Random Cardboard Of The Day:1998 Ex2001 Roger Clemens

Cardboard Review:2021 Stadium Club Baseball Hobby Box

When it comes to the hobby, I can't list many products that get me excited enough to countdown to, but there are some.

One of those products, I know I am not alone on.

That product, Stadium Club.

It's the one product that you whisper it's name and it gives you goosebumps and makes your hair stand up on your arm.

Why do collectors seek this product out so much? Is it the hits? Is it the checklist? No, no, and the next question was a no before I even asked it. Let's see why collectors dig this product so much.

Every hobby box of 2021 Stadium Club baseball comes with 16 packs per box with 8 cards per pack. Each box has 2 autographs, a box topper and is around $120 per.

After opening up the box, your box topper is just there.

Certain players also offer up autograph versions of this card that are all numbered to 10.

BASE

Well, it didn't take me too long to get right to the answer of the burning question above on why collectors flock to Stadium Club. Believe it or not, it's the base cards.

NO OTHER, I mean no other product offers the kind of photography Stadium Club does and has for many years.

Here are a few of my favorites from this box break,

The base set overall has 300 cards and is built up of veterans, legends and rookies.

Parallels
Stadium Club offers the following parallels,

Red Foil, Black Foil, Sepia, Black & White, Blue Foil /50, 30 Years (30 copies), Rainbow Foilboard \/25, First Day Issue (10 copies), Members Only (1 per case), Photographer’s Proof , and Gold Rainbow Foil 1/1.

Red Foils fall 1:3 packs

Black Foil falls 1:8 packs

30 Years, which I missed in the break the first time, fall 1:199 packs.

And with most products, there are Sp's and Variations. These are tough pulls falling at 1:179 and I found this design variation of Ichiro in this break.

INSERTS

 

Stadium Club Chromes fall One-Per-Box and I found myself a nice one in Tatis. I know you guys don't want to hear this, but I sure hope Topps brings this back as a full time set again. Taking everything Stadium Club has to offer and chroming it looks amazing.

These also come with parallels,

Refractor, Orange /99, Pearl White /30, Gold Minted and SuperFractor 1/1.

Stadium Club Greats revisit old Stadium Club designs. These fall 1:8 packs and have 25 cards to collect in the set.

Super Star Duos falls 1:16 packs and has a player on the front and back. This one features Paul Goldschmidt on the back. This one features 15 cards in the set.

Virtual Reality falls 1:8 packs and have 25 cards in the set to collect.

HITS

There are on card autograph offerings in Stadium Club with a mix of Veterans, Legends and lots of rookies.

I pulled two rookie autographs in mine,

Not terrible, not great but at least no pitcher autos!

HITS
Stadium Club isn't about the hits, it's about the photography and the nostalgia as well. This years version is loaded with it especially with the throwback designs.

There are a ton of great photos as well that I didn't even post because it would have taken up the entire post to do so.

In comments, let me know your thoughts on Stadium Club whether it be past or present.

MMMB: Julie's Pockets Have Been Picked Again!

First off, Happy Birthday to my wife Jess. I hope you have an amazing day and don't worry, I won't reveal to the readers that you are still 29. ;)

Now onto the start of today's post.

Occasionally there are some Pockets to be picked and A Cracked Bat: Baseball Cards and a Hot Dog written by Julie offers such options.

This time I was a little late to the party but still picked out some pockets of goodies. Mainly what I look for is stuff for the PC especially 90's cards,

 

Rondell White Upstarts from 1995 Pinnacle

Same goes for this Roberto Kelly Upstarts

1998 Ultra Gold Medallions. Not my favorite Gold Medallion design as that title goes to 1995, but this one ranks up there.

Marty Cordova

Jeff Shaw

Hot rookie Fernando Tatis

and the last card comes from one of my favorite products, Zenith. Now it's not 90's Zenith, but when it's Zenith, does it really matter? 

 

2005 Zenith Museum Collection David Dellucci

Thanks again for Julie and letting me pick her pockets again. I gotta make sure to send ya something back if I haven't yet by the time this is posted.

Breakin' With Cardboard Collections

 

I recently saw a break on Twitter that Cardboard Collections, @flywheels, was hosting with a box of 1996 Sportflix baseball and wanted in. 

