We Got One!!

Somehow or another, the football Gods came to save the NY Giants season as they pulled off the upset over the 3-0 LA Chargers with a 21-18 win.

And most of that was because of rookie Quarterback Jaxson Dart who all Giants fans like myself hope will be THE GUY in New York finally after we suffered through so much quarterback pain since Eli Manning retired.

Anyways, here are a few of my most recent Dart additions. I don't have anywhere near what most would consider an "epic" Dart collection, but I have a few solid cards.

 

Dart finished the day throwing for 111 yards and a touchdown along with rushing for 54 yards and another touchdown. The most important stat was the win.

Next week the Giants take on the New Orleans Saints on the road. Hopefully Sunday's win will be a turn of the season.

Summer Of Wes Card #48

Summer Of Wes Card #88

Project Pedro Trade Recap Part 9: NY Giants Takeover!

October has officially been named, Cards I Got From Project Pedro Blog Month.

Today's round of cards don't have to be autographed or have a jersey swatch, sometimes just a simple rookie or numbered card is enough for me.

So there is plenty in here to view.

My first Bear Pascoe rookie is among this group.

 

Some numbered former Giants here. I will always still be a Jacobs fan. Watching that guy plow down a defender was always fun.

 

Hakeem Nicks. This guy was so underrated for years. Had one bad year with no TD's for the Giants and all of a sudden can't keep a job. The guy had great hands and brought some memorable moments to especially in the 2012 playoffs when he outdid Atlanta by himself and took down the mighty Packers too. Especially that Hail Mary to end the first half.

 

This sadly may be my first Gifford Giants card and a nice numbered refractor of Manningham in this two card group too.

 

To finish it off is a trio of numbered cards including Simms and Eli.

 

 

Surprisingly most of these are new and what aren't have numbering so it's still a new PC card.

 

Speaking of that, if you have two of the same card let's say numbered to 500. Do you consider those two separate cards or one card in your PC count? Let me know your thoughts below!

 

Tomorrow will mark the first box breakdown from the trade. So stay tuned for that!

The Numbered Bunch:Grady M Mail Day Part 2

Today's post displays cards spread across many sports and that are numbered. Hence the post title.

Up first, some hockey. I really dig the acetate Landeskog. Great design and it's acetate!

Up next, some numbered football and baseball. The Kuechly is not a bad addition at all.

Then we finish it out with some Chrome Heritage baseball. I always like the look of these.

Another pretty solid group of cards. Many, many more still to post about.

Thoughts on today's round is always welcomed.

REVIEW:2015-2016 Panini Gold Standard Basketball

For only the second time in my collecting career, I had the opportunity to bust a box of Gold Standard. My first time of opening it, went extremely well. This time...well...eh...you will see.

 

In every box of 2015-2016 Panini Gold Standard Basketball there is 1 Pack Per Box with 7 Cards Per Pack that includes1 Rookie Jersey Autograph card and 2 additional autograph or memorabilia cards. Boxes run about $150 per. So it's high end.

Every box should come with three numbered base cards. They are numbered to 299. I personally think the base cards look great and I have no complaints on the design. The gold foil shine with color player photo and team logo in the back stand out. However, My player selection was a bit weak.

Along with the base cards, you will also find one parallel per box. Mine was of the great Gary Payton and is numbered to 79. The card is embossed and has a superfractor appeal.

Now onto the hits.

My first autograph is a Mother Lode of Dontas Motiejunas from the Rockets. This guy hasn't played in the NBA much and has spent a lot of his career overseas after being drafted by the Timberwolves then traded to Houston. It's disappointing to find this type of player in a high-end product.

At least the design is nice and sticks with the gold theme throughout the product.

My next find was a Gold Scripts autograph of another Houston Rocket, this time an upgrade in Calvin Murphy. This Hall of Famers autograph is numbered to 99. I must also make note he has a pretty nice signature.

My final hit involves a player from one of my least favorite NBA teams and my favorite college one, Justise Winslow of the Miami Heat/Duke Bluedevils.

Winslow was the 10th overall pick in the draft but hasn't quiet found his way in the NBA yet. His season high in points was actually done this week against the Pacers and that was for 20. Justise is getting there, just taking time.

The design of these rookie autos is familiar to one I had seen in a football product, I am thinking Absolute, but is well done and balances nicely when it comes to layout. I must note the autograph is also on-card and that the card is numbered to 99.

