Back in Action!

Well, in 48 hours I will be officially done with school FOREVER, and am happy to be returning my mostly full attention back to my hobby and blog. I have already started to unclog the pipe in regards to pushing through some trades and doing some more pack rips and box breaks, but I am obviously a long ways behind at this point.

I sent out a couple of packages this morning because I needed to go to the post office to spring bail for yet another envelope that was shorted on postage! I am not to upset about it because it gives me a reason to send some of my own packages out, but I just think its funny how people will always choose the low ball option on the postage machine ("oh...that DEFINITELY looks less than 1/4 inch thick....I think").

Having the great Mario go into retirement has caused ripples in the blogosphere and really goes to show just how difficult it is to keep plugging away, especially in the off season, and the result is blogs dying left and right. I definitely don't want to let that happen. Blogs help me decide what to purchase, and its my responsibility to put that type of material out for others as well, so I intend to keep on going with the blog on a more regular basis. I am going to come up with a few new features and maybe conjure up a contest or two. I have a week away in Hawaii to ponder all of this, so when I get back I should be ready to roll full time again.

In the meantime...I know that over the last couple of months I have had some discussions with several of you regarding some trades. I know I have offered some cards, and some have been offered to me, but honestly, over the last several months I could hardly remember my name some days...

So I ask you to please email me if we have talked about some form of trades. I will make a point to get to the post office by the end of this week and get the cards flowing again!

What in Blazes?

A standard day involves me trolling around blogs that I follow in an effort to see all the cool stuff that people are posting from their pack rips. I am extremely dismayed to have visited Wax Heaven this morning to learn that "due to unforseen circumstances" that Mario will be shutting down his site at the end of the year. Wax Heaven has always been a great source of unbiased reviews of new products.

One can only speculate at this point as to what circumstances have led to the closing of yet another quality blog, but at this point I say you make it a point to go visit his site and wish him well in future endeavors.

Pour on for my Homey!

Fast Forward to the Heritage Hits!

Well, I have been given an order from the supreme commander (wife) that the china cabinet needs to be cleaned off of baseball cards prior to Jacoby's big birthday bash on Saturday. What could I possibly do but rip open the rest of my Heritage box (aw shucks!). I have to admit though, when I pulled my surprise second "hit" from the box promising one hit, I was having delusions of the mythical "hot box". I will scan some more of the standard base cards and short prints at some point, but for the moment lets just share the inserts...
Here is the box topper. I am wondering where those buy-back cards are coming from. It looks like they are individually wrapped like the box topper...maybe you get either one or the other...I don't know. Nevertheless, here is my box topper!

Scanners never do chrome justice, and here are six more chrome (I think that makes nine total or something like that). These are particularly clean and shiny, even though the players are kinda a mixed bag.

These were a nice surprise, I love the Pujols and Sanchez commemorative cards...is Sanchez beyond TTM's at this point, or is he still accessible. I would love his auto because thanks to the MLB network, I got to see this no-hitter live, so I got to experience the goosebump factor. And lets face it, A David Price and Elvis Andrus card is always a welcome sight!

A snagged a couple Then and Nows, and again, I am quite happy with the pairings. Two legitimate current stars, and two HOF's. I love the old-timers and can't get enough of the retro cards.

Now the scanner REALLY does not do these justice, because these are chrome refractors, and really shiny and rainbowy at that. Adam Dunn is legit, and this Chacin card will be worth hanging onto in case he hits it big some day.

But hands down, the shocker of the box break was a surprise second hit in the box. You'll recall that I pulled an Alexei Ramirez relic in my second back, and while satisfied with a relic (I guess), I was a little let down that I had 22 packs to go without hope of a hit.

Well 4 packs later, after removing the serial-numbered gum, this little baby was sitting next...

A dual auto? CRAZY. And a hand-numbered one at that. I got more excited when I discovered that there are litterally only 125 of these between all ten subjects, and they pull at about 1:1200 packs! Very cool.

I have to admit mixed feelings about high numbers. I was so proud of finishing up the first 500 and here I am chasing again. However, I have to say that I had a reasonable amount of fun ripping these packs and think that the inserts turned out to be pretty decent as well. I have not heard many peeps out of the blogosphere on collecting this product, but if you are only collecting certain cards and have no use for the remaining base cards, please let me know and we can start swinging some deals. The quest for 720 is on!

happy 1st birthday to the CEO

JD turns one year old today. Lets all go streakin!

