Diamond Giveaway: First Card Unlocked

On February 3rd, I  bought a 2010 blaster from Target and got two cards for the Million Card Giveaway, and when I went to unlock them, I missed the deadline by ONE FREAKIN' DAY! Arrrrghhh. Needless to say, I was excited for the 2011 Diamond Giveaway so I could participate and hopefully unlock some cool old cards.

Tonight I redeemed my first (and only) Topps Diamond Giveaway. The promo card was the one with Jeter on it, so I knew that would bring me luck. And with that, my newly won card is......

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. That is an original 1974 Topps Tom McCraw. On one hand, I'm happy it's not junk wax from the late '80s or early '90s. On the other hand, it's Tom McCraw. Can't say I know too much about him, but what I do know is that I highly doubt I'll be shipping this card. If you need it for a set or collection, let me know.

Hopefully I'll get more Diamond Giveaway cards in the near future. Oh, and the digging game didn't work for me either.

Until next time...

Ebay Purchase Review: Tino Studio 8x10

I just received this in the mail today from an ebay purchase, a 1998 Donruss Studio 8x10 of Tino Martinez. Each pack came with an 8x10 card, as well as a pack of normal sized cards.

Not my favorite set from Studio (I liked those goofy credit card ones from the mid 1990s), but a card that I wanted to check off of my Tino Martinez personal collection. I only dropped a buck on it (plus $2 shipping), so it was a nice pick up.

Where Have They Gone? Part I: Clear Cuts

From my observation, the mid '90s were a time when card companies were a little more open to trying new, "futuristic" technologies with their cards. They used insert sets as a place where these new card types could live. One particular insert set that comes to mind is 1996 Fleer Ultra Seasons Crowns. I remember when I pulled this card (no idea what happened to it) in pack, I was floored:

First off, I was confused. I'm not supposed to like cards of Red Sox players. Especially goofy knuckleballers (ohh hey Aaron Boone). But this card was so sweet looking! The white and yellow is completely transparent, as these cards are made from acetate as opposed to cardboard. I wanted more. I remember trading my friend for the Hideo Nomo (no idea where the card is now either!). I got the Tony Gwynn in a pack, and ended up getting it signed by him TTM. It looked great.

I started to notice clear cuts popping up more and more after this. Pacific Invincible had a set and those fancy SkyBox EX-whatever cards did as well. But those were base sets. This was a 10 card insert set, and the first time I had seen anything like this.

It got me thinking...are clear cuts still relevant or cool in today's hobby? Do they have a place? They don't really fit in with all the newer sets that focus on vintage designs. However, since I've been away from the hobby for a few years, maybe I missed some sets in the 2000s with clear cuts. Please leave a comment if you can think of a recent set that included them, as I easily could have missed them over the years.

Since my want list consists of Tino Martinez and Yankees, I thought I would diversify myself as a trading partner a little bit by including this 10 card 1996 Fleer Ultra insert set. I can get a complete set on ebay for around $10, but thought it might be fun to try and trade for it - card by card or the set as a whole. If you have any, let me know!

Topps Yankees Project

A few times since I've started this blog, I've referenced my Topps Yankees Project. I wanted to finally share this endeavor, as it's something I really look forward to completing.

As a big TTM (Through The Mail) autograph fan, I’ve always been interested in collecting autographs on Yankee cards. As long as the player appeared in a Yankees uniform on the card, I’d add it to my collection. In order to sustain my interest, I decided to take the hobby’s most emblematic brand, Topps, and pursue a signed Yankees card from each set, 1952-present. These are on original cards, not Archives or Reprints. I’ve also chosen to target a different player per year, as opposed to having the same player appear multiple times within the project.

It's proven to be a pretty daunting task, but I can't wait to see how 60 years of Topps Yankees cards, all autographed, look when I place them side by side. I've already completed the 1950s decade, which is obviously the biggest challenge because of the players' ages and the rarity/price of the cards. I'm now working on the 1960s, as well as any other years that I can check off the list along the way.

I am 34/60, or 56.67% there. Here are the years that I have completed. For more info, check out the link in the navigation bar above.