You will find one of these rookie autographs per box.

 

Overall, I am a bit disappointed compared to the only other box of Gold Standard I had opened. It felt very lackluster for a product that costs as much as it does for this few amount of cards. I know every box can't drop a Kevin Durant or Kobe Bryant autograph, but there has got to be a balance somewhere. Pulling a Dontas Motiejunas auto is a bit scary in a product like this.

The product when it comes to just looks, top notch. Cards are golden and are printed on nice card stock. Rookie autos are on-card so that should make many happy. Other than value vs cost I couldn't find much wrong with it.

So in my opinion, if you like to roll the dice, it's a great product and has a ton of sweet cards you could pull. If you are one to be more focused on getting your money back every time, I would hesitate. Gold Standard has a lot to offer, it's just landing the right box. 

For further details and gallery, check out Panini's blog, HERE. 

Breakin Wax: 2014 Upper Deck Conference Greats Football 2-Box Break

After busting ten hobby packs of Upper Deck Conference Greats, I was hooked. So when I had the chance to open two hobby boxes, I was even more excited.

In every box of 2014 Upper Deck Conference Greats football there are 24 packs with 8 cards per pack. There is also one autograph and two memorabilia cards per box as well and one box topper.

I did really well with my box toppers, especially with pulling soon-to-be offensive rookie of the year Beckham that also fits in my PC. I haven't been more excited about a Giants rookie in some time. This guy is incredible to watch and made the bad Giants season more watchable.

Speaking of Giants, one of my favorites in Rodney Hampton was found in here. The base set is a mix of legends, veterans and rookies. There are also team schedule cards that I wasn't really a fan of.

There are also Hi-Series rookies and veterans that fall at different rates. I like these a lot. This product reminds me a lot of 1997 Upper Deck baseball in terms of design on these and being short-printed into the master set.

There are base cards parallels as well. Pewter, Copper and Black. Black is the toughest pull only numbered to 10.

- Regular Cards Pewter Parallel (1:1)
- Regular Cards Copper Parallel (1:4)
- Regular Cards Black Parallel (# to 10) - See more at: http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2014-upper-deck-conference-greats-football-hobby-box#sthash.otuvv9Yg.dpuf

BOOM! Just wished it wasn't a lineman.

Here are the memorabilia hits. I like the School Pride hits and there are rare versions to find to. The regular memorabilia hits are a bit disappointing only because they are not game worn and to me, that hurts them. I am not an event worn kinda guy.

My two autographs. Craig Yeast who I used to pull a lot in the 90's of when he played for the Bengals and former Patriots Quarterback, Babe Parilli. The funny part, the Parilli autograph and memorabilia card both came in the same box.

I like the autographed cards a lot in this product. They are from players you may or may not remember and includes superstars from today. I think the gold signatures from what I have seen look best on the back and white older photos than the newer ones as they seem to get lost.

Overall, not a bad break nor a great one. I will say there is plenty to find in this product when you do hit something and I do like the base cards despite not filling a simple set in 2 boxes worth. Right now prices on it are good, so if I were you and you like what you see, give it a try. Couldn't hurt.

Jumbo Pack Attack! 2014 Topps Series 1. Nice!

With my recent dry run of not being able to open anything, I had to find a way to rip something. Plug in my mother-in-law who was taking a trip to Walmart and me asking very nicely if she could pick me up any pack of sport cards. A couple of hours later, she brought back this:

I was pretty stoked. I couldn't wait to open something and smell that freshly packed wax again. I gave my mother-in-law a huge thank you and she left leaving me to open the pack of cards immediately. I think she had pretty good luck with this pack with a little simmer of boom. Let me know what you think by reading on.

Let's start with the base cards, here was the key one of them all. Despite it being my third one of this card overall this year, I feel you can never get enough Jeter.

My rookie cards from the pack:

My inserts/parallels:

Gold parallel numbered to 2014:

Then the sprinkle of boom from the pack...Dustin Pedroia Photo Variation:

Overall, I thought this was a great break. The sell to me was pulling the photo variation despite it being a Red Sox player. I have bought my fair share of Topps this year and have yet to pull one of them or a sparkle variation. It's always a greater feeling when you beat the odds and hit something retail.