Friday, October 31, 2014

2014 Topps Stadium Club mini box recap #2

Pack one
#28 Giancarlo Stanton
#155 Michael Wacha
T10C George Springer - Luminous insert
#69 Freddie Freeman
#160 Joe Mauer

Pack two
#87 Joey Votto
#26 Taijuan Walker
#52 Manny Machado
#16 Nolan Arenado
#148 Salvador Perez

Pack three
#25 Juan Encarnacion
#147 Bo Jackson

#50 Mike Trout - Rainbow parallel
#31 Todd Helton
#131 Dustin Pedroia

Pack four
#23 John Smoltz
#179 Felix Hernandez
#SCA-TC Tony Cingrani - auto
#122 Craig Kimbrel
#103 Adam Eaton

Pack five
#150 Clayton Kershaw
#163 Masahiro Tanaka
#FA-23 Jose Fernandez - Field Access insert
#44 Hank Aaron
#120 Jose Bautista

Pack six
#78 Josh Hamilton

#166 Mat Latos - Foil Board parallel serial #'d 1 of 25
#66 Matt Cain
#38 Robinson Cano
#64 Tim Lincecum

Thursday, October 30, 2014

My Oscar Taveras cards - a final look

His potential is what makes his untimely passing a tragedy in the sense that baseball fans care - who knows now what he could have done with a full season in the major leagues? He could have lit the league up on fire through the next 5-10 years, he might have been a star, All-Star or superstar but now he is gone.

The cards featured were the ones I hoped to get him to sign in-person at some point - I'll probably keep them together to put in one of my mini-collections [beyond the glory] as a constant reminder that Taveras was supposed to be destined for stardom.

I had printed an image of the Taveras 2014 Topps Update card [#US-113, the Rookie Debut subset card] earlier in the year - it was great on Topps' part to sneak in a card of Taveras taking a curtain call after his first MLB home run in his first game.

2012 Bowman Chrome #BCP 102 Blue refractor parallel - I found this one in a dollar box and while it wasn't autographed, I thought it was a sweet find.

2013 Topps Heritage Minors #200 - I wish I could have gotten the opportunity to get Taveras' autograph on one of his Topps Heritage Minors cards [2012-14].

2013 Topps Pro Debut #1 - Taveras was also the cover boy for the product's boxes.

2014 Topps Heritage Minors #119 - Taveras may have been a redundant inclusion but he added some star power to this year's base set.

2013 Bowman Platinum BPP #1 - while Taveras never had the chance to pile up a significant run of MLB cards, he had assorted prospect and minor league cards.

2014 World Series recap

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for winning their third World Series championship in five years - I wonder how Los Angeles Dodgers fans feel at the moment when they haven't won squat in nearly 30 years.

It's amazing that the Giants didn't have Matt Cain, a past his prime Tim Lincecum was mostly unused and both of their veteran pitchers [Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson] really stunk it up - I was hoping the Royals would have one more run [literally] in them to change things around in Game 7, but the Giants still had Madison Bumgarner to close things out on his way to being named World Series MVP.

To watch the Royals lose was mildly disappointing because they had come so far and even though they snuffed out the Angels early in the Division Series - how they kept surging on was pretty impressive.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

2014 Topps Stadium Club mini box recap #1

Pack one
#164 Ryan Braun
#136 Jason Kipnis
#177 Eddie Murray
#84 Aroldis Chapman
#184 Cliff Lee

Pack two 
#152 Nelson Cruz
#43 Pedro Martinez

#FA-7 David Wright - Field Access insert serial #'d 91/99
#188 George Brett
#27 Lou Gehrig

Pack three
#80 Roger Clemens
#81 Anibal Sanchez
#14 Travis d'Arnaud
#110 Xander Bogaerts - Rainbow parallel
#56 Nick Castellanos

Pack four
#45 Gregory Polanco
#SCA-LH Livan Hernandez - auto
#170 Ryan Howard
#126 Torii Hunter
#167 Domonic Brown

Pack five
#108 Pedro Alvarez
#117 Don Mattingly
#77 Al Kaline
#FA-14 Miguel Cabrera - Field Access insert
#182 David Ortiz

Pack six
#110 Xander Bogaerts
#55 Andrew Heaney
#FS-8 Jose Abreu - Future Stars insert
#68 Adrian Beltre
#121 Carlos Gonzalez

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

2014 World Series blues

I have watched little of the 2014 World Series - I don't remember sitting around to watch any particular game on TV and I feel like I'm not really missing anything.

