Whatever, I Will Take Em

 

Lately I have been struggling with focus on my collection.

One day, I have been adding NY Giants, the next day I am adding some funky weird insert, the day after that I am trading for 1995 Pro Line Autograph cards or today where I made a move for non-sports and some cards I never thought would interest me.

It's funny how that goes.

 

And the focus of these non-sport adds was none. I saw cards and traded for them. Presidents are welcomed in my non sport collection as well.

It did start with this Ben Affleck I saw. Not a fan of the Red Sox by any means, but think these short printed Upper Deck cards were pretty cool. And Ben was Batman once.

Aubrey Plaza played April Ludgate on Parks and Rec so this is a pretty cool add.

Along with these other First Pitch adds,

Maybe some day I will gather all of my First Pitch cards and see if I have any sets built or what I need from them. 

I think this was one of Topps best inserts in their products for the years they were included. Why do more stupid throwback 86,87,88 and 89 inserts when you can be creative and capture the game of baseball to it's full extent??

Bring them back Fanatics.

Back when Project 2020 and Project70 were popular, I used to complain to no end about them. Now, I kinda like them and have been adding some as I go. 

And I did already have one of these Griffeys, but why not add another. I am sure there are another million out there. This card reminds me never to invest in sports cards. This was the one time ever in my life I tried to do so, and it backfired BIG TIME. So, it's a nice reminder every time I see it.

Thanks again to @levy2628 for the trade and looking forward to our next!

In comments, thoughts on today's additions or your thoughts on the Project2020 and Project70 cards welcomed in comments.

Tradin' With Dion Again!

My trading has cut back a lot and definitely has cut back when it comes to trading with bloggers. It's hard to be a football and non-sport collector in a world of baseball card bloggers. Luckily, there are still a few bloggers left that collect or have cards that I need which is what led me to another trade with  Dion's Autograph Collection blog.

It gets harder to land Giants cards I don't have from the past, but last year and this year with my lack of funds, it will make it easier on people to trade with me as I don't have much.

But, sometimes there are exceptions to older cards (by older I am talking early 90's and 2008 til 2021) like this Sterling Shepard Prizm silver. 

However, when it comes to Allen and Ginter, I don't mind duplicates.

Or these First Pitch cards. At some point, I really need to see what I need to finish all of the sets for the First Pitch series. I still think this is one of Topps most creative inserts in their base products in a while. Much better than those 86 and 87 reprint inserts I hate.

Thanks again to Dion for the trade and I know we are already working on the next which should be another good one.

Hopefully I can make a few more trades after this one so I can continue to put up new posts.

Random Cardboard Of The Day:2017 Topps First Pitch Brian Shaw

Random Cardboard Of The Day:2017 Topps First Pitch Mase

Presidential First Pitch

I don't get into politics with anyone, but I do collect political cards.

I actually have a few political cards in my watch list on eBay including two searches for these Presidential First Pitch relic cards.

The problem is that most just sit there in my watchlist.

Until I finally landed one at a good price, I pulled the trigger and couldn't have been happier about the add.

Most relics for these cards come from older stadium seats where the president featured threw out their first pitch.

I think I grabbed a card with a solid swatch on it.

 

Back of the card talks about the first pitch and the guarantee on the swatch.

I wished more relic backs had a small writeup like this instead of just a generic guarantee.

Thoughts on my latest add and if you own any of these in comments today!

More From The Shane Box

Before I start today's post, I will begin with a Happy Birthday to my mom who turns...well...older today. I know she won't read this as I have told the story many times of her dislike of card collecting, but overall, she's my mom.

So the next part of my mail day I am showing off from Shane is a small section of cards I found included in a white box that was within the big Priority box that caught my attention.

First up, a Colin Powell rookie card. I never knew this existed but it's pretty cool.

1971 Flashbacks. I had no idea that Starbucks has been around this long. It makes me feel sheltered in my childhood.

I think I have a couple of these, but I love the First Pitch cards. It was a great lineup for Topps for a few years. Though I think they should have kept the design the same for all of them so it could have been one continuing series with the product.

