I Subjected Myself To A Red Sox Card

Free Stuff Friday has become a great idea in the blogosphere started by Jon that Brian over at Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary has recently joined in on as well. I may at a later date join in as well once I get some stamps.

I claimed a few cards from Jon's second post and claimed one from Brian's that may surprise you.

Being a Yankees fan and Red Sox hater, the last card you would suspect me to claim from a free Friday thread would be a Red Sox card.

Well, I did.

One thing to keep in mind on this claim of Michael Chavis is that I collect rookie cards as well from any team and any sport despite my hatred of some teams. Ugh.... Red Sox.

Brian also evened the envelope out and surprised me with a few Yankees

Tyler Austin rookie. I had considered doing a PC of him, up until they left him to the Twins. That was the end of that idea.

I didn't have this Mo. He definitely was a decades best if not the best closer of all time.

And my first look at a Yellow parallel. So didn't have this Tanaka. I like the stare down on this card. Topps did a great job with the photos this year for Series 1. My only knack, is the parallels and how they are done. Wished they had a better way of showing them off other than a small color swatch on the side. Maybe have made the whole card yellow.  Just me.

Thanks goes out to Brian for the freebies, much appreciated!

Nuttin' But The Yankee Hits Part 1

I finally took a moment to dig out all of my Yankee hits to showcase on here. I do a lot of posts but not many focus on my Yankees PC or even mention the Yankees. That's because a lot of my focus in my collecting today doesn't put the Yankees up to the top anymore.

My main preferences are usually NY Giants, non sport or late 90's these days but it doesn't mean I wouldn't pick up a Yankees card for my PC here and there if one was available. My main Yankee wants right now are AARON JUDGE and DEREK JETER anything. Just hopefully I don't have it.

The Yankee hits I am showcasing in this four part series does not include my Derek Jeter relics, there are not many of those to show either, or my Aaron Judge hits which is just the two autographs, but the other stuff I have collected over the years. I may have to dig out my Jeters at another point to show off and re-post the Judge's.

Today, on the other hand, we kick off this series with a Clint Frazier relic from Topps Heritage Minors. Technically not Yankees, but I acquired this relic after the Yankees added Clint so I count it that way.

Tyler Austin who learned what the Yankees and Red Sox rivalry is all about fast and is having a pretty solid season.

Sevvy. I like his signature and the look of this overall card.

Phil Hughes. This guy was said to be the next Roger Clemens but never really panned out in NY.

I don't know much about Heathcott, I just liked the look of the card and the pinstripe.

Nick Johnson auto I added thanks to Breakdown Cards awhile back. So much open space on this card they definitely could have added more pictures or have turned it into a dual auto.

And to finish it up, Sean Henn autograph. He has a weird signature to boot. Even though Sean wasn't a superstar, I saw this card and traded for it because I liked the look of the card and I have always been fond of Spx.

 

Here was the first round of hits to show off in my Yankee hits PC.  There will be more to come!

REVIEW:2017 Topps Fire Baseball Collectors Box

Topps Fire comes to baseball as an Target Only exclusive but still the fun bold designs football had by artist Tyson Beck. I remember how much I loved the 2014 Fire design, was awesome!

There are three buying options at Target when it comes to Fire. There are Value Boxes, Fat Packs and Collector's Boxes which comes with 2 hits.

In each box of 2017 Topps Fire, there are 20 packs of 6 cards each. Boxes come it with 2 hits with at least one autograph. Boxes run...well....I don't have that exact info. I don't have a Target nearby to find that out, but from some research online it goes for $70.

The base set for Topps Fire features some artistic explosion with very bold colors in three different designs. There are 200 cards deep in the base set with players of today, tomorrow and yesterday. I like the Griffey. I do wish he was facing forwards however. I think these type of designs work better that way.

I pulled most key rookies in my box except the Judge I wanted the most.

Topps Fire comes with plenty of parallels and all have foil with rainbow shine. I actually think if the parallels were the base set I would like that even more.

You will find one parallel or insert per pack.

The parallels at first were hard to tell apart til I figured out how to do it by the inner bands on the design. These are red otherwise known as Flame parallels.

These are Orange parallels numbered to 299.

These are green parallels numbered to 199.

 

This is a purple parallel /99.

 

The first insert I found, which was totally my favorite design from the product, was this Fired Up showing players raw emotions on the field.

Walk It Off. Players who had walked it off and the team that celebrates with them. Cool photos and concept.

Golden Grabs showcasing those ones with the gloves of gold

This one is Flame Throwers if you couldn't tell.

Monikers with some of the best nicknames in the game. These have foil and look even cooler in person.

Now onto the hits!

I think that most boxes come with one autograph and one memorabilia card per box. I lucked out with two autographs.

My first one /500 is this one of Ender Inciarte

My second was this green parallel /75 of Tyler Austin.

 

It appears all autographs are sticker autos. However there is a very impressive checklist of autographs. You can find the entire Topps Fire Checklist HERE.

Other hits not found in my box are, Dual Autographs, Triple Autographs, Fire Autographed Patches and relics and relic cards.

Overall, a pretty interesting product with lots of great looking parallels and inserts. The base aren't too shabby either. The hardest part is the product being a Target exclusive and that doesn't help all collectors like myself without a Target. I would so totally go buy some more if I could.

Collectors Boxes are a bit high right now but it's riding the rest of the baseball card wave this season and can be hard to find just like all baseball products have been especially in retail. 

The pulls in these boxes can sometimes be tough but there is also a lot of big sluggers to find as well. It all depends if the chips fall your way.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review as they help provide prizes for me to giveaway in the MLB Pick Em Promotion! Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well