Monday 20 June 2016

2016 Topps Opening Day

The second helping from Big B at Waxaholic -2016 Opening Day! I have two packs of this reasonably priced product, which always includes some interesting inserts such as mascots... not for everyone I would think. 
Heavily loaded with Yankees and Red Sox cards too.

The Red Sox available are:
#7 Brian Johnson RC 
#9 Rick Porcello 
#77 Xander Bogaerts 
#98 Jackie Bradley Jr. 
#103 Brock Holt 
#112 Mookie Betts
#138 David Ortiz 
#139 Dustin Pedroia 
#166 Hanley Ramirez 
#167 Henry Owens RC 
#177 Eduardo Rodriguez

 Pack 1: 
#OD14 James Shields Padres blue border 
#OD47 Kyle Schwarber Cubs
#OD72 Michael Conforto Mets 
#OD101 Jose Iglesias Tigers 
#OD163 Gerrit Cole Pirates 
#OD175 Alex Rios Royals
#M-3 Rally Monkey, I will be honest I had to look this one up!
Pack 2:
#OD66 Sonny Gray Athletics
#OD85 Carlos Carrasco Indians
#OD138 David Ortiz Red Sox
#OD148 Robinson Cano Mariners
#OD162 Frankie Montas Dodgers
#OD200 Bryce Harper Nationals
#HH-13 Joey Votto Reds

Big Dave always a pleasure to find you in a pack!

Sunday 19 June 2016

2016 Donruss Baseball Trading Cards

The first of many packs from the ever generous Big B from Waxaholic. Brian and I have often lamented about being baseball collectors outside the USA, so these are a welcome surprise. Thanks Big B.
With Donruss/Panini there appears to be no sitting on the fence.
Collectors love them, saying things like;  'superior to Topps', 'great design',  'thicker card stock' , 'great inserts'
or hate them, 'ugly, ugly, ugly', 'overly glossy', 'total junk'  and even accusations of reusing the same photographs. Some collectors just don't like them because they are unofficial and have no logos. 
As far as I'm concerned, who couldn't like at set that includes a chicken!

The Red Sox in the base set are:

Diamond King #4 Xander Bogaerts
Rated Rookies #44 Henry Owens
#69 Xander Bogaerts
#84 David Ortiz 
#118 Mookie Betts
#162 Rusney Castillo
#168 Eduardo Rodriguez
#185 Carl Yastrzemski
#188 Pedro Martinez

There are 8 cards in the pack and I have 1 pack! It contained:

#111 Ryan Braun Milwaukee
#117 Shin-Soo Choo Texas
#131 Yordano Ventura Kansas City
#164 Odubel Herrera Philadelphia
#168 Eduardo Rodriguez Boston
#195 checklist
#D82-3 Lorenzo Cain Kansas City
#TR6 Stephen Piscotty  St.Louis
(and a big lump of cardboard!)

Nice- one 1 pack and 1 Red Sox!

Saturday 18 June 2016

2016 Topps Series 1 MORE value packs


Some 2016 Topps Series 1 Hanger packs courtesy of my old Headteacher, who took another trip (lucky bugger!), to the USofA in the recent school holidays. These packs were purchased from a Walmart in Florida. 


I partook in a group break with my fellow UK card collectors earlier in the year and was able to get 4 complete sets of Red Sox base cards plus a number of the inserts, including a lovely 1978 Luis Taint 65th anniversary Gold 1/1 card. So I don't need any of the base cards, although a few of  the inserts caught my attention;
 Berger's Best, a 65 card reprint set from each season since 1952 to honor hobby legend Sy Berger , the Wacky Packages promo stickers and I really like the stamp/coin combo cards but these are limited to Hobby and Jumbo. 

I was able to trade for some of the Berger's Best and couldn't resist purchasing some 'not too expensive' blasters of Wacky Packages, which I will share later and I will not hold my breathe for a stamp/coin card.
Each pack contains 36 cards , which is MORE VALUE than the single pack price according to the pack. 
Pack 1:
#19 Delino DeShields Rangers
#36 Miguel Montero Cubs
#43 Noah Sydergaard Mets
#49 Ike Davis Athletics
#52 Julio Teheran Braves
#57 Adam Lind Brewers
#69 Anibal Sanchez Tigers
#92 Darren O'Day Orioles
#108 Ben Paulsen Rockies
#130 A.J Pollock D-backs
#131 Adam LaRoche White Sox 
#132 Joe Ross Nationals
#137 Joe Panik Giants
#147 Dee Gordon Marlins
#160 Chris Sale White Sox
#174 Jered Weaver Angels
#183 Andrelton Simmons Braves
#193 Trevor Bauer Indians
#196 Hunter Strickland Giants
#198 Athletics team 
#217 Lance Lynn Cardinals
#237 Carlos Ruiz Phillies
#244 Matt Carpenter Cardinals
#262 Ervin Santana Twins
#282 Scott Feldman Astros
#288 Jake Lamb D-backs
#293 Hyun-Jin Ryu Dodgers
#315 Padres Team
#326 Kevin Plawecki Mets
#332 Blue Jays Team
#340 Victor Martinez Tigers
#344 Jonathan Lucroy Brewers
#BB-2  1953 Satchel Paige St Louis Browns
#GS-08 Nolan Ryan Rangers
#MLBD-40 Bernie Williams Yankees
#PIS-3 Jose Canseco Rangers

