"Thar She Blows~!!" - Super Hit at Pack Wars

My latest trip to Pack Wars was proving to be quite a bummer.  I was limiting my spending this time around, so I was buying fewer packs than usual.  As the end of the night approached I had pulled a whole lot of nuthin'.  The only card of any note came from 2011 Topps Chrome - a Topps Heritage Chrome insert of Ichiro.  A cool card, but nothing to get all that excited about.  I was barely even paying attention when I noticed they were breaking a box of 2011 Topps Finest.  When I heard they were going with $7 a pack I said "ah what the heck, I'll take one"......











That's when I pulled, as the guy next to me called it, a "white whale."

Brandon Beachy One of One Yellow Printing Plate Dual Patch Auto

How awesome is THAT?!?  That's only my second ever one-of-one, and my first ever printing plate.  WITH patches. AND an auto.  AND featuring a hot rookie pitcher too!!

I almost felt a little bad for the guy next to me - he wasn't paying attention when the store owner was checking to see who wanted packs, so the owner had momentarily skipped over him to give me my pack and then went back to him.

I almost felt bad.  ;)

Catching Up on Pack Wars Part 2 - Hits Galore~!

My last post detailed some of the many autos and patches I pulled at the last couple Pack Wars events I attended, but there's still a lot more to show!  Without further ado....

2011 Topps Update Willie McCovey Leather Nameplate

I'm still not a big fan of these leather nameplate cards, but it is always nice to pull a hit of a HoFer!

2011 Topps Finest Kyle Rudolph Patch Auto

This is a sweet looking card.  Very shiny and refractor-y, and numbered to just 75.  That patch is one of the best ones I've ever pulled.  Too bad it is for one of those dirty, dirty Vikings!  :)

2011 Topps Prime Kendall Hunter Quad Patch Auto

This is another very sharp looking card.  It's nice to know there are actually 4 jersey swatches in there.

1970 Topps NY Mets World Champions card

I won this card in a price challenge.  The Amazin' Mets make a very cool addition to my collection!

2011 Topps Prime Mark Ingram/Marcell Dareus Dual Patch

Another very attractive card, and some good rookies to boot!  The Ingram patch looks like it must have comes off a jersey sleeve - always nice to get something a little different.

2011 Topps Rising Rookies Cecil Shorts Auto Patch

I love the NFL Draft patch embedded in this card.  A nice looking signature too.  Shorts was drafted in the 4th round by the Jaguars and was considered one of the better WR prospects in the draft.  Thus far he has worked mainly as a return specialist.

2011 Panini Threads Nick Fairley Jersey Letter

This is my first ever jersey letter card.  Oddly enough, this was the only card in the pack - as soon as the store owner handed it to me I knew I had something good!  Fairley was the 13th overall pick in the draft, though unfortunately he has played sparingly thus far thanks to injuries.

2011 Topps Update Placido Polanco All Star Jersey patch

It's pretty cool that Topps is able to get patches from this year's all-star game into the Update series.  The one thing I don't like is that the picture is kind of blurry.  I think Polanco is one of the more underrated players of the past decade.

2011 Topps Heritage Minor League Bryce Harper Patch

And finally, my last card is this nice pull of the hottest prospect going!

Whew!  That was a lot of scans!  I can only hope my next trip to Pack Wars is anywhere near as successful as the last two.

Previous Trivia Question:

 

Staying on the topic of Gold Gloves, Rafael Palmiero won the award at first base in 1999 in a controversial selection. How many games did he play at first base that season?

 

A: Palmiero appeared at first base in just 28 games that season.

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

What team was the first to feature 3 players that hit 40 home runs? (Hint: it was in 1973.)

Catching Up on Pack Wars Part 1 - Hits Galore~!

I've been to two Pack Wars events at my local card store in the past few months, but never got the chance to post all the goodies I pulled.  There aren't too many big names, but lots of cool cards nonetheless. 

As an aside, I must say I'm very lucky that my other half is also into card collecting, because she has luck like I've never seen when it comes to pulling the hits.  I'm lucky to get one or two when I'm cracking packs, but when she's the one choosing the packs we seem to get stuff left and right!  We seem to have developed a good system for Pack Wars - she picks the packs, and I pay.  ;)

Anyway, on to the pics!

