Some Cards That Made Me Smile

I have gone the last four days without a SINGLE PIECE OF MAIL.

No junk mail. No bills. No Cards.

I am not sure what is up, but I am wondering if my mail isn't arriving.

I have never gone that many days without any bills.

Cards yes, bills no.

But, a couple of weeks ago, I did have a stretch of a few days with cards in the mail and I am just getting to posting them now.

First one is this Bowmans Best BEST CUT Refractor of Knicks Legend Patrick Ewing. I was on a Knicks and 90's insert/refractor kick. Speaking of which...the Knicks are ONE GAME AWAY from advancing the NBA Finals!!

Who else is excited?!

The next card came via trade on Twitter.

 

Yes it's a swatch of legendary Pop Princess Britney Spears. She was my very first concert, my friend and I had a big crush and worked hard for tickets before she became huge. So, having this will be a nostalgic piece. Some day, yes some day, would love to add an autograph and then create a shadow box with this card, an autograph and the concert ticket stubs I held onto.

Next card, well it's Dr Frasier Crane. Well, the actor who played him. This Kelsey Grammer autograph had been on my nostalgic PC list for a while. Even though I didn't deeply love the show, I still watched it and watched enough where I consider it nostalgic.

The final card is a new set need that I found under $5. This is a 1997 Pro Line Gems Of The NFL gem card of Warrick Dunn. One of these days I will finish this set up.

And there you have it! As I said on my other blog, Cards Over Coffee, I will be taking a hiatus from blogging to focus on family, school and healing from my shoulder surgery. I plan to be back at some point but cannot at this time pinpoint when and which blog.

Once again thanks for the support for this blog as I have been re-working it.

Happy Summer! (when its official)

CARDBOARD REVIEW:2021 Bowman's Best Baseball (AND NICE GIVEAWAY )

Will there be a baseball season? Do any of us know? I can't see the entire season being lost but some for sure at this point. Let's hope we at least get half a season and a Yankees World Series win.

I see your glare about that last part, and I also see the high fives from fellow Yankee readers. For me, that was a winning sentence.

At least for now, baseball enthusiasts have cards to open and can see their favorite players that way.

Today, while I am waiting for the season to kickoff, I am opening up a box of Bowman's Best baseball 2021. Let's see how it goes shall we?

Each Master Box of 2021 Bowman's Best baseball comes with 2 mini boxes. Each mini box comes with 6 packs. Each Mini box also comes with refractors and 2 autographs each. Each Master Box is roughly $450-500. So a steep gamble.

BASE SET:

 

The base set for Bowman's Best is chromed like it always has been. It is only 100 cards and is built up of veterans (check out my first Gallo in a Yankee uni)

Rookies

And rookies.....hmmm...no rookie logo...prospects then. This is a hard one for me. My definition for a true rookie card is a rookie that is apart of a base set. This one is. However, a product like Bowman has its prospects separately making those non rookies.

So before I move on, let me know your thoughts on this topic in comments. Is this Franco a rookie card?

PARALLELS:

Anything that comes chromed, has plenty of parallels.

Here are the offerings for Bowman's Best

Refractor, Atomic, Purple /250, Aqua Lava /199, Blue /150, Green /99, Gold Lava /75, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /10, Red Lava /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Green /99

Purple /250

Base silver refractors that fall 1 per pack.

More base refractors. Not bad names mixed in at all!

 

Atomic

INSERTS:

Inserts have the following parallels,

Atomic, Lava /50, and SuperFractor 1/1

Heatwave. This may possibly be the greatest looking insert I have ever seen. I want the Jasson Dominguez version and want it now! These fall 1:6 packs and have 30 cards to chase. I saw someone on Twitter recently finish this set. Looks sweet!!

Rookie Craftsmanship that falls 1:8 packs. There are 18 cards to collect.

Future Vibrance has 40 cards to collect that fall 1:3 packs.

HITS:

Four autographs were to be found..

I keep hearing things about this guy but don't know much about him other than his poor signature.

