A Christmas Zapping: Part 1

There are two bloggers (you know who you are) who routinely bomb my mailbox. And while I love everything they send and always try and follow up with a thank you note, their packages sometimes sit and waited to be blogged about for far too long. It's not because I'm not thankful. I am! It's because the packages intimidate me, honestly. But that's bad form. Yes, it's much easier to blog about a TTM return or a small trade package, but when hundreds of cards arrive, I often don't know where to start.

So I'll just jump in. Before Christmas (and now it's late February), Zippy Zappy of Torren Up Cards sent me an epic holiday package. He warned me it was coming, but it still exceeded expectations.

Beyond the generosity, Zippy also had a VERY unique way of sending the cards. It added to the fun of the package. He basically recreated a hobby box for me, complete with custom packs. It honestly felt like opening a box of cards that had everything I would have wanted in them. There were random relics, autos, PC guys, vintage. It had it all. It was like the ultimate team-specific repack.

So here's what the box looked like, and even included a "high-end" pack, a pin, and a ticket stub.

So the high end pack of Topps Marquee? Let's see what's in there.

I'll start with some autos! I love the Betances refractor auto. Love love it so much. I actually saw Dellin in the concourse at MSG at the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night. I had just seen Shawn Kemp and Jerry Stackhouse, so I was thinking "who is this NBA player?" When I go closer, I yelled "Yo Dellin, let's get it done this year and he gave me a fist bump." The fact that he fit in with all the random NBA players shows how huge he is.

Here's a few more autos. It's crazy how much Tyler Austin's signature has changed over the last few years. This was clearly one of his early autos. Below that, David Phelps and David Adams. I'll miss Phelps. He was a nice, homegrown piece, and while he'll likely never be a star, he was a valuable guy who could fill multiple needs on the pitching staff. However, he was dealt for Nathan Eovaldi in a trade I absolutely love. The 'ol "you gotta give something to get something" mantra.

 

Ok, this Tanaka is just badass. Kenny has a ton of unqiue Japanese cards, and to see Tanaka showing such emotion is pretty rare.

A Jorgie Bowman rookie! I did not have this. In 2008 when I voted in the Presidential Election, I actually saw Posada coming out of a voting booth. No fist bumps were exchanged.

Additionally, Kenny sent me an unopened 2014 SI Yanks team set! While I toyed with leaving it in the shrink wrap, cards are to be looked at and enjoyed, so I "torren" it opened. Amongst the cards inside was a new Ty Hensley I needed. And I have to show LUUUUIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSS! It's still one of my biggest regrets not seeing Hensley pitch in Staten Island. I just never got my act together to make it out to a game. My baby daughter was just a few weeks old when the season started, plus they play a lot of day games. It was just a hard trip for me to make, even though it was so close.

Now, let's crack a couple packs, shall we? Pack #1 starts us with some nice shininess and a PC guy, Michael Pineda. Let's show off an X-Fractor of Zippy Zappy's favorite major leaguer, Brian McCann.

Pack #2 was good as well. No hits, but we've got a nice mixture of current and vintage. McCann shows up again, as does minor PG-guy Gary Sanchez.

Let's see what's next. Wow, a Brian McCann sighting in three straight packs! Also a nice 1971 Topps of Ron Woods.

On to pack #4! Shockingly, no Brian McCann, but we do have our first hit! It's a Melky Mesa autograph from ITG! The Lou Gehrig threw me for a loop. I thought it was like a Bowman promo card from the early '90s. It's actually from 1970 Fleer! Sneaky vintage!

The hightlight of the next pack is the awesome Derek Jeter Leaf card, #'d to 40. It's certainly not a Jeter that you see every day.

 

And let's round out this post with another hit! This time, we have an Opening Day auto of Boone Logan! That Elston Howard OBAK is sweet too.

 

Stay tuned for more packs!