Maybe I check on the box score on ESPN when I can but I've pretty much set any interest aside besides bits and pieces I might find out - maybe I'm just weird, maybe I'm not a true baseball fan or maybe I'm just tired of all the narratives that would be pushed around the series by Fox perhaps, by the mainstream media and/or by the baseball analysts who focus on the numbers.

One thing is clear that San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner is just a beast - the guy might be some kind of country bumpkin [no offense] in more ways than one, but Bumgarner just takes the ball and sets batters down one-by-one like a machine.

In recent years, there was Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Tim Hudson in the Giants' rotation and while Bumgarner has always been well regarded - maybe the other guys have garnered much more of the attention.

Now it's kind of come to be that Bumgarner is the Giants' ace pitcher and there is a certain steeliness and confidence in which he pitches with that seems admirable - especially when he is only 25 years old.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Fairfield assorted 20 pack repack mix #2

This box didn't end up having as much juice as the first repack box - though the cards may not be worth much individually, the nicer cards came out of the five 2013 Topps Archives packs.

2008 Upper Deck Spectrum
#69 Nick Swisher
#84 Felix Hernandez
#85 Ichiro
#DJ 91 Derek Jeter - Retrospectrum insert

2009 Upper Deck Spectrum
#82 Tim Lincecum
#98 Vernon Wells
#95 Ian Kinsler
#SS-TH Tim Hudson - Spectrum Swatches insert / jersey card
#65 Derek Jeter
#33 Troy Tulowitzki

2012 Topps 
#10 Jon Lester
#154 Ty Wigginton
#TM-35 Zack Greinke - 1987 Topps minis insert
#TT-17 Joe Morgan / Brandon Phillips - Timeless Talents insert
#42 Drew Pomeranz
#283 Brandon Allen
#285 Drew Storen
#131 Ian Desmond
#27 John Buck
#194 Danny Duffy

2013 Bowman Platinum
#BPP 91 Michael Wacha
#54 Josh Hamilton - Gold parallel
#68 Johnny Cueto
#BPP 90 Marcel Ozuna

2013 Bowman Platinum
#44 Jarrod Parker
#BPCP 94 Ty Hensley - refractor
#60 Will Middlebrooks
#BPP 67 Joey Gallo

2013 Topps Series I
#54 Jaime Garcia
#236 Joe Nathan
#308 Desmond Jennings
#43 R.A. Dickey
#277 Brendan Ryan
#4 Yadier Molina
#268 David Lough
#247 Luis Perez
#TM-42 Willie Mays - 1972 Topps minis insert
#146 Kyle McClellan
#102 Denard Span
#237 Brandon Lyon

2013 Topps Series I
#44 Anthony Rizzo
#275 Johnny Cueto
#135 Eric Hosmer
#255 Josh Johnson
#23 Jemile Weeks
#100 Mike Moustakas
#231 Melky Mesa
#TM-18 Carlos Santana - 1972 Topps minis insert
#32 Craig Breslow
#180 Casey Kotchman
#258 Doug Fister
#159 Felipe Paulino

2013 Topps Series I
#329 Rafael Soriano
#38 Brian Wilson
#133 James Shields
#120 Ian Desmond
#207 Matt Holliday
#330 Ryan Raburn
#266 Albert Pujols
#CD-18 Chris Sale - Chasing the Dream insert
#221 Heath Bell
#312 Scott Hairston
#71 Kyle Kendrick
#208 Kurt Suzuki

2013 Topps Series I
#16 Andre Ethier
#52 C.C. Sabathia
#137 Edinson Volquez
#34 Felix Hernandez
#179 Detroit Tigers - 2012 ALCS Game 4
#35 Justin Verlander
#288 Starling Marte
#183 Drew Hutchison
#241 Jacoby Ellsbury - Emerald parallel
#164 Lucas Harrell
#56 Joe Blanton
#250 Jon Niese

2013 Topps Series I - die-cut pack designed as a hanger
#141 Carlos Santana
#22 Clayton Kershaw
#213 Alex Rodriguez
#263 Ted Lilly
#85 Sean Doolittle
#187 Nick Maronde
#111 Casey Kelly
#CD-25 Mike Moustakas - Chasing the Dream insert
#215 Gordon Beckham
#279 Vicente Padilla
#168 Kyle Farnsworth
#211 Jarrod Parker

