Happy New Year! Here's the Box Break I Promised

I got this box for Christmas, and I noticed that one side of the box was heavier than the other. I knew that the museum cards are heavy, but I did not get my hopes up. I opened up all of the packs intending to save the fatties for last. Third pack in, I see gold!!! The first three hits were garbage, but I love the last one. I would say that this box broke my 13 month streak of bad box breaks. Anyways, here is what I pulled.



Cool looking card, but the player could be better. (and there could have been a multicolored patch in there haha)



I was really bumed there were no patches. Also, the player could have been a ton better.



The player could have been better, and there could have been a nice patch. Also, the bottom left relic if wierd. It might be sock? If anyone knows what it is, let me know.
























and finally this...



Scan does not do this card justice. Easily one of my new favorite cards. The player could have been better, but still a really sweet card. Let me know what you you guys think! Happy holidays!

Christmas Haul (Scans!)

Hey, everyone. This is most of the highlights of my Christmas card haul. The five "Clear Path to Greatness" autos came from a box of 2006 UD Future Stars. Two of the autos, Carlos Quentin and Josh Willingham, are the same ones I got in my last box, so they are for trade if anyone is interested. The other three autos are Jason Kubel, Ruddy Lugo, and Luis Figueroa (SP). Hey, at least I've heard of four out of five people on the autos. Overall, it was a good product with some nice base cards and serial #'d cards. For about $30 at the Blowout Cards Black Friday Sale, it was a no-brainer. I mean, five 2006 rookie autos; 2006 was a phenomenal rookie class. You can pull RC autos of the likes of Joel Zumaya, Justin Verlander, Jon Lester, Jered Weaver, Hanley Ramirez, Conor Jackson, Chad Billingsley and more. I'd give the product a solid B+. The other cards were pulled from various packs, whether they be from stocking stuffers or a Value Box of 2011 Topps. The Ivan Nova RC is interesting in several ways. For one, it is a Gold Parallel #'d /50, and secondly he also had an RC in Updates of the previous year. Its similar to what 2006 and 2007 Heritage did with Pablo Sandoval, or what 2008 and 2009 Topps flagship did with that guy (Kahi'hlui???) that plays for the Royals whose name sounds like a cross between the Hawaiian Liquor Kahlua and the worn-out childrens television show Caillou. The Mike Trout RC is just cool because he is a good player, but the Harper... The Harper is one of three exclusive value-box refractors. Ironically, all three refractors are of Harper. I can now say that I have a Bryce Harper RC...yay.

Happy Holidays! Couple of Christmas Scans!

Happy Holidays!!! I hope everybody has had as good a day as I have. I love spending time with family I don't see too often as well as giving and receiving gifts. Today I would like to share what I got card wise this Christmas. I will start with the small stuff and let the suspense build. In my stocking, I got 1 pack of 2011 Allen and Ginter, and 1 Jumbo pack of 2011 Topps Update. Nothing too exciting out of these, but I did pull a Cheryl Burke card for my ginter set. Out of updates, I pulled a Monte Irvin SP Diamond aniversairy refractor and a Youkilis All Star card for my PC.



Then, I got a ton of toploaders/ teambags/ sleeves so I can properly store and display my Kevin Youkilis PC. Along with those, I got a 2006 Sweet Spot Ball Auto of Kevin Youkilis. The scan is pretty bad, but it is truely a great card in person.



And for the grand finaly, I got a box of 2011 Topps Marquee Baseball. I will post the results in a couple days. To increase the suspense, I will let you know that this box snapped my 13 month streak of terrible boxes. Happy Holidays everybody!!!



-20youksox

2012 Topps Archives

Topps is scheduled to release a rehash of Topps Archives, a series last produced in 2002. The set will include two autos per box, with the 75-player checklist including the likes of legendary HOFers such as Willie Mays,Ernie Banks, and Carl Yastrzemski. It will also include sigs newer players, such as Albert Pujols and Tim Lincecum. The base card designs will be those of the years 1954, 1971, 1980 and 1984, and the inserts will be tributes to 1967 Topps Stickers, 1968 Topps 3D, 1969 Topps Deckle Edge and the 1977 Topps Cloth sets. The relics take the form of the 1956 design. There will also be 1983 Mini autos in frames which have similar qualities to those of Allen-&-Ginter. Notably, there will be Topps Originals Buyback cards, as well.

New Pickup, Mojo Patch Style!

Okay, here it is. This is my third one of these, and this is my favorite of the three. They all fit together to spell RICAN from American. I can't wait to have all three in hand. So far, I have payed $83 for the first, $52 for the second, and $46 for this one.


-20youksox

I Love Shiny Cards: Superfractor vs. New Mosaic Refractors POLL

Okay, so I was looking through my shiny cards, and these two caught my eye. One is a superfractor, something that has been around for a long time. The other is a mosaic refractor, something that is new to this year. They are kind of similar because they both have "shiney cirle things". There are examples of each below.

MOSAIC REFRACTOR



These cards are numbered out of 10 and are also die cut.


SUPERFRACTOR



These cards are 1/1 and standard shape.

I personally give the edge to the mosaic refractor. It is nice to see something new in the hobby. I think these are better for the average collector because they are much cheaper than superfractors, and I think they look cooler. They usually only cost $30- 50 compared to superfractors at $100+. I also like the die cut element because it sets the apart from the rest of the refractor parellels available in chrome products. Be sure to comment below with which of the two parellels you like the best, and I will posts the results in a week or so.
-20youksox

10 years, $254-Million...Boom

Has anyone ever read the children's story "Chica-Chica-Boom-Boom"?. In case you never lived as a child, or for some obscure reason spent your pre-pubescent years locked in a desolate closet, it is essentially about letters (A,B,C) trying to climb up a palm tree. All the pieces seem to come together, until one arrogant capital letter tries to climb up the tree, ignoring the pleas of the other 26 letters already up top, until the tree snaps and they all go boom. This is the reality of the St. Louis Cardinals losing Albert Pujols. The pieces came together, they won a World Series, and then he tries to climb up onto the top of the money tree and everyone goes boom.

Sick Mojo Jumbo Patch Pickup!!!

I am really thrilled about my newest pickup for my Kevin Youkilis PC. This is a 2011 Topps Updates Kevin Youkilis Jumbo All Star Patch Relic 3/6! Some of you are probably thinking, I have seen this before. Well you have, sort of. I also have the 4/6 which can be seen a few posts down. I personally like this one better because the patch is nicer. Here is a photo of it below. I will get a better scan once it is in hand, and I will also scan the 2 together. I actually got a much better deal on this one. It cost me $52, and the other cost $83. I think this one was less expensive because the opening bid was $50. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do!



















-20youksox