuck up a poll on the RIGHT SIDE OF THE BLOG for you guys to vote on your favorites. You can vote for more than one answer. The poll ends in about 19 days in which we will give the results from the poll and possibly make some changes based upon the results. PLEASE TAKE THE TWO SECONDS TO VOTE to help me with what you guys like to see and thank you in advance!

UPDATE: On a giveaway note,our giveaway will start tomorrow! Another note, one of the steps of entering it may be involving voting on this poll. So if you want to, you have the option to vote ahead.  There will be other steps to enter but this will most likely be one of them. I really am looking for your feedback to help improve the blog anyway possible. So please vote and maybe even leave a comment and tell me your thoughts like some already have. Thanks!

Panini Card Of The Week: 2013 Panini Prizm Panini HRX Cards Tyler Eifert

 

Brand: Prizm

Card Number:23

Card Type: Insert

Latest Results From Jammin JDcards Break!

In another round of breaks for Jammin JDcards, they were on fire. If you missed out, there was a lot to miss out on and you may now start crying and question yourself, "why, why didn't I listen and give them a try?" Well, don't worry. They have more breaks to come. In the meantime, enjoy the gallery below from the previous break and don't forget to jump into the next round!

Momentum Basketball 2012-2013

Kyrie Irving Rookie - 06/49 $80 BV

Prime Signatures Basketball 2012-2013

 

Kevin Garnett - 1/5

Larry Bird - 08/25

Alan Anderson Film Cell Auto - 21/25

Blake Griffin Film Cel Redemption Auto - /49 or less

Panini Black Football 2013

Brad Sorenson - 85/99

Kenbrell Thompkins - 149/199

Vance McDonald - 178/299

Montee Ball - 66/99

DeAndre Hopkins - 01/25

Momentum Football 2013

Chris Thompson - 217/299

Manti Te'o - 63/99

Quinton Patton - 175/199

EJ Manuel - 28/76 WOW!!

If you like what you see here and haven't yet given Jammin JDcards breaks a try, please do. Good prices, great shipping time, top notch customer service and big hits waiting to happen. You can find out what breaks are next right HERE. Good luck if you give them a try and let me know what you hit!

What's In The Mailbox?

In the newest edition of What's In The Mailbox?, we discover a pretty cool personality autograph of a former player and head coach in the National Hockey League who is now a longtime commentator and hockey analyst for ESPN and who contributes to NHL Network as well. When I saw this Barry Melrose autograph, I just couldn't let it go to someone else. Other than having watched him on television, I liked the design of the Allen and Ginter mini framed autographs and I like to also collect outside the box sometimes and not just go for current players.

I found this particular piece to my PC on the Pack Gambler website. There are many unique pieces to find on there as you have seen in my past mail days. 

Being the great person The Pack Gambler is and knowing how big of a Giants fan I am, he threw these bonuses in for free as well:

I was extremely thankful for the bonuses. I especially like the Matt Bahr autograph.

If you happen to be shopping and are looking for something for your collection, just as cool this Barry Melrose autograph, I recommend you check out the Pack Gamblers site that you can find HERE.

As always, thoughts and comments are welcomed on this mail day.

What's In The Mail Box?

Recently I won a contest from Rackrs.com on Twitter. If you don't know who Rackr's are, they are the creative geniuses who made these:

                                        

If you don't know what these are or haven't seen them, they are blank cards that you can do TTM (through the mail) or in person autographs on. They do them in a variety of sports and non-sports. It's much better than having to use an index card or sometimes even a sport card where the gloss can cause the ink to run.

This contest I won was on a random draw from an RT (Retweet) contest. I hauled in a pretty nice 2 jersey card lot of the San Antonio Spurs. I have always been a fan of their core three and especially Tim Duncan who I have watched since he came into the league. I was pretty excited to have won this.

Here is what I was lucky enough to haul in:

Since they were appreciative of my support on Twitter and in the SPUR of the moment they threw in this bonus Tony Parker memorabilia card!

I want to thank Rackr's for their generosity on this mail day and always, I encourage your comments!