Nuttin' But The Hits:2012 Upper Deck USA Football

I have said this repeatedly on here, UD USA football is a very underrated product. Yes, every box may pack names you have never heard of, but the word that I haven't added to finish that sentence is, yet.

These are names of the future and ones you could be seeing become pro within a few years. Just look at names like Todd Gurley and Jameis Winston that you can find in the inaugural 2012 edition. Which is why I took the $20 risk on busting this set.


2012 was the only year that Upper Deck put the product as a straight up set with hits. They now come as packs and the 2016 edition only as ePacks which is disappointing to me as I won't see any of it.

The 2012 set came packing with at least 8 hits per set. You should find 1-2 Autographs, 5 Game-Used Memorabilia Cards, and 1 Patch Card in each box for $20!! You could hit Jameis or Gurley for that!!!

Every box set contains all 49 USA Football team members plus one checklist car along with the 8 hits. Seems like a steal to me. This is my second break of it. My first went great hitting a Jameis memorabilia card and nailing a 1/1 printing plate. Let's see break 2!

Sweet patch! Forgot to mention the nice patches you can find.

My autos. The base set looks like this to. Very sharp.

 

Well, break 2 didn't provide the big names....yet.

Let me know in comments your thoughts on my break and the product as a whole.

Iconic Childhood Designs Part 3:1996-1997 Stadium Club Basketball

One of my favorite stops as a child was the local pharmacy store. I know that this sounds weird, but I also haven't mentioned yet that they carried sports cards.

Those were the days. Remember when pretty much every where sold sports cards. If only that was today as my only options now are online or Walmart.

Anyways, even though a lot of places sold sports cards locally, only the pharmacy had the 1996-1997 Stadium Club basketball I desperately craved.

The design was pretty simple, but eye appealing. The players named were embossed with a rainbow shine. A team color ran down the side with the name and as always with Stadium Club, photography took over. The subsets had lots of foil and looked great as well. It was more about the base design for me.

 

Here is a short gallery of an eye-appealing look at these and some comments by me for each as well.

B.J. is ready to defend!

 

Calbert with the two-handed slam! (insert Marv Alberts voice)

 

Stacey over two defenders!

 

Geiger standing tall over all the rest.

 

I couldn't let this gallery end without tossing in one of my favorite Knicks of course!

 

I also busted these because I was in the middle of my Kobe Bryant hunt looking for anything with his name on it. I did manage to pull a couple of rookie inserts of him that stayed in my collection for years before my dad claimed them when I moved out. The inserts overall in the product were really solid with lots of shiny and tough pulls.

When I was going through my sorting project, I found the ones above along with a few others I held onto over the years that took me back to those trips to the pharmacy and pulling a pack out of the display case and running out to the car to look for my favorite players and Bryant. 

 

This is what this segment is all about, those iconic childhood designs that bring back those memories.

So does 1996-1997 Stadium Club have any meaning to you? Did you ever buy cards from the pharmacy? What are your thoughts on the design overall and if you bought some, what was your best pull? Let me know in comments!

Sunday's With Rodney:1996 Skybox Premium Rubies

Boy, I just realzied how far I am actually behind on posting some new additions to my Hampton PC that I got months ago from a trade with 90's Niche Football Card Blog.

So for the next few Sunday's I will be trying to post these up and showcase them. Today's was one of the cooler parallels in the 90's. The 1996 Skybox Premium Rubies kicked off what was an epic parallel a year later and a tough pull.

This one isn't numbered or that spectacular as the only thing that separates it from base is the "ruby" colored name and product name, but it does mark my first of this parallel in general.

1996 Skybox Rubies fell at a rate of 1 per hobby box.

 

Thoughts are always encouraged in comments!

Mail Day Saturday:@JGfan24ever Strikes Again!

One of the nicest and most generous collectors there is, @JGfan24ever on Twitter, struck my mail box again with some PWE awesomeness.

Up first are some Red, White, Blue Prizm basketball parallels including Alonzo Mourning that brings me back to those Heat/Knick rivalry games. There was no rivalry like that in the 90's.

 

Then a nice G-Men surprise was within this Donruss Optic Prototype Eli Manning that is the red parallel numbered to 99 and very shiny. Right up my alley.

 

A big thanks goes out to @JGfan24ever for this sweet surprise mail day. Just make sure you watch your mail box as well, you never know when I may strike back!

Mail Day Saturday: Project Pedro Blog Trade PT 2

Time for Part 2 of my latest trade with Project Pedro blog. As always, our trades are big and can't ever really fit into one post.

