2018 Year In Cardboard Review

2018 was a great year in terms of my collecting. I was able to complete many long shot projects and cards I never thought I could add to my collection. It took great friendships, big time determination, and a lot of leg work to make it all happen. In the end, it was all worth it.

There were so many great moments I can't remember them all. I really can't and had to cheat just to put together what I considered was my top of the crop but there may have been bigger moments I missed. Here were some of the highlights if you don't remember. These are just SOME, remember.

NOTE: These are not in any particular order.

1. Completing the Ghostbusters Autograph Set.

 

This took some patience and a lot of trading this year to complete. I was impressed I went from wanting to add three autographs to the set to finishing it. A big thanks to Wes for chasing down my last need.

2.Completing The Psych Autograph Set

  

Another one I never expected to finish. I had to be very patient with this one as most of the cards in the set weren't cheap. It took trading, five years of waiting, and a big time chase by Wes at the end.

3. Finding the White Whale 

  

I looked for years for this card and dwelled on it all of 2018.When that surprising envelope arrived, I didn't know what to say. Just had my hands shaking and a bit of tears in the eyes. It's incredible what a piece of cardboard can do. Once again, Wes came through for me. He is amazing and a great friend.

4. Patrick Mahomes Autograph

  

Most of 2018 I spent trying to trade for two people, Saquon Barkley (any and all of his cards) and a Patrick Mahomes autograph. I didn't have much luck with either but at least I added some Barkley's. Mahomes on the other hand, well, nobody wanted to trade to me. I had actually given up on trying to get one before being surprised by Pack Geek. Thanks again Jeff!

5.Completion Of My Binder Re-sort Project

  

This was so, so, so, much work and I have an even bigger challenge this year once again fixing these binders after much discussion with myself. I mean, who else besides you guys do I talk to about the hobby? No collectors near me. My pops is it, but he doesn't care to hear about how I sort.

6. Ending a 22 Year Search

  

The card I lost 22 years ago finally came home again in an eBay purchase. I probably paid more than I had wanted, but the memories attached to it was worth it.

7. The Goldbergs Garbage Pail Kids

  

I love watching The Goldbergs on Wednesday Nights so when I found out they had made cards of the popular TV series for Garbage Pail (one of Adam Goldbergs favorite card sets he collected as a kid in real life and on the show) I wanted them and landed them. However, landing this autograph set or one autograph from the set would be impossible with the prices they are.

8. Pull Of The Year

  

Back in June, my only luck from a box break in 2018 struck when I pulled this Saquon Barkley autograph card /75. It stands still as my best Barkley card.

9. First Autographs Of These Guys

  

 

 

One of my unknown unannounced chases of 2018 was landing autographs of Giants players I have been needing for a long time. My wife gifted two to me without me knowing while the third in Shockey I traded for. There are still names like Ottis Anderson, Harry Carson, Kerry Collins (in Giants uniform and only one I have seen like that is the 2000 Fleer Autographics one), Tiki Barber, Pepper Johnson, Danny Kanell, Dave Brown, Joe Morris, Alyssa Milano (not a player but a big fan and she has a 2012 Panini Fans Of The Game auto), Chris Calloway, Ike Hilliard, Jason Sehorn, Phil McConkey, Jackie Mason (2004 Leaf Rookies and Stars Fans Of The GAme), Kurt Warner, Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Jason Garrett, Thomas Lewis, Mark Ingram (not the Saints guy), Joe Montgomery, Sam Huff (the 1997 Upper Deck Legends is pretty sweet), John Elliot (1995 Proline Classic has one),Tommy Maddox (there is one in 1996 Pro Line Classics), Carl Banks, Mike Sherrard, Tyrone Wheatley (done and got it now), Jared Lorenzen, Lorenzo Carter, and Bill Parcells. I will have a list of these guys on the side of the blog for your viewing in case of trades and keep it updated as I go.

10. Best Box Break Pull 

 

I have been in a few breaks over the years but haven't landed anything but base, inserts and maybe a relic. This time it finally paid off thanks to Midwest Box Breaks. So glad to have them also aboard on the blog as it's official breaker. Good dude running the show there in Ben and he is very generous to the hobby as well. 