Fun auto, but don't know him.

Here's a name I know! And guess what, you're gonna have a chance to win it!

And my final hit, I recognize this name as well but it's a redemption. Bleh.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Price point is really high on this one, but it's a fun rip. I love chromed products as you guys know and refractors. Other than price, this product is for me.

Did I feel I got my money back on this one, no. But, the Mize was a solid pull.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

ONE PERSON SCORES THIS LOT FOR MY 10 YEAR BLOG GIVEAWAY THAT CONTINUES!

TO ENTER,

1. Have a U.S. Address. Sorry, can't afford to ship outside U.S.
2. Thank Topps for their support in these giveaways by checking out their website I linked.
3. Comment below your thoughts on this product or the Wander Franco "rookie"
4. Earn an extra entry by FOLLOWING Big Blue Cardboard on the right side of the blog which you can HERE. Comment below if you did and i will double check!
5. Earn another entry by FOLLOWING Card Over Coffee on the right side of the blog which you can HERE.. Comment below if you did and i will double check!
6. POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR ON YOUR BLOG SOMETHING WITH A LINK TO BIG BLUE CARDBOARD AND OR CARDS OVER COFFEE FOR ANOTHER BONUS ENTRY. MAKE SURE TO LINK IT BELOW FOR IT TO COUNT!
7. You can earn up to 4 bonus entries on this one. 
8. Good Luck to all that enter. A winner will be announced next week and then the next giveaway will be coming.

Houston's Cardboard:2000-2001 Bowman's Best

 

Shiny cards, base or not, always attract me when it comes to PC cards.

I lost track of how many Allan Houston cards I have now, something I need to update on here, but it's well over 100 and last I checked I was in the Top 10 of Houston collectors on TCDB. It's where I keep track of my Allan Houston cards since I can't find a checklist to transfer to my Google Sheets. I will never be the top collector, but maybe can crack the Top 5 which is a goal I set for myself.

Kerry's Cardboard:Dennis Sent These

Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders blog fame, found me some SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCKK Kerry Collins in my last mail day. I am not even sure how he ran into these, but I was so stoked that he had.

Since I am behind again on Kerry Collins, I thought I would sum up the new additions from Dennis all in this post.

 

This Mirror Image 1st round draft pick usually falls 1:4 packs as a base, but being a refractor, it is 1:36 packs.

One of the best looking Kerry Collins rookies out there! This is the sweet refractor version. I can't find odds on these so not sure how hard they were to pull.

Next up, Trophy Collection. Wooooooooooooo. These fell 1:4 packs. I never get sick of seeing Dufex.

And finally, who doesn't appreciate some Sportflix in their lives. This is the Artist Proof fell at a tough 1:36 packs. These are so tough that I am still missing the Rodney Hampton one for 1994 or 1995.

Thanks to Dennis for grabbing me these when he spotted them. Much, much appreciated!!

Go check out ARPSmith's blog while you are at it for a pretty sweet mail day and easy contest to enter! Find it here:
http://arpsmith44.blogspot.com/2020/04/some-giant-facebook-pick-ups-and-contest.html

You Wanted More

Packs are tragic, cards are bold, you will always open what you wanted more
Packs can be hard, cards are strong, you will never say they don't belong

Cause I wanted more
More than I could get
More than I could afford

For about a year, I have watched a five pack lot of 1997 Bowman's Best football packs rot away in my watch list. I just couldn't pull the trigger on them despite the slight price decrease every couple of weeks.

Why wouldn't I want the shiny-goodness that comes from Bowman's Best? Well, I busted a box not too long ago and have most of the base set-I still have some needs for it-and wouldn't want to bust more just to land a bunch of dupes. It's not like its 1997 anymore and I can trade my duplicates with my friends. They no longer collect and haven't for years.

Then the price dropped again....

I wanted more
More than I could bear

And for $3.49 and shipping, I finally pulled the trigger. Those packs went for much more individually back then and the risk over reward seemed worth it. What happened if I pulled a refractor of Brett Favre? Autograph? Tough insert? Maybe even some set help?

