Finally nailed a big one

Now I know for a lot of you guys, this isn't that big of a hit.  But for me this is huge.  I don't normally pull anything decent from packs.

I decided to pull the trigger on a hobby box of Upper Deck series 1 to try and finish my base set and nail a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Young Guns.  While at the LCS, I decided I would buy the last two loose packs of series 1 they had as well.  Thanks goodness I did, because in the first pack I ripped, BAM, I pulled the RNH Young Guns card.  My collecting week,month, heck maybe even year is made now.  Now I can open my hobby box tonight without the nervous anticipation of having to hit this card.

Pack Rip #8 - 2011-12 Upper Deck Series 1 Fat Packs

Product: 2011-12 Upper Deck Hockey Series 1 Retail Fat Packs

Cost: $4.99 per pack
Qty: 4 packs
Cards per pack: 32

Location: Shopko

I must admit, I have an addiction to this set.  I don't know why, but I get all nervous if I go to the store and don't buy any of this.  I love the set, but I don't like the feeling I get when I don't have any to rip, I didn't realize someone could really go through card withdrawls, but I was.

Anyway, I had to take a grumpy kid for a ride last night so we went to the one store we never go to, Shopko.  At first I only found a couple fat packs of OPC, but then we found the motherload, Upper Deck Series 1 fat packs.  I quickly put back the O-Pee-Chee and grabbed the four remaining of these they had.

Base Cards:  I pulled 121 out of these packs, some were dupes.  I now need 74 to finish my series 1 basic set.



 Hockey Heroes:  Pulled 2, Gordie Howe and Gump Worsley.  I love the legends cards.

 Young Guns:  Pulled my first two young guns cards ever.  While they weren't the big one, I was glad to get these.  48 more to go.

UD Canvas:  I was very happy with the Mika Zibangejad Young Guns Canvas that I pulled.  That will either pay for one of these packs by going on Ebay or will be added in with a trade to someone.  Also pulled a Jaroslav Halak Canvas.  I love the Canvas set, but I don't think it will be possible for me to finish, it's just too damn big.

As I have said before, I am in love with this set.  I will most likely be picking up a hobby box of this on Saturday and hopefully that will knock out the rest of the set.

1981-82 Topps Peter Stastny #39

There is no better way to start posting the cards in my player collections, than starting out with a hall of famer.  Here is the Topps Version of Paul Stastny's rookie card.  I picked this up in a lot of 110 cards from the 1981-82 Topps set off of Ebay for $0.99.

Stastny defected to Canada in 1980 along with his brother Anton.  In his rookie season, Stastny netted 39 goals and handed out 70 assists to total 109 points.  He was the first player to score over 100 points in his rookie season, since Gretzky wasn't technically a rookie in 79-80 due to his time in the WHA.

Pack Rip #7 - 2011-12 Upper Deck Hockey Series 1 Retail

Product: 2011-12 Upper Deck Hockey Series 1 Retail

Cost: $2.99 per pack
Qty: 2 packs
Cards per pack: 8

Location: Target

 So I finally broke down and bought a couple packs of these.  I had a little house money to still play with off of a gift card so I picked up these two packs and two rack packs of series 2.  I didn't pull much in these, but the photos are great.

 Pack 1:  So as you can see, I suck at scanning, I am going to have to really pay more attention to the sideways cards.

#85 - Josh Bailey - I have never heard of this guy, but he's wearing an Islanders sweater, so he is alright in my book.
#61 - Daniel Briere - This is a great card...The photo looks to be the press conference after the Flyers won the division.
#125 - Evgeny Dadonov
#62 - Chris Pronger - This guy is a dick.
#120 - David Booth - Florida's leading scorer in 10-11
#104 - Jaroslav Spacek
#115 - rob Scuderi
#AW26 - Phil Kessel All-World Team

Pack 2:

#84 - Kyle Okposo - Great shot after an Islanders victory.
#188 - Zdeno Chara - The big bruiser firing a slap shot.
#128 - Sam Gagner - Celebrating a goal...looks fired up!
#13 - Henrik Sedin - As much as I hate the Sedin sisters, this is a cool card, celebrating a conference championship.
#151 - R.J. Umberger - Columbus may suck, but this sweater is sweet.
#51 - Matt Cooke
#199 - Checklist - Well, doesn't this card suck...A Sedin, Robbie Lou, and Kessler
#C85 - UD Canvas Alex Ovechkin - Sweet insert...Best pull of the lot.