2011 Topps Lineage Michael Morse Auto

Morse is coming off a breakout season with the Nationals.  The 1952 Topps-style box is nice.

2011 TNA Signature Impact Sting/Rob Van Dam Dual Auto

This TNA product is one of the best around for hits - they promise something like 7 hits per box, and they're not stingy with the autos!  If you're a wrestling fan, it's a lot of fun to crack packs of this set.  This was a particularly nice pull, with 2 bigger stars.  I love RVD's autograph!

2011 TNA Signature Impact Samoa Joe Auto

It's really a shame that TNA has booked Joe so horribly.  He could be such a fun guy to watch if they used him right...

2011 TNA Signature Impact Orlando Jordan Auto

Well, they can't all be good....

2011 Topps Marquee Andre Ethier Auto/Patch

For the first time ever I decided to splurge on an expensive pack.  The Marquee packs were going for $40, and this was my hit.  Not a bad pull, though not one that got me terribly excited either.  I wish the jersey swatches weren't so plain, but then I suppose the Dodger uniforms are pretty basic.

I did pull a couple other interesting cards from my Marquee pack - a Brewer base card (Grienke) and also this serial numbered Babe Ruth:

2011 Topps Heritage Minor League Blake Tekotte Auto

Tekotte was drafted in the 3rd round by the Padres in the 2008 draft.  He spent the year at AA San Antonio and had a pretty solid season, batting .285 with 19 HRs, 67 RBIs, 77 runs and 36 stolen bases.

Robert Parish Rookie Card

I got this card by winning a price challenge.  It figures - I miss so many chances at baseball cards that I would love to have, but of course I get this one since I have no interest in basketball cards.  Definitely available for trade!

2011 UD Goodwin Brittany Lincicome Auto

I was just thinking about how I didn't have enough female golfers in my collection.

2011 Topps 60 Robinson Cano Patch

The last one for today is this nice jersey patch of Cano.  I like the Topps 60 patch cards a lot more than the Peak Performance cards from last year.

There's still a lot more to come, so tune in for the next post!

Previous Trivia Question:

Who owns the record for most Gold Glove awards?

A: Greg Maddux holds the all-time Gold Glove record with 18.

Today's Trivia Question:

Staying on the topic of Gold Gloves, Rafael Palmiero won the award at first base in 1999 in a controversial selection. How many games did he play at first base that season?

My Hits From Pack Wars

About a week ago I posted the crazy good hits I saw pulled during my last trip to Pack Wars.  Today I'm posting the few that I snagged that night.  Much less impressive, but still fun!
#1 - Mark Sanchez Jersey Patch from 2011 Panini Threads

#169/299.  A nice looking card, though I don't care for Sanchez at all.

#2 - Hunter Pence framed mini jersey from 2011 Allen & Ginter

I've really grown to like these framed mini cards.  That border looks really sharp!

#3 - Dale Murphy leather nameplate from 2011 Topps Series 2

I'm still not a big fan of these faux-glove leather cards, but at least I got a player I like.

Previous Trivia Question:

What is the record for most RBIs in a single game?

 

Answer:  Jim Bottomley (on September 16, 1924) and Mark Whiten (September 7, 1993) are tied with 12 RBIs in one game.

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

Who were the 5 members of the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame class?

Mega-hit Insanity at Pack Wars (But Unfortunately Not For Me)

I went to Pack Wars for the first time in a while last week Thursday.  No really big pulls for me, but I did snag a few hits that I intend to post sometime in the next couple days.  I did however witness two amazing pulls.

First off, for my fellow wrestling fans - we were cracking some packs of the Tristar TNA Signature Impact Wrestling cards.  I think the box promises 7 hits per box or something ridiculous like that.  One guy pulled one of the Ric Flair suit letter patches (letter "A") - I would love to put together a set of those!  But the mega-hit was a "1 of 5" SEVEN autograph card - 4 sigs on the front and 3 on the back.  The signers were:

1. Mr. Anderson (or Mr. Kennedy, as he is better known)
2. Rob Van Dam
3. Matt Hardy
4. Jeff Hardy
5. Sting
6. Ric Flair
7. Hulk Hogan

That's a helluva laundry list of names right there for one card.  It is a little ridiculous having so many on one card, just because ultimately there is little room for pictures of the people in question, but still very, very cool!