A few days later, they arrived and I was in happy anticipating. Remember that this was awhile ago I picked these up before Coronavirus. Mail right now must be carried by horse and buggy at the speed it moves. Most packages for me take a week to ten days to arrive depending on where it's coming from.

I believe packs of this in the 90's carried a $6.99 price point. At least it did where I bought them. Today's gamble lot I grabbed is $1.47 a pack with shipping involved in that price.

Each pack of 1997 Bowman's Best Football comes with 6 cards and with chances at Refractors,
Atomic Refractors, Mirror Images with Refractors and Atomic Refractors, and Autographs with Refractors and Atomic Refractors. With key rookies to find of Jake Plummer, Corey Dillon, Tony Gonzalez, Tiki Barber, Warrick Dunn, and Jon Kitna.

Any of those names hit the spot?

With five packs in hand, I couldn't decide how many I was going to open. With any pack lot I buy, I always find myself not opening the entire lot. I always save one or two for memories sake. So I decided to break three out of five and save two for the memories. At least then sealed, those two packs would be worth the price of admission I paid for the lot.

I broke these down by pack. So let's see how I did and let's hope for something good!

Pack 1: Key highlights, Eddie George, Cris Carter and Andre Reed base. I also dig the old school Ravens logo on the Vinny.

Pack 2 Key Highlights:Derrick Thomas, Marvin Harrison and Natrone Means with the Jags uni.

Still no rookies. Hmph.

Ohhhh, that's because Pack 3 Highlights has two rookie cards in it. We have the two rookies in Ike Hilliard (PC material despite having three copies already), David LaFleur (who appeared in every pack I opened I felt in 1997) and a Drew Bledsoe base.

Not a whole lot of whoopie here, but it was fun. That's what truly matters to me.

Opening these three however left me staring at the other two like they were still in my watch list. Like they were the last box of Dunkaroos on the store shelves. Like they were the last chance date with Kelly Bundy.

Will I be able to withstand the temptation......time can only tell.

Cause I wanted more
More than these packs could give
More than I could handleAnd packs that I can't live without opening

Today's lyrical re-write is from the song You Wanted More by Tonic in 1999. Great song that you should listen to over and over again like I do.

Nuttin But The Hits:1997 Bowman's Best Football Hobby Box Break (sick break!)

The late 90's. Is there truly any better time in the hobby?

The variety, the brands, the innovations, the value.

It's all in there.

For me there is also a bonus, the memories. This was and always will be my best time in the hobby. Nothing will ever change that.

So when I pulled off my last trade with Project Pedro blog I got the opportunity to take a trip back down memory lane with some packs/box breaks from my past. I loved every aspect of our trade, but these breaks were truly what hit me the hardest and what I enjoyed the most. With every pack I busted a smile can be seen for miles across my face and the next chance to open the next pack brought me joy like no other.

There will be multiple breaks coming up on here. So get ready to take a trip back in time!

Today. let's go back to 1997 shall we? That's the year after I was currently starting to post about for Origins Of A Cardboard Addict blog. I had thought about busting these boxes over there, but instead I decided to keep them here and maybe this will be the future site of that blog as well and will continue my story of collecting here. 

Okay, Bowman's Best. One great looking product that included refractors. I was sold in the 90's but packs costed a ton that I couldn't afford a lot of it. Flash forward 20 years and here I was finally opening up a box of it.

Each box comes with 24 packs with 6 cards per pack. The base cards looked like this and have 125 cards in the base set. I fell short of that in my box break and will be seeking it in my Sets Of My Childhood chase,

The Rookies in the set looked similar except a touch of silver on the edges. Key rookies were Jake Plummer, Warrick Dunn, and Tony Gonzalez. At least when you open a box of retro wax, you know which prospects made it already as opposed to today's stuff you open.

Now onto my awesome pulls from this box

Two named refractors in Jake Plummer and John Elway. These fall 1:12 packs.