2013 Topps Series I - die-cut pack designed as a hanger
#28 Prince Fielder
#155 Mat Latos
#113 Starlin Castro
#115 Tim Hudson
#17 Shin-Soo Choo
#149 Yovani Gallardo
#254 Sean Burnett
The Million Dollar Chase info card
#56 Joe Blanton
#250 Jonathon Niese
#152 Jose Contreras
#177 Elliot Johnson

2013 Topps Archives
#27 Manny Machado
#88 Derek Holland
#102 Matt Moore
#169 Pedro Alvarez

#83-BH Bryce Harper - 1983 All-Stars insert
#178 Giancarlo Stanton
#1 Babe Ruth
#69 Eddie Mathews

2013 Topps Archives
#182 Andre Ethier
#35 Adam Dunn
#74 Miguel Montero

#MT-DJ Derek Jeter - Tall Boy insert
#66 Tim Hudson
#125 Kyle Lohse
#199 Eric Hosmer
#33 Corey Hart

2013 Topps Archives
#77 Tony Cingrani
#144 Paul Molitor
#184 Kyle Seager

#MT-BP Buster Posey - Tall Boy insert

#GH-JR Jackie Robinson - Gallery of Heroes insert
#154 Yovani Gallardo
#4 Marco Scutaro
#78 Johan Santana

2013 Topps Archives
#163 Hyun-Jin Ryu
#15 Mike Morse
#58 Cole Hamels

#MT-DM Denny McLain - Tall Boy insert
#142 Willie Stargell
#175 Yogi Berra
#18 Jon Lester
#62 Jacoby Ellsbury

2013 Topps Archives
#182 Andre Ethier
#35 Adam Dunn
#74 Miguel Montero
#117 Carlos Santana

#83-BP Buster Posey - 1983 All-Stars insert
#70 Ozzie Smith
#147 Hiroki Kuroda
#155 Wilin Rosario

2013 Topps Chrome
#67 Ryan Vogelsong
#132 Ricky Nolasco
#155 Adam Eaton - refractor
#49 Andrew McCutchen 

2013 Topps Chrome
#189 Alfredo Marte
#CC-MH Matt Harvey - Chrome Connections insert
#55 Mike Olt
#122 Adrian Beltre

2013 Topps Chrome
#160 Ian Kinsler
#177 Mike Moustakas
#213 Gio Gonzalez - refractor
#166 Jackie Bradley Jr.

2013 Topps Opening Day
#172 Manny Machado
#93 Justin Upton
#SC-8 Ryan Zimmerman - Superstar Celebrations insert
#35 Justin Verlander - blue parallel serial #'d 1666/2013
#24 Tommy Milone
#160 Johan Santana
#43 Pedro Alvarez

The one hit included with the 20 packs was a 2003 Flair J.D. Drew Diamond Cuts jersey card #DC-JD - Drew was a fine ballplayer when healthy but was more than a little detached, so he wasn't a traditional fan favorite.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Damn

Top prospect Oscar Taveras and his girlfriend killed in a car accident.

Fairfield assorted 20 pack repack mix #1

I'd read blog posts talking about the hits pulled from the 20 pack boxes at Target and was feeling impulsive, so I grabbed two $19.99 boxes for myself - in the window of a couple of boxes I saw, there were multiple Topps Allen and Ginter's packs, multiple Topps Chrome packs and multiple Archives packs.

I thought these boxes might be worth a gamble, even though the packs inside are probably still retail discards and I don't think I was going to pull anything good - while there were no loose 1988 Donruss or 1989 Topps sticking out, that told me nothing.

The one hit included with the 20 packs was a 2011 Bowman Sterling Nolan Fontana Team USA jersey card #USAR-NF - very random, but it's a hit.

I pulled a 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Jake Peavy mini serial #'d to 50 which I thought was my best hit - so this break was probably par for the course until I looked closer at a couple of other cards.

2007 Upper Deck
#46 Juan Salas
#308 Matt Holliday
#391 Jeff Conine
#8 Josh Fields
#328 Jose Garcia
#395 Cole Hamels
#126 Shane Costa
#129 Mike Sweeney
Scoreboard Challenge info card

2009 Upper Deck Spectrum
#23 Carlos Quentin
#39 Dan Uggla
#85 Ichiro
#17 Alfonso Soriano
#1 Brandon Webb
2013 Topps Series II
#633 Victor Martinez
#530 Wade Miley
#459 Jesus Montero
#407 Juan Pierre
#408 Coco Crisp
#549 Huston Street
#TM-62 Paul O'Neill
- 1972 Topps Minis insert
#384 Jake McGee
#540 Michael Bourn
#642 Austin Jackson
#492 Jose Molina
#613 Jhoulys Chacin