I only posted ten highlights, but believe me, there are many more. I must have made at least 100 trades in 2018 in all. Every one of them brought home a new piece and a new memory when I come across those cards. I also saw a lot of hobby generosity in 2018, which was greatly appreciated knowing the year that I had, and one of those that I haven't mentioned yet and will here in the ending was the one that made me cry. Actually cry. 

 

  

 

On my birthday, my buddy @Jake1725 organized a birthday present for me. Some of you pitched in to help me land the Roday autograph and my longest tenured friend on the web in Shane from Project Pedro Blog grabbed the birthday card and eBay gift card for me. It will some something I will never forget. I have the birthday card on my desk still.

So thanks to all of you that played a role in making my 2018 collecting year my best one yet. Your help and generosity means more to me than I can put in this article. The second best I can do is offer you a virtual group hug. Thanks again everyone and here is hoping for another great year of collecting!

REVIEW:2018 Bowman Draft Baseball

Like to prospect? Love rookies of players who could be future stars? Love on card autographs of those guys? Well, look no further than Bowman Draft. It has it all.

I love collecting the cards from this product as they are usually the ones collectors most seek out when it comes to rookie cards of first Bowman released players.

Let's see how my 2018 break went!

 

In every hobby box of 2018 Bowman Draft baseball, there are 12 packs of 32 cards. No  you didn't read that backwards like I thought I had. Less packs, more cards per pack seems to be the approach here. Each pack comes with a few refractors and a bonus parallel along with paper base and chrome base. You also will find three autographs per box and boxes run around $180.

 

There are also box toppers to be found as well. Some are autographed.

 

Mine wasn't but is numbered  to 99. There are also parallels to be found of, Gold /50, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1. There are 12 toppers in all from all of the top of the class.

 

The base card design is exactly the same one as Bowman used as this product is really a Bowman 2.0 minus the bigger veteran presence. There are 200 cards to collect in the paper set with  many stars like Shed Long who should have a great career as a Red.

 

The same 200 prospects can be found in the Chrome version.as well

There are also base card variations to chase as well. I didn't know about them til after I posted this so I will have to go and look and see if I pulled one. If I did, I will update this post as so. There are only 14 to chase.

 

With anything chrome, you find refractors.There are plenty of them to chase including, Refractor, Asia Refractor, Sky Blue /402, Purple /250, Sparkles, Blue /150, Green /99, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, SuperFractor 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Blue /150

 

Sky Blue /402

 

And there are paper parallels to of course! Can you imagine building a rainbow of all of them? Paper parallels include, Sky Blue /499, Purple /250, Blue /150, Green /99 (above), Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /5, Black 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Sky Blue /499

Inserts can have the following parallels Atomic Refractor, Refractor /250, Gold /50, Red /5, and SuperFractor 1/1.

 

Recommended viewing as 15 cards to collect in the set

 

Franchise Futures has 10 cards to collect. Glad I found a Yankees one

 

I really like the Bowman Sterling addition to the product. Nice looking cards. There are 10 of these to build a set of.

 

With it being the 20th anniversary of Bowman, well, there is an insert for that. Not an app if you get what I mean. 10 cards to chase in this set.

Now onto everyone's favorite part of the product, the on-card autographs! They have the following parallels, Refractor /499, Purple /250, Blue /150, Blue Wave /150, Green /99, Black /75, Sparkles /71, Gold /50, Gold Wave /50, Orange /25 (Jumbo), Red /5, Red Wave /5, Black Wave 1/1, SuperFractor 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Jeremiah Jackson was selected by the Angels in the second round of the 2018 draft. Looks to be a superstar in the making.

Nico was selected by the Cubs with the 24th pick in the 2018 draft. Many feel this guy has a big future ahead.

