Breakin Wax: 2014 Stadium Club Baseball Hobby Box Break

Stadium Club. A name that was the king of the 90's in my opinion. The strong unique full bleed photography on the base cards and legendary inserts such as Beam Team made this a must for 90's collectors. When I heard that Topps had revived the line again in 2014, I wanted some. Especially after viewing some images.

After many months, I finally got my hands onto some.

The new version of Stadium Club has a new and old feel to it. There are three mini boxes per hobby box with each mini box containing 6 packs and one autograph. A hobby box is reasonably priced right now falling just under $70.

What caught my attention in the early images of Stadium Club, was the photography. Now, the base cards aren't as thick as I had hoped (I was hoping for the 1997 high gloss thick edition) but they have some classic action and creative photography as you will see in the next paragraph.

The base set consists of 200 cards with rookies, veterans and legends alike. The pictures are like no other I have seen in awhile on a base card as most tell a story. One of my favorites is the Jackie Robinson below.

Here were the parallels I pulled from mine. They normally fall one per mini box. The bottom right hand corner is a foilboard parallel numbered to 25.

Field Access. One per mini box.

Beam Team's triumphant return! This wasn't the only Stadium Club favorite to make an appearance. Members Only, Triumvirates and Lone Star Signatures make appearances as well.

Some die cut insert fun

Now onto the hits. This was the one thing I heard collector ramblings the most about this product. That the autographs were aplenty and led to lesser known player pulls in boxes. I felt that with mine. But at least they were rookie autos so you never know.

Overall, Topps did a great job with the product. I do feel value vs what you pay is a concern here but that might be an easy fix. The box price right now is very reasonable and for those of us who like minor risks or like to take a trip down memory lane this product will suffice.

I also hope this is a product that gets carried back over to football in Topps' last season with the NFL.license. I would call that going out with a bang.

Break 'Em: 12 Packs Of 1991 Action Packed Football

Recently I showed off my surprise EPIC mail day from The Pack Gambler. In that article, I mentioned there were 12 packs of 1991 Action Packed Football that I would open at a later date. Well, the time has come.

Not only did I bust all 12 packs at a slow pace, it took me roughly an hour as I studied every card, but I have also put together the full gallery of all 12 packs. So sit back, take a moment back in time and enjoy!

The golden wrapper. It's sorta like the golden ticket into something wonderful. The wonderfulness of action packed field pics with embossing.

The cards!

A couple of Giants and Emmitt. As a Giants fan, I hate him. But, as a collector, I am glad to have found him.

Some BIG TIME Hall Of Famers found in this lot. Barry Sanders, John Elway and Troy Aikman.

My man Rodney! Some guy named Joe Montana as well.

Overall, a ton of fun. I was a bit disappointed not to have landed the Favre rookie after 12 packs but sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles. This also may mean I have to go and find some more :)

Hobby Break 'Em: 10 Pack Break Of 2014 Upper Deck Conference Greats

Upper Deck recently released this 2014 Conference Greats products and I was curious what this product consisted of so I had the opportunity to open it and see.

Each pack of Conference Greats comes with 8 cards per pack. Each hobby pack will run you roughly $3-$4 depeding on where you buy. Each hobby box comes with one autographs and 2 memorabilia cards.

First up I wanted to discuss the base cards. I like the design and the checklist is fun. It includes players you may not find in packs anymore such as Eric Moulds and Jared Lorenzen.

There are a few rookies from this great class including Manziel and my boy Beckham Jr.

However, I wasn't a fan of the schedule cards. I felt as if they were a set filler. I totally get what Upper Deck was attempting to do, but I just wasn't a fan of including these in this set. It doesn't fit.

Here are my Pewter parallels. These can be found one-per-pack.

 

Two great ones here with Evans and Beckham! 

 Copper parallels I pulled falling at 1:4 packs. There is also a tough black parallel that is numbered to 10.

Then you find the following as well. These are base set hi series stars and rookies. They fall roughly 1:2 packs. I loved this idea for us master set chasers and it reminds me of chasing down the 1997 Upper Deck baseball series 2 set with the etched cards in it that fell at odds as well.

I think I did good here landing Manziel.