Instead of stretching this post out into five parts since I am so far behind on mail day postings, I decided a straight-up Top 5 post suits it.

Once again, this trade was made up of a lot of basketball cards since he was unloading and I was curious.

So here are the Top 5.

Number 5. Avery Johnson Skybox Autographics. I am a fan of the autographics line, I liked watching Avery and it has a bible verse. It was a winner in my books.

 

Number 4 is a sick looking PMG from Upper Deck's Fleer Retro line /99

 

Number 3. Being a Duke fan most of my life the thought I would want to own a piece of Tarheel history should shame me, but it doesn't. These Floor Authentics cards are some of the coolest memorabilia cards out there. I would take these time and time again.

 

Number 2. Like I stated a few weeks ago with my not watching NBA but still collecting it post, I am chasing down Knicks I loved to watch. Well, Houston was right at the top. I already owned his auto but it was with his college uni. This time it's all about the Knicks.

 

Number 1 is probably by far my most valuable 90's card that will look awesome in my 90's PC. It's a very tough to find 98-99 Flair Legacy parallel /99 of Gary Payton. This was a basketball card I knew he had and one I had wanted for awhile. It took me awhile to pull the trigger, but finally I did and it's mine. ALL MINE!

 

 A big thanks goes out to Shane over at Project Pedro for the trade again. I look forward to our next.

If you haven't checked out his blog and his Cheap Wax Wednesday posts, do so. They rock. Also, if you have any unwanted Pedro Martinez cards, go check him out for a trade. Highly recommended.

Thoughts on my mail day are welcomed below!

CAPTION THIS CARD!

This card is crying out for a Caption.

 

Leave a caption below for this card. Please keep it free of language and clean please for our younger audience  

 

Mine would be....

"That feeling when you are facing Hideki Irabu on the mound."

 

Collectin' Griffey:2010 Upper Deck

My Ken Griffey Jr segment makes it's return and this time will showcase some cards I got from the Junior Junkie's Griffey Generosity Project. Today's card I was surprisingly missing even though I busted at least 3 hobby boxes of this stuff back in 2010. Not like this card was an Sp or anything.

It was also possibly the last time we will ever see Upper Deck in baseball card form. It to me was a bit of a sad ending for a company that made the most iconic Griffey cards cause they weren't allowed to use MLB logos since they weren't licensed by them and only by MLBPA.

Even though some images slipped showing some logos causing a stir of trouble. No need to dwell on that however as I want to think as positive as I can of the product.

I think the design for 2010 was as solid as past UD designs showing little border and full of action. Something Upper Deck always strived for.

 

 

Thoughts on today's card are welcomed in comments!

Hobby Topic:Upper Deck's e-Pack

Here is how Hobby Topic works if you don't remember (you gotta keep this in mind as the return of Hobby Topic makes it way back)

Leave a comment or thought below on the following.

Today's Topic is

Upper Deck e-Pack

We are over a year into the e-pack craze, how many online e-packs have you opened? Do you like this platform? Is there any way to improve it? Or is it great already? What's your best hit? Do you open free packs daily?

Please make sure it's clean for our younger audience.

Nuttin' But The Hits:1996 Spx Baseball Box

With 1997 Spx baseball set done off from my Spx Project want list, I now take a turn at a need in 1996 Spx baseball.

What better way to try and build a set then breaking a box of the product?? Also what better way to try and land the needed Griffey autograph as well with the low box price vs the cost of the auto. I knew my odds were against me with that part, but was hopeful to get a good start on the set need.

Each box of 1996 Spx baseball has 36 packs and has one card per pack so I knew it wouldn't be a full set type of box. I think back in the day packs ran $6.99 per pack. Today, they are cheaper, but not by much as this product is still pretty popular especially for those chasing down those elusive autographs. This box however was on sale for $49.99 so it felt like a steal.

Why am I so crazy about this product...IT'S THE HOLOGRAMS! They just blend so well in the design of the product. It's nothing that the hobby has seen or will ever see again after it died off in the '98 card season. Upper Deck produced one big bomb-diggity with this products run like this.

Here are my gold parallel finds in the box. BIG UNIT!

 

When busting the packs, I somehow missed this card the first time around. A 1:24 pack Bound For Glory pull of Chipper. I knew a girl in my younger years who would had killed for this card. She was Chipper everything. Her LL Bean backpack had the name of Chipper on it.

And I didn't pull the 1:2000 odd auto, but did get for the third time the 1:75 commemorative card.

 

Overall, can't complain about the break. Some nice insert pulls and I found myself with 30/60 cards n the set. I plan on posting those set needs once I hear back from another trader on what cards they found for it.