2013 Topps Series II
#560 Yunel Escobar
#575 Justin Morneau
#471 Trevor Cahill
#486 Jason Kubel
#517 Pedro Alvarez
The Million Dollar Chase info card
#CD-15 Giancarlo Stanton
- Chase it Down insert
#338 Mike Trout
#483 Yordany Valdespin
#378 Joe Kelly
#554 R.A. Dickey
#577 Matt Harvey

2013 Topps Series II
#416 Jordan Lyles
#452 Raul Ibanez
#417 Blake Forsythe
#544 Tyler Chatwood
#597 Marco Scutaro
#456 Pablo Sandoval
#492 Jose Molina
- Emerald parallel
#422 Alfredo Marte
#609 Scott Baker
#409 Logan Morrison
#539 Phil Coke
#356 Greg Dobbs

2013 Topps Series II
#333 Santiago Casilla
#342 Matt Dominguez
#499 Billy Butler
#383 Matt Harrison
#518 Nolan Reimold
#364 Carlos Pena
- red border parallel
The Million Dollar Chase info card
#590 Liam Hendriks
#354 Casey Janssen
#538 Brett Wallace
#572 Lorenzo Cain
#431 Blake Beavan

2013 Topps Series II
#506 Andy Pettitte
#563 Nate Eovaldi
#389 Phil Hughes
#548 John Lackey
#637 Ben Revere
#388 Justin Turner
#MM-6 Ike Davis
- Making Their Mark insert

#331 Jose Reyes - short print / variation
2nd Chance Vintage Card Giveaway contest card
#421 Jordy Mercer
#490 Cody Ross
#528 Darin Mastrianni
#398 Mike Fiers

2013 Topps Series II
#644 Ryan Lavarnway
#397 Mike Aviles
#525 J.P. Arencibia
#633 Victor Martinez
#570 Devin Mesoraco
#TM-62 Paul O'Neill
- 1972 Topps Minis insert
#521 Evan Scribner
#384 Jake McGee
#368 Chris Young
#643 Matt Garza
#607 Chris Carter
#339 Nick Swisher

2013 Topps Series 2 hobby
#377 J.D. Martinez
#404 Ryan Madson
#559 Travis Snider
#532 Todd Helton
#WBC-11 Pablo Sandoval
- World Baseball Classic insert
#393 Andres Torres
#418 Evan Gattis
#463 Jason Hammel
#566 C.J. Wilson
#378 Joe Kelly

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter's
#142 Garrett Jones
#241 Matt Cain
#275 Josh Beckett
#10 Sandy Koufax
#221 Salvador Perez
- mini
#ATY-JR Jim Rice
- Across the Years insert

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter's
#200 Dustin Pedroia
#157 Adam Jones
#295 Dan Uggla
#CAP-IN Inca
- Civilizations of Ages Past insert
#81 Al Kaline
- mini
#303 Wade Miley
- short print

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter's
#154 Mike Morse
#179 Bonnie Bernstein
#300 Bud Selig
#185 Guillaume Robert-Demolaize
#HHH-AUG Augustus
- mini
#ATY-JV Joey Votto
- Across the Years insert

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter's
#273 Alcides Escobar
#261 Dwight Gooden
#134 Roy Halladay
#PS-PP Peterhof Palace
- Palaces and Strongholds insert
#4 Ty Cobb - mini
#310 Brandon Phillips
- short print

2013 Topps Allen and Ginter's
#188 Bill Buckner
#288 Chris Davis
#239 Craig Kimbrel
#MM-AP Apache
- Martial Mystery insert
#147 Ian Desmond
- mini
#349 Jason Dufner
- short print

2013 Topps Archives
#81 Will Middlebrooks
#119 Ian Kinsler
#194 Yadier Molina
#45 Chase Headley
#83-TG Tony Gwynn
- 1983 All-Stars insert
#46 Justin Morneau
#91 Brandon Beachy
#128 Mark Trumbo

2013 Topps Archives
#193 Jim Palmer
#3 Carlos Beltran
#97 David Wright
#69S-WRYC Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, Miguel Cabrera
- 4-in-1 Sticker insert
#RC-BH Bryce Harper
- 1989 All-Stars insert
#18 Jon Lester
#62 Jacoby Ellsbury
#133 Jurickson Profar