Then I got the promised atomic refractor that falls 1:24 packs, but it was Jerry stinkin Rice!! Followed up in the next pack with another atomic this time of all-time great Reggie White!!!!

That wasn't even the end of the break. Following those was this Best Cuts, 1:24 packs of Jerry Rice then a Best Cuts refractor 1:48 packs of Mark Brunell!

 

Can you feel the heat?!!

Man do I miss the hobby days of the 90's. Products today don't even touch this stuff.

This was the final break of my trade with Project Pedro blog. A HUGE thanks goes out to him for allowing me to do a trade like this and take me back in time. I really hope we can do this again. If you haven't checked out Project Pedro Blog, please do so. He is expanding his segments on top of the already popular Cheap Wax Wednesday.

I am also going to do a giveaway from this break on Twitter so make sure you are following me there!

REVIEW:2017 Bowman's Best Baseball

Let's take a step back in time with today's break. Bowman's Best ranked as one of my favorites in the late 90's. A lot of companies have brought back late 90's favorites and failed to compete with the original. You simply can't recreate a classic or carry on a brand from that era in today's collecting.

However, Topps has done a decent job when it brought back Bowman's Best and has so far kept it pretty close to the original line. May be the closest any company has done to recreating a classic.

So let's see a rip of 2017 Bowman's Best and my thoughts on it.

In every box of 2017 Bowman's Best Baseball Master Box are 2 mini boxes. Each mini box comes with 6 packs of 5 cards. Each Master box comes with 1 atomic refractor and each mini box also has 2 autographs per. Master Boxes are running $120.

The base set comes with 100 cards including 35 prospects. The design is funky, but colorful and team matching. Looks pretty good.

Here are the key rookies I pulled in my box. No Judge or Bellinger however.  Gonna need to hunt down the Judge.

Gleyber Torres prospects card. You can tell the prospects from the base as the design runs the opposite way.

As with anything with a Finest Chrome shine, here come the refractors. 

Base Refractor,

Here is a throwback, they put the word refractor on the card back. Sweet!!!

Blue /150 and Orange /25,

And a sweet looking Atomic just like the old days that falls 1 per master box. Can't wait to see this guy in pinstripes.

Other refractors not found in my box include, Purple /250, Green /99, Gold /50, Red /10, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Now onto the inserts.

Raking Rookies. Top rookies of 2017. Parallels include, Atomic Refractor, Gold Refractor /50, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Mirror Image another throwback to the 90's. Some great players to find on here including a Judge/Stanton I will need to chase down. Parallels include, Atomic Refractor, Gold Refractor /50, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Baseball America's Dean List 2017. Top prospects on here. Parallels include, Atomic Refractor , Gold Refractor /50, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Bowman's Best, Best Cuts. Throwback insert to 1997. I dig these! Parallels include,Gold Refractor /50, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Atomic Refractor, 1:48 packs or 2 per case

Now time for the pulls,

On-card autographs but nothing big. But, they are prospects so you never know.

These have parallels also. They include, Refractor, Green Refractor /99, Gold Refractor /50, Atomic Refractor /25, Red Refractor /10, and SuperFractor 1/1.

 

Other hits not found in my box include, Monochrome Autographs, Dual Autographs, 1997 Best Cuts Autographs, Baseball America’s 2017, Dean’s List Autographs, and Raking Rookies Autographs

OVERALL: Great design, great throwback. My hits weren't the best, but overall I enjoyed the break and the Gore auto saved it some. The fun thing is, if you can't afford a master box, give a mini box a try or buy into a break. There are plenty of options to enjoy. Plenty of solid hits to find across the board from rookies to prospects to veterans.

My only negative, I really wished this was done in retail as well for those of us who don't have access to the hobby versions. Treat it like chrome and maybe do some retail exclusive parallels.

Please take a minute out to thank Topps for providing the box to review. Some of the cards you see above will be included in the #MyToppsMomentOfTheYear promo! Follow Topps on all social media sites and check out their website HERE for cards and more!