Thoughts on today's break are welcomed in comments!

Reminiscing 90's:1996 TY Beanie Baby Scoop The Pelican

As promised, the winning return of Reminiscing 90's is back.

This time around for the segment, I decided to do away with the card portion and just focus on the featured item at hand and what memorable moments were happening in the 90's on this day and based on the year of the item.

There were many trends and fads in the 90's but none bigger to me than collecting TY Beanie Babies. Card shops, card shows and even roadside setups had them for sale or trade. They had actually become so popular, that even card collectors like myself had to take a little dive and find some.

The plastic pellet stuffed animals came out in 1993 but didn't begin to get hot til 1995 where they took over til 1999 when the trend died down some. They did come back in 2000 due to some demand and still are continuing today. However, it's not even close to as popular as it was from 95-99.

Just like with cards, the made some of these tough to find and rare variations to others which made the toy even more popular as collectors were looking to chase down those one-of-a kinds. One of the supposed most valuable bears is the Princess The Bear that commemorated Princess Diana and had the proceeds from each sale donated to her fund.

The TY I present you today comes from 1996. It's not rare and can be found pretty easily. I acquired it a few summers ago in a yard sale that came with a bunch of them for $5. I saw the price and couldn't say no. You know, helps reminisce.

 

Alright, let's take a look back to 1996 near February 20th and see what else was hot.

Day Of The Week:Tuesday

President:Bill Clinton

Popular Song:One Sweet Day By Mariah Carey

Popular Movie: Bottle Rocket

Popular Book:The Rain Maker By John Grisham

Popular TV Show: Remember WENN 

Popular Video Game:Alien Breed 3D II: The Killing Grounds

Thoughts on today's item or any of the memorable things listed above are welcomed in comments!

Sunday's With Rodney:1991 Pinnacle

Today, we take a bit of a trip back to Rodney's sophomore year with the Giants after coming off a decent rookie one.

This 1991 Pinnacle card is brought to you by Project Pedro Blog who I just traded with to bring in this need. There isn't a whole lot spectacular with the card and the design is quite dark and filled, but is another one crossed off the list and brings me to Hampton #440

 

Thoughts on today's card are welcomed below.

Mail Day Saturday:Dealing And Winning

For the second week in a row, you are well treated to a Mail Day Saturday double feature. I could had posted Part 2 of my Project Pedro Blog mail day, but I will let Part 1 sink in for the week to build up to part 2 next Saturday.

Instead, I am posting another latest trade and a contest win.

Up first, a contest win from Sports Card Info blog. He was hosting a contest for a Leaf Limited auto rookie of Giant Clint Sintim. Sintim's promising career was cut short due to an ACL injury which I know all to familiar. He is currently a LB coach at Delaware.

A big thanks goes out to Sports Card Info for the card and contest. If you haven't checked him out yet, please do. Weekly contests, cool segments and reviews.

 

Up next, this was technically my first Pete Rose auto card and it came in a trade I did with @Ryansawyer24 a few weeks ago. This one is different than another I just acquired. This ink is black and the photo is different so it goes well with my other one.

 A big thanks goes out to @Ryansawyer24 for the trade and I look forward to future deals with you.

Thoughts on either card in this edition of Mail Day Saturday are welcomed in comments!

Mail Day Saturday: Project Pedro Blog Trade PT 1

As I have stated a few times this year so far, I am a tad behind on posting some cool stuff I have picked up in a variety of trades and mail days. But, I am really excited for the direction of this blog with the current segment setups I started at the beginning of the year, which only allows me one day a week to post a mail day. So I will probably be behind for awhile as I have a few trade posts to put up along with some more Grady M reader mail day posts. Not to mention, the fun stuff I picked up myself.

So I decided today I will take a break from the Grady M reader mail day posts and get my latest trade with Project Pedro blog posted. This trade will be in two parts as you guys have read in the past that he and I pull off some pretty epic trades that I can't just show off in one post.

Today, I am focusing on the biggest lot of cards from the trade and will show off the Top 5 cards I acquired next week.

Up first,  new group of Eli's for the Giants PC. The Unparalleled is pretty cool.

Tiki, Sinorice swatch, Giffords and Simms grouping.

A couple of swingin' new Griffey adds.

Carmen Electra shiny card that's numbered. Pretty....

And some Knicks. Yup, I went against my norm and traded for some NY Knicks just because he was looking to unload some basketball and I just felt like adding a few cards.

I am always a fan of these. Gotta love basketball relics.

Letterman! Not sure if these will help me spell out Sport Card Collectors, but I am always in the market for these no matter what. Henderson not the worst addition either.