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen
#44 Evan Longoria
#307 Shelby Miller
#NH-PH Philip Humber
- No-Hitters insert
#219 Jake Peavy
- mini sepia serial #'d 20/50
#285 Matt Garza
#96 Mike Fiers

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen
#194 Brandon Phillips
#291 Howie Kendrick
#CP-SP Salvador Perez
- Collisions at the Plate insert
#37 David Wright - mini
#327 A.J. Pierzynski
#251 Doug Fister

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen
#139 Shaun Marcum
#162 Bruce Sutter
#SS-AJO Adam Jones
- Sliding Stars insert
#74 Josh Rutledge - mini
#141 Alex Gordon
#176 Tony Perez

2013 Topps Opening Day
#168 Miguel Montero
#32 Jered Weaver
#SC-6 Adam Jones
#79 Tyler Colvin
- blue parallel serial #'d 0355/2013
#154 Nelson Cruz
#107 Lance Berkman
#200 Evan Longoria

Saturday, October 25, 2014

2014 Topps Update jumbo pack recap

I figure I'll end up busting at least one loose hobby jumbo pack of the latest Topps / Bowman offerings - whether or not the odds are in my favor picking up only one lone pack, I assume there is still a better chance to pull anything of note in hobby.

As I flipped through the boring base cards and thought who would want another card of some of these guys - I pull a redemption card for a Jorge Posada Strata autograph.

I don't know what relevance a Posada insert of any sorts has in 2014 Topps Update - but it sure made me feel better about my little 'do or die' gamble.

#US-63 David Murphy
#US-37 Leury Garcia
#US-33 Grady Sizemore
#US-59 Brandon McCarthy
#US-58 Raul Ibanez - Angels cut him when he was hitting .150 and even though he's not on the active roster, he is the one at the 2014 World Series.
#US-69 Dellin Betances
#US-319 Ricky Nolasco
#US-127 David Phelps
#US-251 Ike Davis
#US-3 Tom Wilhemsen
#US-134 Tony Cruz
#US-302 Tom Gorzelanny
#US-165 Justin Morneau
#US-248 Brayan Pena
#US-180 Chris Taylor
#US-168 Austin Jackson
#US-145 A.J. Pierzynski
#US-141 Chris Dickerson
#US-130 Tony Watson
#US-286 Brandon Barnes
#US-142 Jon Lester
#US-74 Antonio Bastardo
#US-12 Brian McCann - gold parallel serial #'d 0765/2014
#PPA-AW Adam Wainwright - Power Players insert
#US-57 Jacob DeGrom - Red Hot foil parallel
#FF-MM Mark McGwire - Fond Farewells insert
#TM-RA Roberto Alomar - 1989 Topps Die-Cut minis insert
Jorge Posada Strata Signature Relic redemption card 
#US-324 Alexi Amarista
#US-225 Luis Avilan
#US-274 Chris Withrow
#US-117 John Lackey 
#US-35 Marcus Stroman
#US-113 Oscar Taveras
#US-268 Matt Shoemaker
#US-153 Kurt Suzuki
#US-103 Starlin Castro
#US-283 Tyson Ross
#US-11 Robbie Ross Jr.
#US-252 Adrian Nieto
#US-95 Vidal Nuno
#US-24 Tony Sanchez
#US-150 Jon Singleton
#US-263 Kyle Seager
#US-282 Glen Perkins
#US-155 Devin Mesoraco
#US-238 Giancarlo Stanton
#US-156 Ronald Belisario
#US-179 John Baker
#FN-GP 2 Gregory Polanco - The Future is Now insert

Friday, October 24, 2014

2014 Topps Heritage Minors two pack break

Pack one
#41 Josh Bell
#35 Chris Stratton
#27 Mike Foltynewicz
#11 Trevor Story
#FB-MF Maikel Franco - Baseball Flashbacks insert
#187 Tanner Rahier
#196 Justin Nicolino
#42 Brian Goodwin
#158 Jake Westbrook

Pack two
#18 Max Fried
#65 Richie Shaffer
#78 Patrick Wisdom
#81 Jose Rondon
#217 Mookie Betts - short print
#165 Wyatt Mathisen
#188 Dilson Herrera
#199 Arismendy Alcantara
#164 Rangel Ravelo

Thursday, October 23, 2014

I like to hoard assorted cardboard II

Last week, I impusively bought a box of 2014 Topps Stadium Club - I should have waited until this week, when a row of the base cards were in a 3,200 count box, waiting to be poached at my LCS.