My final hit wasn't base auto,

I pulled a Bowman Sterling auto. Never seen one up close. Pretty cool. Travis Swaggerty  Pirates selected him with the 10th overall pick and could be Cutch's repalcement.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty solid box in my opinion. Best one I have broken of this product. The things with products like this, you never truly know how these guys will turn out so it's hard to judge box value at this point. They could be studs or become duds. There always seems to be that sneaky player who nobody thought would make it, not only make it, but make it big time. So for me, if you are into rookies and autographs, this is your best way to go.

Of course not all can afford hobby, so look for retail and other options such as a box break to make it cheaper.

I think if you need to, jump in on a box break, I strongly recommend using Midwest Box Breaks for your breaking needs. They are always hitting the big pulls so if they are breaking this, you could put yourself in a good spot.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to be able to add cards to GIVEAWAYS! Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well. 

REVIEW:2018 Bowman's Best

Bowman's Bestwas a very popular 90's that Topps brought back to life again. Just like a few others they did as well. Seems to be just as popular now.

I have seen some big time pulls on Twitter which I am jealous of. Will my box provide the boom those did? Let's check it out!

 

Every hobby box of 2018 Bowman's Best comes with 2 mini boxes. Each mini box comes with two autographs and 1 Atomic refractor per hobby box as well. Boxes run around $120.

 

The base set has an abstract design in the background. There are 99 cards in the base card set with veterans

 

and top rookies from the 2018 season.

 

There is also a 29 card set of Top Prospects. This guy right here is getting tons of hype. Can he be the next big thing? All of the big names can be found in the checklist.

 

Just like with any chromed product, refractors floweth out. There were multiple refractors in every pack. I was pretty happy to pull my first and probably only Cutch Yankees uniformed card. Especially in refractor form. Top Prospects also were found in refractor form as well.

 

There are gold parallels as well numbered to 50. Mejia looks like he will be a solid player for San Diego.

 

And Atomic refractors that aren't numbered but do fall one per. These look super cool.

Your overall look at parallels are, Refractor, Atomic, Purple /250, Blue /150, Green /99, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /10, and SuperFractor 1/1.

Inserts are up next and include the following parallels, Atomic (2 per case), Gold /50, and SuperFractor 1/1.

 

Inserts look great in Bowman's Best. But, just like with my last break of Chrome Premier League, I miss the days there was just a base card version than a parallel one.

 

Great Scott! Someone took Marty back in time and grabbed the 1998 Bowman Best Performers design. Great looking cards. 40 young caliber stars to collect in the set.

Neophyte Sensations has 10 cards to collect. I pulled Devers who I thought would be Rookie Of The Year last year but instead disappointed me lol

 

Early Indications has more of the young upcoming stars and has 30 cards to collect.

 

I found one of those two per case hit pulls here with atomic.

Now onto the autographs. As for big hits, well, I didn't find them. All were Best of 2018 Autographs which have the following parallels, Refractor, Green /99, Gold /50, Atomic /25, Red /10, SuperFractor 1/1, and Printing Plates 1/1.

 

Luzardo was originally drafted by the Nationals who later on traded him to the A's for Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle. He was one of the top rated prospects and looks to be on the mend from Tommy John Surgery.

 

Hankins was drafted 35th overall by the Indians in the 2018 draft.

 

Liberatore was selected 16th overall by the Rays in the 2018 draft. Pitching is a need there after they traded away top talent at that positions the last few years. He seems to have much potential.

 

Robert left Cuba to play baseball in America and signed with the White Sox. He looked impressive for the DSL White Sox and even made a Spring Training debut where he hit a grand slam. Will be interesting to see how 2019 goes for him and where he will be.

This Robert was by far the best of the group, but that's in my opinion. Everyone knows how I feel about pitcher autographs. It's like pulling offensive lineman or defensive ones in football. Not a lot of thrill to me even though those positions are very important to their sport.

Other hits not found in my box but could be in yours include,

• 1998 Best Performers Autographs
• Dual Autographs
• Early Indications Autographs
• Neophyte Sensations Autographs
• Power Producers Autographs

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Well, I love the look of the overall product that's for sure. The autographs are nice on card too and despite them being pitchers, the overall hit pictures wasn't bad with top picks. It's a tad risky for the price as with any product not knowing what you will land. I think a mini box break wouldn't be too bad if you can find an LCS or online retailer who would sell one that way.

