Happy Opening Day!

Good luck to all of your teams! (except the Red Sox)

 

 

 

Buying some packs in LA

I'm in Los Angeles for work right now. It's a quick trip - flew in yesterday morning, had meetings yesterday and a couple today, out tomorrow morning. I'm staying downtown, which I don't love (prefer Santa Monica), but it's where all of my meetings are, so it's convenient.

I have a pair of friends who had a baby three months ago and live nearby, so I arranged to drop by their house last night. My wife informed me that I couldn't show up empty handed, so I walked to the Target up the street to pick them up a gift card to use on diapers and whatnot.

Of course, since I was there, I had to check for cards. They had some, and while it was a small display, it was something. I snagged a jumbo back of Opening Day (24 cards for $2.99), and a jumbo pack of Donruss ($4.99). I was in a rush so I didn't look too hard, but I don't think there was any '17 Gypsy Queen.

I didn't pull anything special, but I did end up with 54 cards I didn't have.

In Opening Day, I was lucky enough to snag two of the more desirable Yankees. These two were placed back-to-back in the middle of the pack:

And here are my three guaranteed inserts. That Rangers card is pretty boring (no offense, Ranger fans).

The Donruss pack was fun. I like the design, overall. I do wish they had used the different colored backgrounds like they did in their football product, but still, the white looks nice with the team colors. Overall, a much better effort than the last few years base designs.

I didn't pull any fancy variations, but I got a few inserts, including a Jorge Mateo, which much be the first time I've pulled a card of his.

I also got a handful of these '83 variations. Not bad.

Overall, fun to snag a few packs on the road, and tempting to go back later today if I've got some time.

Opening Day 2016

Ok, so tomorrow is probably going to be Opening Day because the weather in NYC looks bad. It makes so much sense for Houston to start to season in NY in April, right? I mean, it's not like it's 80 degrees there and it's not like their stadium has a roof. Noooo, let's play in frigid, rainy NY. Smart.

Regardless, I'm excited for the season. The off-season wasn't quite as long as usual. Perhaps it's because I was lucky enough to see my alma mater unexpectedly make a Final Four run in the NCAA basketball tournament. That killed some time during the dog days of spring training.

I'm cautiously optimistic for the Yankees this year. I'm VERY concerned about the starting pitching staff. I can't see a single member of the current staff giving the team 200 innings this year...but if they can all give 150 or so, we'll be in business. Still a big IF.

I'm excited to see year two of Nathan Eovaldi and Luis Severino. Eovaldi showed a lot of promise as the summer wore on, although his season ended prematurely with a forearm injury. I'm even more excited to see a full season from Luis Severino. He proved he belonged last year, and I hope he realizes his ace potential. He could be next year's Opening Day starter.

Big Mike and Masahiro Tanaka are question marks Both are injury prone, but both can be dominant when things are clicking. I'd love to see them both stay healthy. Tanaka gets the ball for his second straight Opening Day start, although it was more by default than anything else.

In terms of the lineup, sure there are still a few old farts, but man I'm excited to see some youth sprinkled in. I love the Starlin Castro pickup. He grew up with a lot of pressure in the Cubs organization, and that's gone now. He's free. It wouldn't surprise me if he had a monster year. He is just 26, and already had 991 career hits. That's insane.

There is also a ton of young players finally ready to help. At some point this season, the Yanks could have Severino on the mound, Gary Sanchez catching, Didi and Starling at 2nd and short, and Aaron Hicks in center. That's an exciting group up the middle, and all 26 or under. The youth movement is here.

Your guess is as good as mine with how it's all going to shake out. This team could win 95 game. Or 75. But baseball is here, it's time to start the grind again. Let's do it.

Lastly, in the spirit of Opening Day, here's my first and only 2016 Topps Opening Day card, and it's of Michael Pineda, naturally. He wasn't in Series One, so I'd imagine this is what his Series Two card will look like.

One thing I don't get is why they numbered these with "OD", especially when Opening Day is above the number anyways. Seems redundant. Oh well, I won't lose sleep over it, but it's an odd choice. Also, the light gray numbering from Series One is back. Good luck with that, set collectors.

That wraps it up. Rain rain go away so we can PLAY BALL!

Hoyle PWEs are like a box of chocolates

...you never know what you're going to get!

Seriously, Mark Hoyle is a PWE master. I always get really excited when I see one show up in the mailbox, and it never disappoints.

Check out this pre-Christmas one he sent:

Modern releases? Check.

Custom oddball? Check.

Vintage? Check.

Way older tobacco vintage? Check.

Wait, check? Yep! This PWE contained an actual tobacco card. It's a 1911 T205 Joe Knight Yankees card. It's the gold border, American Beauty Cigarettes version. I've never seen one of these in person until I received it. There were modern cards in this design awhile back, but that can't replicate how cool it is to actually own one from 1911. It's hard to believe this is 105 years old. That's crazy.