11 Days of Heritage

on the 2nd day of Heritage, High Numbers gave to me...

four more promising rookies.

4 more traded players....I think. The Eric Byrnes has me a bit puzzled. Wasn't he with Arizona not only all of this season, but also the last? Then there is Mr Kazmir, who I was thrilled got traded out of Tampa...only to find a way to do the Sox in anyways. When Catalanotto got traded from Texas, Saltelamachia (or something like that) became the undisputed lengthy-name-on-jersey champ. As for Hanranhan...welcome to Pittsburgh purgatory.

Jason Vargas. A very promising young Seattle Pitcher, Julio Lugo and the most uncomfortable batting stane that I have ever seen, and Craig Counsell, filling in for Milwaukie's depleted infield.

And now for the shiny. A David Aardsma chrome. numbered to 1960. The first name alphabetically in baseball.


More to come tomorrow. I will give a bit of a tease. Turns out that the Ramirez relic was just a tease, as I pulled ANOTHER hit today. More on this tommorow...stay tuned.

12 Days of Heritage

Well, after several months of debate as to whether High Numbers counts towards the actual Heritage set, I decided to jump on board and go the distance with the set. I was very proud for completing 1-500...it was not easy, it got a bit spendy, and the SP's were difficult to gather. But that set really symbolizes why the blogosphere is so great, and many of you contributed competing the set, so I figured I might finish this one up. Taking one for the blogosphere.

I went and grabbed one box the other day and will rip two packs a day for the next twelve. It is also a little bit of a countdown because after the 12th day of ripping, I go to present my dissertation for my masters degree, at which point I officially get my life back. So time to celebrate, and let the countdown begin!

On the 1st day of High Numbers, Topps Heritage gave to me...

A Josh Outman Chrome Card

Three promising rookies...

two traded players.

Two more promising rookies, a former Cardinal and Reds....

and my goodness, talk about taking the drama out of a box rip. Here is my relic hit in pack #2, and Alexei Ramirez jersey swatch complete with stripe. I could do a lot worse I guess, but I am not much of a swatch kinda guy. You never know, I have beaten the odds before and pulled extra hits from boxes...we'll see what happens!

And oh yeah...almost forgot about the star of the show...

Serial numbered gum! Woo-hoo! Stay tuned for more high number madness!

In The News

A few interesting stories I noticed flipping through the paper piles today that I figured I would share with you since I have not ripped anything (but getting the itch for some Topps High Numbers or T-206).

In the Wall Street Journal there was a funny little blurb about MVP voting...did you know that Placido Polanco received a 9th place vote for MVP this year? Yup, Polanco and his .285 BA and 10 HR's impressed enough voters to earn him some points and to make the chart. Some other oddities from year's past were Scott Podsednik in 2005 with his .290 and o HR's, Scott Eyre in 2005 with o saves in 68.1 innings, Deivi Cruz in 1997 with a paltry .241 avg and 2 HR, and Charlie hayes in 1995 with a .276 avg and 11 HR. I am not sure how the votes are tallied or how the points work, but I do know that it is the writers that do the voting and WSJ has jokingly suggested that some writers did their votes on a dare. Good stuff. Also of note is a blurb that a goalkeeper got a yellow card this week for removing a cat from a soccer field.

Soccer you say, well yes indeed there was another story on Futbol. It appears that there is great concern over Baboons causing havoc in South Africa during the World cup next summer. Yup, it sounds like the baboons are the equivilant of racoons, bears, or dogs here in the US in that they are scavengers that seem to get into garbage and also people's personal foods (backpacks, picnic baskets, etc) and event coordinators are concerned that the increase in tourism during World Cup is going to increase baboon bamboozling incidents. Do you think that the goalie will get a yellow card for kicking a baboon off the field?

One more story a bit more puzzling...I read in today's Oregonian about Brandon Roy and his apparent systematical behavior of dissapearing into a tunnel during the national anthem to quietly pray and get himself squared for competition. I have never noticed this before, as the arena lights are typically out during this time to highlight the performer, and I am not certain that it is really anybody's business, but it is a bit perplexing to see the poster boy, team-leader, and all-around good guy exercising a questionable act such as this. He means no harm and is not anti-patriotic, but just uses those final moments before tip-off to clear his head. Where the contraversy comes in is what if other members of the team decide to join him in the tunnel, then how would that look. I am going to reserve opinion on this and give Roy the benefit of the doubt because he does not deserve otherwise, but nevertheless, an interesting story.