I thought this was really cool. It's Spx, Knicks and Patrick Ewing Jr. Just too bad he didn't fill his father's shoes and instead was a flop.Knowing pops was one of my favorite All-Time Knicks, I thought this was a nice addition just to say I have one. Ewing Jr is currently Georgetown's director of basketball operations.

And speaking of pops.....

A solid start of showings in this mail day. There were other cards included to but I just focused it onto a few so I wouldn't have to make this longer than a two-series post.

Stay tuned for next weeks Top 5 cards I got from this trade. Some pretty cool additions including a rarity from the 90's.

Wrappers Of Collecting Past:2013 Upper Deck Football

2013 became the first time I started to appreciate NCAA football cards from Upper Deck. Not being a big college football card fan, I mainly strayed from collecting it even though I have always loved what Upper Deck brought to cards.

But, something with 2013 caught my attention and I started to collect and appreciate Upper Deck's college football efforts more even though NFL still took more of my money. It must have been that highly touted football rookie class that turned out to be a flop. But at the time for me, it was all about finding Geno Smith in packs as I thought he was the next big thing.

 

Four years later, I am still wrong about that. At least I got some enjoyment of opening this product and pulled my first ever high-number Sp from a few hobby packs I picked up.

So how bout you guys? You bust lots of 2013 UD looking for those top notch rookies? Do you bust it now? Thoughts in comments are welcomed as always!

Why I don't Watch UFC, But Collect The Cards

In the first of this series, I discussed why I don't watch the NBA anymore but still collect the cards.

Today, is a bit different of a sport, UFC. I can't say I have ever watched a match. I just have absolutely no interest in doing so and same goes for boxing. Watching someone annihilate another person til they are down just doesn't do it for me. I will say though, these athletes have gotta be some of the toughest ones out there..

However, collecting UFC cards does do it for me.

Most of the time, On-card autographs

and the sometimes colorful fighter worn relics add some flair to cards.

I think even a few years ago as a unique finding in boxes, Topps came out with fighter used mouth guards. That's stinkin' sweet.

 

So as you can see, I like collecting the cards, just don't think I could ever watch the sport itself.

How bout you guys? Big UFC fans? Collect the cards? Just watch but don't collect? Collect but don't watch? You do both? Let me know in comments!

Nuttin But The Hits:2004 Just Minors Just Rookies

Just Minors is exactly as it states, Just A Minor League product. This time it comes in set form from 2004 and comes with 2 autographs per set. One set in each master case will contain a randomly inserted black -bordered parallel version of the base set that's numbered to 50. You can find these for pretty much next to nothing at $12 for a chance to hit some key players I found it worth the risk.

Key Players in the set are, Homer Bailey, Billy Buckner, Billy Butler, Asdrubal Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Jon Lester, Louis Marson, Jacob McGee, Jon Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Sweeney, and Ben Zobrist.

Key Autograph Cards are cards of Homer Bailey, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jon Lester, Jon Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Gio Gonzalez, and more.

The Just Rookies 2004 set contains 90 cards, including more than 50 players from the 2004 draft class. Knowing how much I like rookies and autograph rookie cards, I thought I was at a win here no matter the results.

So let's see em...

The base set looks just like the autographs without the autos, a whole lotta white so I didn't picture them here.

The autographs were packed in the set between two pieces of cardboard. First player, Adam Harben. Harben has bounced around from organization to organization never really catching on.

Second player, Louis Marson. Marson is currently I believe in the Angels minors organization. He has shown potential but never fully reached it.

Not particularity the players I had hoped to find but did expect to find.

What are your thoughts on this product? You bust any? Hit anything good?

AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Will Always Love YOU!

Super Bowl 25, one that most Giants fans won't ever forget. Bills fans probably won't either. It sometimes makes me think of Ace Ventura with Ray Finkle's "Laces Out" like some crazed up Scott Norwood is still thinking about "wide right".

But, it was a game for the decades and had one most spectacular renditions of the Star Spangled Banner by one of the biggest voices in music, Whitney Houston.

For years now, I have been searching for a card I thought I had. Some call it Whitney Houston's rookie card and it was a hot seller, sadly after her passing. But, I wasn't looking to sell it, I wanted to have it for my Non-Sport PC and my Giants PC.

Finally after doing my sorting project, she was found in an miscellaneous box. So here is that somewhat iconic card from 1991 Pro Set,

Very happy to had finally found it. I wished companies today would add in special cards and performances like this is some products. Would be another fun chase.

Thoughts on this card, Whitney and if you would like to see cards like this today are welcomed in comments below!