Mailday #4 - 2011-12 Parkhurst Champions Minis 44 card Lot from Ebay

I picked these up off of Ebay for $13.90 shipped.  It is all but #1 of the non short print minis from this set.  I absolutely love, love, love these cards.  The guy I got these from paulie_pavillion is a great seller.  He is the same guy I picked up most of the base set of Parkhurst Champions from.  Good deals and he is very meticulous and fast with his packing and shipping.

Out of all the great cards in this set my favorites are Grant Fuhr, Peter Stastny, Rogie Vachon, Tony Esposito, Denis Potvin, and Clark Gillies.

I am now down to only needing 12 base cards, 1 regular mini, all SP minis and all Wire Photos and Rendition Cards now to finish this set.  So far this is my favorite hockey set that I am working on.

Mailday #3 - Trade with Justin from The Hopeful Chase

Justin who runs http://hopefulchase.blogspot.com/ contacted me a couple weeks ago about some 2009-10 Champs minis that he was willing to trade me.  I still owe him a package, it will be in the mail today, I promise.  He traded me 9 minis I needed for my set, I am down to needing only about 423 more minis to finish this set...Holy Cow what did I get myself into.

#359 - Daniel Sedin - One half of the bunk bed sleeping Vancouver twin sisters.
#320 - Daniel Briere
#304 - Loui Erikson
#302 - Dustin Byfuglien - A key player on the Hawks Stanley Cup run from a couple years ago.
#270 - Mike Ricards - Was the captain of Philly's finals team from 09-10.
#264 - Brandon Dubinsky
#246 - Anze Kopitar
#222 - Paul Stastny - The son of Quebec Nordiques great Peter Stastny, who I just so happen to have started a player/team(Nordiques) collection of.
#104 - Andrew MacDonald - Mini rookie.  These are tough to get, so I was pleased that one of these were included with our trade.

Pack Rip #6 - 2007 Topps WWE Heritage III Hobby Box

Product: 2007 Topps WWE Heritage III Hobby Box

Cost: $33.95
Qty: 1 Hobby Box - 24 Packs
Cards per pack: 5

Location: Dave and Adam's Card World

 

I purchased this with the hope of building the base set and getting a nice start on the Allen and Ginter legends set, and I did just that.  I was able to put together a complete base set with about 20 duplicates (they are for trade if anyone wants them, all I ask is for either some wrestling or hockey cards in return, I don't care what.)

 

 Base Cards: The base cards in this set come in 3 designs.  Current superstars are in the 1980 Topps design, divas 1982 Topps, and legends 1987 Topps.  While I am not a huge fan of the 80 or 82 designs, I
do love the 87's for the legends.  The checklist is great too as there were legends I have never had cards of before like Earthquake and Papa Shango and Ric Flair was still in the current superstars and that was my first ever Ric Flair card.  I was able to complete the base set with just one hobby box which means Topps did a nice job with the collation on these.

Allen and Ginter Mini Legends - This is a really cool set that takes the A&G mini design and puts 12 legends on it.  I pulled 5 which is just about right for the stated odds.  I think I should have received one more, but I am okay with 5.  Of the 5 I pulled, one was Ravishing Rick Rude, which is just plain awesome.  Now it will be time to hit eBAY and pick up the other 7 to complete the set.

The Hits - My two hits for this box where a Mr. Kennedy ringside relic and a Victoria auto.  Pretty blah since neither one of them are around the WWE anymore.  I wish the WWE releases would quit featuring sticker autos as well, it really cheapens the auto's in my eyes.  Oh well, if anyone is interested in either of these, let me know, they are both for trade.

Final thoughts on this box is that it was a blast to rip.  I had a ton of fun and was glad to finish the base set.  I probably will not buy another box of it since I have finished the base set and would be wasting money ripping packs to try and finish the mini set.  It was also a plus that both of my kids had fun ripping this with me as well.  My daughter thinks I am delusional for collecting cards, yet she ripped almost every one of these packs.  My son who loves wrestling was more excited for the gum that came in the packs, that was until he chewed a piece and realized that 5 year old gum is bad...Not nearly as bad as 30 year old gum though, which my wife found out the hard way last year when she at a piece from 81 Topps baseball.