1982 Topps Dave Bergman #498

1982 Topps Dave McKay #534

1982 Topps Dave Rosello #724
1983 Topps Lance Parrish #285
1984 Topps Lance Parrish #640
1990 Leaf Lance Parrish #195 - x2
1990 Score Lance Parrish #35
1991 Upper Deck Lance Parrish #552
1992 Fleer Lance Parrish #66
1992 Fleer Ultra Lance Parrish #28
1992 Score Lance Parrish #298
2014 Topps Stadium Club Shane Victorino #6
2014 Topps Stadium Club Stephen Strasburg #8 - x2

2014 Topps Stadium Club Ivan Rodriguez #20
2014 Topps Stadium Club Roy Halladay #21
2014 Topps Stadium Club Jose Reyes #29
2014 Topps Stadium Club Ernie Banks #32

2014 Topps Stadium Club Jordan Zimmermann #34
2014 Topps Stadium Club Rickey Henderson #46
2014 Topps Stadium Club Justin Upton #70

2014 Topps Stadium Club Ian Kinsler #71
2014 Topps Stadium Club Ty Cobb #72
2014 Topps Stadium Club Evan Longoria #82
2014 Topps Stadium Club Jose Altuve #90
2014 Topps Stadium Club Victor Martinez #98

2014 Topps Stadium Club Mike Napoli #101
2014 Topps Stadium Club Johnny Bench #113

2014 Topps Stadium Club Jason Heyward #115
2014 Topps Stadium Club Torii Hunter #126
2014 Topps Stadium Club Dustin Pedroia #131
2014 Topps Stadium Club Eddie Butler #135
2014 Topps Stadium Club Koji Uehara #139
2014 Topps Stadium Club Evan Gattis #141 - x3
2014 Topps Stadium Club Jean Segura #143
2014 Topps Stadium Club Adam Wainwright #168

2014 Topps Stadium Club Yadier Molina #174

2014 Topps Stadium Club Felix Hernandez #179
2014 Topps Stadium Club Carlos Gomez #183
2014 Topps Stadium Club Gerrit Cole #191
2014 Topps Update David Ross #US-60
2014 Topps Update Pat Neshek #US-192
2014 Topps Update Cole Figueroa #US-203
2014 Topps Update Roenis Elias #US-220
2014 Topps Update Josh Harrison #US-80 - Camo parallel serial #'d 55/99

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

I like to hoard assorted cardboard

I picked up 110 assorted cards in a card shop's '8 for $1' monster boxes - I'd made one other trip to this card shop and was bored because I saw the cards were a little older [from the late 2000's].

From what I heard is the card shop buys up boxes of cards on the cheap from box busters [everything except the actually hits] and then dumps most of the cards out for people to digest in the spring time - whatever newer cards he has bought, he may still need to sort in anticipation of next year because that is when people tend to come into the store.

I may have forgotten a few cards here and there, even ones I'd already planned on picking up, though I tried to be decisive - trying to figure out whether or not I can add cards to my mini-collections or maybe I just liked the card (s) at the moment and wanted to top off the brick of cards I had built.

There was a bunch of 2006 Topps Turkey Red cards and while I wanted some variety in my haul - I tried to grab the ones featuring mostly players I maybe able to see in-person at some point.

1991 Topps Shane Mack #672
1993 Hostess Ken Griffey Jr. #25
1994 Pinnacle Chuck Knoblauch #83
1997 Donruss Chris Hoiles #342
1998 Donruss Darryl Kile #3
1998 Donruss John Jaha #176
1998 Donruss Lance Johnson #200

1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated Edgar Renteria #30
2001 Topps American Pie Dean Chance #112

2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers Satchel Paige #74
2002 Fleer Tradition Ray Durham #293
2002 Fleer Tradition Carlos Lee #413
2002 Topps D'Angelo Jimenez #428
2003 Fleer Tradition Luis Aparicio #67
2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Lance Parrish #69
2003 Topps Chan Ho Park #463

2003 Topps Dmitri Young #582
2003 Topps Heritage Mike Sweeney #267
2003 Upper Deck Shane Halter #346
2003 Upper Deck Vintage Troy Glaus #1

2004 Fleer Tradition Ramon Hernandez #113
2004 Fleer Tradition Mike Matheny #147
2004 Fleer Tradition Kelvim Escobar #174
2004 Fleer Tradition Jason LaRue #210
2004 Fleer Tradition Terrence Long #279
2004 Fleer Tradition Scott Spiezio #319