Years completed: '52, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59, '60, '62, '63, '71, '72, '74, '75, '77, '81, '83, '85, '86, '87, '88, '89, '90, '92, '93, '94, '96, '98, '99, '06, '07, '08, '09

And here is a look at years 1952-1960:

How Do You Open a Pack of Cards?

Everyone I know opens a pack of cards differently. Some rip it open and shuffle through the cards quickly. Others are more religious about it, carefully tearing the wrapper without catching corners, and going through the cards one by one in the order they are packaged.

I'm somewhere in the middle. I try to carefully open the pack so as to not damage the corners of the cards. I then take a quick peak at the outer boarders of the cards. Does anything stick out? Anything shiny or unusual compared to the others? If so, it just makes the anticipation that much better. I won't shuffle it to the back or save it for last. I'll let the pack flow naturally.

I'll take a look at each player, looking for a brand name or a Yankees logo. But then as the excitement mounts toward that outlier card, I'll shuffle just a little faster until I've finally gotten to the special card. With my luck, it's usually not much, but still, it makes the pack a little more exciting than when nothing different sticks out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was always something to look forward to when I was a kid growing up. Not only did we have a party at school and stuff our faces full of candy, but my Mom always made a special dinner. We even had strawberry pink milk with our food!

But best of all, there was always a little gift on our dinner plates. My sisters would get a lip gloss or something else girly, and I would usually get a few packs of cards. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it was a sweet gesture by my mom to make the day even more special.

Tonight I'll be dining out with my girlfriend, but I'm afraid all that will be on my plate is a folded napkin and no cards. I'll always have the memories of Valentine's Day growing up, and one day if I have kids, I hope to put packs of cards on their plates, just like my mom did for me.

Blog Bat Around: Fixing Topps Baseball

Over at Stale Gum, a question was posed for the Blog Bat Around:

Michael Eisner has just fired the entire Topps Product Development staff and chose to hire you to take their place. Mr. Eisner has given you carte blanche to do whatever you want with Topps Baseball -- as long as you keep it under $2/pack.
If you were in charge of Topps, and based upon what you've seen of 2011 Topps Baseball Series One, what (if anything) would you have done differently?

First, a disclaimer: I have all of eight blog entries to my name, so I may not even be qualified to participate or share my opinion. But as someone who has been away from the hobby for quite a while, maybe I'll bring a different perspective.

Immediately I'll say that overall, I liked 2011 Topps Series One. I bought a blaster, and I thought the card design was nice. I was thrilled that there was no fascimile signatures on the front of the cards. As someone who collect TTM autographs on Topps cards, I hate seeing two signatures on one card...the fake one and the real one. It gets messy.

With that, here is what I would do differently:

• My biggest complaint is the gloss. A lot of fans use these for TTM or in-person autographs and are tired of rubbing the cards down. I want cardboard, not flimsy, slippery cardstock.
• There are a lot of inserts. A lot. To the point where getting an insert isn't special anymore. As someone who collected in the mid-90s, getting an insert was a big deal to me. Getting several in one pack...unheard of (unless you got one of those Fleer Hot Packs). Cut back on those, please.
• Increase the size of the base set. A lot of people have said 792, and I'd be fine with that.
• Order the card numbers by team, or group teams together. Why is Jason Kubel #4? Why is Zack Duke #96? It's so random. I've always appreciated sets grouped by teams.
• As a Yankee fan, even I'll say: enough with Mantle. It was cool in the late '90s. It's 2011. We've seen every Mantle photo ten times over.
• Bring back the mulitple rookies/prospects on a card, or a special designs just for rookies (think Jeter in 1993). Those are a big piece of your history. Let Bowman have the stand alone rookies.
• Where are the manager cards? Always enjoyed those.
• Experiment with technology a little. The inserts aren't very distinctive. Die cuts, clear cuts, laser cuts. Or something new that we haven't seen. Give it a shot.
• Finally, I know 99% of collectors don't do anything with them, but keep the Topps Town codes. It's easy for the hobby to forget kids. A collector I know asked a group of us for any spare codes that weren't going to be used because he and his daughter collect these and play the games together online. How amazing is that? Something a parent can enjoy with his kids and get them interested in collecting. You'll have a whole new group of fans to please...and fans that are going to keep Topps alive for years to come.

Overall, these are small changes. I'm by and large a big Topps fan, and I like Series One. But as with anything, it could be a little better.