Pack Rip #5 - 2012 Topps Heritage - Retail Pack

Product: 2012 Topps Heritage

Cost: $3.19
Qty: 1 Retail Pack
Cards per pack: 9

Location: Walmart

The blogs broke me down...I have been trying to focus only on hockey cards lately, but looking at these cards on other blogs and forums, I broke down and bought a retail pack and a retail rack pack.  Here is what I got in the first pack.  I am not sure if I am going to chase this set or not, so if you want any of these cards, let me know and we can work out a trade.

 #196 - Tim Federowicz - I can honestly I have never heard of this guy.  From reading the back of his card, he should fight for a spot as the Dodgers starting catcher.

#8 - A.L. Pitching Leaders - The 5 guys who lead the league in wins.

#113 - Kerry Wood - As a Cubs fan I love this card.  Hopefully Kerry has a solid year in the setup/middle relief role.  This will probably be the last year we see him as a Cub.

#417 - Jeremy Guthrie - The top man in the Orioles rotation.  That's not saying much.

#308 - Brian McCann - One of the top catchers in the league.  He always seems to kick my team's ass whenever I watch him.

#44 - Justin Verlander - The defending Cy Young winner should have another solid campaign this year.  Look for him to challenge for the award again this season.

#9 - N.L. Strikeout Leaders

#66 - Sergio Santos - Spent last season with the Shit Sox and racked up 30 saves.  Dumbass Kenny Williams decided to trade him away this offseason.

#194 - Francisco Cordero - Closer for the Reds, a top notch choke artist as well.

I had fun opening this and I will probably buy some more this summer.  While hockey has taked up most of my collecting time and money, I do like this set, but at 500 cards it might be a little to large for me.

Card Show Chronicles #1 - March 11, 2012 Serb Hall Milwaukee

So I finally made it up to one of the Milwaukee card shows I have been scoping out the past couple of years.  This is the first card show I have been to in probably 14 or 15 years since they stopped having them on Friday nights in my hometown.

The night before I went through my current sets I am working on and put my numbers in a handy little notebook so that I would have them to quickly go through.  It didn't matter though, no one at this show had any of the sets I was working on anyway.

So after paying my $1 to get in I started walking through the show and stopped at an older gentleman's table who said he was 60 years old.  He had some vintage cards that were on sale for 50% of what he had them marked.  There were a couple of cards I needed for my Ron Santo player collection, but they were still too high with the half off.  He did have a 50 cent box though and that is where I picked these two cards up.

While I don't typically collect basketball I liked this Earl The Pearl card and for 50 cents, a 64 Philly Bears card is one I can't pass up.  This dealer also had some 9 pocket sheets double filled with cards for $1 a piece.  So I picked up two sheets of 1970 football and I guess that means I have now started to collect that set.  What a surprise, I didn't stay on task.  Here are the 70's I picked up, no great players but 36 cards for $2, I couldn't go wrong.

Next up was a dealer that didn't really have anything I wanted, but since I did spend about 15 minutes going through his stuff I felt obliged to spend at least a buck.  So I did by picking up a 72 Chicago Bears card and a goofy card that I can add to the weird card collection.

Next, I finally found the one dealer at the show with some vintage hockey.  While it was only two years worth, 77-78 and 79-80 I had a lot of fun paging through the binder.  I picked up a handfule of cards including 2 Denis Potvins and some other goalie cards.  If I haven't mentioned it before, I love the old time goalie masks and leather's, fucking awesome.  This dealer also has a website Fat Daddy's Sports, and he seems to be a regular at these shows.  He also had a ton of vintage football and baseball in binders at great prices, I just didn't have the time to go through them.  I can't wait until the next show where hopefully he will be there again and I will have time to go through some more of his binders.  Here is what I picked up from him.

From there I was running out of time so I just took a quick look at the other dealers.  There were a couple more that were peddling vintage and then of course the shiny new stuff was in cases as well.  There wasn't a very good selection of wax at this show, I think only 2 people had any for sale and it was mostly this or last year's baseball.

While this was a small show, it was good for me since I was on such a time crunch this time (don't wanna piss the wife off more than I already do) and I look forward to going back.  My biggest wish for next time though is that there will be more vintage hockey to leaf through.

Pack Rip #4 - 2011 Topps WWE Hobby Box - 24 Packs

Product:2011 Topps WWE Hobby Box - 24 Packs
Cost:$35.96
Qty:1 Hobby Box - 24 Packs
Cards Per Pack:7
Location:Dave and Adam's Card World

Base Cards:I didn't keep count exactly how many of these I received, but I did finish a complete base set of 1-110 with a couple of dups. The base cards contain both current superstars/commentators/divas and legends. The design is that of 2011 Topps Baseball. Overall this is a very sharp looking base set.