2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Reggie Jackson #63
2004 Topps Bazooka Frank Thomas #7
2004 Topps Heritage Yadier Molina #355
2004 Topps Opening Day Marcus Giles #8
2004 Topps Opening Day Jason Phillips #52 
2004 Upper Deck First Pitch David Bell #234
2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams Brooks Robinson #40
2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams Mike Scioscia #202
2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams Jim Rice #245
2005 Donruss Brandon Phillips #157
2005 Fleer Ultra Jermaine Dye #29

2005 Fleer Ultra Corey Koskie #105
2005 Fleer Ultra Bret Boone #106
2005 Fleer Ultra Eric Munson #150
2005 Fleer Ultra Lance Berkman #10 - RBI Kings insert
2005 Topps Mark Ellis #614

2005 Topps Heritage Kevin Mench #39 - uncorrected error card / pictures David Dellucci
2006 Fleer Ultra Joe Mauer #163
2006 Topps 52 Rookies Brian Wilson #87
2006 Topps 52 Rookies Eric Stults #106
2006 Topps Turkey Red Casey Kotchman #56
2006 Topps Turkey Red Omar Infante #243
2006 Topps Turkey Red Stuart Pomeranz #295
2006 Topps Turkey Red Oliver Perez #327
2006 Topps Turkey Red A.J. Burnett #335
2006 Topps Turkey Red Mike Sweeney #336
2006 Topps Turkey Red Nomar Garciaparra #346
2006 Topps Turkey Red Jeff Weaver #353
2006 Topps Turkey Red Chipper Jones #360
2006 Topps Turkey Red Mark Loretta #362
2006 Topps Turkey Red Coco Crisp #378
2006 Topps Turkey Red Brad Penny #384
2006 Topps Turkey Red Jermaine Dye #391
2006 Topps Turkey Red Joe Nathan #398
2006 Topps Turkey Red Mark Mulder #407
2006 Topps Turkey Red Bobby Crosby #417
2006 Topps Turkey Red Vinny Castilla #423
2006 Topps Turkey Red Dmitri Young #428
2006 Topps Turkey Red Sean Casey #435
2006 Topps Turkey Red Rafael Furcal #456
2006 Topps Turkey Red Bartolo Colon #462
2006 Topps Turkey Red Curtis Granderson #468
2006 Topps Turkey Red Jeremy Reed #472
2006 Topps Turkey Red David Eckstein #473
2006 Topps Turkey Red Huston Street #478
2006 Topps Turkey Red Phil Nevin #480
2006 Topps Turkey Red Jason Giambi #482
2006 Topps Turkey Red Torii Hunter #487
2006 Topps Turkey Red Garret Anderson #488 - x2
2006 Topps Turkey Red Kameron Loe #496
2006 Topps Turkey Red Chris Young #498
2006 Topps Turkey Red Dan Johnson #507
2006 Topps Turkey Red Mike Cameron #514
2006 Topps Turkey Red Doug Mientkiewicz #534
2006 Topps Turkey Red Chris Capuano #544
2006 Topps Turkey Red Chris Duffy #547
2006 Topps Turkey Red Bengie Molina #548
2006 Topps Turkey Red Steve Finley #563
2006 Topps Turkey Red Shawn Chacon #567
2006 Topps Turkey Red Barry Bonds #573
2006 Topps Turkey Red Brad Ausmus #574

2006 Topps Turkey Red Orlando Cabrera / Adam Kennedy 'Avoiding the Runner' #577
2006 Topps Turkey Red Derek Jeter #580
2006 Topps Turkey Red Jeff Mathis #594
2006 Topps Turkey Red Sean Marshall #604
2006 Topps Turkey Red Kendrys Morales #607
2006 Topps Turkey Red Jason Kubel #621
2006 Topps Turkey Red Fausto Carmona #624
2006 Topps Turkey Red Michael Pelfrey #628
2006 Upper Deck Ovation Miguel Cabrera #ON-MC - Ovation Nation insert
2007 Fleer Ultra Todd Helton #55
2007 Topps Heritage Richie Ashburn / Ichiro #TN7 - Then and Now insert
2008 Topps Moments & Milestones Robinson Cano #70 - serial #'d 044/150
2008 Topps Moments & Milestones Jim Thome #85 - serial #'d 148/150
2008 Topps Opening Day Jeff Francoeur #143 - Gold parallel serial #'d 1753/2199
2008 Topps Opening Day Aramis Ramirez #169 - Gold parallel serial #'d 1805/2199
2009 Upper Deck Jon Garland #189
2009 Upper Deck Icons Daisuke Matsuzaka #28
2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Carlos Lee #371
2011 Topps Heritage Edinson Volquez #171
2012 Topps David Murphy #385 

2012 Topps Justin Verlander #TM-55 - 1987 Topps Minis insert

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

2014 Topps Update blaster recap

Commemorative patch card 
#WSP-RF Rollie Fingers - manufactured 1974 World Series patch; I can't complain about these cards when they are pretty sharp.