Mark, sorry it took me a while to post, but thanks!

Ok, back to shoveling snow...

Big Blue Big Mike

Over the past couple of years, some of the nicest parallels out there have come from Topps Opening Day.

See what I mean?

The blue foils have been gorgeous. Last year, I pulled the Jeter, and it might just be the nicest looking Jeter in my collection.

This year is no different. Kerry from Cards on Cards sent me this Blue Foil Michael Pineda, the 103rd different Pineda in my collection.

The only difference is that it is not numbered to 2015, nor does it have the date of Opening Date. I wonder why Topps changed this? Either way, it's a stunning card, and I hope Topps keeps the tradition of these blue foils in Opening Day.

Raz-zle Dazzle

A few weeks back, I claimed a card over on The Raz Card Blog. I hadn't traded with Raz yet, so I felt like it was a good time to claim a card and enjoy a new trading partner. In full disclouse, Raz probably cannot say the same about me, as I still owe him a return package. Raz, it's coming. I'm sorry man.

The card that caught my eye was this 2014 Bowman Top 100 Die Cut of Yankees 3B prospect Miguel Andujar. Miguel is currently in Low-A ball, but he's just 19 and playing against guys mostly 2-3 years older than him. After a great short season rookie ball campaign last year, the Yanks aggressively chose to move him to full-season Charleston. He got off to a slow start, but has been a lot better as of late. While he's only hitting .222, he does have 5 HRs. He's got a ton of tools, and he's young enough that if he puts them all together, he could be a very good player one day.

Raz also added the following two cards:

 

The Tyler Austin is a PC guy for me, and a card I didn't have. I'm noticing a lot of off-center Bowman Chrome cards this year. Anyone else?

The Jeter is cool too. Opening Day has been my favorite product this year, and I'm glad they keep bringing back these 3D Opening Day Stars cards. Topps actually acknowledged that Jeter's 2013 opening day was in July in 2013 due to injury.

Raz, thanks for the cards. I'll get yours out shortly.

PWE in the Night

I got an unexpected PWE from Watertown, NY, home of the Night Owl. I always appreciate a good PWE, and this had five goodies in it.

First off, a 2013 Opening Day blue parallel of CC Sabathia. For the past two years, Opening Day is dominating the flagship with it's blue parallels. These ones were gorgeous and sparkly, while this year's are less sparkly, but still a fantastic looking blue. Sure beats the pea green and yellow parallels from 2014 Topps. I'm assuming this came from the treasure trove of $2.98 Opening Day blasters Greg found.

You may think I'm joking, but I think Topps actually used a nice photo of CC that doesn't make him look massively obese. He's a big dude, we all know that. But Topps keeps using such unflattering images. Check out a few of these recent ones:

 

Next up, not just one, but three minis! I believe all but one of the 1975 Topps minis I own are from Greg. I love the Betances and needed it for my PC. How good has this guy been?!

Lastly, Greg Bird. Kind of funny. Greg...he's Night Owl...owl is a bird...Greg Bird. Anyone? No? No? No.

 

Greg, thanks for the cards. Much appreciated.

I wish every day was Opening Day...in May

Without a doubt, the most enjoyable product I've opened this year is Opening Day. I've never been a huge fan of it in the past, as it's annoying to basically add the same exact cards (minus foil) to your collection. The inserts never appealed to me much either.

This year, I've had a change of heart. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I appreciate that they are $.99 a pack and a blaster costs $9.99, unless you are Night Owl.

Maybe it's that the inserts bring me back to the '90s and my early collecting days. There are flames and colors and illustrated cards.

The blue parallels are some of the finest looking cards this year, as well. They are gorgeous.

I bought a blaster a few weeks ago and didn't pull much, but still enjoyed opening the cards. So much so, that I recently made a Target run for the new baby girl (diapers, wipes, etc), and I treated myself to five packs. Five packs, and it was $5. That's refreshing, both on my wallet and my brain. As a father of two small children, I feel slightly less guilty when I only spend $5 on cards for myself.

What did I pull? A few really nice cards, including the Derek Jeter and Matt Harvey blue parallels shown above. Honestly, although #'d to a whopping 2014, I think this may be the first #'d Jeter I've ever pulled from a pack. No joke.

Here's the best of the rest. I'll definitely be buying more of these to satisfy the pack-busting need.

 

 

Listia adding to my PC

Listia sucks 95% of the time, we all know it. However, there are still deals to be find and useful cards to be acquired. Take this, for example. A 2012 Topps Opening Day Michael Pineda. Mine for just 51 credits (and it came with a Russell Martin from the same set).

In terms of adding a card I needed of a player I collect, it gets no easier than this.

Opening Day for trade (including mascots)

I have a few extra Opening Day cards laying around from my blaster. Anyone need any of the cards below?