It's good to see a company get creative like this. Which is why I enjoyed Opening Day when they included foods at ballparks and other fun parts of baseball we don't always think about finding as a card.

 

The final card I am showing off is a teaser to a lineup of 90's football inserts I will be showing off I got in this trade as well. This one here combines two great QB's who liked to both throw and take off on the ground.

Much more to come from this mail day as I am stretching it out to fill in some days on here. As I said a few days ago, I don't have much incoming so the further I can stretch each mail day, the more posts I can get in on here to continue the blog.

Mail Day Saturday: Reader Mail Day IV

Today, if you guys don't mind, I am doing another Mail Day Saturday Triple Feature as I am trying to catch up on many mail days. Today's triple round will cover three parts of my mail day from avid Sport Card Collectors blog reader Grady M. It won't cover all of my posts from his mail day, but will close the gap by a lot.

Part IV of this mail day covers one of my favorite insert sets year in and year out from Topps, First Pitch. I still have yet to chase down any of the sets or even pick up a few I really want such as "Fluffy" and William Shatner as my focus is on other collecting priorities first, but when I can add to my collection of those I am always happy. It also helps close the gap for when I am ready.

My favorite of this group is this card. Yes it features my most hated baseball team but that's not what matters here. Because it also features one of the most inspiring young generous collectors I have ever seen in Brady Kahle. He is the one who runs Cards 4 A Cause which sells cards, including his own collection, which proceeds help support children with cancer including his friend pictured on the card as well I believe. You can follow him and his journey here on Twitter.

Thoughts on today's cards are welcomed in comments!

REVIEW:2017 Topps Baseball Series 1 (1/1 PULL!)

The first product to kick off the new season of baseball cards arrived earlier this week packed with things new and old. Sometimes literally.

How did my first baseball card break of 2017 go? Well, you will have to read on.

For some reason, my phone decided not to take a picture of the box and instead a picture of the pack uploaded. So you get the point anyways. It features World Series champion Kris Bryant who graces the cover. Boxes come packed with cards. 

 

Each hobby box of 2017 Topps Series 1 baseball comes with 36 packs of 10 cards. There is either one autograph or one memorabilia card per box. Hobby boxes have been running around $60 each.

 

The checklist is 350 total cards deep showcasing superstars, young players and the hottest rookies in the game such as Yoan Moncada, Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Andrew Benintendi, David Dahl, Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin, Orlando Arcia, Alex Reyes, and Tyler Glasnow. 

The base set design is a little offbeat compared to past years. I have seen a lot of mixed feelings on it. To me, I wasn't sure til I saw it first hand. I like it honestly as it reminds me of graphics you would see on MLB Network or ESPN. Of course I have been one in the past that has complained about the borders year in and year out, I like the fact Topps is taking it to the future and giving it a different look.

The base set features base cards (Ortiz) and many subsets with nicknames (Thor and Dark Knight)

 

League Leaders, Topps All Rookie, Rookie cards

 

And of course World Series recaps and

 

Team Cards which feature some amazing photography.

 

Speaking of photography, here are a few other cards I enjoyed. This Naquin may be my favorite of the entire group.

I guess while we are on the base card topic, as always, there are photo variations to find. This year is drastically improved however as they are extremely tough to pull and are rare. There are no Sp versions and only SSP versions to chase. I feel there isn't a huge overflow of them like in past releases and some of these this time are demanding big bucks because they are so tough to pull.

And to continue on with the base card talk, as always, there are parallels. But, not too many per box. At least in mine. That may help give these a tad bit more value as in past releases it seemed like a one per two pack find. Golds are tough to spot as you gotta look at the bottom corner to see them and are still numbered to 2017. 

 

I think the Rainbow Foils look pretty stunning especially with this design. They are not numbered however and fall at 1:10.

 

I was also fortunate enough to find a hobby/jumbo exclusive Negative parallel. No odds given and it's not numbered.

 

 

 Other parallels you can find are, 

• Vintage Stock are numbered to 99.
• Black are numbered to 66
• MOTHER'S DAY HOT Pink are numbered to 50.
• FATHER'S DAY POWDER BLUE are numbered to 50.
• MEMORIAL DAY CAMO are numbered to 25.
• Clear are numbered to 10
• Platinum are numbered 1/1.
• Printing Plates are numbered 1/1. 