Then came the truly insane hit.  One guy decided to splurge on an ultra high-end pack of Upper Deck All-Time Greats Basketball (the price was something like $300-350 for one tin, I forget exactly how much).  I was told that this same guy had bought a pack from the store a week or two before and pulled a Jordan auto.  Well, this time he outdid himself:

Yes, that is a 1 of 5 flipbook dual auto of Magic and Lebron.  Jack. Pot.

Pack Wars: Round 3

I knew going in that my third Pack Wars was unlikely to match the hit parade I experienced last time, but there were still a few interesting pulls to be had.

First, yet another reason to make fun of the Bears - they apparently drafted a guy that doesn't even know how to spell his own name:

Seriously, look at that (ahem) "signature."  Ridiculous.

Next up, a one in every 3 or so boxes pull from Topps T206:

I really like these framed mini auto/patch cards from this set, just something cool about the card within a card.  That's why I loved the 5x7 Pinnacle Zenith set from 1998 so much!

I also got an auto out of Topps Chrome:

I scanned it 4 times, and THIS was the best one...

And finally, a nice black bordered parallel out of 2005 Topps Football:

On a parting note, coming soon to the blog - The Ken Griffey Jr. Have List~!  People keep asking me which ones I already have, so I figured I really should get the list together.  I'm two-thirds of the way there and hope to get another big chunk done tonight.

On FIRE at Pack Wars~!

First, a message to Old Man Winter:



20 inches of snow last week, and now we've had single digits with negative wind chills since Monday.....

Now, on to much happier matters.

I went to my second Pack Wars a couple weeks ago, and boy did I have a hot hand!  While I didn't get any one hit that makes you say "wow," just the sheer number of patches and autos I pulled was amazing.  At one point I think I pulled a hit out of 5 straight purchases (buying just 2 or 3 packs each time).  The highlights are below:

We'll start with a couple from 2010 Panini Certified:

Bernie Kosar Game Used Jersey Patch, #082/250

Jordan Shipley NFL Players Rookie Premiere Jersey Patch and Auto #421/599

Next, an auto from 2010 Panini Gridiron Gear of one of your SUPER BOWL CHAMPION Green Bay Packers!:

#292/299

Switching over to baseball, a nice pull from 2010 Topps T206:

Jimmy Rollins Mini Jersey Patch, with Pinstripe~!

A card I won in a price-guessing contest:

1960 Fleer Baseball Greats, in surprisingly good shape!

And finally, 3 cards of guys that hopefully make it to the bigs one day:

This one came from 2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 2.  Greg Halman is an outfielder in the Seattle Mariners organization.  Last year he hit .243 with 33 HRs and 80 RBIs for AAA Tacoma.  He spent the last week of the season with the Mariners last year.

2010 Bowman Platinum Auto Refractor, #150/199

Justin Marks was drafted out of the University of Louisville by the Oakland A's in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft (he was previously drafted in the 37th round of the 2006 draft by the Red Sox).  He was named Big East Pitcher of the Year for 2009.  He appears to have not had much success in two stops at Single-A Stockton and Kane County, going a combined 6-13 with a 4.87 ERA in 129 innings, but it was only his first year of pro ball.  This past November he was part of a trade that sent him and pitcher Vin Mazzaro to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for outfielder David DeJesus.

2010 Bowman Platinum Auto Patch Refractor, #136/740

Noe Ramirez is currently a junior with Cal State Fullerton.  He is ranked 28th on Baseball America's 2011 Top 100 College Draft Prospects.  As part of the 2010 USA Collegiate National Team he had 9 relief appearances, logging 5 saves and recording a 2.70 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work.  He struck out the side in the 9th inning of a 3-pitcher no hitter against Korea on July 15, 2010.

The scans of the Justin Marks and Noe Ramirez cards don't really do justice to how nice these look in person, both are very shiny refractors.

I also pulled a Prince Fielder mini, a Prince Fielder Bronze T206 parallel, and a Jordy Nelson rookie from 2008 Topps football.
I may be going to another Pack Wars event this week, but I'll be hard pressed to top this haul~!