The matching game

Does it bug anyone when a jersey swatch doesn't match the photo on the card?

Usually it doesn't bother me too much. I get it. But for some reason, when this card came in the mail, I really felt like Tino should be featured in the road grays. Maybe the gray swatch is just so front and center, or too boring to be such a focal point, but it really contrasts against Tino in his home Printstripes.

I won't get too worked up. Like I said, it usually doesn't bother me, but this one did, for whatever reason. Still, it's a new Tino that I needed, so I'll take it.

JBF Epic Boxes: Packs 11-12

I need to do these posts faster. While I've been slow to do them, ANOTHER epic box from Jaybarkerfan found it's way to me! Sheesh. It'll take me 'til Christmas to get these up.

Let's look at team bags 11 & 12, shall we?

Pack 11

Let's start off with some truly attractive SP Authentic cards. Holy smokes these are nice. There is SO MUCH border, bit I gotta say, the white makes it look classy. I know a lot of people don't prefer a large border with a small photo, but these just look nice. They tried to give the photo a ragged look, which works ok. The photo has an interesting gloss. Think of the 1995 Topps Cyberstats parallels.

Primetime is too cool for Classic, and definitely too cool for pink borders. 

Could Fleer really not find a better third shot than Wade Boggs' butt?

And the card of the pack? This 1999 Stadium Club Mariano Rivera. Great shot. Great simple design. Love the muted team logo in the corner. Stadium Club was so solid in the late '90s.

Total cards in pack: 42 (appropriate)
Running total: 388

Pack 12

I'll start with a Tino, because any pack with a Tino is a good pack.

Yogi! While his quotes might be a bit overdone at this point, it's cool to have them immortalized on cards. This is the ever-popular "Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical" quote.

Jeter. Classic pose. Man, I'm curious what his last Topps regular base card will look like in 2015. I say "regular base card" because you know he'll be in 9,000 other sets for the rest of his life. I'm a fan of Rivera's last card, and hope Jeter gets a good one too.

The card of the pack? Let's go with a darkhorse! 1995 Topps Finest Mike Stantley. This set wasn't as iconic as '93 or '94, but I like the bright colors and design. Someone took the fun out of this for me and peeled the unnecessary clear coating off of it already. Jerks.

Total cards in pack: 40
Running total: 428

Two sweet Tino's

I just picked up a lot of two sweet Tino cards for $.72 delivered. Both are from 1999 SP Authentic and I didn't have either one. My favorite is the Epic Figures card below. It's a dark colored card but with the shiny Refractor-like treatment. It actually scanned pretty cool. The Reflections card is nice as well, with some definite 1999 shiny foil.