Now onto the inserts. I found these to be a bit refreshing this year. I liked that fact you didn't find half a pack of them. On average, I saw 1-2 per pack. Much improved and makes them much more fun to find and chase.

 

Topps Salute commemorate early season events with special photography and highlighting customized MLB uniforms. There are many varieties to find. Look for themed cards celebrating Rookies, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day, Vintage uniforms and the greatest Legends of MLB. These fall at an easy rate of 1:4 packs

 

I wasn't impressed with these however after a second look. At first, I thought they were throwbacks. You look at the backs....

 

They are just ad fill-ins. Bleh.

Bowman Then & Now captures each player's original Bowman card with their current success on the field and is the closest I will get to their autographed rookies haha. These are inserted 1:8 packs

 

First Pitch returns again as my favorite insert again taking pop culture icons that threw out a ceremonial first pitch during the 2016 MLB season. These are inserted 1:8 packs

 

Love this John Goodman one. Really want the Jon Lovitz, Vicotria Justice and William Shatner ones to.

 

Five Tool gives you that Topps Fire feel as it was designed by the artist who does Topps Fire. These showcase players with 5-tools and are inserted 1:8 packs

 

MLB Network inserts. New to the insert lineup as well. Kinda cool and I like the design. These fall one-per-box.

1987 Topps Baseball makes it return to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of this iconic design with an insert set! These have stars of today, future and past and have the feel of the original. They also are each foil stamped with the 30th anniversary stamp. Wished I had pulled the Griffey. These fall 1:4 packs so you will find plenty of them. They also have red and platinum parallels.

 

Buyback cards fall 1 in every 6 packs and all but the most valuable cards will be stamped with a new foil "Rediscover" logo so they can be easily found. There will be multiple levels of rarity in the foil logos. I found two silvers in mine and 4 bronze. Not what levels there are or how tough they are.

 

I was actually fortunate to find this in my box as well. Not sure how tough the non-Rediscover foil pulls are as opposed the the ones with foil.

I also pulled an Ultimate Card Giveaway card that I assume are one-per-box for a chance at a free Topps Now card. You can also win Free Topps Bunt '17 cards. Did I win (which would be my very first Topps Now card)...well... I will highlight if I won or not and show off what the Ultimate Card Giveaway card looks like tomorrow.

There are plenty of hits to find in Series 1. My typical find is usually a plain color swatch in flagship and update and that's what I expected. It's just what my going rate with baseball and football when they had the license.

But, three packs in and to my surprise....

In The Name Relics 1/1 Letter Patch from an All-Star Game Workout Jersey. Pretty slick looking card.

 

Other hits including relic cards, manufactured relic cards, autographs, autograph patch cards not found in my box are....

Topps Reverence Autograph Patch Cards, Major League Material Autograph Relic Cards, World Series Champion Autograph Relic Cards,Postseason Performance Autograph Relic Cards, Topps Salute Autograph Cards, World Series Champion Autograph Cards, Postseason Performance Autograph Cards, 1987 Topps Baseball Autograph Cards, Major League Material Cards, World Series Champion Relic Cards, Postseason Performance Relic Cards, In The Name Relics, Cut Signatures, MLB All-Star Team Medallion Cards and MLB Spring Training Logo Patch Cards.

As you can see, plenty of fun to find.

OVERALL, I was pretty happy with the break. Even if I had gotten that single color jersey card again I felt pretty good about the break and this years product. I hope Topps builds off from it for 2018.

Most of the product was pretty solid in terms of design and themes. There were a couple of less-impressive things especially those advertising cards but more positives in my opinion than negatives. Especially with lesser photo variations, lesser inserts, and less parallels to find per box. I think this years product will be worth a tad more down the road for those seeking key cards for their collections.

It will be interesting to hear your guys thoughts on the product especially the base card design. Leave them below!

Also look for a future giveaway with some of the cards you see above. I am working on how to run that giveaway along with future giveaways. Stay tuned and make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to host nice giveaways with. Follow them on all social media sites and visit their site, HERE, as well.