Only problem, there wasn't many teams left to get in on. So as a Yankees fan (Mariners fan just to land some Griffeys) I sinned and grabbed the Red Sox in the break.

I can feel you all shaming me now.

But, I did it to score some Mo Vaughns despite the team, I always liked watching the big dude hit. And it was also a brand in my favorite time to collect which was the biggest draw.

Let's see how I did.

Roger Clemens. I really liked Roger and would always pretend to be him when I was pitching in backyard baseball against my friend Brian. Then came the steroid talk and he was no longer my favorite pitcher.

 

I ended up with 2 of these UC3 subset cards of Vaughn, I like the 3D appeal which is hard to capture in a blog post.

John Valentin

Mo Vaughn flexing on his card.

Jose Roidseco. I always forget how many teams he bounced around to and always forget he even played for the Red Sox. I associate him more with the Rays than I do the Red Sox.

Overall for the cost, that was fun and I landed a couple of cards for my players collection.

Cardboard Collections is always hosting these affordable break spots for a variety of fun products. If you haven't tried it out yet, please do and check it out HERE for new breaks. And no, this wasn't sponsored this is just speaking the truth. Though I would be more than happy to have Cardboard Collections as my break sponsor. *hint* *hint*

Nuttin' But The Yankee Hits Part 2

Part 2 of my Yankee hits PC is a bit stronger than the first part.

We kick it off with the Rocket. At one time this card was my most favorite card in my Yankees PC. I was a huge Clemens fan in the 90's and when the Yankees made a move for him, I was so excited. I used to pretend I was him in the backyard with my buddies when we played baseball. He was the ace of my staff. Then I found out he was part of the 'roid generation and Roger is no longer a favorite in my collection.

A couple of sweet Giambi relics including a base swatch from the Ex line. Giambi falls under the same feelings I had for Clemens.

I never felt Bernie Williams ever got enough respect for what he did for the Yankees in the league. I always respected him and enjoyed watching him play. These are my only two relics I have of him including once again another one of those base relics I pulled in a box. I just also realized I didn't post my autograph of him for this series. Oh well, another time.

This card was actually a pretty tough pull back in the day when I pulled it. The International Connection Piece Of The Actions were much tougher than the base versions which is why this Posada had some added value to it. But, that's not why I liked it. It's my one and only Jorge hit in my collection.

A couple of young Yanks who never quite panned out. Romine is a TTM I got from Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders.

I know a lot find the Topps Holiday boxes another money grab, but I think it's a cool designed fun product. I like plain swatch relics a whole lot more on this design. Here is my only one like this with Pineda.

Another one of my favorite Yankees was Soriano. I wished he could have stayed instead of having been traded off for A-roid. This is my only hit of him in a Yankees uni. I only consider my Yankees PC hits of players in pinstripes only.

Drew Henson. Only good at college sports even though he tried both NFL and MLB. Still a cool card with a guy who did two sports.

And the best Mickey Mantle card I have in my PC. Isn't that sad. I don't own a single vintage card or real hit of the Yankee great.

 

Part 2 isn't the end of this Yankees hit showcase. Two more parts to go!

1997 Upper Deck UD3 Baseball Pack # 11

Pack #11 I was really itching to see an insert, but no such luck.

Actually my luck also ended with not getting any doubles too as all three cards in this pack were doubles. 

So no new additions to my set.

However, at least these doubles still equal a pretty solid pack with Big Mac and Rocket Roger.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?! PART 3

WHAT'S IN THE BOX??!!!! I yelled, well, quietly yelled to myself making a movie reference from the ending of Seven. Cause honestly like Brad Pitt, I had no idea what was inside this shoe box.

Midway through the box, I discovered a couple of box toppers I had pulled from 2003 Fleer Focus Jersey Edition. The cards were called Materialistic and were printed images on jersey type material. This particular one is for my Yankees PC and of Roger Clemens.

How come box toppers aren't as creative as this anymore when we do find one? I think having something like this makes a box even more tempting to try as it's like pulling an extra hit.

Well, there you have it for Part 3. Still more parts to come. Who knows what I will find next........

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Topic:
Would a card designed like this as a box topper lean you more towards a product? Are you interested in box toppers in general? Let's hear your well thought out answers!