I think another method if you can't afford a box or mini box, jump in on a box break and I strongly recommend using Midwest Box Breaks for your breaking needs. They are always hitting the big pulls so if they are breaking this, you could put yourself in a good spot.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to be able to add cards to GIVEAWAYS! Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well. 

REVIEW:2018-2019 Topps Chrome Premier League Soccer

When it comes to Topps Chrome anything, does it truly matter what the sport is? Not to me. I love chrome. I would eat chrome for breakfast served with chrome with chrome to drink on the side with a side of chrome. You could sing the "I'm Blue" song by Eiffel 65 and replace the word blue with chrome for me.

"I have a Chrome house with a Chrome window, Chrome is the color of all that I wear...."

So let's check to see how my recent break of the newly released 2018-2019 Topps Chrome Premier League went.

Every box of 2018-2019 Topps Chrome Premier League Chrome has 18 packs of 4 cards each. You will also find one autograph card with boxes running at $65.

  

The base set is 100 cards and features the wave design used for flagship baseball. Most of the big names can be found. Some shots can be action filled like the one above,

 

while others just focus on the player.

There are also base card varitions fall 1:218 packs. I didn't find one in my box break. There are five to find overall.

 

As far as parallels go, this is what makes Topps Chrome top(p)s! Base refractors fall 1:3 packs

Blue Wave refractors are numbered to 75 and fall 1:44 packs

Blue refractors are numbered to 150 and fall 1:22 packs.

Purple refractors are numbered to 250 and fall 1:14 packs

Green are numbered to 99 and fall 1:33 packs. 

Next up are the inserts. They have the following parallels, Gold /50, Orange /25, Red /10, and SuperFractor 1/1

Inserts look great, I just miss the old days when we had a base version than the refractors ones. All have a refractor look to them. New Signings fall 1;6 packs.

 

SuperStar Sensations falls 1:5 packs.

There is also a Premier League Debuts insert that falls two per case.

Now onto the hit,

Callum Wilson green autograph numbered to 99. These fall 1:129 packs.

Other hits not found in my box include,

• New Signings Autographs
• Premier League Debuts Autographs
• Superstar Sensations Autographs

OVERALL:I love Chrome so for me, I felt value was here to be found. But, money wise when I looked up what I hit, well, maybe not so much. There is still plenty to find in Chrome as there always is. If you like Premier League soccer, this is probably a great product to start out with. It's affordable as well.

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to be able to add cards to Giveaways!!!  Follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well.

Hobby Resolutions 2019

It's that time of year again, time to make New Years resolutions. I try not to make them for my personal life as I have never once stuck to them with it mostly being weight based. You know the "I will be a better person this year." "I will try to avoid eating donuts" "I will at least lose 10 pounds this year" When honestly, most of these are things we should be doing already every day and not things we set for the beginning of the year only to fail a few weeks later. Even though I am sure my Dr who I see this week and my Nephrologist I see in a couple weeks would be happy if I could shed a few pounds to avoid further kidney stones and blood pressure issues.

Speaking of that, I would love a much better 2019. 2018 was great for my collection and hobby, but in my own life, not so much. I was so happy to hear it was finally coming to an end and has. But, enough with that. It's time for a new chapter to write in 2019.

Last year I set some pretty lofty collecting goals for my collection and they were my biggest ones yet. Let's see how I did.

1. Add 3 autographs to my Ghostbusters set. (I completed the set!!!)
2. Add 2 autographs to my Psych autograph seasons 1-4 set (I completed this set as well!!)
3. Add 2 wardrobe relics to my Psych set (well, didn't hit this goal as my main objective was finishing up the autographed ones)
4. Finish off most of the insert sets in my Psych collection (same as number 3. I didn't even attempt to finish one)
5. Add 1 set from my 1990's Spx needs (really wanted to do this but didn't)
6. Finish up my 1996 Spx baseball set (added some new ones to it thanks to hobby friends but still at least 20 away)
7. Add 100 more new Griffey Jr's (one trade with Shane accomplished this)
8. Add 50 more new Rodney Hamptons (Added less than 20 this year as my focus was on the autograph sets for Psych and Ghostbusters. But, I did add some rare ones which is just as good)
9. Start my binder re-organization project (finished it!)
10. Post updates no my binder sorting project as I go along (did this as well)
11. Put at least half of my Griffey want list onto the computer (sadly didn't even start this project as I ran out of time)
12. Improve the blog look, appeal, and articles (this is always a goal as I feel it needs improvement every year)