Pack one
#US-296 Tyler Moore
#US-46 Jake Marisnick
#US-84 Brandon Maurer - Red Hot Foil parallel
#US-64 LaTroy Hawkins - Target Red parallel
#US-231 Brendan Ryan - Target Red parallel
#US-7 David Price
#US-24 Tony Sanchez
#US-150 Jon Singleton

Pack two
#US-83 Brandon Hicks
#US-85 Daniel Descalso
#US-164 Joe Kelly
#FF-OV Omar Vizquel - Fond Farewells insert / do I really need a flipping Omar Vizquel card in a 2014 product?
#US-20 Gregory Polanco - Target Red parallel
#US-100 Jose Abreu - Target Red parallel
#US-252 Adrian Nieto
#US-95 Vidal Nuno

Pack three
#US-244 Daisuke Matsuzaka
#US-73 Francisco Cervelli
#US-86 Cesar Ramos
#TM-PF Prince Fielder - 1989 Topps Die-Cut minis insert
#US-266 Drew Smyly - Target Red parallel
#US-221 Gregory Polanco - Target Red parallel

#US-49 Willie Bloomquist
#US-11 Robbie Ross Jr.

Pack four
#US-70 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
#US-93 Troy Patton
#FN-MW1 Michael Wacha - The Future is Now insert
#US-293 Troy Patton - Target Red parallel
#US-272 Mark Ellis - Target Red parallel
#US-206 Chris Perez
#US-103 Starlin Castro
#US-283 Tyson Ross

Pack five

#US-218 David Carpenter

#US-194 Hector Santiago
#US-237 Jorge Polanco - Gold parallel serial #'d 1781/2014
#PPA-JB Jose Bautista - Power Players insert
#US-13 Andrew Heaney - Target Red parallel
#US-14 Justin Grimm - Target Red parallel
#US-250 Yu Darvish

#US-153 Kurt Suzuki

Pack six
#US-248 Brayan Pena
#US-34 Gavin Floyd
#US-107 Josh Collmenter
#WSH-SC Steve Carlton - World Series Heroes insert
#US-7 David Price - Target Red parallel
#US-325 Jose Abreu - Target Red parallel / I pull two Abreu cards and neither one is the actual rookie card, even though both have a MLB rookie card logo [his actual rookie card appeared in Topps Series II, btw]; why does he need two different debut cards?
#US-57 Jacob DeGrom
#US-191 Yoenis Cespedes

Pack seven
#US-302 Tom Gorzelanny
#US-165 Justin Morneau
#US-78 Reid Brignac
#US-206 Chris Perez - Target Red parallel
#US-49 Willie Bloomquist - Target Red parallel
#US-94 Tuffy Gosewisch
#US-177 Dee Gordon
#US-55 Jon Lester

Pack eight
#US-3 Tom Wilhelmsen
#US-134 Tony Cruz
#US-323 Chase Headley
#FN-MB1 Mookie Betts - The Future is Now insert
#US-57 Jacob DeGrom - Target Red parallel
#US-250 Yu Darvish - Target Red parallel

#US-54 Mike Trout
#US-288 Aroldis Chapman

Pack nine

#US-127 David Phelps
#US-251 Ike Davis
#US-138 Asdrubal Cabrera
#US-326 Joaquin Benoit - Red Hot Foil parallel
#US-212 Randy Choate - Target Red parallel
#US-94 Tuffy Gosewisch - Target Red parallel
#US-212 Randy Choate
#US-48 Scott Hairston

Pack 10
#US-319 Ricky Nolasco
#US-117 Bryan Holaday
#FF-RH Roy Halladay - Fond Farewell insert
#US-300 Miguel Cabrera - Target Red parallel
#US-169 Chone Figgins - Target Red parallel

#US-169 Chone Figgins - looks like there are some Dodgers lurking as bonus babies but they are too blurry to make out / I assume the guy on the dugout railing is manager Don Mattingly.
#US-276 Rougned Odor
#US-284 Robbie Ray