Heritage Legends:I pulled 6 of these in the box which worked out to 1:4 packs like the stated odds. These cards are legends and they are on the 1962 Topps baseball design. Let me go on record saying I love,love,love this insert set and I was super happy to pull One Man Gang as he was one of my favorite heels back in the day.



Catch Phrases:I pulled 3 of these. These depict a superstar with their catch phrase on it. I was happy with the pulls as you can never be upset with a John Cena card, Goldust was awesome back in the attitude era, and Vicki is a great heel character. I do wish I would have pulled The Miz though.

Electrifying Entrances:3 pulls with one of them being Rey Mysterio who I can't stand, R-Truth who is a goofy bastard, and Randy Orton the star of Smackdown.

Prestigious Pairings:These cards feature superstars who were paired together that don't typically work as a team. Another Cena pull is good, and Sin Cara is a sweet looking character, so the two of them together make a nice looking card. Jack Swagger and Michael Cole both suck at what they do, so this card blows. Finally the King and Good Ole' JR...These two worked together for years, so I don't know the reason they were put on a card in this series. Maybe I should read the back.

Blue Paralell's:As I have stated before I hate paralells. These look good with the blue border, but I still think it is a waste to have these types of cards. These come 1 per pack unless you receive a red or gold one. They are numbered to 2011.

The Hits:So the stated odds say you should get one swatch card and one auto per box on average. I did get those, plus a gold paralell numbered to 50. The auto I got was probably the worst in the entire set, none other than Mr. Perfect's son Michael McGillicutty or his real name Joe Henning. This guy is now only shown on their internet shows about once every 3 weeks. For my swatch card I received a Ted Dibiase Shirt relic. Teddy Jr. had a major push when he first entered the WWE, now he is stuck as mostly a mid card jobber as well. The card is sweet though and I think he will turn into a pretty good pro. As for the gold card, it is none other that Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

This was another fun rip and I was glad to finish the base set. I will be going after the insert sets as well, but I probably will not buy anymore packs, because it isn't worth the money when I can pick up most of these for less than a buck apiece on the Bay.

Pack Rip #3 - 2009-10 Champs Hockey 24 Retail Packs

Product: 2009-10 Champs Hockey
Cost: $12.95
Qty: 24 Retail Packs
Cards per pack: 4 (3 Regular Sized, 1 Mini)
Location: Dave and Adam's Card World

So in my quest to complete a master set of 2009-10 Champs Hockey, I was looking around on Dave and Adam's Cardworld last week and came across a special where they were selling 24 random retail packs for $12.95. It looked like a great deal to me so I picked up two lots. I have no idea if these all came from the same box or gravity box, so reflected odds probably will not be in effect for these packs. Here are the results of the first lot.

61 Base Cards - Of those I needed 33 for my base set which takes me down to 27 that I need to pull from my next lot of packs to knock out this set. Plus, this is the first Bobby Orr card I have ever pulled from a pack which even though it is a worthless modern base card, is pretty damn exciting.

6 Light Blue Paralell's - I hate paralell's, they are a waste of pack space and that pisses me off.

3 Orange/Red Paralell's - Again, another stupid variation of a base card I could use.

1 Yellow Paralell - I actually like the way these yellow cards look, but at 1 in 24 packs, completing a set is not possible, at least not for me.

2 Mini Rookies - These are supposed to come 1:4 packs, but since my packs were random I got 2 total. Oh well it's better than none, too bad one of them wasn't Tavares.

2 Historical Figures - I am a sucker for the history cards. I love pulling dead presidents.

5 Natural History - Again, I love this shit. Dinosaurs and a plant, much more exciting than a 4th line winger.

1 Wonders of the World - Yet another gimmick card. These are a little harder to pull though than the Natural History or Historical Figures.

14 Regular Minis - I was happy with pulling the Bourque and Howe minis. Now the work begins trying to put this 192 card set together.

I have to say I was very pleased with this rip. It was cheap at only $12.95 and since I am working on the set, it was nice to knock quite a few cards I needed off the list. I have another 24 packs I will be ripping later in the week or next week, and after that I will have to make a decision on whether to buy another lot or two, or just finish the set through trades, Ebay, or some other means.