Now onto my 2019 goals. I will, once again, set these to be a lofty goals. Last years was such a success I am hoping an even bigger one will be just as successful.

1. Add 1 set from my 1990's Spx needs (for real this time yo!)
2. Finish up my three favorite football 90's insert sets (I can be hopeful!)
3. Finish up my 1996 Spx baseball set (added some new ones to it thanks to hobby friends but still at least 20 away)
4. Finish up more 90's insert and base card sets. This will be my main goal in 2019 is bringing back the 90's. Well, late 90's. I am not a junk wax fan at all and to me junk wax era was 1988-1992)
5. Add 100 more new Griffey Jr's (will always have this one on here)
6. Add 50 more new Rodney Hamptons (same as number 4 but finding new Hamptons is getting tougher and tougher)
7. Add some new Non Sport Autographs from my list of wants. I will be posting those soon as I revamp my tabs.
8. Start my collection overhaul (more on what this is about soon)
9. Post updates on my collection overhaul project
10. Put at least half of my Griffey want list onto the computer if not all then upload it to here (this will be my first goal of the year)
11. Improve the blog look, appeal, and content (this is always a goal and this year I am really striving to do so)
12. Fix all of my want lists, checklists, and update the face of the blog (this will take awhile as I need to accomplish some of my sorting first)
13. Make a list of more late 90's sets I want to finish adding the set number needs on here. (A lot of my 2019 collecting will be focusing in on finishing up those sets from the late 90's)
14. Improve the way I write. It's been a habit to type what I write before my pictures, but it seems I have been doing that wrong for the past 6 plus years and it needs to be fixed. I always thought words lead into a picture but it's not as the words must be posted after. I also want to add more words and information to each post. Or even a flashback memory. Something that won't make the articles so short and sweet.
    
15. Post less mail days on here or find more creative ways of posting them instead of this is this and this is that type of posts. They bug me when I do those. I may move some/most mail days back to Twitter only (we will see) and post more articles on the things I am passionate about instead. (this will be more work than it sounds as this includes NY Giants, 90's cards, my sorting, collecting, Rodney Hampton, Ken Griffey Jr, etc to dig out and get pictures of) 
16. Work on a new blog name. Yes, I am still at that point of wanting a new one and would love to accomplish it by my blogs birthday in March. I want this title to say what I collect like Eli's Crew or anything you guys can come up with. Wes suggested "In The Cards". I do like that one. But something that covers Ken Griffey Jr, NY Giants, Rodney Hampton, Non Sports and the 90's. (Eli Manning's Crew Blue, 90's Are Back, or something a lot more creative than that. Have suggestions, leave them in comments as most of you know what I like to collect)
17. Use the background my wife picked up to take blog pictures on. I waste so much time taking pictures and cropping. WAY TOO MUCH. With this background it will be just snap and upload which will save me tons of time.
18. Cutout/cutback on trading with newbies. I know this sounds odd, but I wasted too much precious time last year digging stuff out only to have a trade fail. This was many, many, many times of spending hours digging out trade bait and having the person preferring to sell or simply just backing out despite liking what I offered. So my trades will happen only with my usual group.

 

This to me looks like a huge task that I will take one day at a time. That's the approach I take in life as well because you never actually know if there will be a tomorrow. Most of these projects I won't be able to complete without the help of hobby friends so those I normally trade with, let's do some trading!

Also, I will be doing a recap of my 2018 Year In Review this week to recap all of the great moments in my year of cardboard.

So I wanna know, what are some of your hobby resolutions for 2019?