Base Set Hi Series Stars
- Base Set Hi Series Rookies - See more at: http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2014-upper-deck-conference-greats-football-hobby-box#sthash.qXvNOYn8.dpuffall roughly 1:2 packs

 

And out of my ten packs I landed an autograph. A tough one at that since it's the hi-series rookie version at 1:170. It's not anyone I know, but I really like the design so it has a place in my collection.

 

Overall, not a bad break. I pulled a tough auto, pulled a couple Manziels and a Beckham.

I think this product will have it's following. There is a fun checklist, some incredible autograph match-ups and cool School Pride memorabilia cards. This may also be fun for those set collectors who like a bit of a challenge.

If your a fan of those things and college football, this product is for you.

Hobby Break 'Em:1995 Topps Finest Series 1 Football Pack

With my obsession with everything 90's collecting, when placing my order at Steel City Collectibles, I had to make it to the $99 for the free shipping. I was roughly $2 short from what I needed so I decided to search the site for deals on 90's cards. That's when I stumbled upon this for $1.99 a pack:

1995 Topps Finest Football comes with 7 cards per pack for $1.99. These cards were as the package claims them, "High Tech" for that era. It was another preview of things to come that would soon become chromed. The design of the base cards was very "electric".

One of the cool things that I enjoyed about Topps Finest from the 90's was the protective film they put over the cards protecting them from scratches and fingerprints. You will see this in the gallery. Also in case you were wondering, no, I never peel the protective coating off. It may have to do with protecting the card or have to do with my OCD.Either way, the protection stays on.

Now onto the gallery!

Loved watching this guy play:

This guy never wore a silver glove on one hand....

Overall, I was pretty happy. I was really hoping to pull a refractor but the nostalgia alone was worth the $2 to me. Sometimes, it's not always about the value.

Let me know your thoughts on this break. I am always curious how others feel about 90's collecting. Especially those of you readers who missed this amazing era.

Hobby Break 'Em: 2013-2014 ITG Between The Pipes Hobby Box

ITG is a company I have never opened a box of product from, but recently I was given this opportunity by winning a contest from Steel City Collectibles on Twitter.

Each hobby box of 2013-14 In The Game Between The Pipes Hockey comes with 18 packs and 9 cards per pack. Boxes roughly run for $40 with 4 hits.This product is goalies only as the product title states.

Here is what the base cards look like. There are three types, Greats Of The Game, Regular and Stars Of The Game. The design and card stock are okay. Nothing overly exciting.

Inserts.... Really like the look of these.

These are really cool. The Masked Men are chromed. You know how much I love Chrome and especially well done Chrome. Refractor parallels need to be done!

Game Used jersey cards! You don't find those too often anymore in a hobby loaded with event worn. Pulled a nice Hasek as my top hit.The designs are okay, the impressive part is the decent swatch size.

My auto pulls...eh.

My first break of ITG wasn't bad. Got an extra hit and I guess you can't argue with that. Wasn't anything big or anything that really jumped out but I did like the Hasek. I guess to me a goalies only product isn't a hit. I know being a goalie is the most important position and toughest one on the ice, but it just doesn't have that collecting appeal as opening an all position product would and landing for an example, a Sidney Crosby. A goalies only product is sort of like making a football product all of offensive and defensive lineman. Not exciting, despite respecting the position.

I would like to say thanks to SCC for the box and the contest as well. They have great deals on products and run many promotions as well.

Let me know your thoughts on my break and if you have broken any.

Hobby Break 'Em: 2014 Flair Football

I broke another box of this. Why? Plain and simple, one box wasn't enough. I absolutely love this stuff and appreciate the great effort that Upper Deck put into it.

First off, the key base cards:

Row 2

Row 1

Row 0

Legacy Collection parallels. Davonte is numbered to 100.

Metal inserts:

First autograph. Not somebody I had heard of.

Oh yeah! Giants PC!

And a nice hit here. Aaron Murray autographed Memorabilia

I was once again impressed with this product. In two boxes I have broken, ZERO doubles. ZILCH. I have not almost completed the Row 2 set except four numbers. That's pretty impressive. Most products you buy two boxes of you have more doubles than you have cards you could use.

I was also looking forward to seeing what the auto/jersey cards looked like and I like em. You won't hear too many complaints from me on this product. This easily makes it into my Top 3 favorite Upper Deck products. Imagine how much more impressive this would have been if it was NFL.