Pack 2:
#1 Mike Trout Angles
#6 Jimmy Paredes Orioles
#13 Craig Kimbrel Padres
#20 Andrew McCutchen Pirates
#21 WSH Game 4 
#25 Brad Ziegler D-backs
#28 Brain McCann Yankees
#76 Glen Perkins Twins
#107 Kevin Siegrist Cardinals
#109 Henry Owens Red Sox
#117 Liam Hendricks Blue Jays
#118 Jose Frenandez Marlins
#136 Michael Cuddyer Mets
#148 Yangervis Solarte Padres
#155 Yankees Team
#162 League Leaders AL RBI 
#170 New Order Astros
#177 Gregor Blanco Giants
#192 John Jaso Bay Rays
#215 Adrian Gonzalez Dodgers
#218 Andrew Miller Yankees
#228 Matt Garza Brewers
#236 Juan Lagares Mets
#250 Miguel Cabrera Tigers
#274 Ryan Goins Blue Jays
#297 Tigers Team Gold 1904/2016
#304 Charlie Furbush Mariners
#318 Nationals Team
#320 Jake Peavy Giants
#345 Yonder Alonso Padres
#347 Jason Grilli Braves
#251 Chase Utley Dodgers
#B2B-12 Ruth/Gehrig Yankees
#FP-2 Gabrielle Giffords Mets
#MLBD-24 Satchel Paige Indians
#P-23 Craig Biggio Astros

Pack 3:
#2 Jerad Eickhoff Phillies
#5 Kyle Seager Mariners
#23 Jeff Francoeur Phillies
#39 Mark Trumbo Mariners
#41 Josh Harrison Pirates
#95 Kole Calhoun Angels
#96 Jose Bautista Blue Jays
#114 Brett Lawrie Athletics
#122 Melky Cabrera White Sox
#129 Kendall Graveman Athletics
#141 Colin Rea Padres
#146 Stephen Piscotty Cardinals
#150 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers
#151 Jon Lester Cubs
#154 Hunter Pence Giants
#176 Brandon Phillips Reds
#180 Kevin Gausman Orioles
#210 Mike Zunino Mariners
#214 Chris Colabello Blue Jays
#219 Hector Olivera Braves
#222 Homer Bailey Reds
#235 Blaine Boyer Twins
#248 Braves Team
#249 Carlos Gomez Astros
#253 Nick Castellanos Tigers
#266 Jonathan Papelbon Nationals
#271 Kevin Kiermaier Bay Rays
#280 Brock Holt Red Sox
#303 Steve Pearce Orioles
#316 Jake Odorizzi Bay Rays
#335 Mitch Moreland Rangers
#348 Seth Smith Mariners
#MLBD-7 Yoenis Caspedes Athletics
#P-23 Craig Biggio Astros
#WOW-12 Starling Marte Pirates
#WRIG-21 Cole Hamels Phillies

Pack 4:
#26 League Leaders AL HR
#31 Travis D'Arnaud Mets
#47 Gio Gonzalez Nationals
#49 Ike Davis Athletics
#50 Salvador Perez Royals
#53 George Springer Astros
#89 Edwin Encarnacion Blue Jays
#105 Marcus Semien Athletics
#126 Papi and the Prince Red Sox
#127 Zach Lee Dodgers
#144 Jose Iglesias Tigers
#161 Phil Hughes Twins
#181 Twins Team
#185 League Leaders AL ERA
#188 Greg Bird Yankees
#203 Aaron Hill D-backs
#221 Ryan LaMarre Reds
#223 Christian Yelich Marlins
#224 Billy Burns Athletics
#229 Jesse Hahn Athletics
#242 Matt Wisler Braves
#261 Russell Martin Blue Jays
#263 Joc Pederson Dodgers
#278 Evan Gattis Astros
#289 Nick Hundley Rockies
#290 Zack Godley D-backs
#291 Asdrubal Cabrera Bay Rays
#292 Todd Frazier Reds
#306 Jarrod Saltalamacchia D-backs
#321 Hanley Ramirez Red Sox
#234 Steven Souza Jr. Bay Rays
#343 Drew Hutchison Blue Jays
#MLBD-14 Dwight Gooden Mets
#P-4 Bryce Harper Nationals
#WOW-5 David Freese Cardinals
#WRIG-20 Aramis Ramirez Cubs


Sunday 5 June 2016

2015 Topps Heritage


It has been  a little while, but I have a number of packs sitting on my desk that I have yet to open and Big B just sent me a few more so I will continue to open packs in search of Red Sox. 
I joined a box break of the 2015 Heritage here in the UK last year-so there are no base cards I still need except the higher numbered short prints.  
Pack 1:
#104 Miguel Montero
#131 Checklist
#209 Tigers Rookie Stars
#238 Checklist
#251 David Peralta D-backs
#253 Arismendy Alcantara Cubs
#269 Bryan Price Reds
#369 Brandon Belt Giants
#400 Joe Mauer Twins

Pack 2:
#2 Melky Cabrera White Sox
#96 Tim Lincecum Giants
#183 Terry Francona Indians
#269 Bryab Price Reds
#271 J.J.Hardy Orioles
#275 Yadier Molina Cardinals
#285 Omar Infante Royals
#301 Erick Aybar Angels
#NR14 Nolan Ryan Rangers

Pack 3:
#38 B.J.Upton Braves
#63 Brett Lawrie Athletics
#107 Tigers Rookie Stars
#131 Checklist
#193 Chris Iannetta Angels
#287 R.A.Dickey Blue Jays
#308 Salvador Perez Royals
#377 Nick Swisher Indians
#THC449 Matt Harvey Mets

Pack 4:
#110 Anthony Rizzo Cubs
#120 Brian Dozer Twins
#144 Aaron Hill D-backs
#164 Rookie Stars
#190 Oswaldo Arcia Twins
#279 John Gibbons Blue Jays
#330 Carl Crawford Dodgers
#401 Rookie Stars
#485 Chris Carter Astros

A few other teams to spray around other collectors but not a single Red Sox in 4 packs- unfortunate.